Why must kids turn vegan? || Acharya Prashant (2019)

Acharya Prashant

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Transcript

00:00There has been a lot of talk on veganism in the MAG group lately. I have also watched

00:23many of your videos relating to this topic. I would like to know your take on teaching

00:29veganism to children. I know that veganism has to be a thing of the heart and that just

00:37forcing dry ideology isn't good for anyone. As a vegan parent, I am not concerned about

00:43my ability to show compassion, but rather about the choices I sometimes have to make

00:48for the sake of my daughter's physical well-being. She is very choosy towards vegan protein sources

00:56and that's why we sometimes have to buy dairy products for her. Every time I have to do

01:01that I feel bad. So there is this conflict between my responsibility to provide her with

01:07nutritionally balanced diet and with my heartfelt refusal to take part in the exploitation of

01:12other living beings. I wonder if there is any right or wrong in this. Thank you for

01:17your guidance, Elmeri. Elmeri, we are neither prakritic beings, nor do we live in truth

01:44fully. If you look at birds and animals in the jungle, they live totally by prakriti.

02:01If you look at saints, they live totally by the heart. In the industrialized world, man

02:11lives neither as a prakritic being nor as a being of truth. We live by the mind. We

02:25live by the intellect. The intellect has created all these problems that we are facing.

02:45Veganism is a response to the problems created by intellect. We don't have to teach veganism

02:56to animals, neither do we have to teach veganism to saints. Animals don't need veganism. Saints

03:05too don't need veganism. Man in this modern postmodern world needs veganism. The man who

03:21is a creation of his intellect needs this veganism. If you look at man today, he is

03:34neither a creation of the jungle, nor is he a creation of God. He is a creation of his

03:41own mind. Majorly. If you look at him very closely, then you will realize he is similar

03:51to the ones who live in the jungle. And you will have to look at a million human beings

03:59to come across a few who will make you realize that man probably came from God. If you look

04:09at the bulk of human beings from a distance, you will neither feel that they come from

04:21jungle nor would you feel that they come from God. Man comes neither from jungle nor

04:29God. Today's man comes from the factory. We are products of our intellect. We are products

04:36of the human factory. And our problems, I said, too are problems arising from the human intellect.

04:45But that has become our center. We will operate from our center, won't we? Intellect is the center

04:53of today's man. If that be so, why not use the same intellect in a godly way? If intellect is

05:10what we are identified with, why not surrender the same intellect to the service of God?

05:23Why not, for example, use the intellect to create sources of vitamin B12 and proteins

05:41and many other vitamins and minerals that are not exploitative towards animals? If you say that

06:05you must provide your daughter with a protein rich diet, why does the protein have to come

06:14from dairy? When everything in your life is anyway factory produced, why not use factory

06:24produced protein as well? People say, oh, but that would be unnatural. Hello, if you want to

06:34be fully natural, then live on the trees. Is it natural to live in houses? Is it natural to wear

06:42clothes? Is it natural to go to schools? By nature, you mean Prakriti, right? Do all these things

06:49happen in the jungle? But when you live in the house, then you do not say, oh, it is unnatural.

06:54When you live in the house, do you say it is unnatural? I will not do it. Now, man has come

07:08out of the jungle. He is anyway no more Prakriti. His center is not Prakriti, neither is his center

07:17Atma. His center is Buddhi. It's a very strange situation that man is in. What is the center of

07:29an animal? What is the center of the saint? What is the center of today's man? So use the same

07:37Buddhi in the service of truth. You live in an industrialized, heavily industrialized Western

07:49country, Elmari. How is it not possible to have artificial sources of vitamin C, D, A, B, B12?

08:04How is it not possible to manufacture proteins just as you manufacture everything else? Why is

08:10it necessary that the protein molecule must come from an animal's body? Why is it necessary? On

08:21one hand, we pride ourselves in factory producing everything. Can't we factory produce protein?

08:33Must you kill to have protein? Some people even say veganism is unnatural and their biggest

08:44argument is vitamin B12. They say this vitamin can come only from an animal source and human

08:55body requires this. So this is the proof that veganism is unnatural. They mean a Prakriti. I

09:03agree veganism is not Prakriti, but then why must it be Prakriti? Is man Prakriti anymore? If you

09:13want to be Prakriti, then I say go back and live in the jungle. You have come out of the jungle.

