Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

Author:Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wisdom Publications
Published: 2011-09-13T04:00:00+00:00

QUESTIONS FOR ASSESSING SKILLFUL LIVELIHOOD

You can determine whether a job is suitable to be Skillful Livelihood by asking yourself three interrelated questions.

First, is my job an inherently wrong occupation?

That is, does it cause harm by definition? Does it involve manufacturing, buying, selling, promoting, or using guns or other weapons? Does it involve intoxicants or poisons? Does it entail harming or killing living beings? The Buddha himself mentioned that jobs involving weapons, poisons, or killing are definitely wrong livelihood.

Many jobs clearly fall into this category. For example, research and development of chemical and biological weapons, manufacturing or selling insecticides, designing computer guidance systems for missiles, and profiting from sweatshop labor are clearly wrong. I would add that writing for a tabloid newspaper that harms the reputations of public figures or working for a radio talk show that broadcasts hateful speech should be considered among the “poisons” the Buddha mentioned as wrong livelihood.

We also have to extend the Buddha’s guidance beyond its traditional applications. Making a living from certain violent sports in which people are hurt, such as boxing, is wrong livelihood. So is owning or working for a casino or other gambling establishment. Like alcohol, gambling can be addictive. It is motivated by greed and often leads to crime or hurts the innocent. Needless to say, criminal activity of any kind is also wrong livelihood, including black-market or other illegal transactions, fraud, extortion, and white-collar crime. Damaging your own health on the job is also wrong livelihood.

Selling drugs falls under the category of dealing in “poisons.” Drug traffickers are notorious for violent and corrupt actions to protect territories, enforce deals, and avoid prosecution. Moreover, the weak and vulnerable people who buy and use the drugs are undoubtedly harmed by them. Drug users commit crimes to get money. Innocent family members also suffer: from domestic abuse, from lack of food money, and from grief when the drug user is jailed or hurt.

However, because our economic system has become so complex, sometimes the determination of what constitutes wrong livelihood is not so clear-cut. For instance, is working for the military always inherently wrong? It depends. If the job puts the person in a position to use weapons, including using a computer to launch missiles, it is probably wrong livelihood. But being a medic or a cook might not be inherently wrong. I doubt that the cook in the mess hall ever thinks, “I want to feed these soldiers so they can go and kill!”

Many other job situations come to mind. Building nuclear warheads clearly fits the Buddha’s list of forbidden occupations, but what about mining the uranium used in nuclear weapons? Is it inherently wrong to work for a general merchandise chain store that makes substantial profits from selling guns? What about working for the minimum wage flipping burgers at a fast-food outlet? You can imagine many ways in which a job might indirectly cause harm to others. A university professor might feel uncomfortable doing basic scientific research because the results could be used by the military.

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