Reading guide
The teaching in one sentence
To give up the five hindrances — sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt — a mendicant should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation, the same remedy given at AN 9.63.
The most familiar list in this project so far
Of all the obstacle-lists this chapter cycles through, the five hindrances are the most frequently named elsewhere in the canon and in this project itself — already met, for instance, giving way before the four absorptions at AN 9.40's wild elephant simile.
A second full example, before compression begins
This discourse still gives the complete four-foundation formula in full, matching AN 9.63 rather than eliding it — the last discourse in this chapter to do so before AN 9.65 through AN 9.70 compress the remedy down to a bare ellipsis.
Meditation obstacles, met with a meditative remedy
Unlike AN 9.63's ethically framed weaknesses, this discourse's obstacle-list belongs squarely to meditation practice itself — a tighter, more direct fit between problem and remedy than some of the other pairings this chapter will offer.
Key terms
The text
The five hindrances
§1“Mendicants, there are these five hindrances. What five? Sensual desire, ill will, dullness and drowsiness, restlessness and remorse, and doubt. These are the five hindrances.
Four kinds of mindfulness meditation
§2To give up these five hindrances you should develop the four kinds of mindfulness meditation. What four? It’s when a mendicant meditates by observing an aspect of the body—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. They meditate observing an aspect of feelings … They meditate observing an aspect of the mind … They meditate observing an aspect of principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of covetousness and displeasure for the world. To give up those five hindrances you should develop these four kinds of mindfulness meditation.”
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