Greed is neither good, nor good for us.
Greed is the desire to want more, it’s a natural consequence
of one’s orientation towards their possessions. People with a greedy mind will
never have enough of anything and will never be pleased of what they currently
possess. Greed has no saturation point, it is limitless, it has no boundaries
and it has no end. Greedy people lack self-control, they are never at peace
until they get what they desire, and they want to fulfil this desire at the earliest.
Plainly, they want to own everything, have everything and be everything. Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi once said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's
needs, but not every man's greed.". Greedy people always compete with
others in owning things that they consider as their natural belonging,
something that they should have had but accidentally didn’t. Greed is a form of
drug, it’s an addiction that takes you to its own state of trance. Like the
results of any other drug, enough is never enough, but not for too long. The
current generation is an example of greed, we are never happy with what we have,
and we always want more. I remember this short funny saying from my school,
“God made man, man made money, money made a man mad”. We always tend to forget
the sole purpose of our existence; we are never here on earth to accumulate
wealth.
We need to understand the worth of whatever we feel greedy
for. We human beings are mortal, but we are also conscious of that mortality
which leads to a deeply felt anxiety. During a certain stage in our lives, the
thought of emptiness kicks in, it’s a feeling that we need to accomplish,
acquire or own something before our life ends. This anxiety places a target on
our minds and haunts us until this target is achieved and this anxiety is
accomplished and fulfilled. Anxiety develops due to a dearth of acquiring what
the mind desires. Greedy people tend to accumulate everything they desire for
in excessive amounts thereby depriving the person who deserves. Greed is the
pursuit of wealth at the cost of someone else's. When this desire exceeds a
certain boundary, it turns into greed and leads to arrogance, ignorance, lack
of wisdom, lack of kindness and love. Being greedy has an adverse effect on
people around you and sets unrealistic expectations. It turns them into stonehearted
people, and they wouldn’t bother about anyone, they would hurt others and
wouldn’t mind belittling, snub, slander, insult or even kill anyone barricading
their accomplishment.
Greed can be controlled but never be eradicated. Greed is a
cyclic reaction, the greedy initially build desires within themselves, achieve
their desires and once they accumulate their desired possessions, they would
have to safeguard it and would go to the bitter end to protect it. At a point they
would get sick and tired of their possessions and would want to make improvements
to it, similar to our mobile phones that we purchase to be updated with the
latest technology, this again develops a desire and forces us to achieve it and
protect it. It is justifiable and ok for one to get jealous and develop the
feeling of wanting the possessions of another person. The dark truth is that
these desires must be limited to our capacities. We take a fancy to live the
lifestyle of another person, the essential resources to humans have changed, and
it is no longer food to gain strength to procreate. The essentials now are
villas, splendid jewelry, expensive watches, and mobiles with the latest
technology, branded clothing, luxurious bikes and cars. What happens to all
these possessions you’ve earned once you are dead?
We ought to be grateful always with whatever we have, never
be greedy for something that isn’t meant for you. Whenever you develop the
desire to buy something, remind yourself of the blood, sweat and hard work
involved in earning that money you are going to invest. Always, a bit of
self-assessment will be helpful, track your expenses for a month or two and
categorize your expenditures. This will shine some light on your priorities and
essentials. Develop a habit of giving money away, make some commitments to give
a certain portion of your earnings to a charitable organization, orphanage or a
relief agency. By doing so, it would not only benefit you but will also help
others meet their real needs. The Buddha said that human beings tend to attach
themselves to things – sometimes material objects, sometimes possessions like
prestige or reputation. We perceive these possessions to be stable and
permanent and we cling on to them and in most instances, we are discontented
with our current possessions. Greed has blended within the society and we have
accepted it as a medication to satisfy our desires. Yes, unfortunately the
society has sedated us with the greed breed, and we seem to be tripping on it.
The society is playing a major role, greed is a seed that is sown within every
one of us and it is the society that nurtures it. Live your life by looking at
yourself and not by comparing yourself with another person.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
