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Jobs for Buddhists in life?
Buddhist are sappose to reframe from mental or physical abuse but many jobs such as being a lawyer, force it upon you. What jobs are perfect for buddhist.
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I think that few job roles let you off the hook completely; that there will always be some gray areas in most fields. Nurses and doctors certainly have to make compromises. For that matter, lawyers do a lot of good in being skilled advocates for innocent people who rely on their expertise and advice. So I would not want to write them all off.
Perhaps working with children is one of the safest places to work if you wish to be an innocent? It seems to me that teachers and "kindergarten workers" are prtetty free to be nurturing caretakers.
But it also seems to me that anyone who finds any need that can be alleviated with his or her efforts is lucky to find a job in that field.
or manifests compassion, love and wisdom over greed, hate & delusion.
"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."
— AN 5.177
Wow, Fede! A strict interpretation of that seems to make the medical profession off-limits for any Buddhist.
A lot of professions depend on how/where you choose to apply them, and the mentality you bring to them. It's what you make of them yourself.
Got the sack though when I got creative about the means..
It's true doctors can do a great deal of damage to another person mental and physical, and some do. That is why we take the hippocratic oath - i.e. we swear to help others in need and not to intentionally hurt another!
The majority of medical professions are motivated out of the compassion of peoples physical and mental suffering and do their job with the intention of helping others, overcome and face their problems. I know have always done.
Intention and motivation are important things are they not?
Mettha @Nirvana
As for business in intoxicants/poisons, he also knows perfectly well that such materials within the health system are generally used to help, support, assist in healing and ameliorate peoples' conditions, not make them worse.
I suspect @Nirvana is just being a little obtuse. To what end, only he knows....:rolleyes:
Pali-Kanon says: You`re only allowed to work as a teacher.
anando
(Overlooked this earlier. I keep all my notifications turned off.) No harm done in letting this rather cool issue alone awhile. I see that the OP was active on May 5.
This list of five livelihoods to be avoided is interesting in that it doth not include usury, of all things that can ensnare and enslave one! Perhaps that wasn't a problem in Buddha's climes and days, but it was in the days of the Hebrew prophets. Those working in the high-interest finance industry would certainly make my list of people not seeking right livelihood. BUT I would argue (and do argue) that Buddhists might want to think a little bit more about what "business in human beings" might entail in the modern world. I'd argue that "anything that enslaves or entraps people in adverse conditions" might be a good paradigm to start with.
To me, having grown up Christian, the Ten Commandments were always assumed to be more expansive than just their literal interpretations explicitly say. In the spirit of Jesus, even the sin of anger was breaking the Fifth Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." ...Jesus taught that a man who even looked at a woman lewdly was already guilty of adultery in his heart (What did Reality matter to Jesus?). Many Christians &c believe that fornication ("Immorality") can and does exist on sheer mental basis alone —without any physical play.
To me, "business in human beings" is not only referring to the slave trade, but to any trade that exploits people. And those trades are many. Arguably, even the state legislators and national legislators are also guilty of engaging in such business if they do not pursue justice and integrity and seek out the truth of matters with which they are entrusted.
In my judgment, health care industries, the insurance industry, and especially the high-interest street-corner lenders which Congress and state legislatures empower are wrong-livelihood employers in many instances. When a person's job is not to do the right thing by a person, but rather to make more profit for the company I am unable to think any other way.
Just so things get charted right. Then it's all OK with everybody who is anybody, right? Or wrong?
Just my observation/experience but beyond the five types of work specifically forbidden (suggested strongly) it has come down to who I am at any particular moment in time.
For instance, I played poker professionally for twenty-four years. At first, I saw nothing at all wrong with it. In fact, I considered it a boon to my practice. The math side of poker is simply fifth grade math properly applied. Simple to understand. The psychology aspect of poker required one to pay very close attention; hence the 'beneficial' aspect.
Years passed and I found myself staying away from those games and limits where cab drivers (or any number of other folks in any number of professions) would put their entire daily/weekly wages on the table to gamble with. I found myself preferring to play with folks who I knew could afford to lose and it wouldn't change their standard of living - bankers, lawyers, plastic surgeons, and the Hollywood crowd. I didn't find taking a few thousand off of Ben Affleck nearly as disconcerting as taking $50 off some fry cook.
