Orange County Buddhist Church
Orange County Buddhist Church
Buddhism in the workplace (part 2)
Sources of unhappiness at work
In the book, "The Art of Happiness at Work", by the Dalai Lama as related to Howard Cutler, it is mentioned that a survey showed that roughly fifty percent of people who work are unhappy or dissatisfied at their jobs. I was shocked to read that such a high percentage of people are unhappy at work. How awful to have to spend so much of your life doing something that you are not happy with. I would like to reflect on how one might find a greater sense of happiness or meaning in work from a Buddhist perspective.
There are various reasons why people are unhappy at work. They might feel underpaid or unappreciated for what they do. They might also feel unchallenged, or that work is very boring. Still others feel that they have too much stress, that they are not adequately trained for what they do. Other reasons for dissatisfaction at work are difficulty with a boss or fellow workers. There are numerous reasons why a person could feel unhappy at work.
1. Being underpaid or unappreciated. We might feel, "For all that I do for this company, I am really underpaid. I put in overtime, I take work home with me, I do all the jobs nobody else wants. I should be paid more for this job." It could be true that you are grossly overpaid for what you do. There are also cases of people who are literally "slaves" working for peanuts. Such injustices of course are not right.
In the majority of cases, however, think of when you did get a raise. How long did you feel happy about that raise, and did you feel deep gratitude to the company or your boss for extending it to you? Most likely you felt you deserved it, and might have even thought, "Well, its about time!" How long were you satisfied with that raise? Don't we forget quickly, and then begin to wish we had an even bigger raise or salary?
This is called greed in Buddhism, and it is one of the three poisons, along with anger and ignorance. Our innate sense of greed does not allow us to really appreciate or feel satisfied with anything material in life. We can never have enough money or a big enough home or a nice enough car. We might be satisfied for a while, but before you know it, we long for just "a little more".
By understanding and seeing this innate sense of greed, a Buddhist worker can find real satisfaction in whatever their income is. The key is not making more, but learning to appreciate what we already have, what we already make. Without this understanding, we will never be happy at work no matter how much we make. Look at professional athletes who claim they are underpaid when they make several million dollars a year.
An "awakened" Buddhist worker, understands that true happiness at work is not attained by the amount of one's salary, or by the status of one's position. This too can be another source of greed, the greed for power or position. It is one thing to rise to higher levels of management at work because you are capable and deserving, but it is another thing if you seek that just to be able to have power and authority over others as some kind of ego trip.
The awakened "Buddhist" worker, has a deep sense of appreciation for what they are receiving and earning at work. There is a sense of appreciation towards the company that provides that position. There is a sense of appreciation for the interconnectedness with all other workers that are an integral part of your own work. Instead of expecting others to appreciate "you", you become a person who appreciates others. By becoming a person who appreciates others, in time, I guarantee that others will come to appreciate you.
2. Work is boring and unchallenging. Sometimes repetitious work can be very boring. I grew up on a farm and there are lots of boring jobs in farming, like weeding onions, hoeing beets, or driving tractor all day long. Still, there are positive sides to such seemingly "boring" work. Driving tractor all day long in the same field can be very boring, but I also found it almost meditative. You had hours to think about all kinds of things as you drove up and down the rows.
Last month I wrote about the cook that made gyoza that I used to love watching in Japan. He had what could be considered a boring job, just making gyoza, but he put his whole life into it, and made it appear like it was the most fun job in the world.
3. Work is stressful. Working in a busy office, or being under pressure with deadlines, meeting quotas, or working with difficult people can all lead to tremendous amounts of stress. How is a person to deal with such pressures?
First of all, we have to understand that we are all human, and there is only so much that we can do. On the other hand, because we are human, there is a tremendous amount that we can do....maybe even more than we realize.
We could say to ourselves, I am only one person, what can I do? But think about some of the amazing people in history who have accomplished so much. They were just one person. Gandhi was one person. Martin Luther King was one person. If a person lives with a deep wish for their life, then it is amazing what can be accomplished.
An engineer who has a deep wish to design a car that solves our pollution or oil dependency problem, has no stress, no matter how busy or hectic his work might be, because he has a deep wish, a vow to fulfill. A doctor or scientist who is trying to find a cure for cancer can handle the ups and downs of research, because there is a deep wish for one's life's work.
Meditation can also be a great assistance for dealing with stress. Even a little meditation can help a person to find little "quiet moments" despite being busy, and then being refreshed to tackle a busy schedule again. Rev. Haya Akegarasu, a famous Shin minister in Japan, was a popular speaker and his calendar was filled almost the entire year. He said people would ask him, "How do you do it? Don't you get tired?" His response was that in his busy schedule during the day he would briefly pause in reflection or meditation, and that would refresh him sufficiently. Clearing, or emptying one's mind, even briefly, enables a person to take on new tasks and face a busy schedule.
Namuamidabutsu,
Rev. Marvin Harada
March 2008
