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society adherence to duty, generosity and good faith. The society whose members are endowed with these virtues is the good society with character. A society with good faith is a healthy and a good society. The emotional form of good faith is a tendency towards general weal and the practical form of good faith is good behaviour or service.
It is the good people that form a good society. The reason being that a genuinely courteous person will behave well with all those with whom he comes in contact and he generates goodwill in their hearts as well. This seed of courtesy or good will germinates and grows into a mature tree that will bear the sweet fruits of love and affection. Like this the good people create a good and healthy society.
• The relationship between a person and society can be compared to the relationship between a gardener and a garden. The individual is the gardener and the society is the garden. As the gardener depends on the garden for his living and is duty-bound to serve it so does the life of an individual depend on the society and he is duty-bound to serve it. If the gardener does not serve the garden he variously harms himself only. Similarly, if a person does not serve the society with the things at his disposal he, too, variously harms himself.
The coin of service has two faces - 1. To create a good society with activities of general weal, and 2. To renounce the attachment for the wealth at one's disposal in order to liberate oneself. The activities of general weal end in natural detachment, which result in own welfare. Moreover, natural detachment gives one the ability to serve others with a view to promote general weal. Like this, service creates good people as well as good society. Both these aspects of service are important.
As we get many grains as a result of sowing only one grain, so does the good or bad that we do for the others get back to us many times over. This is the law of nature. Therefore, if we will sow the seed of service in the society, its flowers and fruits will give fragrance and fulfilment to us as well as the other members of the society. Our sense of duty, generosity and goodness will generate similar sentiments among out associates and make then good too. The group of our
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Positive Non-Violence
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