Though we receive lots of instructions for our meditation practice on retreats, let’s face it – we spend a lot of time thinking. What do we think about? At the heart of these movements of the mind is answering the questions, “Am I OK?”, “Was I OK?”, and “Will I be OK?” Our obsession with these questions is the cause of a huge amount of restlessness. Restlessness is one of the major hindrances to calming the mind and deepening our meditation, and can be seen as both the cause and the effect of all the other hindrances. The Buddha also talked about this kind of thinking, and called it unwise attention that leads to all kinds of suffering. We need to look at the core issues that lead us to dwell on these questions if we are to create a more skilful relationship to our thoughts.

Explanations of various obstacles on the path with more emphasis on restlessness, sloth and torpor and self doubt.

An exploration of the practice of mindfulness and hot it helps navigate the hindrances of desire, aversion, doubt, sloth and restlessness in meditation and the path.

A reflection on how to work with the challenges we all encounter in meditation. Craving, aversion, sleepiness, restlessness, and sceptical doubt are challenging but temporary visitors which obscure our deeper truth. By recognising them as such and learning to work skillfully with them we can free ourselves from their grip, revealing the natural purity and radiance of our heart and mind.

To deepen our meditation practice we need to work skillfully with whatever is a disturbance -- whether it's the gross forms of the hindrances, or the subtlest manifestations of restlessness. This subtle restlessness often comes from a primal anxiety. We need to recognize this and find the stillness in our experience. Then we can truly be with things as they are.

Arriving on retreat, settling in and becoming more connected and grounded. Exploring sleepiness and restlessness.

Though we receive lots of instructions for our meditation practice on retreats, let’s face it – we spend a lot of time thinking. What do we think about? At the heart of these movements of the mind is answering the questions, “Am I OK?”, “Was I OK?”, and “Will I be OK?” Our obsession with these questions is the cause of a huge amount of restlessness. Restlessness is one of the major hindrances to calming the mind and deepening our meditation, and can be seen as both the cause and the effect of all the other hindrances. The Buddha also talked about this kind of thinking, and called it unwise attention that leads to all kinds of suffering. We need to look at the core issues that lead us to dwell on these questions if we are to create a more skilful relationship to our thoughts.

Contentment forms part of the fabric of a liberated heart - cultivated in all moments of craving, restlessness and doubt.

Dharma Talk

Exploration of the classic “hindrances” in relationship to metta: attached love, aversion, sleeplessness, restlessness, and lust.

Working with restlessness and doubt.

A reflection on how to work with the challenges we all encounter in meditation. by recognising craving, aversion, sloth, restlessness, and sceptical doubt as visitors which obscure our deeper truth, we can free ourselves from their grip, revealing the natural pure radiance of the heart and mind.

We sometimes feel very connected with our love, wisdom, and mindfulness. At other times, we may feel disconnected from these qualities, stuck in what the Buddha called the five "difficult energies" (or hindrances). We explore compulsive desire and aversion, sloth & torpor, restlessness, and doubt - suggesting how to respond to these when they arise, both in meditation and daily life.

The hindrance of restlessness and remorse is a fundamental hindrance out of which the other hindrances can arise. The importance of becoming familiar with restlessness, to see or understand its nature, is discussed. Through having a clear understanding of how it arises in the mind and in the body one can work with its various manifestations in practice.

This talk explores the common obstacles to practice the Five Hindrances of: restlessness, sleepiness, doubt, grasping and aversion. The Hindrances are discussed in the context of the Buddha’s central teaching on the Four Noble Truths.

Step by step instructions on developing meditation practice by beginning with close attention to the breath. Gradually investigate the impermanent nature of wanting, aversion, sleepiness, restlessness, and doubt as they arise and overcome these five obstacles to practice. With curiosity and determination, return again and again to the breath. As the mind is stilled and purified, explore the clarity, calm and spaciousness of its vast inner depths.

In the end of clinging there is an end to becoming and to restlessness. We learn how to rest in what is.

Wanting, aversion, sleepiness, restlessness and doubt; how do they manifest and how do we work with them and survive a 10-day meditation retreat in India.

This teaching begins with an overview of the Five Hindrances: Desire, Aversion, Sloth and Torpor, Restlessness, and Doubt and continues with a thorough discussion of the Five Jhanic Factors: Aiming one’s mind, Investigation, Raptness, Comfort in Being, and One-pointedness which the meditator uses to effectively deal with and utilize the Five Hindrances in deepening her/his practice. The meditator gains perspective, alertness, connection, caring, and energy.