Working with "fear" or "greed" is nowhere near working with "love." History and mythology are full of such examples. Rama loved his wife, and his love made him reach Lanka when nobody knew the whereabouts of Lanka to bring his wife back. Krishna became Arjuna's charioteer out of his love for Arjuna and changed the entire course of the battle. So many freedom fighters sacrificed their lives willingly out of their love for their country. Out of love, Savitri could take the life of her husband back from Yamraja. Out of love for his father, Nachiketa reached Yamraja.
Greed has made people do some of the ugliest things in this world. Greed for heaven turns people into suicide bombers, killing many fellow human beings. Greed for ruling the world made Hitler kill millions of innocent people. Greed for power has created so many dictators in this world who have committed numerous genocides. We see the greed of the employers exploiting the employees almost every day. Bosses exploit their subordinates due to their greed to grab powerful positions. The greed of the rich has almost destroyed the ecosystem and made the air poisonous and the water undrinkable. Greed of a feeling of "high," makes people take drugs and alcohol and waste the precious resources of their family as well as spoil their health. Greed for fun makes people flood the tourist spots and destroy their ecosystem.
Fear is no less criminal. Fear of the British losing their empire made them so violent and aggressive. Fear of losing the job makes so many people bear the exploitation by the organizations. In fact, fear affects us in almost every aspect. COVID-19 was a live example that all of us experienced. People felt their own relatives were unattended due to the fear of COVID-19. I was in the hospital for 10 days as an attendant to my wife, and it was a real demonstration of what fear can do to the entire humanity. Yet, we have not learnt our lessons and have made fear the basis of our lives. Fear of losing money, seats, positions, social validation, image, and whatever we have becomes the center of our lives.
But why are we so greedy or fearful when we can love? Probably, because we have never explored love. Can we love anybody without loving ourselves? Love means "connection," and unless we are connected to ourselves, how can we connect to others? We are so obsessed with the "objects of greed" and "fear of losing those objects" that we never get to know "who we are". We are so obsessed with the "known" that we ignore the whole of the world of the "unknown". It's like a godown full of goods, and a little portion thereof is well lit. We think that the godown has those limited goods, and we become greedy to get more or fearful of losing those goods. While the reality is that due to the absence of light, we are not aware that the godown is full of all kinds of goods. If the entire godown is lit even for a moment, we would never ever have the illusion of being limited and invest our entire life to explore wider dimensions of our being.
We can't love unless we have awareness of "who we are". Because in the absence of that awareness, we remain "limited". A "limited" person will always be greedy and fearful. Greedy to get more from the external world. To become somebody or to acquire something to feel secure and safe. Fearful of losing whatever he has acquired. Have we come across any billionaires who are not greedy? Have we come across any powerful person who is not afraid of losing their chair? Hardly any. In fact, the more people get and the more greedy and fearful they become. Their entire life is wasted in the calculations of snatching more from others or retaining their positions. On the other hand, as we gain awareness of our inner reality, we are full of love. That happened with everybody on the path. Then we feel like spreading love and developing compassion with even those people who suffer from the "absence of love". Buddha loved even those who hated him, and in fact, many of his biggest critics turned out to be his biggest followers due to love. I fail to understand why somebody would like to live a life of greed and fear, while we have a far better option of living with love, and in fact, we have so many examples from History and Mythology to guide us. Why would we keep a large portion of our home unlit and remain obsessed with a small portion excessively illuminated?
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