Day 2 Apr Retreat -MN 39 Distractions and Hindrances

So today we will be talking about hindrances. So I'm going to start with the first sutta, which is Majjhima Nikaya 39, Maha Asapura Sutta. This is the greater discourse at Asapura. Thus have I heard on one occasion, the Blessed One was living in the Angan country at a town of the Angans named Asapura. There, the Blessed One addressed the bhikkhus thus, Bhikkhus, Venerable Sir, they replied. The Blessed One said this, Recluses, recluses, bhikkhus, that is how people perceive you. And when you are asked, what are you, you claim that you are recluses.

Since that is what you are designated and what you claim to be, you should train thus. We will undertake and practice those things that make one a recluse, that make one a Brahmin. Now, when he mentions Brahmin here, he's not talking about it in the context of the religious order of Brahmins, the Hindu Brahmins. Brahmins also means somebody who has attained.

So in this context, he's talking about someone who has become fully awakened, someone who has become an arahant. So that our designations may be true and our claims genuine, and so that the services of those whose robes, alms, food, resting place, and medicinal requisites we use shall bring them great fruit and benefit. And so that our going forth shall not be in vain, but fruitful and fertile.

So here the Buddha is talking about we are possessed of shame and fear of wrongdoing. We could say that that basically means understanding the consequences of what happens when you break a precept. When you break a precept, what happens? Your mind says, I shouldn't have done that, and it becomes restless and agitated. So fear and shame of wrongdoing is really more about understanding the consequences of unwholesome intentions, unwholesome speech, and unwholesome actions.

Understanding that when you break a precept, it creates disturbance in the mind. It creates restlessness and agitation, and therefore, not a great sit, ultimately. First you have to understand, why do we keep the precepts? What is the importance of keeping precepts? And what happens when we break precepts? We're going to further explore this. What more is to be done? Bhikkhus, you should train thus. Our bodily conduct shall be purified, clean, and open, flawless, and restrained, and we will not laud ourselves and disparage others on account of that purified bodily conduct.

So here first the Buddha talks about purified bodily conduct. Purified bodily conduct means not to harm or kill on purpose. Not to take what is not given. And not to have sexual or sensual misconduct. So you're talking about the precepts again. So now the Buddha is talking about bodily, then mental and verbal. And we'll talk about that.

So non-ill will is loving kindness. Going from ill will to non-ill will is done through loving kindness. And then you have non-ill will as the third component, and that is developing compassion. So when you are purifying your mind through the practice of radiating loving-kindness, radiating compassion, with equanimity, meaning you're not bothered about what happens, just seeing things as they are, and 6R-ing whenever there's a distraction, you're purifying your mental conduct. Now, bhikkhus, you may think thus, we are possessed of shame and fear of wrongdoing. Our bodily conduct and verbal conduct have been purified, and our mental conduct has been purified. That much is enough. And you may rest content with that much. Bhikkhus, I inform you, I declare to you, you who seek the recluse's status, do not fall short of the goal of recluseship while there is more to be done. What more is to be done?

Bhikkhus, you should train thus. Our livelihood shall be purified, clear and open, flawless and restrained, and we will not laud ourselves and disparage others on account of that purified livelihood. So now, when we talk about purified livelihood, what are we talking about? We're talking about right livelihood. So right livelihood is, if I can remember correctly, abstaining from trading in anything dealing with weapons, alcohol, poisons, meat and intoxicants, is that right? People, intoxicants and alcohol is the same thing. Human trafficking. It's about being a butcher. Now, bhikkhus, you may think thus. We are possessed of shame and fear of wrongdoing. Our bodily conduct, verbal conduct, and mental conduct have been purified, and our livelihood has been purified.

Since if we left these faculties unguarded, evil, unwholesome states of covetousness and grief might invade us. We will practice the way of their restraint. We will guard these faculties. We will undertake the restraint of these faculties. So sense restraint comes from the word samvara. And really what that is, is understanding what is happening through the process of your sixth sense basis. It's not about trying to control them. The moment you try to control what's happening, you can't control what you see. You can't control what you hear. You can't control what you smell. You can't control what you taste. You can't control what you feel. You can't control the wind coming and going when you're meditating outside.

