This morning I'm going to talk about hindrances. For some reason, that's what came to my mind. So I'm going to talk about the stereotype in traditional Buddhism, which is called five hindrances. Most of you know the five hindrances. You may not remember them, but somewhere you know them. These are traditionally five hindrances which are a block or a binder to either meditation or to practice. There are many more entrances, but five represents all of them, even though they may or may not be included in the five.

[01:12]

So sometimes we can think of them either as entrances or as opportunities. our difficulties that we have in our life, if they are included as a practice, it's not the same as if they're not included as practice. If we see something outside of our practice, then we have a problem that's different than the problem within our practice. Anyway, these are the five so-called hindrances. Sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, skeptical doubt, which can also be

[02:26]

meaning perfectionistic, and it does have that quality, but scruples means being attached to some kind of rule that you think is necessary, even though it's a hindrance. These five are natural to us. What makes these problematic is that they are actually natural to us, every one of these, without sensual desire. It comes up for every one of us at various times in our life. Sensual desire is what keeps the wheel turning, basically.

[03:43]

There are three categories which are the bearings of the wheel of samsara. They're at the center of the hub. They're like the ball bearings that keep the wheel going. smoothly, green, which is associated with sensual desire, ill will, and delusion. So sensual desire is associated with green. So desire Desire is like fire. So when a fire is out of control, it burns everything up. So we have to be very careful about this particular aspect of our existence.

[04:50]

So it's not that there's something wrong with sexual desire. It's simply that we become addicted. My feeling is that when we, as a very young person, we become addicted to that pleasure, it influences us for the rest of our life. And it's very hard to control. But it's also because this is such a vital aspect of our life. Some people, you know, have no particular problem. But because it's such a vital aspect of our life, this fire, we have to learn how to keep

[05:54]

the flame down so that it actually works for us instead of against us. So that's called practice. How do we practice with this aspect of our life which is so powerful and it influences us in all our relationships. So the problem is that something so powerful takes hold of us and becomes a binder. So pleasures become binders. This is the problem with pleasure. And in Buddhadharma, not to be attached to pleasures is a very important aspect. Not that pleasure is bad or wrong. Practice to be joyful. that bind us, that is the problem.

[07:01]

So all of these aspects are natural, but each one of them has to afford us our freedom rather than bind us. So ill-will, anger, always comes up. If you don't experience anger, At least once a day, raise your hand. Yes. So, how to not be controlled by anger, because anger also becomes an addiction. Anger is a very powerful addiction and has the same power as sexual So, one of our precepts, you know, don't harbor ill will.

[08:04]

Harboring is the problem. So, how do we deal with ill will when it comes up? Because it comes up all the time, even though we're not necessarily conscious of it, in our subconscious mind it's brewing all the time. There's the anger type, and there's the delusional type. And in the sutra, there's a description of the three types. The food. The green type is very delicate and wants to make sure everything is just right. And very scrupulous. The anger type only eats certain powerful foods.

[09:11]

The delusional type takes all their food and mixes it all together and stirs it all up. It's kind of non-discriminating, but not in a good way. Intelligent people, people that are shurubrily conditioned tend to be anger-type and very hard to control. So anger-type needs a little more to be controlled by compassion. So, ill will is indeed to our nature. So, how can we be, how can we control, not control, you know, by force, but how do we remain free from being caught by our anger?

[10:23]

I remember Suzuki Roshi used to say, I get angry, Zen masters get angry, anger comes up, but I use the anger rather than being used by it. The problem is that we are all used by anger. space in our mind. So the problem here is, how do we free our mind so that we have space for actual freedom? We talk about freedom a lot, you know, free country, I want my freedom, freedom or death. But do we want freedom? We talk about it a lot, but actually, is it really what you want?

[11:35]

I don't think so. You know why? Because freedom is boring. When you sit in Zazen, you have perfect freedom. And it's called boredom. But it's boring. It's only boring because we want something. We want something interesting. The mind is always wanting something interesting. And so all of these sexual desire, ill will, anger is a great interesting thing, because it gives us a lot of power. It's an outlet for our power. If you can't find the outlet for your power in loving kindness, you find it in anger.

[12:40]

a vehicle, we are like a radio station. The waves come in and get digested, and then something is transmitted. So we're like transmitters. We're transmitters of all kinds of waves. We make waves. can either nurture or destroy both ourselves and others. If we realize that we are transmitters and that and to transmit Buddhist Dharma.

