Where to go after high
school?
Should I go to university,
join the military, or get a regular job?
What career path should I
choose?
What if my career choice doesn't go as planned?
There are questions many
of our older teens and some adults face when a change is upon them. Uncertainty
often waters fear, anxiety, and self-doubt. These are examples of suffering.
But suppose there were
some guidance to help support a positive, nurturing decision that will
certainly have an impact on your life...as well as the lives of others.
When we look at the
Eightfold Path in its entirety, we see that it offers us a way to live a
wholesome life in general and this is a wonderful realization.
But most of us need to
have an income, a way to support ourselves and perhaps others if we have a
family is a necessity, so we are fortunate that the Buddha has given us
this guidance.
Right Livelihood is
the fifth component of the Noble Eightfold Path and is part of the
division of 'Ethical Conduct' along with Right Speech and Right Action. This is
an obvious arrangement being that whatever career you decide upon needs to
be uplifting for yourself and others. We should also note that your
choice, by default, will not violate the Five Precepts:
- abstaining from killing living beings,
- stealing,
- sexual misconduct,
- lying, and
- refraining from intoxicating substances
If we were to construct a definition of Right Livelihood inclusive of the Five Precepts our career choice is one that is uplifting, increases happiness, develops wisdom, and nurtures well-being, all the while easing the suffering in world.
The Buddha does not tell us you should do this job and you do that job. He lets us know that whatever career we decide upon, as long as it aligns with Right Livelihood, it's not a wrong choice.
But what I think many overlook, even with today’s mindset, is that no one is forced to stay in one particular career for their entire working life. On the contrary, we are told that everything is impermanent, and this includes a career decision we made for ourselves years ago. People stay, often unsatisfied, in a career because of attachment. People become comfortable with routine, even if it's toxic to their well-being.
Mindsets that reinforce this attachment sound like 'I'm too old to start over', 'I have bills to pay', 'I'm the only one who knows what to do there'. If you are watering these types of statements to yourself, justifying why you remain where you're not growing, you are not nurturing your well-being thereby not easing suffering. It may be time for a healthy change.
It's important to understand one does not need a high level of education or a fancy job title to ease suffering in our world or for personal satisfaction. One simply needs to remember that satisfaction and joy are elicited when we let go of the attachments of living in the past or future (I shoulda's and I coulda's), bring mindful awareness to our present moment, and serve others with compassion. This is opening your Dharma Heart.
Remember, a career is simply a way for one to sustain bodily needs and that may be accomplished in almost any career. But to walk the Noble Eightfold Path, earn merit, and to ease suffering requires one to have discipline, empathy and compassion for all living beings. This is your Noble Journey and no one else’s.
How you go about this is entirely up to you, and that’s the beauty of impermanence, choice, and wide path of Right Livelihood. No one can or should ever tell you that you need to follow an exact career path to achieve satisfaction.
Wishing you continued peace and wellbeing,
Vladimir
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