09:19Is marriage Prakriti? Are there marriages in the jungle? So marriage is the first thing that is

09:25unnatural. Is language Prakriti? Are there languages in the jungle? Are there clothes in

09:33the jungle? Are there countries in the jungle? Are there constitutions in the jungle? Are there

09:39vehicles in the jungle? But then to all these things, you do not say, oh, these are unnatural.

09:44To all these things, you are happily amenable. But the moment it is discovered that vitamin B12

09:53cannot be found except in an animal source, you rejoice and say, you see, now veganism is ticked

10:09off because it is proven that veganism is unnatural. Yes, of course, veganism is unnatural.

10:15And just as you choose so many things that are unnatural, choose veganism as well.

10:21Do not choose it because it is natural. Do not choose it because it is coming from

10:39compassion. Do not choose it because of Prakriti. Choose it because of Karuna.

10:48And these are two very, very different arguments. There are the naturalists who say that you should

10:55choose what is there in Prakriti. I strongly deny that. I am not a naturalist. I do not say

11:01that you should live as Prakriti lives. In Prakriti, all creatures or rather most creatures

11:09except the nocturnal ones sleep at night. I conduct my sessions after midnight. Am I Prakritic?

11:19Am I? So, I am not at all a supporter of Prakriti. In fact, all spirituality is about

11:28transcending Prakriti. So, I am not a naturalist. I stand for transcendence of physical nature,

11:34which you call as Prakriti. But in transcending Prakriti, I do not want to stop at buddhi or

11:44intellect. In transcending Prakriti, I want to reach the Atma or truth where compassion resides.

11:51Get the difference, please. Usually, people think that spirituality and naturalism go together.

12:00They think, you know, if you are a spiritual man, then you would love fruits and all kinds

12:09of animal products. And these two often are seen together. The moment a person picks up

12:20some spiritual text, he also starts eating more raw food. It is often a combination.

12:35It is seen that spiritual people go to the jungles. So, somehow a correlation has been

12:44established in the mind that spirituality and Prakriti go together. No, wrong. Spirituality

12:52is transcendence of Prakriti. And when you transcend Prakriti, then you can really love

12:58Prakriti. It is a thing that you have to appreciate. Those who do not transcend Prakriti

13:05remain attached with Prakriti. And if you remain attached with Prakriti, you will consume Prakriti.

13:11For example, if you remain attached to your own body, then you will kill somebody's body to feed

13:17your own body. If you are attached to Prakriti, you will rape Prakriti. But the saint goes beyond

13:25Prakriti. From there, he can just lovingly witness and watch Prakriti. Then he doesn't

13:33interfere with Prakriti or consume it or rape it. Are you getting it? In fact, a lot

13:42of damage to Prakriti is being brought about by Prakriti lovers as well. So, they would

13:50say, you know, we require a particular type of fruit. Now, for that type of fruit to be

13:59grown, all other species of trees are being cut off. If you are standing at the intellect

14:12Ilmari as you are, use the intellect, find out where in the world, from where in the

14:22world can you get all nutrients that are not animal sourced. Let industries come up.

14:44If it is required that artificial meat be made in order to satisfy people who necessarily want

14:58to have meat, I'm all in favor of more technological research to produce more artificial meat that

15:08closely resembles animal meat. This is compassion because this is going to save billions of

15:16animals every day. Let technological prowess be used to produce artificial meat because

15:25the fellow is now addicted to meat. He will eat meat and if you will not give him artificial

15:31meat, he will slaughter the animal. So, use intellect, use research, use technology. What

15:43is all your scientific knowledge for? You can't even produce a protein molecule in the factory

15:49and then we sing so much about man's scientific advancements. Are you getting it? Man cannot go

16:04back to the jungle. So, even if you want to protect the jungle now, intellect is the answer.

16:13Man can neither go back to the jungle nor can man give up the intellect, but the jungle has

16:26to be protected. So, the intellect is the answer. Use the mind, use the mind in service to the

16:37truth. If intellect is what you have, devote the intellect to the service of the truth,

16:44to the service of compassion.

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