00:06So, today our topic is basically where to draw a line between right and wrong in many
00:16activities that we do on a day-to-day basis.
00:21So, basically, is there any absolute dimensions to it when you say the concept of right or
00:27wrong, is there any absolute dimensions to it, or is it all related?
00:31It's a confusing question that we all have.
00:35Now, saying that, but in spite of we have a lot of confusions, we basically need to take
00:41the right decisions at the right time and also in the right way so that we can have our
00:47mental health balanced and also the physical health balanced.
00:51So, we have Acharya Prashant Ji to interact with us on this topic today.
00:57And it's my pleasure and privilege to welcome you, sir, to this event.
01:03I'm glad to be with you.
01:06Thank you so much.
01:07So, I would like to commence today's session with a question from my side.
01:12So, my basically first question is about spreading the concept of veganism.
01:20So, I have heard from many religious discourses that cruelty and compassion originate from the
01:30same source and they are inseparable.
01:34So, my first question is that, is that true?
01:36And what is your input on it?
01:37No, no, not at all, not at all.
01:40You see, there are certain things that are not of the mind.
01:47They are not actually things at all, but for want of a better word, let's just call them things.
01:54So, obviously, cruelty is of the mind.
01:56And then, what we usually call as care and concern in our layman language, that too is of the mind.
02:09But compassion is a different animal altogether, suits when we are talking of veganism, to call
02:19compassion as a different animal in a different dimension.
02:23So, the opposite of cruelty is not compassion.
02:29The opposite of cruelty is often either attachment or possessiveness or taking care of those who are related to you by way of self-interest.
02:49So, that's the domain of duality.
02:55So, yes, it is true that the mind wanders about in duality and then there is hope and there is hopelessness and then there is friendship and then there is enmity.
03:13So, all these are aspects of duality.
03:18But compassion does not sit anywhere in the dualistic framework.
03:27Compassion is when one can transcend the usual center of the mind.
03:34Let me elaborate, operating from my usual egoistic center, if it is in my perceived interest to hurt someone, demolish someone or simply slaughter and eat someone, that we will call as cruelty.
03:57Now, the act is of butchery and debauchery and, you know, it appears very violent.
04:06The violence is very obvious.
04:09But it's not the act that we must focus on, but the actor.
04:13The actor is the ego.
04:15The actor is the ego.
04:16Now, please see that when we express care and concern towards those who are related to us, let's say by blood or by interest or simply by accident, then are we not again operating from the same center?
04:33So, the center has not changed.
04:36The center has not changed.
04:38Now, that's duality.
04:39Just as when you have a simple pendulum oscillating, the extremes that it swipes, they change, but the center does not change.
04:52And that's when you call it the normal runoff duality.
04:58You know, the thing is oscillating from this side to that side, but it is hinged at one particular place to a particular center.
05:05In case of human beings, that center is called the ego.
05:10So, operating from my ego, I like to take care of this one and operating from the same egoistic center.
05:19I want to hurt the other one.
05:21And often I want to hurt the other one just so that I can take care of someone else.
05:28Like a butcher slaughtering animals so that he can take care of his family.
05:32That's duality.
05:33You know, he's the same person when he's slaughtering and he's exactly the same person when he takes the proceeds of the slaughter and hands it over to his family, to his son, daughter or wife or somebody.
05:49These two acts appear very, very dramatically different.
05:53You know, slaughtering an animal versus, let's say, caressing a baby.
05:58How different do they look?
05:59But let's see that they come from the same center.
06:04And had it not been for the purpose of taking care of that baby, the fellow would probably not have needed to slaughter the animal.
06:15So, these two things are linked.
06:18And that's why two aspects of duality are said to be as inseparable as two faces of a coin.
06:25But compassion is altogether different.
06:30Compassion is when you are not operating from ego at all.
06:35Compassion is not about the ego wearing a pleasant face.
06:41Compassion is about transcending your limited self-interest.
06:45So, cruelty and compassion in no way are two sides of the same coin.
06:53So, when we say that, we actually pull down compassion to the level of cruelty.
07:00And when we do that, obviously, we have a vested self-interest.
07:06We want to prove that the compassionate ones are actually no different than the cruel ones.
07:13And in that way, the cruel ones want to save their skin.
07:17They want to say, you know, it's a thing of my choice.
07:20I'm being cruel.
07:22Another moment, another situation, I exhibit compassion.
07:25Similarly, you are being compassionate in this particular case.
07:31At some other point, you two will become cruel.
07:33So, there is really no difference between the two of us.
07:36So, this is, you see, just a very silly kind of tactic that people use to justify their cruelty.
07:44Compassion is what makes us human.
07:47The usual center of self-interest, which we are calling as the ego,
07:51is something that we find among animals as well.
07:54Animals to team up.
07:57Animals to display friendliness.
07:59But only towards those who would be of some tangible use to them.
08:06This was, thank you very much, sir.
08:08This was actually an enlightening session.
08:10I was having this doubt for so many years.
08:13Ever since I have turned out to be a vegan.
08:15I was a vegetarian.
08:16When after I knew the cruelty behind I, I turned out to be a vegan.
08:21But ever since I was trying to make people understand what is the essence of veganism,
08:26this is one of the questions which I was not able to clearly make people understand.
08:32So, I think, I mean, the second question has no validity now.
08:35My second question has whether compassion can be as a single entity.
08:40Now, I understood yes.
08:41Please, please, please, please repeat the question and nevertheless, please.
08:46The second question was, if they are two sides of the same coil,
08:52then whether compassion may exist as a single entity.
08:56But from your explanation, I understood that they are not.
08:59Obviously, obviously, you see, compassion has to exist in a stand-alone way,
09:05not another side of cruelty.
09:09It is because, you see, we use the word compassion very loosely in our vernacular.
09:14In our everyday conversations, we use that word in a very unconscious way.
09:21So, for example, if a mother is exhibiting a certain behavior towards her child,
09:33we start calling that love and sometimes even compassion.
09:38But that's not that.
09:40That's not that.
09:41If I am being good towards someone who is related to me via self-interest,
09:50that is not compassion.
09:52Compassion is a relationship free of self-interest.
09:57You see, the dog on the road can hardly give me anything.
10:01In fact, there is a danger if I go close to it,
10:04it might turn upon me, bark or even bite.
10:09But still, if I want to do something nice to it,
10:12that probably comes close to compassion.
10:14Taking care of the ones who are related to you by way of a reciprocal arrangement
10:25can hardly be called as compassion.
10:28You know, I do good to you and in the bargain you will do good to me.
10:33That's not compassion.
10:35Taking care of people who belong to your own sect or community or ideology,
10:40that too, again, cannot be called as compassion.
10:42Or taking care of people because that would fetch you fame or something,
10:50recognition, that again cannot be called as compassion.
10:52Wherever self-interest is involved, compassion is ruled out.
10:57And self-interest is seen both in cruelty
11:01and in the normal kind of care and concern.
11:05None of these belong to the same plane as compassion.
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