Expect more and be miserable, says OSHO.
Greed is your aggression. It is the desire always for more. It never stops; it goes on asking for more. And because it goes on asking for more, you are always miserable. Whatever you may have, you cannot enjoy it because you don’t have more. By the time you have more, your greed has gone ahead of you. It is always ahead of you, asking for more.
I used to stay in Calcutta with a very rich family and the husband and wife used to come to pick me up from the airport. The husband was a very cheerful person, but one day I found him looking very sad. He was driving the car, he looked really depressed.
I asked his wife, “What is the matter?” I asked this because he had always been chitchatting and was always cheerful. The wife laughed and the husband looked at her very seriously, very angrily.
The wife said, “Since you are asking, I am telling you that the whole responsibility is yours. I am not to be looked at as if I am committing a sin.” And laughingly she said to me, “He is sad because he has lost five lakh rupees.”
Notional Loss
I said, “But you are laughing and your husband has lost five lakh rupees?” She said, “I am laughing because in fact he has gained five lakh rupees — but he was expecting ten lakhs, and the trouble is, he cannot understand that he has earned five lakhs out of a business. He’s sad because he was counting on ten lakhs. What about the remaining five lakhs? So although he has profited enough, he is not happy.”
His misery is that he has lost five lakhs — and he has not lost a single paisa. I asked the man, “What is the matter?”
He said, “In a way she is right, but I am feeling very miserable. Ten lakhs were absolutely certain in the business. Even more was possible but only five lakhs turned up, and I cannot forget the five lakhs that I have missed.”
Unrealistic Expectations
Now, do you think that a man who is thinking in terms of expectations can be happy and joyous? Your expectations are always more than the reality allows. Hence, there is always a feeling of failure. There is always a sadness lurking somewhere in your being.
Greed is an aggressive attitude towards existence: grab as much as you can and go on grabbing more and more and more. Waste your whole life and your whole intelligence in grabbing more and more and what is the point? Death will not be late, not even by a single minute. It always comes at the right time, and all that you have grabbed and wasted your life for, you will have to leave here.
You will find all kinds of greedy people and you will find all sorts of greed within yourself. And when greed is not fulfilled, anger arises, frustration arises. You become angry with the world, you become angry with yourself, you become angry with everybody.
A Wasted Life
You can see it in many elderly people. Why are they so irritated? Why is it so difficult to stand them? That is because they are frustrated people; they have wasted their entire life in grabbing more and more and even more, never satisfied or happy with what they have. The more you get, the more you want and the vicious cycle goes on and on and on....
Therefore, even though they have grown old, they are angry at life, because they don’t know what it is like to be content and happy. Any excuse is enough for them to vent that pent-up anger, and so they become angry. Greed is the root cause and when it is not overcome, it leaves you with great anger, frustration, irritation, dissatisfaction and a sense of failure. Meditation is the antidote to all the poisons of your life. It is the nourishment of your authentic nature.
Greed is your aggression. It is the desire always for more. It never stops; it goes on asking for more. And because it goes on asking for more, you are always miserable. Whatever you may have, you cannot enjoy it because you don’t have more. By the time you have more, your greed has gone ahead of you. It is always ahead of you, asking for more.
I used to stay in Calcutta with a very rich family and the husband and wife used to come to pick me up from the airport. The husband was a very cheerful person, but one day I found him looking very sad. He was driving the car, he looked really depressed.
I asked his wife, “What is the matter?” I asked this because he had always been chitchatting and was always cheerful. The wife laughed and the husband looked at her very seriously, very angrily.
The wife said, “Since you are asking, I am telling you that the whole responsibility is yours. I am not to be looked at as if I am committing a sin.” And laughingly she said to me, “He is sad because he has lost five lakh rupees.”
Notional Loss
I said, “But you are laughing and your husband has lost five lakh rupees?” She said, “I am laughing because in fact he has gained five lakh rupees — but he was expecting ten lakhs, and the trouble is, he cannot understand that he has earned five lakhs out of a business. He’s sad because he was counting on ten lakhs. What about the remaining five lakhs? So although he has profited enough, he is not happy.”
His misery is that he has lost five lakhs — and he has not lost a single paisa. I asked the man, “What is the matter?”
He said, “In a way she is right, but I am feeling very miserable. Ten lakhs were absolutely certain in the business. Even more was possible but only five lakhs turned up, and I cannot forget the five lakhs that I have missed.”
Unrealistic Expectations
Now, do you think that a man who is thinking in terms of expectations can be happy and joyous? Your expectations are always more than the reality allows. Hence, there is always a feeling of failure. There is always a sadness lurking somewhere in your being.
Greed is an aggressive attitude towards existence: grab as much as you can and go on grabbing more and more and more. Waste your whole life and your whole intelligence in grabbing more and more and what is the point? Death will not be late, not even by a single minute. It always comes at the right time, and all that you have grabbed and wasted your life for, you will have to leave here.
You will find all kinds of greedy people and you will find all sorts of greed within yourself. And when greed is not fulfilled, anger arises, frustration arises. You become angry with the world, you become angry with yourself, you become angry with everybody.
A Wasted Life
You can see it in many elderly people. Why are they so irritated? Why is it so difficult to stand them? That is because they are frustrated people; they have wasted their entire life in grabbing more and more and even more, never satisfied or happy with what they have. The more you get, the more you want and the vicious cycle goes on and on and on....
Therefore, even though they have grown old, they are angry at life, because they don’t know what it is like to be content and happy. Any excuse is enough for them to vent that pent-up anger, and so they become angry. Greed is the root cause and when it is not overcome, it leaves you with great anger, frustration, irritation, dissatisfaction and a sense of failure. Meditation is the antidote to all the poisons of your life. It is the nourishment of your authentic nature.
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