A Bucketload of Apples and Another One
During the time when the tsunami struck Sri Lanka a good friend of mine whist trying to rescue people, found a countless number of 5000/= rupee note bundles stacked between the top and bottom layers of a coir mattress in an average man’s house who was apparently taken by the sea. That particular person had hid the money with the belief that he would one day be able to live a lavish life with the money he hid in between the mattress. Unfortunately, he could not live to see that day. Today, we see many people having a bucketload of apples, yet, they crave for another apple instead of enjoying the bucketload which they can share with others as well. Many years ago, my wife was collecting money to purchase a refrigerator that she liked a lot, she was only short of a few bucks to buy her dream refrigerator, however, out of the blues she heard about some people who were in need, to her, that was a better cause than a refrigerator. I saw my wife giving all her savings to those people, so that they could meet their essential needs. A month later, she got a refrigerator which was more advanced and luxurious than what she desired for. Greediness or the craving for more, steals away the opportunity of living in joy “now”. Greediness is a rogue of the present moment. Greediness makes you an alien to this moment and binds you to an unseen future. None of us could assure that we will wake up tomorrow morning. Many lives as such hold the future. Exorbitantly rich people such as Michael Jackson did everything possible to prolong his life but he had to leave even earlier than anyone else of his age.
A friend of mine who is residing in the USA was earning a lot of money assuming that he could live a better life in the future. He could not even visit his father for twenty years, his father had worked hard to give him a good life. Unfortunately, my friend’s father died, and he could not even spend at least 10 valuable minutes with the man who strived to give him a good life. Running after another apple whilst having a bucketload of apples will certainly steal away your joy. The moment you run after another apple while you already have a bucketload of apples may deprive you from enjoying even one apple. While I was in the USA, I saw a board on the campus that states “You can’t keep it unless you give it away”. This was a bit confusing to me, it kept me wondering how in the world someone can keep by giving away. Over time I understood that the principle of “You sow what you reap” in the realm of giving as well. Unless you plant a seed, you would never get a tree. If you do not have a tree, from where would you pluck fruit. The theory of cultivating and harvesting applies to everything in life. No one can escape that reality.
Without cultivation there will be no harvest.
Craving for more can be rooted due to insecurity and emotional distress. Many believe that the emptiness within could be replaced by external aspects. This is incorrect. Emotional emptiness cannot be replaced by external sources. The emptiness within could be transformed only from the fullness within and that is why living to the fullest and enjoying every single second in life is very important. Every moment you miss will be released to the future as an empty moment. The more you gather empty moments the more you will create fearful tomorrows. An insecure mind will rob your heart from living a selfappreciative life. The most miserable state of a man is when he has nothing to be happy about within him. Happiness is an inner state. That is the reason every time people run after an external source seeking happiness, they get tired whenever they do not receive that external source. When I was young, I lived a life full of pleasure that included powerful drugs, beautiful women from different countries and other modes of pleasurable entertainment. The moment I was alone with myself without any other temporary pleasures, I felt so miserable that my inner self was in great depression.
The need to have more will lead a person to become mentally ill with destructive thought patters such as maximization, egoism, selfishness and materialism all of which are mental energy depleting circuits and not mental energy enhancing activities. That is why we should be vigilant in handling our brain. We should segregate the activities our mind undergoes from neural resource depleting to neural resource enhancing activities. However, greed is not inherently negative as it could drive the motivation of people towards driving for bigger aims and goals in life. The problem is when one doesn’t know how to separate greed from need. You do not need plentifully to be happy. You can live in bliss the moment your need is met.
Similarly, those who are greedy will naturally experience a series of negative emotions such as unhappiness as their brain system is accustomed to being unhappy with what they have. These people tend to miss the beauty of contentment which is living life to its fullest with what you have. During the second chapter of my life where I was earning a small income, we used to dance inside our house as we were happy for who we were at that time compared to who we were earlier, not based on who we wanted to be. What we wanted always existed, yet, what we currently had made us happy in contrast to what we had earlier. Also, people who crave for more while they have adequately will also have other negative emotions such as envy, fear of loss, dissatisfaction and anger. Similarly, craving for more can create destructive personality traits such as antagonism (aggression), disinhibition, detachment (isolation), negative affectivity (worry, apprehension and sadness) and psychoticism (non-conformist).
Why would you opt to go through all the painful, stressful and miserable states in life when you could easily sit, relax and enjoy the bucketload of apples that you already possess? This moment will never come again. Your children will not be in their childhood forever, your wife will not remain young forever, and your parents will not live eternally. Therefore, when you have a bucketload of apples, enjoy them with your loved ones rather than running crazily after another apple.
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