There are 4 kashays (weaknesses) in every human being, namely:rnAngerrnPridernDeceitrnGreed
Of these, greed is the first to manifest within every living being, and the last to leave. Greed appears to give us immense happiness, but it actually is at the foundation of most of our unhappiness.
Have the intent to givernGreed means a strong desire to possess something. When an item is lacking in a person’s home and he borrows it from someone’s house, it is not called greed. But when he has everything he needs and yet he takes from someone else, then it is greed.
To quit greed, “I want to donate money” should always be your intention within. Doing so regularly, the tuber of greed will begin to melt and the tight knots of greed will loosen. Remember, once these knots loosen, your tuber of greed will diminish one day, and you will feel a lot of happiness.
Donate a fixed percentage of your income regularly.rnA greedy person accumulates everything for the future. Earn money, but without a desire to accumulate loads and loads of it. To quit greed, keep aside a certain percentage of your income eg. 10% of your monthly income, which you must donate for a good and noble cause.
That is why religion too suggests, go on pilgrimage and do such activities that allow spending of money. The tuber of greed will decrease as you spend money. Otherwise, greed will continue to increase with the ‘push of 99’ (if a person has 99 rupees, he will be pushed by his greed to save one more rupee so he can have one hundred rupees. This will continue for lifetime!).
In case, your greed doesn’t permit you to donate, Param Pujya DadaBhagwan, an enlightened being says,
“Follow the path I show you: Travel by rickshaw every day for a while and carry coins worth Rs. 25, close your eyes and drop these coins with both hands, all along the way. A week later, carry change worth Rs. 100 and repeat the same act daily.”
Pujya Dadashri gave to one person who would greatly hesitate to spend money on a rickshaw, this particular remedy to get rid of his greed. The person followed it and a few years after, he came out from his greed. Param Pujya Dadashri later visited his house and blessed him.
Do pratikraman everytime someone is caused hurt by our greed.rnPratikraman means repentance. Whenever anyone gets hurt owing to our greed, we must remember the God (the Pure Soul) residing within that person and pray to Him, “Dear God, I am sorry for having hurt this person due to my greed. Please forgive me and give me strength so that I do not make this mistake ever again,” Even after doing pratikraman, such instances shall continue to happen. But recalling every such instance, when we shall do immediate pratikraman, our mistakes shall wash away, and one layer of the tuber of greed too shall everytime wither away.
Keep company of a noble personrnGreed makes an individual selfish and self-centred, whereas one who does not think about himself and always thinks about others is said to be noble. If you observe a noble person’s nobility and appreciate it, then you will also be start becoming noble. That is a natural law. So, remain in the company of a noble person and closely observe his mannerisms.
A developed inner understandingrnGreed means to become perpetually engrossed in anything that becomes dear to you. A greedy person may have Rs 25,000 at home, yet he will look for the place where he will get lentils and ghee at a cheap price. He is always engrossed in cheap deals; his consciousness is always drawn into it.
However, contentment is the opposite of greed. This contentment comes from an inner understanding, carried over from the past life, resulting in him being content and not running after money. Without this understanding, greed remains.
This understanding is different from Gnan though, which is the ‘Knowledge of the Self’. This is the ultimate knowledge which we gain on Self-Realization. It will help you keep your greed separate.
Attain Self-RealizationrnGreed holds us back from making any spiritual progress. But with the grace of Gnani, the Enlightened One, when you attain Self-Realization, you realize the fact that, “I am a Pure Soul and my nature is only to see and know.” With this, your belief that, ‘I indeed am the one who is having this greed’ also drops.
Thereafter, in the awareness of the Self (the Pure Soul), we are able to see our own mistakes that of anger, pride, deceit, greed, etc., and by keeping separation, as we observe these mistakes without any attachment or abhorrence within, every mistake goes away.
A decision ‘I don’t want any temporary thing in this world’rnGreed means, ‘I want this, I want this even more’. And this want is for all materialistic things, which are temporary by nature. When a decision ‘I don’t want any temporary thing in this world’ is made, greed begins to go away.
So, one who wants to quit greed, for that matter, wants to quit all the weaknesses that brings one down, his inner intent should always be to have no need or want for any worldly thing. Such intent or decision is easily done after Self-Realization.
Therefore, the easiest way to quit greed is go to Gnani, attain Self-Realization, remain in his company, and follow his teachings. To know more about Self-Realization, you may visit
https://www.dadabhagwan.org/