What is consciousness? Comatose are aware

Sam Jones, Washington Post, 11/2023; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Trapped in a body that's out of its mind.

Some brain injury patients may appear to be in a coma, but they are not. They are processing at least some of what is happening around them but cannot physically respond.

Without a physical response, a physician might assume that a patient hasn’t understood, said Dr. Sudhin Shah, a neuroscientist at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. Referring to the patient, she said, “Unfortunately, it could be that you were processing, you were understanding, you were wanting to talk to me. You just can’t.” More: Some coma patients may be conscious. and new research could identify them.

• Am I conscious? I feel unconscious because I can’t picture things in my mind. I didn’t realize that was unusual. Others can or are they just imagining it?
• Signs one is a 'highly sensitive person' — the missing personality type, according to some researchers

(Guns N' Roses) Axl Rose reflects on life inside a coma in "Coma"

I fall asleep when I meditate

Sayalay Susila (sayalaysusila.net), edited by Dhr. Seven, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Q: How do I deal with sleepiness?

A: There are many ways to deal with both kinds of sleepiness, sloth (physical) and torpor (mental). Sometimes, we must find the external cause of sleepiness. For example, don’t meditate right after eating. If you do, you'll be overwhelmed by both sloth and torpor. The same will occur if you meditate when you are already too tired. If sleepiness comes, here's help:

• Open the eyes. Look at light. This will brighten the mind. [Looking at the internal light also helps]. Reciting some of the Buddha's words and temporarily putting aside the object of meditation will also make the mind more alert. Scanning the body up and down makes the mind more attentive. Pulling on the ears is also extremely effective to energize the brain; there are many acupressure points on the ears that connect right to the brain. Do standing meditation instead of sitting. Worrying about falling down on the person in front of you will probably keep you awake.

I'll also share my own way of staying awake. It is more difficult but very effective. The very moment I notice sloth and torpor, I just look at them, and they are gone. However, this method requires alert mindfulness. Most people are unable to be aware of subtle laziness right when it arises. By the time they notice it, the laziness has already gained momentum – body swaying and head nodding. By this time, it is too late to apply this method. If your mindfulness is precise and you are clear on what is happening in the mind, the moment you know sloth and torpor, they disappear.

• I'm worried. Is the Mandela Effect real? (reasontalk.com)

A Buddhist Valentine's Day (sutra)

Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanasobhano (Leonard Price)

I think I'm cute, but my partner doesn't love my love of sports (newravel.com).

Happy Valentine's Day! Sex, love, hooking up instead of intimacy (mademan.com)

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Modern dating (for shy people)

(Negeen Dargahi) Review with pictures of the four best cell phone dating apps for introverts

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Nothing Higher to Live For: A Buddhist View of Romantic Love

Ven. Nyanasobhano (Leonard Price, accesstoinsight.org)

Alcohol is the great lubricator, intoxication leads to intoxication and stupidity (NR).

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Roses are red love poem

If it is possible to live with a purpose, what should that purpose be? A purpose is a guiding principle, a philosophy, or a value of sovereign importance that informs and directs our activities and thoughts.

To have one is to live seriously -- though not necessarily wisely -- following some track, believing in a hub to the wheeling universe or a sea toward which we flow or an end before which all the hubbub of civilization subsides. What is your purpose, friend, or what should it be?

Perhaps most of us do not come to a clear conclusion in the matter, but this does not mean we have no purpose, only that we do not recognize it or admit it or even choose it for ourselves. In the unhappiest case nature simply takes its course, which is a turbid meandering through the swamps of desire. If life means nothing then only pleasure is worthwhile; or if life has meaning and we cannot get at it then still only enjoyment matters -- such is the view of brutes and some sophisticated philosophers. 

Valentine's Day box of chocolates...with no chocolate in them (Henry Payne cartoon)

 

Hello! Dating is awkward (newravel.com).

It slips into the unconscious by default when we hold no other, but we are reluctant to entertain it and will rather, if we think about it, take as our purpose support of family, search for beauty, improvement of society, fame, self-expression, development of talent, and so on. But it might be fair to say that apart from these or beneath these the fundamental purpose of many of us is the search for love, particularly romantic love.

