Page 124 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

Perfect Effort

From Perfect Livelihood we pass to the sixth aspect of the Noble
Eightfold Path, known in Sanskrit as Samyak-vyama (Pali:

Samma-vayama), and since the word vyama is usually translated
as 'effort' we shall speak of Perfect Effort here. The second,

third, and fourth stages of the Path deal with the transformation
of the individual: the transformation of his emotional life, his
communication with other people, and his behaviour or actions.

The fifth stage, Perfect Livelihood, deals with the transformation
of society as a whole. In this sixth stage, Perfect Effort, we are

dealing again with the transformation of the individual, and
specifically with the transformation of the individual will or
individual volition. But Perfect Effort effects this transformation

or transmutation against a very wide background indeed. The
background of Perfect Livelihood is the whole community, or

society at large, but the background of Perfect Effort is nothing
less than the whole range of sentient existence, the whole

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