Do not waste your time in futile
occupations.
RIGHT LIVELIHOOD
EACH ONE OF THE POINTS on the Eight-fold Path is
extremely important and is vital in interacting with the others.
That being said, Right Livelihood is crucial. It is how most of us
spend our waking hours. We all must find a way to earn our living
to support our families and ourselves that is conscious. And it
must be in alignment with these ideals. Our careers need to express
loving kindness, integrity, service, compassion, generosity,
equanimity, passion and joy.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page, veterans of a District
of Columbia software company, created Google while they were
idealistic Stanford University graduate students. The company still
lists under “10 things Google has found to be true” that “you can
make money without doing evil.”
Right Livelihood is truly knowing you can earn a
living and be prosperous without being a crook!
As a metaphysical minister for nearly thirty years,
I surely know how deeply people want to be prosperous, to always
have enough. We need enough money so that we can meet our needs and
enough money to generously give and share. We need enough money so
that money is not the focus of our lives. As Stuart Wilde, an
Australian teacher of prosperity, says, “We need enough money so
our lives are not a pain in the neck.” If you have ever lacked
financial wherewithal to adequately support yourself,never having
enough to make ends meet, you know what suffering can be like.
Financial lack certainly does not lead to liberation, rather from
such a state one can harbor continuous feelings of
discontent.
How much you need is totally up to you. You get to
do the math. What that means is you can live consciously and work
at a career you love, making a positive difference in the lives of
others while prospering and experiencing financial ease.
Right Livelihood means having a career that does
not harm yourself, others, animals, the environment or the future
of our planet.
While writing this book, I met a young American who
was a Zen Buddhist. While exchanging small talk, I asked what line
of work he was in when he was not practicing at the Japanese
Buddhist temple where we met. I am sure the shock in my eyes was
not totally concealed when he told me he managed the slaughtering
of animals at a nearby stockyard.
The Buddhists clearly state in their description of
Right Livelihood that it shall not include “dealing in the meat
trade.” Perhaps this young man held the position before he became a
Buddhist. Perhaps it was the only position available with a salary
adequate to support his wife and children. I did not know, and I
did not wish to judge. I knew in that moment that, if he truly
desired to leave the stockyard due to his spiritual beliefs, there
would be other opportunities available to him.
I am happy to report that serendipitously our paths
crossed once again, and in the first few moments of our
conversation he mentioned he had a new position. He is now employed
by the county and engaged in work he finds most interesting and
rewarding. Right Livelihood.
I loved the story of the eight coworkers from a
meat-packing plant in Nevada who shared lottery winnings of more
than $300 million. They all quit their jobs the same day they all
became millionaires, an interesting and amazing way to leave a
harsh career.
Sogyal Rinpoche states: “Don’t waste your time in
futile occupations.” Many of us in our youth most likely had to
engage in futile occupations. Several of these come to my mind,
like a summer when I worked at HowardJohnson’s. I earned almost
nothing, and I was educated into the seedier side of life. It was
about much more than scooping ice cream, and it was miserable.
Ancient Buddhist teachings state that Right Livelihood must not
transgress any of the Five Mindfulness Trainings that follow:
1. Dealing in arms. Owning a gun shop would be a
no-no, as would be trading guns or weapons of any kind. About two
months after the horrific Columbine incident, I agreed to fly to
Denver to officiate at a wedding of some new friends. When I
decided to leave the reception, I caught a ride back to my hotel
from a wedding guest who was accompanied by her thirteen-year-old
daughter. I had not met them until that evening. While chatting in
the car, the daughter began to talk about a school outing the day
before. It seemed that the children had created a reenactment of a
historic battle, complete with muskets. Instead of ammunition they
fired flour at one another. If a child was “hit,” he or she was
declared dead and lay on the ground. I was in the backseat
listening to this story, and I was horrified. Was this educational?