 

The love of a man for a woman and a woman for a man is often the floor to which people fall after the collapse of other dreams. It is held to be solid when nothing else is, and though it frequently gives way and dumps them into a basement of despair, it still enjoys a reputation of dependability.

This much? - That much!

No matter that this reputation is illogical -- it still flourishes and will continue to flourish regardless of what is said in any book. Love, or possibly the myth of love, is the first, last, and sometimes the only refuge of uncomprehending humanity. What else makes our hearts beat so fast? What else makes us swoon with feeling? What else renders us so intensely alive and aching?

The search for love -- the sublime, the nebulous, the consuming -- remains sacred in a world that increasingly despises the sacred. When the heroic and the transcendental are but memories, when religious institutions fill up with bureaucrats and social scientists, when nobody believes there is a sky beyond the ceiling, then there seems no other escape from the prison of self than the abandon of love. With a gray age of spiritual deadness upon us, we love, or beg for love, or grieve for love. We have nothing higher to live for.

 

I love ya, Brenda! Brenda? (buzzcontrol)

Indeed, many take it on faith that romantic love is the highest thing to live for. Popular literature, movies, art, and music tirelessly celebrate it as the one truth accessible to all. Such love obliterates reason, as poets have long sweetly lamented, and this is part of its charm and power, because we want to be swept up and spirited out of our calculating selves.

"Want" is the key word, for in the spiritual void of modern life the wanting of love becomes increasingly indistinguishable from love itself. So powerful, so insistent is it that we seldom notice that the gratification is rare and the craving relentless. Love is mostly in anticipation; it is an agony of anticipation; it is an ache for a completion not found in the dreary round of mundane routine. That we never seem to possess it in its imagined fullness does not deter us. It hurts so bad that it must be good. More
 

Love is my religion. It's a stupid religion as I pretend it's altruism when it's selfish craving, self-involved pining, and egotistic wasting away waiting for fulfillment from someone/something. It's disappointing (unfulfilling), but I have nothing higher to live for!

• SUTRA SUMMARY: This discourse relates the story of the Buddhist monk, the Buddha's cousin, Tissa, being brought to the Buddha because he has been complaining of his distaste for the monastic life. By means of an allegory, the Buddha teaches him how he can attain nirvana, and promises to help him to do so. (S.iii.106f.)

SUTRA: Love's Languor is a Drug
Maurice O'Connell Walshe and Ven. Thanissaro/Geoffrey DeGraff (trans.), edited by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, and Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly (Tissa Sutra, SN 22.84)

This monastic life is sooo dull, cousin. But look how fine my ascetic robes are.

"Depravity of Seigen" monk haunted by illicit affair

SAVATTHI, ancient India - [Thus have I heard.] On one occasion Ven. Tissa, the Blessed One's cousin, told a large number of fellow ascetics, "Friends, it is as if my body is drugged. I have lost my bearings. Things are not clear to me. My mind keeps being overwhelmed with sloth and torpor. I lead the pure life dissatisfied. I have uncertainty about the Dharma (the Buddha's teachings)."
 
Then a great many ascetics went to the Blessed One and on arrival bowed and sat respectfully to one side. Sitting there, they reported: "Venerable sir, Ven. Tissa, the Blessed One's own cousin, has told a large number of ascetics, 'Friends, it is as if my body is drugged. I have lost my bearings...I have uncertainty about the Dharma.'"
 
The Blessed One told a certain monastic, "Come, in my name, call Tissa, saying, 'The teacher calls you, my friend.'"
 
"As you say, venerable sir," he answered and went to Ven. Tissa and said, "The Teacher calls you, my friend."
 
"As you say, my friend," Ven. Tissa replied. He went to the Blessed One, bowed, and sat respectfully to one side. The Blessed One said to him, "Is it true, Tissa, that you said, 'Friends, it is as if my body is drugged. I have lost my bearings. Things are not clear to me. My mind keeps being overwhelmed with sloth and torpor. I lead the pure [celibate] life dissatisfied. I have uncertainty about the Dharma'?"
 
"Yes, venerable sir."
 
"What do you think, Tissa: In one who is full of passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, and craving for physcial form, does there arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair as a result of change and alteration to one's form?"
 
"Yes, venerable sir."
 
