Part of key topic Skillful Qualities
Subsumes: Bias from desire (chandāgati)
Alternative translations: Interest, Motivation
50 excerpts, 3:32:37 total duration
“Isn’t desire needed for lay life, starting a family, a business etc? And what about polio? Would there be things like a vaccine for polio without desire? Did the Buddha have something else in mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire ] [Health care] [Lay life] // [Cause of Suffering] [Craving] [Aids to Awakening] [Bases of Success] [Hindrances] [Sensual desire] [Language]
Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 2, Excerpt 1
“Can you clarify the difference between desire and intention? It seems that either could lead to suffering due to attachments to the results. Yet we are encouraged to have intentions for well-being, health, happiness, etc. Isn’t our intention also a desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire ] [Volition ] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] // [Pāli] [Kamma] [Craving ] [Bases of Success] [Sensual desire] [Energy]
Sutta: SN 22.22: Dhammacakkappavattanasutta (Chanting Book translation)
23. What does not suffering mean? Reflection by Jack Kornfield. [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] // [Judgementalism] [Politics and society] [Discrimination] [Environment] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Human] [Buddha] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “We human beings are constantly in combat, at war to escape the fact of being limited by so many circumstances that we can’t control...”” — Ajahn Chah. [Conflict] [Characteristics of existence]
Quote: “Doubts are natural.” — Ajahn Chah. [Doubt] [Naturalness] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Liberation]
Quote: “The desire mind is like children.” — Ajahn Chah. [Desire] [Similes]
Story: “Scary ride, wasn’t it?” [Jack Kornfield] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Fear] [Death]
7. “What is the difference between tanha and lobha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving] [Greed] // [Pāli] [Desire] [Cause of Suffering]
12. “Is the pursuit of peace, cessation, stillness any different from any other pursuit or desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Cessation] [Desire]
4. “Could you talk about contemplation in meditation? You mentioned earlier about using methods; my understanding is that they help one to calm the mind. How does one get into the state of contemplation without disturbing that calm state of mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Characteristics of existence] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Cessation of Suffering] [Desire] [Bases of Success]
5. “It’s interesting that he equates the extreme of self mortification to aversion, ill-will, and pushing away.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Middle Path] [Aversion] [Ill-will] // [Ajahn Chah] [Desire] [Ajahn Liem] [Relinquishment] [Arahant] [Idealism]
16. Comment by Ajahn Jotipālo: In this talk, Upasika Kee goes through dependent origination and emphasizes catching it at sense-contact. I’ve always been taught that it’s feeling where you can break it. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Dependent origination] [Contact] [Mindfulness of feeling]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Mindfulness] [Investigation of states]
5. “When I look at neutral objects, dullness often arises. Is this suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Contact] [Sloth and torpor] [Unskillful qualities] [Suffering] // [Craving not to become] [Delusion] [Ignorance] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension]
Comment by Ajahn Jotipālo: Lack of desire is not enlightenment. [Desire] [Liberation]
5. “What is the difference between abandoning craving and realizing the abandoning of craving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Impermanence] [Aggregates] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Commentaries] [Doubt] [Relinquishment] [Concentration] [Gladdening the mind] [Desire] [Becoming] [Non-return] [Right View]
Sutta: SN 56.11 Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: MN 121 Cūḷa Suññata Sutta: The Shorter Discourse on Emptiness [Emptiness]
Quote: “The characteristic of cessation is not just ending something and annihilating [it], but it’s being willing and able to stop. The nature of the mind is that it doesn’t like to stop. And it’s [through] that not stopping that we keep creating that sense of me.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Cessation] [Nature of mind] [Self-identity view]
