清淨道論 十障Visuddhimagga · The Ten Impediments

The first answer to “How should it be developed?” is: first cut off entanglements. The development of mundane concentration is summarized in six statements—become established in thoroughly purified virtue; cut off whichever of the ten impediments applies; approach a good friend and take a meditation subject suited to your temperament; live in a suitable dwelling; cut off the minor impediments; and develop concentration without omitting any part of the method. These six statements are the table of contents for the rest of this chapter and Chapter 4.

The ten impediments are dwelling, family, gain, a group, work, travel, relatives, illness, scripture, and supernormal power. Under each, the author first asks, “For whom does it become an impediment?” The answer is always: the person whose mind is attached. The impediment is not in the thing but in concern. A person who stayed one night left three possessions behind; one who lived there for years left none—the measure of an impediment is not how long you stay but how much you leave behind. A young bhikkhu ate for three months in the home of the mother who bore him and no one recognized him—family is cut off as an impediment at the thought “I am your son; you are my mother,” not at affection itself.

The remedy is plain: either finish the task or hand it over, but do not leave it suspended; with illness and relatives, care for them until you can let go. Do not forcibly suppress the matter or pretend it is absent. Twenty years without looking at the Majjhima and not one letter in doubt; eighteen years without touching the Dhātukathā and no disruption of sequence: when these elders put scripture down, scripture did not fall away from them. The final impediment draws a precise boundary: supernormal power is an impediment to insight, not concentration—one fruit of concentration has to be left behind.

The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.

§1 Summary of the Development of Concentration and the Summary Verse on the Ten Impediments 〔CSCD §41〕

The Explanation of the Ten Impediments

“How should it be developed?”—here, first, the method of developing the concentration associated with a noble path, mentioned earlier under “twofold by way of mundane and supramundane” and the other classifications, is included in the method of developing wisdom. For when wisdom is developed, that concentration is developed as well. Therefore, with reference to it, we say nothing separately about how it should be developed.

Mundane concentration, however, should be developed as follows. A person should purify virtue in the way already stated and become established in thoroughly purified virtue; cut off whichever of the ten impediments applies; approach a good friend who gives a meditation subject¹ and take, from among the forty meditation subjects, one suited to the person’s own temperament;² leave a monastery unsuitable for developing concentration and dwell in a suitable one; cut off the minor impediments;³ and develop concentration without omitting any part of the method of development. This is the summary here.

The following is the detailed explanation. First, concerning the statement “cut off whichever of the ten impediments applies,” here:

　　Dwelling, family, gain, a group, and work as the fifth;
　　travel, relatives, illness, scripture, and supernormal power—these are the ten.

These are called the ten impediments. Here, the dwelling itself is the impediment of dwelling; the same method applies to family and the rest.

§2 The Impediment of Dwelling 〔CSCD §41〕

Here, a “dwelling” may mean a single room, a single monastic residence, or an entire monastery. It does not become an impediment for everyone. It is an impediment only to a person who is occupied with new building work and the like, who has accumulated many possessions, or who, for some reason or another, is concerned about it and attached in mind—not to anyone else.

Here is an account. It is said that two sons of good family left Anurādhapura and in due course went forth at Thūpārāma. One mastered two Mātikās, completed five years, held the Invitation, and went to a place called Pācinakhaṇḍarāji; the other remained there. The one who went to Pācinakhaṇḍarāji stayed there a long time and became an elder. He thought, “This place is suitable for seclusion. Let me tell my companion about it too.” He left and in due course entered Thūpārāma. As soon as the elder of equal seniority saw him entering, he went out to meet him, took his bowl and robe, and performed the duties. The visiting elder entered his lodging and thought, “Now my companion will send me ghee, molasses, or a drink; he has lived in this city a long time.” Receiving nothing during the night, he thought in the morning, “Now he will send me the rice gruel and solid food brought by his supporters.” When that did not appear either, he thought, “There is no one to send anything. I suppose he will give me something after we enter the village,” and early in the morning he entered the village with him. They walked along one street, received a ladleful of gruel, sat down in the dining hall, and drank it. The visitor then thought, “I suppose there is no regular gruel. At mealtime people will now give refined food.” But at mealtime they again went for alms and ate only what they received. Then the visitor asked, “Venerable sir, do you always live in this way?” “Yes, friend.” “Venerable sir, Pācinakhaṇḍarāji is comfortable; let us go there.” As the elder left through the city’s southern gate, he took the road to Kumbhakāragāma. The other asked, “But venerable sir, why have you taken this road?” “Friend, did you not praise Pācinakhaṇḍarāji?” “But venerable sir, have you no extra requisites at the place where you lived for so long?” “Yes, friend. The bed and chair belong to the Saṅgha and have been put away; there is nothing else.” “But venerable sir, my walking stick, oil tube, and sandal bag are still there.” “Friend, after staying for a single day, have you left so much behind?” “Yes, venerable sir.” His heart filled with confidence, he paid homage to the elder and said: “Venerable sir, for people such as you, every place is a forest dwelling. Thūpārāma is the place where the relics of four Buddhas are enshrined; at Lohapāsāda there is suitable hearing of the Dhamma; and one can see the Great Stūpa and the elders. Everything proceeds as though it were the Buddha’s own time. Please remain here.” On the following day, he himself took his bowl and robe and departed. For a person such as this, a dwelling does not become an impediment.

