Introduction
Institutions and Social Trust
Studies | Ineffective formal institutions | Substitutive informal institution |
---|---|---|
Helmke and Levitsky (2004) | Legal systems | Helmke and Levitsky (2004) assert that substitutive institutions are likely to appear where formal institutions are ineffective. In China, for instance, local officials supply public goods by mobilizing resources through temple and lineage associations |
Estrin and Prevezer (2011) | Economic rules | Estrin and Prevezer (2011) suggest that political connection is a substitutive informal institution which facilitates private entrepreneurs to access bank loans and government support |
Sauerwald and Peng (2013) | Legal systems | Sauerwald and Peng (2013) highlight the role of national culture, especially a collectivist orientation, and trust in principal–principal conflicts |
Horak and Klein (2016) | Economic rules and contracts | Horak and Klein (2016) evidence that yongo—informal social networks in Korea facilitate general trust in Korean society. |
Boytsun et al. (2011) | Legal systems | Boytsun et al. (2011) indicate that informal rules such as social norms and social cohesion have significant influence on corporate governance. That is communities with stronger social norms will have more open firm-level corporate governance |
The Roles of Formal and Informal Institutions in Social Trust in the Vietnamese Context
Interpretations of Trust and Social Trust from a Buddhist Perspective
A Pragmatic Perspective and Skillful Means Approach to Respond to Social Trust Issues
Principle | Assumption | Practical applicability | Responding to trust issues |
---|---|---|---|
Non-attachment | Letting go of mental fixations, which are incompatible with depending arising and the impermanent nature of reality to encourage more objective perception, compassion, and reduced selfishness that in turn alleviate suffering (Sahdra et al. 2010) | Attachment to pursuits such as appearance, fame, power, rewards, and recognition in organizations can mislead people in ways that will harm them eventually because once they achieve what they seek, there is always more to expect and cling to | This principle guides organizational members to let go of materialistic values at any cost. Trust is not based on opportunistic behaviors in organizations |
Impermanence (Pāli: anicca; Sanskrit: anitya) | No single phenomenon in life is permanent because everything in the world is constantly moving through three stages: being born, abiding, and dying (Shen and Midgley 2007) | Impermanence fosters the acceptance of phenomena without inherent worth or meaning, thus helping to overcome defensive behavior in leadership (Van Den Muyzenberg 2014) | Level of trust in organization does not exist permanently; nonetheless, it can vary through the life cycle of the organization. Trust must be reviewed and adjusted continuously |
Dependent arising (Sanskrit: Pratītyasamutpāda; Pali: Paṭiccasamuppāda) | The reality that nothing can stand alone: individuals, organizations, and society itself are interdependent on each other | Collaboration between all stakeholders. A long-lasting trustworthiness should be obtained through collective appreciation and implementation | |
The middle way (path) (Pāli: Majjhimāpaṭipadā; Sanskrit: Madhyamāpratipad) | A moderate approach to avoid extremes of self-mortification and indulgence and give full moral weight to conflicting values (Schroeder 2004) | Used as an economic term to reflect moderate consumption leading to sustainability (Schumacher 1973; Zsolnai 2011) | Avoid extremism in relying fully on external conditions to cultivate trust. The interpretation of trust should be proactive, evolving, and context-relevant. |
Skillful means (Upāya) | No single teaching or practice is sufficient to cover countless karmic differences in the world. Embraces the notion of non-attachment, flexibility, context-sensitivity, and compassion (Schroeder 2004) | Introduced in spiritual leadership to promote ethical, flexible, and reflexive spiritual leadership practices in response to contextual challenges with wisdom and compassion and without discrimination (Vu et al. 2018) | Nurturing trust in a continuous and context-sensitive manner with flexibility and reflexivity on past experiences to pragmatically attend to external constraints in disseminating the problem of trust to organizational members |
Compassion (karuṇā) | A sustained and practical determination; the basic nature of human beings to do everything in one’s power to help others alleviate pain or suffering (Lama 1995) | Encouraging a collective trust mechanism that involves the acknowledgment of stakeholders’ concerns and well-being to effectively respond to external pressures in an effort to collectively make improvements at institutional and social levels | |
Wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā; Pāli: paññā) | Wisdom reflects the correct understanding of how the phenomenological world exists as an interconnected system, which rejects the self as independent from others and nature, thus preventing people from placing their hopes and fears in an illusory sense of the self that can lead to an endless cycle of suffering, known as samsara (Tideman 2016) | Interpreting trust mindfully based on the evaluation and revisiting of expectations to provide rationale for contextually responsive mechanisms, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all interpretation | |
Non-self (Pali: anattā; Sanskrit: anātman) | Having a personal self/ego with any fixity is an illusion (Schuyler 2012) | The concept of non-self refuses a comparing mind on inferior and superior relationships (Kriger and Seng 2005) | Repairing trust authentically for the benefit of all organizational members rather than pursuing personal hidden agendas or ends |
Emptiness (Sanskrit: Śūnyatā; Pali: Suññatā) | Phenomena including the self are empty of intrinsic existence (Thich 1999) | Applied and explored in psychology to reveal the role of ‘self’ and how the underlying causes of mental health are based on an individual’s belief that they inherently exist (Van Gordon et al. 2016) | Interpreting trust without mental fixations on a definite way of attaining trust, or without fixations on the outcome of trust issues in various contexts. |
Karma (Sanskrit: karman; Pāli: kamma) | The causal effect and depending arising of both human and non-human beings, creating a symbiotic relationship between all beings in promoting sustainability (James 2004) | Karma rationalizes consequences of actions; it encourages long-term survival pursuits rather than short-term ones, and embraces leadership and organizational approaches for sustainability (Daniels 2011) | Addressing underlying causes of loss of trust in an effort to foster long-term approaches to respond to trust deficits, rather than a ‘quick fix’ counter-measure for trust issues to tackle a particular problem. |
Methods and Sampling
Respondent | Sector | |
---|---|---|
1 | CEO and Managing Director | Construction |
2 | CEO and Managing Director | Information Technology Consultancy |
3 | CEO | Printing and Publication |
4 | Regional Manager | Education (BC) |
5 | CEO and Managing Director | Pharmaceutical |
6 | Doctor, CEO, and Managing Director | Medical Practice |
7 | CEO and Managing Director | Health and Beauty |
8 | CEO and Managing Director | Security Technology and Solutions |
9 | CEO and Managing Director | Manufacturing |
10 | CEO and Managing Director | Consultancy |
11 | Regional Manager | Consultancy and Management |
12 | CEO and Managing Director | Agriculture |
13 | General Manager | Real Estate |
14 | CEO and Managing Director | Retail & Wholesale |
15 | CEO and Managing Director | Media |
16 | National Project Manager | Wastewater |
17 | CEO and Managing Director | Agriculture |
18 | National Manager | Pharmaceutical |
19 | CEO and Managing Director | Publishing |
20 | CEO and Managing Director | Food & Drink |
21 | CEO and Managing Director | Transportation |
22 | Lawyer, CEO, and Managing Director | Corporate Law Consultancy |
23 | CEO and Chief Accountant | Construction |
24 | CEO and Managing Director | Communication |
25 | National Manager | Energy |
26 | National Manager | Hospitality & Services |
27 | Regional Manager | Distribution |
28 | CEO and Managing Director | Talent Management Consultancy |
29 | Health and Safety Manager | Oil & Gas |
30 | CEO and Managing Director | Telecommunications |
31 | Economic Inspector | Economic Security Bureau |
32 | CEO/Member of Board of Directors | Transportation |
33 | CEO and Managing Director | Education |
Pilot Interviews (non-Buddhist practitioners) | Sector | |
---|---|---|
1 | Director | State Financial Investment |
2 | CEO/Chairperson | Coffee Processing |
3 | CEO/Member of Board of Directors | Sea Transportation |
4 | CEO/Chairperson | Livestock |
5 | State Official | Ministry of Finance |
6 | State Official | Business and Management Innovation Department |
Lack of Trust and Engaged Buddhism in the Vietnamese Context
The issue of internal trust manifested in the structure of the companies of non-Buddhist practitioners. Large shareholdings in IMEX and TUS were made up of family members and acquaintances. IMEX chose one investor, who had previously been a supplier, to become the company’s strategic investor. Because they had an established long-term relationship, they trusted each other:I was assigned to represent the state capital in one privatised company. When I was sitting on the board of directors, the other directors who were managers of the company considered me an outsider. They were reluctant or hesitant to share company information with me. Indeed, it took a lot of time to earn their cooperation. I had to show them that I was there to help them make the company better…I provided training on ways of developing the marketing department, and showed them how to procure materials by engaging in bidding. Eventually, when they did not see any self-interest from me, they gradually began to cooperate.