6. “Ajahn Chah and other Thai Ajahns emphasize this quality of steady practice. Ajahn Chah showed this was the way to solve the dillema of desire being both the root of all suffering and a necessary ingredient to being able to practice at all....It seems the main obstacle to achieving steady practice is the variability of that part of my awareness that is supervising what is going on....How does one cultivate self-supervision?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Desire] [Self-reliance] [Postures] [Continuity of mindfulness ] // [Mindfulness of body ] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Quote: “The body is like a mirror for the different moods and state of the mind as we’re experiencing things.” [Similes] [Mindfulness of mind]
Follow-up: “I try to practice body awareness when my mind is being supervised...” [Long-term practice] [Ajahn Sucitto]
Sutta: MN 10 Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta [Right Mindfulness]
10. “How can we interest the mind in the recollection of death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Desire] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Sickness] [Death] [Poo Jum Gom] [Mindfulness of body] [Spiritual urgency]
5. “In my desire to get to the “heart of it” I find part of my mind really wants this, but another part of my mind is not going along with the program. How do I keep myself on the Path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Desire] [Simplicity] [Volition] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Cessation] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon]
Follow-up: “The experience of arising and disbanding isn’t yet practical for me. I need something more operational.” [Tranquility]
Simile: Making a fire flare up or die down (SN 46.53). — Ajahn Pasanno. [Factors of Awakening] [Energy] [Mindfulness]
4. “When Ajahn Liem says, ‘Practice is just for practice,’ what arises for me is that any time I put a meaning on practice, there has to be an ego state that arises around that meaning....It’s like letting go even o fthe idea of practicing in order to become enlightened.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Self-identity view] [Becoming] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Liberation] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Practicing for Nibbāna is just another kind of desire.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Nibbāna] [Desire]
4. “At what point in your meditation do you shift to knower or witness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Techniques] [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Investigation of states] [Happiness] [Tranquility] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Doubt] [Desire]
8. “How can we balance happiness and ease with the desire to accomplish something using meditation techniques?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/General advice] [Happiness] [Desire] [Middle Path] // [Recollection/Dhamma] [Hearing the true Dhamma]
4. “Can you speak about the roots of wholesome and unwholesome desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Energy] [Desire] [Becoming] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Discernment] [Right Effort] [Learning] [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: AN 10.58.
Reference: Listening to the Heart by Kittisaro and Ṭhānissarā (commercial).
3. “Why doesn’t the passage (SN 47.7) mention obsession with painful objects?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Desire] [Aversion] [Right Mindfulness]
4. Clarification of underlying tendencies to unworldly, pleasant feelings? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots] [Happiness] [Feeling] // [Desire] [Craving]
1. “Was the Buddha so miserable that he kept thinking about all these ideas? Where did his motivation come from?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography ] [Suffering] [Desire] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Western psychology] [Rebirth] [Spiritual search]
3. “I’ve been confused between intention and desire. For me, desire arises from non-conceptual craving.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volition] [Craving] [Desire] [Language] // [Cause of Suffering] [Right Effort] [Happiness] [Kamma] [Pāli]
4. “Are all manifestations of desire and motivation ultimately a desire for happiness or are there motivations for truly negative things?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Craving] [Volition] [Happiness] [Unskillful qualities] [Nature of mind] // [Ill-will] [Fear] [Discernment]
8. “What to do when you have a lot of freedom in your mind, but in your body you’re stuck with a bad habit?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Liberation] [Heart/mind] [Form] [Habits] [Craving] // [Direct experience] [Meditation/Techniques] [Language] [Mindfulness of breathing]
11. “Is sexuality and wanting an intimate connection with another considered a negative desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Relationships] [Desire] [Unskillful qualities] // [Food] [Clear comprehension] [Compassion] [Selfishness] [Discernment] [Precepts] [Trust]
Quote: “It’s not so much a matter of thwarting desire, but understanding how desire works so we can build those bonds of trust and care.”
