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Unhindered: A Mindful Path Through the Five Hindrances
This book is an engaging collection of essays, reflections and practices on the Five Hindrances, the primary obstacles to mindfulness and serenity in the teachings of the Buddha. With his characteristic clarity, born from decades of meditation practice and teaching, Gil Fronsdal demonstrates how to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones on the path of freedom.
119 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 14, 2013
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189 people want to read
About the author
Gil Fronsdal
28 books101 followersGil Fronsdal is the guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Center (IMC) of Redwood City. He has a PhD in Buddhist Studies from Stanford University. His many dharma talks available online contain basic information on meditation and Buddhism, as well as subtle concepts of Buddhism explained at the level of the lay person.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 2, 2016
This didn't work for me as an evening read, but I took it to the library with a notepad and got a lot out of it. An excellent study tool for developing mindfulness. I love the line in the conclusion that says, "The marvel of sight becomes more wonderful than what is seen."
July 13, 2020
Powerful, essential reading for all Buddhists. I read this book during my 3-month silent meditation retreat at IMS. It completed opened up my knowledge of the hindrances and what was beneath them. My highest recommendation.
September 9, 2024
This is the sort of book which, in the early days of my practice, I would have skimmed, and, upon seeing no sexy new spiritual ideas, moved on. Thankfully, I'm not quite as impatient or overconfident as I used to be.
Unhindered contains pithy, practical pointers to wisdom (best read slowly and reflected upon often). Seeing the hindrances, and understanding how they play out, is the spiritual path. If we don't see them, we cannot help but believe them, act upon them, or resent ourselves for having them. In other words, not seeing the hindrances is samsara.
To get a sense of how Fronsdal marries the practical and the aspirational, always with a mind towards freedom, below are some quotes:
"Wherever there is compulsion, we are not free.
By becoming wise about the five hindrances we are less likely to assume we are free when we are not. . . . Many experiences identified as 'spiritual' have subtle hindrances present. By being familiar with the hindrances we may notice the continued subtle influence of desire, aversion, or other impediments to our spiritual path. We can then appreciate we have more of the path to walk and avoid the trap of becoming complacent with our practice.
Some part of ourselves believes the hindrance has value and that belief fuels our continued engagement, even our attachment, to the hindrance.
While inner freedom may be experienced differently by different people, those on a path of freedom come to share a deep trust in non-clinging.
By seeing the difference between clinging and non-clinging we learn that freedom is found in non-clinging.
When the mind is quiet, restlessness can be as subtle as thinking, 'I am not thinking anything.' . . . Even more subtly, restlessness is present whenever there is the slightest clinging or pride in such states of calm.
The wisdom needed for working with the hindrances is discovered through mindfulness of them. This wisdom is acquired slowly, requiring much patience.
As practice becomes deeper the path of freedom becomes more obvious. At some point it becomes clearly the easier path. When we are new to practice it is clinging that may be easiest, one day it becomes non-clinging."
Unhindered contains pithy, practical pointers to wisdom (best read slowly and reflected upon often). Seeing the hindrances, and understanding how they play out, is the spiritual path. If we don't see them, we cannot help but believe them, act upon them, or resent ourselves for having them. In other words, not seeing the hindrances is samsara.
To get a sense of how Fronsdal marries the practical and the aspirational, always with a mind towards freedom, below are some quotes:
"Wherever there is compulsion, we are not free.
By becoming wise about the five hindrances we are less likely to assume we are free when we are not. . . . Many experiences identified as 'spiritual' have subtle hindrances present. By being familiar with the hindrances we may notice the continued subtle influence of desire, aversion, or other impediments to our spiritual path. We can then appreciate we have more of the path to walk and avoid the trap of becoming complacent with our practice.
Some part of ourselves believes the hindrance has value and that belief fuels our continued engagement, even our attachment, to the hindrance.
While inner freedom may be experienced differently by different people, those on a path of freedom come to share a deep trust in non-clinging.
By seeing the difference between clinging and non-clinging we learn that freedom is found in non-clinging.
When the mind is quiet, restlessness can be as subtle as thinking, 'I am not thinking anything.' . . . Even more subtly, restlessness is present whenever there is the slightest clinging or pride in such states of calm.
The wisdom needed for working with the hindrances is discovered through mindfulness of them. This wisdom is acquired slowly, requiring much patience.
As practice becomes deeper the path of freedom becomes more obvious. At some point it becomes clearly the easier path. When we are new to practice it is clinging that may be easiest, one day it becomes non-clinging."
October 23, 2022
Beautiful and practical book
This book has helped me in so many ways. It was written in such a way that was very relatable and easy to follow. It has helped me tremendously as I continue to work on myself and my journey through life.
This book has helped me in so many ways. It was written in such a way that was very relatable and easy to follow. It has helped me tremendously as I continue to work on myself and my journey through life.
November 19, 2022
Amazing teachings about how to study the hindrances in Buddhist practice! Superb!
Wonderful book for vipassana and zen students! Amazing insights and recommendations for deepening practice and abandoning clinging to the causes of suffering!
Wonderful book for vipassana and zen students! Amazing insights and recommendations for deepening practice and abandoning clinging to the causes of suffering!
August 6, 2018
Bumps to expect on the way to happiness.
January 6, 2022
This was very accessible (unlike many of the books in this genre) and had a lot of good advice for meditating.
January 1, 2023
Love this little book. Worth reading again and again. On each read I see something in a new light.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews