Monday, December 7, 2020

thina-middhaį¹ƒšŸ„± / sloth and torpor: Help with EBT sutta references to build comprehensive resource

 

4šŸ‘‘☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaį¹ƒ å››č–č«¦

STED 5niv⛅: paƱca nÄ«varaį¹‡Ä

5 hindrances

3. thina-middhaį¹ƒšŸ„± / sloth and torpor

I'm looking to collect all the major sutta references on the 3rd hindrance.

Help me complete the collection:

http://lucid24.org/sted/5niv/5niv3/index.html

What I have so far:


Let's restrict the discussion to EBT (early buddhist text, pali, chinese agama, sanskrit, etc.) for now. I'll open up a thread later for Non EBT strategies to deal with sloth later.


Similes for 5 niv

AN 3.101 simile of 3 levels of gold impurities preventing samadhi and 6ab ⚡☸. 5niv are the 2nd level moderate impurities.

AN 5.23 simile of gold impurities (instead of 'nivarana' calls 5niv 'cittassa upakkilesā') preventing samadhi and 6ab ⚡☸. Also uses keywords from j4šŸŒ• āneƱja⚡.

AN 5.51 simile of river split into 5.

DN 2 similes 1. in debt, 2. ill, 3. imprisoned, 4. slave, 5. crossing desert

MN 140 references goldsmith removing impurities, similar to AN 3.101 and AN 3.102, but doesn't call out 5 elements of 5niv by names.

SN 46.33 5 impurities of gold (copper, tin, silver...) make gold (samadhi mind) brittle and unworkable.

SN 46.55 similes for not seeing one's reflection in bowl of water: 1. water is colored with dyes, 2. heated by fire, boiling and bubbling, 3. overgrown with moss, 4. stirred by the wind, 5. murky, muddy


Discussion threads


reddit: 

https://www.reddit.com/r/EarlyBuddhistTexts/comments/k8mztp/thinamiddha%E1%B9%83_sloth_and_torpor_help_with_ebt_sutta/


stackexchange:

https://buddhism.stackexchange.com/questions/43392/all-ebt-sutta-references-to-thina-middha-sloth-torpor-drowsiness


dhammawheel


Re: thina-middhaį¹ƒ : sloth and torpor: mental, physical, both?

Post by Dhammanando » 

frank k wrote: Thu Dec 10, 2020 1:17 amHow about SN 46.2 that lists the nutriments of thina-middha? Are those similarly ambiguous, or can they be strictly classified as physical or mental?
Note that the sutta doesn't identify the nutriment of thÄ«namiddha with the five items themselves, but rather with frequent unwise attention (ayoniso­ma­nasikā­ra-­bahu­lÄ«kāro) to them. And so the immediate cause is wholly mental.

But as to the five, this is how the Vibhaį¹…ga defines them:
1. Tattha katamā arati? Pantesu vā senāsanesu aƱƱataraƱƱataresu vā adhikusalesu dhammesu arati aratitā anabhirati anabhiramaį¹‡Ä ukkaį¹‡į¹­hitā paritassitā: ayaį¹ƒ vuccati “arati”.
Therein what is “tedium”? Tedium, having tedium, displeasure, being displeased, dissatisfaction, dread of remote abodes or certain higher skilful dhammas. This is called tedium.

2. Tattha katamā tandÄ«? Yā tandÄ« tandiyanā tandimanakatā ālasyaį¹ƒ ālasyāyanā ālasyāyitattaį¹ƒ: ayaį¹ƒ vuccati “tandÄ«”.
Therein what is “apathy”? That which is apathy, being apathetic, mental lethargy, idleness, being idle, state of being idle. This is called apathy.

3. Tattha katamā vijambhitā? Yā kāyassa jambhanā vijambhanā ānamanā vinamanā sannamanā paį¹‡amanā byādhiyakaį¹ƒ: ayaį¹ƒ vuccati “vijambhitā”.
Therein what is “stretching”? That which is twitching, stretching, bending forward, bending backward, twisting, stretching upwards, fidgeting of the body. This is called stretching.

4. Tattha katamo bhattasammado? Yā bhuttāvissa bhattamucchā bhattakilamatho bhattapariįø·Äho kāyaduį¹­į¹­hullaį¹ƒ: ayaį¹ƒ vuccati “bhattasammado”.
Therein what is “after meal drowsiness”? That which in one who has eaten is dizziness because of food, fatigue because of food, feverishness because of food, bodily unfitness. This is called after meal drowsiness.

5. Tattha katamaį¹ƒ cetaso ca lÄ«nattaį¹ƒ? Yā cittassa akalyatā akammaƱƱatā olÄ«yanā sallÄ«yanā lÄ«naį¹ƒ lÄ«yanā lÄ«yitattaį¹ƒ thinaį¹ƒ thÄ«yanā thÄ«yitattaį¹ƒ cittassa: idaį¹ƒ vuccati “cetaso ca lÄ«nattaį¹ƒ”.
Therein what is “mental sluggishness”? That which is indisposition of consciousness, unwieldiness, drooping, sagging, sluggishness, being sluggish, state of being sluggish, sloth, being slothful, state of consciousness being slothful. This is called mental sluggishness.
(Vibh. 17:10:1. U Thittila's translation, with 'restlessness' changed to 'stretching' as the translation of vijambhitā)

https://legacy.suttacentral.net/en/vb17
And from the Dispeller of Delusion:
The arising of stiffness and torpor comes about through unwise bringing to mind in regard to boredom (arati) and so on. "Boredom" is a name for dissatisfaction; "languor" (tandi) is a name for bodily laziness; "stretching" (vijambhitā) is a name for bending of the body; "faintness after meals" (bhattasammada) is a name for giddiness after meals and feverishness after meals. And mental lassitude" (cetaso lÄ«nattaį¹ƒ) is a name for the sluggish state of the mind.

Because of employing unwise bringing to mind much in regard to these [states] beginning with boredom, stiffness and torpor arise.
(Dispeller of Delusion I 335)
So, it seems to me that arati is wholly mental; tandÄ« is both bodily and mental (the Dispeller of Delusion later defines it as "bodily idleness due to defilement"); likewise vijambhitā, which is later defined as "bodily shifting due to defilement"; bhattasammada is wholly bodily; and cetaso lÄ«nattaį¹ƒ wholly mental.



KN Ne 20 has:

Thinaį¹ƒ nāma yā cittassa akallatā akammaniyatā; middhaį¹ƒ nāma yaį¹ƒ kāyassa lÄ«nattaį¹ƒ.
SuttaCentral 3

“Oppressed by lethargy and drowsiness’: lethargy is any unhealthiness, unwieldiness, of cognizance; drowsiness is any sloth of the body.”

Ven. Dhammanando notes KN Ne differs from Vism. :

In the Visuddhimagga Mahāį¹­Ä«kā the view that thÄ«na refers to mental sluggishness and middha to physical weariness is attributed to the monks of the Abhayagiri Vihāra. 

But the Mahāvihāra monks insisted that since a hindrance is a defilement, only mental phenomena can count as such, for all rÅ«padhammas are avyākata. And so for them thÄ«na meant sluggishness of citta and middha sluggishness of the body of mental factors.


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