"GREED"

I start this chapter with a heavy heart. As always is the case, when I start a chapter, the very thing I am writing about becomes what I am experiencing. This week I have witnessed the greed of others in many forms; from the government, to individual family members with one another. These are things one would expect, and though unfortunate, are not the reason I am disturbed.

Many of you know that I am building a pyramid in the Arizona desert, and because of this I have had many communications from people who are on the path, not to mention those who are just curious. The ones who are curious and unaware are often rude and skeptical, to the point of poking fun at what they don't understand. I can understand this, because what we don't understand we fear, and what we fear we react to negatively. What I don't understand are those who are on "the path" who don't seem to understand the basic principles of spirituality. It once again sends home the message to me the importance of a good strong foundation in spiritual awareness; principles and application.

I am addressing this chapter especially for those people, and for you who are new to the path, because it is not ever too early to learn this fundamental lesson. In fact, if you learn this lesson you won't even need the chapter on greed, because it will be nonexistent in your life.

Once I started walking on the path and investigating my spirituality, one of the first lessons I learned was that all things start on the spiritual and work their way down. In other words, if there is something I want I can create it by my desire for it, and it will come about. It is part of the things we have already talked about, how we each create our own reality. Once you learn this, physical things become much less important, and are no longer the building block of your life. Once the focus is off of the physical, then the fear of losing what you have is gone, along with the fear of never being able to attain what you want. Once this happens, then the way is cleared for all things to come as they are needed.

Many people who are on the path, and feel that they have great knowledge and understanding, have asked me where the funding is going to come from for this pyramid. I don't understand the question coming from them. I have lived my life for the last 23 years knowing that all things come, and are created by me. I, nor my family, have ever done without anything that was needed or truly desired. If any of you don't understand this, then a refresher course is needed, as it will make your life much easier. Struggling for material things will get in the way of your spiritual growth; which is why learning this lesson to start with is so vital. Once this lesson is learned greed will no longer exist in your heart or life.

Let us go forward, however, and review exactly what the emotion is, and what actions it can cause.

This chapter is dedicated to the emotion called greed. It only makes sense that if compassion in the previous chapter is freely giving, then greed is freely keeping. Let's start by looking at the causes for greed. One of the main culprits is a lack of security and self esteem, probably caused by feeling that something was withheld from you at some point in your life, either by a parent, person in authority, friend or yourself.

This feeling of insecurity is not restricted to being poor, but rather can affect anyone from any walk of life. In fact, it has been my experience just through observation, to note that the very rich are the most insecure and afraid of losing what they have.

Let's look at how karma works concerning greed. Everyone comes into this existence with an equal opportunity for growth and experience. It doesn't matter what society you are born into, whether socialistic, democratic, etc. It doesn't matter what language you speak, or if the trade is anything from currency, to beads, to water. The potential for spiritual, physical and mental growth are the same (unless you were born with a birth defect and are unable to comprehend things...which means you probably wouldn't be reading this).

Circumstances, however, are quite a different matter. Naturally those born into a free society where parents are wealthy and able to afford every opportunity for the child can make a difference. Money can send prejudice for race, religion or creed right out the window. We have all been taught since we were very young that in order to succeed wealth is the key. It doesn't matter how intellectual or artistically gifted a person is, only how well these talents are able to attain material wealth for them. It is how our society measures success, and people who have this wealth are treated differently and given more consideration than those without. This is just a simple fact, irrelevant of any society you are in; other than the principles of a communist society, which we all know doesn't work.

There are many people who devote their entire lives to this, only to realize once they attained this "success" that it means nothing and does not bring happiness or peace.

We have all heard how the rich make their own laws, and to the extent that the best lawyers can be hired and judges can be bought, and even legislators can be bribed to introduce the bills that the rich want passed, this is true. We are taught from birth not just by our parents, but by society, that the road to happiness and success is lined with money. We spend half of our lives going to school to learn how to make money, and the other half working hard to earn it.

Hopefully, somewhere along this money lined road, we have time to stop and smell the roses, learning to be happy at whatever juncture in life we are at, and learning that there are many things more important than money and material goods. I do not believe that we are on this planet to achieve possessions and learn to become comfortable with them. I also do not believe that there is any reason to do without things. I am not saying that you should quit your job and take a vow of poverty, quite the opposite. What I am saying is that once you learn how to maintain a balance in your life, all things will come to you and the struggle for material possessions will be over, which will free you up to work harder on your spiritual growth.

The fear of losing what you have will also be eliminated, and with that greed. Unfortunately, few break through this mold that they and society have created. Most people don't even stop long enough to realize the insignificance of it all for that matter, although all certainly have an equal opportunity to do so. Your opportunity has just appeared (maybe not even for the first time) right now in the words you are reading.

