Franz Metcalf and BJ Gallagher Hateley

(draft version, do not quote without permission)

Joseph Campbell, the mythologist, pointed out that, throughout history, people have always been able to tell the dominant social institution by the height of its buildings. The more important the institution, the taller the structure. In early civilizations, the tallest were the altars, temples, and churches, especially the great cathedrals and monasteries. Over time, religious institutions declined in influence and government held sway. State houses, capital domes, courthouses, the bastions of bureaucracy, were visible reminders of the power of government over the lives of citizens

Today, as we scan the skylines of our cities and towns, we can easily recognize which institution has come to dominate people’s lives. Since the renaissance, but especially in the last century, the temples of big business tower over both the churches and the capitols. Today business not only drives the economy, it sets the cultural tone and shapes the values of society. It appears that mammon has triumphed over God.

So, how are we faring, those of us who work in these structures? Do the towers of industry offer a guiding vision for moral, ethical, and spiritual questions of life, as the church towers did in times past? Since many of us no longer find a place in traditional religious institutions, we have begun to seek our meaning within the institutions where we spend our days. We’re searching for spiritual answers in the workplace.

Most people who perform paid work outside the home spend more of their waking time at work than anywhere else. They see their bosses more than they do their spouses. They spend more time and energy dealing with the difficulties of coworkers than they do with the difficulties of their own children. Their work itself has become an important way of establishing personal identity—getting social needs met, building satisfaction through accomplishment, and finding purpose and meaning in life.

It should come as no surprise, then, that workers at all levels in all types of organizations, both large and small, are bringing their spiritual beliefs and values to work with them. Some are even seeking to discover new beliefs and values through their work. Many see work as a place where they can live out their personal spirituality; some see their place of work as their primary spiritual community.

The recent popularity of spiritual business books reveals this new awareness. While workplace spirituality is not a new phenomenon in the long history of humanity, it is new in the relatively brief history of industrialized countries, including the U. S. Books such as Jesus CEO and Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work and What Would Jesus Do? show us that Christians are hungry for spiritual sustenance at work. But Christianity is not the only tradition that speaks to the integration of spiritual values with work values. Buddhism, too, has for thousands of years provided a spiritual foundation for the daily work lives of millions around the world.

Of course Buddhism offers great spiritual support for Buddhists at work. The question we ask is: What does Buddhism have to offer non-Buddhists in the workplace? We think it offers a great deal, and we offer a taste of it in this article, for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. We believe Buddhism should be, above all, useful. It’s not about pie-in-the-sky; it’s about here-and-now. So we ask What would Buddha do? about problems with bosses, coworkers, customers, and others. We also ask it about ourselves—for many of us are our own worst enemies when it comes to finding peace and satisfaction at work. Here in this article we’ll share some samples of typical workplace problems illustrating the Eightfold Path. These demonstrate the timelessness of Buddha’s wisdom by applying it to today’s workaday world.

The Buddhadharma (Buddhist truth, Buddhist teaching) has grown through the centuries; we see it as a living path taught by those who seek awakening in their own lives. So the answers in this article draw from a variety of Buddhist texts, both ancient and modern. All express the living Path. Recitation of that Path begins with Right View, but life on the Path begins now, with the challenge of the moment. Our work lives offer us myriads of such challenges (if yours doesn’t, your job is too easy; get another) going far beyond Right Livelihood. In the following examples, we offer tastes of the Dharma at work. See if they help you put the Dharma to work, yourself.

Right View

What would Buddha do about stereotyping?

...all women appear in the form of women, but they appear in the form of women without being women.

Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra 7

This is another version of “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” The sutra explains forms as artificial constructs, delusions based on our inclination to categorize people and miss their deeper Buddha nature. As humans, we are so quick to assign labels to other people: woman, man, black, white, Asian, Hispanic, old, young, straight, gay, white collar, blue collar, pink collar, management, employee, and many, many more labels. In labeling others, we think they are separate from us, that they are “other” than us. With our stereotypes, we totally miss the point that we are all not-two; we are all interconnected and interrelated, as the individual fingers on a hand.

If we have any essence, it’s the Buddha nature; the path of enlightenment simply shows us how to wake up to that fact. Until we wake up, we label others as inferior because we are not yet aware of our own Buddha nature, and by extension, everyone’s Buddha nature.

Bottom line: those who must stereotype others deserve compassion the least, but need it the most. They are asleep, bound up in desire and attachment, driven by fear and anger, much in need of enlightenment—just like ourselves, but more so. Indeed, sexists and racists appear in their forms without being those forms. Free yourself through freeing them from themselves.

Right Intention

What would Buddha tell people who want to change themselves?

