[Buddha-l] Desire

[Richard Hayes]

On Tue, 24 Apr 2007 07:30:14 -0700 (PDT)
  Ngawang Dorje <rahula_80 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>  But, I have been wondering that if Arahant or the 
>Buddha do not have any desire, wouldn't they be just 
>sitting there doing nothing? This is because they do not 
>have any
> desire to eat, move, teach, stand up or to do anything 
>at all.

Dharmakiirti deals with this puzzle at some length in his 
Pramaa.na-vaarttikam Svopaj~naav.rtti. The resolution of 
the puzzle of him is that of course buddhas and arhants 
have desires; otherwise they could not have compassion, 
since compassion is the desire to help someone in 
distress. What buddhas and arhants do not have is vicious 
desires, that is, desires accompanied by self-centered 
greed, hatred and delusion.

Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico