"The word 'greed' encompasses
various seeds of sufferings."
(Nissen Shonin's Instruction)
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Clarification:
Shakyamuni Buddha elucidated that the soul of greed creates
various sufferings. If that is so, one should be satisfied with
a "Little desire and little gain" (a Buddhist term—Shoyoku
Chisoku). The phrase denotes that the absence of greed is the
secret to success and peacefulness. |
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Everyone exhibits some form of greedy behavior from time to time.
Greed will not only hurt us, but it will ruin our life. There are
no limitations to human greed. To endlessly seek lust is a form of
greed. Attachments or addictions to certain pleasures such as eating,
sex, possession, indolence, and fame are also different forms of greed.
Shakyamuni Buddha stated:
“There are five great forms of greed of mankind. The five forms
of greed are somewhat instinctive and cannot be stopped even if one
wanted to do so. Therefore, possessing a soul of greed is innate and
natural.
Shakyamuni Buddha practiced asceticism before attaining enlightenment,
but he gave it up upon realizing that it had no merit. Shakyamuni
Buddha was, therefore, not an ascetic person. Shakyamuni Buddha stated:
“Eliminate the desire of greed. Greed is the cause of hardships
and ruins one's life. “Shakyamuni Buddha has so instructed us.
There is a story:
Many years ago, there was a sparsely populated country with vast lands
suitable for farming that adjoined a heavily populated county with
very little land to cultivate. The king of the large country made
a declaration offering parts of his land to anyone who wished to farms
in his country as long as they met his stipulated conditions. The
farmers were required to leave from a specified location at sunrise,
stake out the land and return to the same location by sunset and not
a minute later. If one were late returning, then the land was forfeited.
There was a man who left at sunrise to stake out his desired land.
He walked a distance staking out his posts and continued to do so
in pursuit of acquiring more land for his use. As the sun began to
set in the western sky, he realized that he had strayed too far from
the destination. In order to return by sunset, the man ran all the
way back to the destination but in the process, died at the finish
from exhaustion. The king ordered his subordinates to bury the man
and despite his effort to meet the deadline, no property was granted
to him.
We may laugh at the foolish greedy man in the story but our soul of
greed may rear its ugly head in the following situations,
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- When sharing our possessions with others.
- When competing with others for a promotion.
- A spark of jealousy when your spouse is talking intimately
with someone of the opposite sex.
- When purchasing merchandize at full price rather than
at bargain sales.
- When we hoard things.
- When we return gifts for cash.
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The aforementioned indications of greed may sound familiar to all of
us but as Buddhism elucidates, we should be satisfied with a little
gain and a little desire. It teaches us to restrain oneself from greed
in order to lead a peaceful life.
There is a Japanese proverb that says; “Our possessions as well
as possessions of others are the possessions of the people of this
world." Assets are merely a temporary attachment that we must
leave to this world upon death. If you can believe that the merits
attained through religion are the supreme treasure, greed will eventually
leave your soul, and you will attain true peace. |
