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Introduction to Insight Meditation, Session 5: Mindfulness of Thoughts and the Hindrances

by Philip L. Jones

I. Beginning Meditation -- Mindfulness of Mind-States (10 min.)

II. Discussion (10-15 minutes)

A.Questions from previous session and from week's practice

III. Review agenda for this class

A.Working with thoughts

B.Working with Hindrances

C.Doing sitting meditation for a longer period of time

IV. Working with Thoughts

A.As you have learned, as we start to practice settling down the mind we begin to see how much of the time we are absorbed in our thoughts and how hard it can be to stay in the present moment.

B.We often have an experience that is called "monkey mind" in which our thoughts jump from thing to thing.

C.As concentration develops, the mind begins to settle down and we see more clearly thoughts arising and passing away.

D.Right View: Thoughts are not an enemy.

1.The capacity to think and plan and discriminate evolved to help us survive as a species.

2.Individually, we use these tools to survive each day.

E.Identification: The problem arises when we identify with our thoughts, when we see them as ourselves, as who we are rather than as tools and factors that come and go.

1.In Dharmateaching we speak frequently about the powerful impact of identifying with phenomena.Identification imprisons us in the content of our conditioning. One of the easiest ways to understand this imprisonment is to observe the difference between being lost in thought and being mindful of it.

When we lose ourselves in thought, identification is strong. Thought sweeps up our mind and carries it away, and in a very short time we can be carried far indeed. We hop a train of association, not knowing that we hopped on, and certainly not knowing the destination. Somewhere down the line we may wake up and realize that we have been thinking, that we have been taken for a ride. And when we step down from the train, it may be in a very different mental environment from where we jumped aboard. When we do not know that we are thinking, our thoughts carry us into so many different worlds. 

-- Joseph Goldstein, Insight Meditation, the Practice of Freedom, Shambhala, 1993, p. 59-60.

F.So, what are thoughts?

1.Images

2.Words

3.Imagined sounds

4.Not sensations

a.Hearing a bell is a sensation

b.Hearing a bell and then thinking "That's too loud!" is a sensation followed by a thought

G.Mindfulness and Thinking

1.One of the important things to remember in this practice is that it is only possible to be aware of one thought at a time.

2.Therefore, each time you become mindful of a thought you replace the thought with the awareness that the thought had been present.

a.This strengthens the power of mindfulness and loosens the identification with thought.

H.A Note on Noting

1.Sometimes it is very difficult to be mindful of thoughts because the concentration isn't very strong.

2.At these times it is sometimes helpful to "note" or label what is happening, such as "thinking ... thinking ... thinking" until the thought subsides.

3.It is helpful because it gives the mind a little extra something to do and can help to develop concentration so that the attention can settle more firmly on the object of awareness, ie the thought.

4.I regard noting as a skillful means.

a.In the short run it can be helpful.

b.However, it is another kind of thinking and in the long run can become a habit that interferes with the ability to actually be present for what is occurring.

(i) The process would normally be a moment ofthought followed by moment of mindfulness, and hopefully followed by another moment of mindfulness.

(ii) With noting the process becomes a moment of thought followed by a moment of mindfulness followed by a moment of thought (the noting) hopefully followed by a moment of mindfulness.

V. Discussion (10-15 minutes)

VI. Meditation: Mindfulness of Thinking (15 minutes)

VII. Discussion (5-10 minutes)

A.What was this meditation like for you?

B.Any questions or comments?

VIII. Working with the Hindrances

A.You have now received all of the basic instructions for working with the four aspects of our experience: sensation, feeling, mind-states and thoughts.

B.There are, however, certain kinds of thoughts that pose a particular difficulty in practice, the Hindrances.

1.The Hindrances interfere with the development of concentration and mindfulness.

2.The real reason that they are a problem, I think, is that they are types of thoughts that we are most likely to identify with, types of thoughts that we are most likely to get stuck in.

3.So, an important part of the practice is learning to work with the Hindrances.

C.Working with the Hindrances draws upon the skills that you have already learned. It only requires two other things: knowledge of what the hindrances are and the effort to work with them.

