Working With the Five Hindrances: Doubt

Of the five hindrances, the fifth, doubt (vicikiccha), is the most pernicious because it can cause us to step off the path altogether. Sometimes called “hindering doubt,” vicikiccha is distinct from the great doubt that often brings us to practice. It doesn’t question whether suffering is avoidable but rather whether we have the capacity to address it. It manifests as doubt in the dharma, our teachers, our practice, and, worst of all, ourselves. It’s Mara personified, whispering in our ear: “Who do you think you are to become enlightened? You? Come on!” Vicikiccha can also appear as resistance, insecurity, hesitancy, or obsessive thinking. Doubt is always a story we tell ourselves, so the first step in working with this hindrance is recognizing the thoughts that feed it.

Also crucial when meeting our doubt are discipline, confidence, and faith. Discipline encourages us to practice just because, independently of how we’re feeling in the moment. Confidence reminds us that we have everything we need to wake up, that we’re never excluded from liberation. Faith directs us back to the three treasures of Buddha, dharma, and sangha. It shows us that if we let go of our preoccupation and turn toward what is true and dependable, then hindering doubt will never have the power to stop us.

“Remembering our own natural goodness and wholesome intentions is an antidote to the very convincing stories that self-doubt tells us.”  –Sean Oakes

 Tip: One of the most useful things we can do to combat self-doubt is to set an aspiration. Ask yourself why you take the time each day to practice meditation or study the dharma with a teacher. Come up with a short, simple phrase that encapsulates your aspiration and repeat it often to yourself. Return to it when you feel lost or uncertain.

 “We need to develop confidence in our innate qualities and believe that these can be brought to fruition. We all have buddhanature. We have all the qualities needed for the path.” –Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

 Tip: We doubt so many things: our path, our capacity, our teachers, and our peers. Yet we don’t doubt our doubt. Why not? Spiritual practice is built on questioning that doesn’t take the familiar for granted, that doesn’t turn away from the unknown. Let your doubt extend to vicikiccha, looking closely at what it’s saying to you. Then, as the late Thich Nhat Hanh would say, ask yourself, “Am I sure?”

 “When these five hindrances are abandoned, [a practitioner] considers [themselves] as free from debt, rid of illness, emancipated from the prison’s bondage, as a free person, and as one arrived at a place of safety.”  –Samannaphala Sutta

 

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This is the fourth installment of our series on the five hindrances—sensual desire, ill will, sloth/torpor, anxiousness, and doubt—and their respective antidotes. A printable version is available here.