Page 39 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

and the loosening of our grip on at least some material things,
hatred also decreases, because the possibility of frustration is

progressively reduced. So another question we should ask
ourselves is: 'Since I started taking a real interest in Buddhism,
have I become at least a little better tempered?' If even within

the Buddhist circle there are little tiffs and misunderstandings it
means that some people, at least, are not putting their

Buddhism into practice: have no Perfect Vision; no Perfect
Emotion.

(c) Avihimsa or Non-cruelty
Himsa is violence or harm, and vihimsa is deliberate infliction of

pain and suffering. Vihimsa is a very strong word in Pali and
Sanskrit, and is best translated as 'cruelty'. Its connection with
hatred is obvious, but it is much worse than hatred because it

generally connotes a wanton infliction of pain or a positive
pleasure in the infliction of pain. In the Mahayana form of

Buddhism, at least, cruelty in this sense is considered the
greatest of all possible sins. Often, of course, especially in the
case of children, it is due to simple thoughtlessness: they do not

realize that other forms of life do suffer; therefore it is important
for those who do have dealings with children, whether as

parents or educators, to try and instil into children a sense of the
fact that living beings are living beings like themselves and do
suffer if you poke your finger in their eye or stick a pin into them

in a sensitive place. Children may not realtze this, and if they see
an animal that they have just kicked wriggling and howling they

may simply be amused, not understanding that pain has been
inflicted.

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