Abstract

             The thematic paper, “An Analytical Study of Fourfold Consumption in Buddhist Scriptures” had two purposes to study the fourfold consumption in Buddhism and to study the benefits of the fourfold consumption applied to the daily life. This was a qualitative research to collect all data from Tipitaka, Buddhist scriptures, Buddhist academic paper and related researches with the descriptive analysis.

             A result of this research was found that the fourfold consumption in Buddhism was a principle of managing the property for the prosperity and stability by dividing the property into four groups. The first group (25%) of property was used for a person himself, his family, and the other people under his control who supported directly the requirement of self-development. The second group and the third group of property (50%) were used to invest in his occupation in order to get income and to develop the occupation in the higher degree. Finally, the fourth group of property (25%) was saved in various ways such as saving money in the saving account in order to resolve a problem in the future or emergency event.

             The benefits in life according to the fourfold consumption in Buddhism made a person to manage the property efficiently by dividing it into two parts. The first pile was the individual benefit relating to physical goodness, i.e. the quality of life full of four elements as a base to live happily by occupying, paying, freedom from debt and work without any punishment in a body, speech and mind. To make a plan and save money for the unknown events helped a person to make and keep the friendship as well as reputation and credit. The mental goodness was that it made mind full of happiness with less seriousness. The second pile of property was the social benefit to make a person free from the social responsibility. It was the social benefit because a person could a part of that pile to give a social service. The third pile of property was the economical benefit to support the liquidity of production, trade, and consumption. It also caused happiness in the individual, family, business institutes, and governmental institutes. It really gave a person a good job, occupations, employment, and poverty.

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