Interest

Interest (Skt. chanda; Tib. འདུན་པ་, dünpa, Wyl. ‘dun pa) — one of the fifty-one mental states defined in Abhidharma literature. According to the Compendium of Abhidharma, it belongs to the subgroup of the five object-determining mental states.

Definition

In the Khenjuk, Mipham Rinpoche says:

• Tib. འདུན་པ་ནི་འདོད་པའི་དངོས་པོ་ལ་དེ་དང་ལྡན་པར་བྱེད་པ་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་རྩོམ་པའི་རྟེན་བྱེད་པ།
• Interest is to try to possess a desired object. It supports application of diligence. (Rigpa Translations)
• Intention is to try to possess a desired object. It supports application of exertion. (Erik Pema Kunsang)

The Ornament of Abhidharma says: "observing the six objects, there will be a desire to engage with them, a wish to pursue them."

Alternative Translations

• Keenness (▷PKT)
• Will (Gyurme Dorje)
• Intention (Erik Pema Kunsang, David Karma Choepel)
• Intention or motivatedness (Tony Duff)