This is a question I had while reading the Manual of Insight:

Mahasi Sayadaw says that 3 types of concentration are sufficent to be able to practice Vipassana: access, absorbtion, and momentary. These states of concentration are alike in that they involve suppression of the 5 hinderances via the 5 jhanic factors. It's only when the hinderances are suppresssed can the concentration neccessary to practice Vipassana arise and progress through the insight knowledges be made. 

Does this mean that if one is expereincing some modicum of, say, doubt or aversion that one is "off the map"?

I guess the essence of my question revolves around the realtionship between the 5 Hinderances and the Nanas:

Are the hinderances absent during the Process of Insight, or is it just that they are held in check, so to speak? By absent I don't mean eriadicated, I mean temporatily not present in the mind. And by held in check, I mean that, for example, aversion may be present but it is at low intensity.  

Hope this makes sense!

 

I asked the exact same question in my last Skype session with my teacher (Kenneth Folk). I asked this in the context that my sittings often starts with quick tingling and pulsing sensations along with a feeling of pleasantness and good, precise mindfulness, but in the same sitting, later, I can encounter drowsiness, wandering mind and even doubts. So I was confused because my understanding of the maps was that the hindrances are set aside before the unfolding of the nanas, so that they can't arise while in nanas. Kenneth shook his head in disapproval when I said this statement. He said something to the effect that in traditional texts the unfolding of vipassana is presented in some picture-perfect fashion, but that reality rarely matches in exactly the same way. It seems that hindrances may arise during nanas. However, they are recognized quickly and one doesn't get stucked in them for long. In dukkha nanas though, one may get stucked in them big time, IMHO. Think of yogis who desire to give up in Reobservation. There can be full of negative mind states in reobservation. Sayadaw U Kundala (one of the main disciple of Mahasi Sayadaw) also talks about this in his discourses on the nanas, in a section where he discusses reobservation.

The same could be said of jhanas. The way they are described in the Visidhimagga is picture perfect. One does not have a single thought in the first jhana in this model. But in reality jhanas can be experienced in a lighter fashion than described in Visuddhimagga, and yet still count as jhanas.

Anyway, that's my understanding for now.

Best,

Benoit

Thank you for such an excellent reply! This is what I was hoping was the case. I was especially confused since the maps claim that Restlessness (as one of the 10 fetters) isn't fully overcome until one is an Arhat.

This isn't the first (or last) time these pesky-idealists maps have trapped me. I'll let this be yet another lesson of the need to not take theory too seriously, and with a grain of practical-salt. 

Your thoughtful response has made me feel a lot better. 

Metta. 

A note on terminology: fetter is a permanent structure uprooted at awakening, different from a hindrance, which is a process temporary suppressed at access concentration, while defilement would be a broader group including both types.

Thanks for the clarification, Noah.