"Good, Tissa, good. That is how it is for one who is full of passion for form.
 
"What do you think, Tissa: In one who is full of passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, and craving for feelings...perceptions...mental formations [constructions, fabrications], does there arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair as a result of change and alteration to one's mental formations?"
 
"Yes, venerable sir."
 
"Good, Tissa, good. That is how it is for one who is full of passion for formations.
 
"What do you think, Tissa: In one who is full of passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, and craving for consciousness, does there arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair as a result of change and alteration to one's consciousness?"

• [These five -- form, feelings, perceptions, formations, consciousness -- are the Five Aggregates or Groups of Clinging, the very things we most identify with and think of as "self" and other. But as they are ever-changing, they are unable to bring lasting fulfillment. They will change and disappoint. They are not "self." Yet, these are the "things" (components, processes) we most cling to in ignorance.]

"Yes, venerable sir."
 
"Good, Tissa, good. That is how it is for one who is full of passion for consciousness [i.e., awareness through the six senses, with mind as the sixth].
 
"Now what do you think, Tissa: In one who is free of passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, and craving for form, does there arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair as a result of change and alteration in one's form?"
 
"No, venerable sir."
 
"Good, Tissa, good. That is how it is for one who is free of passion for form.
 
"What do you think, Tissa: In one who is free of passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, and craving for feelings... perceptions... formations, does there arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair from change and alteration to one's formations?"
 
"No, venerable sir."

"Good, Tissa, good. That i how it is for one who is free of passion for formations.
 
"What do you think, Tissa: In one who is free of passion, desire, love, thirst, fever, and craving for consciousness, does there arise sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, and despair as a result of change and alteration to one's consciousness?"
 
"No, venerable sir."
 
"Good, Tissa, good. That is how it is for one who is free of passion for consciousness.
 
"What do you think, Tissa -- is form constant or inconstant?"
 
"Inconstant, venerable sir."
 
"And is that which is inconstant fulfilling or disappointing?"
 
"Disappointing, venerable sir."
 
"And is it fitting to regard what is inconstant, disappointing, subject to change as, 'This is mine. This is my 'self.' This is what I am'?"
 
"No, venerable sir."
 
"...Is feeling constant or inconstant?" "Inconstant, venerable sir."...
 
"...Is perception constant or inconstant?" "Inconstant, venerable sir."...
 
"...Are formations constant or inconstant?" "Inconstant, venerable sir."...
 
"What do you think, Tissa -- is consciousness constant or inconstant?"

• [Consciousness (vinanna) is not a solid or single thing but a composite process, the awareness that comes about through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin, or mind.]

"Inconstant, venerable sir."
 
"And is that which is inconstant fulfilling or disappointing?"
 
"Disappointing, venerable sir."
 
"And is it fitting to regard what is inconstant, disappointing, subject to change as, 'This is mine. This is my 'self.' This is what I am'?"
 
"No, venerable sir."
 
"So, Tissa, any form whatsoever -- whether past, present, or future, internal or external (here or in others), obvious or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near -- every form is to be seen as it actually is with wisdom (right understanding) as, 'This is not mine. This is not my 'self.' This is not what I am.'
 
"Any feeling whatsoever...
 
"Any perception whatsoever...
 
"Any formations whatsoever...
 
"Any consciousness whatsoever -- whether past, present, or future, internal or external, obvious or subtle, mundane or sublime, far or near -- every consciousness is to be seen as it actually is with wisdom as, 'This is not mine. This is not my 'self.' This is not what I am.'
 
"Seeing thus, the instructed noble disciple of noble ones grows disenchanted with form, disenchanted with feeling, disenchanted with perception, disenchanted with formations, disenchanted with consciousness. Through disenchantment, one becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion, one is fully liberated. With full liberation, there is the knowledge, 'Fully liberated.' One knows, 'Birth is ended, the pure life fulfilled, the task done. There is nothing further for this world.'

The PATH

"Tissa, it is as if there were two people, one familiar with the path, the other unfamiliar with the path. In that case, the one unfamiliar with the path would ask the one familiar with the path about the path.

