"Our fears come up because of our created three poisons: greed, anger, and ignorance. The basic poison is ignorance, which means being totally in the dark, not seeing life as it is because of egocentric ideas. Ignorance creates greed by breeding the idea that we are fundamentally lacking something, and this notion of lack is the cause of anger. But if we are the whole universe, what don't we have? What could be lacking? Is it money? Is it love? Is it some quality that some other person has? We are that other person and that other person is us, our functioning. Isn't it wonderful how we can function in so many spheres all at the same time? But if we can't see that this is all one thing, we need everything and can never be satisfied.
"If children could only be taught that this is all One Body, they would be far less likely to steal. Why should anyone steal? We have everything because we are everything. Look at the beautiful parts of us that are the mountains. Do we need them in our living room? Do we have to own them? They are us! The banks have lots of money. Do we need it all? What would we do with it? A long time ago I learned from my teacher that if I would understand the Dharma, I would never be hungry, never have any unsatisfied needs; I would have everything. If I wouldn't understand the Dharma, I would be grabbing and hoarding endlessly and still feel hungry. Give away everything and I won't be a hungry ghost. Try to grab everything and I'll only get hungrier."