One who turns away from recklessness

Is like the moon emerging from the clouds.

Her evil deeds give way to good and she

Is like the moon emerging from the clouds.

Dhammapada 172-173

If Buddha was anything, he was an optimist. “Of course you can change yourself,” he might say, “that is what the path of awakening is all about—personal transformation. I am proof, right here in front of you. Here is my life, my teaching, devoted to showing you how to follow me.”

Take your first step on this path, and you are well on your way. Why? Look at the metaphor Buddha uses here. You are like the moon, always shining whether clouds cover your light or not. Of course you have it in you to make the changes you desire. If you didn’t have the ability you wouldn’t have the desire.

Buddha cheers us on in this passage and he’d cheer anyone on who was ready to do the work of changing herself. It may sound goofy, but Buddha is not just a spiritual leader, he’s a cheerleader. Try visualizing that when you’re feeling down.

Right Speech

What would Buddha think about contemporary business language?

We do not become noble doing harm;

We gain this name by being kind to all.

Dhammapada 270

The biblical book of John opens: “In the beginning was the Word.” Yes, language is powerful; without our even noticing, metaphor shapes how we think and how we act. Current business language shows how at odds many of our organizations are with the fundamental teachings of Buddha.

“We’re going to crush our competition.” “Business is war.” “It’s a dog eat dog world.” “Learn how to swim with the sharks.” “Leadership secrets of Attila the Hun.” “Chain of command.” “He’s getting his marching orders.” Business language is so often military language, sports language—adversarial, win/lose—ultimately about hurting or destroying other people or organizations.

What would Buddha make of this? He would say it reflects our erroneous thinking that we are separate beings. He would remind us of our interconnectedness, that when we hurt another living thing (and organizations are living things, made of people), we hurt ourselves as well. For Buddha, business language should reflect the Buddhist aim to be noble. We are not noble when we “eliminate the competition;” we are noble when we do no harm. So be conscious of the words you use. Awakening begins with the Word.

Right Action

What would Buddha say about responsibility for the environment?

When you throw away your spit and toothbrushes,

You must hide them well away from sight.

Dumping waste in places that we share

And in the water system leads to ill.

Bodhicharyavatara 5.91

For Buddha it’s just as true at work as at home: we must treat the places we share with respect, and with six billion people on the planet, every place is a place we share.

For instance, your organization’s policies on paper recycling have the power to go far beyond your company’s walls, because they actually create public perceptions and markets. This is especially true if you work for a large corporation. When a few large companies make the change to recycling paper and to buying recycled paper even for reports, proposals, and correspondence, many other companies will take notice. When many companies make this change they will create a market that will change the economics of scale in recycled paper and drive the price down. Finally, we’ll all be so comfortable with recycled paper, we’ll wonder why people ever wanted paper bleached to blinding whiteness. Then we’ll be able to follow Buddha’s words and stop dumping dioxin into the water system.

This is how change happens. It might start with one person within the company who keeps bringing up recycling at meetings until something gets done. Corporate responsibility does not necessarily start at the top. It can start with anyone who has the courage, patience, and persistence to be a voice of integrity and to keep speaking until others take up the chorus and join you.

Right Livelihood

How would Buddha choose the right career or job?

A birdcatcher asked the Teacher, “My family’s always been birdcatchers. If we stop, we’ll starve. But doing this (evil) work, can I still reach Buddhahood?”

The Teacher answered, “The mind goes to hell, not the body. So when you kill a bird, take your mind and kill it too. Doing this, you can reach Buddhahood.”

Zen Teacher Bankei

Almost everyone at one time or another has asked the general question: “How do I find the right career, the right job, where I will be fulfilled and happy?” If you are seeking to learn from Buddha’s teachings, this question is answered with Right Livelihood, doing work that helps, rather than harms, all living things. As Buddha brought work into the spiritual life, he brought spirituality into worklife. Right Livelihood is being Buddha at work.

For many people, this is a serious problem. What if you work for a company that makes instruments of destruction? What if you work for an organization whose fundamental mission is not aligned with your own values? Can you still do enlightened work? Can you still pursue Right Livelihood?

Zen Teacher Bankei’s answer here is very interesting. He taught that we should try hard never to harm other living things, and yet here reconciles enlightenment with bird catching. How can this be? The key issue, it seems, is not so much what your body is doing, but what your mind is doing. Of course, the mind and the body are intimately connected, and one often follows the other in day-to-day life. But this need not always be so. It is possible to have the body engaged in one activity, and the mind focused on something else. Here, he advises the bird catcher to kill the bird if he absolutely must (he recognizes that people have to make a living), but to keep the mind not on killing the bird (which would be wrong livelihood) but on killing the mind, that is, killing desire and attachment. A creative solution, and one that acknowledges the power of our environment over us. There are times we cause harm without meaning to.

