Career choice of a lay Buddhist.

LostLight

I was thinking: What career options would be seen as generally good for a lay Buddhist to take?
Would a science career, where one tries to understand the workings of the universe be a "good" living?
Would an artistic career, such as a musician, writer, or artist be considered a good career?
I'm curious to know what kind of jobs a lay Buddhist could take that would've been supported by the Buddha.

federica

The Buddha had this to say on Livelihoods:

"Monks, a lay follower should not engage in five types of business. Which five? Business in weapons, business in human beings, business in meat, business in intoxicants, and business in poison.

"These are the five types of business that a lay follower should not engage in."

Everything else is a question of skilful application.

Theswingisyellow

I am an RN, tons of opportunities to practice.
The job itself is to help those who physically suffer, so prabably not too bad a career for a Buddhist.
All the best,
Todd

AMH

I work with children. Challenging for sure, rewarding, and it seems like a great career for practice. I have a challenge to myself right now, taking my focus on encouragement over praise beyond working with children and stretching it into working with adults.

Okay it is kinda my nerdy focus i have had for many years, and it may relate to Buddhism. Praise has effects that long term are not so great, and of course we use praise all the time because we want to recognize people and be positive. It is the constant 'good job' of many teachers and others without the intentionality of encouragement. It also put the judgement on outsider rather than the person it is about. Studies show that your brain can actually be addicted to praise, and that our most gifted children are affected negatively by being called smart often.

Encouragement puts the judgement on the person who has done the action. it is specific and takes a higher level of intention and attention. So it sounds more like "i saw you jumped rope about 10 times yesterday and today you got to 15". or "you used a lot of blue in your picture, tell me about how you chose that". There is no teacher judgement on the choices, there is no seeking 'good job' from the student.

So how does this wandering off apply to choosing a career with a Buddhist world view. Often Buddhist teachers expect you to decide for yourself. They are not going to tell you 'good job' because you work in a social services field vs finance. However i could see a teacher saying 'you get very excited when you talk about the changes in the stock market as funding moves towards businesses with intentional recycling focus'. (that is how I am talking to adults/my staff and trying to be intentional about it) No judgement from teacher/supervisor yet I noticed something, I had to pay careful attention to the other, and it can help you reflect on your work. You may stay in the same job, you may look towards being an accountant for small eco-friendly businesses, etc.

Okay, not sure if my side line to the conversation is helpful, if it is great, if it isn't then just leave it.

how

@Federica
Has the usual answer for Buddhist limitations for Lay careers.
But
Whatever collection of Buddhist precepts that you might have undertaken will probably limit that career list a bit more.

DairyLama

I'm curious to know what kind of jobs a lay Buddhist could take that would've been supported by the Buddha.

Ideally a job that's conducive to Buddhist practice?

JohnG

So, being a cop is not acceptable?

karasti

I'd make sure to consider any far reaching effects. For a long time, I wanted to be an information officer for the US Forest Service. We have a station here, and I'd love to talk to people about the area, direct them to hiking locations, give advice about things to do, hand out permits, etc. But then I realized that this would entail working for a government entity that supports the killing of "problem" animals in national forests, and is under the umbrella of the USDA which has rather minimal expectations of the care of the food animals in the US. I don't think I could, in good conscience, work under those circumstances.

I'm not sure what the best thing to do would be in a case where you need a job to feed and care for yourself and your family. What if the only jobs available fall in unfavorable industries? I know that seems unfathomable to a lot of people, but I live in a very rural area, and the jobs can be quite limited. What if you are in a pinch and the only job available is at a slaughterhouse or something similar? How do you weigh what is the right thing to do?

how

@JohnG

So, being a cop is not acceptable?

Being a cop does not require you to traffic in weapons, human beings, meat, intoxicants or poison.
This would be OK for most Buddhists.
But
I have yet to know a cop who doesn't end up feeling more and more isolated from society outside of his/her fellow police over time. That seems a shame since it has such bodhisattvic potential.

federica

So, being a cop is not acceptable?

On the contrary, I personally feel it is commendable. Imagine the subtle influence you can have on people simply by 'Being' and adhering to what you know works for you....

Cinorjer

Ah, for simpler times, when restricted ways to make a living were apparently limited to five occupations. I always wondered, what sort of messed up economy meant there was enough money to be made dealing in poison that Buddha had to warn people about it?

If we don't say the Precepts are laws or commandments, but instead are guidelines, then neither should we take something like this and declare "Here is the law. Buddha says don't sell meat. You work at a grocery store with a meat section? You're breaking the dharma law! Get another job."

Also, one man sitting at a desk wearing a suit can, with a stroke of a pen, put thousands of people out of work just to collect his million dollar bonus, and promise the board of directors to do it again next month. Are you telling me this man has a job that is OK with the dharma, but not the honest cashier working at Walmarts in the sporting goods section? When something seems so wrong, it's usually time to examine the assumptions in what we think is being told to us.

I think this entire question of a career choice is asking the wrong question, and we should think of the ultra-simple answer in the sutra as one of those pieces of advice designed for that particular culture but we need to examine our own world and come up with our own answer for today.

"What sort of career" is sort of like asking what type of boots to wear when kicking the dog. It widely misses the point. It's not really about the job; it's what you do with the job.

mfranzdorf

So, being a cop is not acceptable?

On the contrary, I personally feel it is commendable. Imagine the subtle influence you can have on people simply by 'Being' and adhering to what you know works for you....

Thanks for that response. I feel the same way. I see it as having even more potential than a lot of other careers, as you usually interact with people when they are the most in need. It would seem to oppose Buddhism from the outside looking in, what with the weapons, cuffs, potential for violence and all, but its really just the opposite, if done properly.

JohnG

Thank you for all your good and kind words.

person

federica's response about the types of work that one shouldn't engage in I feel is right. I'd say that jobs that would be a positive in regards to Buddhism would be ones where you are directly helping others such as health care or social work.

I also agree that being a police officer is acceptable and has a lot of potential to help others, it also has much potential to harm others and dealing with the underbelly of life can have a negative impact on ones own worldview. So I think it falls into the vast middle of career choices that depend upon your approach and attitude.