You can't control your mind. You can't control the thoughts that arise. So what are we talking about when we say restraint? It's not about controlling them. It's about understanding what's happening when evil unwholesome states arise. Those are the hindrances. Having lack of attention in whatever is happening. If you get carried away with what's happening, let's say you're sitting down for practice and you hear somebody rustling and ruffling around, does your mind go to that and get irritated by that? Or does it just see it as it is and then come back to the meditation?

So it's about how you respond to the experience of your sense bases. Do you respond with craving or covetousness, as it's said, aversion, with anger, with irritation? Or do you just see it as an experience of the sense bases and don't let your mind become fettered by them? Don't let your mind become bothered by them? So this is seeing things as they are, allowing things to be as they are. When your thoughts come up in the meditation, do you get bothered by them? There might be thoughts in the background, but you're still with their object of meditation. The mind will do what it's doing. So it's not a process of tightening your control over something.

It's a process of understanding what they are. Seeing that the experiences themselves are impersonal, not to be taken as self. Seeing them as arising and passing away. So samvara, or restraint, is about allowing things to be and letting your mind be unaffected by them. Letting your reactions be responses rather than reacting or being reactive to them, and getting caught up by them and pulled by them. You're just allowing them to be and coming back to the meditation using the six R's.

That can happen while you're meditating, that can happen while you're having your food, that can happen while you're walking, that can happen at any point in time. So it's all about maintaining that ability to observe how mind's attention moves from one thing to another. Now, bhikkhus, you may think thus. We are possessed of shame and fear of wrongdoing.

What more is to be done? Bhikkhus, you should train thus, we will be moderate in eating, reflecting wisely, we will take food neither for amusement, nor for intoxication, nor for the sake of physical beauty and attractiveness, but only for the endurance and continuance of this body, for ending discomfort and for assisting the holy life, considering, thus I shall terminate old feelings without arousing new feelings, and I shall be healthy and blameless, and shall live in comfort. Now, bhikkhus, you may think thus. We are possessed of shame and fear of wrongdoing. Our bodily conduct, verbal conduct, mental conduct, and livelihood have been purified. We guard the sense doors of our faculties, and we are moderate in eating.

What is it that you're listening to? What is it that you're feeling? What is it that you're doing? Moderation in consumption of the six sense basis. That includes food. So what is the quality of the things that you're doing in the way of consuming, in the process of consuming things, whether it's watching a movie or listening to music or tasting certain kinds of food, does the mind grasp onto them? Does the mind want more and crave more for it without realizing that this is enough? And what is the quality of whatever it is that you're consuming? This is one way of understanding it when you're off retreat.

What kind of stuff are you doing? Is it wholesome or unwholesome? Is it leading to wholesome intentions or leading to unwholesome intentions? What more is to be done? Bhikkhus, you should train thus. We will be devoted to wakefulness. During the day, while walking back and forth and sitting, we will purify our minds of obstructive states. What are obstructive states?

Hindrances. While walking back and forth and sitting, that includes while eating as well, while taking a shower, while driving, while walking obviously. So that means you're always seeing what's going on in the mind, and if there's craving arising, if there's aversion arising, if there's tightness and tension, you use the six R's. It's a process of applying right effort whenever craving arises, not just in the meditation, not just in walking meditation, but all throughout your day. And that means that the wakefulness that arises arises because you have a smile on your face, you have a smile in your heart, you keep your mind light. That's why there is an emphasis on smiling all day long, because it keeps the mind uplifted, it keeps the mind awake and alert, and it sharpens the clarity and mindfulness.

In the first watch of the night, while walking back and forth and sitting, we will purify our minds of obstructive states. In the middle watch of the night, we will lie down on the right side in the lion's pose, with one foot overlapping the other, mindful and fully aware, after noting in our minds the time for arising.

Now you could do this if you want when you go to sleep. You can try doing the lion's pose and see how that works for you. But ultimately what it's saying is, we will lie down after noting in our minds the time for rising. Remember yesterday I said, whatever time you have to wake up, make a determination that you'll wake up. Let's say if you have to wake up at 5 o'clock, 4.57 or 5.03 or 4.58 or whatever it might be. Noting that time creates a process in the mind that allows it to be watchful, allows it to be alert.

