So what is Wise Livelihood?

From the description in the suttas it seems to boil down to not harming others. That is, do not earn your livelihood in a way that causes harm. Most of us today, in this country are fortunate enough to be able to avoid the types of business that cause direct harm, at least on the surface. Our investments, the collateral damage of our companies, etc.—these are another story. We must be vigilant to make sure that we are doing what we can to avoid making our living from activities that despoil the planet, fill the world with weapons, support inequality & injustice, and promote substance abuse.

Wise Livelihood is far from simple. We need to consider right intention and right view when we analyze right livelihood, otherwise we can become simplistic and smug about “good” and “bad” jobs. In addition, we may focus too much on the work we do at the expense of looking at the way we do it. It is not enough to avoid selling weapons; how we behave when we are making our living is an important aspect of Wise Livelihood. Someone in a “good” job may spend most of their time figuring out how they can beat the competition or get a few more dollars out of the clients’ pockets or chronically lose their temper and belittle their assistant. The butcher who is doing his work mindfully, compassionately with concentration focused on the development of the path may be free. The salesperson or business owners who are offering services in a competitive market may be free or not, depending on the degree to which they see things as they are and devote the fruit of their actions to the benefit of all beings, not in a theoretical, but in a practical way—moment to moment.