[Jessus ~VS~ Buddha] Greed

Richard A Zelonis 2:06am Feb 16 Greed

Buddhism teaches that harboring the three poisons leads to evil (akusala) and suffering (dukkha). The Three Poisons are lobha, dvesha and moha, most often translated as "greed," "hate" and "ignorance." From a Buddhist perspective, however, the distinction between greed and desire is artificial. To want passionately is a hindrance and a poison, whether one "deserves" the thing wanted or not. As I understand it, lobha is fixating on a thing we think we need to make us happy.

The word translated "greed" or "desire" in the Five Hindrances is kamacchanda (Pali) orabhidya (Sanskrit), which refers to sensual desire. This kind of desire is a hindrance to the mental concentration one needs to realize enlightenment. The Second Noble Truth teaches that trishna (Sanskrit) or tanha (Pali) thirst or craving is the cause of stress or suffering (dukkha).

As I write this, the world is reeling from a financial meltdown, and entire industries are on the edge of collapse. The crisis has many causes, but a big one is that a great many people made a great many very bad decisions because they got greedy. But because our culture looks to money-makers as heroes -- and money makers believe themselves to be wise and virtuous we don't see the destructive force of desire until it is too late.

Much of the world's economy is fueled by desire and consumption. Because people buy things, things must be manufactured and marketed, which gives people jobs so they have money to buy things. If people stop buying things, there is less demand, and people are laid off their jobs and corporations that make consumer goods spend fortunes developing new products and persuading consumers through advertising that they must have these new products. Thus greed grows the economy, but as we see from the financial crisis, greed also can destroy it.

How does a lay Buddhist practice Buddhism in a culture fueled by desire? Even if we are moderate in our own wants, a great many of us depend on other people buying stuff they don't need for our jobs. Is this "right livelihood"? To live is to want. When we are hungry, we want food. When we are tired, we want rest. We want the company of friends and loved ones. There is even the paradox of wanting enlightenment. Buddhism doesn't ask us to renounce companionship or the things we need to live. The challenge is to distinguish between what is wholesome taking care of our physical and psychological needs and what is unwholesome. And this takes us back to the Three Poisons and the Five Hindrances.

We don't have to run screaming from all of life's pleasures. As practice matures, we learn to distinguish between the wholesome and the unwholesome what supports our practice and what hinders it. This in itself is practice. Certainly, Buddhism does not teach that there is anything wrong with working to earn money. Monastic’s give up material possession, but laypeople do not. The challenge is to live in a material culture without getting snared by it. It isn't easy, and we all stumbling, but with practice, desire loses its power to jerk us around…..WWJD?

~Shiva Chakra