Best careers/jobs for good kammic cultivation?

[Gintoki]

Which field of work would you believe to bring one greatest cultivation of good kamma? I understand that it is all relative to interpretation and none can claim greatest, but I'm excited to see your opinionated answers.

[SarathW]

Any job describe as Samma Ajiva.
The fifth of the Eightfold Path; right life, abstaining from any of the forbidden modes of living. Five kinds of livelihood are discouraged : trading in animals for slaughter, dealing in weapons, dealing in slaves, dealing in poison and dealing in intoxicants.

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[Wri]

Social work. Your entire job is to help people. I've been hired as a type of direct support professional and those are some very, very, happy people who know their work is making the world a better place. It's quite a stressful line of work so you'll need a good grasp on stress management, but it's nothing but good kamma all around.

[Kim OHara]

Sarath's answer is a good one but if you want to aim for the best rather than avoid the worst, then I think you should start with the 'helping' professions - medicine, teaching, nursing, etc.


Kim

[SarathW]

Garbage collector keep us free from many illness and make our lives more pleasant.
Just imagine a life without a plumber!
You can appreciate this if you go to a place without these services.

[cookiemonster]

Become a monastic!

[SarathW]

Why a plumber is different to a monastic if he follow the Noble Eight Fold Path?

[Gintoki]

Haha these are all great answers. I'm still not sure. I've really had no passion in anything other than self development and mastery since I can remember, it's only recently that I've developed a sense of metta. Becoming a monk would be first choice, but I have a family that I'm very much attached to and love. If only I could find a means of income directly related to buddhism...I'm fine with having just enough income to support my family's wellbeing.

[cookiemonster]

Why a plumber is different to a monastic if he follow the Noble Eight Fold Path?

A monastic can focus more time on the eightfold path?

[SarathW]

If you look at a time table of a Monastic it does not seem so.
They both seem to have the same time frame.

[Ben]

Haha these are all great answers. I'm still not sure. I've really had no passion in anything other than self development and mastery since I can remember, it's only recently that I've developed a sense of metta. Becoming a monk would be first choice, but I have a family that I'm very much attached to and love. If only I could find a means of income directly related to buddhism...I'm fine with having just enough income to support my family's wellbeing.

Then anything that is not proscribed as wrong livelihood will be compatible with being a Buddhist. However, going into any profession because of its merit-making potential is no different to being motivated by money, status and power. Remember that intention is what counts and if your desire to help people is underpinned by craving for 'good kamma' then the vipaka that flows from that tainted intention will likewise be of the same nature.
Kind regards,
Ben

[Gintoki]

I appreciate your input. I had thought about that, I've almost always had my thoughts on the finish line and overwhelm myself from the get go, so for now I'm focusing on the beginning steps of the ladder towards discipline (I'm very open to disagreement/constrasting opinion). I've not yet experienced a right view that penetrates the 5 aggregates and so my current means are to place myself in environments that are more prone to influence one's focus toward the Dhamma, kind of like the taking of refuge with a sangha as the 3rd reward of merit. I'm aware that I'm ignorant and I expect most of my actions to be rooted in that, so I figure that even if my kamma are with unskillful intention, I feel like the deeds in themselves may be good as a frequent object of meditation to gain insight into my intention...but being amongst others following the dhamma or occupied by making the dhamma more available to others sounds great as a means to keep myself mindful of the Dhamma. I'm scared of falling away from it and getting sucked into unhealthy escapes for the hundredth time.

I guess I should have said that If I could move my family into a monastery and be able to support them I would, I'd like to hope it's not too much worse than mindfully eating junk food and idly chatting as I'm aware some monks do. If this was an ignorant thing to say, I welcome perspective. I hope my ideals are reasonable.

[Kamran]

Something that causes a pleasant absorption of your attention to the point where you prefer to drop anything else that comes up in life and go back to your focused labor.

[Alobha]

Any job describe as Samma Ajiva.
The fifth of the Eightfold Path; right life, abstaining from any of the forbidden modes of living. Five kinds of livelihood are discouraged : trading in animals for slaughter, dealing in weapons, dealing in slaves, dealing in poison and dealing in intoxicants.

http://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/sam ... index.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

What also plays a role is context: E.g. social work may sound good, but if you earn so little that you can't afford a meditation cushion or going on retreat, then this may actually interfere with practice in the end. The same may go for jobs like doctors. If you're a doctor in a country where you're forced to work 20hour shifts and lying about mistakes you make to save insurance money and your job, one might actually reconsider.
Not engaging in wrong livelihood is the best start. After that, I'd look out for working conditions that are in accordance with the practice (enough free time for practice, nobody forcing you to engage in verbal of bodily unbeneficial behavior and the content of the work itself would ideally give rise to beneficial mental states but that is usually more dependent on the person itself rather than the job specifics.)

[Sam Vara]

Sound points, Alobha. The bigger picture is extremely important. I think this is one of those issues that has so many variables that people are better off working it out for themselves, subject to general guidance from the suttas.