Then I began seeing even the latter types using poker as a way to escape life- if only for a few hours. While it's their choice, I don't have to participate in it. So I went into teaching poker. Opened a school, gave private lessons, wrote a column in a few of the magazines - eventually put out a book. Eventually I began to get uncomfortable with that too. Eventually the discomfort grew to a point where I decided to give it up completely.
I'm not suggesting that it's wrong; but it became wrong for me. I think (which admittedly, is where my problems usually begin) that as my practice has grown, fewer and fewer vocations seem appropriate to me - for me. Which is the crux of the matter for me - once it starts renting space in my head - for good or ill, then I need to do something about it.
I suspect that if I lived another fifty years, somewhere along the line I'd decide that robes were the only way for me to go. Not there yet and so, doing what I do that doesn't cause internal dissonance.
No, no, NO! Lawyering doesn't force anything on you. Lawyers can be on the cutting edge of ending suffering for sentient beings! Nelson Mandela was a lawyer. So was Ghandi. And did you think the Civil Rights movement in the US didn't have a posse of lawyers behind it? Think about the compassionate work immigration lawyers and child advocates (example of the latter: Hillary Clinton) do. Remember Presidential running mate, John Edwards? His entire career was devoted to helping victims of medical malpractice. When John Kerry was a young lawyer, he created an advocacy project for women and people of color within the law firm he worked for, finding all the funding himself through grants and donations. And our current President? Also a lawyer and community organizer. As was his wife.
You don't want to follow in such august people's footsteps? I can't imagine why not.
I think being a lawyer can be a wonderful thing. You can be a lawyer of all different sorts, immigration, civil rights, and so on. It is a matter of taking your interests and your skills and finding something that works not only for your pocket book but for others, as well.
It's a hard choice sometimes. Being grounded in what is important to you will always help. My son wants to go into Chemistry or Physics, and there is a lot of lure to get into the more destructive side of it, weapons and so on. It's hard because there is more money to be made in contracting for Lockheed Martin than there is inventing green energy (at this point in our lives, anyhow). I am trying to help guide him into proper choices. I cannot make them for him, but I want him to consider. Especially the story about the guy who created the atomic bomb who realized what it would be used for and how he wishes he had not invented it. I don't know if that's a true story, but it is good for my son to think of such things.
But, sometimes careers in helping people can be detrimental to the mental health of others. I intended to work with juvenile offenders. But I couldn't do it. I don't have the mindset to be what they need and work within all the red tape. So I didn't, I would have done more harm to myself and my family trying to do so.
It seems that business in people would include prostitution though, not just slavery (unless it was meant to include both under the same umbrella). We have a big problem here with international ships wanting teenaged girls while they are in port, for example. I do think that the list of professions is so much longer today that we have to be careful what we consider even if it is not quite within the Buddha's list. The realm of what is poison and toxic is quite a bit larger when we consider the world we live in now. Entertainment can be toxic, even if it's not on the list, for example. But a different type of toxic from what Buddha intended, most likely.
My dad always told me growing up, that we always have a choice to either construct, or destruct, and I've kept that in mind. Do I want to put my time into something that builds communities and people up, or takes them down?
Understood.
Gamble generously. All proceeds after expenses going to the yagr dharma centre. Do we haz plan?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahasiddha
We haz plan. But please, can we name it the lobster-yagr dharma centre?
^^^ name it after your wife. Everyone welcome.
Feng shui interior designer job?
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I have actually done that....
I love Feng Shui! But deep inside, I suspect it falls under the soothsaying heading of the activities the Buddha proscribed from practising.
I dunno. I think some Tibetan schools practise a form.... All I know is that I rapidly went from being a Feng Shui Consultant to an inexpensive relationships counsellor-cum-family adviser....Invariably, the problems were not the environmental energy, but far more the inter-personal ones.....
I find Feng Shui interesting but I'm not convinced it works exactly how it's said to. I think it is more that one's environment is a reflection of their inner state of mind, and that for some people, making drastic changes to the appearance of their environment can affect their inner state, as well. Do mirrors really reflect energy that is escaping out the door? I don't know. But I know they change how spaces look, and how big they feel, and so on, and all of that, how you feel in your space, has an impact on how you feel inside, too. Kind of like astrology. I find that fascinating, too, and I enjoy reading it. Tarot, too. But I think they are more a reflection of what is going on within the person rather than any magical tool. I think some people get too carried away with some aspects of these things. My best friend is an interior designer. He does a lot of the same things that Feng Shui incorporates because it's just good efficient use of space and it looks nice, so the people there feel nice.
