The intention you can gauge as to whether it’s skillful or not, the results you can gauge as to whether they are skillful or not. What kind of person you are, how good or bad you are, that’s not anything you can gauge at all.
"Everything the Buddha teaches gets analyzed down into
actions, intentions and their results. The intention you can gauge as to
whether it’s skillful or not, the results you can gauge as to whether
they are skillful or not. What kind of person you are, how good or bad
you are, that’s not anything you can gauge at all. If you try to do it,
it really gets in the way. So your duty here is to look at your
intentions, and then to see how well those intentions play out when you
act on them. And learn how to judge the results. Look at things simply
in terms of cause and effect, and measure the effects in terms of
whether they’re harmful or not, whether they lead to happiness or
whether they lead to stress and suffering."
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Thoughts with Fangs"
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