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Community Corner

Does Your Work Constitute 'Right Livelihood?'

Buddhists believe one should earn their living by "doing no harm," but how do we interpret this in our modern world?

Does our work enhance the quality of life in the world, or cause harm? Are we practicing what Buddhists call "right livelihood?" These may seem like impractical questions to pose at a time when so many are desperately seeking any kind of work.

But maybe it’s the best time to engage in self-questioning, before we leap into the next job that may not be in keeping with our own principles or may even be counter-productive to what is good for society at large.

One of the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama–most commonly known as Buddha–is the principle of “right livelihood” offered as guidance for those who seek to earn one’s living in a righteous way.

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In addition to practicing "right speech" and "right action," the Buddha, born approximately 2,500 years ago, specified four activities to avoid: dealing in weapons, dealing in living beings (including raising animals for slaughter as well as slave trade and prostitution), working in meat production and butchery, and selling intoxicants and poisons, such as alcohol and drugs.

So how do modern Buddhists integrate these principles into their lives?

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According to Sensei Ray Ruzan Cicetti, resident teacher of Zen Buddhism at , one of the essential teachings in Zen Buddhism is realizing and then actualizing that we are one. 

“This 'oneness' includes all beings and things. Nothing is excluded and as such each thing affects every other thing,” Cicetti said.

For Cicetti, a psychotherapist in private practice in Morristown who has been teaching Zen for 15 years, this awareness that everything and everyone is interconnected prompts one to naturally engage in "right livelihood."

From his perspective, we would never want to do anything or engage in an occupation that harms anyone once we are fully aware that we are all one, and harming someone else actually harms ourselves.

Cicetti said that Zen is also about putting an end to our suffering so we can live a life of joy and freedom. “This suffering comes from attaching to the delusion of our being a separate substantial self that is unrelated to everything else,” he said. “Right livelihood is one guideline for living a life that is not a source of suffering and is based on the principle of the essential relationship of all things. So what we do and how we live is directly connected to everything else.”

“Buddhists strive to abandon harming others," said Peter Kurczynski, an astrophysicist and resident teacher of the Dharmachakra Buddhist Center located in Millburn. "When it comes to every aspect of our lives, the Buddha would encourage us to set an intention to benefit others each day.

"As best as we can, we should strive to help others and do so with a peaceful and happy mind, while not being judgmental or critical toward ourselves and others,” said Kurczynski, who also has taught classes in Morristown and Madison. 

“Try your best, and be happy. Instead of just feeling bad when we think that we have harmed others, or that our work is causing harm, we should try to respond wisely and creatively; learn from the situation, and do what we can to improve things,” he said.

For Joshua W. C. Cutler, scholar and executive director of the Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center in Washington, the concept of "right livelihood" is seeking a profession or livelihood in which we can practice compassion.

“As Buddhists we try our best to be helpful to others but at least not to harm," Cutler said. "This is the practice of compassion. So right livelihood would be to choose a livelihood that helps you to follow this fundamental Buddhist principle."

He said he believes the livelihoods that best fall into this category are that of a teacher or working in the medical profession. “However, in any livelihood we choose, we can bring in our Buddhist practice by always cultivating an attitude that what we are doing is for the purpose of helping others,” Cutler said.

Is ‘Right Livelihood’ More Difficult in Modern Life?

“The world is more complex now than in the past but not so different in terms of the choices we make for how we live," Cicetti said. "The teaching of right livelihood offers that we can earn a living in an ethical way without causing harm or more suffering to our selves, others or our environment.

“In the Zen Buddhist tradition our spiritual awakening is only as authentic as how we live and act," Cicetti said. “For example, some U.S companies sell toxic or dangerous pesticides and chemical fertilizers not approved for use in the states to other countries which then spray them on their crops, and sell the crops back to U.S. This is not right livelihood, but greed-based decisions that come back to harm many."

According to Kurczynski, "right livelihood" is both easier and more difficult because today we have unprecedented access to knowledge and information, and therefore many people can learn about Buddhism.

“People in the past may never have had the opportunity to even hear the words 'right livelihood,'" Kurczynski said. "However, we also have more challenges in the form of distractions and objects of attachment."

He said in some ways the stakes are much higher now because human beings have tremendous power and influence over the environment. “The stakes are higher for us to act in beneficial ways, not just for the good of other people, but for the entire world and all living beings,” Kurczynski said.

For Cutler, it might even be easier to practice "right livelihood" today.

“Because we are not all living on a subsistence level, we have more of an opportunity to choose a livelihood that serves society and doesn't bring harm to any living being,” he said.

What Are the ‘Perks’ of ‘Right Livelihood’? 

For both Cutler and Kurczynski, practicing "Right Livelihood" is not simply a moral obligation to benefit others–rather, it is beneficial to the practitioner.

“Pursuing our own selfish interests at the expense of others ultimately leaves us unhappy, and deprives our lives of meaning and fulfillment,” Kurczynski said.

Cutler agrees. “We all have to cultivate this helpful attitude on an individual basis. The lack of harmony amongst people in the world is because they have neglected their ability to develop compassion,” he said.

Cutler added, “Being compassionate is helpful to one's self because one will be a lot happier and one's compassion will cause others to be more compassionate, and this will radiate outwards to the whole of society and the entire world.”

For Cicetti, right livelihood is not just important for the “Buddhist” way of life. “The 'Buddhist' way is about living a life of wisdom and compassion," he said. "However, it is important for all of us because when we operate and work without integrity and compassion for each other, we all suffer.

"I don’t consider this just a 'Buddhist' issue but rather a human issue of living an ethical life," Cicetti added.

For more information about our interviewees and their organizations, visit:

Empty Bowl Zendo, Morristown

The Tibetan Buddhist Learning Center, Washington

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