Greed isn't good Enough: A discussion on suffering, spirituality, materialism and human progress

First let me start with something meta. Let's talk about suffering..... or bliss. What is suffering and what is bliss? I'm not too interested in vague answers. I'm not asking Weetabix or cornflakes? I want an objective answer. There is really no absolute bliss. There is relative bliss and absolute...... something. Let's say you reach what could be the highest form of bliss. How would you know that. I don't want emotional answers or just shifting everything to a higher power. They only way I can see is that you have to perceive something less than the highest bliss. There is no way one can know one's bliss without knowing something lesser. To realize one's bliss one must face suffering. This isn't some preset notion of if you are millionaire, you are not suffering etc. In a metaphysical level, even the highest form of bliss cannot be perceived without at least the second highest form of bliss which in relative terms is a suffering.

Then my question is, what about equanimity? If one perceives no suffering or bliss, isn't that the highest and absolute "Bliss" while the other is "Suffering"? One is only free from suffering when there is no highs and lows. But when is this achieved? One could conquer the whole planet and realize that it's a tiny speck in a massive universe. That's a profound sense of loneliness coupled with a feeling of insignificance and powerlessness.

But it is not a newfound suffering or something that came out of or because of the conquest. It's something that was realized after the conquest. It's a person who invested in Bitcoin realizing about the bigger gains of alt-coins. That loneliness was already there. The powerless insignificance was there. But it wasn't noticed until the whole was conquered.

"To save a family, abandon a man; to save the village, abandon a family; to save the country, abandon a village; to save the soul, abandon the earth." - Mahabharatha (The Book of the Assembly Hall)

Those who have been following me for some time knows that I'm a massive fan of Ayn Rand and even consider The Fountainhead to be the greatest work of modern literature. I'm also a big supporter of classical liberalism (Eg: Frédéric Bastiat) and Anarcho-Capitalism. One might not associate these things with spirituality. But to me they are a stepping stone. Let me say this:

Greed is good. It simply isn't good enough.

A certain Brahmana, living in the great world found himself on one occasion in a large inaccessible forest teaming with beasts of prey. It abounded on every side with lions and other animals looking like elephants, all of which were engaged in roaring aloud. Such was the aspect of that forest that Yama himself would take fright at it. Beholding the forest, the heart of the Brahmana became exceedingly agitated. His hair stood on end, and other signs of fear manifested themselves, O scorcher of foes! Entering it, he began to run hither and thither, casting his eyes on every point of the compass for finding out somebody whose shelter he might seek. Wishing to avoid those terrible creatures, he ran in fright. He could not succeed, however, in distancing them or freeing himself from their presence. He then saw that the terrible forest was surrounded by a net, and that a frightful woman stood there stretching her arms. That large forest was also encompassed by many five-headed snakes of dreadful forms, tall as cliffs and touching the very heavens. Within it was a pit whose mouth was covered with many hard and unyielding creepers and herbs. The Brahmana, in course of his wanderings fell into that invisible pit. He became entangled in those clusters of creepers that were interwoven with one another, like the large fruit of a jack tree hanging by its stalk. He continued to hang there, feet upwards and head downwards While he was in that posture, diverse other calamities overtook him. He beheld a large and might snake within the pit. He also saw a gigantic elephant near its mouth. That elephant, dark in complexion, had six faces and twelve feet. And the animal gradually approached that pit covered with creepers and trees. About the twigs of the tree (that stood at the mouth of the pit), rowed many bees of frightful forms, employed from before in drinking the honey gathered in their comb about which they swarmed in large numbers. Repeatedly they desired, o bull of the Bharatha's race, to taste that honey which though sweet to all creatures, however attracts children only. The honey (collected in the comb) fell in many jets below. The person who was hanging in the pit continually drank those jets. Employed, in such a distressful situation, in drinking that honey, his thirst, however, could not be appeased. O king, he did not become indifferent to life. Even there, the man continued to hope for existence. A number of black and white rats were eating away the roots of that tree. There was fear from the beasts of prey, from that fierce woman on the outskirts of the forest, from that snake at the bottom of the well, from that elephant near its tip, from the fall of the tree through the action of the rats and lastly from the bees flying about for tasting the honey. In that plight he continued to dwell, deprived of his senses, in that wilderness, never losing at any time the hope of prolonging his life. - A parable from - Mahabharatha (The Book of Women)

No "thing" is devoid of suffering. Most people who realize this either turn to become nihilists or some devotees (Bitches) of some higher power. What people fail to notice is that some sufferings are better than others and that equanimity is beyond suffering.

First world problems are a blissful state compared to third world problems. One could cry about gym fees while others die starving while another seems a little embarrassed for only having a jet that only cost $40 million USD while some Alien king becomes the one true king for the entire species with no challenge at sight. One should not simply stop breathing because they are all going to die anyways. What one must do is becoming unattached with each breath.

AIDS research and world hunger

Billions are spent on AIDS research which can prevent thousands of deaths each year even though no real cure is at sight. That money can be easily diverted to cure world hunger and save at least a million lives each year. But why is there so much effort put on AIDS and relatively less on hunger?

Those who can afford to fund a research are never really at a risk of dying from hunger. Many of them can't even relate to that. While I was at school there were many things that I weren't willing to accept just because I was told. Most kids were just walking a preset path of education and college for an example. It seemed to make so much sense for them. But I never even cared. Quitting school was one of the best things I've done I could never even comprehend the people who felt bad about it. It was basically "a suffering which I didn't feel". I could even talk about a shooting at school Vs several tons of bombs being drop on war torn cities each day. I could talk about how a slave is less than $100 today and if slavery wasn't abolished, a slave would have worth the price of a car. People really don't feel much about any of this. They can't wrap their minds around how slaves 200 years ago had few hundred times price tag compared to a modern one (adjusted for inflation)https://www.measuringworth.com/slavery.php

Why Greed isn't good enough

Greed only leads to achievements of the material world. Such achievements have a relative value. A bottle of water in the middle of a desert may worth a diamond ring and the same bottle will worth practically nothing near a river. A hungry person would never look for some poetry let alone spirituality or philosophy. Like a person who realize a cosmic loneliness only after conquering the whole world, achievements of the material world can open up the mind for some spiritual matters. At school I was a top student while barely putting some effort. I didn't even spend 5% of my free times for studying. In a way that gave me a sort of a freedom. While the rest were trying to get a good score, I was thinking "why the hell do these things even matter???"

The two moments where a person is fully revealed

The quote misses something more basic and profound. It doesn't answer the question "Why?". Power is freedom. That's why if I had to pick a super power, it would be absolute unconditional invulnerability. I've hear a quote that meant: "Falling off a mat doesn't hurt". A great deal of billionaires and celebrities were in rags before they became who they were. Here are some pictures of former homeless people.

I think you get this half of the point. The other half is that gains and achievements can be just as powerful as losses. Not every homeless person is going to become a celebrity. Not every dropout is going to be Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.
Not every person who achieve material success is going to achieve the spiritual. But wisdom isn't contained within anything. It's an understanding. When broken apart, one is free to see the world for what it is.When there is no need to survive, one can also think about better things. If humans were too busy hunting and gathering, there wouldn't be laptops and PlayStations around and there certainly won't be any blockchains or DAGs.

You don't have to take the hard path for suffering. Take the path of prosperity. The greatest obstacle to become great is being good. Greed is just that; Good. Don't be satisfied. Satisfaction is the reason we have bureaucrats, dumb-politics and lousy tech and scilicon valley. Dissatisfaction is the reason we have STEEM, Dash, EOS, Substratum, spaceships etc. Learn to love the goodies, just don't get stuck there :-)