At this point in the series, I’m having this problem where if there are some new people in the sitting group that night, and there usually are a few, I feel like I have to go back to the beginning and give a slam bam version of the whole sequence before I can get on to the topic at hand. This is really slowing down progress through the set, but maybe it’s helpful for folks in their absorption of the material.

So here’s two weeks on the 5 Hindrances, the set of qualities (dhammas) in the 4th Satipaṭṭhāna that are to be seen with clarity and diminished through Wise Effort. The first week talks about them in the context of the whole Satipaṭṭhāna model, and the second on them as Autonomic Nervous System symptoms based in self-protective motor responses to the perception of threat. The second talk ends with the sweetest thing I think I’ve ever said about Doubt, everyone’s least favorite hindrance. (4.16.19 and 4.23.19)

Meditation: Bringing awareness to the whole body, the mind states present, and the hindrances if present.
(Recorded on 4.16.19 at Insight Meditation Satsang, Berkeley, CA)

Talk: The 5 Hindrances in Satipaṭṭhāna practice, part 1.
(Recorded on 4.16.19 at Insight Meditation Satsang, Berkeley, CA)

Meditation: Whole body awareness, whole body breath, attention to the pleasant and strategic inattention to the unpleasant as Wise Effort.
(Recorded on 4.23.19 at Insight Meditation Satsang, Berkeley, CA)

Talk: The 5 Hindrances in Satipaṭṭhāna practice, part 2.
(Recorded on 4.23.19 at Insight Meditation Satsang, Berkeley, CA)