The Ascetic Gotama Refrains from Such Base Arts

Monks, 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, the Ascetic Gotama refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood.

Thus the worldling would praise The Tathāgata.

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, the Ascetic Gotama refrains from such base arts.

Thus the worldling would praise The Tathāgata.

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’, the Ascetic Gotama refrains from such base arts.

Thus the worldling would praise The Tathāgata.

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, the Ascetic Gotama refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood.

Thus the worldling would praise The Tathāgata.

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, the Ascetic Gotama refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood.

Thus the worldling would praise The Tathāgata.

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, the Ascetic Gotama refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood.

Thus the worldling would praise The Tathāgata.

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, the Ascetic Gotama refrains from such base arts and wrong means of livelihood.

Thus the worldling would praise The Tathāgata.

It is, Monks, for such basic, minor matters of moral practice that the worldling would praise The Tathāgata.

(Reference: DN 1)

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).