Understanding and Control of Kashayas

Author(s): Anop Vora
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown

Page 10

Deception
The human mind has an uncanny ability to craft devious means and cheat others to satisfy one's low level desires to procure more money, power, prestige or many other worldly objects. Greed and perverse knowledge (wrong beliefs) are the primary drivers of this emotion. They make the person resort to lies, stealing, fraud, dishonesty and hypocrisy.
The person with deceit does not hesitate to employ any unethical and immoral means to achieve the end objectives. He thinks one way, speaks something else and acts altogether differently-showing a lack of harmony between his thoughts, speech and action. The history of mankind contains many stories showing that deception does not work in the long run. Eventually the dishonest person gets caught and suffers from the social, monetary and mental consequences. Deception in general ends up in an ugly manner. It is just a matter of time.
The huge Bernard Madoff scandal that came to light recently is an excellent example of how far greed and deception can push a person down. Madoff yielded to these negative emotions. He caused pain and suffering not only to himself but also to thousands of his fellow human beings.
Karmic consequences of deceptive behavior are horrendous. It is said in the scriptures that deceptive thoughts and behavior make one suffer not only in this life, but also cause one to be born as an animal in the next life. Since the root cause of deception is unlimited greed based upon ignorance, we need to step back and examine and correct our real character, motives, and goals in life.
The antidotes for deception are leading a simple life and maintaining a straightforward disposition. The "simple life" obviously entails harboring limited desires, which abrogates the need to resort to dishonest means. A straightforward person will act without a hidden agenda, have a much lighter karmic burden, and will live a more peaceful and serene life.
Greed
Greed is the most powerful and dangerous of all emotions and is the most difficult to control. It provides fuel for the fires of anger, arrogance and deception and is therefore considered the father of all sins (evil activities). It can stay with a person even after the other three primary emotions are wiped out. According to the Jain