• Wisdom (Panña)

2) Right intention (samma sankappa)
Right intention, or samma sankappa an also be translated as "right thought", "right resolve", or "right aspiration" or the exertion of our own will to change. This idea more specifically relates to renunciation, freedom from ill will, and harmlessness (ahimsa). Each of these ideas will be taken and analysed separately.

Will to change
The ideas of Right intention are dealt with in Liber AL vel Legis mostly in the lines AL II:70-72:
AL II:70. There is help & hope in other spells. Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture! If thou drink, drink by the eight and ninety rules of art: if thou love, exceed by delicacy; and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety therein!
AL II:71. But exceed! exceed!
AL II:72. Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine -- and doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! -- death is the crown of all.

AL II:72 tells us to "strive ever to more!" Crowley says, "There is no end to the Path -- death crowns all." Our aspiration is never-ending, never stopping at some "goal" except as a resting place for further aspiration and growth. One should always "exceed! exceed!" Crowley comments that, "excess is the secret of success." He also quotes William Blake who wrote, "The Road of Excess leads to the Palace of Wisdom." One must always be open to change, transformation, growth, and/or development towards a more perfect self-realization.

Crowley writes in Liber DCCCXXXVII - The Law of Liberty, "Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever toward it without allowing aught to stoÿ you or turn you aside, even as a star sweeps upon its incalculable and infinite course of glory, and all is Love. The Law of your being becomes Light, Life, Love and Liberty. All is peace, all is harmony and beauty, all is joy."

Renunciation
AL II:70. There is help & hope in other spells. Wisdom says: be strong! Then canst thou bear more joy. Be not animal; refine thy rapture! If thou drink, drink by the eight and ninety rules of art: if thou love, exceed by delicacy; and if thou do aught joyous, let there be subtlety therein!
AL II:71. But exceed! exceed!
AL II:72. Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine -- and doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! -- death is the crown of all.

Crowley's commentary on AL II:70 is very illuminating on this subject of renunciation:
"It is absurd to suppose that 'to indulge the passions' is necessarily a reversion or degeneration. On the contrary, all human progress has depended on such indulgence. Every art and science is intended to gratify some fundamental need of nature. What is the ultimate use of the telephone and all the other inventions on which we pride ourselves? Only to sustain life, or to protect or reproduce it; or to subserve Knowledge and other forms of pleasure."

On the other hand, the passions must be understood properly as what they are, nothing in themselves, but the diverse forms of expression employed by the Will. One must preserve discipline. A passion cannot be good or bad, too weak or too strong, etc. by an arbitrary standard. Its virtue consists solely in its conformity with the plan of the Commander-in-Chief. Its initiative and plan are limited by the requirements of his strategy. For instance, modesty may well cooperate with ambition; but also it may thwart it. This verse counsels us to train our passions to the highest degree of efficiency. Each is to acquire the utmost strength and intelligence; but all are equally to contribute their quota towards the success of the campaign."

In this sense, we must renounce the lower passions, senses, ego, etc. in the sense of acknowledging them as merely vehicles for the higher Self & the Will (Jechidah and Chiah in the Supernal triangle of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, respectively) but "nothing in themselves." The senses, thoughts, and ego must be understood to have no permanence (see the article on Right view) or self in & of themselves, which directly parallels the Buddhist idea of impermanence, especially in relation to the five aggregates or skandhas. In Thelema, we acknowledge that "good" and "bad" are arbitrary functions in most systems. In ours, good is that which facilitates the Will and bad is that which hinders its Going. We are warned against viewing the body, senses, thoughts, the ego as inherently good or bad/evil because they each have their own use in facilitating the Will. They must, though, be under perfect control with perfect discipline - "one must preserve discipline," Crowley mentions - because all things which hinder the Will must be eliminated.

Crowley continues, "This then being understood, that we cannot call any given passion good or bad absolutely, any more than we can call Knight to King's Fifth a good or bad move in chess without study of the position, we may see more clearly what this verse implies. There is here a general instruction to refine Pleasure, not by excluding its gross elements, but by emphasizing all elements in equilibrated development."

Essentially, those parts of the Self below the abyss: the intellect (Ruach), the senses, & body (Nephesh) are seen to have no nature in themselves paralleling the Buddhist ideas of impermanence (shunyata) and not-self (anatta/anatman). Instead of regarding these as inherently "evil" or "bad," they are to be understood as vehicles or images for the Will to manifest through if they are held in check through discipline.