I do think people in some of those professions sometimes take advantage of others. My mom hired a Feng Shui person to come evaluate her house, and just for her to spend an hour telling my mom the areas that needed to be changed (without even really telling her WHAT to change) she charged $500. For one hour. Damn. I wish I made $500 over an hour by telling people their cluttered office needed work.
When I was a Feng Shui Consultant, I regularly spent the entire day at a person's house for a fee of no more than £150.00. I cannot tell you the amount of feedback I would get back from clients to the tune of "You will never guess what happened after you left! I don't know if it's a coincidence, but....."
I used to respond:
"Look: You've just paid me £150.00 of your hard-earned cash to come and apply Feng Shui principles to your home - and now you want to talk about 'coincidences'? It either works or it doesn't - but don't put your faith - and money - in me, then throw the subsequent results into doubt by calling them 'coincidences'!"
All I know is, that what remedies I put into place, had results. Sometimes within hours, occasionally within the ensuing couple of days.
I don't expect you to take my word for it, and I cannot prove what I say, because I disposed of all my literature, paperwork, correspondence and testimonies ages ago.
But I also used to run workshops, and I received some wonderful comments from participants. And very favourable results to whatever they implemented themselves, once back in their own homes.
Does it work? Yes, I believe it does.
Why? How?
I couldn't begin to tell you.
I also studied Shiatsu, and often said that Shiatsu was Feng Shui for the Body, while Feng Shui was Shiatsu for the home.....
Whenever I worked a premise, my 'Logical. analytical and calculating left hemisphere would be silently screaming "What do you think you're doing?! Are you mad?? Do you honestly think that by putting a plant here, hanging a wind-chime there and facing a mirror that way, is going to make a blind bit of difference to anything - ?!" While my 'Creative, imaginative and expansive right hemisphere would be replying, "Why don't you shut up and just let me get on with it? The energy here is stagnant, we can clear it, now quit nagging!"
All I know is that it is an 'art' that has been in use for millennia, and is still in use today, to the extent that there have been recent legal cases in China where some companies have sued others for invoking 'Sha Chi' and trying to sabotage their businesses. Real, legal, proper court cases. That's how seriously they take it over there...
And trust me - some consultants charge - and get paid - in the thousands....Lilian Too doesn't get out of bed for less than two grand.....
And you're right about 'interior design'.... But we all do that with our homes, whenever we redecorate, or get new furniture. We re-design our interiors. But I used to say that when we did that, we'd function to 50% of Feng Shui, and get that 50% right. WITH Feng Shui, we had the opportunity of practising it 100% - and eventually getting it 100% right. But just like everything else, one remedy doesn't last a lifetime. It's a constant movement....
In this world if you can't capitalise on the movement, you've missed the boat!
I remember reading a feng shui for dummies book (something of that ilk) Everything I read made sense. Would I pay @federica or similar experts £150 or more for their expertise? No.
There are too many charlatans who read the dummy book, set themself up as consultants, tarot readers, astrologers or meditation consultants, personal trainers, life coaches etc.
You even find Buddhists trying to lecture for a price . . .
Hope that is useful, if so . . .
cheques to the usual swiss bank account c/o 'Lobster Cushion Fund' . . .
Kia Ora,
Jobs for buddhist's in life? Almost any job, but not one that pays peanuts .
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Metta Shoshin .
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@lobster I don't know, that person say yes was a personal trainer. But in their spare was a 12 year commonwealth games gold medalist. You would at least listen right?
Or a feng shui master, there whole house is tranquility personified. Yes there are charlatans but that's every profession.
Plus you can't get a phd in being a personal trainer. Doesn't mean you can't be a master of your craft right?
I've really got to check this feng shui out! Does my lucky bamboo count?
I am sure @federica was very good consultant. I have had a few friends who were very able Tarot readers. I have known 'unpaid' spiritual teachers, who were paid in reputation, devotion, sexual perks etc.
Integrity is key. If you are a mindful warrior, you are on the path, if you are jerk monk then . . .
