Tag: hindrances

  • Gain, Honour and Praise

    S17.5 Laabhasakkaarasa.myutta, Connected discourses on Gains and Honour translated by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi At Saavatthii. “Bhikkhus, dreadful are gain, honour, and praise, bitter, vile, obstructive to achieving the unsurpassed security from bondage. Suppose there was a beetle, a dung-eater, stuffed with dung, full of dung, and in front of her was a large dunghill. Because…

  • Why I chose to not ordain

    This answer to this question is complex and difficult to explain. This posting is personal and will not cover all the issues that are relevant to all people. I write from the perspective of a middle-aged male raised in Australia. I received a couple of queries about this question and this prompted me to write…

  • Six principles of cordiality and a seven-point test for stream-entry

    Majjhima Nikaya M48 Kosambiya Sutta [โกสัมพิยสูตร] [translation by Sister Upalavanna] I paraphrased this sutta using Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi and Ven. Nanamoli’s English translation. Six principles of cordiality that create love and respect and conduce to cohesion, to non-dispute, to concord, and to unity. 1.  Maintain bodily acts of loving-kindness both in public and private towards…

  • Listening to the Dhamma can suppress the hindrances

    Sa.myuttanikaaya S46.38 Without Hindrances (อาวรณานีวรณสูตร นิวรณ์ ๕ เป็นอุปกิเลสของจิต) When bhikkhus, a noble disciple listens to the Dhamma with eager ears, attending to it as a matter of vital concern, directing the whole mind to it, on that occasion the five hindrances are not present in him; on that occasion the seven factors of enlightenment go…

  • Aasava, Jhaana, Kusala

    The suttas teach yogis about the practice for removing the aasava-taints so that kilesa-mental defilements no longer cause suffering. Samatha meditation also known as jhaana-absorption practice may temporarily suppress the taints but does not eliminate them. The complete removal of the taints is achieved with vipassana insight, the opening of the Dhamma eye of the…

  • Wise Attention to Eliminate Aasava-Taints

    Majjhimanikaaya MN.2. Sabbaasava Sutta: All the Taints (สัพพาสวสังวรสูตร)3. “Bhikkhus, I say that the destruction of the taints is for one who knows and sees, not for one who does not know and see. Who knows and what? Wise attention and unwise attention. When one attends unwisely, unarisen taints arise and arisen taints increase. When one…

  • Remedies for Restless Minds

    Five HindrancesLord Buddha identified five hindrances (nivaarana) to mental development: lust, anger, sleepiness, restlessness and doubt. There are many synonyms for these hindrances and other commentators may use different words. A keen student who is not familiar with these five hindrances would do well to study them further. Essentially these five hindrances are symptoms of…