mantra
The problem is this greed. It is some sort of a inner defect in a human being. He becomes greedy – greedy because he has deviated from dharma [right conduct]. He thinks he can get pleasure out of things. He cannot and goes on accumulating and buying….
Just think of it. What is all this for? What pleasure does it give us? I can understand if you want to give somebody a present or you want to give somebody some happiness, joy. You should do it, but just for yourself … how much can you digest it? You cannot.
Joy is much more in giving to others. It’s not a thing that gives you any understanding of the fundamentals. And the fundamentals are that you are dharma. Within you is that. That is your valency and this materialism is absolutely against it because it creates all kinds of people – mafia, the Swiss banks, cheats…. They have no spititual sense….
In the nature it’s so matching – nothing gross, nothing loud. It’s so beautiful. This is red, but it has green to match it. This Mother Earth knows everything. She does everything, but what do we do for the Mother Earth…?
Anything that you want to use also should have its maryadas [boundaries]. Don’t go beyond it. If you take to swimming, you’ll go on swimming until you get sick. If you are horse riding, you’ll go on horse riding until you fall down. You see, this is also a kind of a life which has no maryadas, like greed has no maryadas….
What is the solution to get rid of this greed? It is to try and give it to others and see the joy. Give something to others, share and see the joy you feel by giving something…. These small, small things can give you great joy in giving to other people, not yourself….
If you don’t have greed, you get what you want…. But if you have greed, then God makes you dance…. Whatever you want, you can get it, if you don’t have greed about it. That’s such an enslaving thing within us, that we have greed… If you don’t ask for anything, you don’t desire for anything, you get what you need. Whatever you need, you get. But if you go on desiring, then go mad after it. Go there, get this and get lost. And then the thing also gets lost. That’s why it is said better try to develop a detachment. It’s all right. If it is there, well and good. If it is not there, it doesn’t matter. Then you’ll be surprised. your attention will be so subtle….
So you should go in for solutions and not for problems. Greed is a problem. How to get rid of the greed is the point. And to get rid of the greed is that if I buy something … for whom should I buy…? If you train your mind on these lines – not for yourself, but for others – then you’ll be amazed. This greed will run away and you’ll have joy…. If giving is there, then this greed goes away and you get what you want. It’s a very simple mantra.
Shri Mataji, 1997