The Way of Wisdom: The Guaranteed Method

Phra Cittasamvaro Bhikku's rains-retreat talks, running until September 24th, have been a wonderful opportunity to hear the Dharma from a very skilled teacher. In last week's talk he presented an accessible and user-friendly interpretation of a useful Pali Sutta, and this week he gave an overview of the hindrances often encountered in meditation. Supportive and encouraging, these talks are, as they are designed to be, a real boost to practice.

My own approach, as readers of this blog know well, switches between Seon and Pure Land, with occasional nostalgia for the Christianity of my background, but Phra Pandit's talks, given his emphasis on practice and his focus on the goal of the unconditioned, are useful for anyone, regardless of tradition. After all, as he said this week, once you actually get down to meditating, all the concepts are left behind, and you're faced with simply your own mind jumping wildly around.

Whether we are already Enlightened but don't know it, whether Enlightenment comes about through the removing of impurities, or, I might add, whether Enlightenment is found through total reliance upon other-power, once we sit down the theories are forgotten and what we are most often faced with is not the limitless, the deathless, the immeasurable, but with those things that get in the way of us seeing it, that prevent us seeing things as they really are.

These are called the Hindrances and have traditionally been placed into five categories, but, as Phra Pandit said, you could just as well say there were 10, or even 500. The first is usually considered to be sense desire, the second ill will, then sloth and torpor, agitation, and finally doubt. But, as anyone who has ever meditated knows, they do not come in any kind of neat logical order. And it is these very hindrances, Phra Pandit taught, that we need to work through.

What people often think of as being a perfect meditation, a state of calm blissed-out serenity, can come about, Phra Cittasamvaro said, but more often that not they depend on how much work you've previously put in. He illustrated his point by referring to the idea of trials and consolations in the work of St Teresa d’Avila, the famous sixteenth century nun, in which one's interior spiritual journey needs to go through difficult periods before it can receive moments of communion with God.

Phra Pandit then outlined and explored these difficulties by extending an analogy of a bowl of water, and what prevents it acting as a mirror, across all five hindrances and outlining their causes, cures, and results. It is a remarkable piece of research and compilation and Phra Pandit has kindly put up the notes for his talk, including references to all the suttas, on the Littlebang website for anyone who might be interested. I've provided a link below.

The point however, as Phra Pandit makes clear, is not to analyse each hindrance and thus throw yet more concepts upon concepts, but to be aware that it is only through repeatedly working with those difficulties that arise, developing patience with them, being willing to sit them out, that progress is made. This, he said, is how good meditations are achieved, this is the guaranteed method to a great meditation - having lots of bad ones.

Links:

Littlebang: Notes on 'The Guaranteed Method'

Littlebang: The Way of Wisdom - introduction

Littlebang: The Way of Wisdom - weekly topics

On Marcus' Journal:

The Way of Wisdom: Introduction

The Way of Wisdom: Prelude

The Way of Wisdom: Panya

The Way of Wisdom: The Relay

Photo: Early 18th century mural (detail), Wat Ko, Phetchaburi. Apologies for the poor quality of the image.