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INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY The remedy to suffering is to go beyond the limitation of the self and reach out to others. You will find that
the moments of utmost happiness in your life have always been those in which you uttered a word or per
formed an act of compassion or selfless love.
The root cause of conflict and restlessness is desire.
I When it creeps into the mind, it becomes an obsession - an obsession that has to be fulfilled at any cost. None are free of desire. All of us are consumed by desires and needs. They vary from one individual to another, even within a small unit, like a family. Each member strives to fulfil his own desire. And this desire sows the seeds of selfishness. So what does one do if his desire is in conflict with that of another? Consumed by his own desire, he attends to himself and does not hesitate to ignore others. Herein begins the endless vicious cycle of conflicts - within families, societies, states and nations. They all mirror the same phenomenon. Whether it is conflict within a small family or a world war, the root cause is always selfish motives and fulfilment of desires. All misery, conflict and unhappiness in this world can be traced to selfishness, endless greed and unfulfilled ambitions.
All of us realize that selfishness is the cause of all the unhappiness in the world, but are deluded by the thought that it
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