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in time and quickly took the child 
to where 
the Lord Buddha was staying. As 
soon as the maneating 
ogress followed the mother into 
the temple, 
its temptation to eat people 
disappeared. The Buddha 
summoned both of the two. The 
Buddha 
looked at their previous lives and 
made the pictures 
of their past visible for others to 
see as well. 
Having seen the pictures, both of 
the women knew 
the reasons for everything and so 
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were able to forgive 
one another. The ogress was able 
to become a 
stream-enterer. The mistress 
attained faith in 
theTriple Gem.The ogress didn't 
know how to earn 
her living so the mistress brought 
her home and 
looked after her like a daughter. 
The ogress knew 
in advance what the seasons of the 
year would be 
like — whether there would be 
drought or flood 
and the forecast she passed on to 
her caretakers 
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and they were able to become 
wealthy. The moral 
of this story is don't go looking for 
mistresses to 
help any situation because we all 
still have defilements. 
Blessing Fourteen: Not Leaving 
One's Work Undone 177 
Blessing Fourteen: 
Not Leaving one's 
Work Undone 
A. INTRODUCTION 
A.1 The "work ethic" in 
Buddhism 
Like many other spiritual 
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traditions, Buddhism is 
a religion which supports the 
"work ethic". Buddhism 
is not a religion to tolerate lazy 
people. Even 
if you have already fulfilled all the 
blessings in this 
grouping by cherishing your 
parents, children and 
spouse, if you neglect to be lively 
in earning your 
living, harmony in the family will 
not come about 
because of financial difficulties. 
From a financial 
point view is necessary to devote 
oneself to earning 
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one's living in order to support 
one's children, 
to have a legacy to pass on to one's 
children, to support 
one's spouse and cherish one's 
parents. 
In Buddhism it is also seen as 
dutiful to work hard 
because out of gratitude, one 
recognizes that in order 
to come to working age at all, we 
are a result of 
considerable investment of time, 
money, education, 
love and patience by parents, 
teachers and state 
alike and if we don't put our skills 
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into action, then 
that investment and good will 
would go to waste. 
Thus in Buddhism a lazy person is 
also seen as an 
ungrateful person. 
Supposing you are already 
someone who has 
knowledge (Blessing Nine), 
practical skills (Blessing 
Ten), it doesn't mean that you will 
automatically be 
effective in doing your work. 
Some people with the 
best of education and experience, 
make no impact 
on their work if they never get 
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round to doing it. 
Many think that the reason for 
procrastination is 
laziness on the part of the person 
involved. However 
in recent academic studies, it turns 
out that 
the reason we don't do things even 
when we know 
it is a good idea is often much 
more varied. 
• procrastination coming .from 
fear: especially the 
fear of being judged to lack ability. 
Such people 
have an inferiority complex over 
their ability and 
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would rather be seen to fail in a 
task because of 
procrastination (lack of time) that 
because of lack 
of ability. Thus the slip-shod work 
of the final 
minute rush means that 
procrastination is an 
excuse for mediocrity. 
• procrastination because of 
perfectionism: some 
people have been brought up with 
the fear of 
doing too well, or appearing too 
keen, or being 
a "goody-goody". Consequently 
they procrastinate, 
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not putting in their best, so that if 
the results 
come out well, it doesn't look 
intentional 
or magnifies the myth of `latent 
ability'. 
• procrastination from the 
misconception that 
work expands to fill the time 
available: Some 
people are disorganized to the 
degree that they 
feel they have no control over the 
time they 
spend on any task. Therefore they 
leave tasks to 
the last minute in order to `save 
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time'. However 
the results of the work often leaves 
a lot to be 
desired. 
• procrastination because of 
resentment of control: 
(e.g. when a person doesn't like 
their boss). Here 
procrastination serves as a way to 
give power to 
the underdog, to say "get off my 
back", as a sort 
of game where people try to beat 
the clock, or 
178 A Manual of Peace: 38 Steps 
towards Enlightened Living 
reminding others of things they are 
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starting to 
take for granted (when the person 
is not assertive 
enough to say `no' directly). 
