Comments on: “The Buddha’s Teachings on Prosperity: At Home, At Work, in the World” by Bhikkhu Basnagoda Rahula

By: cyberprimate

cyberprimate — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:33:21 +0000

Vacuity was a bad translation from the French “vacuité” which means …emptyness. Thanks for your answer.

Best regards from Paris,

Olivier

By: Sunada

Sunada — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:33:15 +0000

I don’t think you’ll find a direct answer to your question in the scriptures. My sense is that the Buddha wouldn’t have advised on any specific ratio as being more just than another. What he DID say, though, is that our wealth should be used not only for ourselves but also for pleasing friends, relatives, associates, and the needy; honoring the dead, fulfilling our duties to the government, to conduct rituals, and to feed the monks. Obviously some of that advice is a bit out of date. But generally speaking, it sounds like he meant that wealth is something to be shared, like a rainfall that nourishes all life. And I think the criteria for finding the right balance isn’t so much in any particular monetary ratio, but what one’s mindset is in determining the amount to pay. Is it done with a selfish, miserly state of mind, or with generosity of spirit?

As an aside, I’m not sure the word “vacuity” is appropriate here. “Emptiness” (which I assume is the term you’re referring to) means that things have no permanent unchanging entity at their core. But my body, for example, is not vacuous. It’s always changing, always flowing. In that sense it is empty. But it’s not vacuous.

Best wishes,
Sunada
http://www.mindfulpurpose.com

By: cyberprimate

cyberprimate — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 15:36:29 +0000

We are told to “gradually increase wealth without squeezing others, just as bees collect honey without harming the flowers.”

This moral recommendation raises one big question. What’s the ratio between the money I personally get from my company as an entrepreneur and what I give to my employees. On the foundation of impermanence, vacuity, and interdependence, what moral justification do I have to pay my employees substantially less than myself?

By: Sunada

Sunada — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:34:27 +0000

Dear Peter,

You said you’d like your business to be “based on the understanding of life I have gained through my own personal experience with meditation.” It sounds to me like you’ve imbibed the Buddha’s teachings and made them your own. You’ve made them an integral part of who you are, so much that you say you can’t imagine it being worthwhile to do any kind work that doesn’t involve using this knowledge.

That to me doesn’t sound like you’re profiting from the Buddha’s teachings. It sounds like you’ve developed yourself and your potential for good, and now you’re in a position to use those inner gifts to be of service to the world. How could the Buddha object to that?

How is what you’re thinking of doing any different from a doctor who has learned compassion and practices medicine accordingly? Or what Jon Kabat-Zinn has done — created a whole program of medically-sanctioned Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction? As long as you aren’t charging exorbitant fees, or working with a primary aim of making money, I can’t see anything wrong with what you’re proposing.

As you probably gathered from this book, the Buddha was a very practical man. In his time, there was a whole social structure that supported monastics who didn’t “work for a living.” Trying to do that our modern society is impractical at best. We each need to adapt to our circumstances. We live in a world where working for money is necessary. Given that, wouldn’t you rather see more people take on their professions with a full understanding of the dharma?

All my best wishes to you,
Sunada
http://www.mindfulpurpose.com

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:58:20 +0000

Hi Sunada, as a long term practitioner of Vipassana, I found the book very inspiring. Previously I had explored different ways I might be able to create a coaching business based on the understanding of life I have gained through my own personal experience with meditation. However, I feel as though it could be wrong to profit in a material sense from the wealth of knowledge the Buddha has provided me through a whole line of teachers and students, who have given freely so that I could receive this teaching. On the other hand I can’t see the value in doing a business which doesn’t make as its core value to share and distribute this valuable information. I am not wanting to teach meditation, but rather to take time to focus on the needs of lay people who are interested in how what the buddha taught can make them more successful.

Do you think the Buddha might support and encourage such behavior.

Thank you for writing such a good review.

Regards

Peter

By: Sunada

Sunada — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:59:21 +0000

Thank you, Richard and HealingMindN, for your comments. I hope that we can continue to spread the word that the practice of the dharma is about life, growth, and happiness — which ultimately is what all spiritual practices are about!

Best wishes to you,
Sunada
http://www.mindfulpurpose.com

By: HealingMindN

HealingMindN — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:02:45 +0000

I recall some years ago meeting with a young lady at a fair who used to be a Buddhist, but she had become a Jehovah’s Witness because “Buddhism was unfulfilling…” She missed this point that you are making – To become part of the great circuit of health, wealth, and happiness without contention or pretense. Unfortunately, this young lady had fallen into a life of pretense because she was not provided all the necessary concepts of Buddhism – which includes being part of the circuit of life.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:22:34 +0000

One of the joys of the internet is so many like minded people. Thank you for this book review. This is exactly the area I am exploring in my own practice.

best wishes,

Richard

http://www.lifechoicemeditation.com