SPIRITUALITY IS THE ULTIMATE GREED
- Madhukar Dama
- Apr 14
- 4 min read
A Mirror to Our Deepest Desire for More, Even in Disguise
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Most people believe greed is about money, property, fame, or power.
But there’s a form of greed that wears white clothes, speaks softly, quotes scriptures, and smiles knowingly.
That is spiritual greed — the deepest, most disguised hunger for more.
Here’s a long list of points that expose how spirituality often becomes the ultimate greed, masked as purity or enlightenment:
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1. Greed to become more than human.
Not content with just being alive, we chase godhood, immortality, nirvana.
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2. Greed for escape.
We want to run from pain, from work, from responsibility — not solve them, just exit.
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3. Greed to feel special.
“I am not ordinary. I am awakened. I am a seeker.”
A holy version of the ego trip.
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4. Greed to avoid discomfort.
We want peace without conflict, silence without facing our inner noise.
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5. Greed for inner control.
We want to silence every emotion, every thought, every desire — and call it freedom.
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6. Greed to be praised as humble.
The more humble we appear, the more applause we want for it — silently, spiritually.
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7. Greed to skip the mess.
“I don’t want to do the dirty work of living. I want detachment.”
A spiritual way to be lazy.
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8. Greed to feel pure.
Obsessive cleansing — not just of the body, but thoughts, food, people, surroundings — is just sanitized greed.
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9. Greed for power over others.
Becoming a guru, a guide, an influencer — dressed as a savior, thirsty to be followed.
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10. Greed to be right.
“My path is the right one. Yours is illusion.”
Dogma in saffron robes.
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11. Greed to avoid guilt.
Forgiveness sought from gods, not from those we hurt — because gods don’t argue.
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12. Greed to be worshipped subtly.
The saintly smile that says, “Bow to me, I’ll never ask, but you must know I’m beyond.”
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13. Greed for inner silence as possession.
“I have achieved stillness. I have transcended. I own peace.”
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14. Greed to bypass life.
Who needs parenting, taxes, marriage, and aging — when you can meditate it all away?
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15. Greed to stop the mind instead of understanding it.
Easier to suppress thoughts than to explore them honestly.
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16. Greed to own truth.
“I’ve found it. The ultimate truth.”
And we want others to agree — or we distance ourselves.
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17. Greed for certainty.
Spirituality becomes a warm blanket of belief when life feels cold and uncertain.
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18. Greed to transcend pain before understanding it.
“No, I don’t want to feel. I want bliss.”
But bliss doesn’t bloom in denial.
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19. Greed to become the exception.
A subtle pride: “I am not like the rest. I have evolved.”
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20. Greed to not feel human failure.
The spiritual ego cannot accept it made a mistake — it just rebrands it as “karma” or “lesson.”
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21. Greed to avoid healing the real way.
Why go through emotional release, therapy, conversation — when a mantra can “cleanse” it all?
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22. Greed to use divine names as currency.
God, guru, universe — repeated not with reverence, but with desire.
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23. Greed to “manifest” outcomes
Turn spirituality into a shopping list — health, wealth, peace, soulmate.
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24. Greed to feel superior to the material world.
But one still needs the material world to print books, take donations, and pay retreat fees.
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25. Greed to be worshipped for renunciation.
The monk who gave up the world but can’t let go of people praising him for it.
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26. Greed to avoid facing your childhood wounds.
It’s easier to chant or read Vedanta than talk to your mother.
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27. Greed to abandon responsibility.
Children, parents, relationships — quietly left behind in the name of “sanyas.”
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28. Greed to postpone death anxiety.
“Let me reach moksha before I die” — a spiritual race that masks fear.
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29. Greed for answers instead of living the questions.
We want formulae, not freedom.
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30. Greed to turn sacredness into performance.
The pose, the voice, the candles — even devotion becomes theatre.
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WHY IS THIS THE ULTIMATE GREED?
Because it comes dressed in purity,
Spoken in softness,
Praised by society,
Never questioned,
Never called out.
It’s the only greed that feels holy.
And yet, it consumes more than wealth ever could —
It consumes honesty, humanity, simplicity.
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THE TRUE SPIRITUAL PATH?
It begins after you throw away the greed to become spiritual.
It is not about becoming higher, holier, more peaceful.
It is about being truthful.
Even if the truth is that you're full of contradictions.
It is about being fully human.
And only then — maybe — something deeper unfolds.
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