It trains the mind for certain things that you'll do and allows the mind to be uplifted all the time. And you'll see the effect of it. After rising in the third watch of the night, while walking back and forth and sitting, we will purify our minds of obstructive states. Now, bhikkhus, you may think thus. We are possessed of shame and fear of wrongdoing.

What more is to be done? Bhikkhus, you should train thus. We will be possessed of mindfulness and full awareness. We will act in full awareness when going forward and returning. We will act in full awareness when looking ahead and looking away. We will act in full awareness when flexing and extending our limbs. We will act in full awareness when wearing our robes and carrying our outer robe and bowl. We will act in full awareness when eating, drinking, consuming food and tasting.

We will act in full awareness when defecating and urinating. We will act in full awareness when walking, standing, sitting, falling asleep, waking up, talking and keeping silent. So all of this consists of mindfulness. And you go back to the Satipatthana Sutta, it talks about the full awareness, the mindfulness and full awareness in doing all of these various activities.

And what are you aware of? Are you aware of what the mind is doing, how the mind's attention moves? So are you aware that the mind is staying with its loving-kindness, whatever it is that you're doing? Or are you aware that the mind is distracted and having hindrances? In either case, you win if you're mindful.

If you realize that you're distracted, you can then use the six R's, apply right effort by using the six R's, and come back to your object of meditation. So it's not about the mindfulness of eating in terms of, now I'm noting that I'm eating. Or when you're walking, oh, I'm noting now I'm walking. Or when you're sitting, oh, I'm noting now that I'm sitting.

You're looking at how mind's attention moves while the body is doing these things, while the mind is doing something. You're noting what's happening when it comes to whether the mind is distracted or undistracted, whether the mind is collected or not collected, whether the mind is in jhana or not in jhana, whether the mind is in a formless attainment or not in a formless attainment, and so on and so forth.

Now we come to the crux. There's a lot more in here, but this is the real crux of what I wanted to talk about: abandoning the hindrances. Yeah? Just a quick question: could the mindfulness also be like mindfulness of the permanence of your body? No, because that's a process of analysis. You're now noting, oh, this body is impermanent. Instead, if you see it as a process of observing, not as a process of intentionally seeing something as impermanent, because then you're just going through a process of thinking, reflection, and analysis.

What more is to be done? Here, bhikkhus, a bhikkhu resorts to a secluded resting place: the forest, the root of a tree, a mountain, a ravine, a hillside cave, a charnel ground, a jungle thicket, an open space, a heap of straw. On returning from his alms round, after his meal, he sits down, folding his legs crosswise. You don't have to do that, you can sit in a chair, setting his body erect and establishing mindfulness before him.

Abandoning covetousness for the world, he abides in a mind free from covetousness. He purifies his mind from covetousness. So first we have to understand what it means when it says establishing mindfulness before him. Just observing what's going on. Observing when an intention to bring up loving-kindness happens. Observing when the mind is experiencing and feeling the loving-kindness. So that observation, that process of observing what's happening, is that process of establishing mindfulness in the mind.

And now we get to the first hindrance here, which is abandoning covetousness. He abides with the mind free from covetousness. He purifies his mind from covetousness. Abandoning ill will and hatred, he abides with the mind free from ill will, compassionate for the welfare of all living beings. He purifies his mind from ill will and hatred. Abandoning sloth and torpor, he abides free from sloth and torpor, percipient of light, mindful and fully aware. When they say percipient of light, a lot of times that's interpreted as when the mind becomes so concentrated that it experiences some kind of a light in the mind's eye. But that's not the way to look at it. Percipient of light means being aware.

Light comes from the word obasa in Pali. In obasa, there's four kinds of obasas. There's the obasa we have here. Okay, there's five types of Obasas. The first Obasa is the light of fire. The second Obasa is the light of the moon. The third Obasa is the light of the sun. And the fourth Obasa is the light of wisdom.

