In Buddhism, greed is one of the three main roots of suffering. Zen practice helps guide the transformation from greed to generosity, from self centered thirsting after things to peaceful contentment with just enough to satisfy and plenty left over to share. Greed is natural desire gone awry. To be human is to embody desire, the hungers for food, shelter, clothing, love, friendship, affirmation, jobs, money, whatever makes our lives work, are as natural as the sun and the moon in their orbits. Desire takes a bad rap. Greed however, is how we go astray, and our materialistic and scientific and technological world has taken consumption to the max.
In the developed worlds we simple want to much, use to much, feel entitled to too much, and leave behind too big a footprint, whether it is nuclear waste disposal, greenhouse gas, polluted top soils and waters, or ugly roadside shopping malls and car dealerships and tract mini-mansions. The earth can not sustain us any longer. This is a fact and a certainty of demographics, ecology, warfare, agriculture, health, and economics. Human greed has created collective trouble.
Healing greed requires a willingness to go against the tides of conditioned materialism, attachments to things we lust after, and the more is better philosophy of the market economy. It takes courage to opt for simplicity and the welfare of all. This is a defining characteristic of Zen and Buddhism as a whole, not harming means finding the true spirit of generosity that requires little for oneself and focuses on bringing benefit to the many. A formal Zen eating ritual makes use of a bowl and utensil set called 'oryoki', which means 'just enough'. How do we live a 'just enough' life that is good for our own spiritual welfare, our relationships, nature, society, humanity, and the earth?!
I think healing greed begins with an honest evaluation of our real needs, our conditioned materialism, our wanting and spending habits, in effect, our whole conceptualization of what it means to inhabit a planet and take care of our life. This is a difficult mountain to climb that takes courage, conviction, community, and a spiritual compass. Rather than seeking pat answers to the difficult personal and societal problems of greed, a Zen approach might be to just open our minds to the observation of our using, buying, discarding, and sharing habits, for these daily routines define our relationship to the earth and all of humanity. Zen is the practice of letting go, and letting go of desire is an ongoing process and struggle for anyone who sincerely contemplates the matrix of dynamic interconnection between all forms of life. What do we really need...not much.
Letting Greed Go
