Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD. Published on www.acadun.com The Netherlands 8th September 2014
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Essence and Greed
Greed is an undesirable stigma in character that no one wishes to be branded with. The ego always wants to have more of what it has and likes. It also wishes to have what it does not have but likes, and once that has been got, it wishes to have more of the same. The wanting ‘to have’ is a feeling. And when the feeling is intense, it is labelled as greed.
Man has come into this world empty-handed, so obviously he thinks he has got whatever he has in life, and attributes that to his efforts. It would mean that the first man would have got what he had only by his efforts. Man needs to ponder the essence in greed.
Primitive man initially hunted and gathered instinctively. Later, primitive man intuitively hunted and gathered but did not know that he did. As the essence evolved evolution, primitive man came to know that he hunted and gathered. Though he came to know how to hunt and gather, he did not know it was a process of evolution.
Modern man gathers too, but it is attributed to knowledge, and knowledge has evolved in man. Therefore, it is natural that man gathers due to a process of evolution and gathering is not due to man’s effort or choice. Hence, modern man is by nature a gatherer, just as primitive man was.
Man and woman like to possess as much as they can. It happens not only to the poor but also to the rich. It is a natural phenomenon. Therefore, in life, every man and woman, due to the essence in evolution, will get what he or she is meant to get. But this understanding has not yet happened to man. To whomever this understanding happens, he or she will not only understand his own ‘wants’ but also the phenomenon greed.
Everything changes in life and so too the feelings and understanding that man has. Understanding reveals the evolved knowledge as well as evolved wisdom. When wisdom happens to man, he understands that the essence of life appears as feelings and man does not make them happen to him, including greed. Therefore, to a wise man, greed is a social stigma that needs to be understood.
Editor’s Note:
German Translator’s Note: It is mentioned in many a spiritual scripture that man and woman should enjoy what is. But greed does not allow him or her to enjoy what is, because the focus is on what should be. Even in little intensity, when greed is known as “wants“, this feeling leads far away from what is. Therefore it has become a religious and spiritual dogma not to be greedy and not even to want something. However, wanting and greed is part of the mind and cannot be avoided, altered or changed; it can only be understood. The understanding alone makes man live “what is“ instead of thinking “what should be“. Marcus Stegmaier, Germany
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