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Compiled by Jayaram V
"And what is right livelihood? There is the case where a disciple
of the
noble ones, having abandoned dishonest livelihood, keeps his
life going with right livelihood: This is called right
livelihood." — SN XLV.8
Right Living is to avoid wrong way of living and to get
ones livelihood by right way of living.
Right living consists of living a life based on the
percepts of the Eightfold path and observing the Dhamma in letter and spirit.
It is avoidance of the pursuit of desires, developing the equanimity of the
mind and aversion to the objects of the world.
It means to lead a pure and holy life, not wishing injury
to any one, not stealing things that do not belong to one, and not deviating
from the path suggested by the Buddha. It means to remain detached and truly
holy, through the awareness of the transience and impermanence of life and
the process of becoming. It means a living that would finally lead to the
extinction of karma and liberation of the being from all suffering.
Right Living is of two kinds:
The Mundane Right Living: This is the same as the
above. It leads to worldly gains and brings good results.
The Ultramundane Right Living: This is the practice
of Mundane Right Living, keeping the mind holy, to remain other worldly and
following the holy path in conjunction with the Eightfold path.
A balanced livelihood
"Herein, Vyagghapajja, a householder knowing his
income and expenses leads a balanced life, neither extravagant nor
miserly, knowing that thus his income will stand in excess of his
expenses, but not his expenses in excess of his income.
"Just as the goldsmith, or an apprentice of his,
knows, on holding up a balance, that by so much it has dipped down,
by so much it has tilted up; even so a householder, knowing his
income and expenses leads a balanced life, neither extravagant nor
miserly, knowing that thus his income will stand in excess of his
expenses, but not his expenses in excess of his income." — AN
VIII.54
Wrong livelihood for lay followers
"A lay follower should not engage in five types
of business. Which five? Business in weapons, business in human
beings, business in meat, business in intoxicants, and business in
poison." — AN V.177
Wrong livelihood for contemplatives
... reading marks on the limbs [e.g., palmistry];
reading omens and signs; interpreting celestial events [falling stars,
comets]; interpreting dreams; reading marks on the body [e.g.,
phrenology]; reading marks on cloth gnawed by mice; offering fire
oblations, oblations from a ladle, oblations of husks, rice powder,
rice grains, ghee, and oil; offering oblations from the mouth;
offering blood-sacrifices; making predictions based on the fingertips;
geomancy; laying demons in a cemetery; placing spells on spirits;
reciting house-protection charms; snake charming, poison-lore,
scorpion-lore, rat-lore, bird-lore, crow-lore; fortune-telling based
on visions; giving protective charms; interpreting the calls of birds
and animals ... — DN 2
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