A Monk Who Is Perfected in Morality A Monk Refrains from Such Base Arts and Wrong Means of Livelihood

Venerable Sir, whereas some Ascetics and Brāhmins, feeding on the food of the dedicated, make their living by such base arts, such wrong means of livelihood as palmistry, divining by signs, portents, dreams, body-marks, mouse-gnawings, fire-oblations, oblations from a ladle, of husks, rice-powder, rice grains, ghee or oil, from the mouth or of blood, reading the finger-tips, house- and garden-lore, skill in charms, ghost-lore, earth-house lore, snake-lore, poison-lore, rat-lore, bird-lore, crow-lore, foretelling a person’s life-span, charms against arrows, knowledge of animals’ cries.

A Monk refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood. Thus he is perfected in morality.

Whereas some Ascetics and Brāhmins make their living by such base arts as judging the marks of gems, sticks, clothes, swords, spears, arrows, weapons, women, men, boys, girls, male and female slaves, elephants, horses, buffaloes, bulls, cows, goats, rams, cocks, quail, iguanas, bamboo rats, tortoises, deer.

A Monk refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood. Thus he is perfected in morality.

Whereas some Ascetics and Brāhmins make their living by such base arts as predicting: The chiefs will march out - the chiefs will march back, Our chiefs will advance and the other chiefs will retreat, Our chiefs will win and the other chiefs will lose, The other chiefs will win and ours will lose, Thus there will be victory for one side and defeat for the other.

A Monk refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood. Thus he is perfected in morality.

Whereas some Ascetics and Brāhmins make their living by such base arts as predicting an eclipse of the moon, the sun, a star, that the sun and moon will go on their proper course - will go astray; that a star will go on its proper course - will go astray; that there will be a shower of meteors, a blaze in the sky, an earthquake, thunder; a rising, setting, darkening, brightening of the moon, the sun, the stars; and such will be the outcome of these things.

A Monk refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood. Thus he is perfected in morality.

Whereas some Ascetics and Brāhmins make their living by such base arts as predicting good or bad rainfall; a good or bad harvest; security, danger; disease, health; or accounting, computing, calculating, poetic composition, philosophizing.

A Monk refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood. Thus he is perfected in morality.

Whereas some Ascetics and Brāhmins make their living by such base arts as arranging the giving and taking in marriage, engagements and divorces; [declaring the time for] saving and spending, bringing good or bad luck, procuring abortions, using spells to bind the tongue, binding the jaw, making the hands jerk, causing deafness, getting answers with a mirror, a girl-medium, a heavenly being; worshipping the sun or Great Brahmā (God), breathing fire, invoking the goddess of luck.

A Monk refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood. Thus he is perfected in morality.

Whereas some Ascetics and Brāhmins, feeding on the food of the dedicated, make their living by such base arts, such wrong means of livelihood as appeasing the heavenly beings and redeeming vows to them, making earth-house spells, causing virility or impotence, preparing and consecrating building-sites, giving ritual rinsings and bathings, making sacrifices, giving emetics, purges, expectorants and phlegmagogues, giving ear-, eye-, nose medicine, ointments and counter-ointments, eye-surgery, surgery, pediatry, using balms to counter the side-effects of previous remedies.

A Monk refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood. Thus he is perfected in morality.

And then, Sir, that Monk who is perfected in morality sees no danger from any side owing to his being restrained by morality. Just as a duly-anointed Khattiya King, having conquered his enemies, by that very fact sees no danger from any side, so the Monk, on account of his morality, sees no danger anywhere. He experiences in himself the blameless bliss that comes from maintaining this Noble morality. In this way, Sir, he is perfected in morality.

(Reference: DN 11)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that a Monk (i.e. Ordained Practitioner) should not practice any of the lowly arts and by doing so, will not experience any “danger” (i.e. harm).

He explains that these are all “wrong livelihoods” and that Ordained Practitioner refrains from practicing these as a livelihood. An Ordained Practitioner would be unable to attain Enlightenment if they were practicing any of these “wrong livelihood”.

If a Practitioner observes that an Ordained Practitioner is practicing any of these wrong livelihoods, one might consider whether one’s offering of a gift would be supporting and encouraging an unwholesome livelihood for an Ordained Practitioner and whether it would be wise to make an offering to an Ordained Practitioner who is practicing wrong livelihood.