Middha (Sanskrit: मिद्ध; Pali: मिद्ध ; Tibetan phonetic: nyi) is a Buddhist term that is translated as "torpor", "drowsiness", "sleep", etc.
In the Theravada tradition, middha is defined as a morbid state that is characterized by unwieldiness, lack of energy, and opposition to wholesome activity.
[1] In the Mahayana tradition, middha is defined as a mental factor that causes the mind to draw inward, lose discrimination between wholesome and unwholesome activities, and drop out of activities altogether.
[2][3] Middha 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: Mipham Rinpoche states: Alexander Berzin explains: