Page 62 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

but it is something much more real, much more direct, more

intimate, more personal, more true, than any intellectual under
standing.

This experience, this Perfect Vision, can be expressed and
communicated principally in two ways: in terms of images, or

pictures, and in terms of concepts. As we saw the Buddha's —
and his followers' — vision of the nature of existence is
traditionally communicated in terms of the three great images

of the Wheel of Life, the Mandala of the Five Buddhas (the five
'images' of Enlightenment), and the Path or Way that lies

between, leading from the one to the other. Conceptually
speaking, i.e. speaking in terms of ideas, of thought, or
philosophy, Perfect Vision finds expression in such well known

formulas as the Four Noble Truths, the Three Characteristics of
conditioned existence, and so on.

Whether our Perfect Vision is expressed in terms of images
which appeal to the imagination, or in terms of concepts which

appeal to the intellect, there is revealed, through either medium,
a glimpse an experience of ultimate Reality, however brief,

momentary, or evanescent that may be.

But a glimpse is not enough. As we also saw, it is not enough that

a vision should arise and transfigure us just for a moment. It has
to descend into each and every aspect of our lives. It has to

penetrate into every limb. It has not only to transfigure, but to
transform our entire being — at every level, in every aspect.

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