Smith and the head teacher were standing near the playground, where the children were frolicking to their heart’s content. He asked the headmaster, “Why is it that everyone wants to be happy, but so few ever are?”
The teacher looked at the playground and answered, “Those children seem to be really happy.” “Why shouldn’t they be?” said Smith. “All they do is play. But what keeps the grownups from being happy like that?”
“The same thing that can keep children from being happy.” When he said that, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of copper coins, and threw them among the playing children. Suddenly all laughter stopped. The children tumbled over one another, fought and argued.
Then the teacher said to Smith, “Well, what do you think ended their happiness?”
“The fighting,” answered Smith.
“And what started the fighting?” “Greed.”
“There you have the answer to your question” said the teacher. - Willi Hoffsuemmer
Greed is nothing but the uncontrolled desire to possess. Buddha would say, desire is the root cause of all evils. As new leaves sprout one after another on a thriving plant, desire sprouts up endlessly in the human heart. Everybody wants to find happiness. But their greed to possess the things that they think will make them happy, unfortunately, keeps happiness itself away.
Indian Thoughts Archives
No comments:
Post a Comment