"The second would say, 'Come, good friend, this is the path. Go along it a little further and you will see a fork in the road. Avoiding the left fork, take the right. Go along a little further and you will see an intense forest grove. Go along a little further and you will see a large marshy swamp. Go along a little further and you will see a deep drop-off. Go along a little further and you will see a delightful stretch of level ground.
 
"I have made this analogy (allegory), Tissa, to convey this meaning: The one unfamiliar with the path stands for an ordinary, uninstructed worldling.

"The one familiar with the path stands for the Wayfarer, worthy and rightly awakened. The fork in the road represents uncertainty. The left fork represents the eightfold wrong path -- that is, wrong view, wrong intention, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong concentration. The right fork represents the Noble Eightfold Path -- that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The intense forest grove represents ignorance. The large marshy swamp represents sensual desires. The deep drop-off represents anger and despair. The delightful stretch of level ground represents nirvana.
 
"Be happpy, Tissa! Rejoice! I am here to exhort you, I am here to guide you, I am here to instruct you!"
 
That is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, Ven. Tissa delighted in the Blessed One's words.

Who was Ven. Tissa?
G.P. Malalasekera, Dictionary of Pali Proper Names

Grown old without yet seeing nirvana

(14) Tissa Thera was the son of the Buddha's paternal aunt, Amitā (2). He entered the Buddhist Monastic Order and lived in a woodland settlement. But he was proud of his rank and irritable and capricious in his conduct. He once came to the Buddha in tears because his fellow ascetics had teased him on account of his talkativeness (S.ii.282; MA.i.289).

On another occasion, the Buddha using his psychic faculty (eye) saw Ven. Tissa sleeping with his open mouth during the siesta and, sending a ray of glory, woke him. Ven. Tissa's heart was filled with anguish, and when he confessed to his fellows his mental laziness and distaste for spiritual exertion, they brought this to the attention of the Buddha (which led to this sutra). The Buddha instructed him, as recorded in this Tissa Sutra, at the end of which he became an arhat or fully enlightened person (Thag.v.39; but see v.1162; S.iii.106f; ThagA.i.105).
 
In a past life, in the time of Tissa Buddha, [the person who became] Tissa swept the leaves from the foot of the bodhi tree. He is evidently identical with Bodhisammajjaka of the Apadāna (Ap.ii.457f).
 

The Dhammapada aphorisms

The Dhammapada Commentary (i.31ff) calls him Thullatissa. He entered the Monastic Order when old and became fat through idleness. He spent most of his time in the Waiting Hall draped in rich robes. Monks, taking him to be a great elder (Mahā Thera) with many as a monastic and therefore likely to be enlightened, begged for  the privilege of performing various services for him, such as massaging his feet. When they discovered his lack of spiritual attainments, they reviled him, and he sought out the Buddha. The Buddha, however, asked him to obtain their pardon for having failed to show them due honor. When he refused, the Buddha related to him the story of Nārada and Devala. (Narada was the Bodhisatta, the Buddha-to-be, in a former life as an ascetic; for the story see Devāla).

Sports? 7 Things To Do On a SOLO Valentine's Day This Year (bankrate.com)

Life in Hell: Binky tries to apologize to Sheba. (Matt Groening, Life is Swell)

Primary Questions: An ongoing Series (Tom Tomorrow/thismodernworld.com)

Ask a Ninja: How to Meditate: 5: Restlessness

Seth Auberon, Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanaponika, Five Hindrances and Their Conquest: Selected Texts from the Pali Canon and Commentaries

Think. There are hindrances to meditation. Overcome them and be a ninja.

"Most of the things you worry about never happen!" (halfwaybetweenthegutter)

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"This year, rise above it"! (AB)

This is Part V of a seven-part series (see Part IV) on overcoming the Five Hindrances, culminating with what to do as an enlightened Meditation Ninja. Reaching enlightenment may take anywhere from seven days to seven years, according to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness Sutra. But it depends on effort, sustained-ease, and consistency. Over-effort is something to be overcome by calm; under-effort is overcome by energy: balanced-effort is the goal. There is much more to be gained by practicing a little every day rather than a lot on Sunday and none at all the rest of the week: Consistency over time is the tortoise's secret, leaving the hare far behind. Everything can wait, but the search for enlightenment cannot wait.

