Defilements
When we defile something when we make it unclean, dirty, or impure. We all learned that in school, right? So we understand defilements to be any set of things that make something else unclean, dirty, or impure. However, for the fledgling Anapanasati practitioner (or yogi), defilements are defined differently.
From the meditation perspective, defilements prevent us from attaining our meditation objective. In Ānāpānasati, the practitioner’s objective is to attain a one-pointedness / single-pointed concentration (or “samādhi”) on the breath. If you consider a concentrated mind a pure mind, which I am certain the meditation teacher at Buddha Forest feels is the case, then defilements make the mind unclean, dirty, or impure. Defilements hinder the attainment of that concentrated / pure mind.
As novice yogis, we are battling defilements all the time. The reason a generic meditation manual (like this prescriptive one or even this descriptive one) is of service to aspiring yogis is that we all are, to different extents, struggling to overcome the same set of phenomena. We all are experiencing varying degrees of doubt, restlessness, remorse, sloth, torpor, and attachment to (or aversion for) people, places, and other things (or objects) that please or displease our senses.
These phenomena are all mental in nature. The word for these mental factors (or “mental states”) is cetasika. Cetasika is a Pali word. Pali is an ancient language in which detailed meditation instructions were recorded. Doubt, restlessness, remorse, sloth, torpor, attachment and aversion are experienced in the mind. They all are cetasika.
Cetasika are experienced because there are aspects of the mind that tend to ascribe qualities to the objects encountered. For example, some Capoeira students really don’t like learning to sing Capoeira songs. That aversion is cultivated by some aspect of the mind that ascribes an undesirable quality to singing.
Ironically, it is often the case that those same students have an attachment to the exciting energy of the roda created when other Capoeiristas are moving and singing beautifully. That is because there are other aspects of the mind that like the sights and sounds of the roda. The mind considers those cool moves and good vibes desirable. An attachment is formed and soon the Capoeira student has an insatiable taste for rodas.
Attachment, or a desire for objects that appeal to our senses, hinders our progress in meditation because we think about those sense objects instead of the meditation object. We are distracted. We cease to concentrate on the breath and think about the sights and sounds of the roda instead.
Well, maybe you didn’t cease to concentrate on the breath. I certainly did when I first started training ānāpānasati. Capoeira hindered my cultivation of concentration for years. [1]
Five Hindrances
From a yogi’s perspective, there are five things that defile the pure mind. They are called nīvaraṇa in Pali (or simply the five hindrances in English). The five hinderances are:
- Sensual Desire (kāma cchanda)
- Ill Will (byāpāda)
- Sloth & Torpor (thina middha)
- Restlessness & Remorse (uddhacca kukkucca)
- Doubt & Anxiety (vicikicchā)
During meditation practice there are five factors that need to be balanced in order to removed these defilements from the mind. Those five controlling faculties (or pañca indriyā in Pali) are faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and understanding/wisdom (or saddhā, vīriya, sati, samādhi, pañña in Pali).
Ten Defilements
Defiled cetasika (mental factors/states) are:
- Greed
- Hate
- Delusion
- Conceit (or Pride)
- False View
- Uncertainty
- Stiffness of Mind
- Agitation
- Consciouslessness
- Shamelessness
The first three are most famous and are the roots of the remaining seven. In Pāli they are called moha, dosa, and lobha. These bad boys are given as special name: the three stains.
[1] Not complaining… I love Capoeira and don’t think I would do things any differently if I had the choice presented to me again.
Professor Zumbi is a certified Capoeira teacher. He received his teaching qualification in the presence of great Capoeira masters like Mestre Suassuna and Mestre Acordeon. Zumbi organizes Capoeira Retreats that conclude with an introduction to Anapanasati at a highly acclaimed meditation center.
Professor Zumbi is not a meditation teacher and this is not a meditation guide. Zumbi’s meditation articles are written to share thoughts and personal experiences. Please find a qualified teacher if you want to undertake Anapanasati. Follow your teacher and forget everything you’ve read here.
