Text · Consciousness · Rav Berg

Enlightened Greed vs. Meaningless Greed

Every form of receiving involves greed, the question is which greed we are feeding. Teaching from Rav Berg, the book Nano.

Enlightened Greed vs. Meaningless Greed
Enlightened Greed vs. Meaningless Greed, a figure walking toward the Light

Rav Berg reveals something that shatters a paradigm: every form of receiving involves greed, the question is which greed we are feeding. In Kabbalah, the problem is not desiring much. The problem is for what and from where one desires.

Meaningless greed

This is the desire born of the ego. It appears when we:

This greed is never satisfied. The more it receives, the more it feels the lack. Because it tries to use the external world to resolve an inner disconnection. The result: anxiety, comparison, competition, exhaustion, and the feeling that "it's never enough."

Enlightened greed

Here is the Kabbalistic shock. Kabbalah says: be greedy, but for the Light. Enlightened greed is:

This greed is not born of lack. It is born of certainty. You desire more because you know there is more Light seeking to reveal itself through you.

The Central Paradox

The ego says: "The more I receive, the safer I am." The soul says: "The more I receive in order to share, the more connected I am."

When you desire only for yourself, the flow stalls. When you desire much with consciousness, the flow expands.

How to Tell the Difference in Practice

One simple question reveals everything: If I received exactly what I am desiring today, who besides me would benefit?

Kabbalah does not demonize desire, because desire is the Vessel of the Light. The Creator does not want people who are small, contained, or afraid to desire, He wants people who are great, responsible, and conscious. The correction is not to kill desire. It is to educate desire.

From the book Nano · Rav Berg

There are two ways to receive satisfaction in life, and both are based on greed. First there is the kind I call meaningless greed. This form of greed is motivated exclusively by the metaphysical entity known as the Opponent, or the Ego, or the receiving consciousness. This form of greed serves to gratify the ego at the expense of the soul; it is a form of meaningless greed, because it inevitably disconnects us from the Force of the Light, from the Reality of the Tree of Life, bribing us with short-term gratifications. Why? Because, when we receive, we are acting in a manner opposite to that of the Light. Thus, according to the Law of Attraction, we are creating a greater distance between ourselves and the Light.

To prevent you from detecting the vast distance between you and the Force of the Light that your behavior has created, the Opponent grants you a temporary reward in the form of a gratification of the ego. However, as soon as it runs out, you will inevitably realize that you have fallen under negative influences due to your separation from the Light. It will become evident that this distance creates a space where you will have to deal with chaos.

The greed we call Enlightened Greed serves a single purpose, which is to fill the soul with a constant flow of fulfillment, at the expense of the ego. Unlike meaningless greed, Enlightened Greed brings a temporary pain to your ego, but immediately afterward it provides a connection to the Reality of the Tree of Life. The infusion of energy that accompanies such a connection serves to diminish the chaos and negativity in our life. The results are lasting, and therefore this is a far wiser and more profitable choice of life.

Page from the book Nano, Enlightened Greed versus Meaningless Greed
A page from Rav Berg's book Nano.

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