DharmAI

Putting things off

The Buddha described eight grounds for laziness, and the first could be written on a sticky note: there is work ahead and it will tire me, so a rest comes first. The same sutta turns the same circumstances into grounds for rousing energy, which is the useful half. Elsewhere effort is tuned like the strings of a lute, neither too tight nor too slack. The shame each evening does not help with the morning. What the suttas do not do is diagnose the reasons; putting things off can be tiredness, fear, or low mood, and if it is the last, a doctor is a better first call than a list.

What the suttas say

  1. “Are you nodding off, Moggallāna? Are you nodding off?” “Yes, sir.” So, Moggallāna, don’t focus on or cultivate the perception that you were meditating on when you fell drowsy. It’s possible that you’ll give up drowsiness in this way. But what if that doesn’t work? Then think about and consider the teaching as you’ve learned and memorized it, examining it with your mind. It’s possible that you’ll give up drowsiness in this way. But what if that doesn’t work? Then rehearse in detail the teaching as you’ve learned and memorized it. It’s possible that you’ll give up drowsiness in this way. But what if that doesn’t work? Then pinch your ears and rub your limbs. It’s possible that you’ll give up drowsiness in this way. But what if that doesn’t work? Then get up from your seat, flush your eyes with water, look around in every direction, and look up at the stars and constellations. It’s possible that you’ll give up drowsiness in this way. But what if that doesn’t work? Then apply your mind to the perception of light, focusing on the perception of day: as by day, so by night; as by night, so by day. And so, with an open and unenveloped heart, develop a mind that’s full of radiance. It’s possible that you’ll give up drowsiness in this way. But what if that doesn’t work? Then walk mindfully, focusing on the perception of before and behind, your faculties directed inwards and your mind not scattered outside. It’s possible that you’ll give up drowsiness in this way. But what if that doesn’t work? Then lie down in the lion’s posture—on the right side, placing one foot on top of the other—mindful and aware, and focused on the time of getting up. When you wake, you should get up quickly, thinking: ‘I will not live indulging in the pleasures of sleeping, lying down, and drowsing.’ That’s how you should train.

    The Buddha's graded remedies for drowsiness, given to Moggallāna — change the object, reflect on the teaching, rub the limbs, look at the stars, walk, and finally lie down.

    Where this stops: Given to Moggallāna, a monk nodding off in meditation. The last remedy is to lie down with mindfulness, meaning to rise, and to get straight up on waking instead of lingering in sleep; it is not an instruction to rest. For someone simply short of sleep, rest is ordinary sense, not this sutta's teaching.

    AN 7.61:2.1–9.4 · Nodding Off

  2. Mendicants, there are eight grounds for laziness. What eight? Firstly, a mendicant has some work to do. They think: ‘I have some work to do. But while doing it my body will get tired. I’d better have a lie down.’ They lie down, and don’t rouse energy for attaining the unattained, achieving the unachieved, and realizing the unrealized. This is the first ground for laziness.

    Putting things off heard from the inside — the reasoning that sounds sensible and ends lying down.

    Where this stops: The same sutta turns the very same circumstances into eight reasons to rouse energy; read the pair, and do not use this on someone who is actually exhausted.

    AN 8.80:1.1–1.7 · Grounds for Laziness and Arousing Energy

  3. “But when your harp’s strings were tuned neither too tight nor too slack, but fixed at an even tension, was it resonant and playable?” “Yes, sir.” In the same way, Soṇa, when energy is too forceful it leads to restlessness. When energy is too slack it leads to laziness.

    The classic instruction on balancing effort.

    AN 6.55:6.1–7.1 · With Soṇa

  4. In the same way, when the mind is restless, it’s the wrong time to develop the awakening factors of investigation of principles, energy, and rapture. Why is that? Because it’s hard to settle a restless mind with these things. When the mind is restless, it’s the right time to develop the awakening factors of tranquility, immersion, and equanimity.

    Which factors to develop when agitated versus sluggish.

    SN 46.53:12.1–13.1 · Fire

  5. Still, thinking and considering for too long would tire my body. And when the body is tired, the mind is stressed. And when the mind is stressed, it’s far from immersion.

    The Buddha on overwork before awakening — even wholesome thinking, kept up too long, exhausts the body and then the mind.

    Where this stops: Said of wholesome thoughts pursued too long; it is about pacing, not a warning against reflection.

    MN 19:8.8–8.10 · Two Kinds of Thought

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