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Did Buddha teach we have to abstain from everything, including our professional success?
After many posts without an answer I guess I can extract two conclusions from this thread: 1) Buddha said we have to abstain from everything, including our professional success and live this live in homelessness just to accumulate good karma for a better next life.
I believe you meant " live in household life just to accumulate good kamma" instead ?
For a number of people , that is the case. It is due to their lack of interest in practicing the dhamma ( meditation, mindfulness, dhamma talk, etc..) . For these people Buddha would instruct them on one of the three division because they are more concern with secular matter and are not interested or ready to focus on dhamma practice or study.
For householders that are more ready he would give further instruction to take them into at least one of the stages of Enlightenment. There are various stages of Enlightenment. It depends on which one you are talking about. There are Stream Entry, Once Returning, Non-Returning, and Arahant.
According to the texts a householder can get as far as Stream Entry and Once Returning and engage in ordinary household lifestyle and business as usual.
For example, Visakha was a Stream Enterer, but she didn't have to abandon her wealth or stop being a millionaire. She was married, have children and grandchildren.
Isadatta and Purana are both Once Returners while living the lay life. They are Chamberlains to the King . The Buddha didn't tell them to abandon their wealth , success, or career as royal chamberlains .
There are householders that are Non-Returners, however they are celibate. The reason is because the five lower fetters are eradicated in them , which includes lust. For example, Citta, Visakha ( a different one by the same name) .
OR
2) Buddha said we can pursue our wealth and success in this life but this is written in some unknown passage on the Canon but the Buddhist community worldwide don't give much importance to the word of Buddha written down on the Canon so apparently no one knows the Canon enough to answer in short words "Yes this is in accordance to Buddha's teachings as said in the X part of the Canon" or "No this goes against Buddha's teachings as said in the X part of the Canon".
As I pointed out above with examples that it is possible to practice for Stream Entry and Once Returning ( the first two stages of Enlightenment) while living a household life.
So advanced matters like the professional success and wealth issue tend to remain unanswered.
Many are unclear about what the Buddha taught regarding Right Livelihood for householders and sometimes confused it the instruction on Right Livelihood for monastics. Instructions on these matters for householders exist in the suttas. About 20 percent of the suttas are for householders only, but unfortunately they are mixed up within the rest of the other suttas. It can be difficult for people to locate them within the Canon unless they search through the entire Canon. I guess someone will have to go through the canon and locate the suttas on this particular subject and list them in one place for householders to access easily without having to go through the entire Canon to look suttas on this particular subject.
Below is just one an example of a sutta where the Buddha instructs about earning and using what you earned :
"Anathapindika the householder went to the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there the Blessed One said to him: "There are these four kinds of pleasantness that can be attained by householders partaking in sensual pleasures, at the proper occasions, proper season. Which four? 1. Pleasantness of Having "Householder, what is the bliss of having? There is the case where the son of a good family has wealth earned through his efforts & enterprise, amassed through the strength of his arm, and piled up through the sweat of his brow, righteous wealth righteously gained.… he experiences bliss, he experiences joy. This is called the bliss of having. 2. The Pleasantness of Making Use Of Wealth "And what is the pleasantness of [making use of] wealth? …..using the wealth earned .. wealth righteously gained, partakes of his wealth and makes merit. … he experiences pleasantness, he experiences joy. .. 3. The Pleasantness of Debtlessness "And what is the pleasantness of debtlessness? … owes no debt, great or small, to anyone at all…he experiences pleasantness, he experiences joy. .. 4. The Pleasantness of Faultlessness/ Blamelessness "Here, householder, the noble disciple is endowed with faultless bodily action, faultless verbal action and faultless mental action. He becomes pleasant thinking I am faultless in bodily, verbal and mental actions." Householder, these four pleasantness can be attained by householders, partaking sensual pleasures as and when the convenience occurs. Assured I have and am not in debt, he enjoys his wealth. Knowing death is a liability, he reflects wisely. Reflecting he knows, all pleasantness are not worth one fourth nor one sixteenth, to the pleasantness of faultlessness/ blamelessness."- Anana Sutta ( AN 4.62)
With metta,
Thank you for your quotation of the Anana Sutta. You have no idea of how much this matters for me. Thank you very much. I was about to stop following this thread and then I saw your answer quoted above. This was very helpful.
The wise and virtuous shine like a blazing fire. He who acquires his wealth in harmless ways like to a bee that honey gathers, riches mount up for him like ant hill's rapid growth.
With wealth acquired this way, a layman fit for household life, in portions four divides his wealth: thus will he friendship win.
One portion for his wants he uses, two portions on his business spends, the fourth for times of need he keeps.
155. Those who in youth have not led the holy life, or have failed to acquire wealth, languish like old cranes in the pond without fish.
156. Those who in youth have not lead the holy life, or have failed to acquire wealth, lie sighing over the past, like worn out arrows (shot from) a bow.
Thank you a lot. Your post was very helpful too. This is a great contribution to one's path to enlightenment. So I see pursuing wealth and professional success is not against the teachings of Buddha. My theory that his teachings were not contradictory was right and I only can be sure about it thanks to you and dharma.
The Buddha taught at least four qualities lead to success, namely:
(1) enthusiasm; love for what we do (chanda) (2) effort; energy (viriya) (3) mental focus & application (citta) (4) investigation; examination (vimamsa)
May your reasoned investigations into Buddha-Dhamma bring you success
The Buddha taught at least four qualities lead to success, namely:
(1) enthusiasm; love for what we do (chanda) (2) effort; energy (viriya) (3) mental focus & application (citta) (4) investigation; examination (vimamsa)
May your reasoned investigations into Buddha-Dhamma bring you success
Kind regards
DD
I know this may be asking for too much after your profound answer on my question. Still I ask you for another favor: can you quote the Canon passages that deal with these four qualities? It's because I'm making a personal collection of the Canonical passages that most interest me and this is a very meaningful theme for me.
Comments
The Buddha taught at least four qualities lead to success, namely:
(1) enthusiasm; love for what we do (chanda)
(2) effort; energy (viriya)
(3) mental focus & application (citta)
(4) investigation; examination (vimamsa)
May your reasoned investigations into Buddha-Dhamma bring you success
Kind regards
DD
Actually, I cannot directly quote what I said because what I said is an adaptation, most commonly taught in Thailand.
The source teaching from the Buddha is quoted below. The adapation can be found at the link, in section 9: 'The Successful One"
http://www.budsir.org/Contents.html
Kind regards