The Protestant vs. the Zen Buddhist Work Ethic

The Protestant vs. the Zen Buddhist Work Ethic

A cultures success or failure is often determined by its work ethic, which is in turn determined largely by religious or philosophical beliefs and customs. This holds true when discussing the work ethics of both the Protestants of colonial America and the Zen Buddhists of Japan. Each culture strongly embraced hard work as a nonnegotiable value. Each group played a large roll in its country’s development, and their influences can still be seen in today’s global economic playing field. However similar in this regard they diverge from here on out into to very separate paths.
The Protestants were members of a strict religion who fled oppression, by undertaking pilgrimage to the crisp unforgiving shores of what is now known as New England. The doctrine that I would deem excessive back breaking arduous work was adopted by these colonists, who considered work the greatest key into heaven. Believing that god had predestined a sel...