Was this instructional? Was this beneficial? And it was, of all
places, in Denver shortly after Columbine! Sadly the mother and
daughter did not make the connection. When we are slumbering, we do
not make the most obvious of connections. Children in Denver or
anywhere should not, at a school outing, be playing at shooting and
killing one another. Some very troubled children grow up and
transfer their games of childhood into violent activities of
adulthood. I pray this book and these pure teachings assist people
in making the connection—making the connection between how we live
our lives and what we think and how we act and what we say and what
occurs in the outer manifestations of our lives. It is all
connected, and we need to see it and live accordingly. What will it
take for us to collectively awaken?
2. Dealing in the slave trade. In our modern era
the “slave trade” would be defined as anything that would cause
another to be a slave—i.e., underpaying employees, investing in
sweatshop businesses, taking advantage of young people, taking
advantage of anyone. It would also be not recognizing that the
minimum wage cannot adequately support one. It means dealing fairly
with employees when you are their supervisor.
3. Dealing in the meat trade. This has always
seemed gross to me as a non-meat-eater for most of my life, but I
now know many spiritual types who eat meat, including Tibetan
Buddhist monks. In their case the meat must be killed by someone
other than themselves. (A Buddhist monk friend was explaining this
to David, my husband, who replied that he could eat only living
entities he could visualize killing himself. He could visualize
catching and killing fish or clams, but not wringing a chicken’s
neck as he had seen his mother do when he was a child. Our monk
friend thoughtfully considered what David said, and did not eat
meat the rest of the time we were together.) I believe that on a
soul level there is value to the kosher Jewish practice of how
animals are slaughtered and which parts can be eaten.
4. The sale of alcohol, drugs or poisons. For
generations my family members have owned and operated bars. I have
been able to observe firsthand that in many circumstances this
definitely could be viewed not as Right Livelihood. A close friend,
Bob, whose family also owned bars, once observed, “It’s not a clean
business.” And it’s not. Awake people seldom hang out at saloons or
taverns or make their livelihood from dealing in what for many is
an addiction. Even though it is a legal job, one has to ask if it
is the highest profession for one’s soul.
5. Telling fortunes or making prophecies. My take
on this is that dealing in the psychic realms, except for oneself,
is not helpful or desirable. (This prohibition is rather curious,
however, considering that in Tibetan Buddhism there are those who
are skilled at discerning signs and telling what the future will
bring. And these individuals are highly regarded.) A contemporary
interpretation would be to not make your living from another’s
neediness or vulnerability. The psychic realms surely exist, and
the Buddhists address them and their aspects in various ways. So
there is a place, but one who is gifted must be most mindful of how
these gifts are used.
Right Livelihood could be expressed in an
all-helping profession being of service, such as science, medicine,
the arts, music, literature, publishing, painting, teaching, social
work—any conscious business whose executives and support staff are
dedicated to bringing forth ease, good harmony, love and
understanding. Stephen Simon, the producer of the classic
Somewhere in Time and the creator of an international
spiritual cinema organization, is clear on his livelihood: “I came
here to make movies,” he stated succinctly while presenting a
workshop at my church. And that is what he does.
When my beloved father passed on, I requested that
we wait a week before my father’s remains were cremated (in order
to give the more subtle energies all the time necessary to exit the
body). Joe not only understood but he lovingly agreed. He then went
into the room where my father’s body was being kept and spent an
hour praying and meditating each day for my father on his journey
through the Bardo (the Buddhist in-between state).
One particular sunny afternoon I pulled into a gas
station and began to look for a credit card when I became aware of
someone staring at me. Looking at the driver’s-side window there
was a large, greasy young man peering in. I was startled. There was
no one else around, and this fellow continued to stare at me, not
going away. With fear gripping me around the throat, I reluctantly
lowered the window one inch. “Yes?” I timidly croaked.
“Can I help you?” the rough-looking young man
asked.
I temporarily screwed up my courage and queried in
a stern voice, “With what?”
“With pumping your gas,” he responded to this
apparently daft woman. “Which grade?” he asked.
