MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

We are currently reading a series of articles on the 'shatripuu' - the six devils of living. In case you missed or are newly passing by, here is the story so far:
Part One - structure
Part Two - the effort
Part Three - kaama/desires

Part Four - krodha/anger

Lobha. Another Sanskrit word with nuance according to context. The primary translation is 'greed', but adjuncts are - avarice, covetousness, cupidity, perplexity, longing after (hankering), impatience.

It is not difficult to understand why lobha is considered a shatripuu. One could expand on the concept of the 'six devils' and refer to them as 'vices'. Things which grab hold of us and won't let go without much effort on our part! When it comes to greed (or any of those 'colourations') we might not think of ourselves as being greedy, per se, but it will show up from time to time in us all. What about that favourite sweet? The clothes on sale? The all-you-can-eat smorgasbord?

For the majority of people living the 'first world life', greed is a part of daily routine and it goes under our radar. Three meals a day and snacks besides. Oh yes, we might make attempts to ensure all that is consumed is of the highest quality, healthy and health-promoting, tasty but not excessive at each serving. 

Three meals a day and snacks besides. WE ARE GREEDY! Even if we are trying to cut back, we eat so much more than is necessary for the body to function. It is a habit-forming addiction, the food consumption thing.

Then there are all the other consumables of our modern lifestyles. Clothes, homes, transports, music, viewing... for heaven's sake, even the marketing buys into the concepts of lobha in people.

Buy one get one free!!!

BOX-SETS FOR YOUR BINGE-WATCH EVENINGS!!!

Indulge yourself=why not???

Banks and other institutions fall over themselves to ensure people have the money they can't afford to feed their consumerist habit. Then, when things get out of hand...bang! Bankruptcy, homelessness, physically and mentally destructive addictions have been added over the top because coping mechanisms have been stripped away.

Even among those of us who have a reasonably balanced, non-addicted life, greed exists. We live in a society of so much plenitude it cannot countenance renunciation. 

When I tell people that I mostly live on two moderate meals a day, and if at all I snack, it is upon fruit, it becomes abundantly clear that they don't believe me. Not just because I am a dumpling-shaped bundle, but because there is the assumption that hunger will override this pattern. On the contrary. If one eats correctly and only when the body says it requires fuel, hunger as such is not known. Then there are the fasting days. One per fortnight. Full moon and dark moon. Let the body rest. Sure, if the stomach is habituated to three plus per day, it might scream - even when only two a day is regular, fasting can bring on pangs of genuine hunger. 

That is fine. Hunger pangs mean that the previous fuel supply has been adequately used up and the body is prepared for a top-up. Being hungry is a healthy and important measure for the body. It is not at all wrong to go hungry. 

The problem is that many who feel hungry then think they are 'starved'. Trust me, there are very few of us, or any within our acquaintance, who know starvation. 

The trouble with any addiction, including food addiction, is that we only have to be depleted to about half and we automatically start to think again that we must refuel. It is excessive. So is just about everything else in our lives. It is also likely to be true that most of us are aware of it - we might talk of decluttering, or cutting back on this, that or the other thing. We know that we have too much, but we don't know how to cease and desist!

Then again, even for those of us who have taken steps to simplify, to minimise, to work mindfully in life, it is a near impossibility to remove excess. It is the way our society is structured. 

Awareness, though, of lobha and how endemic it is to our existence, means that we can temper it. The more we do that, the better, but let it always be understood that, short of finding the proverbial cave or forest hut, we will still have to bear its burden.