I The Sutta
                                          
  
  
      Being endowed with noble mindfulness and clear comprehension, and 
  endowed with noble contentedness, the monk resorts to a lonely place: 
  to a forest, the foot of a tree, a mountain, a cleft, a rock cave, a 
  cemetery, a jungle, an open space, a heap of straw. After the meal, 
  having returned from the alms-round, he sits down, crosslegged, 
  keeping his body erect and his mindfulness alert. Having given up 
  covetousness (= sensual desire) with regard to the world, he dwells 
  with a heart free of covetousness, he cleanses his mind from 
  covetousness. Having given up the blemish of ill-will, he dwells 
  without ill-will; friendly and compassionate towards all living 
  beings, he cleanses his mind from the blemish of ill-will. Having 
  given up sloth and torpor, he dwells free from sloth and torpor, in 
  the perception of light; mindful and clearly comprehending, he 
  cleanses his mind from sloth and torpor. Having given up restlessness 
  and remorse, he dwells without restlessness; his mind being calmed 
  within, he cleanses it from restlessness and remorse. Having given up 
  sceptical doubt, he dwells as one who has passed beyond doubt; being 
  free from uncertainty about salutary things, he cleanses his mind from 
  sceptical doubt.
      
      Just as when a man taking a loan, engages in a trade, and his 
  trade succeeds, he now not only disposes of his old debt but he has 
  also, beyond that, a surplus for maintaining a wife. And at that he 
  rejoices, is glad at heart....
      
      Just as when a man is sick and in pain, suffering from a grave 
  disease, his food does not agree with him, and he has no strength left 
  in his body. But some time later he recovers from that sickness; he 
  can again digest his food, and he regains his strength. And at that he 
  rejoices, is glad at heart....
      
      Just as when a man has been thrown into prison, but some time 
  later he is released from prison; he is safe and without fears, and he 
  did not suffer any loss of property. And at that he rejoices, is glad 
  at heart....
      
      Just as when a man is a slave, not independent, but dependent on 
  others, unable to go where he likes, but some time later he is set 
  free from slavery, is now independent, no longer dependent on others, 
  a freeman who can go where he wants. And at that he rejoices, is glad 
  at heart....
      
      Just as when a man, rich and prosperous, travels through a 
  wilderness where there is no food and much danger, but some time later 
  he has crossed the desert, and gradually reaches safely the vicinity 
  of a village, a place of safety, free from danger. And at that he 
  rejoices, is glad at heart.:
      
      Similarly, so long as these five hindrances are not abandoned in 
  him, a monk considers himself as indebted, as ailing, as imprisoned, 
  as enslaved, as travelling in a wilderness.
      
      But when these five hindrances are abandoned, he considers himself 
  as free from debt, rid of illness, emancipated from the prison's 
  bondage, as a free man, and as one arrived at a place of safety.
      
      And when he sees himself free of these five hindrances, joy 
  arises; in him who is joyful, rapture arises; in him whose mind is 
  enraptured, the body is stilled; the body being stilled, he feels 
  happiness; and a happy mind finds concentration.
      
      Then detached from sensual desires, detached from unwholesome 
  states, he enters into and dwells in the first absorption which is 
  accompanied by applied thought and reflection, born of detachment, and 
  filled with joy and rapture. He enters into and dwells in the second 
  ... third ... fourth absorption.
      
  
  
  
  
                           II The Commentary
  
  
  
                   A. The Similes for the Hindrances
  
  
      The text of the discourse says: "Similarly, so long as these five 
  hindrances are not abandoned in him, a monk considers himself as 
  indebted, as ailing, as imprisoned, as enslaved, as travelling in a 
  wilderness."
      
      Hereby the Blessed One shows the unabandoned hindrance of sensual 
  desire as similar to being in debt; and the other hindrances as 
  similar to being ill, and so on. These similes should be understood as 
  follows:
      
      
      
  1. Sensual Desire
      
      There is a man who has incurred a debt but has become ruined. Now, 
  if his creditors, when telling him to pay back the debt, speak roughly 
  to him or harass and beat him, he is unable to retaliate but has to 
  bear it all. It is his debt that causes this forbearance.
      