§3 The Impediment of Family 〔CSCD §41〕

“Family” means either a family of relatives or a family of supporters. For some people, even a family of supporters becomes an impediment: living entangled with them according to such patterns as “happy when they are happy,” the person will not go even to a nearby monastery to hear the Dhamma without members of that family. For others, even parents do not become an impediment, as in the case of the young bhikkhu, nephew of the elder who lived at Koraṇḍakavihāra.

It is said that he went to Rohaṇa to receive instruction. The elder’s sister, a laywoman, constantly asked the elder for news of him. One day the elder thought, “I shall bring the young bhikkhu back,” and set out toward Rohaṇa. The young bhikkhu also thought, “I have lived here a long time. I shall now see my preceptor, learn how the laywoman is, and then return,” and left Rohaṇa. They met on the bank of the Ganges. At the foot of a tree, the young bhikkhu performed the duties for the elder and, when asked, “Where are you going?” told him the matter. The elder said, “You have done well. The laywoman is always asking after you, and I came precisely for this. Go on; I shall spend this rains residence here,” and sent him away. He reached that monastery on the very day the rains residence began. The lodging allotted to him was the one his own father had built.

His father came the next day and asked, “Venerable sir, to whom has our lodging been allotted?” Hearing, “To a visiting young bhikkhu,” he approached him, paid homage, and said: “Venerable sir, there is a duty for someone who spends the rains in our lodging.” “What is it, lay follower?” “For the three months, you are to take your almsfood only in our house, and when you leave after the Invitation, you must inform us.” He consented by remaining silent. The lay follower went home and said, “A visiting noble one has entered the rains in our dwelling. He should be attended to with care.” The laywoman agreed, saying “Good,” and prepared refined solid and soft food. At mealtime the young bhikkhu went to the home of his relatives. No one recognized him.

He used their almsfood for all three months. When the rains residence had ended, he announced, “I am leaving.” His relatives said, “Venerable sir, leave tomorrow.” The next day they fed him in the house, filled an oil tube, gave him a lump of molasses and a cloth nine cubits long, and said, “Go, venerable sir.” He gave a blessing and set out toward Rohaṇa.

His preceptor, traveling in the opposite direction after the Invitation, saw him at the same place as before. The young bhikkhu performed the duties for the elder beneath a tree. The elder asked, “Good man, did you see the laywoman?” He replied, “Yes, venerable sir,” related everything, rubbed the elder’s feet with the oil, made a drink from the molasses, and gave the cloth to the elder as well. He then paid homage and said, “Venerable sir, for me only Rohaṇa is suitable,” and departed. The elder returned to the monastery and entered Koraṇḍakagāma the next day.

The laywoman had been standing and watching the road, thinking, “My brother will soon return with my son.” When she saw him coming alone, she thought, “My son must be dead; the elder is returning by himself.” She fell at the elder’s feet, lamenting and weeping. The elder thought, “The young bhikkhu must have departed without making himself known because of his fewness of wishes.” He comforted her, related the whole matter, and drew the cloth from his bowl bag to show her.

Filled with confidence, the laywoman lay prone with her breast toward the direction her son had taken and paid homage, saying: “Surely it was by making a bhikkhu like my son the bodily witness that the Blessed One taught the practice of the Relay Chariots, the practice of Nālaka, the practice of Tuvaṭṭaka, and the great practice of the noble lineage that reveals contentment with the four requisites and delight in cultivation. Though eating for three months in the home of the mother who bore him, he never said, ‘I am your son; you are my mother.’ What a marvelous person!” For a person such as this, even parents do not become an impediment, much less another family of supporters.

§4 The Four Impediments of Gain, a Group, Work, and Travel 〔CSCD §41〕

“Gain” means the four requisites.⁴ How do they become an impediment? Wherever a fortunate bhikkhu goes, people offer requisites in large groups. While he blesses them and teaches them the Dhamma, he finds no opportunity to practice the ascetic’s Dhamma. From sunrise until the first watch of the night, association with people does not cease. Then, in the hours before dawn, bhikkhus who seek abundant almsfood come and say: “Venerable sir, such-and-such a layman, laywoman, minister, or minister’s daughter wishes to see you.” Saying, “Friend, bring my bowl and robe,” he remains ready to leave at any moment. Thus continually occupied, those requisites become an impediment only to him. He should therefore leave the group and travel alone where no one knows him. In this way that impediment is cut off.

