Buddhist Wisdom for Daily Life

Extract from Buddhist Wisdom for Daily Life

Chapter Five

MINDFULNESS OF KNOWLEDGE
MINDFULNESS OF WORK

We live in a culture that rates knowledge as one of the highest features of human aspiration. Children from pre-school to university spend thousand of hours engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. It doesn't stop with university as there are countless magazines, journals, books, tapes and videos available to acquire even more knowledge. There is access to knowledge through Internet. With the press of a few buttons on the computer we can contact a vast reservoir of knowledge.

It is simply not possible to fill the mind up with everything that we want to know about. In the work, study and pleasure, it takes discipline to maintain wise attention in the pursuit of knowledge. There are basic questions to ask ourselves if we have a love of knowledge.

1. What do I need to know?
2. Why do I not need to know?
3. Is the knowledge beneficial or a distraction?
4. If the latter, what does it distract me from?
5. What are the benefits in terms of the pursuit of knowledge?
6. What are the limitations? 

Often, we take an interest in one thing, move onto something else and then take up another interest. We start reading one book, get part of the way through it, then turn our attention to another book and start on that. We imagine that reading newspapers will keep us informed of events around the world and it is easy to forget that newspapers only touch the surface of issues.

Yesterday's news becomes old news and reporters quickly move onto something else or report additional new facts as they become available in a continuing news story. Reading of newspapers or watching the evening television news serves as a form of entertainment. It keeps our mind occupied and what we read in the newspapers, what we listen to on the radio and see on the TV certainly helps shape our perceptions. Much of the time we take the majority view.

The Buddhist tradition has taken the question of knowledge very seriously. There are things worth knowing about but there also things not that important. The tradition reminds us to apply discriminating wisdom otherwise we overload our mind with information.

I met with a professor of physics, who expressed concern to me about how much he experienced his mind wandering. He said that when he read an interesting book, prepared a lecture or gave, he felt quite focussed. At other times, his mind wandered a lot, even in casual conversations, taking a walk or driving his car. It had made him increasingly forgetful. I told him that he reminded me of the absent minded professor syndrome.

The professor admitted that he had spent his whole adult life involved in intellectual pursuits, in the love of knowledge and thinking about new theories in physics. He admitted that outside his role as a professor, the world of sights and sounds held little interest for him. I left him with a choice. He either learnt to develop greater interest in the here and now, or he continued to indulge in daydreams that kept him at a distance from immediate reality and out of touch with moment to moment existence.

The Dharma teachings remind us that there are important areas of knowledge that we must address if we wish to live with integrity and clarity. We have to focus our mind on certain priorities, so we need to know how to:

1. Develop a right livelihood. 
2. Practice basic ethics for a thoughtful way of life.
3. Work with personal problems
4. Develop our mind to think clearly and to respond wisely to situations.
5. Meditate for calm and insight
6. Develop loving kindness and compassion.
7. Explore ways to enlighten our daily life.

This kind of knowledge is a practical knowledge and suitable for everyone. The Buddha referred to it as the Dharma. If we concentrate our mind in learning and developing this kind of knowledge, it will put into perspective all our books, libraries and internet-services.

Authentic knowledge touches us deeply so that we can respond appropriately to situations that affect our lives or the lives of others. There is a place for light reading and light entertainment but it seems a pity to lose ourselves in it. We do not have to be well educated to listen or read about matters profoundly important to our lives. Today there is a wide body of writing available for people who would never dream of picking up a sophisticated textbook on psychology or philosophy.

We can also listen to teachers who help us keep informed as well as use books, tapes and videos. Yet the most powerful form for understanding comes still through direct listening and in that respect, nothing has changed in the past 2500 years. We can know and understand more thoroughly listening to a 40-minute talk or having one brief dialogue with a realised spiritual teacher than reading a dozen of his or her books. There is no real substitute for listening. Sometimes on a cold winter's night the last thing we want to do is to go out to listen to somebody give a talk but it may well be worth the effort. Things may be said that have a real impact upon us, even to the extent of becoming a turning point in our lives. This is the power of direct human inter-action. 

