Working with Hindrances

I notice that when I label posts, I have many that are labeled "hindrances." I have been contemplating the term hindrance instead of "sin." I don't know if the Buddhist terminology would have resonated earlier in my life, but it does now. Sin is a list of things to avoid doing because they create separation between one and God. The open question is how to avoid sinning. I never got the answer, but I did go to a lot of confessions.

Hindrances are states of the body or mind that interfere with awareness. The Five Hindrances are: sensual desire, anger and ill-will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and worry, and skeptical doubt. States of body or mind are things I can work with.

For me, awareness is greatly facilitated by stillness, silence, and mindful activity. For me, the adrenaline junkie, stillness frees enough brain cells to pay attention to what my body and mind are experiencing. Guilt about sin operated in me much like static on the radio, making awareness difficult to impossible.

I am very motivated to address hindrances, for my direct experience is that as I address them, the rest (peace that surpasses understanding) is far more effortless than I ever thought possible.