Karma (the universal law) dictates that we each take as much wealth as we need, but no more. The reason for extreme wealth and extreme poverty is due to a breakdown of this law, wherein people take more than they need or even truly want. People tend to invent desires once all of their true desires have been fulfilled, because this then gives them something to work toward, and we all need a goal. Having something to work toward is a good thing, and very important, however, once you have learned that there will always be enough for you it is time to work toward other goals, like developing your spirituality and helping others who don't understand these concepts.

Watching the wild life television shows we all tend to judge animals in the wild as being savage and inferior because of their desires. However, whenever an animal in the wild kills it is for food. A pride of lions for example only kills enough to feed the pride. They do not kill for sport, or to stock up on their food supply; hiding it while the others go hungry. Even the animals who do not have the reasoning powers that man has understand that you don't kill the whole herd to fill your stomach, but take what you need with the understanding that you will still have to hunt tomorrow, and what you need tomorrow will be provided then.

Yes there is a certain amount of faith involved when living in this manner. I personally do not have money stockpiled in the bank, but there is always enough to pay the bills, and supply whatever is needed or desired. After living this way for 23 years it is no longer a question of faith, but a knowledge that is as ingrained as waking up every morning and going to sleep every night. It becomes second nature. There is plenty for everyone, and we each create what we want. Believing this is the first step to losing the fear of doing without, and by doing this you have opened up your entire life to so much more.

Just as nature, when left alone by man, maintains a perfect balance in the animal kingdom, man also has a balance to maintain. When this delicate balance is interrupted by greed or fear, then problems arise, literally brought on by ourselves (so what else is new?). We have all been guilty of being greedy at one time or another, whether in childhood or as adults. In fact, greedy children generally grow up into greedy adults, unless the lesson was taught while you were young.

A true example of greed hit me when we moved to the East coast in the late 80's. I had never lived anywhere but in California, where the weather is always mild. The first heavy snowstorm that was scheduled to hit the tiny island we lived on was announced on the news and television. I went to the store to get some milk and bread and was shocked to find that all the shelves were empty. There was no milk, no bread, no toilet paper and most canned goods were picked over. This was not a small store but a large chain. I asked the clerk what had happened and was told that this was common for people to panic at the sound of a snowstorm coming, and buy everything in sight so that they could stockpile goods, and be assured of having enough.

I belong to a mail list called the Millennium list and there is a lot of talk in this list, of course, about the millennium and what changes it will bring. Several people write in telling everyone to horde enough food for three years. I have no problem with preparing for a disaster, but I think that there are other things more important than stockpiling enough food for three years. For instance, what can we all do to help each other and work together? What kind of emergency system can we all use to communicate? How can we prepare spiritually for the changes?

In my opinion having enough food is not going to be the most important issue. If you have food that you are not willing to share with others, do you think they won't fight you for it? What is going to make things different when people are desperate then now, when it is all there for the taking? People kill over ten dollars, do you think they won't kill over possible starvation?

Can you start to see how truly unimportant material possessions and even food are in the overall picture? Elevate your mind to a higher plane and look down for a minute. You truly own nothing on this earth, but only rent it for a space of time. Nothing that is physical here is permanent, including you. Therefore, in the overall scheme of things, how important is it all really?

There is a vast difference between want and need, although each can be easily obtained. Need is generally provided without too much effort, unless you unconsciously are blocking it for some reason. However, want is better gotten when you work for it, and feel the sense of accomplishment at having achieved your goal. There are a lot of feelings attached to this, and the lessons along the way are much more important than the money or material possession aspect. You are building self-esteem, and your ego, by attaining your desires through hard work. This is a very positive thing, and only becomes negative when it starts to become an obsession and loses all context.

After the basic needs of food and shelter, our needs and desires become very diverse. For instance; a person that is a seeker of intellectual wisdom needs to surround themselves with books and learning tools; a person with a spiritual message may need a temple or use of some type of media to share it with others; a person who is into physical strength may need to surround themselves with equipment that will train the muscles; an artist an easel and paints; etc. These are all legitimate needs, however, the problem comes with the person who fears the future and hasn't learned to live in the present. This person does not ever live in the now, where there is enough, but are in constant fear that what they have now won't be enough for tomorrow or ten years from now.

My grandmother was a prime example of this. As I stated before she didn't believe in banks, nor trust them. As a result she buried her money in the basement (where it got no interest just mold). She was always saving for a rainy day, and denying herself even the simplest pleasures for fear she wouldn't have enough for that rainy day.

