Being Buddha at Work

108 Ancient Truths on Change, Stress, Money, and Success

Berrett-Koehler, 2012

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Apply 2,500 years of Buddhist wisdom to solve your workplace stress and worry.

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Thousands of years ago, the Buddha established a framework to help people achieve happiness and avoid suffering. For Buddhists, work is an organic, important part of life and an expression of a person’s highest values. Religious studies professor Franz Metcalf and business writer BJ Gallagher prove the modern relevance of Buddhist ideas, particularly in the workplace. Presented as question-and-answer discussions – as if students were quizzing a master teacher – this is a small book, but not a light read. It will give you plenty to think about, despite sometimes being a bit esoteric (consider the difficulty of condensing 2,500 years of thought into 176 pages). getAbstract finds that the readings have a cumulative, stress-relieving impact; they will give you a deeper understanding of Buddhist canons and their practical application in seeking balance.

Summary

“Four Noble Truths”

Based on spiritual – but also pragmatic – principles, Buddhism provides a path for individual enlightenment. Even at the office, it offers a practical way to tackle the “three marks of existence,” which are “frustration, interconnectedness and impermanence.” The road to peace starts with simple awareness or mindfulness. Buddhism posits four “noble truths”: that life is full of suffering, that humans suffer because they’re attached to what they want, that it’s possible to end suffering by ending desire and that the “eightfold path” offers a way to peace. The eight stages on this path to enlightenment are “right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.”

The Buddha – the “Awakened One”– lived 2,500 years ago. He was a prince, then a beggar and finally a spiritual leader who followed the “middle way” of moderation. He taught that anyone can use mindfulness to attain enlightenment and that everyone, essentially, has a “Buddha nature.” Within that nature is a sense of calm and unity with all things – a serenity anyone can achieve by choosing to be mindful. Such peacefulness...

About the Authors

Franz Metcalf, a religious studies professor at California State University, Los Angeles, also wrote What Would Buddha Do? BJ Gallagher, who produces corporate videos, also wrote several books, including the bestseller A Peacock in the Land of Penguins.

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M. K. 4 years ago

Excellent Summary. I believe that Budda was one of the messengers from God sent down to invite the people to worship God alone and bring peace and tranquility on earth.

Unfortunately Buddists in Myanamar and Sri Lanka are not walking their talk and follow the principle of Budda. Buddists monks hate speeches caused the genocide in these places.
C. K. 7 years ago

Truly makes me grateful for the amazing company I work for, and how they are already putting most of these views and values into practice.
P. B. getAbstract 1 decade ago

Good summary even for people who are not "Buddhists "!
- getAbstract 8 years ago
  
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BJ Gallagher and Franz Metcalf