“A group” means a group of students of the discourses or of the Abhidhamma. A group becomes an impediment only to someone who finds no opportunity to practice the ascetic’s Dhamma because he is giving them recitation lessons or answering their inquiries. It should be cut off as follows. If those bhikkhus have learned much and little remains, he should finish it and enter the forest. If they have learned little and much remains, he should go no farther than a league, approach another instructor of a group within that league, and say, “May the venerable one support these bhikkhus through recitation lessons and the rest.” If he cannot find anyone, he should say, “Friends, I have a task to attend to; go wherever you find suitable,” leave the group, and do his own work.

“Work” (kamma, new building work)⁵ means new building work. Someone undertaking it must learn what carpenters and others have and have not received and must be occupied with what has and has not been done; it therefore becomes a constant impediment. It too should be cut off as follows. If little remains, it should be finished. If much remains and the work belongs to the Saṅgha, it should be handed over to the Saṅgha or to bhikkhus who bear the Saṅgha’s responsibilities. If it is personal, it should be handed over to personal stewards. If no such person can be found, it should be relinquished to the Saṅgha and the person should depart.

“Travel” means going by road. A person may have someone somewhere who wishes to go forth, or some requisite that is to be obtained. If unable to obtain it the person cannot endure, then even after entering the forest to practice the ascetic’s Dhamma, the so-called “mind bent on travel” is difficult to dispel. The person should therefore go, complete that task, and only then devote effort to the ascetic’s Dhamma.

§5 The Two Impediments of Relatives and Illness 〔CSCD §41〕

“Relatives” in the monastery are teachers, preceptors, co-resident pupils, resident pupils, those who share a preceptor, and those who share a teacher; in the household they are mother, father, siblings, and so forth. When they are ill, they become an impediment for this person. That impediment should therefore be cut off by attending them and restoring them to health.

First, concerning a preceptor: if he becomes ill and does not recover quickly, he should be cared for even throughout his life. The same applies to the going-forth teacher, the higher-ordination teacher, a co-resident pupil, a resident pupil whom he has admitted to higher ordination or caused to go forth, and one who shares his preceptor. A dependence teacher, recitation teacher, resident pupil under dependence, resident pupil receiving recitation, and one who shares his teacher should be cared for so long as the dependence or recitation continues; someone able to do so should care for them even beyond that. Parents should be treated as a preceptor is. Even if they occupy a throne and expect attendance from their son, it must be given. If they have no medicine, one’s own should be given. If one has none, it should be obtained by going for alms and given to them. For siblings, medicine should be prepared from what belongs to them and given. If they have none, one’s own may be lent and taken back if they later obtain some; if they do not, it should not be demanded. For the husband of a sister who is not a relative, medicine may neither be prepared nor given; it may, however, be given to the sister with the words, “Give this to your husband.” The same method applies to a brother’s wife. Their children, however, are this person’s relatives and may be treated.

“Illness” means any disease. When it afflicts a person, it becomes an impediment and should be cut off by medical treatment. But if it does not subside after medicine has been taken for several days, the body should be rebuked: “I am not your slave or your hired servant. It is precisely through sustaining you that I have suffered in beginningless saṃsāra.” The ascetic’s Dhamma should then be practiced.

§6 The Impediment of Scripture 〔CSCD §41〕

“Scripture”⁷ means carrying the canonical learning. It becomes an impediment only to someone continually occupied with recitation and the rest, not to anyone else. Here are the accounts:

It is said that the Elder Deva, a reciter of the Majjhima Nikāya, went to Malayavāsi-Devatthera to ask for a meditation subject. The elder asked, “Friend, how are you in canonical learning?” “Venerable sir, I have mastered the Majjhima.” “Friend, the Majjhima is difficult to maintain: while you recite the Root Fifty, the Middle Fifty presents itself; while you recite that, the Final Fifty presents itself. How can there be any meditation subject for you?” “Venerable sir, once I have received a meditation subject from you, I shall not look at it again.” After taking the meditation subject, he did not recite for nineteen years. In the twentieth year he attained arahantship. To bhikkhus who came for recitation, he said, “Friends, I have not looked at the canonical learning for twenty years; nevertheless, I am well practiced in it. Begin.” From the beginning to the end, he had no doubt about a single letter.

The Elder Nāga who lived at Karuḷiyagiri likewise set canonical learning aside for eighteen years, yet taught the Dhātukathā to bhikkhus. When they compared it with village-dwelling elders, not a single question was found out of sequence.

