How does Lethargy
and Laziness Suppress Mind?
A Brahmin Priest once asked the Blessed
Buddha:
Master Gotama, what is the cause
of being unable to remember even
something, that
has been memorized over a long period, and also that which
has not been memorized?
Brahmin,
when mind is retarded by lethargy and laziness, dimmed, detained,
and dominated
by lethargy and laziness, and one does not understand any
actual safe escape
from this
arisen lethargy and laziness, in that very moment,
one can neither see, nor
understand,
what is advantageous, neither for oneself,
nor for others, nor
both
for oneself
and others.
Consequently, whatever have been memorized, cannot be remembered...
Why is this neglect so? Imagine a bowl of water covered with moss,
plants,
and algae.
If a man with good eye-sight were to inspect the reflection of his
own face
in it, he would
neither see, nor recognize it, as it really is! So too,
brahmin, when mind is
slowed down by
lethargy and laziness, dimmed, detained,
and handicapped by lethargy and laziness, on such
occasions even texts long
memorized do not recur to the mind, not to speak of
those texts,
events and
information, that have not been actively memorized at all...
How
to cure Laziness:
Repeated Attention to these 3 elements of:
initiative,
launching and endurance!
When lazy identify what element of these 3 is missing!
Initiative is purely mental: One wish to do it.
Launching is both mental and bodily e.g. when swinging the
legs out of the bed.
Endurance is what finalizes completely any already ongoing
task.
More on curing this common mental defilement:
Laziness (Thīna-middha):
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/II/Curing_Lethargy_and_Laziness.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/DPPN/wtb/s_t/thiina_middha.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Arousal_Get_Up_and_Going.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Suitable_Substitution.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Enthusiastic_is_Energy.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/AN.I.3-4.htm
Laziness is like a prison ...
Source (edited extract):
The Grouped Sayings of the Buddha.
Samyutta Nikāya.
Book [V:122-3] section 46: The Links. 55: To Sangarava...