It's a percipient of wisdom, percipient of seeing how mind works. That means applying right effort. That's how you're free from sloth and torpor. Mindful and fully aware, he purifies his mind from sloth and torpor. Abandoning restlessness and remorse, he abides unagitated with the mind inwardly peaceful. He purifies his mind from restlessness and remorse. Abandoning doubt, he abides having gone beyond doubt, unperplexed about wholesome states.

He purifies his mind from doubt. So let's explore these five basic hindrances that you will encounter at some point in the meditation. So craving, this is sensual craving. Maybe somehow while you're meditating you smell freshly baked muffins, and now your mind is thinking about those muffins. And it's thinking, oh, when I finish this sit, when the lunch bell rings, I'm going to go in line and get those muffins. That's sensual craving.

So any kind of experience of the sixth sense bases, or the five, I should say, physical bases, where the mind listens to it, or smells it, or tastes it, or feels it, or sees it, and then wants more of it, identifies it, and says, I want more of this. That's sensual craving. Becomes obsessed by it. This is sensual craving. The mind tightens around it. The body tightens around it.

Ill will and hatred. Ill will comes in the form of annoyance, irritation, aversion, anger, hatred, and so on. So maybe a fly buzzing around in the room and you get irritated by it. It lands on your face or it's just buzzing around your ear and you try to swat it away or whatever it might be. You get irritated by it. You have hatred against that fly or anything else that might be happening through the sixth sense spaces that you get upset about. That is ill will and anger.

Restlessness. Restlessness is when you try too hard. When you're pushing, you're going to experience tension in the head and you're going to experience racing thoughts. Too many things going on because you're trying too hard, you're pushing too hard. When you make too much of an effort and you try to bring your mind to a concentrated state, you're going to see that the mind starts to flutter around. You're going to see that the mind thinks about this or that.

And then sloth and torpor. Maybe you ate a really big meal. You haven't had your nap. You go and sit down and you immediately notice that you start to fall asleep. The mind becomes dull. It feels like the mind is paying attention. And then suddenly there's like a gap in that attention. And then it's like, okay, I'm paying attention, and then there's another gap, and then you're paying attention, there's another gap, and eventually you just go like this and you fall asleep. Your mind becomes very groggy, becomes very dull. And there are some reasons for why this happens. It's either you haven't gotten enough sleep, or you're not paying attention too much, you don't have enough energy, you don't have enough effort. That doesn't mean you have to become one. It just means that you're not paying attention, you're not staying with the object of meditation. And then you have doubt. Now this isn't doubt like doubt about the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha. This is doubt in relation to what is wholesome and what is unwholesome. This is doubt in relation to, am I doing the practice right?

Am I doing this correctly? What's going on here? I wonder if what he said was right. Was it like that or was it like this? So these kinds of thoughts that arise, like, am I really practicing the meditation? Am I actually applying the 6R's? Am I with my object of meditation? These kinds of thoughts are doubt.

Now the way I see it is that there is a connection between the hindrances and the precepts. Now this is the way I see it, so you can take it for what it's worth to you. The way I see it is when you break the precept of harming living beings, or killing them on purpose, you are bringing up an intention of ill will. And as you do that, you are strengthening ill will. And that manifests as ill will, as irritation, as aversion in the mind in response to things.

When you take what is not given, that can bring up restlessness. And taking what is not given, the way I see it, is not just physical possessions, but taking what is not given in the form of seeking attention, in the form of trying to get credit for something. All of these different things that you do, try to take what is not given. This can cause restlessness because the mind is always on the lookout, looking for things, whether it's physical or mental or emotional, and this can create a form of restlessness in the mind.

Now when you have sensual misconduct, it's actually sexual misconduct, but we also have sensual misconduct. That means you become so enamored by an experience of the sixth sense basis that it causes you to break another precept, one of the other precepts. So you become essentially obsessed by that experience. And when that happens, you have sensual craving that comes up. So when you break this precept, you strengthen that hindrance of sensual craving.

When you break the precept of not lying, of not dealing in gossip, not dealing in false speech, and so on, you create doubt in yourself. You create doubt in others. You have doubt about others. You have doubt about your own capacities and capabilities. And so when you break this precept, you can have the strengthening of the hindrance of doubt.