Similarly, another company in our pilot study, TUS, had multiple large shareholders with long histories of dealing with each other (more than 10 years). These multiple large shareholders had built trust among themselves according to the CEO/director. There were under 100 shareholders in TUS. When capital was needed, TUS preferred to sell shares to current shareholders, or selectively chose other outside shareholders. Listing the company on the stock exchange was seen as a last resort:The strategic investor has been working with the company for a long time – they used to be the company supplier in the auto mobile industry. We trust each other. We have the same objectives and interests for the company. This is the reason we decided to choose a former business partner as our strategic shareholder. (CEO, IMEX)
Due to the value put on trust in the business environment, local investors preferred to buy a large number of shares to control companies as it is seen as unwise to have capital held by strangers. They followed the traditional wisdom that money is best managed and utilized by its owners; otherwise, they would rather put their money into saving accounts. This attitude is evidenced in the following remark by the deputy head of Ho Chi Minh City’s business management and innovation department:We are not a public company. As a result, not all people can buy shares in our company. We only sell shares to current shareholders. If any large shareholder refuses to buy shares, the company will find other ways to sell shares. We selectively choose outside shareholders who have the same objectives and interests. If there is no trust, there are no successes. Listing the company in the stock market would be the last option. (CEO/director, TUS)
Due to lack of trust in the business environment, a non-Buddhist informant in our pilot study said they would not want to appoint an individual to the board of directors who did not have any connection with the company. They were unwilling to allow strangers to hold or monitor capital when trust was not established. Trust and relationships are both significant to doing business in Vietnam. Shareholders feel more comfortable working with their acquaintances. They therefore vote themselves and their acquaintances onto the boards of directors, as described below:Most Vietnamese would say financial assets must always be kept and managed by their owners. Therefore, I want to become a controlling shareholder in the company to monitor my capital. I do not allow other individuals to spend my money. It seems risky if I cannot make decisions, or my ideas are not important to the company. If I can’t be a controlling shareholder, I would rather put my money into a savings account.
While issues of trust were addressed by both the non-Buddhist managers in our pilot study and the Buddhist managers and practitioners making up our main sample, we found that non-Buddhist managers were reluctant in responding to and solving trust issues (see above examples). On the other hand, our Buddhist respondents expressed a strong orientation toward applying Buddhist practices to improve trust-related issues.The Vietnamese often say that money must stick to its owner. Therefore, I am not willing to vote for a stranger to become an independent director. I do not trust an individual I have no previous connection with. I cannot predict their performance in my company (Director, SAC; Director, IMEX; Director, TUS; Chairperson/CEO, LIVES; State Official).
Most of the leaders in our study found the Buddhist principles of non-attachment (không bám chấp), cause and effect (nhân quả), impermanence (Pāli: anicca; Sanskrit: anitya) (vô thường), mindfulness (Pāli: sati; Sanskrit: smr̥ti) (chánh niệm), and so on to be effective and adaptable principles for handling the complexities of the Vietnamese context to address trust issues. For instance, the CEO of a law firm described her effective application of the Buddhist principle of karma, as below:I know that to be able to trust others is serious concern nowadays. It is not something you can deal with in the short term, however since I started practicing Buddhism, I have started to look at things positively. It has helped me to trust as well as to gain trust from others. (CEO & Managing Director of a manufacturing company)
Respondents also highlighted two main problems associated with this Buddhist phenomenon: (1) the lack of critical thought in the Vietnamese culture—leading to superstitious beliefs and commercialization of Buddhist practices as acknowledgement of the reciprocal relationships between the supernatural and people; compounded by (2) the collectivist ‘word-of-mouth’ culture which has negatively popularized superstitious beliefs. A manager of a transportation company explained why most Vietnamese people find it hard to differentiate between traditional spiritual practices as forms of spiritualism and Buddhist practices, highlighting the main reasons for the misguided understanding, commercialization, and practice of Buddhism in Vietnam:Understanding causal effect helps me to achieve objective observation of my cases, and see the contexts and the relationships within the contexts. It is very important for me as a CEO and corporate lawyer to see the tricky layers of my business cases and be able to consult with my clients […] and use the resulting strong analytical capabilities to build up a trusting relationship with my clients, which is very important for our collaboration in law.
Skepticism toward the system has ironically rendered uncritical dependency on cultural norms, such as following elderly people’s advice unquestioningly despite the context, reflecting a feudal (phong kiến) system that is no longer practical in contemporary contexts. In the Vietnamese context, spirituality has its own national identity and some spiritual practices, such as ‘going into trance rituals’ (lên đồng) and using mediums (hầu đồng), are forms of spiritualism rather than spirituality, as they seek contact with spirits and psychic phenomena (Nelson 2009). Some traditional spiritual practices in Vietnam reflect “superstition, nostalgia or exoticism rather than a rational means to cope with the impositions of modern life” (Dickhardt and Lauser 2016, p. 3).Vietnamese people have a culture of respecting and accepting elderly people’s advice, sometimes without hesitation or further investigation. However, elderly people tend to embrace traditional spiritual practices and often consider logical Buddhist principles as part of those practices. […] many people falsely practice Buddhism as rituals dependent on reciprocal relationships and offerings (cúng dường). It has become even more problematic when Buddhism today is uncritically disseminated within a mass audience. It has become a trend, a movement focusing on quantity rather than quality. […] There are levels of practicing Buddhism. Buddhist practice is based on life experience, thus students cannot be taught in the same way as managers or CEOs. Popularizing Buddhism for a mass audience is therefore ineffective and occasionally can be counterproductive, leading to ill-judged and fallacious practices.
Managerial Approaches
Context-Sensitive Approach
A context-sensitive managerial approach therefore fosters managers’ acceptance of the impermanent nature of external phenomena by ‘letting go’ of their expectations of weak formal institutions such as the ineffective policies of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health. This viewpoint promotes proactive collective and personal ethical codes of compassion that consider the needs of the community, rather firms’ financial interests. Such an approach helps managers to become more able to avoid subjectivity and the abstract generalizations that make them blind to context (Lowe et al. 2015) and alternative ways to respond to context. Sensitivity to context counters inactivity in managers based on expectations of improved formal institutions and helps them be open to alternative managerial practices in handling concerns over social trust issues. It fosters a proactive approach in responding to the impermanent nature of external conditions.People complain about poor medical service, infrastructure and the availability of quality medical products and they have lost trust in the public health sector. We cannot change the policies of the Ministry of Health, however we are trying collectively, with support from some public and private hospitals, to deliver reliable and good pharmaceutical products to patients […] We have a lot to consider in the pharmaceutical industry: the distinctive diseases of a tropical country, the living standards of the Vietnamese people, and the limited access to medications in rural areas. Being contextually sensitive is extremely important in doing business in our industry.