4. Restlessness and Remorse
A. Nourishing of Restlessness and Remorse

There is unrest of mind. Frequently giving unwise attention to it is nourishing the arising of restlessness and remorse (distraction and worry) that have not yet arisen and for the increase and strengthening of restlessness and remorse that have already arisen. — SN 46:51
 

B. Denourishing of Restlessness and Remorse

There is quietude of mind. Frequently giving wise attention to it is the denourishing of the arising of restlessness and remorse that have not yet arisen and of the increase and strengthening of restlessness and remorse that have already arisen. — SN 46:51

Six things are conducive to the abandonment of restlessness and remorse:

1. knowledge of the Buddhist texts (sutras, scriptures, the Doctrine and Discipline);
2. asking questions about them;
3. familiarity with the Code of Monastic Discipline (Vinaya) for monastics and intensive practitioners, and for lay followers the principles of virtue (sila, as detailed in the Sigalovada Sutra);
4. association with those mature in experience, who possess meditative serenity, restraint, and calm;
5. noble friendship (wise association with a kalyana-mitta);
6. suitable conversation.

These things are also helpful in conquering or calmly overcoming restlessness and remorse:

1. rapture (piti, bliss), one of the Five Factors of Absorption (jhana-anga);
2. concentration, one of the Five Spiritual Faculties (indriya);
3. Tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity, three of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhanga).

Waves atop Morningstar Beach, Mars (C2C)

When the mind is restless, it is not the proper time for cultivating the following Factors of Enlightenment: keen investigation of phenomena (dharma), energy (viriya), or rapture because an agitated mind can hardly be quietened by them.
 

When the mind is restless, it is the proper time for cultivating the following Factors of Enlightenment: tranquillity, concentration, and equanimity because an agitated mind can easily be quietened by them. — SN 46:53

C. Simile

Sometimes restlessness overwhelms me.

If there is water in a pot, stirred up by the wind, agitated, producing ripples and waves, a person with a normal faculty of vision would not properly recognize and see the image of one's own face (using the surface of the water as a mirror). In the same way, when one's mind is possessed by restlessness and remorse, overpowered by restlessness and remorse, one cannot properly see the escape from restlessness and remorse that have arisen. Then one does not properly understand one's own welfare, that of another, nor that of both. And texts memorized a long time ago do not come to mind, to say nothing of those not memorized. — SN 46:55

• Buddhist Association of the United States (NY) 
• Remember: Space is dangerous (CNN)
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• Could Bigfoot exist in N. America (Straight Dope) 

Ask a Ninja: How to Meditate: 4. Sloth/Torpor

Seth Auberon, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly; Ven. Nyanaponika Thera, Five Mental Hindrances and Their Conquest: Selected Texts from the Pali Canon and Commentaries

Wait, what was I saying? Oh yeah, I'm a ninja, an expert, a master, so listen up.

Novices yawn, stretch, prepare to overcome the Five Hindrances (Filip Wolak/flickr).

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"This year, rise above it" (AB).

This is Part IV of a seven-part series (see Part III) on overcoming of the Five Hindrances, culminating with what to do as an enlightened Meditation Ninja. Reaching enlightenment may take from seven days to seven years of effort depending on dedication and consistency. Overdoing effort is not as good as consistent-effort. There is much more to be gained by practicing 10 minutes a day rather than piling on 70 minutes every Sunday: Consistency was the tortoise's secret as the hare assumed there would be time to catch up.
 

3. Sloth and Torpor

A. Nourishing Sloth and Torpor

There arises listlessness, lassitude, lazy stretching of the body, drowsiness after meals, mental sluggishness. Frequently giving unwise attention to it -- this is the nourishing of the arising of sloth (habitual disinclination to exertion, indolence, laziness) and torpor (inertia, apathy, lethargy) that have not yet arisen and for the increase and strengthening of sloth and torpor that have already arisen (SN 46:51).
 

B. Denourishing Sloth and Torpor

There is the element of rousing one's energy, the element of exertion, the element of consistent exertion. Frequently giving wise attention to it -- this is the denourishing of the arising of sloth and torpor that have not yet arisen and of the increase and strengthening of sloth and torpor that have already arisen (SN 46:51).

