We are again at the beginning of another year, 2018. Usually, at the beginning of a year, we make plans, we make determinations to do things or new resolutions in order to change a practice we do not want to continue doing or add a new routine that would uplift our lives. In terms of everyday life, these resolutions could be things like; completing an exam, working hard towards a promotion at the office, going to gym four days a week, go on a long due holiday or anything that you think is important to make your life better.

In terms of the noble path, these resolutions could be things like; going to the temple once a week, observing Sil on Poya days, meditating every day for 30 minutes, listening to a Dhamma sermon every other day or anything that lacked before in your practice and you honestly want to do. However, even though we honestly try so hard to keep up these new good practices, our interest slackens after a few months. The new practices we started off with great energy in January begins to slow down by March or April and by around August they stop and we even forget that we had these resolutions. This is true for many of us, and we can list down hundreds of reasons why we could not keep up with these new routines that we can definitely benefit from. However, the main reason for falling back from a good practice is ‘laziness’.

You might not agree on this, but once you read the Kusita-Arambhavattu sutta of the Anguttara Nikaya, in the following paragraphs, you will understand how true it is. In this Sutta, the Lord Buddha explains how we give into laziness and postpone things. That ‘laziness’ comes disguised as ‘rest’ or as ‘recovery’ (from hard work or illness).

In this sutta, the Lord Buddha explains that there are 8 ways in which laziness overtakes us; 8 grounds of laziness. The translation of the noble sutta is thus;

“Monks, there are these eight grounds for laziness. Which eight?

“There is the case where a monk has some work to do. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have this work to do. Once I have done this work, my body will be tired. Why don’t I lie down?’ So he lies down. He doesn’t make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. This is the first grounds for laziness.
“Then there is the case where a monk has done some work. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have done some work. Now my body is tired. Why don’t I lie down?’ So he lies down… This is the second grounds for laziness.
“Then there is the case where a monk has to go on a long journey. The thought occurs to him: ‘I will have to go on this journey. Once I go on the journey, my body will be tired. Why don’t I lie down?’ So he lies down… This is the third grounds for laziness.
“Then there is the case where a monk has gone on a journey. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have gone on a journey. Now my body is tired. Why don’t I lie down?’ So he lies down… This is the fourth grounds for laziness.
“Then there is the case where a monk, having gone for alms in a village or town, does not get as much coarse or refined food as he needs to fill himself up. The thought occurs to him: ‘I, having gone for alms in a village or town, have not gotten as much coarse or refined food as I need to fill myself up. This body of mine is tired & unsuitable for work. Why don’t I lie down?’ So he lies down… This is the fifth grounds for laziness.
“Then there is the case where a monk, having gone for alms in a village or town, does get as much coarse or refined food as he needs to fill himself up. The thought occurs to him: ‘I, having gone for alms in a village or town, have gotten as much coarse or refined food as I need to fill myself up. This body of mine is heavy & unsuitable for work as if I were many months pregnant. Why don’t I lie down?’ So he lies down… This is the sixth grounds for laziness.
“Then there is the case where a monk comes down with a slight illness. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have come down with a slight illness. There’s a need to lie down.’ So he lies down… This is the seventh grounds for laziness.
“Then there is the case where a monk has recovered from his illness, not long after his recovery. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have recovered from my illness. It’s not long after my recovery. This body of mine is weak & unsuitable for work. Why don’t I lie down?’ So he lies down. He doesn’t make an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. This is the eighth grounds for laziness.
“These are the eight grounds for laziness.”
This noble sutta is said to the monks, as the Lord Buddha is often accompanied by bhikkhus. If we apply these grounds of laziness to ourselves, and honestly think about us, we can see how true this is. If I summarize the sutta according to our life;
1. We often rest before doing some big task thinking this work will exhaust us, so better rest now.
2. After finishing a big task we always lie down.
3. Before a long journey, we may rest, thinking about how hard it will be.
4. After a long journey, we find time to lie down for sure.
5. If we didn’t eat properly then we don’t feel like doing anything.
6. If we eat too much then, we try to at least sit for a while.
7. Sometimes a small cough is enough to make us have some rest.
8. After recovering from an illness we always think, it’s better to rest to avoid relapsing.
These are pointed out by the most compassionate teacher, not to ridicule us or make us feel bad about what we do, but to tell us that this is happening. So, if one wants to come out of it, he/she can make the effort. We use the time that we assign to our resolutions for lying down or resting, and that makes us postpone our work. So after a few months, we get back to our old routines and lose our interest in doing things that are good for us; our resolutions.
Next, the Lord Buddha explains how to overcome this. they are explained as arousal of energy.
“There are these eight grounds for the arousal of energy. Which eight?
“There is the case where a monk has some work to do. The thought occurs to him: ‘I will have to do this work. But when I am doing this work, it will not be easy to attend to the Buddha’s message. Why don’t I make an effort beforehand for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized?’ So he makes an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. This is the first grounds for the arousal of energy.
“Then there is the case where a monk has done some work. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have done some work. While I was doing work, I couldn’t attend to the Buddha’s message. Why don’t I … This is the second grounds for the arousal of energy.
“Then there is the case where a monk has to go on a journey. The thought occurs to him: ‘I will have to go on this journey. But when I am going on the journey, it will not be easy to attend to the Buddha’s message. Why don’t I … This is the third grounds for the arousal of energy.
“Then there is the case where a monk has gone on a journey. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have gone on a journey. While I was going on the journey, I couldn’t attend to the Buddha’s message. Why don’t I … This is the fourth grounds for the arousal of energy.
“Then there is the case where a monk, having gone for alms in a village or town, does not get as much coarse or refined food as he needs to fill himself up. The thought occurs to him: ‘I, having gone for alms in a village or town, have not gotten as much coarse or refined food as I need to fill myself up. This body of mine is light & suitable for work. Why don’t I… This is the fifth grounds for the arousal of energy.
“Then there is the case where a monk, having gone for alms in a village or town, does get as much coarse or refined food as he needs to fill himself up. The thought occurs to him: ‘I, having gone for alms in a village or town, have gotten as much coarse or refined food as I need to fill myself up. This body of mine is light & suitable for work. Why don’t I …This is the sixth grounds for the arousal of energy.
“Then there is the case where a monk comes down with a slight illness. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have come down with a slight illness. Now, there’s the possibility that it could get worse. Why don’t I… This is the seventh grounds for the arousal of energy.
“Then there is the case where a monk has recovered from his illness, not long after his recovery. The thought occurs to him: ‘I have recovered from my illness. It’s not long after my recovery. Now, there’s the possibility that the illness could come back. Why don’t I make an effort beforehand for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized?’ So he makes an effort for the attaining of the as-yet-unattained, the reaching of the as-yet-unreached, the realization of the as-yet-unrealized. This is the eighth grounds for the arousal of energy.
“These are the eight grounds for the arousal of energy.”
Therefore, if we try to reduce the time we use for rest and do our work according to how the Lord Buddha has explained here we will be able to keep up our resolutions and be very happy by the end of the year of our efforts and achievements.