00:00 There is the tree and there is the humble grass.
00:06 Who is one to claim that the tree is superior to the grass?
00:10 And if grass vanishes, can the tree survive?
00:15 Even if the little bacteria on the roots vanish, will the tree survive?
00:21 We know of their role in nitrogen fixation.
00:27 We know of how not just the bees, but even the mosquitoes are important when it comes
00:34 to maintaining ecology.
00:36 How is one thing superior to the other?
00:41 Having said that, now we come to the other aspect.
00:44 Having said that, there must be an underlying unifying principle.
00:52 Otherwise all we have is just countless differences.
00:59 There must be something that unifies us so strongly that the differences, even if countless,
01:09 start appearing worthless.
01:14 What is it that is really common between man and man irrespective of where I am coming
01:18 from, where you are coming from?
01:20 I am a Russian, you are an African.
01:22 I am a man, you are a woman.
01:23 I am old, you are young.
01:25 I am rich, you are poor.
01:28 I am well-read, you are not.
01:30 I am fat, you are fit.
01:34 All those differences are always there, right?
01:37 Irrespective of those differences, what is it that unifies us?
01:42 How do you know that this fellow in front of me is fit to be called a human being?
01:51 Taking a narrow perspective at this moment, what is it that distinguishes a human being
02:02 from let's say an animal?
02:08 When we talk of something that unifies man and man, which is all human beings, we have
02:12 to look at what is it that distinguishes a human being from an animal?
02:17 What is it?
02:18 So, in my opinion, maybe it's the ability to make choices.
02:26 But even the animal makes choices, no?
02:28 Does it not?
02:31 You keep grass and stone in front of a buffalo and the buffalo will know what to chew.
02:41 So how is a human being distinct from an animal?
02:48 So, maybe animal's choices are driven by its animal instinct and not higher values.
02:56 Lovely, lovely.
02:57 And where do our higher values come from?
03:01 I think they've been passed on and been refined from different generation to generation.
03:10 But then that will only lead to differences and discord because my ancestors were not
03:17 the same as yours.
03:19 So then my values will never conquer, never agree with yours and then we'll fight.
03:27 I think that is the case that occurs also, sir.
03:29 So whoever dominates the other is able to pass on their values.
03:34 But then we are not talking of one stream of human beings versus another stream of human
03:40 beings.
03:41 We are talking of what unites human beings as a whole against, let's say, an animal.
03:49 Okay, a buffalo comes and the buffalo looks at the two of us.
03:56 And if the buffalo were wise, we are appending the whole thing.
04:00 Now the buffalo is wise and human beings are not.
04:03 Were the buffalo wise, what would the buffalo find in common between the two of us?
04:09 We are both bipeds.
04:18 Leave the physicality aside.
04:22 I'm not really sure, sir.
04:41 So there is the instinct to know.
04:49 Buffalos since millions of years of their existence have never wanted to really understand
04:57 what is it to be a buffalo, what the grass is like, where does the thunderstorm come
05:02 from, why is the grass green at all?
05:08 Buffalos don't reflect or meditate.
05:10 Buffalos are never keen to reflect, realize, understand.
05:15 No buffalo ever asked herself the question, who am I?
05:19 Now this one comes with a disclaimer.
05:20 I'm not a buffalo, so I can't be entirely sure.
05:23 But just looking at buffalos from where I do, I do not think that they are introspecting
05:28 or meditating.
05:31 They continue in the way they are, right?
05:33 You're born a buffalo, you live as a buffalo, you die as a buffalo.
05:36 There is no urge to rise, to know and to be liberated from inner ignorance.
05:46 So that's what unites me and you.
05:50 And then that alone has to be the basis of our community, our society.
05:59 [Music]
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