釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 2.113

2.113

Answer: Within these five hindrances, the three poisons in equal measure serve as the root, and they are also able to subsume the eighty-four thousand gates of defilement. Why is this? The hindrance of sensual desire is the poison of greed; the hindrance of ill will is the poison of hatred; sleep and doubt, these two hindrances together, are the poison of delusion. One should know that they fully possess the three poisons. The hindrance of restlessness and regret arises generally from all three poisons, thus being subsumed equally, combining to form the four divisions of defilements. Within each one there are twenty-one thousand; across the four there are eighty-four thousand in total. Therefore, eliminating these five hindrances is eliminating all unwholesome dharmas. When the practitioner discards the five hindrances through various such causes and conditions, it is like being freed from debt, or recovering from a grave illness, like a starving person reaching a land of plenty, or like escaping from among bandit enemies to safety, at peace and without calamity. The practitioner is also like this: by eliminating these five hindrances, their mind is peaceful, pure, and joyful. It is like the sun or moon being obscured by five things—smoke, clouds, dust, mist, and the hand of the asura Rāhu—so that they cannot shine. Human beings are also like this.