Though Buddhist psychology has a lot to say about emotions, both positive emotions (like compassion, loving kindness, acceptance, joy) and negative emotions (like greed, hate, anger) it does not preserve the typical Western division between intellect and emotion. Both are understood as functions of consciousness that are ever-present, influencing each other constantly. More importantly, Buddhism does not assume that emotions are natural conditioned by-products of our conduct; emotions can be cultivated, positive emotions encouraged, negative emotions gently discouraged. The cultivation of positive emotions is a crucial dimension of the Buddhist spiritual path.