Religion & the Marketplace

I've been thinking lately about religion and business, and a question came to mind:

What if the Buddha, Jesus and the Prophet Muhammad could have a dialogue about the relationship between commerce and the spiritual life?

That would be a pretty amazing conversation. I think the chips would really start flying over the issue of caravan trading.

The Buddha taught that there were certain professions that would not be suitable for a person genuinely seeking Enlightenment. One of those, he argued, was caravan trading.


Caravan traders, Egypt

If you know anything about the life of the Prophet Muhammad, he got his start -- thanks to his wife, Khadija -- in the carvan trading business. It allowed him to make important connections that he would later rely on in his spiritual ministry and political expansion, and allowed him to earn the title, "el-Amin," or, the one who is trustworthy. How would he react to the Buddha's condemnation of the profession?

Jesus's angriest moment occured in a marketplace, where he went on a destructive rampage against merchants who set up shop in the Temple in Jerusalem. He argued that making the Temple into a market desecrated the holy place:

"He found in the temple those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. He made a whip of cords, and threw all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables. To those who sold the doves, he said, "Take these things out of here! Don't make my Father's house a marketplace!" (John 2: 14-16)

While Jesus may not have been against marketplaces in general, he was clearly against mixing business with the sacred.

In Hinduism, a more favorable approach to commerce is shown in the dharma literature (dharma means the order of things, or the 'proper' duties and obligations of individuals according to caste and gender), such as in the Laws of Manu. For the Vaishya, the merchant caste, buying and selling is a religious obligation. Included in that obligation is cutting deals in order to turn favorable profits. For this caste, there is no conflict in the duties to study the Vedas (sacred texts) and to lend money:

The Vaisya to tend cattle, to bestow gifts, to offer sacrifices, to study (the Veda), to trade, to lend money, and to cultivate land. (Chapter 1)

Vaishyas are also expected to derive benefit from other people:

Three suffer for the sake of others, witnesses, a surety, and judges; but four enrich themselves (through others), a Brahmana, a money-lender, a merchant, and a king. (Chapter 8)

I think it is really interesting to examine these examples beside each other, if possible. This kind of comparative activity could be between just a couple of examples initially, and then can be revisited later in the course as time and coverage permit.