A recent comment on a post to the Inner Call mentioned the capital sin of gluttony, and as words and meanings sometimes appear in our lives in clusters, it wasn’t surprising when, a day or two later, a friend referred to one of the teachings of Chanakya* : “Greed is the worst enemy of an individual.”

Greed commonly refers to an unmoderated desire for food or wealth or power, but we may see it in action in other ways as well. Many in our age are greedy for experiences, usually of a sensory kind and the more vivid and extreme the better. Naturally the traveller on the spiritual path, looking for a truth beyond the transience of the senses, would wish to avoid such excesses—but there is also such a thing as spiritual greed.

If, for example, one visits holy places — whatever that might mean, depending on one’s own understanding — in order to get something, such as inspiration, spiritual power, or illumination, then one has not yet freed oneself from this trap. If, on the other hand, one makes the pilgrimage to offer respect, appreciation or gratitude, then greed has been left behind.

We may sometimes confuse greed with intense spiritual longing, but if we have learned the lessons of love, it is not difficult to see the difference. If we feel a desire for someone and seek to draw them to us whatever the cost, and even against their will, that is greed; if we love truly enough to be patient and tolerant, to give whatever we can for the happiness of the one we love without expectation, then we have risen beyond selfishness. And in the spiritual context the same lesson applies: if we can submit with patience to the will of the One, and keep alive the flame of hope in our heart, then greed no longer touches us.

*Chanakya was a 4th c. BC Indian philosopher, statesman and king-maker. A Brahmin pandit, he found the orphaned Chandragupta Maurya and succeeded in placing him on the throne, thereby creating the first consolidated empire in the Indian subcontinent. He is credited with the foundation of classical economics, and his book of wisdom the Chanakya Niti is still studied today.