“Right Livelihood” with Jane this Sunday at Minneapolis Insight

Dear Community,

This Sunday, Jane will continue the exploration of the Noble Eightfold Path, focusing on the fifth path factor: Right Livelihood. In some ways, this path factor seems straightforward. How do we make our living within the guidelines of the precepts, not causing harm? But as we reflect on the complexity of our modern-day realities of work and our concepts of career, and how we contribute to society beyond obtaining a paycheck, including our complex interrelatedness of being both consumer and creator of resources, and the far-reaching effects of a global economy, the question of Right Livelihood becomes much more complex. How do we navigate this deeply intertwined reality where we live in a culture in which it may not be possible for us to act without doing harm to someone, in some way?

Gregory Kramer, in his book A Whole-Life Path: A Lay Buddhist’s Guide to Crafting a Dhamma-Infused Life, speaks to these issues of complexity and appreciates how far-reaching this path factor is in our lives.

Right livelihood: these words point to something broad—to whatever sustains life. Because livelihood touches the ubiquitous, sensitive nerves of comfort and survival, it is primal. With the practice of right livelihood, we face the everyday roots of stress: there is greed: when is what I have enough? There is hatred: who stands in the way of my comfort? Who threatens my ability to live as I choose to? And there is delusion: are my lifestyle choices genuinely harmless? Both the hurting and the helping (that we can create through our actions) are powerfully amplified by the hive-like intensity of the collective and global focus on acquisition and survival. Both broad and deep, right livelihood is a path factor with heft.

He goes on to say that this path factor is far-reaching and significant in our lives because “Perhaps more than any other path factor, the practice of right livelihood unfolds in the earthiness of the physical lives of our bodies. When the teachings of right livelihood are let in fully, their here-and-now quality infuses every living moment.”

When we allow ourselves to open to what Gregory is saying about the significance of Right Livelihood, it is an invitation to consider our everyday actions within a system that is so complex. We hope that you will join us for this exploration on Sunday. We look forward to practicing together and considering how we might each navigate the complexity of this path factor. Zoom information available here.

With mettā,
Minneapolis Insight

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