D.The Five Hindrance: Desire, Aversion, Sloth and Torpor, Restlessness and Worry and Doubt

E.Desire

1.Also known as clinging, grasping, holding on and "the wanting mind"

2.If the mind is distracted from the ever-changing flow of present experience by something pleasant, desire is present

F.Working with Desire

1.Recognize that desire is present

2.Noticing feeling tone (pleasant, unpleasant or neutral) can be helpful

3.Attitude: Non-judgmental awareness, acceptance and curiosity

4.Holding it in mindfulness until it subsides. Allowing oneself to experience what desire is really like and learning how the fire of desire drives us.

5.Moderation in Daily Life

a.If feed desire a lot during our daily lives, it will be stronger when we sit on the cushion.

b.If "guard the sense doors" (explain), we strengthen mindfulness and weaken the hold that desire has.

c.The goal is not to banish the beautiful or pleasant from one's life, but rather to be aware of desire arising from contact with these aspects of life.

G.Aversion

1.Anger, irritation, rage, fear, avoidance and ill-will.

2.If one is resisting, avoiding or rejecting an experience, aversion is present.

H.Working with Aversion

1.Recognize that it is present

2.Noticing the feeling tone can be helpful in recognizing it.

3.Hold it with mindfulness until it subsides.

4.If there is not enough mindfulness to hold the aversion, another way of working with it is through the loving-kindness meditation, but doing this requires letting go of one's sense of having been victimized.

5.To work with aversion doesn't require that one be passive in the face of injustice and cruelty, it is simply important to be aware that aversion is present and then see what is the most appropriate response to the unpleasant situation.

I.Sloth and Torpor

1.Sleepiness, Dullness, Lethargy, drowsiness and "sinking mind"

2.A mental state, not a state of physical fatigue.

3.If one is well-rested but finds oneself falling asleep, that is sloth and torpor.

J.Working with Sloth and Torpor

1.The most important step is the first one, to recognize that sleepiness, etc is present.

a.If one doesn't catch this state as it first arises, it is usually so powerful that it will overpower mindfulness and one will fall asleep.

2.Curiosity about this state (is it pleasant or unpleasant or neutral? How long does it last? How strong is this state?) can provide extra energy to the mindfulness

3.If one can hold the sloth and torpor in awareness, after it subsides return to the breath .

4.Opening eyes.

5.Standing while meditating.

6.Holding a lungful of breath for 3-4 breaths to increase energy.

K.Restlessness and Worry

1.Quickly changing thoughts (monkey mind), anxiety, worry and excessive energy in the body (twitches, itches, difficulty sitting still)

2.Whether expressed mentally or physically, there is an unsettled feeling.

L.Working with Restlessness and Worry

1.Recognizing the presence of the unsettled feeling.

2.Holding it in mindfulness until it subsides and then returning to the breath.

3.Sometimes just opening to the fear, restlessness or worry a little at a time is all that is possible. Do what you can do, pushing the edge when you are able to. Be kind to yourself.

4.If following the breath seems to be contributing to the restlessness, if it seems to narrow a focus, try using sounds as one's primary object of awareness. It provides a more spacious field for awareness.

M.Doubt

1.Lack of confidence in oneself, the teacher or the teachings.

2.A mental quality of wavering, of being unable to find a clear direction.

N.Working with Doubt

1.Recognizing that doubt is present is the first step. Noticing the wavering quality can help.

2.Meet the doubt with kindness and acceptance while holding it in awareness until it subsides.

3.Being able to hold the doubting thought in awareness from the time it arises until the time it subsides can be very helpful.

a.Remember, only one thought can be held in awareness at a time.

b.Holding the doubt in awareness, loosens it's power and loosens one's identification with the doubt.

4.If the doubt continues, speak to a teacher whom you trust.

IX. Discussion (10-15 min.)

X. Meditation: Mindfulness of all foundations and hindrances (30 minutes) -- Silent meditation allowing students to apply the tools they've learned.

XI. Discussion (5-10 min.)

XII. Closing Quote

A.There is always something to hope for. Instead of being attentive to what is now, we hope for something better to come, maybe tomorrow. Then, when tomorrow arrives, we do the same again. If we were to change this pattern of thinking and attend to what is, we would find something to satisfy us. But if we look for some future thing that is more perfect, more wonderful, more satisfying than what exists right now, we won't find it. We are looking for something that is not there.

Ayya Khemma, Be an Island, Wisdom Publications, 1999,p. 123

XIII. Handouts 

A.Meditation Instructions: Mindfulness of Thinking

B.Working with the Five Hindrances