Answer by Suminda Sirinath S. Dharmasena for Doing a wrong thing for the right reasons?

I Buddhism what matters is the roots (greed, hatred, delusion, non greed, non hatred, non delusion).

Greed, hatred and delusion are unskillful as they give results which you would perceive unfavorably hence resulting in a unpleasant sensation in the future. They are unskillful as they reap an undesired result and is not connected with the goal in Buddhism which is to be free from unsatisfactoriness which is to transent the sphere of perception and sensation (sanna vedayita nirodha).

Non greed, non hatred, non delusion are skillful as they reap experiences which you perceive favorably in the future.

So it depends on the root or volition behind the action. The same action can be done with different motivation which decide whether it is skillful or not.

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