Sloth and the devil’s work

Henepola Gunaratana

Sometimes there is need to relax. To go off duty. To chill out. To stand and stare. To be. To discard or at least to lay aside the to-do-list. There is then the possibility of falling asleep (most modern people are sleep-deprived). But you might be kept awake by zealous workaholic thought habits reminding you that the Devil finds work for idle hands to do.

Sloth and torpor have been recognized as one of the five hindrances (klesas) to mindfulness meditation. The other four are restlessness and anxiety, craving, aversion, and doubt. The different klesas get to me at different times.

Recently I have been got at by sloth and torpor. In Buddhist terms this refers to intellectual habits rather than to physical sleepiness. It is particularly difficult to work with because you have to be awake and aware of the fact of being got at by sloth and torpor (or sleep).

home made plum jam

This topic entered the attention centre and stayed long enough to become a topic. I note that much recent time has been spent on trivial things - eg making jam - rather than putting in the hours on the cushion - or the 20 minutes on the green chair.

Much time has also been spent writing stories for the blog. This is mostly a no-self non-action. The unconscious does it. Concentration is steady. It is an example of “no-self, no-problem”. But when it is over there is a return to the default state of mild restlessness and anxiety. There are then urges towards ‘doing’; to distraction – eg coffee and biscuits – despite knowing that I could also reach the peaceful state of no-self by just-sitting. Aha – aversion to pleasure! I don’t deserve it. More restlessness and anxiety. An urge to pick up the to-do-list – back to the devil’s work.

Open the book at random and find a quote:

“ It (Buddhism) is an ever-ongoing investigation of reality, a microscopic examination of the very process of perception. Its intention is to pick apart the screen of lies and delusions through which we normally view the world, and thus to reveal the face of ultimate reality … meditation is an ancient and elegant technique for doing just that.” (p 2)

Reference:

Henepola Gunaratana (1991) Mindfulness in Plain English