3. “A lot of my life has been based on guilt, punishment, achievement, feeling driven, and perfectionism. Recently I experienced the reverse of this. Perfectionism is mixed up with wholesome desire. Could you respond?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Judgementalism] [Perfectionism] [Desire] [Contentment] // [Discernment] [Self-identity view] [Human]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate the question ‘How do I work with guilt?’ into Thai. [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Language] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Suffering]
4. “I’ve heard ‘not being in control’ as a description of anatta. In relation to desire, do we really have any choice or free will in the context of Buddhist understanding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Desire] [Volition] [Nature of the cosmos] // [Kamma] [Clear comprehension] [Right Effort]
5. “Do we have any control over the arising of desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volition] [Desire] // [Cause of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Four Noble Truths] [Cessation of Suffering] [Cessation] [Pāli]
17. “What is the right point to drop or ignore the desire to identify with the Buddhist identity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Relinquishment] [Desire] [Self-identity view] [Buddhist identity] // [Suffering] [Perfectionism] [Clear comprehension] [Conventions] [Ajahn Chah] [Right Effort]
6. “The jhānas seem foundational to the practice, yet Ajahn Chah was reluctant to talk about them. Is this a view that was pervasive among the other Krooba Ajahns?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Jhāna ] // [Desire]
Follow-up: “If the jhānas aren’t accessible to everyone, can you still go far along the path without them?” [Eightfold Path] [Desire] [Right Effort] [Right Concentration] [Self-identity view]
10. Comment: This wanting mind becomes doing something... [Desire] [Jhāna]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Craving] [Ardency] [Happiness] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of body]
15. “Can you clarify the difference between desire and intention? It seems that either could lead to suffering due to attachments to the results. Yet we are encouraged to have intentions for well-being, health, happiness, etc. Isn’t our intention also a desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire ] [Volition ] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] // [Pāli] [Kamma] [Craving ] [Bases of Success] [Sensual desire] [Energy]
Sutta: SN 22.22: Dhammacakkappavattanasutta (Chanting Book translation)
1. “Isn’t desire needed for lay life, starting a family, a business etc? And what about polio? Would there be things like a vaccine for polio without desire? Did the Buddha have something else in mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire ] [Health care] [Lay life] // [Cause of Suffering] [Craving] [Aids to Awakening] [Bases of Success] [Hindrances] [Sensual desire] [Language]
10. “Does having no craving mean doing things in the world knowing they won’t bring lasting satisfaction? For example, planning a vacation realizing that it will eventually end or taking measures to cure a headache without expecting to feel completely better. I am trying to understand how this would look like in real life without one becoming apathetic and depressed about the meaninglessness of basically all activities except meditation. How to balance the ability to still enjoy life with abandoning all craving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving] [Characteristics of existence] [Depression] [Happiness] // [Cause of Suffering] [Desire] [Generosity]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno is planning to take his mother to Hawaii. “And I think I’ll enjoy it too!” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Parents] [Travel]
2. Comment: One of my favorite things about the sutta [MN 19] is where [the Buddha] says, ‘Before I was awakened, it occured to me, “Suppose I divide my thoughts into two classes.”‘ It’s like an experiment. [Buddha/Biography] [Investigation of states] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Meditation/Techniques] [Desire]
4. “I’m left with a deep sadness about the state of the world. I suppose that’s no different than struggling with sadness about the human condition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Grief] [Suffering] [Human] [Politics and society] // [Compassion] [Depression] [Desire] [Right Effort] [Disenchantment] [Conventions]
15. “What was your greatest desire as a kid?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Desire] // [Monastic life/Motivation] [Truth]
2. “In AN 9.41, does the Buddha enumerate the drawbacks of sensuality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Drawbacks]
Reference: “Drawbacks,” part of A Path to Freedom: A Self-guided Tour of the Buddha’s Teachings on accesstoinsight.org. [Dhamma online] [Desire]
Sutta: MN 13: Mahādukkhakkhandha Sutta
5. “I was reading the book Hooked about desire, consumerism, and society. The author writes about the desire to know things. How does the desire to know relate to practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Monastic life] // [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Bases of Success] [Sensual desire] [Craving]
Sutta: SN 51.15: The path has an end. [Great disciples] [Desire]
14. “When you find happiness, there’s the hope that you won’t lose it and the fear that you will. How do you peel away the hope and the fear and bathe in happiness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Desire] [Fear] [Impermanence] // [Suffering] [Learning] [Relinquishment]