      In the same way, if a man is filled with sensual desire for a 
  certain person, he will, full of craving for that object of his 
  desire, be attached to it. Even if spoken to roughly by that person, 
  or harassed or beaten, he will bear it all. It is his sensual desire 
  that causes this forbearance. In that way, sensual desire is like 
  being in debt.
      
      
      
  2. Ill-Will
      
      If a man suffers from a bilious disease, and receives even honey 
  and sugar, he will not enjoy its flavour, owing to his bile sickness; 
  he will just vomit it, complaining, "It is bitter, bitter!"
      
      In the same way, if one of angry temperament is admonished even 
  slightly by his teacher or preceptor who wishes his best, he does not 
  accept their advice. Saying "You harass me too much!" he will leave 
  the Order, or go away and roam about. Just as the bilious person does 
  not enjoy the flavour of honey and sugar, so one who has the disease 
  of anger will not enjoy the taste of the Buddha's Dispensation 
  consisting in the happiness of the meditative absorptions, etc. In 
  that way, ill-will resembles illness.
      
      
      
  3. Sloth and Torpor
      
      A person has been kept in jail during a festival day, and so could 
  see neither the beginning nor the middle nor the end of the 
  festivities. If he is released on the following day, and hears people 
  saying: "Oh, how delightful was yesterday's festival! Oh, those dances 
  and songs!" he will not give any reply. And why not? Because he did 
  not enjoy the festival himself.
  
      Similarly, even if a very eloquent sermon on the Dhamma is going 
  on, a monk overcome by sloth and torpor will not know the beginning, 
  middle or end. If after the sermon, he hears it praised: "How pleasant 
  was it to listen to the Dhamma! How interesting was the topic and how 
  good the similes!" he will not be able to say a word. And why not? 
  Because, owing to his sloth and torpor, he did not enjoy the sermon. 
  In that way, sloth and torpor are comparable to imprisonment.
  
  
  
  4. Restlessness and Remorse
  
      A slave who wants to enjoy himself at a festival is told by his 
  master: "Go quickly to such and such a place! There is urgent work to 
  do. If you don't go, I shall have your hands and feet cut off, or your 
  ears and nose!" Hearing that, the slave will quickly go as ordered, 
  and will not be able to enjoy any part of the festival. This is 
  because of his dependence on others.
      
      Similarly it is with a monk not well versed in the Vinaya (the 
  Disciplinary Code), who has gone to the forest for the sake of 
  solitude. If in any matter, down to the question of permissible meat 
  (Sub-Cy: e.g. pork) he gets the idea that it was not permissible 
  (taking it for bear's flesh), he has to interrupt his solitude and, to 
  purify his conduct, has to go to one skilled in the Vinaya. Thus he 
  will not be able to enjoy the happiness of solitude because of his 
  being overcome by restlessness and remorse. In that way, restlessness 
  and remorse are like slavery.
  
  
  
  5. Sceptical Doubt 
  
      A man travelling through a desert, aware that travellers may be 
  plundered or killed by robbers, will, at the mere sound of a twig or a 
  bird, become anxious and fearful, thinking: "The robbers have come!" 
  He will go a few steps, and then out of fear, he will stop, and 
  continue in such a manner all the way; or he may even turn back. 
  Stopping more frequently than walking, only with toil and difficulty 
  will he reach a place of safety, or he may not even reach it.
      
      It is similar with one in whom doubt has arisen in regard to one 
  of the eight objects of doubt.[*] Doubting whether the Master is an 
  Enlightened One or not, he cannot accept it in confidence, as a matter 
  of trust. Unable to do so, he does not attain to the paths and fruits 
  of sanctity. Thus, as the traveller in the desert is uncertain whether 
  robbers are there or not, he produces in his mind, again and again, a 
  state of wavering and vacillation, a lack of decision, a state of 
  anxiety; and thus he creates in himself an obstacle for reaching the 
  safe ground of sanctity (ariya-bhumi). In that way, sceptical doubt is 
  like travelling in a desert.
  
  
  * [ They are, according to the Vibhanga: doubt in regard to 
  the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, the (threefold) 
  training, the past, the future, both past and future, and 
  the conditionality of phenomena dependently arisen.]
  
  
  
  
                  B. The Abandonment of the Hindrances
  
   
      The text of the Discourse says: "But when these five hindrances 
  are abandoned, the monk considers himself as free from debt, rid of 
  illness, emancipated from the prison's bondage, as a free man, and as 
  one arrived at a place of safety." 
  
