Skip to main content

Help? causes of hindrance of sloth and torpor.


https://www.reddit.com/r/EarlyBuddhismMeditati/comments/fcb69k/causes_of_sloth/

Causes of sloth?
My biggest problem during meditation is sloth, as in the past I had jhanas consistently, but now the only hindrance I mostly have is sloth. I believe because I weakened desires/aversion/restlessness so much in the past, that those aren't my issues anymore, and now my biggest issue is sloth.
I don't have a wandering mind anymore, but I have a sunken mind as a result of sloth.
I think what's causing my sloth the most is not fasting enough, as fasting makes your digestion more efficient, and thus you get more energy from food. In times where I've fasted 24 hours, my energy was actually greater.
Also not being celibate drains energy as well.
Basically I think food and uncelibacy are the causes of my sloth.
I also think sleeping on the floor increases energy levels as well as having a better posture improves breathing and energy.
So three things to work on for me:
More fasting
More sexual restraint
Sleep on floor more


-----------------------------
this is an important topic. i'll have more to say later. But I'll mention a few important ideas I found helpful for my battles with sloth, that EBT doesn't talk about

standing meditation

taking short naps lying down with an alarm clock, 10min, 15min, or 20min.

doing or an extended period, say 15min, of shake and bake, or some other exercise like taiji, qigong, at a pace that elevates breathing and heart rate. In contrast, doing slo mo mahasi zombie style walking meditation won't shake off sloth and drowsiness. There's a big misconception out there that you have to move super slo mo for the mind to be very alert and mindful. Try this out yourself, as long as you're doing simple repetitive motion that's in a safe environment, say an indoor strip of 30foot length walking meditation path, with no poisonous snakes or hazards you have to watch out for, going slow or fast has nothing to do with sati and sampajano.

-----------------------

with celibacy, I urge every serious practitioner, especially young people, to try this at least once in your life. Try pure celibacy for at least 100 days. Pure celibate = no sex, no masturbation, no lustful thoughts to the best of your ability. And after that, review, reflect, maybe even keep a journal to read later so you have a clear reference point and personal experiential knowledge of how energetic, how sharp your mind feels, how much less food and sleep you needed, how energetic it easy it is to maintain a sitting meditation posture, etc. So now for the rest of your life, you know what it's like to have vigor/viriya, and how much less of an impediment sloth and torpor can be.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Advice to younger meditators on jhāna, sex, porn, masturbation

Someone asked: Is porn considered harmful sexual.activity? I don't have a sex life because I don't have a partner and I don't wish to engage in casual sex so I use porn to quench the biological urge to orgasm. I can't see that's it's harmful because nobody is being forced into it. The actors are all paid well and claim to enjoy it etc. The only harm I can see is that it's so accessible these days on smart devices and so children may access it but I believe that this is the parents responsibility to not allow unsupervised use of devices etc. Views? Frankk response: In another thread, you asked about pleasant sensations and jhāna.  I'm guessing you're young, so here's some important advice you won't get from suttas   if you're serious about jhāna.  (since monastics are already celibate by rule)   If you want to attain stable and higher jhānas,   celibacy and noble silence to the best of your ability are the feedstock and prerequiste to tha
Post a Comment
Read more

SN 48.40 Ven. Thanissaro comments on Ven. Sunyo's analysis

This was Ven. Sunyo's analysis of SN 48.40: https://notesonthedhamma.blogspot.com/2024/05/exciting-news-honest-ebt-scholars-like.html And here is Ven. Thanissaro's response to that analysis: I think there’s a better way to tackle the issue of SN 48:40 than by appealing to the oldest layers of commentarial literature. That way is to point out that SN 48:40, as we have it, doesn’t pass the test in DN 16 for determining what’s genuine Dhamma and what’s not. There the standard is, not the authority of the person who’s claiming to report the Buddha’s teachings, but whether the teachings he’s reporting are actually in accordance with the principles of the Dhamma that you know. So the simple fact that those who have passed the Buddha’s teachings down to us say that a particular passage is what the Buddha actually taught is not sufficient grounds for accepting it. In the case of the jhānas—the point at issue here— we have to take as our guide the standard formula for the jhānas, a
Post a Comment
Read more

1min. video: Dalai Lama kissing boy and asking him to suck his tongue

To give more context, this is a public event,  * everyone knows cameras are rolling  *  it's a room full of children * the boy's mom is standing off camera a few feet away watching all of this * the boy initiated contact, he had already had a hug with Dalai Lama earlier and then asked Dalai Lama for another hug which triggered this segment  17 min. video showing what happened before that 1 min. clip and after, with some explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0qey5Ts78 16min talk from Ajahn Acalo with his thoughts on Dalai Lama kissing boy, relevance to Bhikkhu monastic code, sexual predators in religion in general, and how celibate monastics deal with sexual energy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK2m0TcUib0 The child's comments about the incident in a filmed interview later https://www.marca.com/en/lifestyle/world-news/2023/04/18/643eba5d46163ffc078b457c.html The child: It's a great experience It was amazing to meet His Holiness and I think it's a great ex
Post a Comment
Read more