 

Thiksey, Ladakh (DietmarTemps.com)

"May nothing remain but skin and sinews and bones. May flesh and blood dry up in the body! Not before having achieved what can be achieved by enthusiastic (virile, energetic, viriya) strength, enthusiastic energy, enthusiastic exertion shall my energy subside!" (MN 70).

 

Six things are conducive to the abandonment of sloth and torpor:

1. knowing that overeating is a cause of it,
2. changing the bodily posture,
3. thinking or reflection on the perception of light [nimitta],
4. staying out in the open fresh air,
5. noble friendship,
6. suitable conversation.

These things, too, are helpful in conquering sloth and torpor:

1. the recollection of death
   
   Today the effort should be made, for who knows if tomorrow death will come?
   

   — MN 131
2. Perceiving the suffering/disappointment in impermanence
   
   In a meditator who is accustomed to seeing the suffering in impermanence and who is frequently engaged in this contemplation, there will be established such a keen sense of the danger inherent in laziness, idleness, lassitude, indolence, and thoughtlessness (neglect, forgetfulness, nonvigilance, lapsed mindfulness), as if one were being threatened by a murderer with a drawn sword.
   

   — AN 7:46
3. Joy in others' joy
   
   Cultivate the meditation on joy in others' joy! For by cultivating it, listlessness will disappear.
   

   — MN 62
4. Contemplation of the spiritual journey
   
   "I have to tread that path which the supreme buddhas, the silent buddhas, and the great disciples have gone, but by an indolent person that path cannot be trodden."
   

   — Path of Purification. IV,55
5. Contemplation of the Buddha's greatness
   
   "Full application of energy was praised by my teacher [the Buddha], who is unsurpassed in his injunctions and a great help to us. [The Buddha] is honored by practicing his Dharma, not otherwise."
   

   — Ibid.
6. Contemplation on the greatness of the Great Heritage
   
   "I have to take possession of the Great Heritage, called the Good Dharma. But one who is indolent cannot take possession of it."
   

   — Ibid.
   

   

   A lotus or water lily grows well in mire rising above the mire unstained (PlatongkohPhoto)

7. How to stimulate the mind
   
   How does one stimulate the mind/heart at a time when it needs stimulation? If due to slowness in the application of wisdom or due to non-attainment of the happiness of tranquillity, one's mind is dull, then one should rouse it through reflecting on the eight stirring objects: birth, decay, disease and death, the suffering in the worlds of misery, the suffering of the past rooted in the round of existence (samsara), the suffering of the future rooted in the round of existence, the suffering of the present rooted in the search for food.
   

   — Path of Purification, IV,63
8. How to overcome sleepiness
   
   Once the Buddha spoke to the Ven. Maha Moggallana [the chief male disciple "foremost in supernormal powers"] in this way: "Are you drowsy, Moggallana, are you drowsy?" — "Yes, venerable sir."
   (1) "Well then, Moggallana, at whatever thought torpor [tiredness] has befallen you, to that thought stop giving attention; do not frequently dwell on it. Then it is possible that, by so doing, torpor will disappear.
   (2) "But if, by so doing, that torpor does not disappear, think and reflect within your mind about the Dharma as you have heard and learned it; mentally review it. Then it is possible that, by so doing, torpor will disappear.
   (3) "But if, by so doing, that torpor does not disappear, learn by heart [memorize] the Dharma in its fullness, as you have heard and learned it. Then it is possible...
   (4) "But if, by so doing, that torpor does not disappear, shake your ears, and rub your limbs with the palm of your hand. Then it is possible...
   (5) "But if, by so doing, that torpor does not disappear, get up from your [meditation] seat, and after splashing your eyes with water, look around in all directions, and look upwards to the stars in the sky. Then it is possible...
   (6) "But if, by so doing, that torpor does not disappear, firmly establish the (inner) perception of light: As it is by day, so also by night; as it is by night, so also by day. Thus with a mind clear and unobstructed, develop a consciousness which is full of brightness. Then it is possible...
   (7) "But if, by so doing, that torpor does not disappear, conscious of that which is before and behind, walk up and down [walking meditation pacing back and forth slowly], with your senses turned inwards, with your mind not going outwards. Then it is possible...
   (8) "But if, by so doing, that torpor does not disappear, you may lie down on your right side, taking up the lion's posture, covering foot with foot -- mindful and clearly conscious, keeping in mind the thought of rising. Having awakened again, quickly rise, thinking: 'I won't indulge in the enjoyment of lying down and reclining lazily, in the enjoyment of sleep!'
   "Thus, Moggallana, should you train yourself!"
   