  
  1. The Abandonment of Sensual Desire
  
      A man, having taken a loan, uses it for his business and comes to 
  prosperity. He thinks: "This debt is a cause of vexation." He returns 
  the loan together with the interest, and has the promissory note torn 
  up. After that he neither sends a messenger nor a letter to his 
  creditors; and even if he meets them it depends on his wish whether he 
  will get up from his seat to greet them, or not. And why? He is no 
  longer in debt to them or dependent of them.
      
      Similarly a monk thinks: "Sensual desire is a cause of 
  obstruction." He then cultivates the six things leading to its 
  abandonment (see p.9), and removes the hindrance of sensual desire. 
  Just as one who has freed himself of debt no longer feels fear or 
  anxiety when meeting his former creditors, so one who has given up 
  sensual desire is no longer attached and bound to the object of his 
  desire; even if he sees divine forms, passions will not assail him.
      
      Therefore the Blessed One compared the abandonment of sensual 
  desire to freedom from debt.
  
  
  
  2. The Abandonment of Ill-Will
  
      Just as a person suffering from a bilious disease, having been 
  cured by taking medicine, will regain his taste for honey and sugar, 
  similarly a monk, thinking, "This ill-will causes much harm," develops 
  the six things leading to its abandonment and removes the hindrance of 
  ill-will. Just as the cured patient partaking of honey and sugar 
  appreciates the taste, so also this monk receives with reverence the 
  rules of training, and observes them with appreciation (of their 
  value). Therefore the Blessed One compared the abandonment of ill-will 
  to the recovery of health.
  
  
  
  3. The Abandonment of Sloth and Torpor
  
      There is a person that once had been in jail on a festival day. 
  But when freed and celebrating the festival on a later occasion, he 
  will think: "Formerly, through the fault of my heedlessness, I was in 
  prison on that day and could not enjoy this festival. Now I shall be 
  heedful." And he remains heedful of his conduct so that nothing 
  detrimental finds entry into his mind. Having enjoyed the festival, he 
  exclaims: "Oh, what a beautiful festival it was!"
      
      Similarly a monk, perceiving that sloth and torpor do great harm, 
  develops the six things opposed to them, and so removes the hindrance 
  of sloth and torpor. Just as the man freed from prison enjoys the 
  whole length of the festival, even for seven days, so this monk who 
  has given up sloth and torpor is capable of enjoying the beginning, 
  the middle and the consummation of the Festival of the Dhamma 
  (dhamma-nakkhatta), and finally attains to Arahatship together with 
  the fourfold discriminating knowledge (patisambhida)
  
      Therefore the Blessed One spoke of the abandonment of sloth and 
  torpor as being comparable to release from imprisonment.
  
  
  
  4. The Abandonment of Restlessness and Remorse
  
      There is a slave who, with the help of a friend, pays money to his 
  master, becomes a free man, and is henceforth able to do what he 
  likes. Similarly a monk, perceiving the great obstruction caused by 
  restlessness and remorse, cultivates the six things opposed to them, 
  and thus gives up restlessness and remorse. And having given them up, 
  he is like a truly free man, able to do as he wishes. Just as no one 
  can forcibly stop a free man from doing what he likes, so can 
  restlessness and remorse no longer stop that monk from walking the 
  happy path of renunciation (sukhanekkhamma-patipada).
      
      Therefore the Blessed One declared the abandonment of restlessness 
  and remorse as being similar to winning freedom from slavery.
  
  
  
  5. The Abandonment of Sceptical Doubt
  
      There is a strong man who, with his luggage in hand and well 
  armed, travels through a wilderness in company. If robbers see him 
  even from afar, they will take flight. Crossing safely the wilderness 
  and reaching a place of safety, he will rejoice in his safe arrival. 
  Similarly a monk, seeing that sceptical doubt is a cause of great 
  harm, cultivates the six things that are its antidote, and gives up 
  doubt. Just as that strong man, armed and in company, taking as little 
  account of the robbers as of the grass on the ground, will safely come 
  out of the wilderness to a safe place; similarly a monk, having 
  crossed the wilderness of evil conduct, will finally reach the state 
  of highest security, the deathless realm of Nibbana. Therefore the 
  Blessed One compared the abandonment of sceptical doubt to reaching a 
  place of safety.