If you are an unskilful paid Christian/Buddhist priest are you worth the money? If you are a good [insert job/activity] then bravo.
I have paid for great teachings but if I ignore or can not implement I might as well have spent it on wine, men and song or other indulgences such as choccy mousse . . . yum . . . A job is also dependent on the customer . . . The customer of soldiering is sometimes dead or maimed people. It is not therefore considered an optimal choice . . .
Perhaps. Perhaps not. Especially if they had no teaching capacity and intended to train me to gold medal level, despite my needs being simpler . . .
The job we should aim for is the one we do well. For me this is presently out door work. We do not live in a perfect world of unlimited choices, despite the benefits of life coaching cliches . . .
Lucky bamboo gets you three points.
Okay, I'm sharing this as a matter of ...don't know, trying to be helpful only. Not proud, not ashamed ...is what it is, which is not skillful.
Up thread I shared about having played poker professionally. I took it very seriously. As I stated, paying very close attention was important to get be able to read people. I took a hiatus for a month at one point and worked a phone line for a psychic hotline. (anyone remember Miss Cleo?) I was looking for what I could learn about people - "audio tells" if you will, without having body language interfere.
People are actors at the poker table - bluffs, reverse bluffs, etc. A simple question such as, "So, before I call your bet, what do you have?" could yield results. For instance, "I have a full house." If their eyes flicker up and to the left, they're almost certainly lying. Up and to the right, they are telling the truth.
I began relying on these 'tells' and wondered what I could learn without these visual cues and so I went to work for the psychic line. It was educational. The 'better' you were the longer people wanted to talk. The company had 6000 'psychics' and I came in with the longest call average out of 6000 in two of the four weeks. I'm not psychic.
So, doing one's job well - or even extraordinarily, doesn't preclude one from being a charlatan.
@yagr true that! I'm sure you have things you can teach us all, if not about psychic abilities then audio clues!
@lobster fair enough . What out door work do you do? That's really awesome.
@federica I think there is something to working with energy, whether in our bodies or other spaces. But I think people have the ability to tap into that on their own if they are determined to do so. It's unfortunate to me that so many people hire consultants because they want to fix problems in their lives without having to do anything themselves, and then they get disenchanted that it doesn't work. Same thing with people who look to yoga or meditation to be magical without putting in minimum effort. I believe that keeping a proper focus on your time and energy can help you in every area of your life. I am not sure I believe that placing a particular item in a particular corner of the room will suddenly change my financial future while I continue to spend money faster than I make it.
My mom is big into talking with energy healers and feng shui people. But she doesn't understand that all they have done is harnessed what is available to everyone. She thinks they hold some kind of magic secret while I do not. Every time I talk to her, she is telling me to make sure to do tapping techniques, for example. But it is totally possible to focus on that energy and dispel it without tapping on the various parts of your body to do so. But she believes SO strongly in it, she cannot see her own power and only the power of others. People who figure it out and charge ridiculous prices to tell someone else the same things they can learn on their own. She was a button click away from spending $15,000 on a life coach just to give her advice. All things she already knows within herself but she doesn't trust. I guess that is where I run into the problem, when it comes down to it-putting so much trust in another person that you will spend that much money just to get answers about how to live your life, or arrange your house to solve your problems...except the answers only work when they come from within you anyhow.
The brainwashing we get in the West regarding intuitive abilities and energy medicine is very strong. It goes all the way back to the Inquisition, followed in America with witch burnings, so for hundreds of years, Westerners have been suppressing those abilities out of an ingrained survival instinct. Most people aren't able to overcome this.
Furthermore, it takes a lot of time and dedication to cultivate those skills, and the level of people's giftedness in that realm vary. If we lived in a culture that recognized and encouraged those abilities, it would be different. But we don't, so it takes a tremendous amount of psychological effort simply to get to where we can acknowledge those things are real, and more effort to seek out guidance from a bona-fide teacher and practice the skills. For some, in our money-oriented culture, it's easier just to pay someone to do it for us. And for some, like yourself, I assume, @karasti, it comes more naturally than to others.
Be grateful for your gifts, and be patient with us stragglers and skeptics.
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:om: .
About two years ago, I got quite carried away with Feng shui.
I bought several books and personally undertook the Feng shui renovation of my home with my usual dharmamom zest.