   — AN 7:58
   

   

   Sleeping in the midst of danger: elder Buddhist monk with tiger (3d-pictures.feedio.net).

9. The five threatening dangers
   If, meditators, a meditator perceives these five threatening dangers, it is enough to live heedful, zealous, with a heart resolute to achieve the unachieved, to attain the unattained, to realize the unrealized. What are these five dangers?
   (1) Here [within this teaching and training], meditators, a meditator reflects: "I am now young, a youth, young in age, black-haired, in the prime of life, in the first phase of life. But a time will come when this body will be in the grip of old age. And one who is overpowered by old age cannot easily contemplate on the Teachings of the Buddha. It is not easy for one to live in the wilderness or woodland or a forest or jungle, or in secluded dwellings. Before this undesirable condition, so unpleasant and disagreeable, approaches me, prior to that, let me muster my energy for achieving the unachieved, for attaining the unattained, for realizing the unrealized, so that, in the possession of that state, I shall live happily even in old age."
   (2) And further, meditators, a meditator reflects: "I am now free from sickness, free from disease, my digestive power functions smoothly, my constitution is not too cool and not too hot, it is balanced and fit for making effort. But a time will come when this body will be in the grip of sickness. And one who is sick cannot easily contemplate upon the Teachings of the Buddha. It is not easy for one to live in the wilderness or woodland or a forest or jungle, or in secluded dwellings. Before this undesirable condition, so unpleasant and disagreeable, approaches me, prior to that, let me muster my energy for achieving the unachieved, for attaining the unattained, for realizing the unrealized, so that, in the possession of that state, I shall live happily even in sickness."
   

   

   Sleepy Thai monk (Camera30f/flickr)

   (3) And further, meditators, a meditator reflects: "Now there is an abundance of food, good harvests, easily obtainable is a meal of alms [food donated to practitioners so they can meditate and develop virtue and wisdom], it is easy to live on collected food and offerings. But a time will come when there will be a famine, [a war, political trouble,] a bad harvest, difficult to obtain will be a meal of alms, it will be difficult to live on collected food and offerings. And in a famine people migrate to places where food is ample, and there habitations will be overwhelmed and crowded. But in habitations overwhelmed and crowded one cannot easily contemplate upon the Teachings of the Buddha. Before this undesirable condition, so unpleasant and disagreeable, approaches me, prior to that, let me muster my energy for achieving the unachieved, for attaining the unattained, for realizing the unrealized, so that, in the possession of that state, I shall live happily even in a famine."
   (4) And further, meditators, a meditator reflects: "Now people live in concord and amity, in friendly fellowship as mingled water and milk [which blend well, unlike water and oil] and look at each other with friendly eyes. But there will come a time of danger, of unrest among the jungle tribes when the country people mount their carts and drive away and fear-stricken people move to a place of safety, and there habitations will be overwhelmed and crowded. But in habitations overwhelmed and crowded one cannot easily contemplate upon the Teachings of the Buddha. Before this undesirable condition, so unpleasant and disagreeable, approaches me, prior to that, let me muster my energy for achieving the unachieved, for attaining the unattained, for realizing the unrealized, so that, in the possession of that state, I shall live happily even in time of danger."
   (5) And further, meditators, a meditator reflects: "Now the Monastic Order lives in concord and amity, without quarrel, lives happily under one teaching. But a time will come when there will be a split (schism) in the Order. And when the Order is split, one cannot easily contemplate upon the Teachings of the Buddha; it is not easy to live in the wilderness or woodlands or a forest or jungle, or in secluded dwellings. Before this undesirable condition, so unpleasant and disagreeable, approaches me, prior to that, let me muster my energy for achieving the unachieved, for attaining the unattained, for realizing the unrealized, so that, in the possession of that state, I shall live happily even when the Order is split."
   

