00:00Pranam Achyai ji.
00:04Yes.
00:05My name is Akshaya and I am 14 years old.
00:10I have been doing sessions and watching you with my mother since 2 years.
00:16And my question is that I have seen a lot of pro players, mostly tennis players,
00:25that they use tennis rackets of cows cut strings, if you know that.
00:33And they are actually vegan.
00:36And some people, a lot of people appreciate that they are vegan and they don't do any animal cruelty.
00:44So I want to ask if they are turning vegan for their own reasons because of their improvement and instructions from their coaches,
00:54are they changing anything at all?
00:58Even those things are happening.
01:02Sports equipments are undergoing a change.
01:05Also, the guts, the cords, they were called guts specifically because they were made of animals' intestines.
01:14That's the reason you used to call them guts.
01:17But sports technology has advanced and more and more you have these strings that are no more made of animal material.
01:27I do not know of specific players who are vegan and are yet using these animal strings.
01:35But technology has provided the choice that you don't need to.
01:42See, you have to understand something.
01:47Human history hasn't exactly been of compassion.
01:55You look at arts, sciences, any field of human endeavour and you will find animal products are everywhere.
02:06Because that's the way we have been.
02:08When a large animal like a buffalo, a cow, a bull is slaughtered, every part of its body is used somewhere, mostly industrially.
02:20which means that everything, almost everything that comes to you contains or is likely to contain some animal product.
02:34Even if it's not having an animal product, it's possible that something from animals has been used in its manufacturing.
02:44That is because our history has not been of compassion.
02:48You look at music for example.
02:50You look at your tabla, your dholak, these things, many of the musical instruments.
02:56And you know you are using animal skin.
03:00That's animal skin.
03:02You also see that there is a lot of use of wood there.
03:06But even if you keep wood aside, the animal skin is very visible in the musical instruments.
03:14Same thing for your sports, you look at cricket.
03:18The ball, it's a leather ball.
03:20There is leather.
03:22Because that's the way we have been.
03:25So that kind of ignorance and indifference and cruelty,
03:30it exposes itself, reveals itself in whatever we do.
03:36This sugar that you get.
03:39Animal products are used in the processing of sugar.
03:43There is hardly any industrial product that is totally free of animal cruelty.
03:56In that context, sports too carry the imprint of animal cruelty.
04:04Which is not necessary.
04:06But that's how it currently is.
04:09As human consciousness awakens, and that's our endeavour,
04:16you will find that the need to put an animal something somewhere,
04:23that need decreases.
04:26Because it's just a matter of tradition, convention, habit.
04:32It is unimaginable that creating a racket string of the right kind of polymer,
04:45cannot fetch the same results as the racket string made of animal guts.
04:51So science is obviously advanced enough to create those things.
04:57It's just that we are not feeling the need.
05:01These medicines that you take.
05:04Many of them contain animal products.
05:06Most of them in fact contain animal products.
05:08And the ones that do not contain animal products.
05:10And the ones that do not contain animal products.
05:11Have been tested on animals.
05:13The cosmetic products that you use.
05:15It's winters these days.
05:21Getting the right clothing for oneself.
05:25Is quite a task.
05:29In some way or the other, there is wool or something there.
05:35You want footwear.
05:37Again, you have to spend five times energy in getting a simple pair of sandals.
05:44And even if you get it.
05:47And even if you are told that this is a cruelty free product.
05:53Still you can never be 100% sure that it indeed is.
05:56A waist belt.
05:59You just don't know.
06:01A shirt.
06:03You don't know the entire chain of its manufacturing and also of its logistics.
06:10It is possible that there is some animal cruelty somewhere.
06:14In the supply chain.
06:17And all of that is coming from a single point.
06:23And the point is human ignorance.
06:26If you can deal with human ignorance.
06:31Only then there is the chance we will be more friendly.
06:37More compassionate towards animals.
06:39Otherwise, as I said you have a 600 kg animal.
06:43And you litter it.
06:46And every bit of the 600 kg is put to use somewhere.
06:53The one littering it will not let go anything waste.
07:00If it can be exploited for material gain, it will be exploited.
07:08And whatever waste product that remains.
07:14Whatever it is that cannot be sold to anybody.
07:17That will be used to destroy the environment.
07:21That will flow into a river.
07:27Or that will go into the soil and corrupt the ground water.
07:32That's how we have been.
07:36Just not self aware.
07:39Just not knowing our relationship with the environment.
07:43With other species.
07:45Since we don't know who we are.
07:46Therefore, we do not know what our right relationship with everything must be.
07:50Therefore, we are cruel in as many ways as possible.
07:54This cruelty cannot be challenged in a fractured way.
08:00You cannot say, oh you know that fellow.
08:04He is s***ing up a buffalo.
08:06I will stop him and I have done a great job.
08:09Obviously, if I too find somebody s***ing up a buffalo.
08:12I too will, by my humanity, want to stop him.
08:17But I would also know that that serves no larger purpose.
08:21The life of one buffalo is saved.
08:23But nothing beyond that.
08:25If you really want to make a difference.
08:29Then you will have to attack the problem at its centre.
08:34And the centre is lack of self knowledge.
08:39The centre is ego.
08:44As we become more self aware.
08:49All kinds of animal cruelty will decrease.
08:56Otherwise, a sectoral approach, a fragmented approach.
09:02That will at most make you feel good about yourself.
09:06You know I was able to rescue one goat and one dog.
09:12And so I am a good fellow.
09:13I will feel good about myself.
09:15But in the bigger picture, it does no favour to the animals or to the environment.
09:30Yeah.
09:31Thank you Acharya Ji.
09:33Welcome.
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