I combined several schools, but actually got smitten by Qilins, dragons and Piyaos, which I decided to display everywhere, so the end result was very "Chinese takeaway."
First thing that happened once the last bamboo was put in place, hubby loses his job. The job where he had been since he was sixteen. His life-long job.
Can't quite begin to describe how my feng-shui consultant aspirations appeared in the eyes of my husband during the seven-month job-hunting.
But in the end he got a better job. He had long been unsatisfied with his former job but never was able to muster the courage to resign, on the grounds of "why mend what is not broken."
Had feng shui anything to do with it? I don't know. My house still looks Chinese and I make sure to keep updated on the movement of the stars just in case.
@Dakini you make a good point. Sometimes, it is hard to understand our different perceptions and abilities. I guess with my mom, it's just that much harder for me because I know she does know. She just doesn't trust herself and sometimes I feel like she is being taken advantage of. $500 seems extraordinary for simply a consultation. Only the people who do it know their intention and motivation as far as whether they are pure or not.
Sometimes I maintain a utopic/ideal view of how I'd like to see the world go, and it frustrates me, so that's a lot of it. It seems to me the world makes more sense when we use our talents, and swap them for others' talents, rather than just money. I just like to share, lol. When I berry pick, I leave berries for the birds and bears, I don't pick the area bare. I grow kale, and have more than I can eat, so I cut some and bring it to neighbors. Others cut it and charge $5 for a bunch of it. It costs like 50 cents to plant 20 bunches worth. So that need to profit to that extent just perplexes me. If everyone shared resources and talents/abilities, it would spread out the equality more. But I know that's now how the world works, lol.
I do think there is more to the energy work and other such things than most can comprehend. It's why I believe Tonglen and Metta meditations, and prayer can work from afar. I don't know how, but it just feels that way to me. I don't use it in place of action, but sometimes action isn't possible. Worst case, it does nothing for anyone except me, and brings me ideas for action and a clearer mind and open heart. But I do believe there is something to that, sending energy to people from afar, and I can't explain why I believe it. So, I don't think Feng Shui or other things are complete garbage or anything like that. I just think some take advantage of others because it's like Feng Shui (just as one example) is for people who have money and can afford it, and those who can't don't get the benefits. I hate that about the "new age" types of things, that some of them can benefit everyone, but the cost to learn about it, take classes, consult etc are reserved for the upper classes, largely. As usual, those who might benefit most are left out.
What jobs are perfect for buddhist.
Teaching Buddhism.
@karasti hmm.... I see what you mean. $500 IS a lot of money! Especially if the practitioner doesn't deliver, and isn't genuine! And in the West, there definitely is a controversial aspect to taking money for what in other parts of the world is given freely. I love your vision of how things should be; I incorporate that into my life, as well. It's nice to know that there are others out there who share this vision. There need to be more.
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And it sounds like your mom needs to learn to discern between people who give false hope, and those rare individuals who are the real deal. The ones who are the real deal don't advertise, and depend only on word-of-mouth, in my experience. It's a pretty big leap to think one could gain insights on one's own, or do one's own healing. I can't blame her for that.
It's curious: Here in the West, someone claiming to be an expert in something, is usually dismissed, unless they have the degree, the certificate and the diploma, with the letters after their name. As discussed elsewhere at another time, I think we have concluded that, simply because a person is able to present and produce such documentary proof, it is no mark of their excellence or expertise, nor does it mean they can communicate the subject well. In the Orient, very often, such traditions are carried on through families and inheriting the mantle of the parent.
Both methods of proving one's mettle seem flawed....
I think some volunteering work (of course, this should be outside of our day job) for Buddhist temples would be amazing. For example, people with web development skills could contribute especially, since I found some websites representing the Buddhist temples could be improved.
Also, I come from a Buddhist majority country, which has good teachers. It is just because of the language barrier their wisdom couldn't be distributed to the people who are interested in Buddhism. Some online web blog managed by a native speaker translating the speech of these teachers into different languages (I supposed this need to be collaborated among individuals) would be great too.
I think both my suggestions could be done from home and outside of our normal day job.
Just try your best to follow the 'Right Livelihood' from Noble Eight Fold Path. It is very difficult because our economic model is capitalism. It heavily rely on total exploitation of labor to survive. I am sure you all know what 'profit at all cost' means.
