Five hindrances
in Buddhism, mental obstacles to meditation and well-being in daily life
In the Buddhist tradition, the five hindrances (Sinhala: පඤ්ච නීවරණ, romanized: pañca nīvaraṇa; Pali: pañca nīvaraṇāni) are identified as mental factors that hinder progress in meditation and in daily life. In the Theravada tradition, these factors are identified specifically as obstacles to the jhānas (stages of concentration) within meditation practice. Contemporary Insight Meditation teachers identify the five hindrances as obstacles to mindfulness meditation.
Within the Mahayana tradition, the five hindrances are obstacles to samadhi. They are part of the two types of obstructions (Sanskrit: āvaraṇa), i.e. the obstacles to Buddhahood. The two types of obstructions are afflictive obstructions (Sanskrit: kleśāvaraṇa, which include the standard five hindrances) and cognitive obstructions (jñeyāvaraṇa, which can only be removed by bodhisattvas).
The classic list of five hindrances is:
Sensory desire (kāmacchanda): seeking for pleasure through the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and physical feeling.
Ill-will (vyāpāda; also spelled byāpāda): feelings of hostility, resentment, hatred and bitterness.
Sloth-and-torpor (thīna-middha): half-hearted action with little or no effort or concentration.
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