Page 183 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

path it is not like that. The spiritual path is a cumulative process,

like rolling a snowball along the ground — it grows and expands
all the time. It is not that first we have Perfect Vision and then,

when Perfect Vision is finished and done with, we forget all
about it and go on to Perfect Emotion — and so on. It is not like
that at all, though understandably we think in those terms. The

spiritual life is in fact a cumulative process, a process of growth
or expansion, and in a sense we are following all the stages of

the Eightfold Path all the time.

How is this? Suppose that, just for an instant, we experience

Perfect Vision. It may be while we are meditating, or out walking
in the country, or listening to music, or even as we pause in the

midst of the traffic. Howsoever it may be, we have an experience
of Perfect Vision. Something opens up within us and, for a
fraction of a second, we see things as they really are. For a

fraction of a second we are in contact with something Ultimate
— even with Reality. But then what happens? This moment of

Perfect Vision influences our emotions and, to some extent at
least, we develop Perfect Emotion, the second step of the Path.
It also overflows into our speech and influences that, so that our

speech becomes more like Perfect Speech. Our actions are also
influenced, at least subtly and indirectly. We are changed in all

these ways, and so it goes on. At some other time — maybe
weeks, months or years later — there is another moment of
Perfect Vision and the whole process repeats itself. We are

influenced still more by Perfect Vision: our emotions become
more like Perfect Emotion, our speech more like Perfect Speech,

and so the process continues.

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