what is right livelihood

• Metta with Mindfulness

  9 Oct 12, 21:34

  Hi what is considered right livelihood in Buddhism ? How about police, military etc?
• An Eternal Now

  10 Oct 12, 07:59

  Buddha: [5] "Of those, right view is the forerunner. And how is right view the forerunner? One discerns wrong livelihood as wrong livelihood, and right livelihood as right livelihood. This is one's right view. And what is wrong livelihood? Scheming, persuading, hinting, belittling, & pursuing gain with gain. This is wrong livelihood. "And what is right livelihood? Right livelihood, I tell you, is of two sorts: There is right livelihood with effluents, siding with merit, resulting in the acquisitions [of becoming]; and there is noble right livelihood, without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path. "And what is the right livelihood that has effluents, sides with merit, & results in acquisitions? There is the case where a disciple of the noble ones abandons wrong livelihood and maintains his life with right livelihood. This is the right livelihood that has effluents, sides with merit, & results in acquisitions. "And what is the right livelihood that is without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path? The abstaining, desisting, abstinence, avoidance of wrong livelihood of one developing the noble path whose mind is noble, whose mind is without effluents, who is fully possessed of the noble path. This is the right livelihood that is without effluents, transcendent, a factor of the path. "One tries to abandon wrong livelihood & to enter into right livelihood: This is one's right effort. One is mindful to abandon wrong livelihood & to enter & remain in right livelihood: This is one's right mindfulness. Thus these three qualities — right view, right effort, & right mindfulness — run & circle around right livelihood.
• An Eternal Now

  10 Oct 12, 08:00

  "A layperson should not be employed in five manners of business. Which five? Weapons, human beings, meat, intoxicants, and poison. These are the five business practices a layperson should not be involved." - The Buddha, Vanijja Sutta: Livelihood, Anguttara Nikaya, Fives
• An Eternal Now

  10 Oct 12, 11:18

  As for military, there was at least one recorded instance of a military general who attained stream entry in the earliest scriptures, and the buddha pointed out that a strong defense force is one of the components that ensures a strong and surviving nation. That being said, as loppon namdrol pointed out: "The main point is whether you actually agree with the goals that a military force has in mind. From a Buddhist POV, if you do, you share in all the negative actions of the whole army. This is very well detailed in the karma chapter in the Abhidharmakoshabhasyam." "The idea is that if you are in a military force and you approve of its goals i.e. killing people, you share in all of the karma of all acts of killing multiplied by the number of people in that army. So if you are in a million man army, and you approve of the goals of that army, every time one person is killed by that army, the karma for you is multiplied by a million, thus it becomes very heavy karma indeed. Taxpayers are generally forced to pay taxes under duress or threat. However, if you are cheerfully sending in your taxes the govt. and support its goals in the army it supports, then also you share that karma X however many people are supporting that army whether civilian or not. It is hard to be a conscientious objector in the military, but yes, I suppose you could belong to an army and yet be completely opposed to its overall mission. N"
• An Eternal Now

  10 Oct 12, 11:22

  If you engage in violence and harming others, that inevitably leads to bad karma, guilt, and so on, which obstructs your practice. This is one of the primary reason why sila or the training in morality or virtue is important. You will see those who return from afghan wars etc suffer tremendous stress and often sink into depression and guilt. Even though a military is important to the nation I think one consider many factors before joining. Read this teaching by Buddha: Then Yodhajiva the headman went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: "Lord, I have heard that it has been passed down by the ancient teaching lineage of warriors that 'When a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, if others then strike him down & slay him while he is striving & exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of devas slain in battle.' What does the Blessed One have to say about that?" "Enough, headman, put that aside. Don't ask me that." A second time... A third time Yodhajiva the headman said: "Lord, I have heard that it has been passed down by the ancient teaching lineage of warriors that 'When a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, if others then strike him down & slay him while he is striving & exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of devas slain in battle.' What does the Blessed One have to say about that?" "Apparently, headman, I haven't been able to get past you by saying, 'Enough, headman, put that aside. Don't ask me that.' So I will simply answer you. When a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, his mind is already seized, debased, & misdirected by the thought: 'May these beings be struck down or slaughtered or annihilated or destroyed. May they not exist.' If others then strike him down & slay him while he is thus striving & exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the hell called the realm of those slain in battle. But if he holds such a view as this: 'When a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, if others then strike him down & slay him while he is striving & exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of devas slain in battle,' that is his wrong view. Now, there are two destinations for a person with wrong view, I tell you: either hell or the animal womb." When this was said, Yodhajiva the headman sobbed & burst into tears. [The Blessed One said:] "That is what I couldn't get past you by saying, 'Enough, headman, put that aside. Don't ask me that.'" "I'm not crying, lord, because of what the Blessed One said to me, but simply because I have been deceived, cheated, & fooled for a long time by that ancient teaching lineage of warriors who said: 'When a warrior strives & exerts himself in battle, if others then strike him down & slay him while he is striving & exerting himself in battle, then with the breakup of the body, after death, he is reborn in the company of devas slain in battle.' — SN 42.3
• An Eternal Now

  10 Oct 12, 11:31

  But I suppose police isn't the same as being in a military that goes to war, etc.
• bycai

  10 Oct 12, 14:17

  It's recommend that abt 2 hrs of meditation lesson to be included in the military / police training schedule. This will free and neutralize mind and developing compassionate well beings, calmly bliss and to counter any psychological setback during their course of routine. Military / police should not treat abstract as real crime until it's substantiated, and be handled wisely, so that the psychic is always humbly blissful and benevolence in its original. It's not easy as they have been being "brainwashed" due to the policy of their routine, and wearing of security uniform or security badges, does not necessarily mean superior than other oridinary people but is entrusted with the value of safeguarding the interest of everyone including themselves. As confucius said "人之åˆ�，性本善"（ä¸�是善æ�¶ä¹‹å–„，是military/police person  自己圆满，完美的性德或人格真ç�†ï¼‰.  所以孔å­�言，建国å�›æ°‘，教学为先. Anyway, meditation lesson is beneficial.

   

• bycai

  10 Oct 12, 14:20

   

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