A Noble Disciple Abandons Wrong Livelihood

Therein, Monks, Right View comes first.

And how does Right View come first?

One understands wrong livelihood as wrong livelihood, and Right Livelihood as Right Livelihood; this is one’s Right View.

And what, Monks, is wrong livelihood?

Scheming, flattery, hinting, belittling, pursuing gain with gain: this is wrong livelihood.

And what, Monks, is Right Livelihood?

Right Livelihood, I say, is twofold: there is Right Livelihood that is affected by taints (fetters), taking part in merit, ripening in the material gain; and there is Right Livelihood that is noble, taintless, world-transcending, a factor of the path.

And what, Monks, is Right Livelihood that is affected by taints, taking part in merit, ripening in the material gain?

Here, Monks, a Noble Disciple abandons wrong livelihood and gains his living by Right Livelihood: this is Right Livelihood that is affected by taints, taking part in merit, ripening in the material gain.

And what, Monks, is Right Livelihood that is noble, taintless, world-transcending, a factor of the path?

The desisting from wrong livelihood, the abstaining, refraining, withholding from it in one whose mind is noble, whose mind is taintless, who possesses the noble path and is developing the noble path: this is Right Livelihood that is noble, taintless, world-transcending, a factor of the path.

One makes an effort to abandon wrong livelihood and to enter upon Right Livelihood; this is one’s Right Effort.

Mindfully one abandons wrong livelihood, mindfully one enters upon and resides in Right Livelihood; this is one’s Right Mindfulness.

Thus these three states run and circle around Right Livelihood, that is, Right View, Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness.

Therein, Monks, Right View comes first.

And how does Right View come first?

In one of Right View, Right Intention comes into being; 

in one of Right Intention, Right Speech comes into being; 

in one of Right Speech, Right Action comes into being;

in one of Right Action, Right Livelihood comes into being;

in one of Right Livelihood, Right Effort comes into being;

in one of Right Effort, Right Mindfulness comes into being;

in one of Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration comes into being;

in one of Right Concentration, Right Wisdom comes into being;

in one of Right Wisdom, Right Liberation comes into being.

Thus, Monks, the path of the disciple in higher training possesses eight factors, the Arahant possesses ten factors.

Therein, Monks, Right View comes first.

And how does Right View come first?

In one of Right View, wrong view is abolished, and the many evil unwholesome states that originate with wrong view as condition are also abolished, and the many wholesome states that originate with Right View as condition come to fulfillment by development.

In one of Right Intention, wrong intention is abolished, and the many evil unwholesome states that originate with wrong intention as condition are also abolished, and the many wholesome states that originate with Right Intention as condition come to fulfillment by development.

In one of Right Speech, wrong speech is abolished...

In one of Right Action, wrong action is abolished…

In one of Right Livelihood, wrong livelihood is abolished...

In one of Right Effort, wrong effort is abolished…

In one of Right Mindfulness, wrong mindfulness is abolished...

In one of Right Concentration, wrong concentration is abolished...

In one of Right Wisdom, wrong wisdom is abolished…

In one of Right Liberation, wrong liberation is abolished, and the many evil unwholesome states that originate with wrong liberation as condition are also abolished, and the many wholesome states that originate with Right Liberation as condition come to fulfillment by development.

Thus, Monks, there are twenty factors on the side of the wholesome, and twenty factors on the side of the unwholesome.

This Teachings discourse on the Great Forty has been set rolling and cannot be stopped by any Ascetic or Brāhmin or god or Māra or Brahmā or anyone in the world.

Monks, if any Ascetic or Brāhmin thinks that this Teachings discourse on the Great Forty should be criticized and rejected, then there are ten legitimate deductions from his assertions that would provide grounds for finding fault with him here and now.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right View, then he would honor and praise those Ascetic and Brāhmins who are of wrong view.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Intention, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong intention.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Speech, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong speech.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Action, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong action.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Livelihood, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong livelihood.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Effort, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong effort.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Mindfulness, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong mindfulness. 

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Concentration, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong concentration.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Wisdom, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong wisdom.

If that worthy one finds fault with Right Liberation, then he would honor and praise those Ascetics and Brāhmins who are of wrong liberation.

If any Ascetic or Brāhmin thinks that this Teachings discourse on the Great Forty should be criticized and rejected, then these are ten legitimate deductions from his assertions that would provide grounds for finding fault with him here and now.

Monks, even those Teachers from Okkala, Vassa and Bhañña, who held the doctrine of non-causality, the doctrine of non-action, and the doctrine of nihilism, would not think that this discourse of the Teachings on the Great Forty should be criticized and rejected.

Why is that?

For fear of blame, attack, and evidence that they are incorrect.

(Reference: MN 117)

In this Teaching from Gotama Buddha, he shares that he does not practice any of the lowly arts.

He explains that these are all “wrong livelihoods” and that he 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”.

A worldling is an individual who is engrossed in the worries of the world, worldly matters, and material things.

Right Livelihood: A livelihood is how you earn your living through daily life to sustain your life in a career, profession, or lifestyle. Our livelihood is the work or activities we do on a daily basis such as an occupation or lifestyle to sustain our life (i.e. stay at home parent, volunteer, retired person, holy life, administrative support, waste removal, cleaning services, doctor, politician, entrepreneur, etc.). A livelihood to sustain our life should not cause any harm to other beings. If we cause harm to other beings in order to sustain our own life, this is going to produce harm in our own life.

