Page 36 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

intellectual or rational conviction. We cannot reason or argue

ourselves into a state of Perfect Emotion. Our emotions can be
thoroughly transformed only by Perfect Vision, which is a spiritual
insight or spiritual experience.

Perfect Emotion represents the descent of Perfect Vision into our

emotional nature in such a way as to transform it totally. It has a
positive aspect and a negative aspect.

The Negative Aspect of Perfect Emotion
This consists of what we call in Pali nekkhamma, avyapada, and

avihimsa.

(a) Nekkhamma or Non-desire

Nekkhamma is non-desire, renunciation, giving up or giving away.
This is extremely important. As we have already seen, Perfect

Emotion follows Perfect Vision, i.e. vision into the true nature of
things, or into the nature of existence. One aspect of Perfect
Vision is Insight into the unsatisfactory nature of conditioned

existence, or life as we usually live it. This sort of Insight should,
by its very nature, have some kind of practical result. Nekkhamma

is that practical result. It represents a decrease of craving within
us consequent upon our vision of the true nature of conditioned
things. We see their inadequacy and, because we see their

inadequacy, we become less attached to them and crave for
them less. Our tight grip on worldly things, usually so convulsive,

starts relaxing. Since it is craving that is the basic unwholesome
mental state, we should examine ourselves in this respect, and
ask ourselves the very pertinent question: 'Since I started taking

Buddhism

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