Page 77 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

person is helped to grow -— not when we are negative, critical,
and destructive.*

There is a beautiful story which illustrates this point, taken from
one of the apocryphal gospels. (In the early days of Christianity

there were not just the four gospels found in the Bible, but
scores, even hundreds, of gospels. Some of these have come

down to us, and contain sayings and anecdotes not found in the
Bible.) According to this story Christ was walking along the road
with his disciples, somewhere in Galilee, when they came upon a

dead dog. We do not usually see dead dogs in the streets of
London, but in the East it is a common sight, even now, and as

those of you who have read Baudelaire's famous poem will
realize a dead dog is not a pretty sight. That particular dog must
have lain there for several weeks, for when they came upon it

the disciples reacted with expressions of disgust and horror.
Christ however smiled and said, 'What beautiful teeth!' He saw

what was beautiful even in a dead dog.

This is obviously the sort of attitude which this level of Perfect

Speech inculcates. We should see the good, the bright, the
positive side of things — not fasten our attention on the

negative side. We should not be overcritical, or destructive.
There is a time, of course, for criticism, even destructive
criticism: that is a legitimate activity; but most of us take to it far

too readily and easily, to the neglect of the more positive side.
Even

*Constructive criticism, based on emotional positivity and genuine concern for the
other person, is not of course excluded. Such criticism — which may be mutual —
promotes spiritual growth. It is therefore useful in the best sense of the term, and to
be included under Perfect Speech. See FWBO Newsletter 47 (Autumn 1980) 'Criticism:
The Fierce Friendship'.

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