Right livelihood is more meaningful if we understand that it is not limited to social and moral conventions but includes the customs and patterns of our individual lives: making good use of the hours between rising and retiring, working well, maintaining good health. Such a way of life requires rational behavior. Care must be taken to get the right amounts of sleep and exercise and to eat wisely. Though our age, sex, constitution, environment, and occupation must all be taken into consideration, an optimum way of life exists for each of us. If we pursue this life steadily over the years, it will exert good influences on our economic and physical well-being, our progress in academic studies and religious practice, and even our ultimate success or failure in life. People who neglect to live in the way best suited to them bring ruin on their own heads. The Buddhist precepts set forth detailed prescriptions for the way monks are expected to live. It should be a major concern of everyone to correct bad habits and live in the regular and careful pattern that is best for him or her.
Basic Buddhist Concepts