Greed
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Greed is often associated with death and disease. |
Greed is a desire to obtain more
money,
wealth, material possessions or any other
entity than one needs. Greed is listed as one of the Catholic
seven deadly sins, usually by the synonym of avarice.
Desire to increase one's wealth has become more acceptable (and the word, "greed", used less frequently) in Western culture, where the desire to acquire wealth has been understood as indispensable for economic prosperity- this is the
trickle-down theory, although it is disputable whether this is truly "greed". Most believe that there are varying degrees to the pursuit of material wealth, some lesser degrees might not be considered to be "greed".
When greed entails the covetousness of another person's attributes, the term
envy is used. When greed is applied to the subject of the excessive consumption of
food or
drink the term
gluttony is often used, another of the Catholic seven deadly sins. Greed is sometimes represented by the color yellow and the frog.
Buddhists believe greed is based on incorrectly connecting material wealth with happiness. This is caused by a deluded view that exaggerates the positive aspects of an object.
A
woodcut by
Ugo da Carpi, is entitled "
Hercules Chasing Avarice from the
Temple of the Muses." [
1]
*
Miser*
Mammon*
A Buddhist View on Attachment