THE ART OF READING

We may have the habit of getting caught up in the desire to read as much as possible, as quickly as possible, which makes it difficult for a simple truth to reach our heart. It is only when words touch a deep place inside of us that they have the capacity to make a real difference. It is important to be willing to stop reading when a sentence, phrase or theme has touched a responsive place within. 
We could close the book for a few minutes. Sometimes the simple act of walking up and down reflecting on what touched us gives an opportunity to digest the insights. There are many lines of sublime poetry, and exquisite comments on human nature, including fiction as well as non-fiction, that also have the potential to awaken our lives.

But this requires an unhurried reading, mindful and meditative so that we absorb the deep truths that are available in the text. In the Buddhist tradition it wasn't unusual for monks and nuns to spend years, contemplating a handful of verses, until they knew what they truly needed to know. That knowledge stayed with them until their dying breath, and enlightened their lives.

RIGHT LIVELIHOOD OR CAREER? 

We often transfer the knowledge that we have acquired into work. Work is one of the central features of human life. Without it, we would probably feel rather aimless. For years now we have been hearing about the great importance of getting our career together. Our political leaders keep telling us that the world is a very competitive place, and we have to work incredibly hard to succeed in a competitive society, both nationally and internationally. Career often seems to mean position, power, prestige and a substantial salary and various perks to our personal advantage. It seems like that if we don't subscribe to this view we are a failure letting down our parents, our educators and ourselves. We need to be bold enough to look again at our priorities.

In the Buddha's teachings of the Noble Eightfold Path, he refers to the importance of the Right Livelihood. Right Livelihood gives consideration to our motives, what we do and the consequences of what we do. It also applies to the pursuit of study as we prepare to enter the work place. In making the transition from knowledge to work, there are important areas for reflection.

Right Livelihood states that the relationship to others and our environment matter more than position and profit, and it is a radically different way of looking at the world. Fortunately there are many people in society who follow right livelihood. It is a credit to them that they keep faith with this kind of work, even though for many it will mean a lower income. 

Others never think about right livelihood and seem totally absorbed in position and profit. Is it a noble calling or are we trapped in the forces of selfish desire where making more for ourselves and our family takes priority over social and global needs? It is another profound area for questioning and not easy to take a brave stand upon, and it may lead to misunderstanding from others. It is not an exaggeration to say that right livelihood and the quality of life on earth for humanity and the environment are very much bound up together, and we can all make a difference.

The change from a career with its emphasis on self-interest, income and position to an intentional commitment to right livelihood signals a radical shift that has far reaching consequences. With right livelihood, we sit down and seriously consider every aspect of how we make a living. It means giving support through non-harming activities, so it excludes work involving 

· engagement in the research, production and manufacture of weapons, 
· laboratory experiments on animals, 
· work in abattoirs
· destruction of rain forests, 
· the production of poisons 
· employment by the tobacco industry, 
· dealing in harmful or illegal drugs

This means we must be willing to say “No” to certain forms of work and say “Yes” to forms of work that give support to life. There are some careers that seem to comply easily with the principles of right livelihood such as teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers and the clergy. However, important ethical questions still arise that require careful consideration and sensitivity, such as abortion and euthanasia. 

These professions have an obvious social dimension to support others, but right livelihood extends further than that. There are many kinds of work that enter into a category that we might describe as neutral, where the job neither contributes to the sustaining of life or the destruction of it. Such work, indoors or outdoors, in the office or in the factory, requires an awareness of our relationship to the work. 

1. Is it fulfilling?
2. If not, why not?
3. What would make a difference? 
4. Do we feel our work is making a contribution to society?
5. What is the relationship between oneself and one's colleagues? 
6. Is there the opportunity to give support to others in the work place?

The job itself may not directly help others, animals or the environment, but nevertheless falls into the area of right livelihood if we bring pure motivation and love to the work place.

The ego can easily feed on right livelihood as much as on career, and some people make a career out of right livelihood. They may pursue work in the non-profit sector, such as working for charities and foundations, as a way to fulfil their personal ambitions at a later date in the profit sector. More and more charities and foundations offer significant salaries in senior positions to attract people from the corporate world into the non-profit sector. It enables the interest of the self to take an increasing priority over pure motivation to give support to right livelihood and the subsequent social and global benefits. 

