All religions preach about abandonment of greed. Everybody agrees that greed is bad to oneself and others. Unfortunately, everybody including religious authorities think they are smart enough to judge how much greed they can have before they burn themselves. In other words, everybody including religious authorities think that a little bit of greed is fine. They contradict themselves. How much greed is not too much? One cannot be selfless when he has greed, even a little bit. (So, the next time somebody advises you to be selfless, you can tell him to show selflessness first before he starts preaching about selflessness.) When one thinks in terms of I and My (such as myself, my family, my race, my country, my religion, etc.), he cannot be truly selfless, therefore he will have greed, although he can minimize it. Only when you have no consciousness of the self, don’t see yourself as the body or inside the body, then you can become selfless. Truly selfless means emptiness of self, therefore no place for dust to stick on. Truly selfless means you will have no pleasure and displeasure; because there is no sensual organ to turn contact with external objects/phenomena (forms, sound, odors, tastes, touches, and doctrines) into suffering or otherwise. You will be truly emancipated/liberated. You will have no fear, no obligation, and no guilt. So you see, this kind of selflessness is for your own happiness and self-interest. It is the greatest selfishness; the greatest selfishness is selflessness.
Greedy for more believers and lavish temples/churches/mosques is a kind of greed. Greedy for the benefits in the afterlife or present life, therefore desire to make donations and do charities (or show compassion) is also a form of greed. Due to competition for more followers, religious authorities (including the self-appointed ones) hate the existence of other religions. So, greed leads to hatred. When one desires to see something happens and desires to see other things never happens, he has delusion and not able to see reality as it is; he wants reality to be what he wishes to see. If you want to end greed in the world, it is also a form of greed. Using one greed to destroy another greed is impossible. However, you can choose to destroy your own greed if you understand that your greed is causing suffering to yourself and others.
Taking heroin will make you happy; would you take it? If you have to pay a million dollars to eat a super-special meal, would you eat it? You would probably say it is too expensive and you can live without that super-special meal. If a special meal is only ten dollars, but you don’t need it, is it wise to feel sad for not having it? If you are wise, I am sure you will not feel sad for not having something which you don’t need. The same applies to monetary wealth, colorful things, colorful life, sexual relationships, fame, and leisure. If you are contented, you are happy to live with little, and you have no desire to accumulate things which are impermanent, you will have no greed, therefore no suffering.
Death is certain. When we die, all the things (including relationships) which we accumulated will leave us or become beyond our reach. The suffering which we went through in order to accumulate those things is so clearly a stupid endeavor. If we further feel grief before we die, due to attachment to those things or fear of losing what we “own”, we will be doubly stupid.
See reality as it is instead of what you wish it to be. This will end your greed, and therefore your suffering. Be happy to enjoy this gift of life.
Sensual desires are like the itchiness of a leper. A leper scratches his body thinking it will stop the itchiness but it actually increases the itchiness. He then burn his wounds with ember and get a sense of pleasure. Will that cure his leprosy?
Some people say greed was naturally born with us, so we should live with our greed. But we are also born with some sicknesses. Shouldn’t we get it cured if we can? Should we live like a leper? Sensual pleasures are like the burning ember which gives us a sense of pleasure. We perceive it as pleasure because of mental defilement. Scratching our itchiness is OK, but we must understand that it is better to have no itchiness.
RESILIENT KID 