| What causes conflict and, therefore, what causes contradiction? What is the root of it? The root of it is the division between the observer and the thing observed. The observer says, ‘I must get rid of violence,’ or ‘I am living a life of non-violence,’ when he is violent, which is a pretension, which is hypocrisy. So to find out what causes this division is of the highest importance, because this division, the separation between the observer and the thing observed, causes contradiction and therefore conflict. From Public Talk 1, Santa Monica, California, 1 March 1970 Read more | 