The Buddha Walks into the Office

Wisdom for "Generation Next" on how to make your work meaningful, satisfying, and of benefit to others

Does it ever seem that a lot of the people you work with are, well, jerks? This book is about how not to let work turn you into one of them. Apply the simple Buddhist teachings and practices Lodro Rinzler provides here to whatever you do for a living, and you’ll not only avoid jerk-hood, but you’ll be setting out on the path toward making your livelihood an expression of your inherent wisdom, honesty, and compassion. You’ll discover practical ways to bring mindfulness into administrative support, cabinet-making, financial management, nursing, truck-driving, or latté-brewing. In the process, you’ll discover genuine empathy for the folks you once found so difficult. You’ll also learn leadership skills that apply compassion to management in a way that increases happiness along with efficiency.

This is career advice of the profoundest kind, geared toward today’s twenty- and thirty-something workers and job-seekers whose employment outlook is radically different from that of a generation ago. As Lodro shows, even if the path of work shifts beneath your feet, it’s possible to make your livelihood a source of satisfaction and of deep meaning.

LODRO RINZLER is a teacher in the Shambhala Buddhist lineage and founder of the Institute for Compassionate Leadership. His columns appear regularly in the Huffington Post and Marie Claire, and his writings have appeared in Reality Sandwich, the Interdependence Project, the Shambhala Sun, Buddhadharma, and the Good Men Project. He is also the author of The Buddha Walks into a Bar . . ., Sit Like a Buddha, and Walk Like a Buddha: Even if Your Boss Sucks, Your Ex Is Torturing You, and You’re Hungover Again. For more of Lodro visit www.lodrorinzler.com.

Table of Contents:
Introduction

HINAYANA: LIVE WITH PURPOSE
Setting an Intention
Discovering Our Worthiness: An Introduction to Meditation Practice
Be Who You Want to Be
Wielding Your Speech like the Hammer of Thor
Russian Roulette and the Power of Just Do It
Five Slogans for Changing How You View Work

MAHAYANA: ON-THE-JOB COMPASSION
Rom Coms, Zombies, and Bodhicitta
Mentors and Virtue
Bombing Your Workplace with Awake
Karma, the Six Realms, and Why You Should Stop Being a Jerk
Three Steps for Creating Social Change through Inner Change
Five Slogans for Empathy and Compassion

MAHAYANA: SIX TOOLS FOR COMPASSIONATE LEADERSHIP
Benevolence (or Bashing Aggression with the Velvet Hammer)
True (or How to be Steady as a Mountain)
Genuine (or Pointing to the Stars)
Fearlessness (or Being Decisive in an Indecisive World)
Artfulness (or Arranging Your Kingdom)
Rejoicing (or It's Okay to Party)

VAJRAYANA: BE AWAKE EACH MOMENT
Developing Confidence
It's Hard out Here for a Pimp: Right Livelihood Revisited
Let Go of My Ego
Strippers, Life Coaches, and Cultivating an Authentic Presence
Five Slogans for Increasing Conviction in Your Natural State