5 faults and 8 antidotes

One of the most challenging obstacles for a beginning meditator is Laziness.

Laziness can be an obstacle even before we reach our seat, because it can keep us from ever getting there. [...] Laziness has a draining quality, as if we are low in life-force.

Sometimes it's hard to see it because it feels like who we are. It encroaches on our most intimate ground. It manifests as an allegiance to comfort.

We may get plenty of sleep, but we are completely uninspired. We'd rather lie around on a couch watching television, or read a magazine and pass out on the floor. [...]

We have to understand that from the meditative view, laziness is a particular way of holding the mind. The mind has withdrawn into itself.

In its more extreme versions — when we are really lazy — the whole world seems very distant. It seems impossible to do anything.

When we forget the instructions, what we're holding our mind to is discursiveness.

We're on the cushion, so wrapped up in thought that we can't remember what we are supposed to be doing. The instruction to stay present seems weak compared to the power of our distractions.

Forgetting the instructions can happen suddenly or it can happen gradually as if we are losing our grip on a heavy object.

No matter how hard we try, we can't stay focused on the breath. The technique becomes blurry. Nothing inspirational comes to mind.

We can only remember a couple of words: "sit," "breath," "thought," "mind." Apart from that, we can't remember anything.

Not only have we forgotten the simple instructions. We might also have forgotten the view – the reason we are meditating.

There are [...] 2 kinds of agitation:

There is an obvious kind in which one keeps thinking about what one has done or what fun one has had, so one is unable to rest the mind upon anything.

In its subtle form one has apparent stability of mind, but there are still subtle thoughts that keep coming up.

"In stupor the mind is cloudy and dull. In its obvious form there is a loss of clarity of mind. In its subtle form there is some clarity, but it is very weak."

Occurs when dullness or agitation appear in one's meditation and one recognizes these thoughts, but doesn't apply a remedy.

If one does not apply the remedy, meditation will not develop.

For example, dullness or agitation may appear in one's meditation, the remedy is applied, and the dullness or agitation is eliminated.

Yet one continues to apply the remedy even though it is no longer useful. This is the fault of over-application.

The remedies should be used only when agitation and dullness appear; when they are eliminated, one should just rest in equanimity.

When we've heard the teachings and also experienced their true meaning – that to practice Śamatha is to abide peacefully – a certain faith develops.

This isn't blind faith. It's based on our own relationship with meditation. We have faith in a practice that we have experienced ourselves.

Although śraddhā is similar to the antidote of aspiration, aspiration means that one has something to aspire to, while faith means a belief in something very valuable.

Conviction can develop only if we are convinced of the benefits of meditation and the harm that conflicting emotions cause in a distracted confused mind.

Aspiration is trust with a sense of determination.

We are determined to discover our own Awaking:

 We aspire to be like the Buddha, like someone who has mastered their whole being, someone who realizes the profound truth of things as they are.

We have seen the volatility of external conditions. We have become dissatisfied with hope and fear as a way of life.

Now we aspire to depend upon our own stability, clarity, and strength.

[Aspiration means] that one likes to meditate and is happy meditating.

One could say that one is attached to meditation, but this attachment is positive, so we use the word aspiration because the attachment is to something that is not negative and harmful.

If one has interest and motivation to practice, then one doesn't have to force oneself to practice meditation; there will be a natural zeal to practice.

This means that one's mind is ready at any moment to meditate. One doesn't have to think, "Oh, now I'm going to have to meditate-how difficult, what a strain meditation is."

The antidote to forgetting the instructions is mindfulness – in particular, remembering. We need to remind ourselves continuously of the details.

If you have forgotten what you are doing with your mind, almost inevitably, you've also forgotten what you are doing with your body.

Start by remembering your posture. Is your spine still upright? Are you relaxed, or are you holding tension in your shoulders and arms? What are you doing with your gaze?

Simply checking your posture and starting your meditation over – "Now I'm placing my mind on my breath" – can be the most direct way to invoke the instructions when you've forgotten in the middle of a session.

Mindfulness has 3 characteristics:

1^st, one has a sharpness and clearness of mind in which the instructions are not forgotten.

2^nd, although the mind is very sharp and focused, there are not many thoughts arising because meditation is non-conceptual, so there are not many thoughts arising and the mind is naturally focused one-pointedly on an object.

3^rd, because one has trust and faith and has the suppleness or flexibility of having become well trained, meditation becomes pleasant with a sense of comfort and pleasure.

These 3 qualities in one's meditation cause the meditation instructions not to be forgotten.

The antidote to both elation and laxity is awareness:

We have to look at what's going on in our mind. Once awareness has told us that we are too loose or too tight, we have to learn how to adjust.

If the obstacle is elation, we might try relaxing the technique, giving it a bit more room:

We could give our outbreath more focus than our in-breath so that the mind has more freedom. [...]

If the obstacle is laxity, we need to tighten up our practice:

We can bring more of our mind to the breathing overall. We could focus on the in-breath. We can stabilize our posture. We might try to perk up by removing a layer of clothing, opening a window, or raising our gaze.

The 4^th fault is inactivity in which one experiences dullness or agitation in one's meditation but does nothing about it. When this happens, one will fall under its power and obviously not be able to work toward Enlightenment.

When one recognizes that there is dullness or agitation during meditation, one should remember and apply the remedies with diligence. So performing the proper remedy will eliminate the defect of inactivity.

The 5^th fault is the defect of over-activity, which means that when one is meditating with none of the 5 faults, one shouldn't do anything but rest in that meditative state. Doing this will eliminate the defect of over-activity.

[...] the 5 hindrances to concentration [...] are presented both in the Pāḷi texts and the Mahāyāna texts.

However, Maitreya and Asaṅga, in their Mahāyāna texts, presented a list of 5 faults to concentration and 8 antidotes.

There's some overlap between these two sets of the 5 hindrances and the 5 faults. But there are also some differences so it's good to go through both sets. This then gives us a rounded, complete picture of how to generate concentration.