Freedom from ill will
AL I:40. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
AL I:41. The word of Sin is Restriction.
AL I:42. Let it be that state of manyhood bound and loathing. So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.
AL I:43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.
AL I:44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

Ill will, understood in terms of Thelema, is will that is not the true Will. Thelema's main axiom is "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" - the understanding & manifesting of the True Will is paramount. "Thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay." Ill will might be taken to be "Restriction" as espoused in AL I:41 - in this case it is ill will to restrict the will unnecessarily. Also, ill will may be taken to mean the unnecessary restriction of or the "ignorant meddling" with another's Will. It is a good consideration whether one is unnecessarily meddling with another's business but the final rule is the Will. There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt, so if one's will includes "meddling" in another's business, so be it.

Ill will is "hatred, hostility, animosity, antipathy, and unfriendliness." In Thelema, "Love is the law, love under will" (AL I:57). Buddha says in the Dhammapada, "For hatred can never put an end to hatred; love alone can. This is an unalterable law" (lines 5-6). Love is much more conducive to Will than hatred and division. A love for Nuit is a love for Infinite Space and the Infinite Stars thereof. On the other hand, being viewed as having the qualities of "hatred, hostility, animosity, antipathy, and unfriendliness" by others does not matter if one is doing one's true Will - "So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay" (AL I:42-43). Essentially, love is condoned if it is "under will." Qualities like hatred and unfriendliness are to be avoided in that they usually incur resistance, division, and sorrow which impede the Will from freely Going. With that in mind, one should not go out of one's way to not be labeled as such as this is a restriction to the Will - it should be remembered that "thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay" (AL I:42-43).


Harmlessness (ahimsa)
In Thelema, we make no special effort to harmlessness because sorrow, pain, & regret are understood to be temporary shadows or illusions.

AL II:9. Remember all ye that existence is pure joy; that all the sorrows are but as shadows; they pass & are done; but there is that which remains.

In Book Four (Liber ABA) - Part 1: Mysticism, Crowley writes,
"Yama" consists of non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-receiving of any gift.

In the Buddhist system, "Sila", "Virtue," is similarly enjoined. The qualities are, for the layman, these five: Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt drink no intoxicating drink. For the monk many others are added.

The commandments of Moses are familiar to all; they are rather similar; and so are those given by Christ in the "Sermon on the Mount."

Some of these are only the "virtues" of a slave, invented by his master to keep him in order. The real point of the Hindu "Yama" is that breaking any of these would tend to excite the mind.

Subsequent theologians have tried to improve upon the teachings of the Masters, have given a sort of mystical importance to these virtues; they have insisted upon them for their own sake, and turned them into puritanism and formalism. Thus "non-killing," which originally meant "do not excite yourself by stalking tigers," has been interpreted to mean that it is a crime to drink water that has not been strained, lest you should kill the animalcula.

But this constant worry, this fear of killing anything by mischance is, on the whole, worse than a hand-to-hand conflict with a griesly bear. If the barking of a dog disturbs your meditation, it is simplest to shoot the dog, and think no more about it."


Summary

*Will to change
One must "exceed!", "strive ever to more!", and "Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever toward it without allowing aught to stop you or turn you aside."
AL II:71. But exceed! exceed!
AL II:72. Strive ever to more! and if thou art truly mine -- and doubt it not, an if thou art ever joyous! -- death is the crown of all.
Law of Liberty: "Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever toward it without allowing aught to stop you or turn you aside"

*Renunciation
Attachments to the five aggregates (skandhas) are renounced in that they are seen to be illusory and "nothing in themselves." They are not deemed "evil" or "bad" for when under control of the disciplined Will they are useful vehicles thereof.
*Freedom from ill will
Ill will is essentially not doing one's Will.
AL I:40. Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
AL I:41. The word of Sin is Restriction.
AL I:42. So with thy all; thou hast no right but to do thy will.
AL I:43. Do that, and no other shall say nay.
AL I:44. For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect.

Also, qualities of hate, animosity, and antipathy are to be avoided for "Love is the law, love under will" (AL I:57), and these generally cause resistance and restriction to the Will. Although these qualities should be avoided, "There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt" (AL III:60) - adherence to certain moral prescriptions will most likely impede the Will. Essentially, "thou hast no right but to do thy will. Do that, and no other shall say nay" (AL I:42-43).

*Harmlessness (ahimsa)
There is nothing to prevent one from doing "harm" in Thelema. The idea of harmlessness can lead one to stray from one's Will and is therefore "bad" (in relation to the ethic of Thelema). Although causing "harm" may cause suffering, the final rule is the Will:
AL III:60. There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.