• procrastination is sometimes 
used to control 
distance in relationships: to make 
a person more 
or less reliant on another person or 
persons. 
Whatever the reason, the Buddha 
taught that procrastination 
either in worldly or spiritual work 
will 
limit one's ability to earn one's 
living and the result 
will be to destroy harmony in 
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one's family life. 
B. WHAT IS WORK? 
B.1 Definition of work: physical 
and spiritual 
When we talk of `work' in a 
religious context we 
mean `a means of earning our 
living'. We cannot 
survive without money. We have 
to have something 
to eat 
but don't forget that food 
is of many types 
. . . It is just like a tree needs food, 
but the food that 
nourishes it is sucked up through 
the roots.The food 
for a light bulb is electrical current. 
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Because work 
is simply a means of earning our 
living we thus 
divide work into two main 
components, neither of 
which we can afford to leave 
undone: 
• food for the body: For our body 
we need solid 
food. To get the food we need for 
our body we 
must find ourselves a job or a 
career. Work 
(physical) means the means by 
which we can 
nourish our body and its scope also 
reaches to 
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such things as maintaining 
harmony with the 
other people around us. 
• food for the mind: food suitable 
for the mind is 
"merit" i.e. the fruits of our good 
deeds and spiritual 
development. Working on the 
mind doesn't 
just mean feeling contented the 
whole of the time, 
but also to develop the mind to 
become wiser 
too. 
C. UNFINISHED WORK 
C.1 Why work left unfinished 
Some people in an office get a 
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reputation for leaving 
a backlogue of work. Every piece 
of work which 
involves them in any way can be 
easily found because 
it is always on that person's desk 
unfinished. 
They have two baskets on their 
desk, an `in' basket 
and an `out' basket. The `in' 
basket is always stacked 
up higher than their head, but there 
is never anything 
in the `out' tray. Thus if you have 
lost a particular 
document people in the office say 
playfully 
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"If you want to find finished work 
go to Mr. A but 
if you want find unfinished work 
go to Mr. B because 
it is all on his desk!" The same is 
true for students 
always leaving the revision until 
the exams 
are close. If you want to look at 
why work is left 
unfinished, in almost every case 
you can generalize 
down to four basic reasons: 
1. wrong timing: Doing the work 
at the wrong time 
or with the wrong timing. If you do 
the work at 
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the wrong time such as ploughing 
a field out of 
season, weeds will choke the bare 
soil before you 
manage to sow your crops (hasty 
in things that 
don't require it) or else wait until 
it's too late before 
you start doing something (slow in 
things that 
should have been finished long 
ago) e.g. someone 
who doesn't study when he has the 
opportunity 
as a child and has to do his studies 
when he too 
old to remember anything. ( `Make 
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hay while the 
sun shines' but More haste less 
speed'). Same for 
people who wait until they are old 
before becoming 
interested in training the mind. 
Work which 
needs to be done patiently (e.g. 
throwing a pot 
of clay) or driving at the same 
speed as the rest 
of the traffic. Meditation needs you 
to be patient, 
like waiting for crops to grow or 
like a hen hatching 
an egg where the mother hen must 
wait thirty 
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days whether the mother hen must 
wait thirty 
days regardless. If things have a 
fixed period or 
cycle there is not point rushing 
them. Also if you 
rush into something and do it 
wrongly as the 
result you will waste both time, 
money and morale 
because instead of doing it only 
once (correctly) 
you have to do it three times (do it 
wrongly, 
undo it and re-do it) and on every 
time there is no 
satisfaction from your 
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achievement. Better to do 
things cautiously so you can get it 
right from the 
start. With meditation also you 
cannot rush to 
bring the mind to a standstill. You 
cannot achieve 
overnight success in meditation 
(except for 
0.00001% of people in very 
exceptional 
circumstances).You have to be 
able to tell 
whether what you are doing is the 
sort of work 
where the time spent is fixed or 
whether it is 
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