Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

The old study of instant gratification versus delayed reward got me thinking. When presented with the option to either have one cookie right away or wait 15 minutes and get two cookies for being patient,

the group of people who immediately ate the first cookie because they couldn't

control themselves, and the group who waited a few minutes in order to double their reward

were both driven by greed. When it comes to Buddhism, it is said Enlightenment is readily available to all of us at any moment,

but we must overcome certain obstacles that are in our path,

with greed being one of the three poisons, just as it is one of the seven deadly sins in Christianity.

According to the Dalai Lama, the irony of Greed is that even though the motive is to seek satisfaction, we are still not satisfied after obtaining the object we desire.

That's why the antidote to greed is contentment.

There are two methods to achieve contentment,

one method that works, and one that doesn't.

The first method is to try to obtain everything we desire,

all the money, houses, cars, perfect mate and perfect body.

But the disadvantage of this approach is that sooner or later we will come up against something

we want but cannot have.

That's why the second method is more reliable,

to not necessarily have what we want,

but rather want and appreciate what we have.

As Gandhi said, the earth has enough to satisfy every man's

need, not every man's greed. The Buddhist concept of affliction by greed

includes sensuality, lust, desire, craving, or any attachment to a sensory object, like a cookie in the study of gratification.

The Buddha taught that greed, hatred, and ignorance are three hindrances on our path to nirvana,

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