Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The powers that be that force us to live like we do...

Sometimes, reading an email that someone has absentmindedly left on the communal laser printer at work can give one's ulcers ulcers...

Perhaps serendipitous that Sylvia Boorstein should drop in at just such a time:
Right Livelihood appears to be harder to practice these days than in the time of the Buddha. The rule is still the same: Right Livelihood is organizing one's financial support so that it is nonabusive, nonexploitive, nonharming. However, these days what is abusive and exploitive is not necessarily self-evident. When the Buddha taught, unwholesome livelihood categories were easy to distinguish. Soldiering, keeping slaves, manufacturing weapons and intoxicants--all were on the proscribed list. In our time, soldiers sometimes serve as peacekeepers. It's hard to know the wholesomeness of all the products of any corporation, corporate mergers being what they are. Who knows what else is being manufactured by my detergent company's subsidiaries? . . . For me, a complete picture of wholesome Right Livelihood is even larger than the proscriptions that reflect external choices. Wholesome internal choices—healthy attitudes about one's work—also contribute to mental happiness and peace of mind. Everyone's livelihood is an opportunity for self-esteem.
~ It's Easier Than You Think ©1997
Not that I'm worried that my workplace is involved in anything particularly harmful or unethical.

It's just that I think maybe I need to think about needing to Get a Life. Again.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"Everyone's livelihood is an opportunity for self-esteem." Especially Merv's and Leona's... ;-0