Non-extreme Approach
In summary, the non-extreme approach stimulates the practice of transparency through moderate and ethical leadership and actions. This approach is crucial in contexts like Vietnam, where weak legal institutions create opportunities for greed in business pursuits and there is a need to respond skillfully and ethically to contextual constraints. In the excerpt above, moderation facilitates the manager’s morality in not exploiting the vulnerable status of copyright in Vietnam, as indicated in Cohen and Dienhart’s (2013) moral conceptions. This moral character is enhanced by the ability to recognize the long-term ‘suffering’ that comes from the excessive desire to maximize short-term profit. The Middle Way approach helps managers to differentiate and moderate reflexively between individual materialistic pursuits for short-term gain and common unethical collectivist shielding practices that contribute to the promotion of collective corruption, which can lead to long-term suffering and endanger social trust. Our respondents also stressed that the exploitation of weak legal formal institutions by individuals who fail to manage their desires and moral character can result in serious unethical and karmic consequences that further deteriorate the already vulnerable social trust in the context of Vietnam.In Vietnam, we have websites for online videos or movies. Previously I had the opportunity to become a pioneer in that area, creating websites for accessing premium quality video for watching movies. However, after realizing that it is not a sustainable business practice because of copyright issues, we stopped doing it. Some other companies have become successful in this type of business, but they do not have copyright. I am aiming for long-term sustainability and not short-term profits. In Vietnam, unauthorized and non-copyright businesses are common. I do not follow such an approach. That is wisdom. We should not let our greed overcome virtuous conduct […] it also helps to send a clear message to our organizational members of the kind of ethical business we are doing regardless of common unethical practices in the market.
Skillful Approaches
To facilitate positive interpersonal interaction and cooperation as suggested by Hosmer (2008), the above respondent demonstrated skillfulness in promoting codes of kindness and compassion to secure the trust of employees. Likewise, some respondents skillfully addressed concerns and skepticism toward the instrumentalization and commercialization of mindfulness programs in organizations (Purser and Loy 2013). These managers used a variety of initiatives to foster employee development—physically, psychologically, and more importantly, intellectually. This approach is similar to the knowledge, thinking, emotional, and motivational components of practical wisdom (Moberg 2007). However, it is important to highlight that while practical wisdom relies on these components, skillful means operates on the basis of non-attachment, which involves the practice of non-self in sacrificing personal values for other meaningful or demanding circumstances. For instance, a senior manager of a construction company shared that, sometimes, skillfulness means letting go of introducing mindfulness practices to the workplace if they are unsuited to the capabilities of employees or the nature of their work. It moves away from excessive attachment to one-size-fits-all managerial perspectives that have led to the commodification of mindfulness practices in contemporary organizations. This approach helps managers gain useful intelligence to balance interpersonal, intrapersonal, and extrapersonal interests, support well-adjusted responses to contextual challenges (Sternberg 1998), and get to know employees better by listening to them and respecting their needs. It also creates opportunities to explore the assumptions underlying employees’ concerns over trust and find skillful solutions to address these concerns. Furthermore, based on social network theory, this approach fosters the participation of employees in informal networks that encourage the development of social trust (Delhey and Newton 2003). These empirical findings support calls for mindfulness training as ethical, long-term, and holistic practice (Qiu and Rooney 2017).Incorporating Buddhist skillful means in my managerial role brings ‘life value’ to what I do. It is also an effective way of managing employees. For instance, I customize my management to specific individuals. With highly skilled and experienced employees, I give them freedom to work on their own. They can choose their own methods of accessing potential customers and build up their sales strategies. However, there are employees whom I need to coach individually and help step by step. I try to let them work out their problems on their own as a means of self-development. And there are also less confident employees. With employees with low self-efficacy, I have to show things in detail, even sharing my personal life experiences to encourage them. I admit that these approaches are time-consuming. However, on the positive side, you get to know your own people and they respect and trust you.
