Careers and 'Buddhist' thinking

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How would a Buddhist approach a career? Especially with regards to the 'policy' of non attachment. Is ambition antithetical to Buddhist thought and if so, do we have to work with two different paradigms of thought in seeking both a (future orientated) career and fulfillment in the present moment, or is this not possible?

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Type: Discussion • Score: 6 • Views: 5,012 • Replies: 19

[+3] - kuvasz - 03/18/2011or combine Buddhism with the Sufi practice essentially described by what an old Rastafarian once told me of "growing your dreadlocks on the inside" while projecting an outward image of...

@The Pentacle Queen,

Good question. JLNobody and Ashers may have something to say on this.

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Just because someone follows Buddhist teachings, it does not mean he/she can't be a savy business person. In fact, I see just the opposite. Bring to your business or career:
right vision
right intention
right speech
right action
right effort
right mindfulness
right livihood
right concentration

- all good business practices!

Combine that with a "tonglen" approach to serving your customers or clients, and one could be very successful.

PS - Don't try to be a Buddhist. That requires almost a hermit mode of living - or a real withdrawal from modern life as you might know it.
Instead, try to live the "Middle Way" in all your actions and perceptions.

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@PUNKEY,

or combine Buddhism with the Sufi practice essentially described by what an old Rastafarian once told me of "growing your dreadlocks on the inside" while projecting an outward image of social compatibility.

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@PUNKEY,

PUNKEY wrote:

Just because someone follows Buddhist teachings, it does not mean he/she can't be a savy business person. In fact, I see just the opposite. Bring to your business or career:
right vision
right intention
right speech
right action
right effort
right mindfulness
right livihood
right concentration

- all good business practices!

Combine that with a "tonglen" approach to serving your customers or clients, and one could be very successful.

Absolutely, agree 100% punkey

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@PUNKEY,

I agree with Punkey's perspective. Don't try to be a Buddhist means don't be attached to Buddhism. The middle way is not choosing between this or that. Just being what comes naturally by itself each moment. Meditation is a way to get the feel of that--the practice of being effortlessly.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

PQ, non-attachment is not a "policy" any more than is breathing. Attachment is like holding your breath for the sake of gaining something having nothing to do with oxygen. A buddhist monk's "career" is his struggle/effort to attain/gain enlightenment. He realizes his enlightenment when his struggle/effort ends. His "career" is "antithetical" so long as it is characterized by a desire to gain something other than what is at this present moment. The Buddhist functions without even one paradigm. Every present moment is--just as it is- fulfillment.
And that's all I know.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

Participating in the economy by way of having a career in theory is not a problem so long as one remembers that it is an illusionary game. In practice however the increasing corruption of the business world is a problem because it gets ever more difficult to find a career that is not soul deadening and/or harm spreading.

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So . . . act like a Buddha!

Alleviate suffering (of your customers!) Smile

Fulfill an honorable need.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

Sometimes I think that to a person who is dedicated to pursuing a buddhistic perception, a proffesional career would be almost incidental.

But then, any path is ultimately a path to enlightenment. Usually a person will not consider himself a buddhist until he knows it is enlightenment he seeks.

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@PUNKEY,

PUNKEY wrote:

Just because someone follows Buddhist teachings, it does not mean he/she can't be a savy business person. In fact, I see just the opposite. Bring to your business or career:
right vision
right intention
right speech
right action
right effort
right mindfulness
right livihood
right concentration

- all good business practices!

Combine that with a "tonglen" approach to serving your customers or clients, and one could be very successful.

PS - Don't try to be a Buddhist. That requires almost a hermit mode of living - or a real withdrawal from modern life as you might know it.
Instead, try to live the "Middle Way" in all your actions and perceptions.

Thank you.
Can you be a bit more specific/elaborate upon the concept of being 'right'?

1 Reply

@Cyracuz,

Cyracuz wrote:

Sometimes I think that to a person who is dedicated to pursuing a buddhistic perception, a proffesional career would be almost incidental.

But then, any path is ultimately a path to enlightenment. Usually a person will not consider himself a buddhist until he knows it is enlightenment he seeks.

Agreed- to the outsider 'pursuing enlightenment' and 'living effortlessly are near identical.
Can you explain a little more about how each path is ultimately the path to enlightenment? Does it just refer to the process of realisation that all humans go through as they age?

1 Reply

@JLNobody,

JLNobody wrote:

PQ, non-attachment is not a "policy" any more than is breathing. Attachment is like holding your breath for the sake of gaining something having nothing to do with oxygen. A buddhist monk's "career" is his struggle/effort to attain/gain enlightenment. He realizes his enlightenment when his struggle/effort ends. His "career" is "antithetical" so long as it is characterized by a desire to gain something other than what is at this present moment. The Buddhist functions without even one paradigm. Every present moment is--just as it is- fulfillment.
And that's all I know.

Excellent, JL, thanks.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

Quote:

Does it just refer to the process of realisation that all humans go through as they age?

You could say that.
I was reminded of the old saying "all roads lead to Rome". So you could just pick one at random, and sooner or later it woud lead you there. But if you knew that was where you were going you could chose roads that would take you there faster.

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@The Pentacle Queen,

For an expanded version, study the 8 Fold Path. It defines "right"

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@The Pentacle Queen,

I used to think about the contradiction of wanting both a life seeking the selfless and a career in performing arts. One way, it seemed to me, required effort to weaken the attachments to my ideas of self, while the other seemed to require effort to strengthen the ego.
But I figure it's not so much about weakening or strengthening self as it is about understanding it. Not so much about severing attachments perhaps, and more about learning which attachments benefit you and which do not.
I do not know if this approach is particularly buddhistic, but it seems to me that from this perspective, a career and the pursuit of enlightenment, as it's ultimately called, can be complementary ambitions rather than contradictory.

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@Cyracuz,

Yes,Cyracuz. It seems to me that they CAN be complementary. Your career can be, in a way, your koan. I do think that a great effort not be "attached" may have the negative qualities of "detachment" (not the same as non-attachment), and even be a severe form of attachment.

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I've away because of turns taken in my life. I still don' thave much time for the pleasures of A2K. It's the people that draw me in.

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@JLNobody,

John! so good to see you! Please keep posting at least once in a blue moon!

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@ossobucotemp,

I called Diane to tell her you posted and she's delighted. Not to push you, I figure you have your reasons for absence, but to let you know a bunch of us still care.

Do you remember Coluber? He has posted to me a while ago now, how fine a person he thinks of you as being.

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Careers and 'Buddhist' thinking

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