Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Buddhist ethical conduct including the Five Precepts (Pañcasikkhāpada), and Eightfold Ethical Conduct (Aṭṭhasīla).
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LostOne
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Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by LostOne »

I'm about to work for a trucking company that occasionally hauls lots of beer.

It seems no other place wants me and they are great people to work for from what I hear with decent pay.

Is this going to create hell karma?

:tantrum: Lol

Thanks for answering.
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pilgrim
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by pilgrim »

LostOne wrote: Thu May 03, 2018 9:47 pm I'm about to work for a trucking company that occasionally hauls lots of beer.

It seems no other place wants me and they are great people to work for from what I hear with decent pay.

Is this going to create hell karma?

:tantrum: Lol

Thanks for answering.
Is it possible for you to refuse the assignment without jeopardising your job? It is not an ideal situation but it sounds to me your intention is to haul whatever goods your employer directs you to. It would be different if your intention is to haul beer.
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Dhammarakkhito
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

it's a good question, i think its ok because you dont have a share in the business, you are a wage or a salary worker
your job is transportation. tho if it were live human bodies maybe that would be wrong.
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LostOne
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by LostOne »

Is it possible for you to refuse the assignment without jeopardising your job? It is not an ideal situation but it sounds to me your intention is to haul whatever goods your employer directs you to. It would be different if your intention is to haul beer.
From what Ive heard, the beer loads are high prioriry. Lots of their business through a few major beer companies.

I've hauled random beer beverages before with other companies...the thought lingered, "Isn't this considered 'Business in intoxicants' according to Buddhist scriptures?"

Now this.

So, I thought I'd post on a Buddhist forum to find out.

:thanks:
LostOne
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by LostOne »

Dhammarakkhito wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 1:28 am tho if it were live human bodies maybe that would be wrong.
Like, "Business in people?" Bus driver? :tongue:

Really wish some things were more specific on the whole right livelihood deal.

Perhaps I had overlooked the Greater Expedition of Livelihood somewhere in the scriptures.

Ah well. I think it was Rinzai who said not to be afraid of hell, in so many words... but thats a Zen perspective.

:rules: :computerproblem:
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Kim OHara
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by Kim OHara »

LostOne wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 1:52 am
Dhammarakkhito wrote: Fri May 04, 2018 1:28 am tho if it were live human bodies maybe that would be wrong.
Like, "Business in people?" Bus driver? :tongue:

Really wish some things were more specific on the whole right livelihood deal.

Perhaps I had overlooked the Greater Expedition of Livelihood somewhere in the scriptures.

Ah well. I think it was Rinzai who said not to be afraid of hell, in so many words... but thats a Zen perspective.

:rules: :computerproblem:
The smarter way to look at it that most kamma is mixed, and that we can only do the best we can do.
So ... this job isn't such good kamma as (e.g.) healing the sick, but isn't such bad kamma as (e.g.) slaughtering livestock, and you say it's the best you can do. So ... relax. Don't make too big a fuss about it to the boss but mention to him/her that you prefer not to have anything to do with booze and they will probably love you for saying so, since it means you're less likely to drive under the influence, and cut you a bit of slack.

:namaste:
Kim
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Dhammarakkhito
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

not like a bus driver
i mean like a truck smuggling humans to be sold into slavery
i dont think driving the alcohol truck is wrong but driving the slave truck is wrong because you have the opportunity to report it and free the slaves. alcohol is legal and its going to get carted around by someone. it does seem clear enough to me that if you dont go own a business selling alcohol or poisons or people etc that you do not have wrong livelihood.
i wonder why rinzai said that, if you've gone for refuge to the triple gem and take the precepts you have a much lower chance of ending up in hell, but hell is incomprehensibly miserable and it is where the majority of beings end up
the way i look at it is bodily kamma is a choice, you wont be forced to do something unethical, even if you're threatened with starvation, mutilation, death
"Just as the ocean has a single taste — that of salt — in the same way, this Dhamma-Vinaya has a single taste: that of release."
— Ud 5.5

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paul
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by paul »

Bikkhu Bodhi: "Right livelihood is concerned with ensuring that one earns one's living in a righteous way. For a lay disciple the Buddha teaches that wealth should be gained in accordance with certain standards. One should acquire it only by legal means, not illegally; one should acquire it peacefully, without coercion or violence; one should acquire it honestly, not by trickery or deceit; and one should acquire it in ways which do not entail harm and suffering for others. The Buddha mentions five specific kinds of livelihood which bring harm to others and are therefore to be avoided:"

"Monks, a lay follower should not engage in five types of business. Which five? Business in weapons, business in human beings, business in meat, business in intoxicants, and business in poison.

"These are the five types of business that a lay follower should not engage in."---AN 5.177
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Dhammarakkhito
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by Dhammarakkhito »

intuitively, tho, i dont think it's wrong for a waiter to serve alcohol at a restaurant. or a cashier at a supermarket to scan alcohol.
i mean it would be hard not to be 'involved' in a business that serves meat or alcohol or poison
a huge chunk of food service and retail would be wrong livelihood. it's much more contributing to the sale or manufacture of such things. i'm not certain should not have made it seem that way
i wouldnt work at a liquor store i don't think
"Just as the ocean has a single taste — that of salt — in the same way, this Dhamma-Vinaya has a single taste: that of release."
— Ud 5.5

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dharmacorps
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Re: Hauling Truckloads of Beer (Right Livelihood)

Post by dharmacorps »

If you mostly or exclusively transport alcohol, then it could be wrong livelihood, but if you transport whatever people ask you to transport which includes anything really, then I don't think it would be. If your "trade" is in transportation and the provision of transportation services, then I don't think it would be wrong livelihood. Although I do think that long term, you would want to get away from being involved at all with alcohol. :anjali: :toast:
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