At 14:23 03.04.2005 +0200, you wrote:

>--- Ong Yong Peng <yongpeng.ong@...> wrote:
> > I would like to say that where personal wealth
> > management is concerned,
> > anything along this line is fine. However, I believe
> > the Buddha didn't
> > intend it to be dogmatic
>
>For one thing, he must have been quite aware that not
>everyone is able to live on only 25% of his or her
>gross income. I never could, and I don't feel too
>sorry for being unable to follow the letter of his
>advice.

I agree.

The reason why I am interested in these matters, is that I am writing a
book (in Norwegian) on Buddhism from a humanist perspective, and I find it
useful to have some stories to illustrate that the Buddha also showed a
concern for the daily life and economics of ordinary lay people.

I do not recommend that anyone should take these stories dogmatically. What
they show, however, is that from a Buddhist point of view lay persons can
pursue their carreers and earn money with a good conscience, provided they
earn their money in a rightful way, spend their earnings wisely and also
use them to help others.

I found that there are several small dialogues in the AN that illustrate
this, and I think I'll use the one in DN 69 (IV, VII, 62). But I am
thankful for the suggestions I got. They pointed me in the right direction.

Yours,

Kåre A. Lie
http://www.lienet.no/

THESAURUS (n.): An ancient reptile with
an excellent vocabulary.