5 “Enemies” of Meditation and 5 “Thieves” of Awareness

 

The 5 Enemies are: Tiredness, Stupor – Anxiety, Restlessness – Craving, Clinging – Aversion, Animosity – Doubt, Confusion

The 5 thieves are: Fear – Agitation – Anger – Sadness – Pensiveness

Enemies and Thieves are simply ways to describe habitual pathways of our mind, which consume the energy of our consciousness without our awareness. Those same “enemies” can be used as tools to grow and expand our awareness of self, which in turn will allow us to transcend those mental states, in order to arrive to wholeness.

Throughout the retreat we will come face to face with many negative, reactive and powerless aspects of ourselves. They arise intensely, when effort is generated to purify the mind. The opportunity here is to distinguish these blind areas of our being and fill them with awareness and acceptance. Through continuous observation of our thoughts, feelings and emotions, (which are the three binding elements of a human form), without reacting to them with further negativity, their habitual accumulation slowly dissolves and blends with pure being. By generating acceptance as a response to all arising phenomena, one gains freedom from a downward spiral of an accumulating reaction, and becomes powerful and peaceful.

Here are some examples of reactive behavior: Reactions of negativity that arise in response to other reactions – like getting angry at the restless mind, or hating your mind for being full of confusion. Overpowering those reactions is futile - the only way out is just becoming present to what is occurring within your thoughts, feeling and emotions. Another example is getting tired and checking out from reality. Again, don’t make it wrong, but try to become alert within whatever state of mind you are experiencing, and observe the events like clouds passing through the limitless sky, which is you.

Whenever you find yourself in any kind of negativity or a state of powerlessness, check in with your mind. Calmly observe and inquire what is going on in the three areas of the mind. Try to distinguish, which “enemy” has currently arisen. Don’t be discouraged, upset, make anything wrong or try to change it. All answers arise in stillness of observation. Whatever is going on was always operating behind the scenes, actively or potentially, and now is your chance to see, feel and know it. Like this we are growing in self-awareness.