February 8 in The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo

February 8

Greed

The greedy one gathered all the cherries, while the simple one tasted all the cherries in one.

We suffer, often unknowingly, from wanting to be in two places at once, from wanting to experience more than one person can. This is a form of greed, of wanting everything.

Feeling like we’re missing something or that we’re being left out, we want it all. But being human, we can’t have it all. The tension of all this can lead to an insatiable search, where our passion for life is stirred, but never satisfied. When caught in this mindset, no amount of travel is enough, no amount of love is enough, no amount of success is enough.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t explore our curiosity and venture into the unknown. I very much want to experience the world and love to encounter new people in my life.

What I’m referring to here is that seed of lack that makes us feel insufficient, and then, somehow, to compensate, we start to race through life with one eye on what we have and one eye on what we don’t.

Greed is not restricted to money. It can work its appetite on anything. When we believe we are behind or less than, we somehow start to want more than we need, as if what we don’t have will fill in our pain and make us feel whole, as if the thing we haven’t tasted will be the thing to bring us alive.

The truth is that one experience taken to heart will satisfy our hunger to be loved by everyone.

• Bring to mind something you want to experience.
• Meditate on what this experience might give you.
• Breathe openly and meditate on what part of this gift is already at work in you.