And then finally, indulging in intoxicants. So indulging in alcohol or drugs. But I would also say overindulging in anything, whether it's media or the news or social media or the internet or reading too many books or doing this or that. Indulging or overindulging in these things can create a mind that becomes dull. Think about it. When you're watching TV for a long period of time, eventually the mind just becomes dull. It doesn't want to do anything. It has sloth and torpor. So alcohol, intoxicants, all of these things, drugs, they eventually dull the mind. So if that happens, if you break that precept, it can strengthen the experience of sloth and torpor in your mind.

So this is the importance, in my understanding, of keeping the precepts. You're doing it so that you start to strengthen your mind, you strengthen your mindfulness, and you weaken the hindrances. The only reason why you have hindrances arising in your mind. They are the effects of previous choices you've made in the past. At some point or another, you broke a precept, whether it was in this life or whether it was in a past life. And because of that, it translates into, manifests as, a hindrance in the mind.

Now we're going to talk about, let's just finish this part and then I'll go to the next sutta. Bhikkhu, suppose a man were to take a loan and undertake business, and his business were to succeed, so that he could repay all the money of the old loan, and there would remain enough extra to maintain a life. Then, on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. Or suppose a man were afflicted, suffering and gravely ill, and his food would not agree with him and his body had no strength. But later, he would recover from the affliction and his food would agree with him and his body would regain strength. Then on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy.

Or suppose a man were imprisoned in a prison house, but later he would be released from prison, safe and secure, with no loss to his property. Then, on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. Or suppose a man were a slave, not self-dependent, but dependent on others, unable to go where he wants. But later on, he would be released from slavery, self-dependent, independent of others, a freed man able to go where he wants. Then, on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. Or suppose a man with wealth and property were to enter a road across a desert, but later on he would cross over the desert, safe and secure, with no loss to his property.

Then on considering this, he would be glad and full of joy. So too, bhikkhus, when these five hindrances are unabandoned in himself, a bhikkhu sees them respectively as a debt, a disease, a prison, slavery, and a road across a desert. But when these five hindrances have been abandoned in himself, he sees that as freedom from death, healthiness, release from prison, freedom from slavery, and the land of safety.

So now we're going to talk about how do you deal with these hindrances. Any guesses? Six hours. Is this a good time for questions? Or should we wait until we... I can take a couple of questions, if you want. If anybody has any questions, I do. Yes. Mindfulness before him. That phrase. As I understand it, that is how many of the Theravadas think that the attention should be put on the nose tip, where the breath goes in and out of the nose. So, if that sentence just ended at mindfulness,

but I don't understand. Is it a translation? Is it a translation issue, before him, or instead of what he is doing, put mindfulness as the primary activity he is doing? That's how I get it. It's a stretch to say the nose. The Buddha knew what a nose was, yeah, the nose before you. But the way I see it is, yeah, we could probably just stop and say established in mindfulness. That is to say that you have an intention of observing how your attention is moving, so when you sit down to meditate or you're doing walking meditation, your mind is observing what's going on, observing in terms of not what you're doing physically, observing in terms of whether there is distraction in the mind.

Mindfulness established before him, I would say, as established in mindfulness. Maybe that would be a better way of looking at it. Now the THINK acronym could be taught. Oh, right speech. Talk about right speech. The way I look at right speech is think before you speak. So that's an acronym: T H I N K.

T stands for timeliness. Is it the right time to say what you're going to say? H is for honesty. Is what you're going to say something that you know is truthful or not truthful? I is for intention. What is the intention behind what you're going to say? Is it a wholesome intention or an unwholesome intention? N is for necessity.

Is it necessary for you to say it or for the benefit of the other person? And K is kindness. Can you say it with kindness? So that's THINK. Think before you speak. All right. Any other questions? No? So now we're going to talk about hindrances and the nutriments for the hindrances, how they arise and how to let go of them.

What I'm reading from is Samyutta Nikaya 46.51, Nutriment. At Savati, bhikkhus, I will teach you the nutriment and the denourishment in regard to the five hindrances and the seven factors of enlightenment. Listen to that. And what bhikkhus is the nutriment for the arising of unarisen sensual desire and for the increase and expansion of arisen sensual desire? There is, bhikkhus, the sign of the beautiful.

