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why do you have a job

Do you really need to make money? Yes with money you can buy your own food money will get you a home of your own, but having a job and making money is not going to help you attain enlightenment, all its going to do is waste your precious time as a human being.
lobsterDaltheJigsaw

Comments

  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    I used to feel that way when I was stuck in a job I didn't really care about.

    I think it comes down to Right Livelihood.
    KundoriverflowInvincible_summerEvenThird
  • bookwormbookworm U.S.A. Veteran
    how said:

    Do your parents know of your plans to live with them forever?

    haha very funny you're quite the joker I never said anything about living with parents Buddhist go forth into homelessness and leave their friends and family and renounce the world
  • bookworm said:

    how said:

    Do your parents know of your plans to live with them forever?

    haha very funny you're quite the joker I never said anything about living with parents Buddhist go forth into homelessness and leave their friends and family and renounce the world
    Have you met any Buddhists?
    AllbuddhaBoundEvenThirdReborncvalue
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Yeah...very few Buddhists actually do that.
  • BunksBunks Australia Veteran
    bookworm said:

    how said:

    Do your parents know of your plans to live with them forever?

    haha very funny you're quite the joker I never said anything about living with parents Buddhist go forth into homelessness and leave their friends and family and renounce the world
    Have you gone forth into homelessness yet @bookworm?

  • ChazChaz The Remarkable Chaz Anywhere, Everywhere & Nowhere Veteran
    lobster said:

    I am enlightened

    I feel the urge .....

    The urge to purge!

  • GuiGui Veteran

    Crustaceous Osteen!
    lobster said:

    but having a job and making money is not going to help you attain enlightenment
    I am enlightened and I say it is.

    WonderingSeeker
  • bookwormbookworm U.S.A. Veteran
    riverflow said:

    bookworm said:

    Do you really need to make money? Yes with money you can buy your own food money will get you a home of your own, but having a job and making money is not going to help you attain enlightenment, all its going to do is waste your precious time as a human being.

    Where will you find enlightenment if it isn't with what you are doing (whatever it may be) right here and now? Dividing your own experience into "things that will bring enlightenment" and "things that do not bring me enlightenment" is a sure way to put off enlightenment.

    Do you know what they do in monasteries? They cook, wash dishes, clean toilets. These are not pesky distractions away from practice-- they ARE practice! Insight into reality is not to be found by running away from the world but in the very midst of it.
    Oh wow thanks commenting @riverflow i learned something new thanks to you
    riverflowMaryAnneAllbuddhaBoundReborn
  • seeker242seeker242 Zen Florida, USA Veteran
    riverflow said:

    bookworm said:

    Do you really need to make money? Yes with money you can buy your own food money will get you a home of your own, but having a job and making money is not going to help you attain enlightenment, all its going to do is waste your precious time as a human being.

    Where will you find enlightenment if it isn't with what you are doing (whatever it may be) right here and now? Dividing your own experience into "things that will bring enlightenment" and "things that do not bring me enlightenment" is a sure way to put off enlightenment.

    But at the same time, the Buddha did divide things up like that! If you think about it, that's what laypersons precepts are for, that's what monks precepts are for.

    :om:
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    Tentatively -- i.e. emotionally and intellectually -- things are separate and distinct. Suggesting otherwise is just blowing smoke.

    But there is something to be said for settling to your own satisfaction matters that are tentative.
    riverflow
  • chariramacharirama Veteran
    edited October 2013
    In a society where the needs of the people are the concern rather than the needs of the economy, no jobs would be a good thing because it would mean all the work and necessary chores have been done. This would leave more time for family, contemplation and personal growth.

    Today's society, however, seems to prioritize the economy over everything else even if it means people have to work harder for less pay at jobs that don't yet exist. The American President has been talking about how important it is to create jobs yet one of the main areas of dissatisfaction among people in the US is their jobs.
  • If family members rely on the money you earn from working to pay bills and put food on the table, would giving up work be lacking in compassion towards your family? Also, if you're an employer would giving up work be lacking in compassion towards your employees?

    I can see from the point of view of someone who has no dependants but if you have surely doing this be a selfish act?

    Is there a way to reconcile this?
  • "Is there a way to reconcile this?"

    There is the Middle Path.
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    It could! I have heard of many stories of regular individuals/monks and other people who have reached inner understanding/enlightenment. Everyone is different and it really does depend on each person. I like work, as it builds my character, skills and ability to understand myself and my surroundings.
    bookwormrobotNiesje
  • bookwormbookworm U.S.A. Veteran
    edited October 2013
    You're absolutely right @LeonBasin everyone is different after all there is no one true path to enlightenment
  • FairyFellerFairyFeller Veteran
    edited October 2013
    My reason for having a job is to provide enough money to feed and provide a warm safe environment for The Missus who is disabled and unable to do so for herself (and also for various rescue animals who we're lucky to have living with us).

