Man does not live on bread alone---The way of business taught by Jesus and Rinzai
Working experience of Jesus
Jesus was a descendent of a Royal family and Levi’s tribe as his legal father Joseph was a royal descendant of David and his mother Mary belonged to the tribe of Levi, the only tribe allowed to continue as priests. Therefore Jesus belonged to an elite class who could meet with religious and political leaders. Yet he still worked at ranches, farms, breweries, and construction sites in order to help his mother take care of his younger siblings after his father, Joseph, died relatively early.
Jesus inherited his religious knowledge from his mother. However his life experiences were working at quarries, farms etc as a coolie, which were reflected in his preaching. Jesus got his faith from these experiences, "Man does not work for bread alone, but for every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Mat4:4) and "the people who are entrusted the word of God are gods"(John10:35) and he started to preach the gospel, said "the son of man namely the son of God".
Paul's vocation theory
Paul said in a letter to the Christians in Rome, "Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well."(Romans 12:4-7)
Differences between a shepherd and an employe
Jesus also taught us in Gospel of John, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." (John10:11-13)
Jesus told us the two creeds of life, one for shepherds and another for employees. He did not say that it was always good to be eaten to death by the wolf. In fact, until the day of the Passover, the day on which he decided to be crucified, Jesus always said "My time has not come yet" and escaped form the people who wanted to kill him.
Whether the shepherd is a vocation, by which the man should sacrifice his life, is dependent on the will of God. Jesus too, who had prepared for his plan to be crucified, reciprocated between the valley where the late John the Baptist had based for his mission and Lazarus' home outside Jerusalem more than one month before the Passover. He shod sweat and blood after the Last Supper, appealing to God, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me" (Mat26:39). Determining the true purpose of God is so difficult even for Jesus.
Rinzai’s true man who has no rank
Rinzai, the Zen monk of the Tang Dynasty said "A true man who has no rank but has complete integrity exists on the red meat ball and comes and goes from your face doors. One who has not testified yet, watch it now.” (Rinzai-roku) No rank means “to abide nowhere and completely free”. The face doors mean ears, nose, mouth and numerous pores, etc. Paul also said, "In fact, it says, 'The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.' And that message is the very message about faith that we preach." (Roma10:8)
Rinzai continued to say, "Gentlemen, Buddhism has no crafts, seeing things as they are, taking a leak and a crap, dressing, eating and lieing tired. Idiots may laugh, the wise knows it. As the ancients said, "One who devises outward is the sheer folly." The place where you stand, if you become the master, anywhere anytime becomes true. While the environment changing rapidly, do not be preoccupied. If you can do this way, you can swim in the ocean of liberation." (Rinzai-roku)
The food-wheel and the Dharma both rolling
In its ultimate essence, every action of daily life from taking a leak and a crap to food, clothing and shelter is no different from practicing and testifying of Buddhism or proclaiming the Word. Business is no exception. Just rolling the wheel of food and making profits is not enough. Only after turning the Dharma-wheel, then can you get the ultimate satisfaction to say "God with us".(Mat1:23) If you turn the Dharma-wheel, the food-wheel must turn even though the cycles of the two wheels may different. While you may need to close your account each year, each month or each day when you turn the food-wheel, we must consider the longer cycle for the Dharma-wheel, for example one hundred years or one thousand years.。(Ekoan Hensho:2010/01/04)