Page 91 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

have been laid down by the Buddha himself and to which we
must conform? In reply it may be said that while the Silas or sets

of Precepts have certainly been taught, certainly been
recommended, by the Buddha, they have not been laid down
authoritatively, as the Ten Commandments were by God. What

the Buddha says, in effect, is that one who is Enlightened, or
who has attained Buddhahood, thereby realizing the plenitude

of Wisdom and the fullness of compassion, will inevitably
behave in a certain way, because it is in the nature of an
Enlightened being to behave in that way. Furthermore, to the

extent that you are Enlightened, to that extent you too will
behave in that way. If you are not Enlightened, or to the extent

that you are not Enlightened, then the observance of the Silas or
Precepts will help you to experience for yourself the state of
mind of which they are, normally, the expression.

An example may make this point clear. We say that an

Enlightened person, one who is a Buddha, is free from (let us
say) craving or selfish desire. We ourselves are full of craving.
We crave, for example, food of various kinds; we have a special

liking for this or for that. Suppose, as an experiment, we stop
eating some of our favourite foodstuffs, whatever they may be.

We give them up; we decide we won't take them any more. Very
regretfully, very sorrowfully, we close the larder door. We resist
the temptation, whatever it may be — say plum cake. (l know a

Buddhist monk who was wonderfully addicted to plum cake. It
was said you could get anything out of him if you offered him

sufficient plum cake!) What happens is that we may suffer for a
while, and may not have an easy time at all. In fact, it may be

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