The Five Hindrances

Meaning

Nīvaraṇa literally means “covering” or “barrier”: something that veils the mind the way a cloud veils the sun. The hindrances keep the mind from settling down and becoming clear: as long as they are active, neither jhāna nor insight is within reach.

In the suttas there are always five of them.

The five hindrances

1. Sensual desire - kāmacchanda. A pull toward pleasant objects of the five senses: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches. What matters here is not perceiving something pleasant as such, but identifying with it - when the mind keeps returning to what it wants, again and again.
2. Ill will - byāpāda. Irritation, hostility, wishing someone harm. But not only that: anger at circumstances and at oneself belongs here too.
3. Sloth and torpor - thīna-middha. A double hindrance: thīna is dullness, the inertia of the mind itself; middha is heaviness and drowsiness of the body. The mind seems wrapped in a veil: no energy, no interest, everything looks hazy.
4. Restlessness and remorse - uddhacca-kukkucca. Uddhacca (we adore the sound of it) is agitation, a jumpy mind that cannot stay on its chosen object; kukkucca is worry over what one has done and left undone, for example: “why did I do that”, “I should have done it differently”, “what if…”. The mind darts between the future and the past.
5. Doubt - vicikicchā. Paralyzing uncertainty about the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Saṅgha, the practice itself: “does this actually work”, “am I going the right way”. Healthy critical thinking does not get in the way of practice. What gets in the way is wavering that keeps you from practicing, scattering your attention across many different schools and methods, doubt that is not looking for an answer or clarity.

In practice

The hindrances are temporary states of mind. They come when the conditions for them are present and go when those conditions are removed - so the first step in working with them is always the same: notice and recognize them.

In MN10, observing the five hindrances is part of the fourth foundation of mindfulness (contemplation of dhammas): the practitioner knows when a hindrance is present, when it is absent, how it arises and how it is abandoned.