A prince
named fearless once asked the Blessed Buddha:
Venerable Sir, what is the conditioning cause for lack of vision &
wisdom?
Prince, when mind is obsessed, overwhelmed, & dominated by
sense-desire,
or when mind is beset by evil-will, plagued, enraged &
conquered by anger,
or when mind is retarded, dimmed, detained & diluted by
lethargic laziness,
or when mind is agitated, troubled & tyrannized by
restlessness & regret,
or when mind is perplexed, confused & bewildered by doubt &
uncertainty,
and one does not understand any safe escape from any of
these present
mental hindrances, at that moment, one can neither see, nor
understand
anything of what is advantageous, neither for oneself, nor
for others,
nor both for oneself & others! These
mental hindrances are therefore
the conditioning causes for lack of vision and wisdom! It is
in exactly
this way, that ignorance arises from a cause, and not
without a cause...
What is this Dhamma explanation called, Sir?
These are called the mental hindrances, prince.
Surely and unquestionably they are mental hindrances.
Blessed One!
One overcome by even a single mental hindrance would not
know and see
things as they really are, not to speak of one overcome by
all these
5 mental hindrances...
