Hanzze wrote:So the maintaining of the right mind state is not relevant?
Pubba cetana (prior volition)
Munca cetana (prevailing volition)
Apara cetana (post-charity volition)
No doubt that if there is no more craving there the fruit of the highest merit is archived. Do you think one could even turn past "wrong" volutions to a better place. Thought of "oh I had the wrong volition" or "I still had volition"... and what Bodhidharma maybe have caused/helped.
Of course they are relevant.
But I was not addressing that, if you read carefully. I was addressing the writer's belief that
craving nullifies the merit.
In this respect, craving as an
āsava lies much, much deeper in the psyche than just the 3 cetana you list. IMO, those Abhidhammic "cetana" are better translated as "motive" or "reason", but craving as an
āsava is a
mūla. Take a close look again at the Dana Sutta, where the various givers rationalise their giving on different grounds. Those rationalisations would be the "cetana" you describe. However, even in those cases where there is no spiritual materialism whatsoever (ie those cases after case #1), there is still clinging.
Whether the
āsava is subtle (as in the cases of clinging without spiritual materialism), or is gross (in the 1st case of craving for a good rebirth), it is effective to actually create the desired rebirth.
The writer's belief that craving nullifies merit is therefore unfounded. In fact, it violates an important aspect of Dependant Origination. Clinging is in fact a necessary condition for
bhava/existence. If you don't cling, your
kamma cannot bear fruit. See -
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;