Buddhism & business

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Comment by Simona Poljanšek on August 4, 2008 at 8:04am

"As we follow the presidential campaign, let's not forget that the winner isn't the only one who will shape the world. Only one person can become president of the United States, but there's no limit to the number of social entrepreneurs who can make this planet a better place." more http://www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-moulden/compassionate-venture-cap_b_116375.html

Comment by prashant on July 29, 2008 at 7:47pm

you should understand the need of buddist economic bussiness it will not only support economically but also
social i great respect for your idea i am single i can workany where you want and generate the buddhist economic group as i saw the budddhism in new as aspect i have so many paln just let me known how it can be done

Comment by Michael John Smith on July 24, 2008 at 12:24pm

Dear brothers and sisters in the Dharma. In order to further my professional career as a freelance translator of Slovene into English and to improve my language skills (and right speech) generally for the benefit of others I would like to offer my services as a translator free-of-charge for any text written in Slovene that would benefit and spread the Dharma better if translated into reasonable English.

Comment by Simona Poljanšek on July 23, 2008 at 10:13am

To serve a purpose larger than yourself :-)

Comment by richard on July 21, 2008 at 1:46pm

So what really is the true meaning of Affluence, Grasshopper??

Comment by Michael John Smith on July 18, 2008 at 1:46pm

Business, capital, profits – these are in themselves not evil or harmful words. Right occupation means something quite different to different people. What is right for one is not necessarily right for another, as we are all at different stages on the path to enlightenment. As Buddhists we can discuss these things and what is ethical or not but it really depends on our own practice and the stage we have reached, the attainments, blessings, karma we have. For some we use our talents to make money to support ourselves and our families and still have enough over to support others less able to support themselves and our precious teachers and still more to allow us sufficient time to meditate, go on retreats, etc. Another person may be at a level where to earn nothing is more suitable and to have an occupation such as teacher or monk which needs the support of others. Yet again some of us are big-time entrepreneurs and wealth-creators who are very necessary for society and who now more than ever are looking for guidance in ethical methods of accumulating capital and making profit.
Theoretically ethics is derived from meditation, which itself is nourished by teachings. But we are not all so susceptible to these. Some of us are looking for help – ready-made ethics – advice in ethical behaviour, right occupation, etc. Here is where we Buddhists can be very useful. Our discussions should not all be centred around what is good for us but must extend or reach out to others actively seeking guidance. We can use our own realisations for this as well as looking at literature and teachings new and very old for guidance for ourselves and others and even society as a whole. These could lead to very real innovation and society building. What better way to spend our time in samsara, our time in this precious human form, than to try to understand modernity (the here and now) and ethics in every part of our lives, to become less attached to an ever-changing world and to help ourselves and others find liberation from suffering and the causes of suffering.

Comment by Simona Poljanšek on July 18, 2008 at 6:57am

Regarding responsability, I can only add the quote of H. H. The Dalai Lama, which says: "It is our responability out of love & compassion for humankind - to seek harmony among nations, ideologies, cultures, ethnic groups, and economic and political systems."
http://www.furhhdl.org/index.htm

Comment by Michael John Smith on July 16, 2008 at 10:15pm

The notion of capitalism is that of fulfilling society’s needs – with wealth creation comes the relief from such basic sensations as hunger, cold, heat, ill health, ignorance of worldly ways, social exclusion, etc. but it does nothing to add to an individual’s spiritualism unless it includes contributions to religion, dharma teachings, etc. Business in itself contributes to the needs of people in samsara and us Buddhists are more interested in liberation from samasara. I think we should remain fairly neutral as far as innovation, wealth creation and other notions of modern-day business are concerned. We should be all for fair trade and good business ethics, etc. as it does relieve certain symptoms of samsara, but it does nothing to remove the causes. Wealth-creation also promotes individual greed and attachment to impermanent things, to delusion as well as a nominal, temporary amount of relief in this world of suffering. Buddhists should not concern themselves too much with business as such but apply themselves to the teachings and contribute as much as they can to the relief of suffering and the causes of suffering by the promotion of genuine teachings (not society’s idea of education), preparing people for death (not society’s idea of prolonging life at every cost) and having nothing to do with individual wealth creation for reasons of personal ownership and power. Social responsibility does not necessarily mean spiritual responsibility, so the idea of businesses being more socially responsible does not necessarily lead to liberation from samsara.

Comment by Simona Poljanšek on July 15, 2008 at 4:29pm

Lee, hi! You`are welcome :-)
Nice pic, though...

Comment by Simona Poljanšek on July 15, 2008 at 4:28pm

Thanx to Peace_maker for a standing point for free trade ;-)

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