What the Buddha Taught: Revised and Expanded Edition with Texts from Suttas and Dhammapada

by Walpola Rahula

The Buddha tells him that there are four things which are conducive to a man’s happiness in this world: First: he should be skilled, efficient, earnest, and energetic in whatever profession he is engaged, and he should know it well (utthāna-sampadā); second: he should protect his income, which he has thus earned righteously, with the sweat of his brow (ārakkha-sampadā); (This refers to protecting wealth from thieves, etc. All these ideas should be considered against the background of the period.) third: he should have good friends (kalyāṇa-mitta) who are faithful, learned, virtuous, liberal and intelligent, who will help him along the right path away from evil; fourth: he should spend reasonably, in proportion to his income, neither too much nor too little, i.e., he should not hoard wealth avariciously, nor should he be extravagant—in other words he should live within his means (samajīvikatā). Then the Buddha expounds the four virtues conducive to a layman’s happiness hereafter: (1) Saddhā: he should have faith and confidence in moral, spiritual and intellectual values; (2) Sila: he should abstain from destroying and harming life, from stealing and cheating, from adultery, from falsehood, and from intoxicating drinks; (3) Cāga: he should practise charity, generosity, without attachment and craving for his wealth; (4) Paññā: he should develop wisdom which leads to the complete destruction of suffering, to the realization of Nirvāna.1