[14:06]

And the hindrances keep us, kind of squeeze that, take up all that space that can be used for transmitting Buddhist Dharma. So sloths and torpor It's called laziness, you know, and we call it sloths and talkers, you know, bad. But there's a reason for sloths and talkers, or laziness. Why can't I get up? Why can't I do this? Oh my God, I have to do that again. I'd rather just sit around. But motivation is missing. So how do we allow, not create motivation, but what motivates us? If we don't have motivation, we tend to fall into bad habits.

[15:19]

The dope world caters to our lack of interest. interest was like, well, what will I do? I always knew what I was going to do. I didn't always know I was going to do what I'm doing, in terms of that. But I always knew I had something that I wanted to do. And when I see kids today, I say, what do you want to do? What do you want to be when you grow up? Oh, I want to know. And that I don't know is like there's something missing a motivating force, then we don't fall into sloth and torpor, because we have something that leads us. We have to be led by something. There has to be a vision of something. So I feel sorry for people.

[16:19]

We all fall into sloth and torpor from time to time. We all have it in the past. That's natural for us. something keeps us moving. In our monastic practice, the schedule keeps us moving. It doesn't matter how we're feeling. We may feel slothful, whatever. The schedule keeps us moving and then we find our path and we find our we can't find our motivation when it's missing. This is the great value of practice. When we have a practice that is continuous, then even though we may feel an impasse or a sloth or a torpor, the movement of the cycle of practice

[17:25]

keeps us going until we find our feet again. So this is the importance of practice. This is Dalkan, the Circle of the Way. The Circle of the Way is a continuous practice. And the continuous practice keeps us going, whether we have... no matter what kind of problem we have, it can be dealt with in practice. Everything happens. But then when you have confidence that's so, then it continues to motivate your continuous practice. So, I've seen that happen over and over again. The opposite of sloth and torpor is restlessness and remorse.

[18:34]

You just cannot stop moving. Actually, nothing stops moving. Everything is continuously moving. Just sit someplace and watch everything moving. It just does. So that you're not driven by the movement. People are driven by the movement. And our society is more and more driven. In a technical society, the more conveniences we have, the more we're driven. Right? The simpler our life is, the less it's driven. driven, because that which we hold on to also has us.

[19:40]

This piece of paper has me. I say, oh, I've got this piece of paper in my hand, but this piece of paper is telling me what to do with my hands. I do that, but then it falls down. So the more we take on, the more we're driven by that which we think we have, but which actually has us. So restlessness, how can we ever settle? Well, of course, our practice, we have Zazen. Last night, we were studying Gutei's one finger, Zen. You didn't have to say anything.

[20:42]

Everything was included in this one act. The whole universe is included in this one gesture. because we don't know what to do with it. Well, I do. I did this terrible thing and now I'm condemned to eat grass on my hands and knees. But it's something called forgiveness and something called making amends. And we can come back to zero.

[22:07]

We can come back to being settled. But until we actually have the practice of forgiveness for ourselves and others, we can't settle down. So it's really important. I send people coming with restless problems and I always encourage people to forgive others and to forgive yourself. And there are little ceremonies that you can do that will help you do that. And I highly recommend it because you can always come back. That's how you come back. redemption is possible. So remorse is not incurable, but it binds us.

[23:15]

So these are all binders that keep us, unless we are in control, unless we can give ourselves up, we remain captured by our own emotions and our mind. So the fifth one is called skeptical doubt. Doubt is important. Without doubt, you don't have a way to check yourself. So am I doing this? Is this right? Is this good? Should I do that? Doubt is important. But skepticism is different. You're standing outside and pointing. So a skeptic needs to have proof. That's good. We should have proof. Buddha says, Shakyamuni says, don't take my word for it.

[24:19]

You should study the Dharma and find your own way. You should have proof. It should be proven to you that this is the right way. Some people study Buddhism, and they're always skeptical. They want to do it, but they can't. I want to, but I can't, because I'm skeptical. Even a lot of people who practice. But you should practice with your doubt. Yes. You shouldn't let the doubt be an obstacle. When you let the doubt be an obstacle, that's skepticism. So just bring your doubt right into it. Practice. Otherwise you can't practice. Because faith is the opposite. Faith is what gives you the buoyancy and the confidence to practice.

[25:28]

But doubt is helpful because it balances faith. So a healthy doubt is important. And in Koan practice sometimes they talk about the great doubt. But it's a little different kind of doubt. That's not taking anything for granted. That kind of doubt is important. Not taking anything at face value or for granted. like an airplane, you know, the engine and the wings are a face, and it keeps everything going forward. And down is the tail, and it controls the direction, and it says, a little bit to the left, a little bit to the right, a little bit to that way. So both are necessary. And it's like I'm bound by these ideas I have, that scruple.

