Greed

Selfishness is the root of most of the material and spiritual misery in the world. When the individual wants the universe for himself without wanting to share it or to redistribute it among his peers, hording and amassing becomes a pathological trace.

This behavior does not bring any benefit to the individual or to society. Greed is like a cancer of the spirit. It consumes the individual and it reduces him to a state of utter human degradation. Because of its pervading influence, greed does not allow the pursuit of inner peace in the individual or the attainment of an ethical society. The avaricious individual can only find full satisfaction in the lap of Mammon. Nothing can fill his infinite emptiness, and as a result, this imbalance affects us all.

Epicurus maintained that nothing can be sufficient for whom what it is enough seems too little. What is the nature of this most human of behaviors? Why a person wants to have more than what it is needed to sustain life? Can it be our material condition – the fact that we are a res corporea?

All material that surrounds us is valuable for two main reasons:  its utilitarian or its aesthetic values. These two values have a different role in the individual’s mind depending on the level of spiritual awareness achieved by the person concerned.

Some people are happy with their lot in life. They accept things as they are regardless as to whether their world is materially abundant, or that scarcity is the prevailing aspect of their lives. They are blessed. The one that has plenty has nothing to complain about; the one that struggles to survive, must reason that for some reason or other, his situation is such and therefore he must go on living, no matter what.

It seems then that the problem starts when neither the person with abundant possessions, nor the one without them, get contented with their situation. The rich, in this case, wants more and more and more and always more. The poor, in this situation, wants to get as much as the rich has. The two beings involved in these two cases, must be seen with compassion. Both seem unable, by their own means, to get out of their predicament.

The rich individual will never be satiated with his thirst for more and more. The poor guy, on the other hand once he gets to the level of his rich counterpart, will surely aspire to possess more and more as well. A perfect vicious circle!

Greed is a negative human behavior that if it cannot be completely eliminated, must be controlled. People must be taught an ethos that encourages sharing. The education system can contribute to achieve this, through the construction and use of a curriculum that supports an ethos of piety, collaboration and solidarity with all human beings.

Greed – as it is well known – is contributing to human degradation and environmental destruction everywhere, thus it is not healthy for anyone to succumb to the calamities that it creates. Everyone must be aware of the pernicious effects that greed brings to human existence. If people can learn to share and control the greedy behavior, Nirvana is on the way to be attained.

Hatred

Buddha taught that all living beings long for love and that therefore we must show our compassion to all of them. Christ followed this ethos when he commanded his followers to love each other. Secular humanism also demands this.

Hatred is a very ugly aspect of human behavior. It compels the individual to hate his fellow being. This produces on the person that hates – following Leonardo Boff – a feeling of great animosity against the environment where he lives, as well as against his fellow man. Hatred is then destructive in all the senses of the word. It does not allow the construction of a convivial harmony among men. It discriminates, is blind, cruel, it obeys to no reason.

Hatred generates hatred. This is the main reason why co-operation and good will among all humans is paramount to achieving a peaceful individual and a harmonious world. The voice of reason is the language of the civilized man. For him hatred and violence of any kind has not place anywhere in his life.

The civilized man is compassionate with all creatures and their habitat. He does not wish harm to anyone or to anything. He wishes for everyone to observe an ethos of care and love as espoused by Buddha and Boff.

Hatred, like greed, is a terrible cancer of the human spirit that must not have a place in the mind of the civilized person. Here too, an educational approach that encourages the learners to learn to attain a peaceful resolution of conflict is desirable.

The abhorrence for hatred is also preached by the example: Let’s try to be balanced and fair in all our acts and most importantly in the language that we use with others, to show them that we care and that we really want to be at peace with them.

Hatred can be eliminated through justice and universal compassion. Hatred is anti-human. It must be extinguished and in its place a genuine love for humanity and our bio-sphere must be built.

Ignorance

Ignorance is a terrible state of mind whereby a human being becomes both a victim and a victimizer. He is a victim because there may be many factors causing why he suffers from ignorance. In many cases his ignorance may be due to factors beyond his control; he himself may be a victim of actions generated by other ignorant people. Ignorance can be a vicious circle! He is a victimizer because through his ignorance, he provokes suffering to innocent people. Ignorance is a very dark condition and we all suffer its effects and causes one way or another.

We may ignore many things depending on what we are dealing with. It seems impossible for practically anybody, for obvious reasons, to be knowledgeable and wise on every aspect of life at every given time or circumstance. The important point here, is the overall attitude assumed by a human being viz a viz another human being in a situation where other values like compassion, prudence, tolerance or solidarity may be called for.

When the individual becomes closed and uncharitable to the plight of a fellow human is the moment when the true ignorance comes to the fore. There are not valid excuses from someone that should know better; when he pretends that miserable acts or attitudes are legitimate. The most ignorant is he who knowingly causes suffering to another human being. His ignorance is brutal and overbearing.

Tolerance, compassion and appropriate reasoning at the appropriate time, seem to be the best way to proceed to avoid becoming a victimizer or to defend the victim of an act of ignorance.

The perpetrator of an act of ignorance must be made aware of his wrongful conduct and be advised through the usage appropriate language, of the evil of his attitude. Ignorance per se must not be tolerated, as ignorance is the highest degree of intolerance. As paradoxical as it might sound, tolerating ignorance is the same as tolerating intolerance.

Through proper education, young minds can be taught to recognize acts of ignorance and thus be encouraged to become a better kind of people.

We must combat ignorance all the time; this includes our own ignorance and the ignorance of others, and I’m sure that the Buddha will smile at us.