Mobile VersionThe Third Group of Blessings
“Setting Oneself up in Life”
The third group of the blessings of life is often referred to as “making yourself useful”. This doesn’t just refer to making oneself a citizen who can contribute something positive to society, it means being able to be of independent means — to earn one’s own living without having to rely on outsiders for help. The principle of “being a refuge to yourself” is one very important to Buddhism — not just a virtue to oneself in spiritual ways but in worldly ways as well. Not burdening oneself on society is seen not only as the basis of self-confidence, but also as a positive virtue to be encouraged. Earning one’s living requires both knowledge and skills (found in Blessings Seven and Eight respectively) but as usual to earn one’s living in an unscrupulous way to the detriment of others is not acceptable. Sociable application of our knowledge and skills is taught in action and word respectively in Blessings Nine and Ten respectively to make sure that we don’t make ourselves self-sufficient at society’s expense. This foundation of lack of worry concerning one’s daily bread will serve as a foundation for a harmonious family life and public works to be found in subsequent Groups of the Blessings. All of the previous six Blessings we have studied, have concerned the adjustment of our quality of mind. The first few Blessings have concerned protecting our mind from damage and finding the most basic virtue of discretion with which to instill the mind. In the sixth blessing we already set our sights on the aim in life we require — now in the third grouping we start to walk toward that goal.TABLE 7.1 COMPARISON OF QUALITIES FOR THE LEARNED & THE WISE
The Learned The Wise
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