I have sons, I have wealth: thinking thus the fool is troubled. Indeed, he himself is nothis own. How can sons or wealth be his?The Second of the Four Noble Truths is Samudaya, translated as craving and greed. Thisis a practice that is completely inescapable of all people. There is no one who does not want, noone who could not think of just one more thing to make him self happy. It is the given natureof all people to desire what the do not have, no matter who they are, what they say, or howsatisfied they seem. Imagine a man attempting to find inner peace by meditating atop a mountain. He sitsthere at peace with the beauty of the world around him, feeling harmonious with nature. Hethinks he desires nothing else but to sit there and be one with the world, but in actuality hecraves this time alone and desires this peace that he has found to make him feel blissful. Nowthink of the man who sits behind a corporate desk all day earning more money than he is capableof ever spending. He has every new gadget and technological advance ever known to man, andseems happy with his personal belongings. But every time a new computer software packagecomes out, he is the first one in line at the store. Every time a newer, more expensive BMW hitsthe market, he is driving it. He is happy with what he has until something better than hisbelongings comes along. He constantly desires to have the best in order to be happy, and heindulges his cravings easily.I, too, am guilty of all four of the Nutriments stated: kabalinkarahara, phassahara,vinnanahara, and manosancetanahara. These are explained as being necessary for existence butall are traps of cravings and desire. The first, kabalinkarahara, is translated as ordinary materialfood, which is one of the easiest ruts to fall into when considering greed and craving. If I have arice cake or a funnel cake sitting in front of me, chances are Im going to be grabbing the funnelcake. Either one wil...