Today they call it investing in the future, and there are companies that are out there just for this purpose. You see advertisements for them on television, billboards, in newspapers and magazines all the time, telling you how to invest your money. There are as many ways to have your money WORK for you as Carter has pills. There does seem to be one theme to all of this, and that is they want you to pay them to tell you how to become rich. Have you ever wondered that if they had all the answers why didn't they just make themselves rich, rather than using other people's hard earned money? Is it because they are benevolent, or just love you like family and want to share their knowledge? HMMMM...makes you wonder.

There is no security in financial gain. I don't know how to say this any plainer, but I will make an attempt. During World War II in Germany my father used to tell the story of how people would fill a wheelbarrow with money to take to the bakery just to get a loaf of bread. There will come a time when currency loses all value, but your life and what you have learned spiritually will never lose value. Whatever falls apart or is taken away can be created again, if you understand that it is not done by the sweat of your brow, but by the will of your spirit. There is no amount of money that can keep a person alive, that takes the will of the spirit, and if you doubt this ask a doctor. They work with life and death everyday, and most doctors will tell you that they will not operate on someone who has no will to live.

Grab for your security, but build your foundation on the rock, rather than the sinking sand. The security comes from your spirituality, not your material possessions. If you doubt this examine what you take with you when you die.

A good example is our own civil war. When the war was over southern currency was worthless. Fortune after fortune was lost; land, homes, even family heirlooms such as silver, china and jewelry. There are lessons of this all through history, but unfortunately few have learned (especially our politicians) and even fewer remember, or want to remember.

You will find that once you start taking more than you truly desire, or need, the cycle will perpetuate itself. You will not feel truly satisfied, and will constantly have the nagging feeling that you don't have enough. The nest egg that you started building now becomes a cushion between you and the world, with the price of living going up each year, which means that the nest egg must also rise to meet the need. This cushion can separate you from other people, their needs, and can even lead to a form of paranoia; because you are then afraid that someone will take it all away from you, or worse yet, due to the stock market or other risky investments you will lose it.

When you start creating with the spirit the fear is gone, because no one can take the power to create away from you. Therefore, if someone takes something material you can be assured that you will always have the ability to replace it.

There are people who live their lives as virtual prisoners within their own homes. They have burglar alarms installed (where they have fifteen seconds to run out of the house and thirty seconds to run back in and disarm the alarm); bars on the windows; guard dogs; high fences; video equipment; and some neighborhoods even pay to hire a security guard to patrol.

I have known people who owned beautiful luxury cars, but would not drive them to the market or on errands for fear of them being stolen or vandalized. I have known many women who owned beautiful jewelry that they loved dearly, but refused to wear or even keep where they could enjoy seeing it, instead it was kept locked up in a safety deposit box because of the fear of having it stolen. Do these items truly bring happiness if they are surrounded by so much fear and paranoia? Do you own them or do they own you?

In the end all of this is for nothing. None of these articles will go with you in death, and nine times out of ten will be sold once you are dead. I cannot tell you how many estate sales I have been to where the prized possessions of people were carelessly and thoughtlessly sold for a pittance of what they were worth, because the relatives had no idea what the worth was, or better yet didn't care, and just wanted to get rid of the "junk".

My son is a perfect example. For years now he has collected baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, etc. You name it he has it. Whenever he gets spare money in his pocket he is back to the store buying more cards. He opens them and gloats over how much this one and that one is worth, and what a great deal he got. I have tried over and over to explain to him that it does not matter what price the book puts on the card, it only matters what someone else is willing to pay for it. To him it might be worth a lot, but to others (like me) it is junk.

Enjoy the things you have, but if you are buying them for an investment and not enjoyment, do yourself a favor and buy what you truly would like. It is kind of like a diamond ring. In the store it is worth a lot of money, but once out of the store you would be lucky to get one-fourth what you paid for it. Try selling it in the paper for what they "tell" you it is worth and see how far that goes. Better yet take it back to the same store and try to sell it back to them and see where that gets you. The only other place is a pawn shop that will be happy to give you one-tenth of what you paid for it. Are you starting to see the stupidity involved that we are all guilty of?

I have seen many spirits trapped on this plane because they could not stand even in death to part with their possessions. This is very sad. You may know of them as ghosts, but in reality they are earth bound spirits that are trapped, lots of times by their own greed. All the work you went through to attain possessions, and the fear you lived in to maintain them, will do you no good in death, but might be the very thing that causes you the worst torture ever known.

Greed can cause you to miss out on spiritual growth and development, which is the thing we all come here for to begin with, and by the way is the only thing that we take with us when we leave. Therefore, in the end you are left with nothing except the karma that you made, which will have to be paid. You may even end up being one of those tragically trapped spirits.

