The Owner and the Value of the Spirit

The afternoon sunlight streamed through the windows of the meeting room, casting a soft golden glow over the faces of the employees sitting quietly. As the applause faded, Thầy Thích Chân Quang began a story about their remarkable owner — Ms. Non.

He said that Ms. Non was a wealthy woman, but unlike other owners who live only according to their own desires, she was always thoughtful, deeply searching for the truths of life. Many times, he had taught businesspeople that the ethics of an entrepreneur lie in creating jobs for many people. But the value becomes even greater when that entrepreneur truly loves their employees.

"Why is that?" Thầy looked out toward the audience, his gaze calm. "Because with an owner and employees, we have a business. And when a business runs well, society prospers."

He recounted that in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, arrogant owners who oppressed their workers gave rise to the communist movement that spread across the world. But today, the world has learned to look back and recognize the noble value of workers — the people who pour out their sweat and tears contributing to businesses. That is the perspective of socialism today. And our country, though following a market economy, still maintains a socialist orientation, meaning it respects the noble role of the worker.

Ms. Non, according to Thầy, walks a path that resembles socialism but is in essence the path of the Buddha's teachings — the compassion and love of one who cares for those within her reach. Whenever someone came to work for her, she was always deeply concerned for their well-being. And in the light of the Buddha's teachings, she is an outstanding, sincere Buddhist entrepreneur, one who has truly absorbed the Dharma.

Thầy emphasized that the character of an owner who loves, cares for, and looks after employees in both material and spiritual ways is a model for our times. And Ms. Non told him that she hoped her employees, beyond having stable lives, would also elevate their spiritual values.

"Why is that?" Thầy asked, his voice lowering. "Because the value of a human being lies in the spirit, not in material things. We may be poor, we may lack things, but we must never lack the spiritual values that make us human. That is, we must have ethics, we must aspire upward, we must have knowledge — then no one has the right to look down on us."

Thầy gave an example: suppose three people walk out of here — an owner, a factory manager, and a worker. By social rank, they occupy three different levels. But if the worker, after finishing the workday, goes home to bathe and cleanse themselves, then goes to the temple to venerate the Buddha, chant sutras, sit in meditation, do good deeds, and live a life with depth in the truths of the Dharma — then this person may well hold a higher value than the other two. If the factory manager does not know the truths of the Dharma, if the director does not practice but only indulges in pleasure, then no matter how wealthy they are, their spiritual value falls short of the worker's.

Thầy looked across to America, where conflict between white people and Black people keeps erupting. World law declares that all human beings are equal, so why does oppression persist? He said that only after living in America did he truly see the reason: some Black people refuse to elevate their spiritual values. They fight, play around, deal in drugs, engage in meaningless pursuits, and never raise their knowledge, character, or ethics. So even though the law grants equality, white people still look down on them because their spiritual value is too low.

Ms. Non understood this. She wanted her employees, even if they might remain poor, never to be people of low value. And she sought spiritual values for her employees through the Buddha's teachings, through the path of the Buddha. Thầy said this solution is number one, because the Buddha's teachings give us the most noble spiritual values.

He taught further that in today's world, science advances at a tremendous pace and many religions compete with one another, yet the highest intellectuals of the world recognize the Buddha's teachings as the religion leading humanity, because beyond its lofty ethics and profound spirituality, it is a science that runs ahead of science. For example, several thousand years ago, the Buddhist sutras already spoke of worlds inhabited by living beings as numerous as the grains of sand of the Ganges River, filling both banks and the riverbed. And if each handful of that sand were to become another Ganges River, and each of those rivers held countless more grains of sand, then the sum of all those grains of sand would be the worlds of living beings in the universe. That number is beyond anyone's imagination.

But today, science is beginning to give us numbers: scientists say that if you add up all the sand on the beaches across the world, it may roughly equal the number of stars in the universe. Science and the Buddhist sutras speak in harmony — and the sutras said it first, thousands of years ago. Scientists estimate that the universe contains about one hundred billion galaxies. Each galaxy holds as many stars as our sun. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, contains three hundred billion sun-like stars. For one person to count the stars in our galaxy alone would take three thousand years. So even in the field of astronomy alone, we can see that the Buddha's teachings run ahead of science. That is why distinguished scientists, when they study religion, conclude that the Buddha's teachings are the religion leading humanity.

"So we can follow the path of the Buddha with peace of mind," Thầy said. "In it we find knowledge, philosophy, and ethics. And so whoever walks the path of the Buddha's teachings has their value raised at once. No matter who they are — whether a street sweeper or someone of the greatest wealth and rank. But without the spiritual values of the Buddha's teachings, even the wealthiest person may be nothing more than a demon in disguise. And once the spiritual values of the Buddha's teachings dwell in one's heart, then even a street sweeper may be a philosopher, a sage, a hermit, a bodhisattva wandering through this dusty, sunlit world."

Therefore, let us seek true values to live by, to have confidence, to have happiness. And Ms. Non was very wise to choose for us spiritual values through the Buddha's teachings.

At the close of the story, Thầy offered a gentle reminder: "Today, at Ms. Non's invitation, I have come here with a small dharma talk for all of you, titled 'That Is All It Takes.' In life we need many things, but today let us speak together of the small necessities — enough for us to live a life of peace and joy."

The Meaning of the Story

The meaning of this story is: the true value of a human being does not lie in wealth or material status, but in one's spiritual life, ethics, and wisdom. An ethical entrepreneur will know how to love and elevate the spiritual values of their employees, rather than seeing them merely as tools for profit. When people possess high spiritual values — through practice, ethics, and knowledge — then no matter their circumstances, they live with dignity, confidence, and happiness. The Buddha's teachings are the path that elevates those spiritual values in the most complete and noble way.

Compiled from a dharma talk by Thầy Thích Chân Quang.