12 Right Livelihood

99 Critics of Buddhism often accuse it of being too other-worldly and of having nothing to say about everyday practical problems. And yet economics, whether personal or national, are of great concern to most people, and as we shall see, the Buddha has more to say on this aspect of life than any other of the great religious teachers.

In fact, so inmportant did the Buddha consider economics that he included Right Livelihood (samma ajiva), how we make our living and what we do with the wealth we create through our work, as one of the essential steps on the Path to Nirvana. And the reason for this is clear.

Most people will spend a considerable percentage of their life working, and as such, the work we do is a major force in conditioning our personality in either a positive or negative way. If a religion claims to address itself to the total human experience, it must give guidance on the creation and utilization of wealth, and this the Buddha does.

100 It is common, particularly in religion, to associate wealth and its accumulation with evil. But Buddhism, while admitting that money and greed are often linked, recognizes that with the correct attitude and understanding, a great deal of good will accrue to and be done by a person who has wealth beyond basic needs.

We have seen before that Buddhism classifies things as intrinsically good or instrumentally good (68). When money is seen as intrinsically good, good in itself, people are prepared to bypass moral principles, exploit others, endanger their own security, in fact, to do almost anything to get more. When money is seen as instrumentally good, that is, as good because of what can be done with it, it can be a source of happiness for both ourselves and others.

With adequate financial resources, we can provide the basic necessities of life for ourselves and our family. For this purpose alone, money is absolutely essential. If we have a surplus, we can provide for both our immediate needs and our future needs, thus freeing ourselves from anxiety.

If we have a large surplus, we can endow charitable, cultural or religious institutions with funds to continue their work, which can give us considerable happiness and satisfaction and benefit others as well as. The Buddha recognizes the value of happiness, and describes three types that can be enjoyed because of wealth.

And what is the happiness of ownership ?
Concerning this, a householder has wealth acquired by energetic striving, won by strength of arm and sweat of brow, justly and lawfully won. When he thinks of this, he feels happiness and satisfaction.

And what is the happiness of wealth?
Concerning this, a householder has wealth justly and unlawfully won, and with it he does many good deeds. When he thinks of this, he feels happiness and satisfaction.

And what is the happiness of freedom from debt?
Concerning this, a householder owes no debt large or small to anyone, and when he thinks of this, he feels happiness and satisfaction.

These and other types of happiness are legitimate reasons to acquire proficiency in a craft or profession (sippanca) to organize one's work carefully (susamvihitakammantam) and to carry it out with diligence (atanditam).

101 For a trade or a profession to be in harmony with the Buddhist ideal of Right Livelihood, it must meet two requirements. Firstly, it must be able to provide us at least with the necessities of life - food, clothing, shelter, medicine and education.

Secondly, the work we do must be ethically wholesome. Many types of work provide an adequate or even excellent income, but involve dishonesty, exploitation or cruelty. The Buddha mentions several such unethical types of work which were common in his day.

There are five trades which ought not to be practised by a layman. What five? Trade in weapons, trade in human beings, trade in flesh, trade in alcohol and trade in poison.

Today we could add to this list considerably. The advertising industry (which so often involves exaggerations, half-truths and even blatant lies), yellow journalism, the defence industry, pyramid selling, prostitution, the manufacturing or selling of pornography and fortunetelling would all be examples of wrong means of livelihood.

Trades or professions that do not harm others, that do not involve dishonesty, and hopefully, that have a positive influence on society can be considered ethical means of livelihood. This would include teaching, nursing, many trades, farming where it does not involve killing, shopkeeping, the public service, and so on.

102 However, Right livelihood is not just about what work we do, it also concerns how we do our work. A job might be ethical in itself, but we might not perform it in an ethical manner. The practice of medicine, for example, is an ethical means of livelihood, but a doctor might overcharge his patients or even destroy life by carrying out abortions.

Likewise, business need not be dishonest, but it can be done in a dishonest way. As Aryasura says:

The usual way of offering goods for sale is to extol their good qualities and conceal their faults.

Underpaying one's workers or not putting in a fair day's work when receiving a fair day's pay would mean that an otherwise right livelihood would become wrong.

A Buddhist therefore tries to make his or her living at a trade or profession that is within the bounds of ethical principles, and strives to do the job with honesty and integrity. Ethics should be as much a part of doing a job properly as dexterity and professionalism.

103 As we have said before, money has no value in itself, but derives its value from how it is created and how it is utilized. If we earn our income through diligence and honest work, it is not to be hoarded, but put to good use. The Buddha suggests that we decide our income and use it for four specific purposes.

Firstly, it should be used to provide ourselves and our dependents with basic needs and comforts.

Concerning this, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, won by strength of arm and sweat of brow lawfully and justly, a noble disciple makes himself, his mother and father, his wife and children, his servants and workmen and his friends and acquaintances cheerful and happy - he creates perfect happiness. This is the first opportunity seized by him, used for good and appropriately made use of.

104 Next, some of our income should be put aside to tide us over in case of future difficulties. In the Buddha's time, this meant burying gold or treasure in the ground; today it would mean having a savings account at a bank, contributing to a retirement fund or perhaps insuring our life and property.

Again, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, won by strength of arm and sweat of brow lawfully and justly, a noble disciple makes himself secure against misfortunes like fire, floods, kings, nobles, enemies, or unwanted heirs. He take steps to defend himself and make himself secure. This is the second opportunity seized by him, used for good and appropriately made use of.

In another discourse, the Buddha suggests that half our income should be reinvested in our trade or business, and a fourth should be put aside for times of need. Today it may not be either necessary or possible to reinvest or put aside such a percentage of our income, but this does indicate the importance the Buddha placed on providing for our financial security.

