Dear Friends,<\/p>\n
Gil Fronsdal wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n Because we tend not to see clearly when the hindrances are present, the Buddhist teachings strongly encourage people not to make decisions while under their influence. If possible, wait to make a decision when the mind is more settled or clear.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So if you have something big on your to do list today, see if you can check in first – what’s the state of the mind?<\/p>\n Gil’s article included this metaphor for the hindrances (based on the Sangaravo Sutta<\/a>):<\/p>\n An ancient metaphor for how the hindrances obscure clarity of mind is a pond. When the pond is clean and the surface still, the water reflects our image. The effect of sensual desire is like looking into a pond that has been dyed; we are predisposed to see unrealistically\u2014that is, \u201cseeing with rose-colored glasses.\u201d When the heat of ill will is present, it is as if the pond water is boiling; no reflection is possible. Sloth and torpor are like having thick algae growing across the pond; again, no reflection is possible except by doing the difficult work of pulling out the algae. Anxiousness is like the wind churning up the pond\u2019s surface. And doubt is like water filled with mud.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If a hindrance is present, can you first explore it, noticing how it feels in the body, how it feels emotionally, how it feels energetically? Does it shift and change?<\/p>\n Gil also lists the similes of what it’s like when the hindrances aren’t present (based on a portion of the Maha-Assapura Sutta<\/a>):<\/p>\n being freed from sensual desire is like being freed from debt; being released from the grip of ill will is like recovering from an illness; being free from sloth and torpor is like being freed from prison; freedom from anxiety and worry is like freedom from slavery; and passing beyond doubt is like completing a perilous desert crossing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Likewise, you can notice, if a hindrance is not present, what does that feel like? Is there a sense of joy knowing it’s not there?<\/p>\n And then you can enjoy tackling that to do list with an unhindered mind!<\/p>\n With best wishes, Dear Friends, Gil Fronsdal wrote: Because we tend not to see clearly when the hindrances are present, the Buddhist teachings strongly encourage people not to make decisions while under their influence. If possible, wait to make a decision when the mind is more settled or clear. So if you have something big on your to do list today,\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[102],"tags":[146,28,7],"class_list":["post-372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jan-2018","tag-fourth-foundation","tag-gil-fronsdal","tag-hindrances"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":377,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372\/revisions\/377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAndrea<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"