Kauśīdya

Kausidya is a Buddhist term translated as "laziness" or "spiritual sloth". It is defined as clinging to unwholesome activities such as lying down and stretching out, and to procrastinate, and not being enthusiastic about or engaging in virtuous activity. It is identified as:

One of the twenty subsidiary unwholesome mental factors within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings.
One of the five faults or obstacles to shamatha meditation within the Mahayana teachings.
Closely related to the Pali term thina, that is identified as one of the fourteen unwholesome mental factors within the Theravada Abhidharma teachings

Explanation

Mipham Rinpoche states:
The Abhidharma-samuccaya states:
Alan Wallace explains that kausidya refers to a very specific type of laziness, that is concerned only with virtuous activity. Wallace explains:

Three types

The Mahayana tradition identifies three types of laziness: not wanting to do anything; discouragement; and busyness.
; Laziness of not wanting to do anything

We'd rather stay in bed half an hour later than get up and meditate.
Sakyong Mipham explains this type of laziness from the meditative point of view: "The mind has withdrawn into itself. It feels impossible to do anything. We feel like a snake crawling along the ground."

; Laziness of discouragement

This involves thinking, "I can't do this., or self doubt"
Sakyong Mipham states: "We feel discouraged, deflated, or outnumbered by the obstacles that arise in our practice. We take them personally. Our belief in the solidity of obstacles grows, and our belief in our ability to practice shrinks."

; Laziness of being busy with worldly things.

Tenzin Palmo states: "This is the point—we fill our lives with activities. Many of them are really very good activities but if we are not careful, they can just be an escape. I'm not saying that you shouldn't do good and necessary things, but there has to be breathing in as well as breathing out."
Sakyong Mipham states: "Speediness is laziness when we use it as a way to avoid working with our minds."

Antidotes

Traditional texts identify four antidotes to laziness in the context of meditation practice. Sakyong Mipham identifies these antidotes as follows:

Suppleness: involves being curious, having a sense of appreciation and imagination
Trust: develops from experiencing the benefits of meditation practice
Aspiration: is trust with a sense of determination
Effort: an engaged mind that moves toward the act of meditation.