Mindful Approach
According to respondents, attending to individual difference and needs in a mindful way at the organizational level fosters an ethical and inclusive culture. Our findings align with Simpson’s (2014) view that compassion without wisdom is sentimentalism and wisdom without compassion leads to arrogance. In the context of Vietnam, it is essential to have both, especially in cases where managers have to deal with the contextual and relative meanings of ethics. Managers in the study indicated that the business context in Vietnam is full of ethical dilemmas (Robertson et al. 2002), with no clear moral right or wrong to guide decision-making. In such cases, having a strong moral character as a manager is crucial; however, such moral character needs to be negotiated in a mindful way against the context. The director of a pharmaceutical company presented an example to demonstrate this approach in practice:You need to be mindful in organizations. You cannot be compassionate toward consistent and intentional wrong-doing or unethical behaviors. I am willing to assist employees with family difficulties. I can review their personal case to assign appropriate tasks to them or even provide them some time off to solve their family issues. However, if someone intentionally sabotages the workplace, I will warn that individual the first time, but will dismiss that individual without hesitation if he or she continues to create a harmful working environment. In this way, you can present a practical and simple example for other employees to enhance a positive working environment.
Making the right moral decision is not always easy, as suggested by the above respondent. A sacrifice sometimes has to be made, in this case refers the sacrifice of personal moral ethical codes for the benefit of a greater community. Here, the Buddhist notion of ‘letting go’ applies even to excessive attachment to personal ideologies of what is right and wrong in a paradoxical situation, where the moral weight has to be negotiated against the relevance of context and outcome for a larger audience as compared the distress of one individual. As such, a mindful approach highlights that to facilitate social trust, a managerial decision has to be renegotiated frequently against given sets of particularities because the state of social trust is impermanent. Being mindful toward ethical considerations in ambiguous and complex contexts is important for managers because subordinates tend to pay attention to the ethical and character-focused aspects of managerial performance (Hogan et al. 1994). This approach requires skillfulness, just as practical wisdom fosters morally ‘right’ responses in ‘right’ contexts (Moberg 2007).There is no right or wrong way of dealing with bribery. A skillful and mindful leader is the one who knows how to make a smart decision. In my opinion, if an act of bribery can bring benefits to patients, or introduce a valuable product that can help to increase people’s health in the long term, I am willing to pay the transactional cost of bringing that product to patients – as long as the cost is acceptable and appropriate in the given context. For me, showing compassion in exchange for the personal sacrifice of accepting the need to engage in bribery is eventually a right doing.
Egoless Approach
More than half of the respondents also highlighted that taking an egoless managerial approach had involved a process of self-transformation and personal development in enhancing soft skills to understand and appreciate people around them, as well as understanding and recognizing their own inner selves and shortcomings. A director of the National Water Resolution Corporation shared his experiences of personal transformation and development as a leader through applying the concept of non-self in an egoless managerial approach:Leadership is not just about tasks, but also about the ability to understand and motivate employees. At work, we should listen to even the contradictory views and opinions of employees. In fact, if employees have opposing opinions and are critical of a project, product or service, it can be beneficial for the business. In many cases, criticisms raised in our staff meetings have led to great innovative ideas. Allowing room for employees to show their capabilities and critical thinking without imposing my own perceptions or ideas also increases employees’ trust in my leadership.
