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uddhacca-kukkucca * agitation, worry, remorse
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If there is water in a pot, stirred by the wind, agitated, swaying and producing waves, a man with a normal faculty of sight could not properly recognize and see the image of his own face. In the same way, when one’s mind is possessed by restlessness and remorse, overpowered by restlessness and remorse, one cannot properly see the escape from restlessness and remorse that have arisen; then one does not properly understand one’s own welfare, nor that of another, nor that of both; and also texts memorized a long time ago do not come into one’s mind, not to speak of those not memorized. (SN 46:55)
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of the Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest can be streamed or downloaded from our website in its entirety, or per chapter.
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NOTE: when downloading the Audiobook Chapter on Restlessness and Remorse via the light blue button, the downloaded file will automatically appear on your device (in the folder where your downloads usually appear).
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Audiobooks, Audiobooks, Audiobooks
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While we love the smell of new books and still prefer to read an actual book over the digital version, technology has been so beneficial for the dissemination of the teachings of the Buddha at low cost. Our eBooks can reach a worldwide audience, no matter their financial status; the same goes for our audiobooks.
We find listening to a Dhamma audiobook while commuting, going for a morning walk, or doing the dishes so inspirational. And thanks to the volunteers who lend their voices the list keeps growing; with the latest two releases we are just one audiobook shy of 40; in our podcast section you will find even more books—per chapter—as well as talks and discourses!
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Being poor or affluent is a judgement based on comparisons. Like hot or cold and long or short, poverty and affluence are mental constructs, useful to demarcate the boundaries of a particular situation. They are relative to each other. Just as hot and cold describe a temperature range, so do affluence and poverty describe a range of needs and wants, or rather: attitudes to needs and wants. Depending on where one finds oneself within that range one feels oneself to be hot or cold—or poor or affluent. It depends on which way one is looking, which end of the scale one is comparing oneself with. But if one did not indulge in such judgements and comparisons, one would simply experience oneself the way one found oneself. This, by and large, is how the Buddha encouraged laypersons to train themselves: to be realistically in the here and now and make every circumstance ethically workable.
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Since July we have been releasing chapters of the audiobook Cultivating Inner Peace in the podcast section—about every week or two. Read by the author, Dr. Paul R. Fleischman, these podcasts explore the psychology, wisdom and poetry of Gandhi, Thoreau, the Buddha and others. So far, we have released eleven chapters. May they be of inspiration to many!
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At the opposite extreme is the fourth hindrance, restlessness and worry. This too is a compound with its two members linked by their common feature of disquietude. Restlessness (uddhacca) is agitation or excitement, which drives the mind from thought to thought with speed and frenzy; worry (kukkucca) is remorse over past mistakes and anxiety about their possible undesired consequences.
Alternatively, you may feel great agitation, another way in which the impurities try to stop you from practicing Vipassana. All day you run here and there, doing anything except meditation. Afterwards, you realize that you have wasted time, and start crying and repenting. But on the path of Dhamma there is no place for crying. If you make a mistake, then you should accept it in front of an elder in whom you have confidence, and resolve to be careful not to repeat the mistake in future.
Similarly rāga (craving) contains its own dhamma or characteristic, which is to create agitation and misery. The dhamma of love and compassion is calmness, harmony and peace. So dhamma became the nature or the quality.
After a few centuries the term dhamma, or nature, was divided into kusala (wholesome) and akusala (unwholesome), referring to its fruit. Impurities contained in the mind—such as anger, hatred, animosity, passion, fear, and ego, which give unwholesome fruit—were called akusala. Qualities which were to one’s credit and gave a better life—such as compassion, goodwill and selfless service—were called kusala. Thus in the old literature we find dhamma divided into “pure” and “impure".
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If you enjoyed reading the simile higher up in this newsletter, in the excerpt taken from the audiobook on the five mental hindrances, you might enjoy Similes of the Buddha.
It is an introductory guide to the rich, wonderful, and profound world of Buddhist similes. The Buddha used many similes as a skillful means to facilitate the understanding of teachings that otherwise could appear overly abstruse and dry to his listeners. Thus, contemplation of the similes and the explanations as given in this book will widen and deepen one’s understanding of the Teaching of the Buddha.
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Don't Cry over Spilt Milk
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The fourth hindrance also comprises twin drawbacks: uddhacca and kukkucca, restlessness and brooding, or flurry and worry. As a rule anyone who commits evil is mentally excited and restless, the guilty and the impatient suffer from this hindrance. The minds of men who are restless and unstable are like flustered bees in a shaken hive. This mental agitation impedes meditation and blocks the upward path. Equally baneful is mental worry. Often people repent over the evil actions they have committed. This is not praised by the Buddha; for it is useless to cry over spilt milk. Instead of brooding over such shortcomings one should endeavour not to repeat such unwholesome deeds. There are others who worry over the good deeds omitted and duties left undone. This too serves no purpose. It is as futile as to ask the further bank of a river to come over that we may get to the other side. Instead of uselessly worrying over what good one has failed to do, one should endeavour to perform wholesome deeds. This mental unsteadiness (kukkucca) also hinders mental progress.
