Working On Laziness

We all have aspirations in life. We have dreams, work hard to better ourselves, and seek to make our lives meaningful. We apply ourselves in many areas and wrestle to discern what brings lasting fulfillment, joy, and peace—beyond just the fleeting moments of these experiences.

Despite our efforts, many of us often feel that something is holding us back, particularly where it is most meaningful and personally fulfilling. Sometimes it is an outer impediment or something that we can’t control—an external force or person that prevents us from achieving our goals. Much of the time, however, the impediment is not outside but has more to do with ourselves. Something internal prevents us from doing what it takes to make progress in fulfilling our deepest wishes and aspirations.

Why do we often struggle to stay on course and complete what we know to be positive and good? Why do we give up or not follow through? What is it that happens along the way?

The short answer is, we are lazy. And this is not just the lie-around-and-do-nothing kind of lazy, although that is one type of laziness. Our laziness is cleverer than that. It uses endless, self-justifying distractions and even self-denigration to disguise itself, ultimately preventing us from getting to what we truly wish to do with our precious time and life.

The Buddha’s teachings define three categories of laziness. Whenever we try to fully engage the path—or anything, really—these three kinds of laziness can creep in and block us from accomplishing what we set out to do. Identifying our laziness is the first step in learning the practice of diligence or joyful exertion.

The first type of laziness is perhaps the one we are most familiar with when we think about being lazy. Sometimes we can feel so heavy and lethargic—emotionally, mentally, and physically—it is like experiencing a carb crash. When we give in to that feeling, the fatigue then takes over our whole being. This can be a place we tend to fall into. It is like turning over in bed and staying under the covers. More than just that, we feel deeply attached to staying there. This type of laziness is not about getting genuine rest and rejuvenation. It is a hideout, a cop-out, a way of procrastinating or avoiding what we need to do—mainly due to our attachment to our fatigue, or the excuse that our fatigue gives us, then slumping into that as an escape.

Second, there is the laziness of being distracted by mundane, fruitless activities, like the numbing “pleasure” of scrolling through Instagram, following endless news cycles, or fussing around the house, monotonously doing this and that, or any other activity that we instinctually know to be procrastination. This second kind of laziness keeps us from getting to our task—what we want to do or what is most meaningful and fulfilling—particularly given the limited amount of time we usually have to spare.

The third kind of laziness is basically giving up before we even try. This laziness is a form of self-denigration or low self-esteem. We think, I can’t; there is no way. I am not worthy. I am not capable. Others are different, maybe, but I cannot do this. This is laziness disguised as low self-esteem, and it can run deep and be quite subtle. This form of laziness keeps us in our comfortable habitual cocoon, where we feel “safe” as we repeatedly tell ourselves that we are unable to do this or that. We can trap ourselves in this place by selecting scenarios or calling up memories that confirm for us how unworthy or incapable we are, so we might as well not bother trying.

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In the Diligence Chapter of the Way of the Bodhisattva, the Buddhist master Shantideva explores these three categories of laziness in depth, stripping back the layers of each to expose what is really happening and what is driving our behavior. Shantideva lived in 8th-century India and grew up as a prince before turning fully toward the dharma. How he unravels and reveals the workings of the mind shows us, remarkably, that we have not changed much over the centuries—either in terms of our basic neuroses or, thankfully, in terms of our basic strengths. What worked then still works now. As people struggled with their minds then, we still struggle in more or less the same way now.

Shantideva shows us, however, that we are not as stuck as we may think or assume or feel—unless, of course, we insist on holding on to our self-importance and staying in our familiar cocoon.

Exploring feelings of unworthiness and other expressions of low self-esteem from this perspective can open us to other ways of relating to this pervasive modern-day experience. Understanding how low self-esteem can disguise itself as laziness can also lighten our feelings around how we see ourselves. Maybe we are not the lowest of the low . . . maybe we are just a little bit lazy! Maybe seeing our time wasted in scrolling on our phones, for instance, not as a heavy-handed form of addiction but simply as another facet of laziness, could bring some space into our minds, allowing us to chuckle at ourselves or sigh with good-natured laughter. That spaciousness and tender perspective toward ourselves can help us let go, put down our device, and joyfully turn to something more meaningful and fulfilling.

Confidence must be created. No one is born with it. It must be fostered through familiarization in the context and field of what we wish to accomplish.

And maybe, when we want to pull the covers over our head, desperately holding out for a few more minutes of sleep—even when we know we will only be tossing and turning—we can, again with a touch of tender humor toward ourselves, see that temptation as a tricky seduction of laziness. Knowing this, we can then simply take a deep breath, let go, and joyfully sit up and relate to our mind more directly.

It is liberating to see our laziness for what it is. Rather than being controlled by it, honestly noticing our tendencies to deny, avoid, and procrastinate can help us reflect and ask ourselves, What am I doing? What do I really want to do? Honest self-reflection creates space in our mind-room to see what is happening, and then some space to apply the teachings, thus shifting our mind and, with it, our perspective.

The essence of diligence is joy. Finding genuine joy means personally connecting with what we are doing. Approaching what is most meaningful in our lives with a strict must-do attitude does not bring much joy, nor is it sustainable. A heavy-handed approach usually makes us procrastinate and avoid things even more. We want to explore why we find some things meaningful. We want to understand how they fulfill us. If we notice ourselves procrastinating or avoiding, we want to identify which kind of laziness is arising. If we can honestly self-reflect in this way, then we can move forward buoyed by our own clarity and inspiration.

This verse by Shantideva sums up the importance of learning to work with our lazy mindsets:

When they find a dying serpent,
Even crows behave like soaring eagles.
Therefore if I am weak and feeble-hearted,
Even little faults will strike and injure me.

If we don’t address our negative habits and tendencies, if we just lie there inert, ignoring them or in denial, our negativities will fester and grow bigger and bigger. We need to muster a “can-do” mentality, along with some self-respect and self-confidence. We need to think positive thoughts to ourselves: If others have done it, why not me? It is all in the learning of traits, applying and adopting skillful means, and becoming more and more familiar with whatever it is that we wish to learn or engage or do. As Shantideva says in the Patience Chapter, “There is nothing that does not get easier with practice.”

The power of familiarization should not be underestimated. Many of our habits are unconscious. We may think the problem is some intrinsic sense of low self-esteem or a lack of confidence, for instance, but in reality it is simply a repetitive, unconscious habitual reaction to something. We are blind to these habitual reactions and act out from that unconscious impulse. We have not yet learned how to counteract such a response with something like positive pride and confidence.

Confidence must be created. No one is born with it. It must be fostered through familiarization in the context and field of what we wish to accomplish. We do this by examining what our goals mean to us, what our purpose is in pursuing them, and what we stand to lose by not accomplishing them. Diligence is how we create confidence. It teaches us how to cultivate positive pride that counteracts our neuroses and to develop self-respect regarding our ability to accomplish what we wish to do. This is all achieved through the process of repeated familiarization.

Many great masters have said, “If you have great diligence, you will attain enlightenment swiftly. If you have medium diligence, you will attain enlightenment accordingly. Those with a little diligence will attain enlightenment according to that. Without any diligence at all, there is no enlightenment or progress.” Our level of accomplishment matches our level of diligence. This is true on the spiritual path, with conventional pursuits, and with any other endeavor we might pursue.

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From Diligence: The Joyful Endeavor of the Buddhist Path by Dzigar Kongtrul © 2024 by Mangala Shri Bhuti. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc.