The name of the sutta

The literal translation of the sutta's title is "Shall Anyone Desire." The Buddha explains the essence of right effort, which enables the realization of selfless desires. Despite the nobility of these desires, the Buddha speaks of them not as goals upon which seekers should focus their minds, but as natural stages of purifying the mind. Even the three superknowledges (of past lives, future reincarnations, and the knowledge of eliminating obstacles and defilements) arise as a result of the serene practice of the Path.

The path to fulfilling noble desires

The Buddha tells his disciples that the fulfillment of noble desires occurs through high morality, the elimination of mistakes by purifying behavior and vigilance against the smallest misdeeds.

Description of types of noble desires

The desire to be pleasant to fellow Sangha members, to be someone who is happily supported when needed;

The desire to be able to give blessings to those who support the Sangha with food and other material means; the desire that deceased relatives will be able to remember you firmly after death, and that through this remembrance the deceased will attain good destinations;

The desire to manage one’s dissatisfaction and subdue fear and horror within oneself;

The desire to have deep insight and easy concentration;

The desire to be freed from the bonds of samsara, to be reborn in the Pure Abodes, and to attain nibbana;

The desire to develop miraculous powers and knowledge: powers of subtle form, clairvoyance, clairaudience, knowledge of the minds of other beings, knowledge of past incarnations, knowledge of future rebirths, knowledge of eliminating mental obstacles and defilements.