Too often I find it necessary to remind myself that there is really no such thing as virtuous greed. Sometimes I get caught up on the slippery slope of smug self-satisfaction when I see that those around me are chasing material things that bring them happiness while "I am above all that." No big cars, big houses and fancy vacations for me, just give me enlightenment.
But is my pursuit more noble then theirs? Is my ultimate goal different, or am I just using a different means to achieve the same end, namely personal happiness? My friend finds great happiness whenever he looks at his new Cadillac. Phew, "thank God I am beyond all that," I say. I want only enlightenment, that's all. Then I will be happy too.
So in my noble pursuit I drop all my desires, except one. Surely it is okay to desire desirelessness, else how would one achieve it, and become happy? Greed for the things of the world, tangible or intangible, is no different then greed for the transcendental. It is only in stepping beyond the limiting little mind that we reach the ineffable, that no-thing.
It is difficult to accept that the way out of all this, to that which is beyond thought, does not need cultivation - we just shouldn't stain it. In fact, it does not even need study - the important thing is stopping the mind, the concepts.
Somewhere along the way we will finally realize that there is no means of safeguarding anything in this world; anything we gain can be lost, destroyed, or taken away. For this reason, if we make the acquisition and retention of goods (tangible or intangible) or status our aim in life, this is the sure way to anxiety and sadness.
It is impossible to conceptualize that vast potential latent in all of us, that which we never come upon because our consciousness is so preoccupied with the mundane. If we remain caught up with a goal, which can only be a mental concept, then we will never be able to step through the ordinary into that realm which is truly beyond words and thoughts.
Sometimes it helps me to understand (accept)that there is a Reality that cannot be conceived of by remembering how Robert Oppenheimer described an electron. He said that the position of an electron does not remain the same, that it does not change, that it is not at rest, and it is not in motion. Since his credentials as being one of our greatest modern scientists is beyond dispute, I can believe him, even though I find his explanation nonsensical ... a really strange paradox.
How much more so must be the substance of that ineffable Essence which is right here, right now, that something which is nothing, but a nothing which is something.
by Taft