For example, are you a doctor, nurse, auto mechanic, street cleaning engineer, food server, waste removal technician, etc. Are you conducting a livelihood that is wholesome and helpful to society and humanity, “yes”, this is a Right Livelihood. You should not cause any harm through your livelihood.

Each person has a livelihood whether the goal is to acquire financial support or not. A livelihood is the career, profession, or lifestyle one chooses. In some cases, a person may choose to pursue personal interests and skills rather than financial goals or a career. A stay at home parent is still a livelihood as this is a contribution to society and humanity providing life sustaining activities but may not have a direct salary associated with the day-to-day responsibilities.

A livelihood is not necessarily solely to make money or produce wealth but instead is how we choose to contribute our time, effort, and energy towards life sustaining activities for us and our family. Finding life supporting activities, a livelihood, that allow us to generate income to support our life through helping others or just purely providing life sustaining activities that we perform as a role in society, is our livelihood. Through finding a livelihood that you enjoy while also providing income or life sustaining needs will ensure a successful livelihood.

For those who do generate income through their livelihood, focus on finding something you enjoy that happens to also provide financial support. This will ensure the best outcome and enthusiasm for your daily life. If you select a livelihood solely on the bases of making money, acquiring wealth, power, prestige, or a specific title, then you will find the mind will struggle to perform your duties and responsibilities on an ongoing consistent basis perhaps even becoming bored or disinterested.

If you find a livelihood that is helping others, you enjoy the profession, and you happen to be able to acquire financial income to sustain your life and the life of those close to you, this will be the best match.

The mind will be motivated and enthusiastic to perform the daily responsibilities of the livelihood with ease. Finding a livelihood where you can acquire an income, help others, and you enjoy the activities required on a daily basis, will ensure that you never “work” one day in your life. Your profession will not feel like “work” but instead it is just one way that you help the world through your daily efforts and it happens to generate life sustaining resources for you and your family. Your livelihood is part of your life practice and we can make conscious and wise choices to ensure we are meeting our goals while also helping others through our livelihood.

Gotama Buddha gave us five livelihoods that we should not engage in as they cause harm to other beings, thus, unwholesome Kamma production: business in weapons, business in living beings (animals, slaves, human trafficking), business in meat, business in substances that cause heedlessness, and business in poisons. These all cause harm in the world, thus, if we choose to sustain our life based on these “wrong livelihoods” then we will experience harm.

These are aspects of practice that one is being guided to avoid while practicing one’s livelihood.

Scheming: corruption or deception.

Flattery: excessive and insincere praise, given especially to further one’s own interests.

Hinting: suggest or indicate something indirectly or covertly. Not being direct, clear, and to the point with one’s work activities.

Belittling: talking down to others in negative and disparaging ways in the attempt to diminish others’ work.

Pursuing gain with gain: doing work just for profit or greed, without a real interest to provide benefit to humanity through one's livelihood.

As long as your livelihood is not involved in any of these five (5) wrong livelihoods, you are not pursuing a livelihood solely for the purpose of “gain” or selfish desires (i.e. solely for fame or fortune), and you conduct your livelihood with high ethics (i.e. without scheming or corruption), you are practicing “Right Livelihood”.

Ordained Practitioners have guidance from Gotama Buddha beyond these five (5) livelihoods that are considered “wrong livelihood”. For example, Gotama Buddha provided guidance that Ordained Practitioners who provide tattoos, palm reading, spells, predictions based on astronomy, and other types of “livelihoods” are practicing “wrong livelihood”. Gotama Buddha’s Teachings have much more details on “Right Livelihood” for Ordained Practitioners.

Gotama Buddha’s objectives for Ordained Practitioners was to keep them focused on learning, practicing, and sharing these Teachings so that they could eliminate the discontent mind for themselves and guide humanity in eliminating their discontent mind. Therefore, Ordained Practitioners who focus on livelihoods other than learning, practicing, and sharing The Teachings are not practicing “Right Livelihood”.

Ordained Practitioners are sustained through offerings by Household Practitioners. So it is important that they develop their own practice of these Teachings and then share The Teachings with Household Practitioners so they can benefit from The Teachings and improve their life. If Ordained Practitioners are not learning, reflecting, and practicing The Teachings so that they can then share The Teachings with Household Practitioners, they are benefiting from the offerings and hard work of Household Practitioners without providing anything in return that is beneficial to Household Practitioners. This was not how Gotama Buddha intended The Community of Ordained Practitioners to function, thus, he established many “wrong livelihoods” that involved distracting Ordained Practitioners from their work to develop a life practice and then teach others.

Recently, marijuana has become known as a substance once thought of as a “drug” but now many people are realizing its medicinal qualities. For one to sell this medication through proper legal channels as a “medication” with the intention to help, that would still be considered a “Right Livelihood”. You will find more on the topic of marijuana in the Chapter titled “The Five Precepts: A Householders Guide to Daily Practice” (Chapter 7) of the book “Developing a Life Practice: The Path That Leads to Enlightenment” (Volume 1).