The 5 Hindrances of Self Mastery

I recently came across some really interesting YouTube channels that discuss dealing with anxiety and self-mastery. I wanted to get a better understanding on the topics and also get some useful tips on how one can deal with any event that may trigger some anxiety. There is an abundance of YouTube videos available on almost anything these days and I find it to be a great place to find information on just about anything.

Out of all the videos I watched, one stood out in particular. The 5 Hindrances of Self-Mastery discussed by Master Shi Heng Yi at a TED Talk event seemed to have the right message at a time I needed to hear it the most. I found everything he said very insightful and true in terms of what has been going on in my life.

We all have our own demons and internal battles that seem to creep out of nowhere and wreak havoc on our minds and lives. We get lost in our minds going back into the past critiquing events that happened, what we should or should not have said or whether we made the right or wrong decisions. These thoughts can keep us on a perennial loop of self-doubt and fear. We also travel into the future and worry about things that have not occurred yet. Things that aren’t true or real for the mere fact that they have not occurred.

I’ve learnt that the mind gets distracted by such things but you are able to gain control and not fall into the trap.

• Being able to pull yourself out of the bubble and really understand where these feelings and thoughts are coming from is the first step. You need to recognize when these feelings or thoughts are coming up and try and figure out what the root causes are.
• Accepting things for what they are and what is happening is the second step. This could be with a particular task, event or even a person. I have a view that Life is not personal, and we should not treat it as such.
• You also need to be able to figure out what is the consequence or the result if you stay in that feeling or thought pattern. Being able to recognize where this feeling or emotion will take you is important because it almost brings back an element of “control” in that you need to know where it can take you and making the decision to follow through or not.
• That level of accountability to yourself is important. You need to understand that it is your choice to be proactive or reactive to the emotion, thought or person who is causing the feeling or emotion to come up.

Being able to understand all of this and recognizing that you are not your emotion or feeling is how I’ve gained more perspective and clarity on things. Being able to recognize that has provided me with the level of clarity that is needed to navigate the world we live in. It’s also been a massive help in understanding when I am making decisions based off of an emotional state or not. Knowing where you are mentally and emotionally is crucial when it comes to making investment decisions as we are all prone to bias.

I want to share the 5 hindrances and my interpretation of each one.

1. Sensual Desire
   – Anything that arouses the senses. Anything that leaves its impact on the mind via taste, smell, sight or touch.
   – I can summarize it as materialism and earthly objects.
   – Any obsession with these, or a deep love for it will deter you from seeing the truth. You become a slave to it. It rules you.
2. Ill Will
   – Describes a state of the mind that arises from negative emotions.
   – In that state of the mind, you have an aversion, a rejection or simply a dislike against either object, a situation, or even a person.
   – A strong dislike for any situation or object can deter you from finding the clarity you need in life. Things or people cannot stop you from doing something simply because you do not like it/them.
   – There will always be things/people we don’t like. If you let this determine how you operate or go about doing what you want, then you are doing a disservice to yourself.
   Searching for Clarity, Newsletter No. 02
3. Heaviness of the body; Dullness of the Mind
   – It is characterized by sleepiness, non-motivation, lack of energy and often times can manifest itself into a state of depression.
   – Your body is a temple. You need to treat it as such. Without the maintenance and training it needs, it performs in a sub-optimal way.
   – The mind is a muscle that needs to be exercised and kept in shape. A dull mind is the devil’s playground.
4. Restlessness
   – An unsettled mind either is worrying about the future or traveling into the past. And rejecting, judging an event that happened into your past.
   – A simile used here is the monkey mind. Constantly jumping from one branch to another, unable to stay for too long time at the present moment.
   – The problem is there is no time to see clearly anymore. A distracted mind cannot co-ordinate thoughts properly.
   – Restlessness leads to analysis-paralysis. You just end up over-analysing situations and end up not doing anything.
5. Skeptical Doubt
   – It’s very closely related to a state of mind, which is based on indecisiveness. It is very easy in that state of mind getting lost in thoughts.
   – ‘Can I do this? Is this the right path? What will the others say? What if this, what if that?’
   – The mind cannot synchronize with your own actions, anymore. And the result is that you are getting disconnected with the goals and aspirations that once you have said to yourself.
   – When the way is filled with too much doubt, more often you will stop, instead of moving on.
   

These 5 mental states will pull you off of your Life path. They distract you and take you away from living a good life. What is vital for all of us is to develop the ability to not get bogged down in these states. We need to structure our lives and develop habits that assist us in getting us out of these states as well avoiding them completely. It’s something I am continuously learning, but I can say that it is possible. The first step is to “Accept the Bottom”. Only once you bottom can you start building and moving back up.

Till next time,

Thomo