19. Comment: I have one of these thinking minds, and over the years I’m learning more and more to just watch where my thoughts go. I’m getting more comfortable with that. At the same time, I’ve heard teachings that as you improve your concentration on the primary object, your mindfulness increases as well. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness] [Concentration]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Generosity] [Conditionality] [Desire] [Craving]
Quote: “The same word that is translated as concentration in English, when it’s translated in Thai, is ‘the firm establishing of the mind.’ That has a different feel to it.” [Translation] [Thai]
8. Comment: Yesterday you differentiated between chanda and taṇhā. Nature has always had a strong attraction for me, and I was uneasy because I thought this was a kind of craving. Three or four years ago, Ajahn Tiradhammo gave a talk and I asked him about this. He said, ‘Don’t worry about it. There’s good craving and bad craving.’ Your teaching has clarified this for me. [Desire] [Craving] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Tiradhammo] [Gratitude]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Ajahn Viradhammo] [Animal]
4. “There are teachings about different levels of generosity (e.g. AN 7.49). Are there similar teachings about love or attachment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Generosity] [Goodwill] [Clinging] // [Dhamma] [Desire] [Teaching Dhamma] [Aggregates] [Mindfulness] [Relationships] [Spaciousness]
6. Comment: There are two knds of desire, chanda (good) and taṇha (bad). [Desire] [Craving] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Clinging] [Generosity] [Teaching Dhamma]
3. “Can you reflect on incidents that cause suffering in your life to explore your habitual patterns?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Habits] [Recollection] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Desire] [Not-self] [Conditionality]
2. “What advice do you have for students or graduates hoping to progess on the Noble Path towards Nibbāna while a student or in the workplace?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Nibbāna] [Learning] [Work] [Lay life ] // [Human] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Generosity] [Perfectionism] [Desire] [Suffering] [Politics and society] [Simplicity] [Environment] [Depression] [Restlessness and worry] [Skillful qualities] [Community]
8. “You mentioned that ruminating on how one would like to change the world or the conditions around oneself can be a source of needless suffering. But there are times when one does want to work to change the world or the way society is organized for the sake of lovingkindness and alleviating suffering. How do we engage with those desire for change in a skillful way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Politics and society] [Suffering] [Desire] [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Skillful qualities] [Activism] // [Conditionality] [Self-identity view] [Conflict] [Poverty] [Judgementalism] [Aversion] [Culture/Thailand] [Environment] [Idealism]
Quote: “If one is going to commit oneself to change, one has to get used to looking at things from a big perspective, a perspective of ‘How do we include rather than exclude?’” [Community]
Quote: “You want to approach a particular problem with an open a mind as possible and then see who might be willing and able to help.”
1. “How do you avoid falling in the trap of caring about something/someone too much and becoming attached to that something/someone?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Compassion] [Clinging] // [Suffering] [Equanimity] [Goodwill] [Generosity] [Bases of Success] [Desire] [Self-identity view] [Craving] [Cessation of Suffering]
8. “In our worldly life we always have expectations on things that we do. What would be the best way for us to change this habit and do everything without expectations?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Everyday life] [Desire] [Craving] [Habits] // [Impermanence] [Bases of Success] [Skillful qualities] [Right Effort]
2. “Can you speak more about the progression of mindfulness of breathing, how the Four Foundations of Mindfulness develop the Seven Factors of Awakening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Emotion] [Conditionality] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of feeling]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of mind] [Bases of Success]
Quote: “We’re breathing in and out anyway, but taking an interest in it is a game-changer.” [Desire]
2. Comment: If I’m able to settle into ease and spaciousness this time, the next time I sit, it doesn’t settle as easily, and I get frustrated and tense wanting to get to that ease again. [Tranquility] [Meditation/General advice] [Restlessness and worry] [Desire] [Judgementalism]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Present moment awareness]
4. “If I want to see what I’m doing to keep generating certain thought patterns, does my mind need to be really calm?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discernment] [Volitional formations] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Quote: “If you start investigatig and you get really interested, you’ll start to get calm.” [Investigation of states] [Desire]
2. “Is the desire to become fearless a cause of suffering? Is wearing a different kind of clothes also I-making?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Fear] [Cause of Suffering] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Self-identity view] // [Craving] [Unwholesome Roots] [Naturalness] [Discernment] [Suffering] [Liberation]