..续本文上一页he sake of the nation, not trying to be evasive or uncooperative. Our wealth will then benefit both ourselves and others.

　　D. Offerings (danapuja): This means making gifts of the four necessities of life to support Buddhism. This is a way of paying homage to the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha that will serve the purposes of the religion. At the same time, it”s a way of earning inner wealth, termed "ariyadhana." A person observing the principles of Right Livelihood who does this will reap benefits both in this life and in the next.

　　The wealth we have rightfully earned, though, if we don”t have a sense of how to use it properly, can cause us harm both in this life and in lives to come. Thus, in expending our wealth in the area of charity, we should do so honestly. In the area of support, we should use forethought and care. The same holds true in the areas of aid and offerings. Before making expenditures, we should consider the circumstances carefully, to see whether or not they”re appropriate. If they aren”t, then we shouldn”t provide assistance. Otherwise, our wealth may work to our harm. If we provide help to people who don”t deserve it — for instance, giving assistance to thieves — the returns may be detrimental to our own situation. The same holds true in making offerings to the religion. If a monk has no respect for the monastic discipline, doesn”t observe the principles of morality, neglects his proper duties — the threefold training — and instead behaves in ways that are deluded, misguided, and deceitful, then whoever makes offerings to such a monk will suffer for it in the end, as in the saying,

　　Make friends with fools and they”ll lead you astray;

　　Make friends with the wise and they”ll show you the way.

　　Make friends with the evil and you”ll end up threadbare,

　　And the fruit of your evil is: No one will care.

　　Now, we may think that a monk”s evil is his own business, as long as we”re doing good. This line of thinking ought to be right, but it may turn out to be wrong. Suppose, for instance, that a group of people is playing cards in defiance of the law. You”re not playing with them, you”re just sitting at the table, watching. But if the authorities catch you, they”re sure to take you along with the group, no matter how much you may protest your innocence. In the same way, whoever makes offerings without careful forethought may end up reaping harm, and such a person can”t be classified as maintaining Right Livelihood.

　　In short, there are two sides to Right Livelihood:

　　— We should have a sense of how to use our wealth so as to maintain ourselves in line with our station in life, being neither too miserly nor too extravagant.

　　— We should give help to other people, as we are able, so as to provide them with comfort and well-being. This is what it means to maintain Right Livelihood.

　　VI. Right Effort. There are four ways of exerting ourselves in line with the Dhamma —

　　A. Make a persistent effort to abandon whatever evil there is in your conduct. For example, if you”ve given yourself over to drinking to the point where you”ve become alcoholic, spoiling your work, wasting your money and yourself, creating problems in your family, this is classed as a kind of evil. Or if you”ve given yourself over to gambling to the point where you”ve lost all sense of proportion, blindly gambling your money away, creating trouble for yourself and others, this too is classed as a kind of evil. Or if you”ve let yourself become promiscuous, going from partner to partner beyond the bounds of propriety, this can be damaging to your spouse and children, wasting your money, ruining your reputation, and so is classed as a kind of evil, too. Or if you”ve been associating with the wrong kind of people, troublemakers and debauched types who will pull you do…

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