Joseph Goldstein on the Five Hindrances

11/10 dharma talk (from notebook – just the bare summary here)
Joseph Goldstein on 5 Hindrances

1. Doubt
Helpful: Quality of inquiry. What is the nature of mind, body, experience? No blind belief.
Unhelpful: Skeptical doubt. Mindstate of indecision. At crossroads.

From the Life of Pi: “To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a form of transportation.”

Examples: “What am I doing here. What does watching the breath have to do with anything.”

Self-doubt is a form of doubt. Always undermining. And then doubt becomes self-fulfilling, because staying in doubt really is useless.

What to do?
- Recognize doubt. See it for what it is. Just a tape-loop in the mind. It’s just another thought. When you come back, after noting the doubt, is there really any question? Come back to simplicity.
- Intellectual clarification.

2. Restlessness/Worry/Agitation

Too much energy – not enough concentration.
What to do?
- Recognize it, note it, understand energetics of it.
- See why it’s happening. Is mind too lax? Rein it in, e.g., half-breath. Is mind too tight? Relax, become spacious.
A whirlwind may be blowing through space, but if we become the space, we can hold it.

3. Sloth/Torpor

Usually, we run on stimulation. But on retreat, 90% of external stimulation is gone.

Connect to the energy system which you are.
Just stay with it. Even if we think nothing is happening, something is happening.

What to do?
- Recongize it, note it, investigate it
- More energy. Take interest. Virya – energy, effort, courage

4. Aversion

Anger, hatred, annoyance, fear, irritation, judging-mind.
Conditioned reactions to what we find unpleasant.
Note how we can get angry at a mere thought.
“A thought of your mother is not your mother.”

What to do?
- Recognize it
- Don’t judge the aversion, or judge oneself
- Thich Nhat Hanh: Be compassionate toward the anger. It is suffering.
- Or, if we’re self-indulgent: Be the warrior. “Enough, already.”
- Or, look into it with wisdom. “Sound is just sound – if I go out to be annoyed, I will be annoyed.” But can just experience it.

“I should be angry” – not true. If you’re right, why should you suffer?

5. Desire
Will be dealt with later.

Hindrances are not intrinsic to the mind. They come when conditions are present.

We think they are “who I am” but with practice you see they are impermanent and selfless.

Hindrances are hindrances to presence, as well as practice.

“The real voyage of discovery comes not from seeing new landscapes, but from having new eyes.” - Proust