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**BronUVT** · 12-31-2010, 05:03 PM

I now have come to a side-thought about 'true good intention', and that I cannot see how it truly exists...
For example:
-Is the desire to be good and generate good karma not a selfish desire to avoid bad karma (or selfish desire to obtain happiness)?
-Is the desire to help others or have good intentions also not directly related to a selfish desire understanding that pain causes suffering, and wanting to avoid that suffering for yourself or others.

Hi Balgore,

Right Intention/Aspiration as outlined in The Eightfold Path, isn't motivated by desire. Ajahn Sumedho explains it here:

Right Aspiration

The second element of the Eightfold path is samma sankappa. Sometimes this is translated as 'Right Thought', thinking in the right way. However, it actually has more of a dynamic quality - like 'intention', 'attitude' or 'aspiration'. I like to use 'aspiration' which is somehow very meaningful in this Eightfold Path - because we do aspire.

It is important to see that aspiration is not desire. The Pali word 'tanha' means desire that comes out of ignorance, whereas 'sankappa' means aspiration not coming from ignorance.

Aspiration might seem like a kind of desire to us because in English we use the word 'desire' for everything of that nature - either aspiring or wanting. You might think that aspiration is a kind of tanha, wanting to become enlightened (bhava tanha) - but samma sankappa comes from Right Understanding, seeing clearly. It is not wanting to become anything; it is not the desire to become an enlightened person. With Right Understanding, that whole illusion and way of thinking no longer makes sense.

from : 'The Four Noble Truths ... number 4. The Fourth Noble Truth '

more here....http://salmun.cwahi.net/wrel/rbud/dbti/fnt/fnt.htm#04

12-31-2010, 05:03 PM	#8
BronUVT Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 556 Senior Member	I now have come to a side-thought about 'true good intention', and that I cannot see how it truly exists... For example: -Is the desire to be good and generate good karma not a selfish desire to avoid bad karma (or selfish desire to obtain happiness)? -Is the desire to help others or have good intentions also not directly related to a selfish desire understanding that pain causes suffering, and wanting to avoid that suffering for yourself or others. Hi Balgore, Right Intention/Aspiration as outlined in The Eightfold Path, isn't motivated by desire. Ajahn Sumedho explains it here: Right Aspiration The second element of the Eightfold path is samma sankappa. Sometimes this is translated as 'Right Thought', thinking in the right way. However, it actually has more of a dynamic quality - like 'intention', 'attitude' or 'aspiration'. I like to use 'aspiration' which is somehow very meaningful in this Eightfold Path - because we do aspire. It is important to see that aspiration is not desire. The Pali word 'tanha' means desire that comes out of ignorance, whereas 'sankappa' means aspiration not coming from ignorance. Aspiration might seem like a kind of desire to us because in English we use the word 'desire' for everything of that nature - either aspiring or wanting. You might think that aspiration is a kind of tanha, wanting to become enlightened (bhava tanha) - but samma sankappa comes from Right Understanding, seeing clearly. It is not wanting to become anything; it is not the desire to become an enlightened person. With Right Understanding, that whole illusion and way of thinking no longer makes sense. from : 'The Four Noble Truths ... number 4. The Fourth Noble Truth ' more here....http://salmun.cwahi.net/wrel/rbud/dbti/fnt/fnt.htm#04
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