Right Livelihood
Posted: Sun May 25, 2025 6:37 pm
https://www.urbandharma.org/udharma3/ef ... /efp5.html
"Householder Series:
The Eightfold Noble Path
...Right Livelihood...
Finally, the third of the steps of virtue is Right Livelihood. What's interesting is that virtue is so infrequently spoken of in our culture, in our modern California culture anyway, because it's Victorian and old and repressive; it needn't be any of those things.
Virtue is on one level a training. It's learning to speak, to act, in our sexual life, in our business life, in our family life -- to train to act more consciously, more mindfully, more compassionately. And it takes practice. It is also, quite wonderfully, an expression of our awakening, a foundation of our awakening. You can't awaken if you're involved in killing, lying or stealing. Even in the more subtle levels of it, it's hard to pay attention. Your mind is caught up, busy, and paranoid. So it's a foundation for a clear mind, and the training of it is a foundation for being more mindful. But even more beautifully, it's the expression of an awakened heart and an awakened mind.
What is Right Livelihood? I will say some things about it without defining it completely. I'll say a lot of things. They're traditional teachings and some contemporary associations, and then maybe we can take a little time for discussion, especially if I get through them in relatively reasonable time."
"Householder Series:
The Eightfold Noble Path
...Right Livelihood...
Finally, the third of the steps of virtue is Right Livelihood. What's interesting is that virtue is so infrequently spoken of in our culture, in our modern California culture anyway, because it's Victorian and old and repressive; it needn't be any of those things.
Virtue is on one level a training. It's learning to speak, to act, in our sexual life, in our business life, in our family life -- to train to act more consciously, more mindfully, more compassionately. And it takes practice. It is also, quite wonderfully, an expression of our awakening, a foundation of our awakening. You can't awaken if you're involved in killing, lying or stealing. Even in the more subtle levels of it, it's hard to pay attention. Your mind is caught up, busy, and paranoid. So it's a foundation for a clear mind, and the training of it is a foundation for being more mindful. But even more beautifully, it's the expression of an awakened heart and an awakened mind.
What is Right Livelihood? I will say some things about it without defining it completely. I'll say a lot of things. They're traditional teachings and some contemporary associations, and then maybe we can take a little time for discussion, especially if I get through them in relatively reasonable time."