How different is chanda from tanha?
There's kama chanda and then there's kusala chanda.
Obviously kama chanda involves craving.
But how does kusala chanda work?
Is it fair to say chanda is mere inclination?
Example, preferring the dhamma as opposed to gossip.
Chanda is like your inclination.
Is that what you said?
Yes, inclination.
The truth is these are just words.
And here's a good example of where the Abhidhamma helps.
Because the Abhidhamma will categorize all of the realities.
And in the base of the Abhidhamma, tanha,
Neither of these things actually exist.
Danha and Chanda are not in the, as far as I've studied, in the Abhidhamma, except maybe where they're categorized or where they're explained away as one of the realities.
The reality is lobha.
It's a Jeta Sikha.
Lobha is unwholesome.
So the point is that when you say Kusala Chanda, you're talking about a mind that doesn't have any lobha.
which is a desire.
But again, these are just words and you have to say lobha and you have to figure out what are the characteristics of lobha.
And it's not logical, it's not about logic or reason, it's about realizing, it's about experience.
So you will experience certain minds as having something called lobha, as having this kind of pull that is inclining you towards something or dragging you towards something, exciting you in regards to something.
Each of the Jeta Sikhas have different qualities.
Chanda and Dhanha are not actual realities.
So the best way to answer these sorts of questions is to go to the Abhidhamma and say,
We say, look, if you want to talk about these things, you have to give me a specific example of a mind.
And then we can say, does that mind have lobha or does that mind not have lobha?
Because it's possible to have a chanda, which is dhamma chanda or kusala chanda, which has no lobha in it or moha in it either.
tanha is always lobha.
When we talk about tanha, we're always talking about lobha, as far as I know.
But again, it's just a word that means thirst, as far as I understand.
It's semantics.
It depends how you use the word.
Thirst for meditation practice could potentially be wholesome, depending on which cetasikas are in there, depending on the abhidhamma.
So again, the importance or the usefulness of the abhidhamma
One useful