Many want boundless happiness in every sphere. Yet nobody gets it because cheerfulness in life does not come to us from material gains. Riches and achievements may bring name, fame and pride, but they do not bring pure, unadulterated bliss. If one wants untainted happiness one must unite with God, be free from self-worth and look at all beings with love. Health and education also does not give people contentment, but service to others can give genuine peace and joy. Service may not be a very big task; it can be a token of care, a look of affection, or even a word of sympathy which can be some sort of help to others. True happiness can only be found within and not in the outside world.
Greedy mind is never at rest, it is always striving to be somebody and harbours the fear of being nobody; so, it seeks satisfaction focussing on money, power and position. But it is never satisfied even if it gets the whole world. Greedy men drive themselves to insanity and ruin their health with their desire for success. This is because greed is destructive. It leads to corruption at all levels. In breathless pursuit of power, it influence people’s mind, it schemes revenge, it back-stabs just to amass wealth, just to desire praises and get the throne of power.
Savings for a rainy day are required, but not hoarding wealth that we may never need. But the best brains do not understand it. One has to run after riches as long as one is a master of it and not till one becomes a slave of it and lose one’s health.
Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story that gives the inspiring message that destruction awaits a greedy man who was not satisfied with his lot. This man, who belonged to the folks who used ox and plough, received an offer to buy all the land he could walk around in a day provided he had to be back at his starting point by sundown. So, in the morning, he started walking at a fast pace. By midday he was very tired.
He realised that his greed had taken him far from the starting point. He began to run as the sun began to sink low in the sky, for he knew if he did not make it back by sundown the opportunity to become a very big landlord would be lost.
As the sun began to sink below, where the sky and the earth seem to meet, he came within sight of the finish line. Gasping for breath, his heart pounding, he staggered across the line just before sunset. He collapsed and died. His servant dug his grave — six feet long and three feet wide. Leo Tolstoy titled his story as “How much land does a man need?”