Of course, Buddha would never accept this as a long-term solution. He would encourage the bird catcher to change jobs if he could. Bird catching simply is not Right Livelihood. But perhaps for the time being there is no choice. You must feed yourself and your family, and this means you must make a living in compromised fashion. You’ll simply have to work that much harder to keep your mind pure until you can find work that is Right Livelihood.

You can pursue enlightenment no matter what job you have, and you can often transform your boring or unfulfilling work into enlightened work by changing how you think about your work, by changing your spirit. You can be a garbage collector, in the spirit of love and service, and be well on your way to Buddhahood. There’s no question that garbage collecting is Right Livelihood, while a creative and high-paying position in a corrupt and greedy field is not. Whatever your job is, start there; adopt the right mind and take that first step on the path. Yes, the path may lead you to change careers, but Buddha does not demand you harm yourself in doing so. In the end, only a career that helps will make you truly fulfilled.

Right Effort

What would Buddha tell you about making your workday worthwhile?

Strive to make your day productive

Whether in little things or big.

Every day and every night

Bring you closer to your death.

Theragatha 451

You may or may not like your job, but like it or not, your job fills a huge chunk of your day, of your life. When a day is gone, it is gone forever. You can’t go out and make another for yourself to fill the loss of the one you just wasted. With each passing 24 hours, your life is another day shorter.

Buddha encourages you to make your day productive, no matter if you accomplish big things or little ones. If it were your last day on the job, or on earth, how would you make it meaningful? Would you help a coworker? Would you make sure your work was the best you could do? Would you solve a problem? Would you finally clear off your desk? Would you smile at the janitor and wish him well? Think of all the different ways you can make your day count. They are all available, today.

Right Mindfulness

What would Buddha tell customer service people?

It is quite clear that everyone needs peace of mind. The question, then, is how to achieve it. Through anger we cannot; through kindness, through love, through compassion, we can achieve one individual’s peace of mind.

The Dalai Lama, The Dalai Lama: A Policy of Kindness, p51

Buddha knows customer service is hard work (though we admit it’s not as hard as His Holiness’s, perhaps the toughest job in the world). Customer service is hard because it’s so easy to let the negativity of others break down our own moods, our own mind. Buddha would remind customer service people of the compassionate core of Buddhism and of ourselves. In customer service our job is to give peace of mind to our customers. We must do that through kindness and compassion.

Enlightened work is just ordinary work, done with an enlightened mind. Nowhere is this more true than in customer service, where you are serving people, helping them solve their problems, taking care of their needs. Here, attitude is everything. You may try to take care of your customers with a mind that is bored, distracted, or resentful; but you will become unhappy and so will they. Take care of your customers with an attitude of service. You will feel fulfilled in your work, and your customers will be satisfied too. If you truly do this, the individual who gets peace of mind can be the customer—and can be you as well.

What if you don’t feel so great or you are having a bad day? Buddha would say, “Act your way to a positive mind.” Your unpleasant feelings can be transformed through pleasant actions. The shortest path is through service. Making your customer’s day will make yours.

Right Concentration

How would Buddha help people achieve their goals?

He constantly abandons useless mindsets and cultivates useful mindsets. He is resolute and concentrated in his effort. He never abandons his efforts toward achieving useful mindsets.

Anguttara Nikaya 5.53

Buddha understood that most human beings are easily distracted, and inclined to take multi-tasking to ridiculous extremes. Buddha’s way is quiet, simple; he teaches it because he knows the power of concentration, self-discipline, and focus. He is really the spiritual father to some of today’s “success writers” whose best-sellers teach us how to manifest our dreams and achieve our goals. These authors are tapping into what Buddha knew 2500 years ago: that the mind has immense power, if only its owner would use it well.

Buddha urges us to keep laser-like focus (okay, they didn’t have lasers in Buddha’s day; he called it “onepointed mind”) on our vision or objective—to be unwavering in our concentration. A man with a mission does not dissipate and waste energy on useless distractions.

Buddha teaches us that quiet intensity—focusing all energy and attention on the desired goal—begins inside and is all that is required for success. Set your mind toward your goals. Evaluate what are useful mindsets for you. Stick to them. Yes, this is hard; useless mindsets are often enjoyable. But they are also a waste of time. Never abandon your effort!

Article adapted from What Would Buddha Do at Work? by Franz Metcalf and BJ Gallagher Hateley (Seastone and Berrett-Koehler, 2001).