It only takes a few scandals, mismanaged accounts and crass use of wealth from foundations and charities to cast a shadow over the many who work diligently to raise money for good causes. The non-profit sector has expanded considerably in the last ten to twenty years and has the potential to act as a challenge against the profit motives of the corporate world. There is a different value system in the non-profit sector which might stimulate a greater public debate about the merits of both. 

Some people have to take a long hard look at themselves to check out their motives in the area of work. There is something unsatisfactory about holding expensive functions to raise money for people dying in a famine. Something isn't right when too high a percentage of donations gets spent on the promotion of the cause rather than directing every single possible penny to where the need is. Donors then feel their goodwill has been exploited with the result of less acts of generosity. 

One Buddhist organisation, with its headquarters in California, decided in the 1990's to start building in the new millennium a large statue of Maitreya Buddha for $5 million near Bodh Gaya, Bihar, the most impoverished region of India. Within five years, the ambition of this charitable trust had grown rapidly. They decided to build a 150 metre high statue for $150 million, that is $1 million dollars for every metre. 

Locally and internationally, concerns were strongly expressed about the project in terms of the motives, the lack of real concern for local people and the environmental impact. It was pointed out that if this Buddhist organisation reduced the height of the statue by only one metre, $1 million would be freed to educate all the children in the neighbouring 150 villages around the site of the statue. Sometimes the literacy rate in these villages is as low as 1%.

It is not unusual for the mind to grasp onto an idea, clings to it tenaciously and honestly believe that nothing should deter from the pursuit of the idea, regardless of the cost to others. It hardly seems much help for local people in Bihar living in the shadow of the statue for coachloads of tourists to visit the statue for an hour and then get back into their air-conditioned coach to move onto the next tourist attraction.

JOB SATISFACTION

We have probably all become familiar with the term job satisfaction. For more than a century, workers formed themselves into unions to challenge their bosses over wages, health and safety. Considerable steps have been taken throughout the last century in Western countries to ensure as much as possible that income, health and safety are satisfactory for workers. 

Yet there is still the question of lack of job satisfaction. Is the job itself problematic? Sometimes we think our job is the problem whereas it may the resistance and negativity towards the job that is the real problem. If our attitude and quality of interest changed, then the job itself would appear different but it can be hard to admit this to ourselves. 

Sometimes employers refuse to admit that there is anything wrong with the atmosphere in the work place thus placing all the blame on the staff, or the other way around. It is not unusual for everybody concerned to be in a state of denial. Noone is willing to take responsibility for the atmosphere which makes life difficult for everybody. Issues around atmosphere, pressure, stress and getting things done require fresh ideas to bring the best out of the staff. There is a world of difference between people who look forward to going to work and to people who resist it. 

The Buddha has placed immense importance on association with the “sangha” – which literally means “gathering” and refers to men and women meeting together to develop spiritual practices for enlightenment. The work environment needs to develop a sense of sangha. Staff, including bosses, need to meet to share time together weekly outside of the run-of-the-mill exchanges. Indoors or outdoors, office, factory, department store, building site or farm, there are opportunities to develop a sense of sangha. These include:

1. Meditation
2. Exercise
3. Yoga 
4. Group inter-action, 
5. Sharing experiences 
6. Stress-reduction practices
7. Communication skills
8. Inquiry into ethics, prestige, profits and environmental impact.

It ought to be obvious to us that love of work provides job satisfaction. There is no substitute to it. Some people could not imagine working on the conveyor belt in a factory or engaging in repetitive tasks such as cleaning in a hospital or running errands for a company. Yet somebody has to do such work, and everybody has a part to play. Bringing people together as a sangha can open the doors of wisdom through mutual understanding. 

There is a story of an inspector who went to observe workers on a building site. He said to one man “What are you doing?” The man replied “I'm laying the bricks. The inspector then went up to another man and said “what are you doing?” He said “I'm mixing the cement”. He then went up to another man who was carrying the bricks up the ladder and asked him what he was doing. He said, “I'm building a cathedral”. The two men talked with their workmate about his way of looking at the job. In the space of a few minutes, the two men had a completely different perspective on their job. The thought of building a cathedral energised them and a gave a new sense of job satisfaction. 

Two men are doing a job. One man has a vision; he knows he is contributing to bringing something about. It makes a lot of difference between treating a task as mundane and feeling challenged by it. Intention and attitudes matter a great deal in terms of contentment, interest and vitality with regard to whatever we do. There is something truly satisfying about working hard for something that brings real benefit for others either in the short or long term. It gives extra motivation and strengthens the determination to follow something through. 

If we are in good spirits and good humour on a daily basis, we create a wholesome, healthy and nourishing atmosphere for everybody. Most people work more than 40 hours per week and some work 50, 60, 70 hours per week or more. We might ask ourselves, “how do you do it?” “how can you work so much?” If it is done under obligation or pressure from superiors it may lead to a strong reaction at a later date. Some people work sixty or seventy hours per week because they actually love what they are doing. It is often not so much a matter of how long we work but the kind of connection we have with what we do. 

We are constantly telling each other how hard we work. In some countries people have only two weeks holiday a year to recover from fifty weeks of working long hours. Other countries offer their workers four or five weeks or more paid leave a year. It is not only inner change that is necessary but also social and political change to enable working people to live a more sane way of life and to feel a genuine respite from daily working life. Why do we work so hard? What are the motives that are driving us along? There is very little point in complaining about the situation since it only tends to make the mind feel more negative. It may be necessary to make changes in ourselves and also support social and political changes. But that might seem yet another thing to do when we are already working very hard just to make ends meet. 

If we work less hard, we fear our own inner judgmental voice as well as the condemnation of others. They will think that we are not so committed and begin to question whether we are suitable for the role. Does fear drive us along? Are we afraid to make changes? We fear that we won't get the task completed, or that we will be rejected or misunderstood by others, we fear losing our job, nor succeeding at what we set ourselves to do. As this fear gets stronger, it begins to place an increasing amount of pressure on us, and the force of fear keeps rubbing up against the force of desire until there is a collision. In that collision we can find ourselves in a personal crises or totally stressed out. 

Feeling rather trapped and anxious, we feel the heavy shadow of despair lurking above us. If our response to the question, “Am I working too hard?” is “yes”, we will need to find practical steps towork less hard to open up our inner life. When we cut back on long term habits, we may have to accept initially feelings of dissatisfaction and insecurity that may arise through this transition period. But no job is worth having a heart attack over and no job is worth neglecting loved ones for. 

Try to keep a journal of your experiences from one week to the next. Try to keep the journal beside your bed or on the breakfast table or keep a small diary in your pocket. The purpose of a journal includes:

1. To reflect on what matters
2. To question fear and anger
3. To see the wise alternatives
4. To develop what needs to be developed
5. To overcome what needs to be overcome
6. To appreciate the beautiful moments of the day
7. To acknowledge the most difficult moments
8. To explore an enlightened attitude to circumstances

To keep a journal properly, we must be completely honest. That means we neither exaggerate our responses to circumstances, justify or deny them. What is our relationship to daily life? Are our relationships suffering? Are we feeling stressed out? Are we happy? Can we acknowledge and express gratitude for non-problematic times. Are we willing to write down our experiences without using emotive concepts such always, never, only, can't, 

If we put all of this down on paper and read it aloud to ourselves, it may fire us up enough to find ways to discover an expansive life with a determination to stay awake in all circumstances. 

STATUS, POSITION, PRODUCTIVITY, RESPONSIBILITY, POWER?

There is something almost magnetic about securing a certain status or position in society. We desperately want to become somebody. Some young men and women accelerate into areas of position and authority at a very early age. Intellectual knowledge enables bright, young minds to take remarkable leaps in authority in a short period of time. Some become dizzy with their new levels of authority. It goes to their head, so they become conceited and too sure of themselves. The conceit often acts as a mask to hide some underlying insecurity as we pay no respect to ourselves or others when we become impressed with ambitious striving out of self-interest.
A very wealthy Asian businessman employed a trusted servant in his home. The businessman would always seek the advice of his loyal servant even though the man had no education. In situations like this that we see that it is the wisdom that gives the authority, not having power. We ought to be impressed with people who express wisdom, clarity and kindness. There is very little to learn from the conceited and ambitious but there is much to learn from contact with the wise. 

