Is it appropriate to use money to incent Buddhist meditation?

Lotos Network
Jul 20, 2017 · 6 min read

How do we help a person who wants to meditate more consistently? Whether they are forgetful or prone to procrastination, often those who feel the need to meditate the most are also struggling the most to do so.

In particular, is it ever appropriate to use money to incent meditation in Buddhism?

Incentives motivate behavior, with motivation commonly split into two different types.

  1. Extrinsic motivation comes from an external reward or punishment, for example receiving money.
  2. Intrinsic motivation is personally rewarding for its own sake.

Many people assume spiritual practice must be exclusive to intrinsic motivation. However, while this may be ideal, most of the time both types of motivation are used.

Examples of extrinsic motivations in Buddhism

Source: P.B. Clarke / Atlas of World Religions

In the book Religious Motivation and the Origins of Buddhism by Torkel Brekke, there is much work dedicated to showing the importance of extrinsic motivations from the very beginning of Buddhism.

“…this tendency towards extrinsic motivation has, from the very start, been an essential force in the shaping of the relationship between the Samgha and the laity and, thus, in the shaping of the structure of Buddhist societies.”

Torkel explains how a majority of Burmese monks join the Sangha in order to escape miseries or have an easy life. This practice goes all the way to the very beginning of Buddhism, where “Buddhism originated in a religious environment in which extrinsic motivation was common.” Monks mainly joined because they were extrinsically motivated for food, shelter, and medicine.

A similar line of thinking can be applied to the concept of Karma. In the case of Buddhism, the Buddha said Karma was never part of the incentive:

Kinsman of the heedless,
Evil One,
come here for whatever purpose:
I haven’t, for merit,
even the least bit of need.
Those who have need of merit:
those are the ones
Mara’s fit to address.

Regardless of this, the vast majority of people who call themselves Buddhists in the world today in China, Thailand, and other countries are incented by Karma — visiting temples, donating gifts, and giving alms to earn merit. While the concept of Karma transfer is controversial, such extrinsic motivations are the largest source of income for most Buddhist institutions today.

A keisaku or “encouragement stick”

Maybe the most famous example of extrinsic motivation comes from one of the most influential Buddhists that ever lived, Lin Chi (Chinese Zen). He was famous for his blunt and rough style of teaching, as he would often shout at and hit his students. In modern Zen, the tool of choice is called a “keisaku” often translated to “encouragement stick”. Though being whacked seems like punishment, it is considered an act of compassion, as it is meant to reinvigorate a sleepy meditator.

A more recent story of extrinsic meditation comes from Osel Mukpo, who was said to have been paid by his father to meditate when he was a teenager, eventually becoming head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage.

Buddha giving Nanda (lesser) extrinsic motivation with the ultimate goal of (greater) intrinsic motivation.

Perhaps the most telling example of extrinsic motivation in Buddhism, comes directly from Buddha and his offer to his younger half-brother Prince Nanda.

In the story, Buddha takes Nanda on a journey, and they see beautiful celestial nymphs. The Buddha said:

Cheer up Nanda. I promise that you will join the company of those nymphs if you persist as I bid you and take pleasure in living the Holy Life.

After hearing this, Nanda practiced diligently with the object of winning the celestial nymphs. However, after realizing his motive and renouncing desire, Nanda finally became enlightened. This is an example of an extrinsic motivation offered by Buddha which led to enlightenment.

Are these extrinsic motivations right or wrong?

To quote Reddit user:

Could be a pendant, could be thirty blows with a stick. Could be a nickel! Doesn’t really matter if it’s free from samsaric concerns on both sides of the equation.

So let’s look closer — what if someone receives a nickel to meditate?

This question can stir up emotions in even the most reserved individuals. It is very common to hold the value assumption that spiritualism and money should not mix. Buddha taught how fruitless material wealth is, and the cliche “money does not cause happiness” has been engraved in us since childhood. So, it is reasonable that one might get offended at the suggestion.

However, as examples have shown, Buddhism has always been mixed with extrinsic incentives, which can take any form.

There are two ways to resolve this conflict. The first is to realize incentives can be temporary. And the second is with wholesome intent of the incentive.

Buddhists do not always start with ideal motivations, and motivations can develop over time. How many people come to Buddhism for an easier life, improved focus, to solve a personal problem, or other “worldly” things? Over time these motivations can develop to be intrinsically focused on more important spiritual goals. In the same way that Lin Chi may hit a student to motivate them, a temporary push in the right direction is a useful tool.

The most important consideration for an incentive, is that is is free from samsaric concerns.

“If you are attached to this life, you are not a true spiritual practitioner;

If you are attached to saṃsāra, you have no renunciation;

If you are attached to your own self-interest, you have no bodhicitta;

If there is grasping, you do not have the View.”

While there is room for temporary unwholesome incentives, they must be done in a way that is wholesome and from teachers with a high level of realization.

Modern work on incentives

Why might someone get offended for rewarding a meditator with money, but find it perfectly acceptable to whack a meditator with a bamboo stick as punishment? While this seems oddly contradictory, it can be explained with the value assumption that tradition is better than novelty. A person holding this value assumption will often appeal to tradition as authority when faced with novelty, whether it is justified or not.

Modern work by sociologists and economists have done a great deal to further our understanding of monetary incentives. There is a great deal of literature both on their advantages and disadvantages. So is it possible to use this modern understanding to help people meditate?

The argument against improvement

This same value assumption of tradition vs. novelty described above has even wider and potentially harmful implications. The story of Lin Chi appears romantic and a traditional, while novel approaches to incentivization, using money for example, seem cold, awkward, crass, and even disrespectful.

A person holding this view will be very adverse to any change, whether good or bad. Implying Buddhism can be improved is often met with wild emotion. For example, a recent Redditor on /r/Buddhism I had spoke with about a monetary incentivization structure said this:

You don’t need to improve Buddhism. It’s fine as it is.

They followed with (for lack of better words) an emotional tirade and promptly deleted their account. This reaction seems to be quite common unfortunately.

The argument is as follows: if there were no improvements or changes to Buddhism, where would we be? There would certainly be no Mahayana Buddhism, no Vajrayana Buddhism, and no Zen Buddhism which all developed long after the death of the Buddha. The person that admires Lin Chi from my example above, does so out of value placed on tradition — but Lin Chi himself by and far embraced novelty.

So what does the future of Buddhism look like? And how will adapt? What will it look like in 50 years, 100 years, or even 100,000 years? Surely if it is to survive it must embrace change, as it has done in the past, whether it be through the exploration of novel incentivization structures or something else.

Conclusion

Incentives taking a multitude of forms are used by teachers to help students meditate. While a meditator should optimally be intrinsically motivated, extrinsic motivations are historically useful in Buddhism.

The key to successful extrinsic motivations is to realize that they are temporary, and implemented by well realized teachers.

I hope I did not offend anyone along the way. A special thanks to /r/Buddhism for inspiring this post and providing extremely insightful replies. I will not name names because I am afraid a post like this will be controversial. But if you are reading, you know who you are and as always — thank you!

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