Buddhism and Career - The Basics

The Buddha did not believe that there was anything wrong with making money, but our occupation should be one that does not cause harm to others (Right-livelyhood). So jobs that require us to inflict physical or mental pain on people or animals is not an acceptable livelyhood from a Buddhist perspective.

Rama felt that in America and other western cultures we need to be able to earn enough money to meet some basic goals in life.

So for example, he suggested that we should have a nice place to live. It doesn't have to be fancy. But it should be in a safe part of town and in an area that has a nice energy. Your home is the place where you sleep and when you sleep you pick up energy from your surroundings. So you always want to choose your home carefully based on these factors and what you can afford.

A dependable car is another consideration. You don't ever want to be stranded in a dangerous place. So if you need a car to get around, which most of us do, you want to have enough money to be able to keep it maintained and replace it when it starts to become undependable..

You also want to have enough money to support your basic needs. It's much more difficult to focus on Buddhism if you're constantly worried about money and how you're going to pay for your food and utilities.

Rama also felt that getting away once a month or so to a place of power. This gives you an opportunity to reflect on the things that are happening in your life outside of the places that you normally go. You can often make insights into things that you're finding challenging on a trip such as this. And the trip can help you to recharge your internal "batteries". The trip can be a simple as getting away for a day or a weekend. But having a little extra money that allows you to do this can be very beneficial to your Buddhist practice.

The final reason that Rama gave us for having a little extra money which comes from a good career is that with money you can do things for other people. Money powers charities and allows them to help people. Working for charities that help others is certainly a good occupation. But if you have a gift for earning money, and your chosen occupation meets the concept of right livelyhood, then use that gift for helping others..

Legals:
Ideas and opinions are the specific writer's only. All copyrights are maintained by respective contributors and may not be reused without permission. Site assets copyright © 1999 - 2019 Lila Publishing. Photo of Dr. Frederick Lenz (Rama) and other assets reprinted here with permission.