Āvaraṇasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato
The five hindrances weaken wisdom like side-channels weaken a river’s flow.
So I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika’s monastery. There the Buddha addressed the mendicants, “Mendicants!”
“Venerable sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:
“Mendicants, there are these five obstacles and hindrances, parasites of the mind that weaken wisdom. What five? Sensual desire … Ill will … Dullness and drowsiness … Restlessness and remorse … Doubt … These are the five obstacles and hindrances, parasites of the mind that weaken wisdom.
Take a mendicant who has feeble and weak wisdom, not having given up these five obstacles and hindrances, parasites of the mind that weaken wisdom. It’s quite impossible that they would know what’s for their own good, the good of another, or the good of both; or that they would realize any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.
Suppose there was a mountain river that flowed swiftly, going far, carrying all before it. But then a man would open channels on both sides, so the mid-river current would be dispersed, spread out, and separated. The river would no longer flow swiftly, going far, carrying all before it.
In the same way, take a mendicant who has feeble and weak wisdom, not having given up these five obstacles and hindrances, parasites of the mind that weaken wisdom. It’s quite impossible that they would know what’s for their own good, the good of another, or the good of both; or that they would realize any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.
Take a mendicant who has powerful wisdom, having given up these five obstacles and hindrances, parasites of the mind that weaken wisdom. It’s quite possible that they would know what’s for their own good, the good of another, or the good of both; or that they would realize any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.
Suppose there was a mountain river that flowed swiftly, going far, carrying all before it. But then a man would close up the channels on both sides, so the mid-river current would not be dispersed, spread out, and separated. The river would keep flowing swiftly for a long way, carrying all before it.
In the same way, take a mendicant who has powerful wisdom, having given up these five obstacles and hindrances, parasites of the mind that weaken wisdom. It’s quite possible that they would know what’s for their own good, the good of another, or the good of both; or that they would realize any superhuman distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones.”
The Buddha is sharing in this teaching a visual metaphor of the five hindrances and how they weaken the mind’s wisdom akin to the effect of opening of side-channels on both sides of a swiftly flowing river, dispersing and spreading it out.
As one is abiding in the jhānas, the hindrances are weakened. The hindrance of doubt (with regards to one’s ability to get to enlightenment, in Buddha’s enlightenment and in the teachings leading to enlightenment) is permanently removed after one awakens to the truth of enlightenment, at stream-entry.
Therefore, an effort should be made to understand the four noble truths, the five aggregates, and to continue practicing in line with the Buddha’s guidance towards cultivation of jhānas.
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