GREED

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?