The feeling of responsibility can at times weigh upon thoughtful and caring individuals, who keep think along similar lines on a daily basis: 

What have I done?
What have I not done?
What am I doing?
What am I not doing?
What have I got to do?
What have I not to do?

These are useful questions but they do not have to be followed relentlessly to the point where they will weigh heavily upon us. Perhaps we need to drop the word responsibility and replace it with a hyphened word called response-ability. This means the ability to respond wisely to situations without feeling the weight of them.

If we can hold our positions of authority lightly and steadfastly, we are less likely to abuse them through unskilful use of our power through seeking ego gratification. It takes awareness from within ourselves and the willingness to encourage others to give us feedback so that we keep to the way of wisdom.

Power is an agreement between those who give power to others and those that hold it. It should not be thought of as some personal right to have control over other people's lives, but a temporary agreement between people that helps to facilitate good relationships and mutual well being. It means taking our areas of response-ability with a warm heart, clear mind and the commitment to treating others as we wish to be treated. 

Deeper aspects of religious teachings remind us that our life functions as part of a greater context. If we have a deep sense of the greater whole, there is much less chance of our ego trying to grab the power and the glory for itself. We can understand that our position occurs through a variety of conditions enabling events to happen. We are not really the commander-in-chief, nor in ultimate control, nor does everyone rely upon us. The world carries on with us and will carry on without us. There will be times when we find events bring true humility to our position, and there is nothing for our ego to build up on so that we have to let go. 

I had a lovely meeting with a Catholic nun who told me of a passage in the New Testament spoken by Jesus that really affected her. She had become seriously ill for a period of time through cancer and her life contained a real measure of uncertainty. For years, like many people, she had swallowed the conventional western dogma that we all have choices. After a number of tests, her physician told her that she had cancer. It seemed to make a mockery of her choices, past, present and future. She then recalled the words of Jesus when he said in the face of his own death “Thy will be done”. Sometimes we seem to be only communicating to others around our choices, our decisions, and our desires. It might be necessary at times to put all of that aside so that we connect with that unfoldment of life which doesn't seem to have much to do with all our choices. “Thy will be done” said the wise rabbi from Nazareth.

During this period of treatment, she said there was some uncertainty as to whether she would recover. She decided that before she died she would give away her possessions to the other nuns in the convent. She said then she started to make a good recovery from her treatment. “I had to go to the sisters and ask if I could have my things back”. She laughed. 

Meditation on Service

I regard service as the noblest form of human activity
It means putting as side my own interests
So that I offer support to the world of others
No matter what their circumstances
It will be a hard road, this road of service
There is no retirement from it
It signals the sign of a worthwhile life
With the necessity to generate time 
For inner renewal as a mark of service for oneself.
There is something noble about deep reflection 
That benefits others, that benefit animals and the Earth itself.
I may not see the results in my lifetime.
So I have no need to look for them
Instead, I will rely upon the quality and commitment
Of the intention and make that the priority.
Praise and blame may come for providing a service to others
Yet, I will quietly remain focussed on the intention
Knowing that there is no wish to cause harm or suffering
To others.

Meditation on Not-Self

May awareness observe clearly whenever the ego arises
May awareness observe clearly whenever the I arises
May awareness see clearly when the notion of me arises
May awareness see clearly when the notion of my arises
May I be free from trying to build up my sense of self
May I be free from putting down my sense of self
So that I respond with wisdom to events
Rather than being trapped in reactions to the self
May inner awareness reveal a spaciousness around all events
May this awareness accommodate all I call “my life”.
May this awareness see feelings as feelings, not as myself
May this awareness see thoughts as thoughts, not as myself
May this awareness see perceptions as perceptions, not as myself
May this awareness see states of mind as states of mind, not as myself
May this awareness see the condition of body as the condition of body, not as myself.
So, that wisdom abides in the face of the inter-action of mind and body