Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
I keep my friends who work on the railway safe by planning their work properly and in the bigger picture, everyone who travels on the track I cover. It's the one thing I focus on when I'm having a bad day.
That's a wholesome job, keeping people safe- One of the Buddhist precepts says, not to take life...
I'd call my current job wholesome. I do web programming for a large telecom.
A couple years ago I had a job that kinda pushed the boundary. I had a programming job for a small company that was owned by a law firm that was doing over 90% of the mortgage foreclosures in the state. This didn't go against common teachings regarding "Right Livelihood", but it was pretty damned close. I had access to hundreds of thousands of database records, each one representing some poor bastard who had lost his piece of The American Dream. My work helped expedite the process. That was kinda rough. A real buzz-kill. I don't think it purified any karma, that's for sure and not the most compassionate situation.
I manage a small investment portfolio for a family pension plan. Since I become Buddhist I only trade relatively ethical stocks. I say relative because in the business world, it's impossible to find a saint corporate.
My attitude is if I see an attractive opportunity, I can’t afford to wait for the financial report to come out because when the news is out, the stock price will reflect it and it's too late by then to make money. So I must take the calculated risk and make decision based on partial information.
It's the same attitude I apply in Buddhism, I adopt Pure Land Buddhism now because I can't wait to find out if Amida's Pure Land really exists. This is the one that works for me so it's good.
I play Amitabha recitation in the background while checking on stocks.
And every time I am happy of a gain or not so happy because I must dump the stock quickly to cut loss, I sing "gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha".
Whether I make big gain or not, life is impermanent, the stock price is even more so. At the end of the day, I am happy because I use the best of my ability, I respect my trading rule so there is nothing to regret. Life is good. "gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha"
In Buddhism, it is said that there is wholesome and unwholesome way of earning a living. Earning a living by killing animals for example is not wholesome and not encouraged. What types of jobs do you suppose is wholesome or unwholesome? Is your job wholesome?
If I recall correctly, any job that is not unwholesome, is by default wholesome. I think any job that would cause you to break precepts, or cause or support others doing something that would break precepts, even if they haven't taken them and even if they aren't Buddhist, would be unwholesome.
Many jobs are wholesome then and we are spoilt for choice!
I'm getting started in a career in emergency medicine. I hope to really be a paramedic on life flight. I do it so that I can help others and stil make a living. I think it's wholesome
I drive a bus, locally and between towns. I get to talk to people and transport them to where they need to be. Yes it;s burning fuel but it's for a good reason and reasonably efficient... most of the time. I reckon it's wholesome as it's useful and not harming anyone or thing by intent.
Comments
A couple years ago I had a job that kinda pushed the boundary. I had a programming job for a small company that was owned by a law firm that was doing over 90% of the mortgage foreclosures in the state. This didn't go against common teachings regarding "Right Livelihood", but it was pretty damned close. I had access to hundreds of thousands of database records, each one representing some poor bastard who had lost his piece of The American Dream. My work helped expedite the process. That was kinda rough. A real buzz-kill. I don't think it purified any karma, that's for sure and not the most compassionate situation.
It sucked.
My attitude is if I see an attractive opportunity, I can’t afford to wait for the financial report to come out because when the news is out, the stock price will reflect it and it's too late by then to make money. So I must take the calculated risk and make decision based on partial information.
It's the same attitude I apply in Buddhism, I adopt Pure Land Buddhism now because I can't wait to find out if Amida's Pure Land really exists. This is the one that works for me so it's good.
I play Amitabha recitation in the background while checking on stocks.
And every time I am happy of a gain or not so happy because I must dump the stock quickly to cut loss, I sing "gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha".
Whether I make big gain or not, life is impermanent, the stock price is even more so. At the end of the day, I am happy because I use the best of my ability, I respect my trading rule so there is nothing to regret. Life is good. "gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha"
I reckon it's wholesome as it's useful and not harming anyone or thing by intent.