At Mahāvihāra there was also an elder named Tipiṭaka-Cūḷābhaya. Without having studied the Commentary, he had a golden drum beaten and announced, “I shall expound the three baskets in the circle of the five Nikāyas.” The Order of bhikkhus said: “From which teachers did you learn? You may state only what was received from your own teacher; we do not permit anything else to be said.” His preceptor also asked when he came to attend him, “Friend, was it you who had the drum beaten?” “Yes, venerable sir.” “Why?” “Venerable sir, I intend to expound the canonical learning.” “Friend Abhaya, how do the teachers explain this phrase?” “Venerable sir, they explain it in this way.” The elder rejected it, saying, “No.” Three times, using different approaches, Abhaya said, “Venerable sir, they explain it in this way.” The elder rejected them all, saying, “No,” and then said: “Friend, what you first stated is indeed the teachers’ method. But because you did not learn it from the mouth of a teacher, you could not stand firmly and say, ‘The teachers explain it in this way.’ Go and listen in the presence of your own teachers.” “Where should I go, venerable sir?” “Across the Ganges, in the region of Rohaṇa, at Tulādhārapabbatavihāra, lives the Elder Mahādhammarakkhita, who knows all the canonical learning. Go to him.” Saying, “Good, venerable sir,” Abhaya paid homage to the elder, went with five hundred bhikkhus to the other elder, paid homage, and sat down. The elder asked, “Why have you come?” “Venerable sir, to hear the Dhamma.” “Friend Abhaya, people ask me from time to time about the Dīgha and the Majjhima. I have not looked at the rest for about thirty years. Nevertheless, recite to me at night and I shall explain it to you during the day.” Abhaya said, “Good, venerable sir,” and did so. A great pavilion was built at the entrance to the monastic residence, and village dwellers came every day to hear the Dhamma. [Abhaya] recited at night and [Mahādhammarakkhita] explained it during the day. After bringing the exposition to its end in sequence, the elder sat on a mat before the Elder Abhaya and said, “Friend, teach me a meditation subject.” “Venerable sir, what are you saying? Did I not hear it from you? How could I tell you something you do not know?” The elder replied, “Friend, this is another matter; this is what is called the path of one who has gone.” It is said that the Elder Abhaya was then a stream-enterer.⁸ The elder then gave him a meditation subject. Later, after Abhaya had returned and was expounding the Dhamma at Lohapāsāda, he heard that the elder had attained final nibbāna. On hearing it he said, “Friends, bring my robe,” put it on, and said: “Friends, the path of arahantship was fitting for our teacher. Friends, our teacher was an upright thoroughbred. He sat on a mat before his own Dhamma pupil and said, ‘Teach me a meditation subject.’ Friends, the path of arahantship was fitting for that elder.” For people such as these, scripture does not become an impediment.

§7 The Impediment of Supernormal Power 〔CSCD §41〕

“Supernormal power”⁹ means the supernormal power of an ordinary person. Like an infant lying on its back and like a young crop, it is difficult to maintain; the slightest thing breaks it. It is an impediment to insight, not to concentration, because it can be obtained only after concentration has been attained. Therefore, a person who seeks insight should cut off the impediment of supernormal power; the other kind of person should cut off the remaining [nine impediments]. This is the detailed explanation of the discussion of impediments.

Notes

¹ Meditation subject (kammaṭṭhāna): a general term for the object cultivated and its method of cultivation. The method of receiving a subject and the enumeration of the forty meditation subjects are set out in this chapter.

² Temperament (cariyā): the bent of a person’s nature—six kinds, with a temperament of greed, aversion, delusion, faith, intelligence, or applied thought. They are explained in this chapter’s unit on the six temperaments.

³ Minor impediments (khuddaka-palibodha): distinct from the ten impediments, these are small obstructions involving hair, nails, robes, bowl, and the like. The method of cutting them off is explained in the chapter on the earth kasiṇa.

⁴ The four requisites: robes, almsfood, lodging, and medicines as requisites for the sick.

⁵ “Work” here means new building work, not kamma in the sense of action and result—the treatise explains it directly: “Work means new building work.”

⁶ Teacher (ācariya) and preceptor (upajjhāya): the two teachers on whom a person depends when going forth and receiving higher ordination. This passage distinguishes kinds of teacher according to going forth, higher ordination, dependence, and recitation, and lists two kinds of pupil—co-resident and resident—together with fellow pupils under the same teacher.

⁷ Scripture (gantha): the treatise explains it directly as “carrying the canonical learning,” meaning the recitation and preservation of the teaching. It is called an impediment here only for someone whose constant recitation leaves no time.

⁸ Stream-enterer (sotāpanna): the first of the four fruits of the ascetic life; a person who has entered the noble stream and will not fall away.

⁹ Supernormal power (iddhi): the power of transformation gained through concentration. This unit speaks only of an ordinary person’s supernormal power.