   — AN 5:78

• This sutra is one of the seven canonical texts recommended by the ancient Indian Emperor Asoka in the Second Bhairat Rock Edict: "Venerables, these passages of the Dharma -- ...'Fears of what may happen (anagata-bhayani)...spoken by the Buddha -- these, venerable sirs, I desire that many monks and nuns should frequently hear and meditate on: and that likewise the lay followers, male and female, should do the same" (Vincent A. Smith, Asoka, 3rd ed., p. 54).

These things, too, are helpful in conquering sloth and torpor:

• applied attention, one of the Five Factors of Absorptions (jhananga),
• energy (viriya), one of the Five Spiritual Faculties (indriya),
• keen investigation of phenomena, energy, and rapture, some of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment (bojjhanga).

When the mind is sluggish, it is not the proper time for cultivating the following factors of enlightenment: tranquillity, concentration, or equanimity. This is because a sluggish mind can hardly be aroused by them.
 

When the mind is sluggish, it is the proper time for cultivating the following factors of enlightenment: keen investigation of phenomena, energy, and rapture. This is because a sluggish mind can easily be aroused by them (SN 46:53).
 

C. Simile

Moss or rolled sod growing on Mars (NASA).

If there is a pot of water, covered with moss and water plants, then a person with a normal faculty of sight looking into it could not properly recognize and see the image of his own face. In the same way, when one's mind is possessed by sloth and torpor, overpowered by sloth and torpor, one cannot properly see the escape from sloth and torpor that have arisen; then one does not properly understand one's own welfare, nor that of another, nor that of both; and also texts memorized a long time ago do not come into one's mind, not to speak of those not memorized (SN 46:55).

The Five Hindrances (definition)

The Five Hindrances (nivarana) are obstacles to the mind. They blind our mental vision. In the presence of them, we cannot reach Neighborhood-Concentra-tion (upacara-samadhi), Full- Concentration (appana-sama-dhi), or clearly discern the truth.

.

They are:

1. Sensuous Desire (kamacchanda)
2. Ill-will (vyapada)
3. Sloth and Torpor (thina-middha)
4. Restlessness and Scruples (uddhacca-kukkucca)
5. Sceptical Doubt (vicikiccha)

In the beautiful similes in A.V. 193,

• Sensuous Desire is like water mixed with manifold colors;
• Ill-will with boiling water;
• Torpor with water covered by mosses;
• Restlessness with agitated water whipped by wind;
• Sceptical Doubt with turbid and muddy water.

Just as in such water one cannot perceive one's own reflection, so in the presence of these Five mental Hindrances, one cannot clearly discern one's own benefit, nor that of others, nor of both.

Regarding the temporary suspension of the Five Hindrances on entering the first absorption [jhana], the stereotype sutra text (e.g., A. IX. 40) runs as follows:

"One has cast away Sensuous Desire; one dwells with a heart free from sensuous desire; from desire one cleanses one's heart.

"One has cast away Ill-will; one dwells with a heart free from ill-will, cherishing love and compassion toward all living beings, one cleanses one's heart from ill-will.

"One has cast away Sloth and Torpor; one dwells free from sloth and torpor; loving the light, with watchful mind, with clear consciousness, one cleanses one's mind from sloth and torpor.

"One has cast away Restlessness and Scruples; dwelling with mind undisturbed, with heart full of peace, one cleanses one's mind from restlessness and scruples.

"One has cast away Sceptical Doubt; dwelling free from doubt, full of confidence in the good, one cleanses one's heart from doubt.

"One has put aside these Five Hindrances and come to know these paralyzing defilements of the mind. And far from sensual impressions, far from unwholesome things, one enters into the first absorption [jhana], and so on."

The overcoming of these Five Hindrances by the absorptions [jhanas] is, as already pointed out, a merely temporary suspension, called "Overcoming through Repression" (vikkhambhana-pahand).

They disappear forever on entering the Four Supermundane Paths (ariya-puggala): That is,

• Sceptical Doubt disappears forever upon reaching Stream-entry;
• Sensuous Desire, Ill-will and Mental Worry on reaching Non-returning;
• Sloth, Torpor, and Restlessness on reaching full enlightenment (Arahatship).

—For the origination and overcoming of the Five Hindrances, see A. I, 2; VI, 21; S. XLVI, 51. See also The Five Mental Hindrances by Ven. Nyanaponika (BPS, Wheel 26).