Styāna (Sanskrit; Tibetan phonetic: mukpa) or thīna (Pali) is a Buddhist term that is translated as "sloth", "lethargy", "gloominess", etc. In the Mahayana tradition, styāna is defined as a mental factor that causes the mind to be withdrawn, unclear, and unable to focus.[1] [2] Thīna is defined as sluggishness or dullness of mind, characterized by a lack of driving power.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.[3] The two mental factors in conjunction are expressed as thīna-middha (sloth-torpor).
Styāna or thīna is identified as:
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:
The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
What is gloominess' It is the way in which the mind cannot function properly and is associated with moha. Its function is to aid all basic and proximate emotions.[1]
Mipham Rinpoche states:
Lethargy belongs to the category of delusion. It means to be withdrawn, mentally incapable, and unable to focus on an object because of heaviness of body and mind. It forms the support for the disturbing emotions.[2]
Alexander Berzin explains:
Foggymindedness (rmugs-pa) is a part of naivety (moha). It is a heavy feeling of body and mind that makes the mind unclear, unserviceable, and incapable either of giving rise to a cognitive appearance of its object or of apprehending the object correctly. When the mind actually becomes unclear, due to foggymindedness, this is mental dullness (bying-ba).[4]