As the light slowly dawned, and before I could
answer, I started laughing uncontrollably. It had been such a long
time since I had been to a full-service gas station that I had
thought this fellow was some type of marauder rather than a
hardworking employee attempting to pump my gas for no extra
charge.
I simply could not stop laughing at myself. When I
finally gained control and explained my gales of laughter, he
started to laugh, too. As we chatted, he told me how much he loved
fixing cars, had left college early and was slowly buying this
station from his uncle.
This young mechanic whom I had initially feared
without cause was engaged, not only in mindful service, but in
Right Livelihood.
Living consciously through one’s life’s work is to
be a blessing to all whom you serve or who work for you. When one’s
work is not aligned with Right Livelihood, it will have
far-reaching karmic consequences. We cannot live outside the law of
Right Livelihood and long prosper. We may continue to make money,
but we will not prosper in the truest sense of the word.
There is a function God has for each of us. And
when we are living our holy function, we tremendously alleviate our
suffering and are bringing about happiness in our lives and into
the lives of all we touch.
“A noble person plans only noble things” (Isaiah
32:8). Living in accord with Right Livelihood results in one truly
becoming a noble being. We all must endeavor to find that noble
purpose and then live our lives prosperously in accord with love
and compassion and understanding.
Right Livelihood is all of this and even more. It
is enjoying your work and being fulfilled at the end of the day,
rather than being on the verge of a stroke! It is bringing
consciousness to every decision, answering yes to “Is this
beneficial?” and no to “Is this harmful?”
Meditation is an important key to reach inspiration
as to what career path conforms to Right Livelihood. If we are
currently engaged in work that clearly is not Right Livelihood,
then through meditation and prayer we can be shown how to change
our course. We can find livelihood in a way that brings not only
success to us but peace, as well, and plenty to all
concerned.
Wrong livelihood pollutes the individual’s
consciousness, and that pollution in turn affects others, just as a
toxin in water or in our food or in the air affects all who partake
of it. Wrong livelihood can be for some alluring, because some see
it as a means of getting rich. But in the greater picture it is a
path to suffering, lack and poverty, rather than riches. From the
Dhammapada: “Don’t try to build your happiness on the
unhappiness of others. You will be enmeshed in a net of
hatred.”
Right Livelihood Exercise
If you are examining your life and feel you are not
living in accord with Right Livelihood, you have pinpointed the
first of six steps helpful in correcting the situation:
1. Recognition.
2. Open yourself to new possibilities. Release
any belief that what your work is now is all of which you are
capable. Most folks think and live their lives in very narrow
channels.
The partner of Elizabeth, a lifelong friend of
mine, had a back injury at work (a job that required a great deal
of physical labor) that laid him up for nearly a year. One evening
on the phone
Elizabeth was very stressed over the situation,
telling me Leo had just returned from yet another medical
evaluation and was told he had to remain off for another five to
six months. He was also told he could never do work again involving
any physical labor.
When I called back a few days later to check on
them, Leo answered the phone. I did something quite uncustomary for
me and said to him, “If I were your therapist, which I am not, or
your minister, which I am not, I would say, ‘Leo, the Universe is
banging on your hood trying to get your attention. Find another
non-physical occupation.’”
Leo was somewhat open to explore new possibilities,
because his body simply could not support him returning to his
former work as a housepainter. He is bright, artistic and talented,
and he had been stuck in the idea that house painting was the only
job he could do. He had to open to new possibilities.
3. Pray to be guided to your true career path, to
be inspired. Quickly follow up on any inspiration that comes to
you.
4. Lift your consciousness and vibrations to be a
match for your new line of work.
5. Network with everyone you know. Let them know
you are looking for a change.
6. Keep praying, meditating and visualizing and
walk through the doors that are open. Recognize when the doors are
closed, and walk through the new ones that open.
When we are committed to living in Right
Livelihood, our very commitment will draw to us the manifestation
of our pure intention.