The root cause of war is greed. Greed is the root cause of all evil. I hear you saying, “No! There are several causes of war.” But, the root cause is greed. One country wants another country’s gas, oil, land, natural resources etc.

While greed is the root cause of all evil, what is the cause of greed? What is the first act of greed? I believe the first example of greed was in the Garden of Eden. The serpent introduced covetousness to Eve. She is promised the knowledge of God when she eats the apple.

Spiritual greediness

Having said this, let’s look at greediness from the spiritual aspect. Therefore, this addiction spreads throughout all levels of society. Intense desire happens when the natural human impulse to obtain and consume resources makes us aggressive.

In addition, the desire to control and possess material resources becomes a strong craving that consumes people. The problem with greediness is that this compulsion overtakes us.  Therefore, one will not connect to other people in a healthy relationship.

Spiritual Materialism

Most importantly, I have observed in the metaphysical community an all consuming desire to level up. It’s a status symbol to be on a higher level. Yes, it’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy.

Therefore, an individual is overcome with a voracious consumption of religious teachings. Hunger for spiritual truth sometimes becomes overwhelming and derails one. You go on a hunt to find the ultimate religious teacher. Greed often over takes one in the sense that they want to be the favorite trainee of the guru. We want to be seen as special.

In addition, spiritual materialism completely overtakes rational thinking. Greed has devastating effects on our inner emotional health. With anxiety and restlessness overtaking us, we are out of control as craving for rightness continues to grow.

How does greed affect us?

Consequently, this social gluttony, is a vicious cycle that overcomes us. Greed is a selfish desire to acquire more than one needs. So, with greed we have a selfish craving. We grab and hoard things that we really don’t need.

That is to say, we lose ourself in the quest to become enlightened. Meanwhile, instead of moving forward, ground is lost.

Left unchecked, greed often kills. You are damaged with this consuming addiction. Greed is both a good thing and bad. The trick is to keep it balanced. Greed motivates us to grow and evolve. Altruism is a better force for creating positive change. It takes time to develop it.

In summary

There are times when self interest is necessary. The Air Force has a saying,”Me first!” Yes, we do have to put ourselves first at times. If we don’t take care of ourselves, we can’t help others.

To clarify, there are two sides to greed. The shadow side is all consuming. It is addictive. You will have been lost if left unchecked. The light side of greed motivates us to achieve understanding in life. We have been motivated to grow.