Avarice          (mental element 27, Av)

Avarice is meanness. It is being covetous about existing status or fortunes that can be obtained. It makes it hard to share a dwelling, family, gains, knowledge, and fame with others. It has no stomach for sharing. It generates stinginess, greed, fear, and shrinking of consciousness. Avarice literally disfigures the mind. There is always an unpleasant feeling associated with it.

Avarice hides our success and, in a way, basically turns success into failure.

In order to really experience success, we have to rejoice in giving and sharing our fortunes with others. Why? Giving and sharing are necessary conditions for generating non-shrinking (expanding) states of consciousness. Such states can only make us feel genuinely successful.

We must counteract avarice by developing generosity and by taking delight in relinquishing. That’s how we can fully and thoroughly appreciate success.