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“What do you think, Soṇa, were you once a good lute player as a layman?”
“Even so, Lord.”
“When the strings of your lute were too taut, did your lute sound well and respond well then?”
“No, Lord.”
“When the strings of your lute were too slack, did your lute sound well and respond well then?”
“No, Lord.”
“When the strings of your lute were neither too taut nor too slack and were evenly tuned, did your lute sound well and respond well then?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“So too, Soṇa, overstriving leads to agitation, and understriving leads to slackness. Therefore resolve upon evenness of energy, acquire evenness of the spiritual faculties, and take that as your sign.”
“Even so, Lord,” he replied.
Vin. Mv. 5:1; cf. A. 6:55
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Weekly Dhamma Story Times
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When the lockdown started we launched Dhamma Story Time: a weekly series of 30-minute online reading sessions, scheduled on different days and times each week to cater to different time zones. These sessions are still running, currently on Mondays at 8.30pm Pacific Time and Tuesdays 10am Eastern Time. The volunteer readers choose texts from our catalog that they find inspiring. In previous sessions, stories and passages were read from the Dhammapada, The Art of Dying, Letters from the Dhamma Brothers, and The Way to Ultimate Calm.
The sessions are hosted using GoToMeeting; the schedule and information on how to join are posted on pariyatti.org/DST.
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These months Pariyatti is holding several auctions on eBay. We are selling a number of books that were donated to us, but may not be part of our catalog.
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Three auctions have gone live yesterday, Saturday, October 24, at midnight (0:00h), running for a total of seven days. Place a bid and the following collectors’ items could be yours:
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Sacred Books of the East
4-Volume Set
Vol. 13: Vinaya Texts Part 1
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The Book of the Kindred Sayings (Saṃyutta Nikāya), 4-Volume Set
The collection of discourses in the Sutta Pitaka known as Saṃyutta Nikāya has 7,762 suttas of varied length, generally short, arranged in a special order according to subject matter into five major divisions.
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Vol. 1: The first division, the Sagāthā vagga, contains eleven saṃyuttas with discourses grouped according to characters appearing in them, the king of devas, the devas, the Brahma, Mara, King of Kosala, bhikkhus and bhikkhunis. The word Sagāthā is derived from the fact that various personalities appearing in the discourses conducted their dialogues or interviews with the Buddha mostly in verse.
Vol. 2: The second division, the Nidāna vagga, is a collection of suttas primarily pertaining to causation or the principles of conditionality and interdependence, explained in the detailed formula of Paṭiccasamuppada, or Dependent Origination. Various aspects of Paṭiccasamuppada, together with expositions on doctrinal matters concerning practice of the holy life, form the main theme of these samyuttas.
Vol. 3: The third division, the Khandha vagga, is a collection of suttas primarily pertaining to the five aggregates matter, sensation, perception, mental concomitants and consciousness. Made up of thirteen saṃyuttas, the Khandha Vagga forms an important collection of doctrinal discussion on such topics as attā, anattā, eternity, and annihilation.
Vol. 4: The fourth division, the Salayatana-vagga, is a collection of suttas primarily pertaining to the six senses—eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. Concise but illuminating expositions on Nibbāna are found in many suttas.
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Harvard Oriental Series:
Buddhist Legends, 3-Volume set
Translated from the Original Pali Text of the Dhammapada Commentary.
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Please note: the auctions are placed on Amazon.com (USA), and the items are set up to only ship to USA addresses. So, if you are outside the USA you may not be able to view the auctions or bid on them.
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All proceeds of the eBay auctions go to our Dana Distribution Fund, a program that allows us to offer a significant number of books and media freely to monks, nuns, monasteries, meditation centers, and others.
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Agitation vs Wrong Thoughts
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The Thoughts Rooted in Ill-will. There are two classes of thoughts of ill-will or aversion. The accompanying elements therein are: hatred, envy, jealousy and remorse. These thoughts are always accompanied by unhappiness and aversion towards the object. By aversion is meant a state of agitation with repulsion while perceiving the object. Fears and anxieties are forms of ill-will.
The Thoughts Rooted in Delusion. Though lack of understanding is a common feature in all evil, these two are characterized by the strong nature of delusion in them. Doubt, described as a state of fatigue, is a feature in one thought, and a marked restlessness or a state of bouncing, agitation, or tension is found in the other.
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Along the Path (North India & Nepal)
朝圣路上 – 印度、尼泊尔
January 30–February 20, 2021 (English/ Chinese)
2021年1月30日至2月20
(Cancelled due to COVID-19)/ （因新冠疫情取消）
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February 27–March 20, 2021 (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
The Golden Path (Burma) * English/Chinese
金色之旅 – 缅甸朝圣
January 9–26, 2021 (Cancelled due to COVID-19)
2021年01月09日 – 26日（因新冠疫情取消）
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Donations: Either one-time or monthly pledge
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Pariyatti is a charitable, non-profit, educational support system for the Dhamma community. Pariyatti exists because of funds donated by supporters.
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