Frequently giving careless attention to it is the nutriment for the arising of unarisen sensual desire and for the increase and expansion of arisen sensual desire. The sign of the beautiful. We're not talking about the fourth jhana here when we talk about the beautiful. We're talking about something that's pleasant, a pleasant sense experience.

When there is a pleasant sense experience, if there is a lack of mindfulness as to what that is, then the mind can get caught up in it. The mind can see it as something that I need or I want, identify with it. And that careless attention, which is the lack of mindfulness of how the mind is responding to it, will create sensual craving, will create the arising of sensual desire.

And careless attention is also translated from a-yoniso-manisakara. So we have yoniso-manisakara and a-yoniso-manisakara. Yoniso means the source of something. Yoni, which is also the word for womb, the source of something. And manisakara literally means to take something to heart. So to pay attention to it, to understand it. So we're talking about careful attention as yoniso-manisakara and careless attention as a-yoniso-manisakara. The way I translate this in my book, A Mind Without Craving, is yoniso-manisakara is attention rooted in reality.

So that reality is the understanding of the three characteristics of existence. So the lack of awareness of the impermanence of this experience, the dukkha of this experience, of not worth holding on to, and the impersonal nature of this experience, the lack of attention to that, the lack of awareness of that, can lead the mind to be unmindful, can lead the mind to cling to it, to identify with it, and thus cause sensual craving.

There are, bhikkhus, discontent, lethargy, lazy stretching, drowsiness after meals, sluggishness of mind. Frequently giving careless attention to them is the nutriment for the arising of unarisen sloth and torpor and for the increase and expansion of arisen sloth and torpor. So what is sloth and torpor? There is discontent, lethargy, lazy stretching, drowsiness after meals, sluggishness of mind. You come back from a big meal and you come here to sit for meditation practice and you're saying, I will sit through this. I will do whatever I can to sit through this. But in doing so, you're giving careless attention to that. You're resisting to that. Instead, go take a walk, take a nap.

The idea, like Bhante says, is walk backwards to strengthen the attention or sit outside in the light, if that helps. So you have to be aware of your mind. Is there sluggishness in the mind? If there's sluggishness, maybe you need to take some rest. Maybe you haven't had enough rest. So take a nap. I encourage naps on this retreat. There you go. David knows what I'm talking about. And what bhikkhus is the nutriment for the arising of unarisen restlessness and remorse, and for the increase and expansion of arisen restlessness and remorse? There is, bhikkhus, unsettledness of mind. This is really interesting. Unsettledness of mind. There is this idea that if the mind becomes super focused, very concentrated, it becomes very attentive. But what you'll notice is when you do that you're trying too hard, and when you try too hard the attention actually becomes dispersed, and as a reaction of that there are all of these different thoughts that come up, and the mind feels agitated.

The mind feels like there's a lot of activity going on. But the settled mind is the mind that allows everything to be as it is, and has no process of trying too hard, just relaxing, allowing that water to settle down. Restlessness is also understood as that wind-whipped water. Things are going on above the surface, and then all of this mud comes up in the form of all of these different thoughts. But if you allow the mind to collect itself by relaxing, then those ripples stop, and the mud settles, and you see the clarity of the water. So by relaxing, by keeping things light, you're actually being more collected.

Not being certain about what the practice is, not being certain about what is a wholesome state and what is an unwholesome state, but you know what is a wholesome state and you know what is an unwholesome state. You know when the mind is distracted, you know when the mind is undistracted. You know what the precepts are, you know what the hindrances are. So then there's further doubt that arises in the form of, am I doing this practice correctly, what's going on here? These kinds of thoughts, when they arise, if there's careless attention given to them, then they increase.

But there's a way of dealing with them, and that is the process of right effort. That is the process of the 6R's. Now we're going to talk about the nutriments for the enlightenment factors. And what bhikkhus is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of mindfulness, and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of mindfulness?

There are, bhikkhus, things that are a basis for the enlightenment factor of mindfulness. Frequently giving careful attention to them is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of mindfulness, and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of mindfulness. So there's certain components that allow the mind to be mindful. And number one, that is intention, careful attention, allowing the mind to settle on the object, allowing the mind to observe what's going on, watching how the mind's attention moves from one thing to the other. Being able to do that, that you are fulfilling the development of mindfulness. And what bhikkhus is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of discrimination of states, and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of discrimination of states?

There are, bhikkhus, wholesome and unwholesome states, blamable and blameless states, inferior and superior states, dark and bright with their counterparts. So when we talk about discrimination of states, this comes from the Pali word dhamma vichaya. And sometimes it's translated as investigation of states, sometimes it's translated as analysis of states, sometimes it's translated as discrimination of states, discernment of states, and so on and so forth. But all of these somehow denote the idea that you have to think about them, denote the idea that you have to analyze or reflect on them. But that's not the case with this enlightenment factor. This enlightenment factor is all about understanding that the mind is distracted or undistracted. So mindfulness leads to the discrimination of states.

The mindfulness, the remembering of observing how the mind's attention moves from one thing to the other, allows you to see that the mind is distracted or the mind is collected. So when you recognize that the mind is distracted, when you recognize that the mind is no longer on its object of meditation, you fulfill the enlightenment factor of mindfulness and the enlightenment factor of discernment of states, because now you recognize, oh, I am now distracted. Somebody raise their hand? Frequently giving careful attention to them is a nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of discrimination of states, and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of discrimination of states.

And what bhikkhus is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of energy, and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of energy? There are, bhikkhus, the element of arousal, the element of endeavor, the element of exertion. In short, it's all about having right effort, the effort to let go, the effort to see what's going on and to let go.

When you recognize you have mindfulness, you have brought back your mindfulness, you have discernment of states. When you release, now you're taking your attention away from that. Now you realize you allow that to be there and you bring your attention back to mind and body to relax. This process requires simple effort of placing your attention back somewhere else. This is a process of awakening the enlightenment factor of energy. You're using energy to let go of that hindrance, to abandon that hindrance by releasing your attention from that hindrance.

There are bhikkhus things that are a basis for the enlightenment factor of joy. Frequently giving careful attention to them is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of joy and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of joy. So here when you re-smile, we'll get to relax. But first, when you re-smile, you bring some joy back to your mind. You start to uplift your mind again. So that process of observing that your mind got distracted allows you to discern that the mind is distracted.

That then allows you to release the attention from that hindrance, which is fulfilling the energy. When we relax, what we're doing is actually awakening the enlightenment factor of tranquility. So there's an interdependence between joy and tranquility. When you're joyful, you're naturally relaxed. And when you're relaxed, you have the ability to experience joy and happiness. So here, in this case, the way it's talked about is first joy and tranquility. But in either case, it works. So when you relax, you have tranquility. And when you re-smile, you bring up the joy.

And what bhikkhus is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of tranquility, and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of tranquility. There are, bhikkhus, tranquility of body, tranquility of mind. How do you get tranquility of body and mind? By relaxing. Frequently giving careful attention to them is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of tranquility and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of tranquility.

And what bhikkhus is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of collectedness and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of collectedness. There are bhikkhus, the sign of serenity, the sign of non-dispersal. The sign of serenity is a mind that is clear, a mind that is calm. After having relaxed, after having re-smiled, then your mind becomes collected. Now you return back to your object of meditation. When you return back to your object of meditation, you are fulfilling the awakening factor of collectedness.

And what does non-dispersal mean? That means now the mind collects its attention around the object of meditation. Remember earlier I said when people think that they have to be super one-pointed and focused, they think that their attention is non-dispersed. But actually what's happening is their mind goes in different directions. Whereas if your mind is relaxed and you allow it to collect around its object of meditation, the attention orbits the object of meditation. And so it's sort of, because it's in the gravitational field of loving kindness, or whatever it might be, it's collected. And so that is the enlightenment factor of collectedness, activated through the process of returning back to your object of meditation.

And what bhikkhus is the nutriment for the arising of the unarisen enlightenment factor of equanimity, and for the fulfillment by development of the arisen enlightenment factor of equanimity. There are bhikkhus, things that are a basis for the enlightenment factor of equanimity. So mindfulness leads to the discernment of states. The discernment of states leads to energy and effort, right effort. That leads to joy. That joy leads to tranquility. That tranquility leads to collectedness, and that collectedness leads to equanimity.