    My aim in life is to live it and to attain enlightenment would just be a bonus.
    riverflowKundoBunkscvalue
  • HawkinsHawkins Explorer
    edited November 2013
    I understand what you mean, OP.

    I believe that there are certain "jobs" that are needed, whether its working for local businesses that make you happy, or giving knowledge of a certain skill set or ability you have in trade for money.

    The difference between working lightly and happily with your own trade or for local small businesses, versus big paying jobs that suck your life away, cubical, and corporations is YOUR lifestyle. Some people feel the need to own fancy cars, big homes, and a bunch of sh** they don't actually need. But if you live minimalist, on a good budget, with little to preferably no debt, you can do what you enjoy without worrying too much about money.

    So OP, I disagree to live without any form of work, however you may live with a form of work that can be considered play.. if you pull your cards right.
    bookwormNiesje
  • DavidDavid A human residing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Ancestral territory of the Erie, Haudenosaunee, Huron-Wendat, Mississauga and Neutral First Nations Veteran
    Work isn't just something we do, it is what we are.

    If we enjoy what we are, we will enjoy the work involved.
    PrincelyEvenThirdNiesje
  • DaftChrisDaftChris Spiritually conflicted. Not of this world. Veteran
    I can't think of an insightful answer, so here is a vaguely related music video.

    Sabre
  • bookwormbookworm U.S.A. Veteran
    Alright alright i get it, how do you close this thread?
    S_Mouse
  • bookworm said:

    Do you really need to make money? Yes with money you can buy your own food money will get you a home of your own, but having a job and making money is not going to help you attain enlightenment, all its going to do is waste your precious time as a human being.

    It is the money that matters but the food. You won't get enlightened without food. That would be like a guitar with loose strings. It can't produce beautiful music.
  • I must have a job so I can think of Buddha. Without a job, my first priority would be about where I get my next meal from, where to find money to buy medicine, how I can afford to fix the leaky roof, my parents are in financial distress how can I help them? Thanks to my job, all these money issues go away so I can devote my extra time to Buddha.
    MaryAnneNiesjeEvenThird
  • bookwormbookworm U.S.A. Veteran
    You're absolutely right @cvalue and @footiam money buys food and without the right food then we will be to weak to study and practice the Dharma
    robotcvalue
  • Well, people jump onto this (with some funny jokes, thanks for that), and in a way rightly so, but there is also something to say for what @bookworm is getting at. The Buddha kept his life as simple as possible, not only because it was more conducive toward enlightenment, but I think also as a result of it. It's something I really feel he was sort of pushed into, because having a cluttered up life just didn't work for him.

    Because people may say we need to work for food/family, but if I look around I see many people not only work for that, but also for a lot of things I feel you don't really need. Ice creams, holidays, bigger homes, cigarettes, a marriage, to be able to support kids later, etc. and let's not forget status and career itself. Is enlightenment really in those things or does enlightenment drive you away from those things? Personally I have the feeling it is the latter one. Other people have those feelings too and those are the ones becoming monks/nuns. I'm not saying those people are better or anything, just that for them a more simple lifestyle is what works best.

    For me a big part of Buddhism is daring to ask questions and daring to look at all aspects of our lives. I looked at every aspect and came to the conclusion I don't see much future in myself following my career path and would like to try what it's like living without it. I can see myself getting very sad if I wouldn't have been able to do so.

    This is what the Buddha supposedly said:
    "Before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, the thought occurred to me: 'The household life is crowded, a dusty road. Life gone forth is the open air. It isn't easy, living in a home, to lead the holy life that is totally perfect, totally pure, a polished shell. What if I, having shaved off my hair & beard and putting on the ochre robe, were to go forth from the home life into homelessness?'
    Metta to all lay people, monks/nuns and everything in between!
    bookwormNiesjeEvenThird
  • I feel that the work that I do is my personal path to enlightenment. From my experience taking care of the elderly and disabled in nursing homes, to now being an EMT, I help people at the worst moments of their lives. When everything seems to be going wrong, I am given this opportunity to provide them with hope. What they dont realize is how much they teach me and enrich my life. That's why I need to work. To keep in touch with not only the suffering in the world, but the idea that there are so many people that dedicate themselves to easing that suffering.
    vinlynEvenThirdMaryAnnehow
  • bookworm said:

    Do you really need to make money? Yes with money you can buy your own food money will get you a home of your own, but having a job and making money is not going to help you attain enlightenment, all its going to do is waste your precious time as a human being.

    Do you have a job?
    cvalue
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