Culture Department Forum
A New World of Culture: Buddhism in the Workplace – Applying Faith in Daily Life
Excerpts from Living Buddhism, 12/01/2002, p. 34
The goal of the Culture Department is to nurture promising, capable people of faith and intellect who exemplify humanistic leadership, embracing wisdom, hope and compassion.
“The power of culture may be hard to detect at times, but it is a fundamental force since it transforms the human heart. Political and economic developments may be flashier and appear on the news more often, but culture and education are the forces that actually shape the age.
We must not make the mistake of looking at shallow waters that bubble noisily over the rocks; the deep currents are even more important to know the true nature of the river.”
—SGI President Daisaku Ikeda
(Faith Into Action, pp. 259–60)
SAMUEL BAILEY, JR.
MITCHELLVILLE, MARYLAND
The Buddhist teaching originating in the Lotus Sutra is the basis of the ethics I use for my legal and business career. It helps me see my role to help people. One of my clients is an international corporation that is developing a titanium and silica mineral deposit in Peru. I have insisted on corporate operations and practices that have integrity and honesty. Further, I have encouraged and supported corporate commitment for environmental and social impact for the people of Peru that is positive and affords them an opportunity to capitalize on the natural resources in their community.
However, such a commitment brings obstacles. The acquisition of investment and efficient operation of the corporation requires adherence to commercial and capitalistic policies. As corporate counsel, there are at least three responsibilities that I must carry out for successful corporate governance: 1) ensure that business gets done; 2) ensure that business is done legally; and, 3) protect shareholder value. Much of the controversy in current corporate scandal has been a failure to perform the second and third responsibilities. The corporate officers’ priority is on getting the business done now. Legalities and shareholder value are matters that can be addressed later. Further, corporate finance strategies and mining development models in third world countries often do not provide for environmental or social impact that will help indigenous people. Such people-oriented policies are costly and time consuming. A business case is designed to provide optimal returns on investments, which as a rule does not view environmental and social impact with a high priority.
However, my Buddhist views have encouraged the company to adopt people-oriented policies. And, my Buddhist practice has enabled me to effectively argue that, in the long run, adherence to such people-oriented policies will lead to a more successful outcome. For example, the company has adopted a plan to establish a local plant that will process the raw ore to a near-finished product stage in Peru with environmentally-friendly technology, rather than taking the raw unprocessed ore out of the country or processing it there with a chemically injurious process that would destroy the integrity of the land. Such a model allows the people of Peru to participate in the commercialization of the finished product in a more meaningful way. Of course, it makes sense for the corporation, because they ship less waste material and lower their costs.
This commitment as a practitioner of Nichiren Buddhism requires powerful faith. My favorite writing of Nichiren, “On Prayer” says, “…it could never come about that the prayers of a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra would go unanswered” (The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, p. 345). However, the wisdom, determination and compassion constantly required as a practitioner of the Lotus Sutra is a challenge. I look forward to my continual growth amid many struggles and obstacles, realizing that anything is possible with this Buddhist practice.
PHYLLIS TURNER LAWRENCE
ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA
As a former attorney, and now a consultant and trainer in restorative justice, I’ve come to the conclusion that at the core of Buddhist ethics is the belief in the interrelatedness of all human beings combined with a passionate desire for people to overcome their suffering and become happy.
This sense of interconnectedness produces humanistic, caring behavior. I stopped practicing law and for the past eight years, I’ve been advocating a new paradigm shift called restorative justice (RJ). Very briefly, RJ principles state that when a crime occurs, it is more crucial and effective to determine what harm was done, by whom and how to repair it. This moves the community back toward wholeness and balance rather than simply figuring out what laws were broken, by whom and how do we punish them, which often focuses on isolation and separation, both for the victim and the offender.
From this “harm-focus,” rather than “law-focus,” we examine who was impacted by the crime—the victims and their loved ones, the community at large, the offenders themselves by their own actions and their loved ones as well. This creates a process that empowers them all to determine what needs to be done to make things right (given the past cannot be taken back).
Already you can see the concern for the ripple effects of crime, i.e, the principle of interrelatedness at work.
Our work often entails facilitating a dialogue among all these folks. It is hard work for people to articulate their pain; to feel open and safe enough to sit, in that pain, with the one who caused it. As a facilitator, I need to provide the sense of safety and trust that will support them in engaging in sustained dialogue. Focusing on the potential Buddha nature in each human being and seeing an individual as a whole person, regardless of his or her actions, helps me develop the necessary fairness, respect and empathy, regardless of my personal reaction to the crime itself or the individual personalities. Certainly my efforts over the years connecting with all kinds of people—SGI members, people I’m introducing to Buddhism, legal clients, etc.—have helped prepare me for this. And I can offer my Buddhist prayers for the wisdom to do my best and for their happiness.
I also like the RJ focus on cause and effect.We make the assumption that offenders must be accountable for their actions and discourage them from blaming others, yet, on the other hand, we bring in family and community members and encourage recognition of the responsibility of the community to create and impart healthy norms. RJ also works to support victims in their healing, sometimes just by “being there” — listening to and validating their experiences.
All in all, we are working to create holistic, responsible communities by taking advantage of the momentum created by a negative situation, what we in the SGI call “turning poison into medicine.”
Restorative justice excites my passions, and its propagation is my personal mission, as propagating Nichiren Buddhism is our collective mission as disciples of Nichiren.
(To find out more about RJ, send an e-mail to phyllis@us.net.)