Equanimity is the ability to see things as they are without becoming agitated one way or the other. In other words, you see things as they are for whatever they are. There's a hindrance. Okay, there is a hindrance. If you get annoyed by that hindrance, you don't have equanimity. And so you can't really do the 6R's. But if you see, okay, here is a hindrance, you've recognized it and you allow the whole process of the six R's to happen, then you are fulfilling equanimity naturally, because you're not allowing the mind to become unsettled by that hindrance. If the mind is collected, it's collected, it doesn't get overjoyed by that either. So when we say unagitated, we mean unagitated by pleasant as well as unpleasant experiences, whether it's a hindrance or whether it's collectedness of mind with loving-kindness.

All right, we're almost done. And what bhikkhus is the denourishment that prevents unarisen sensual desire from arising and arisen sensual desire from increasing and expanding. There is bhikkhus, the sign of foulness. Frequently giving careful attention to it is the denourishment that prevents unarisen sensual desire from arising and arisen sensual desire from increasing and expanding. So this is the sign of foulness, which is about the asubha practices. But I would say the activating, the enlightenment factor of joy actually deconditions, denourishes sensual desire.

Because when you have mental joy, it's better than sensual joy. And that happens when your mind becomes collected, when you're in jhana. And what bhikkhus is the denourishment that prevents unarisen ill will from arising, and arisen ill will from increasing and expanding. There is bhikkhus, the liberation of mind through loving kindness. Frequently giving careful attention to it is the denourishment that prevents unarisen ill will from arising and arisen ill will from increasing and expanding. So we're already doing that with the metta practice.

By keeping your mind on loving kindness, you let go of ill will. And what bhikkhus is the denourishment that prevents unarisen sloth and torpor from arising and arisen sloth and torpor from increasing and expanding. There are bhikkhus, the element of arousal. The element of exertion. Frequently giving careful attention to them is a denourishment that prevents unarisen sloth and torpor from arising and arisen sloth and torpor from increasing and expanding.

So in other words, right effort, the process of applying the right effort, let go of sloth and torpor. But we also talked about a few other solutions. Meditating out in the daylight, taking a nap, walking backwards to increase your attention, whatever works for you, do that. But are you starting to see a trend here? The enlightenment factors, through the activation of them by using the 6R's, also let go of these hindrances.

So, for example, joy replaces sensual craving. Of course, loving kindness we are doing already, so that lets go of the ill will. Using the enlightenment factor of energy, of effort, let go of the sloth and torpor. And what bhikkhus is a denourishment that prevents unarisen restlessness and remorse from arising and arisen restlessness and remorse from increasing and expanding?

What do you think it is? What's the antidote for restlessness? Tranquility, relaxation. Peacefulness of mind. Frequently giving careful attention to it is the denourishment that prevents unarisen restlessness and remorse from arising and arisen restlessness and remorse from increasing and expanding. And what bhikkhus is the denourishment that prevents unarisen doubt from arising and arisen doubt from increasing and expanding. Now this is interesting. It says here, there are bhikkhus, wholesome and unwholesome states, blamable and blameless states, inferior and superior states, dark and bright states with their counterpart.

This whole process of knowing what that is, is the discernment of states. So the enlightenment factor of the discernment of states, when you recognize that you were distracted, let go of that doubt of what is wholesome, what is unwholesome, what is distracted, what is undistracted. Frequently giving careful attention to them is a denourishment that prevents unarisen doubt from arising and arisen doubt from increasing and expanding.

So in short, how do you let go of the hindrances? Six R's. Now you know why. That's why I say I could save up to two hours of Dhamma talks by saying two words: observe and six R's. That's it. Let's hear some merit. May suffering ones be suffering free, may the fearless be. May the grieving shed all grief, and may all beings find relief. May all beings bear this merit that we have thus acquired for the acquisition of all kinds of happiness. May beings inhabiting space and earth, devas and nagas of mighty power, share this merit of ours. May they long protect the Buddha's dispensation. Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu.