Why is samma sankappa or having a good niat so important? . We tend to think that thoughts don't count; only what we actually do matters. But the Buddha said in the Dhammapada that our thoughts are the forerunner of our actions (Max Muller translation): . "All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage. "All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him." . . The Buddha also taught that what we think, along with what we say and how we act, create karma. So, what we think is as important as what we do.