Jobs and the Dharma: Finding a Balance

Jobs and the Dharma can co-exist in our lives. We don’t all have the ability, karma, or intention to leave everything behind and immediately go off into the mountains on retreat. Here, Samye Instructor Matthew Zalichin shares some observations about balancing jobs and the Dharma from his own 40 years of experience.

Those of us who have entered the Buddhist path as adults have many questions about how to find a balance. Older people with established families may discover the Buddhist teachings and then work with the decisions on how to incorporate this new element of their life into their existing situation. For younger people who may just be beginning an independent life, different issues may arise. Matthew here reminds us that we all face the challenge of how to make our way in the world in a Dharmic way.

We do have the tendency to think of jobs as “just” samsara, or cyclical existence as opposed to the Dharma which we really want to be practicing. But this outlook won’t help us to really practice authentically. Although we may have a romantic notion of how we would like to be entering long retreat, or studying texts in their original languages, we may not have that option. Life circumstances might not allow that. Yet, we can still practice Dharma. Matthew notes that it can be just as beautiful to practice in our own home, in our own country, and within our particular environment.

We also might consider that we can develop unreasonable expectations of what life is “supposed to be like”.  We may be fortunate enough to find fulfilling careers that pay well, and give us plenty of time for lovely vacations as well as Dharma practice. On the other hand, that may not happen. And it helps if we acknowledge that and are realistic about our plans. We do need to take obligations into account–our ground of practice begins where we are. And situations change—if we begin a job we aren’t committing to keep at it forever.  If we stick with something for a year, we can then reevaluate and determine if things are moving in a positive or negative direction. And then we can be open to other opportunities as they arise. But if we resist taking a plunge because we’re waiting for the perfect situation, we may be wasting a lot of time where we could have been practicing on the job!