How to deal with "unwanted" thoughts during meditation?

During dharma talks given by various teachers, one of the most common questions is on arising of thoughts during mediation and people complain that they are not able to control them. They want to know what can be done about these extraneous thoughts. And the replies we get from the teachers are various. One teacher said that we should not regard these thoughts as enemies. Just watch them “come and go” as they are fleeting. 

I want to bring your attention to the advice provided by the Buddha on how to not just deal with these so-called “thoughts” but also other hindrances that may arise during our meditation. We should pay particular attention to these 5 hindrances mentioned by the Buddha. It is mentioned in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta. You can refer to my previous notes posted earlier. That is why those posts I made are important. But so far, nobody requested for the last 2 parts. If they are unimportant to you, so be it. 

I quote from a teaching by the Mahasi Sayadaw. The various arising thoughts and our state of mind during meditation can be categorised into these 5: - 

Sense desires – the mind may think of desirable or agreeable objects according to its own inclination. (Kamacchanda nivarana) 

Resentment or ill-will – the mind may also dwell on thoughts of despair and anger. (Vyapada nivarana)

Sloth and torpor – the mind may slack during meditation and becomes dull and foggy. (Thina-middha nivarana)

Remorse (or, restlessness) and worry – the mind may become unstable and fleeting /restless. Then recollections of past misdeeds that you may have committed in speech or actions may cause you to worry. (Uddhacca-kukkucca nivarana)

Sceptical doubt – Doubts may arise in your mind as to whether you are doing your meditation correctly or not, whether it will bring beneficial results or not, etc. (Vicikiccha nivarana)

The advice by Mahasi Sayadaw is that these 5 hindrances need to be discarded and rejected as they occur. Bring the mind back to its object of meditation. Again and again you have to exert effort to make your meditation right. Also, the Buddha adviced us in the Maha Satipatthana Sutta to be able to detect the presence of obstacles, the absence of it, how it arises, and know how to discard it. Further we should prevent it from arising in future. 

Let’s take a few examples, say, sense desires or sensual images keep arising in your thoughts. Firstly, I think you have to ask yourself, why these keep arising. Are you taking some “food” or “medicine” that may cause physical reactions by stimulating your hormones? Or, have you been missing your spouse lately? So, you got to investigate and try to eliminate or reduce these factors. The reason why in Mahayana Buddhism, particularly the members of Sangha are advised not to eat garlic, onion, leeks (i.e. the 5 so-called pungent food) is because eating them is said to cause some physical bodily reaction that may be detrimental to your practice. 

Another example, say restlessness or reminders of “something” you have done. Try to find the cause that is troubling you lately. Or, are you having some bad habits? Try to find out what is that “something” and fix it. 

All these are actions you can take to reduce your false thinking during meditation. It cannot be just watching them and hoping they will go away eventually. It may, but it could take a very long time, especially those that are due to some underlying cause.  

So, in this post, I try to bring your attention to the importance of knowing these hindrances and how to eliminate them, or at least reduce them. The Buddha had given us many guidance and teachings but most often we do not refer to them when we face with problems. That is when the Buddhist scriptures become very handy. They should become our sources of reference. Then you won’t go around asking teachers questions when in actual fact, you already have the answers there more than 2500 years ago. You should read and study these scriptures and if you have any further doubts, then you may go ask the teachers. Not before any effort to find out the answers yourself, you go straight ask the dharma teachers. 

#meditation #fivehindrance #mahasisayadaw #mahasatipatthana 

If you like this post, read this one   https://buddha-and-me.blogspot.com/2010/12/healing-by-meditation.html