[26:49]

Very strong ideas. And because I'm bound by those ideas, I can't go forward. And there's many people like that. And sometimes we all have scruples like that. They're kind of, maybe you'd call it, It's an ideology. Dogma. Dogma. Yeah. Dogma is like schools, when it's perverse. So I've added some to these five. But first I want to say that the

[27:50]

The hindrances are like a shift of focus. The biggest problem is they shift our focus from freedom to binding. Freedom means not to bound by anything. But it doesn't mean that there are no rules. We only have our freedom when we have rules. you tend to think that freedom is to do what you want to do, whatever you want to do it. And that's kind of scary for people. So we all have rules, which keeps humanity from destroying itself. And as you see, because people go beyond the rules, we're destroying ourselves. blame.

[29:04]

You made me do it. It's your fault. Fault finding and blame is really a big one, a big bundle, because it doesn't allow us to take responsibility for how things happen. You think it's your fault, or their fault, or their wrong, which is not untrue. But that's not the essence. The essence is, what about me? What about my response? My reactions and my response? So, this is the basis of conflict. It's your fault. So the 6th patriarch, the 6th ancestor, has this wonderful poem in Plato's literature, where he says, fault-finding is the basis of delusion.

[30:06]

But that's one of the hardest things to control, is fault-finding, because it's always somebody else's fault. Yes, it is. But my response is what's important, not what comes from the outside. There's always stuff coming from the so-called outside. And it's my responsibility to deal with that in a way that's not delusional. I once wrote this thing that came to me It's like we went to a party and each one of us was handed a present. It's all mapped out. We don't know what it is. And when we opened it, we read the instructions. And each one of us had to figure out a puzzle that was inside.

[31:20]

So that's called a life. with these people under these conditions, and what are you going to do about it? You have to fit your piece with all the other pieces in this party. How do you make your piece fit with all the other pieces in this party to make the puzzle into something satisfying, completely satisfying? But unsatisfactory things are part of the puzzle. So how do you keep yourself from being a victim? That's the game.

[32:23]

How do you keep yourself from being a victim? You did it to me. You said this. You did it. I'm a victim of you. So it's not taking responsibility for yourself. So our wisdom is built on dealing with all this stuff and how to be free within it. How to find our freedom within all the stuff that we think is out there. So then we have attachment to excuses. Oh, I'm sorry, I was late today. And then tomorrow, oh, I'm sorry, I was late today. And then the next day, oh, I'm sorry.

[33:25]

We get an attachment to doing something over and over again and being excused. I say, well, if I say excuse me, that means I'm excused. So I can just keep doing it. Dogen has this Imo, which means justice, justice. And in that versicle, he says, when you fall to the ground, you use the ground to help you back up. When you fall to the ground, and you put your hand on the ground helping to stand up. Instead of kicking the ground and blaming it for making you fall, you use it to help you stand up. That's called using and not being used.

[34:28]

But if you keep falling to the ground and saying it's okay, then that's just making excuses. But isn't that what we want? No. Yes. No. Yes. When we sit Zazen, we think, well, now I should have peace of mind. But what you have is a piece of your mind. You know, Suzuki Roshi says, If you think that when you sit zazen that you will have tranquility, serenity, then you have a problem. Because everything else becomes your problem.

[35:34]

Everything else is hindering you from having serenity and tranquility. So you can't stand having anything When you stop complaining and just accept everything as it is, which is evil, then you have tranquility and serenity. You just have to stop complaining. So complaining is a big problem. Complaining is necessary. The baby, as soon as he comes out of the womb, he goes, wah! Big complaint. It's not really a complaint, but he does complain. She does complain. And continues complaining all of her life. No complaint.

[36:55]

There's a story of Master Rinzai, he said, I control the world. And some people go, what do you mean you control the world? He says, everything is just exactly the way I want it to be. And so we think, well, that's an exaggeration. It's just that it's so far from our complaint mind that we can't think it's possible. In zazen, there's nothing to complain about at all. If you realize there's nothing to complain about at all in zazen, you will have a peaceful mind. That's the secret of prasadhani. Prasadhani is nothing but the truth of our life.

[37:58]

Somebody may teach us some of those things, hindrances. Hindrances are also opportunities. If we realize that hindrances are opportunities, then it's called practice. And then when you realize that, in practice it becomes very joyful. More than joy of wanting to live. Instead of dividing the world into good and bad, and right and wrong, which is always a big problem, we live together. This is good, and this is bad. And that's the end of my story.

[38:55]

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