Any job a person does through the love of doing the work, & not for the love of the money I'd say is a good job for a Buddhist to have..I mean the only bench mark as to whether we're doing what we should be doing work wise, is whether or not we love the job that we're doing..I'm talking about real love here, & so that excludes all jobs seen to be bad for other people etc..If you don't love your job at the moment do it as good as you possibly can (only because you can), until you find the job you love..I personally don't think anyone would charge anyone else a single penny in helping them to become aware, if they we're genuinely trying to help that person through the love of helping..The only people that would charge can't be doing it through love, & so anyone charging should be ignored because they clearly haven't got it yet themselves..Most of us have to work because we've all been enslaved by the back door, & our rightful land & resources etc + our right to be self sufficient we're stolen from us generations ago..Man's collective ego stole it from our ancestors generations ago & their still stealing from us today, & so now it's man's awareness of real love vs man's ego minds collective identification with money fame & power etc.
As long as the job doesn't cause harm to you or others and as long as you don't do the job for the money only. This would be a good job for Buddhists.
You can turn almost any job into a practice in compassion. I watched a bus driver take on a big-brother role to some teens on the bus who were talking tough and talking about the trouble they were going to raise over the weekend. They were talking about committing crimes. The driver took them under his wing and counseled them using their own street talk, and at least got them settled down. I commented to him about his great job of reaching out, and he said that's the way it is, these days. You have to be the parent and the policeman all rolled into the bus driver job. It's just part of the job, he said.
I was so impressed with this, especially since I was visiting from another city where the bus drivers rarely communicate with the passengers, and tend to be hostile or defensive toward minority youth. The spontaneity and artful skillfulness on the part of the bus driver I rode with was inspiring. What a contrast between the way the world all too often is, and a vision of what it could be, by adding compassion to the formula. It's all in what you bring to the job.
With a few obvious exceptions, I think what's important is not what the job is but how it is done and why. I can think of circumstances where the doing of almost any legitimate job out there is in line with the spirit of Buddhism. And vice versa.
Realistically, there are very few truly meaningful, beneficial jobs out there, especially if you want to get paid enough to afford rent or morgage. Even something like healthcare or teaching have rather un-appetizing business and political sides, at least here in the US... Thus, most of us need to repetitively perform less than inspiring tasks just to meet basic living expenses. The First Noble Truth is "life is suffering" and to me, nowhere is it as evident in this world of ours, as in the need to put up with at least somewhat unsatisfying careers (unless we're monks or homeless).
That being the case, I think what makes a job "Buddhist" or not, is how I interact with others at my job and in connection to it. Am I being helpful and supportive to those I deal with? Or am I self-absorbed or mean spirited? Do I encourage others to feel better or do I perpetuate negativity? And when I come home, am I just a lifeless zombie only capable of crashing on the couch with a can of beer in front of the TV or do I portray some sense of accomplishment and hope? These are the real questions that pertain to the OP.
I think that to answer those questions in a satisfactory manner, one also has to have a job that is in line with their talents. In other words, one has to be reasonably good at their duties and comfortable with them. In other words, for a job to be of benefit, I need to treat not only others well but also myself. "Save all sentient beings from suffering" and that includes myself.
But overall, if you want money, any money, some cr*p taking is inevitably required. No one is going to pay me just for helping people because true help is always free, by definition. I think this is exactly why monasticism exists-- if one wants to dedicate themselves to giving and service completely, no economic system is going to fully accomodate that.
Especially as those aforementioned hallowed pieces of paper in this part of the world are only as good as the ability to right click, copy and paste.....
When I recently received my certificate level 2 Health and Safety award, for Food hygiene in Catering, I took the exam on line, and was advised I could download the certificate in pdf form. Now, I'm not technical, but for some reason, my laptop couldn't read it, so I converted it to a word.doc. But whoever wrote the program did not incorporate the 'read-only' option. So I could actually have changed every detail on it had I wanted to. I immediately deleted both the PDF and the word.doc version, and contacted the company through whom I had taken the exam, and advised them of the anomaly. They were very shocked. They had been sending out certificates in this way for 3 years now, and had no idea.... Great.
They agreed to send me my certificate, with a covering letter assuring the recipient of its authenticity. (Which made me inwardly laugh; how hard would THAT be to forge...? :rolleyes: .
So, just to let you know - my 100% passmark is genuine!!
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