A Brief Overview

The Five Hindrances are qualities of the mind that are specifically barriers to our meditation practices and to our proper application of the Dharma. When we experience any of these hindrances, specifically during meditation, they have the capacity to  take us out of our practice and hinder our progress. Ultimately, the hindrances are identified as obstacles to tranquility.

The five hindrances are desire, anger, sloth, restlessness, and doubt.

An Exploration of the Hindrances

1. Desire

Desire refers to cravings that can never fully be satisfied. We tend to attach or identify with these desires, and as a result, they often bring about suffering. During meditation practice, we might find ourselves desiring for their practice to go a certain way, or wanting certain experiences or feelings to arise. There may even be a wanting to become enlightened. Ultimately, all of these desires are for things to be as we wish they were.

Desire is the urge for the next moment to contain what this moment does not. When there’s wanting in the mind, that moment feels incomplete. Desire is seeking elsewhere. Completeness is being right here. The more we see how the mind wants, specifically in meditation practice, the more we see how wanting obscures the present. Silent meditation practice is not often about achieving a heightened state of mind. Rather, it is about sitting with whatever current conditions are present and may arise. When we let go of our desires for a specific experience, we open ourselves up to a meditation practice that is productive and aware.

When we become aware of our desires and the wanting becomes the object of observation, we watch with a clear attention that isn’t colored by judgment or choice; it is simply bare attention with nothing added: an openness to receiving things as they are. We don’t impatiently want to be rid of wanting. We simply observe it. Each moment of non-wanting is a moment of freedom. Mindfulness allows that non-wanting. When there is just clear attention and observation, desire dissolves. 

2. Anger

Also one of the Three Poisons, anger refers to our hatred, our aversion and repulsion toward unpleasant people, circumstances, and even toward our own uncomfortable feelings. The symptoms of anger can show up as hostility, dislike, aversion, or ill-will; wishing harm or suffering upon another person. During meditation practice, anger is often directed at the self or practice. One might also become fixated on and angry about an external situation that they are lacking control over during a meditation practice, which has the potential to cause the mind to spiral. 

When experiencing anger during a meditation practice, one might feel an urge to quit or give up on the practice. Instead, it is important to pay wise attention to the anger in order to decrease and weaken it. While doing this, it is important not to become angry with or judgmental towards oneself. Then, one may cultivate their meditation practice on loving-kindness and compassion. Slowly, the feelings of ill-will and cruelty will begin to dissolve.

3. Sloth

Sloth is commonly referred to as apathy or sleepiness. This sensation is something that most people can relate to at least at some point in their life, if not sporadically throughout it. Sloth has the power to make our minds numb, so that it is virtually impossible for us to concentrate, therefore making it very hard to meditate. When sloth arises, it can feel like our energy has suddenly been drained away. If however, we can become aware of the sensation and its effects on the body, we may realize that this energy is still very much with us. ‘Sloth,’ in many senses is a reluctance to make an effort, which can be seen as laziness. However, we need to be careful with words like that because two things that appear similar on the surface may be quite different underneath. The key to this hindrance is ‘reluctance’. 

Sloth needs to be recognized before it can be worked out. It may seem that there is simply no energy in us but this might be just an appearance. Our energy can take all sorts of shapes. There is genuine tiredness but there is also a tiredness and lethargy that is not a lack of energy but simply a deceptive form that the energy is now taking, as in the example just given. This is merely a ruse to escape from a situation that deep down, we fear.

Ultimately, mindfulness practice can help us understand how our evaluations and reactions lead to lethargy. Shutting down energetically can be a strategy to prevent something from happening or from having to experience it. When sloth appears in meditation, it is important to find ways to practice with the condition, not struggle against it. It is especially important not to abandon a meditation session because of it. Our energy level and effort naturally rises and falls, and this hindrance can be expected to appear. When sloth is present and energy seems weak, we do the best we can.

4. Restlessness

The Buddhist word translated as “restlessness” means “to shake.” It is a state of agitation and over-excitement. Some people live restless lives. Constant activity can channel the restlessness at the expense of neither confronting it nor settling it. Because restlessness is uncomfortable, it can be difficult to pay attention to. Ironically, restlessness is itself sometimes a symptom of not being able to be present during a period of discomfort. Patience, discipline, and courage are needed to sit still and face it. When physical, restlessness may appear as compulsive energy bouncing throughout the body, and we can’t get comfortable. As a mental sensation, restlessness can manifest as scattered or persistent thinking. It is present whenever we are caught in distraction. There may be an inability to focus – the mind recoils from being directed anywhere, or it jumps from one thing to the next, incapable of settling. This is sometimes called monkey mind. As a swinging monkey grasps one branch and immediately reaches for the next, the restless mind focuses on one thing and immediately reaches out for the next, never satisfied with anything.

Usually, however, restlessness can be worked through in meditation. Simply being mindful is a big step. Without eliminating a hindrance, mindful awareness gives us a better perspective of what is happening. To be mindful of restlessness, it is useful to feel it physically. If there is a lot of energy coursing through the body, it can help to create an image of it in the mind while sitting with it. Accepting it like this can take away the extra agitation of fighting the restlessness. Sitting still with the restlessness often allows it to settle down on its own. Because the settling can take a while, patience is needed. Once we have studied restlessness and worry, it is useful to notice when it is not present. Physically, emotionally, and mentally, what is the felt sense of being, at least temporarily, free of restlessness? The knowledge of what it is like to be still, calm, or peaceful is very nourishing. It can dissuade us from believing restless thoughts, and it can give us an appreciation of healthy alternatives to being caught in a hindrance.

5. Doubt

Doubt can be defined as a lack of conviction or trust in one’s abilities. In meditation, doubt can present as insecurity or judgment of one's practice, stemming from the idea of being unable to find success in meditation. When doubt predominates, we stop working on ourselves. We sit back and tend to feel sorry for ourselves. Doubt can also be so subtle that we don’t even recognize it. We may indeed feel that meditation is alright for some people but our self-doubt somehow persuades us that we just aren’t capable of making progress.

Once doubt is established, it causes chaos in the mind. Because there is a tendency to identify with it, one might become a person of doubt. The ensuing uncertainty can then lead to indecisiveness, powerlessness, or a feeling of being separate. You may experience it as nonspecific anxiety, an ever present distress, or a vague sense that you have failed or that life isn’t as you thought it would be. This self-doubt also presents itself in many -if not most- of our day-to-day experiences; we may doubt ourselves while at work, in class, when practicing a craft or skill, or even while interacting with others. These subtle symptoms reflect the dilemma of modern life: the absence of feeling grounded in something greater than your own ego structure. It is for this reason that doubt is both an existential challenge and a spiritual hindrance.

According to the Buddha, the antidote to doubt is an active willingness to suspend self-judgment and to see yourself for what is true, and what you are capable of. In doing this, it is necessary to always remember that we all have Buddha nature within us.