Page 118 - The Buddha‘s Noble Eightfold Path

of a firm that produces some quite good and necessary article,

e.g. bread. If you work honestly and conscientiously at your job
you can make it a form of Right Livelihood, even if not of Perfect

Livelihood. (d) Occupations which do not involve undue mental
strain. This is quite important nowadays, especially for those
Buddhists who want to meditate. Even though your means of

livelihood may not involve breaking any of the precepts, if it
involves so much mental strain that you become tense and

cannot meditate then, as a Buddhist, you have to consider your
position and try to find work of a less stressful nature.

(2) Vocation
This sort of livelihood is the best of all, but it is very rare. We may

define a vocation as a means of livelihood which is directly
related to what one considers to be of ultimate importance in
one's life. This will be different for different people. One thinks of

medicine, or of the teaching profession. Someone might want to
be a nurse because they wanted to relieve human suffering —

which of course directly links up with Buddhism. Then there are
the arts, or various creative activities. If one pursues them in a
creative spirit and does not commercialize them, these also can

be real vocations, and Perfect Livelihood in the very best sense.
In Perfect Livelihood in the sense of vocation there is no

difference between one's work and one's play. You enjoy your
work so much, and are so immersed in it, that you do not mind
even if you spend the whole of your waking life doing it. This is a

very ideal state, and one which people — often through no fault
of their own — are rarely able to achieve.

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