Material goods are fleeting, and will all return to the earth sooner or later. Living a life full of kindness goes on forever, long after the world has turned to a new monetary system. When you start living through love and kindness everything around you will seem to change. In reality it is your outlook that is changing. However, by changing the way you act, others will change the way they treat you, so everyone benefits. Always remember that you do these things as much for yourself as the benefit of others. It will help you to grow and be at peace with yourself.

Living this way will also help you to see the overall picture, rather than living within your own little cubicle with your "things" surrounding you. When you doubt this go by an estate sale and see all the "things" that people worked their entire life for being sold to the highest bidder (which usually is less than half of what they are worth). The "things" that people treasured being cheapened by people picking over them, and dickering over their worth. If these possessions are all their life stood for, then even their memory is cheapened in the process.

In the end, what do we take with us worthwhile, other than what we have done to grow, and in turn helped others to grow? You truly own nothing, but only use it while you are here. Is that worth jeopardizing your health for (I am talking to the workaholics out there who want to be a millionaire before they retire, and spend every waking moment working toward that goal). Many jeopardize their family life, and usually the children are the ones who suffer.

When you act out of love and kindness you plant seeds, and even though that seed may not grow before your eyes, be assured it will grow once it has had the proper nurturing. Wouldn't it be wonderful to feel like you had made a difference in someone else's life? Isn't that what we all are striving for, to be remembered?

I will never forget my father or his words. About six months before he died he knew he was going to die. He started talking about death, and it became an obsession with him. My father had never talked this way before, and even though I knew it was upsetting to my mother (my father was a seemingly healthy man, except for bad feet) I realized that he knew his time was coming. The thing that he was concerned with was not his death, but the fear that we might forget him. He was afraid that his life would go unnoticed, and that no one would miss him when he was gone, which to him would mean that he had lived in vain.

Think about it a moment. If you knew that you were going to die and had one day to live what would you do? Don't answer me, but write it in your journal and be honest with yourself. When you write down what you would do then ask why? I think that you will be surprised at the answer and I am also pretty sure that greed will not enter into it.

You may ask now, "How can I avoid falling into the trap of being greedy?" First of all, take stalk of yourself and what you have. If there is something in your life that you have always wanted, buy it. The way will open up. You may have to work harder to pay for it, but it will be worth it if it is what you really want. We become greedy when we deny ourselves things. We deny things for so long that we can never seem to get enough, and we continue to buy just for the joy of shopping. Don't laugh, there are some people who have a real problem with this, and there are even groups out there that are dedicated to treating this disease.

Second of all, look back in your life and see if you have ever truly gone without anything that was needed for your very existence. This must not be true, or you wouldn't be alive reading this right now. Everything was put on this planet for the use of mankind. People do without by choice. This does not mean that everyone should quit their job and be provided for. I never said that work was not involved in this, however, there is a reward system here that says if you work you get what you want.

Once you have fulfilled your own needs, (that doesn't mean that you have to have everything you ever wanted all at once, but once that you understand the concept) then you will feel more content and secure within yourself. It is at this point that you are ready to truly give of yourself, and start living a kinder, more loving life. You will learn to share what you have with others, not just physical "things", but your giving spirit, which is much more important.

This may not be easy at first, because old habits die hard, but if you work at it the reward will be overwhelming. You will realize how easily things come, and how easily people come to you who need your kindness. People who are truly in need, not people who are trying to scam you or make a living off of someone's kindness (and there are people like that, don't think there aren't, but they are easily spotted).

This will mean relearning and re-evaluating the standards that you have been living by. It will mean re-establishing goals with different end results. One of the most important keys is establishing a harmony on all three planes.

Be careful of greed. It can eat you up, spit you out and leave you feeling more empty inside then when you started all your hard work. It perpetuates itself and feeds on itself, all at the same time. Usually it happens slowly and in such a subtle way that you may not even realize that it exists in your life, because it keeps you too busy working to feed it. Yes, it can take on a personality of its own, depending on the individual. We have all met people like this and they aren't too pleasant to be around. They even make movies about these kind of people, and how they 'close the big deal' which will close factories and leave people out of work, while they tear the buildings down and sell them for scrap, all to make more money. Don't think that it is only the big wheeler dealers with this problem. There are many who make their jobs their entire lives, and forget all else exists, especially the very loved ones they are working supposedly so hard to support.

The person you harm the most, as always, is yourself. Not only will greed cause you to lose the point of this existence, but can take you into the next life with a large karmic debt to pay off. You might ask how to draw the line between needs and greed (its amazing at how closely related those words are even in spelling). As always there are no definite answers, as each persons particular needs are different. However, there are some straight forward guidelines that should help you to discern between want, need and greed.

