a buddhist business
Earth cafe was set up in 1999 by some of the Buddhists connected with the Manchester Buddhist Centre. Although anyone can work there the majority of staff are Buddhists who want their work to be ‘Right Livelihood’
‘Surely we are very near to heaven, if not to nirvana, if we enjoy our work, and if our work is our life!’ Sangharakshita
‘Right Livelihood’ is the fifth limb of the Buddha’s Noble Eight-fold Path. It involves bringing our Buddhist practice into the economic sphere of life. As most Buddhists have to work, and our working lives are a substantial part of our weekly routine, we learn to apply our Buddhist principles and practices moment by moment in our work. Working with others that share our values, and/or working in a Buddhist way, we can substantially intensify our practice of the Dharma (the Buddha’s teaching).
Working in a Buddhist way means seeing your daily working life as an opportunity for developing your spiritual practice. For instance, the practice of mindfulness needs to be practiced away from the meditation cushion as well as on it, and the work place can be a useful arena for this practice.
Right Livelihood also means bringing the ethical dimension to our work. This means the individual practitioner is trying to work skillfully, and the business itself is taking a skillful approach to it’s business aims and trading practices. The main ethical guidelines are likely to be the five Buddhist precepts. Whatever work we engage in should be helpful to others, and not harmful. It should be generous and open-handed rather than dishonest and involving taking the not-given. It should lead to stillness, simplicity and contentment, and not to sexual exploitation or the increase of desire. It should encourage honest and truthful speech, and not falsity and deceit. Finally, Right Livelihood work should be conducive to the practice of mindfulness and not lead to intoxication.
Trying to practice the ethics of Buddhism in our work means consciously making responsible choices for ourselves and the world we effect. With our choices we create our world, we create ourselves and our relationship to it. It is not a matter of ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ but keeping aware and finding appropriate and creative solutions that create harmony and goodwill.
