The fifth step in Buddha’s path is Right Livelihood. How do we live in this world? What do we do with our time? Do we invest the right amount of energy in the right areas? How do we manage our life? Do we create the right balance between things of the earth and things of the spirit? Do we resist laziness? Do we resist frenzied activity?

Right Livelihood is, above all, about balance. If we divide our day equally between work, recreation and rest, harmony and good health can be the result.

Our life, our incarnation, is an opportunity to work and to create, not for the reward but to benefit from the exertion. What do we know about the spiritual economy where “one sows and another reaps”?

Rev Mario often gave the advice: Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might. This does not sit well with people today - especially those people who say: “It’s just a job, it pays the bills.” The spiritual economy relies on us to be industriousness in everything we do. If we hate our work or if we overdo it at work, we are not sowing what we can reap in our next incarnation. Quite probably the same applies in this life, the energy we applied in younger years will manifest in our health and disposition as we grow old.

How often do we think about our labour creating a harvest for others? If we had the choice would we choose to be the sower or the reaper? Today’s consciousness does not make it easy to think these things through. Also, think about how reward-oriented we are when we even get rewards for accruing debt on our credit card.

In our work, whatever it is – paid or unpaid - we can freely choose to be enthusiastic and devoted. Right Livelihood is not about self satisfaction. Right livelihood is about respecting others; it is about dignity. It is about honouring life, and it is about morality. Morality means that our deeds originate from a balanced interest in the welfare of others. It is self interest not sexual indiscretion that is immoral or amoral.

Any effort to take advantage of others, to gain something at their expense is spiritually offensive. In this way the forces of opposition are fed. Consider also, that the forces of opposition do not actually want to win; they are trapped in the twilight and Lucifer especially can only be redeemed if we reap what has been sown for us. The task of these adverse forces is to provide the resistance; our task is to meet the resistance and like a kite soar with Right Livelihood.

Can we give Christ a central place in our business dealings, in our work relationships and in our personal relationships? What if Christ was our customer or client? Would our business transactions be different if we were dealing with Christ? Would our working relationships be different if Christ was our co-worker? It is a powerful exercise to place Christ there; in the person we work with, in the customer, in the friendship – would we speak to Christ the way we sometimes speak to others?

Right Livelihood is about being honourable. Do we honour this physical world as a gift from the Father? Do we honour the earth as the body of Christ? From the substance of the physical world we build up our bodies. We are the harvest. Christ went through Golgotha so that his cosmic substance could penetrate the earth and become earthly substance. It is from the substance of this earth that we sow and reap. We actually buy and sell Christ’s substance continually.

In our work, through our love for Christ, we can reap and / or sow without concern for our own well being. If we do all things through Christ he will strengthen us. Without a thought for the reward we will be greatly rewarded in ways we may not even imagine.