Let's start by asking ourselves, what it is in this life that we can't live without, other than people. We are talking now about possessions, and objects which can range from your telephone to your yacht. Make a list (and let's all be honest; anything that you would shed a tear for or stay up at night worrying about you are seriously attached to). If you have trouble with this, just imagine yourself away from home, all your possessions are in the house, and you are robbed. What things would you be the most upset about losing?

If you are like most people (and if you are being totally honest with yourself, which isn't always easy to do) you are starting to get an idea of just how much hold your possessions have over you. Each of us have to learn this lesson, and some learn it harder than others.

In my case the lesson came when I was about 25 years old. We lived in an old farm house. My husband wasn't making too much money, and I had been saving to buy a new microwave (we didn't believe in credit back then). I saved for six months to buy that microwave, which meant no movies or going out to dinner. I budgeted in a video and 'bake my own pizza' once a week. During this time I kept watching the paper to find a good sale. Finally I had the money, and the microwave came on sale. I couldn't wait to go buy it. It was a Saturday and we went to the store and bought the most beautiful microwave I had ever seen. It could be programmed to cook your meals, and you could put all the food in at once and it would cook appropriately. I was very impressed and pleased.

We took the microwave home and my husband put it on the kitchen table. We had to go grocery shopping, which I tried to beg out of because I wanted to stay home and play with the microwave. My husband insisted that I go, (he hated grocery shopping as much as I did) promising that he would hook it up when we got back. We were gone less than one hour, and when we got back someone had come in through a window (that was closed) and stolen the brand new microwave (still in the box), plus our VCR, a black and white television and various other small things.

The funny part to this was that my husband and I had talked about the possibility of being robbed, because we were in a city with a high crime rate. He felt that we would be safer in the country. When we talked about it I would always say that I didn't care what they took, as long as they left the microwave and the VCR (we had a microwave that was 13 years old and losing its power which was why we needed a new one).

I had over two hundred dollars in an envelope for bills, which was sitting on the end table by my chair. Whoever robbed us literally knocked this money still in the envelope on the floor, but didn't take that (what better way to bring the lesson home to me, but to have the thief take what I loved most but leave what I truly needed).

My first reaction was anger, and then disbelief. This quickly was followed by hysterics (which is not a pretty sight because I have never been one to break down, and very rarely cry). When I started crying I couldn't seem to stop. It all seemed like a very bad nightmare. All my months of saving was probably going to supply some thief with drugs, and this thought did not make me happy.

Finally, after about an hour of these hysterics my husband looked at me and said "don't you think that this is about enough?" " No one was hurt and everything that was taken can be replaced. There is nothing material in this world worth getting this upset over."

At first I was angry with him for being so uncaring about my feelings, but then I stopped and thought about what he said, and realized that he was right. There were plenty more microwaves in the store, and we would get the money again, it might just take a little more time, but really that was no big deal when I truly stopped and thought about it.

I had not been on the path very long at that time, and was just starting to get in touch with myself. However, it was at that point in my life that I realized how unimportant material things actually were. You had them one minute and the next they were gone. From that moment on I decided not to let things have that kind of hold over me again. The thief didn't realize it, but he/she had played a pivotal role in my growth and freed me forever.

Once that lesson was learned things started coming easily. Within two weeks I had another brand new microwave, exactly like the one they had stolen (the salesperson felt so bad that he told me whenever we had the money he would give us the sale price) and we had replaced the VCR within a month. We have lived many places since then (from the west coast to the east coast and now in the middle) and have not ever been robbed again.

I hope that my experience, and words, can help someone so that they don't have to go through the actual pain to understand the lesson. If it helps even one, then the writing of this book and the sharing of my experiences will be worthwhile.

HOMEWORK;



When you have made all of these lists, analyze the answers and get a feel for what your perception of possessions are. Now make a list of priorities in your life, time spent on these priorities, and why?

When finished with your lists, it is time to make a change according to your answers. Start by remembering that you create everything in your life, and realize that no one can take that ability away from you. Start believing this, and living it. Take time to meditate, and work on your spirituality and feelings of love toward others. Remember that we are all one, each being an integral part of the next, and work within that concept.

This week you are to share with at least three people. This can start as small as sharing your lunch, and go as far as giving something to someone that you know they have always admired, but you felt you could not part with before. It also can range in-between. Do what feels comfortable for you.

Don't ever give away something you feel you can't live without, until you have had time to let go of the object emotionally. Work your way through this process and make sure that there is nothing that would hold you to this plane if you were to die today.