Consumerism knows no bounds; it’s a type of desire rooted in self-attachment. You can see this when you walk past a department store and are attracted to something in the display window; what attracts you is something you want for yourself, not for your mother or siblings. The same thing happens when you go to a restaurant and survey the table filled with all sorts of tasty dishes. Self-attachment is suffering, because it generates greed, hatred, and delusion. We usually only think about what we want, and not what others want, and this makes it hard to get along with others.

~ Khangser Rinpoche ~