Thīna Explained

Thīna (Sanskrit styāna|स्त्यान​; Pali: थीन) is a Buddhist term that is translated as "sloth". Thīna is defined as sluggishness or dullness of mind, characterized by a lack of driving power. In the Theravada tradition, thīna is said to occur in conjunction with middha (torpor), which is defined as a morbid state that is characterized by unwieldiness, lack of energy, and opposition to wholesome activity.^[1] The two mental factors in conjunction are expressed as thīna-middha (sloth-torpor).

Thīna is mentioned in the Pali canon as:

• One of the five hindrances to meditation practice (in combination with middha, i.e. as sloth-torpor)
• One of the fourteen unwholesome mental factors within the Theravada Abhidharma teachings
• Closely related to the Sanskrit term kausīdya (spiritual sloth), that is identified as one of the twenty secondary unwholesome factors within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings

Explanation

Bhikkhu Bodhi explains:

The Atthasālinī (II, Book I, Part IX, Chapter II, 255) states about sloth and torpor: “Absence of striving, difficulty through inability, is the meaning.” We then read the following definitions of sloth and torpor:

Nina van Gorkom explains:

See also

• Kausīdya
• Mental factors (Buddhism)
• Moha (Buddhism)
• Middha

Sources

• Bhikkhu Bodhi (2003), A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma, Pariyatti Publishing
• Nina van Gorkom (2010), Cetasikas, Zolag

Notes and References

1. https://books.google.com/books?id=ACrogsyJmoAC&q=middha Bhikkhu Bodhi (2003), p. 84