Buddhist Economics

After an business meeting 2002 in Northern Germany I was waiting at the airport and stumpled upon a book at the bookstore from the Dalai Lama "The way to freedom". It was the first time, I got in touch with Buddhism. Surprisingly this book got my attentention, when I should have been happy and fulfilled, because I was a successful business woman traveling and having everything I needed.

But this book, changed a lot of my views on my life at that time. Since then, I kept on reading all kinds of books about economy and I tried to work with all kind of different management strategies to manage my projects and build up companies. But the most wisdom and long-term successful views I found in Buddhist books.

What I realized so far, buddhist ideas can help you so much to make your costumers, your employees and yourself happy at work. That´s why I would like to share most inspirational books, so you can also get know the main ideas about how mindful and compassionate economy and management work:

The Leader´s way:

Written by an international management consultant Laurens van den Muyzenberg and the Dalai Lama, in an almost 20 year long process, this book helps you to understand the interconnectedness, impermanence, and interdependence of individuals, companies, and the global economic system and how to navigate wisely as a leader.

English Version

Deutsche Version

The Diamond Cutter:

This book is written by an former business man, who became a buddhist and applied everything he learned from Buddhism to the diamond business. Trading diamonds is known as one of the dirtiest businesses in the world. They managed by treating their employees, providers and costumers fair and honest, to become one of the worlds most successful diamond selling company.

So Buddhism is not about living poorly and non successful. Realizing the law of cause and effect helps you to build up strong and friendly relationsships to those around you every day.

English version

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Wisdom of Sustainability: Buddhist Economics for the 21st Century

Emphasising human-scale, local, sustainable alternatives to globalised industry, Sulak Sivaraksa offers a way to restructure our economy on Buddhist principles and on a basis that will promote personal development.
Based on decades of thought and writing Sivaraksa outlines how measuring economic success by GDP (Gross Domestic Product) could be replaced by GNH (Gross National Happiness). It examines globalisation from a Buddhist perspective, arguing that healing the planet starts by creating sustainability at the individual and global levels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ajan Brahms talk about "Buddhist Economics and the Credit Squeeze"

What every leader needs most is compassion, kindness and sensitivity, truly understanding the people you work with.