Egoless managerial approaches generate supportive working environments and foster a less authoritarian management style that shapes positive relationships in the workplace. This approach therefore helps to minimize the skepticism of employees. The self-transformation involved in the process demonstrates a letting go of mental fixations on individual pursuits. This process cultivates personal ethical and moral codes of honesty and truthfulness by facilitating personal acknowledgment of shortcomings through a positive reflexive process.I have learnt that as a leader you need three things to succeed in today’s context, which all involve personal transformation and rejection of self-manipulated perceptions. They are – mind and heart (tâm); knowledge and wisdom (trí); and leadership influence. Forget about your ‘self’. Your employees are not your possessions. Applying mind and heart to leadership means not abusing your power to make others do whatever you want. Being skillful in accessing and absorbing useful information is how you show your influence. And finally, you handle contextual challenges by demonstrating knowledge, skillfulness, and wisdom. These for me are the most important lessons I have learnt in my role as a leader.
Exemplar Approach
The exemplar managerial approach can therefore have a significant impact on employees following the vision of the organization. As suggested by our respondents, it is also an effective tool to enhance interpersonal relationships by letting “actions speak first,” with those in managerial roles acting as examples in showing appreciation of each individual’s context and differences, and in recognizing the collective role of the organization in creating a positive and healthy working environment. This approach encourages the moral characteristic of honesty in managers to cultivate a positive ethical organizational culture. Through this approach, managers can effectively transform and work with employees to share wisdom in suitable contexts because organizations cannot become wise by having only a few wise individuals; rather the transfer of wisdom is needed to make wise organizations (Bierly et al. 2000).Personally, I feel that in the context of Vietnam, actions speak more than words. People no longer just believe in what other people say. Also, because relationships and connections are very important in our culture, people talk about others and word-of-mouth is a powerful instrument in Vietnam. Therefore as a leader, it is important to be an example both ethically and professionally to earn employees’ trust, or to guide them. For example, I always tell my subordinates that honesty is very important. I am being honest about our products with patients, outlining both their strengths and weaknesses so that patients can choose. When employees see my approach, they appreciate our company’s vision.
Sustainable Approach
Karma is therefore an important notion that contributes to the generation of honesty and ethical vision in contemporary contexts, responding to Yang’s (2011) call for more leadership that displays wisdom, not only for the benefit of the organization but for the well-being of wider society. While the Vietnamese people might think that corporate social responsibility and sustainability activities are a luxury in a developing country like Vietnam, there can be no long-term development without sustainability. The non-sustainable and short-term activity allowed by the weak formal institutions of the open-door policy introduced as part of the economic reforms in Vietnam has contributed to the low levels of trust within Vietnamese society due to the greedy pursuit of materialism.I am not that satisfied with the job that I am doing right now. Because the more we build new houses, the more land we take. It also means that we take away the means for farmers to earn a living. If I had chosen a job that only brings benefit to people, I would like it more. However, there are still aspects of my job that I do like. We are trying to use sustainable materials, building quality houses and providing value-added services for sustainable maintenance, as well as residential services free of charge for our customers and residents. We have also built a yoga center available free of charge for our residents to help them enjoy the best quality of life […] earning employees trust does not come easy. It comes with honesty and long-term ethical vision.
Expanding on this opinion, the above respondent highlighted that after 20 years of practicing Buddhism, he still sometimes found it challenging to tame himself. He made a very interesting comment on the nature of human ignorance that helps to explain why self-transformation takes time:Transforming yourself in line with Buddhist practice is a long and challenging task. Our nature is greedy, selfish, lazy and fearful. It takes years of practice, experience and even failure to change a habit or a perception.
He further expressed that wisdom articulation is a long and reflexive process to reduce our levels of ignorance and that this process can never be complete due to the impermanent nature of the context. Based on his experience, he found that even though Buddhist practice is a self-transformational process, it is always helpful to have a support group of other Buddhist practitioners (not necessarily sharing the same Buddhist practice or path) to share experiences of engaged Buddhism in life and to help with reflexivity because sometimes shortcomings are harder to acknowledge due to the different levels of maturity in practicing non-self.From birth we all have a similar and common denominator, which is ignorance. It is only the numerator or our level of ignorance that varies. Buddhism helps people to get out of illusions in life. We need to transform our troubled mind to a pure mind. The fundamental of it is wisdom.