105 Some money should be reserved for what was known in ancient India as the fivefold offering.

Again, with wealth acquired by energetic striving won by strength of arm and sweat of brow lawfully and justly, a noble disciple makes the fivefold offering, that is to say, to relatives, to guests, to the departed, to the king and to the devas. This is the third opportunity seized by him, used for good and appropriately made use of.

Today, this could be interpreted as making provisions for taxation, recreation and miscellaneous expenses.

106 And lastly, some of our income should be used to support clergy and religious institutions.

Finally, with wealth acquired by energetic striving, won by strength of arm and sweat of brow lawfully and justly, a noble disciple offers gifts to recluses and Brahims who abstain from sloth and laziness, who practise kindness and forbearance, who have tamed, calmed and cooled themselves. To them he offers gifts that lead to good, to a happy rebirth, to a pleasant result in the heaven realm.

Buddhist monks and nuns should not, of course, be given gifts of money, but rather provided with basic requisites like robes, food, shelter, and so on. Few things are more inappropriate than a monk or nun who is supposed to have renounced everything for the sake of the Dhamma and yet who ends up having more money or possessions than they had when they were living the lay life. A monk or nun should be rich in love, not in money and possessions. The Buddha says:

And what is a monk's wealth ?
Concerning this, one abides with the mind filled with love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, suffusing the first, second, third and fourth quarter. One abides suffusing the whole world - upwards, downwards, across, everywhere – with a mind filled with love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, abundant, unbounded, without hatred or ill-will. This is a monk's wealth.

Money can be given, however, to build temples, print Dhamma books and support religious services and charities.

107 It is interesting to note that the Buddha says that support should be given to any genuine and sincere clergy, not to Buddhist monks and nuns alone. At the time of the Buddha, there were teachers who urged generosity within their own religion and discouraged support for other faiths. This mean and petty attitude is still prevalent in certain religions. But as we have seen before, Buddhism recognizes the good in other religions and rejoices in that good, and thus the Buddhist can and should give support to non-Buddhist religious institutions also.

The Buddha warns us that partisan generosity hinders us as much as it does the people we withhold our gifts from.

Vacchagotta said to the Lord:

"I have heard it said that you, good Gotoma, say that charity should only be given to you, not to others, to your followers, not the followers of other teachers. Those who say this, are they representing your opinion distorting it? Do they speak according to your teaching? For indeed, good Gotama, I am anxious not to misrepresent you."

The Lord said: "Vaccha, those who say this are not of my opinion, they misrepresent me by saying what is not true. Truly, whoever discourages another from giving charity hinders in three ways. What three ? He hinders the giver from acquiring the charity, and he has already ruined himself through is meanness."

108 Because wealth is essential for life, because it can contribute to our physical and mental security, and because with it a great deal of good can be done, the Buddha urges us to spend our income with care and circumspection. Watching over the wealth we have earned through honest hard work is, the Buddha says, one of the factors that leads to success in the world.

And what is achievement in alertness? Concerning this, in whatever way one earns a living, whether by farming, trading, cattle rearing, archery, service to the king or by some craft, in that one becomes deft and tireless, gifted with an inquiring turn of mind into ways and means, and able to arrange and carry out the job.

And what is achievement in caution ?
Concerning this, whatever one earns by work and effort, collected by strength of arm and sweat of brow in a just and lawful manner, one husbands, watches and guards so that kings do not seize it, thieves do not steal it, fire or water do not destroy it, and unwanted heirs do not remove it.

109 He also advises what he calls balanced livelihood, in the sense of balancing our expenditure against our income. To do this, of course, budgeting, saving and sound financial management are necessary.

And what is balanced livelihood ? Concerning this, one knows both his income and expenditure, and lives neither extravagantly nor miserly, knowing that income after expenditure will stand at so much, and that expenses will not exceed income.

Just as a goldsmith or his apprentice knows, on holding the scales, that so much has dipped down and so much has tilted up, one knows income and expenditure. If one with small income were to lead an extravagant life, there would be those who would say:

"He enjoys his wealth like a woodapple eater."

Likewise, if one with a good income were to be miserly, there would be those who would say:

" He will die like a beggar."

There are four channels through which the wealth one has collected is lost : debauchery, drunkenness, gambling and friendship with evildoers. Imagine there were a great tank of water with four inlets and outlets, and a man were to close the inlets but keep the outlets open. If there is no, we could expect the water to decrease. In the same way, these are the four channels through which wealth is lost.

There are these four channels through which the wealth one has collected is to preserve: avoidance of debahchery, drunkenness, gambling and friendship with evildoers. Imagine there were a great tank of water with four inlets and outlets, and a man will to keep the inlets open and close the outlets. If he did this and there was good rainfall, we could expect the water to increase. In the same way, there are these four channels through which wealth is preserved.

110 Some people get great pleasure from their work, it gives them a sense of achievement, they enjoy the challenges it offers, and sometimes it gives meaning to what is seen as an otherwise meaningless life. Others do no enjoy their work but they can enjoy themselves with what they earn through their work.

Consequently, it is easy for some people to think that work and the accumulation of wealth are the most important things in life, indeed that they are the purpose of life. They have no interests in life beyond work and wealth, and when they lose their job, or can no longer work, or when they lose their wealth, they are utterly devastated.

The Buddha gently reminds us that like all conditioned things, they too are limited and subject to change. Work and wealth are of value because they sustain us while we are developing the spiritual qualities that will eventually lead us to the realm where all toil ceases and our only wealth is joy. As the Buddha says:

          Of little importance is the loss of such things 
          as wealth, but a terrible thing it is to lose wisdom. 
          Of little importance is the gaining of such things 
          as wealth, but great is the importance of gaining 
          wisdom.