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 j4🌕 āneñja⚡.
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
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 thīnamiddha with the five items themselves, but rather with frequent unwise attention (ayonisomanasikāra-bahulīkāro) to them. And so the immediate cause is wholly mental.
But as to the five, this is how the Vibhaṅga defines them:
1. Tattha katamā arati? Pantesu vā senāsanesu aññataraññataresu vā adhikusalesu dhammesu arati aratitā anabhirati anabhiramaṇā ukkaṇṭhitā paritassitā: ayaṃ 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 tandī? Yā tandī tandiyanā tandimanakatā ālasyaṃ ālasyāyanā ālasyāyitattaṃ: ayaṃ vuccati “tandī”. 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 paṇamanā byādhiyakaṃ: ayaṃ 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 bhattapariḷāho kāyaduṭṭhullaṃ: ayaṃ 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 katamaṃ cetaso ca līnattaṃ? Yā cittassa akalyatā akammaññatā olīyanā sallīyanā līnaṃ līyanā līyitattaṃ thinaṃ thīyanā thīyitattaṃ cittassa: idaṃ vuccati “cetaso ca līnattaṃ”. 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)
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 līnattaṃ) 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; tandī 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 līnattaṃ wholly mental.
“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 Mahāṭīkā the view that thīna 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 rūpadhammas are avyākata. And so for them thīna meant sluggishness of citta and middha sluggishness of the body of mental factors.
Link to lucid24.org home page : 4👑☸ Remember, you may have to click the refresh button on your web browser navigation bar at to get updated website. 2026 1-30 Overhauled the DN, MN, SN menu pages - Supreme navigation January 30, 2026 2025 12-16 2025-12 December: Major update on look and feel of Lucid24.org 2024 9-17 Lots of new stuff in the last 2 and a half years. Too many to list. Main one justifying new blog entry, is redesign of home page. Before, it was designed to please me, super dense with everything in one master control panel. I've redesigned it to be friendly to newbies and everyone really. Clear structure, more use of space. At someone's request, I added a lucid24.org google site search at top of home page. 2022 4-14 Major update to lucid24.org, easy navigation of suttas, quicklink: the ramifications 4-2 new feature lucid24.org sutta quick link 3-28 A new translation of SN 38.16, and first jhāna is a lot easier than you think 🔗📝notes relat...
What these 3 suttas have in common, AN 9.36, MN 64, MN 111, is the very interesting feature of explicitly describing doing vipassana, while one is in the jhāna and the first 3 formless attainments. LBT (late buddhist text) apologists, as well as Sujato, Brahm, claim that the suttas describe a jhāna where one enters a disembodied, frozen state, where vipassana is impossible until one emerges from that 'jhāna'. Since Sujato translated all the suttas, let's take a look at what he translated, and how it supports his interpretation of 'jhāna'. AN 9.36: Jhānasutta—Bhikkhu Sujato (suttacentral.net) ‘The first absorption is a basis for ending the defilements.’ ‘Paṭhamampāhaṁ, bhikkhave, jhānaṁ nissāya āsavānaṁ khayaṁ vadāmī’ti, iti kho panetaṁ vuttaṁ. That’s what I said, but why did I say it? Kiñcetaṁ paṭicca vuttaṁ? Take a mendicant who, q uite secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unskill...
HHDL = His holiness, the Dalai Lama I've collected good references here, including the actual video, and snippets from forums discussions containing valid critcism and explanations of cultural context, and most importantly, what the rules of the actual vinaya that buddhist monks are supposed to follow: 1min. video: Dalai Lama kissing boy and asking him to suck his tongue At the time of this writing, HHDL is about 88 years old. He has an exemplary record devoting his life to compassionate service to all living beings, as a Tibetan Buddhist monk. In this age of 'me too', everyone with a cell phone with high resolution cameras, and the ability to quickly publicize any indiscretion or sexual crime, we've seen sexual predators in positions of power being exposed and convicted. Leaders of large corporations, governments, professional sports, doctors, leaders in all religions. Tibetan Buddhism has an especially poor track record with corrupt sexual predators. https://thewal...
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