18 Day 2 Achieving Shamatha And Beyond - 7ptmt (2016)
<p>Five Obscurations, Five Jhana Factors.</p>
<p>5 obscurations and its antidotes, which are:
<br />The five factors of stabilization remove the five obscurations
<br />1. The factor of coarse examination removes the obscurations of laxity and dullness.
<br />2. The factor of precise investigation removes the obscuration of uncertainty.
<br />3. The factor of well-being removes the obscuration of malice.
<br />4. The factor of bliss removes the obscurations of excitation and anxiety
<br />5. The factor of single-pointed attention removes the obscuration of sensual craving.
<br />http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/gunaratana/wheel351.html#ch3.2</p>
<p>Water similes of the five obscurations
<br />1. Sensual craving is like water mixed with various colors.
<br />2. Malice is like boiling water.
<br />3. Laxity and dullness are like water covered over by moss.
<br />4. Excitation and anxiety are like agitated water whipped by the wind.
<br />5. Uncertainty is like turbid, muddy water.</p>
<p>The Buddha declared that, “So long as these five obscurations are not abandoned, one considers himself as indebted, sick, in bonds, enslaved and lost in a desert track” (Sāmaññaphala Sutta). This is clearly a description of mental ill health, and it implies a fundamental, distinctive characteristic of the Buddhist worldview, namely that the mind of a person that is prone to all the above obscurations may be normal but it is not healthy.</p>
