THE prophet Micah had stern words of judgment for evildoers who seized property that did not belong to them, who cheated owners out of their houses and who swindled men out of their inheritance. What leads evil men to such evil deeds?

Micah traces their treacherous behavior to the sin of covetousness. They envied what the other person had and wanted it for themselves. Rather than trying to acquire these things honestly, the covetous man schemes for ways of cheating people out of the things they have. Unwilling to work to acquire their own goods honestly, they cut corners to get their hands on the things they want.

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Covetousness is a powerful emotion. It can work on you day and night. Decent people are often driven to indecent actions to get what their heart desires.
It's not for nothing that the tenth commandment is "You shall not covet!" We have a hard time in our acquisitive society seeing the danger of covetousness. But covetousness is the sin that underlies the more spectacular sins proscribed in the Ten Commandments. Adultery, stealing, lying and murder can usually be traced to wanting something that doesn't belong to you. If you could root out the sin of covetousness, most of the world's problems would be solved. Of course, Buddhism is a religion that promises to root out covetousness. The Buddha saw desire as the source of all human misery and evil. Only when the flame of desire is extinguished are we free from suffering and death. The flame of desire keeps us attached to the things of this world that are doomed to perish.