Nivaranas

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N¨vara¼¤

The Hindrances

PTS: Dialogs of the Buddha III, #33: The Recital, T.W. and C.A.F. Rhys Davids, trans., pp201

WP: The Long Discourses of the Buddha, #33: The Chanting Together, M. Walshe, trans., pp479

PTS: The Middle Length Sayings, I: 33: Applications of Mindfulness, horner, trans., pp77

PTS: Woodward, The Book of the Gradual Sayings, V: The Book of the Tens, VII, pp144

PTS: The Book of the Gradual Sayings: The Book of the Fives, The Warrior, pp77ff, Hare, trans.


Pali	MO	Hare	Horner	Punnaji	Bodhi	Nanamoli	Rhys Davids	(Mrs)Rhys Davids	Thanissaro	Walshe	Woodward	Nyanaponika Thera
Pa¾ca n¨vara¼¤	The Five Bindups; obstructions	The Five Hindrances	The Five Hindrances	The Five Obscurants	Hindrances	Hindrances	Five hindrances	Five hindrances	hindrances	Five hindrances	The Five Hindrances	The Five Hindrances
K¤macchanda	wanting, pleasure-wishing	Hankering	desire for sense pleasures	Sensual desire	covetousness	covetousness	sensuality	sensuality	Sensual Desire	sensuality	hankering	Sensual Desire
vy¤p¤da, by¤p¤da	anger, hate	Ill-will and Hatred	ill-will	Hatred	ill will	ill will	ill-will	ill-will	ill-will, malevolance	ill-will	ill-will	Ill-will
th¨na-middha	lazy ways and inertia	sloth and torpor	sloth and torpor	Lethargy and drowsiness	sloth and torpor	sloth and torpor	sloth and torpor	sloth and torpor	Sloth and Torpor	sloth-and-torpor	sloth-and-torpor	Sloth and Torpor
uddhacca-kukkucca	fear and trembling	flurry and worry	restlessness and worry	Anxiety and worry	restlessness and remorse	restlessness and remorse	excitement and worry	excitement and worry	Restlessness and Anxiety	worry-and-flurry	distraction-and-flurry	Restlessness and Remorse
vicikicch¤	doubt, vacillation	doubt	doubt	Vacillation	doubt	doubt	doubt	doubt	Uncertainty	sceptical doubt	doubt and wavering	Doubt

**Pali Text Society, Pali English Dictionary (edited entry):**
N¨vara¼a: [Sk. *niv¤ra¼a, nis+ vara¼a of v.r (v.r¼oti)] an obstacle, hindrance, only as tt. applied to obstacles in an ethical sense and usually enumd or referred to in a set of 5...viz. k¤macchanda, (abhijjh¤-)vy¤p¤da, th¨na-middha, uddhaccakukkucca, vicikicch¤ i. e. sensuality, ill-will, torpor of mind or body, worry, wavering: D I.73...246; II.83, 300; III.49 sq., 101, 234, 278; S II.23; III.149; V.60, 84 sq., 93 sq., 145, 160, 226, 327, 439; M I.60, 144, 276; III.4, 295; A I.3, 161; III.16, 63, 230 sq.; 386; IV.457; V.16, 195, 322. Other enumns are occasionally found e. g. 10 at S V.110; 8 at M I.360 sq.; 6 at Dhs 1152.

PED on Line (no diacriticals): "Nivarana"
PED on Line (unicode font required): "Nivarana"

PTS: Woodward, The Book of the Gradual Sayings, V: The Book of the Tens, VII, pp78: "And what is the nutriment of the five hindrances? "The three wrong ways of practice." (of mind, speech, body) See: The Compilation Threes:#3.3

Bhante Punnaji, Awakening Meditation, pp8-55: "When the mind is free of the obscurants (nivarana) there is proper attention. Obscurants are the emotional excitements that prevent you from observing what is there. That is the main thing to understand. When you are free of those interferences then your mind is calm and rested and you are able to observe whatever is there. You are able to pay attention because your mind is not going after the past or the future, but just observing what is in the present moment. The ability to do that is facilitated by entering the jhana because the jhana is the state where the ind is free of the obscurants.
pp: 8-33: "When you experience the jhana, you are fully aware of the hindrances disappearing. In fact, when you become aware of them, they stop. They continue because you are not fully aware of them." (mo: possible doubtful description of the sequence here in that it is frequently stated that the hindrances are gone before the First Jhana is entered. ("Thus abandoning these five hindrances, these taints of the heart which cause the weakenign of wisdom, aloof from unprofitable states, he enters on the first musing..."GS.V:145) My view is that the tendency is to make a mysterious thing of the hindrances and their disappearance. For the second, for example, one is truly concentrating on understanding an element of the dhamma, that time is free from the hindrances -- look at the hindrances and look at the state of concentrating on the Dhamma; they are mutually exclusive --, and that is, by definition, the first jhana. What I think Bhante Punnaji is describing here is a stage a little further along the path: where the hindrances can be said to have been worn out, not just temporarily disappeared, but unable to return with similar force, greatly weakened or are eradicated completely.)

Hare (PTS: The Book of the Fives, pp 75ff): "And he resorts to some secluded spot: forest, tree-root, mountain, glen, rock-cave, cemetery, wooded upland, open space or heap of straw; and come to forest, tree-root or empty hut, he sits cross-legged, with body erect, setting mindfulness in front of him. Putting away all hankering, he abides with heart free therefrom; he cleanses his mind of hankering: putting away ill-will and hatred, he abides with heart free therefrom; kindly and compassionate to all creatures, he cleanses his mind of ill-will and hatred: putting away sloth and torpor, he abides free therefrom; conscious of light, mindful and self-possessed, he cleanses his mind of sloth and torpor: putting away flurry and worry, he abides poised; with heart serene within, he cleanses his mind of flurry and worry: putting away doubt, he abides with doubt passed by; no more he questions Why? of right things; he cleanses his mind of doubt.
Putting away these five hindrances, when the mind's corruptions are weakend by insight, aloof from sensuous appetites...he enters and abides in the first musing..."