Stop calling these as scriptures || Acharya Prashant, with Ahimsa Fellows (2023)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...  ⚡ Want Acharya Prashant’s regular updates? Join WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6Z...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Want to accelerate Acharya Prashant’s work? Contribute: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/contri...   Want to work with Acharya Prashant? Apply to the Foundation here: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/hiring...  ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information: 04.04.23, with Ahimsa Fellows (Online-talk), Greater Noida  Context: • Do scriptures hold any meaning for a modern age person, aren't scriptures outdated? • Is spirituality not something ancient? • Isn't a spiritual person have beard and live in hut as Rishi used to live? • Should one follow everything said in scriptures? • Revision of scriptures, would it not be disrespectful towards our forefathers? • What are the two parts of scriptures? • What is relevance of that part of scripture that is time dependent? Should we revise and follow them? • The part of scripture that is timeless, what is it? And how can we revise them? • How should one look and make plans for future? • How can we unlock powers of subconscious mind? • How to read and liberate subconscious mind?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00 So we have a very interesting question from Khushboo.

00:07 So since you're very knowledgeable on ancient scriptures, ancient Hindu scriptures, so a

00:12 question pertains to that.

00:13 Should we let ancient scriptures influence our dietary choices, especially when they

00:19 were created in a different era and the circumstances today are very different?

00:26 See, where I come from, and if you say I have read scriptures, I come from the scriptures

00:33 maybe.

00:35 Not every book that is being today called a scripture is worth being called a scripture.

00:43 We have ancient books, wonderful books, wonderful books, valuable books, but they cannot be

00:54 called as scriptures.

00:56 A scripture is a book that tells you about yourself.

01:00 A scripture has to deal essentially with self-knowledge.

01:06 A book that talks of dietary choices cannot be called a scripture.

01:14 A person who talks of the kind of things you must eat to enhance your health and such things

01:19 cannot be called a guru.

01:22 Shastra is what deals with self-knowledge.

01:27 Guru is one who encourages self-knowledge in you.

01:32 This food and all is miscellaneous business.

01:38 This is for those who quote so-called scriptures in favor of meat or milk.

01:47 So you will have Bakri and people will say it is coming from our scripture.

01:53 And then Hindus will say it is coming from our Puranas.

01:58 And Christians will say that Turkey is a part of our tradition.

02:05 All that is just nonsense.

02:06 Those are not scriptures at all.

02:09 Scripture is self-knowledge.

02:10 Who am I and what am I supposed to do with this so-called life?

02:15 That is what constitutes a scripture.

02:18 Nothing else.

02:20 So who am I?

02:21 I am a conscious entity.

02:22 What am I supposed to do in life?

02:23 I am supposed to elevate consciousness, respect consciousness, love consciousness.

02:30 And the moment you see that this is what scripture says, veganism just smoothly follows.

02:40 Veganism is the logical result of scriptural knowledge.

02:52 If someone says I am well-versed in scripture and is still not a vegan, the fellow knows

02:59 no scripture.

03:03 And if somebody quotes scripture against veganism, that's a dangerous fellow.

03:12 So in the Hindu path, it's Vedanta and Vedanta alone that deserves to be called a scripture.

03:27 And that's what deals with who you are and what your relationship with the world therefore

03:33 is.

03:34 It's a system of inquiry.

03:37 It's not a system of commandments or belief.

03:43 There is no belief there.

03:45 There is no morality there.

03:48 You are not being enjoined to do something.

03:53 You are not being allowed or disallowed from something.

03:58 You are being encouraged to ask a few fundamental questions.

04:03 That's Vedanta.

04:04 And all those questions pertain to who you are.

04:09 Therefore if you have really gone into Vedanta, if self-knowledge is something you have seen

04:18 as centrally important, you will naturally drop all kinds of violent behavior because

04:29 your core itself will no more remain violent.

04:34 Vedanta addresses who you are within.

04:38 And if you do not know who you are, you are violent.

04:41 Violence is nothing but ignorance.

04:43 Lack of self-knowledge is violence.

04:45 Once you know who you are, you cannot remain violent.

04:49 So that's what.

04:53 In vegan circles, it is quite common, I find this attitude.

04:58 They abhor religion.

05:00 They feel that religion is an enemy.

05:04 And I understand the place they are coming from.

05:06 They have often seen people quote religion against veganism.

05:13 So they think religion is a problem.

05:15 No, religion is not a problem.

05:18 Religion, true religion, true religiosity is in fact the very root of veganism.

05:23 You cannot have veganism without compassion.

05:26 And who will teach you compassion if not the real scripture?

05:32 So Vedanta and veganism go hand in hand.

05:37 Thank you so much for answering that delicate question.

05:42 And one last question we received from Shalini, that how do we communicate the message of

05:48 veganism with neutrality, that is, caste and religion based neutrality?

05:55 That gets very dirty when people are not sensitive.

06:00 So how do we do that?

06:04 Everybody loves a little pup, right?

06:06 Irrespective of your caste or creed or gender or age.

06:10 Who does not love a kitten?

06:12 Who does not enjoy playing with a calf?

06:18 So that's where we want to work on.

06:20 The fact that we are humans, irrespective of whatever else we are.

06:27 And to be human is to be conscious.

06:30 And that consciousness wants to play with the pup rather than butcher and eat it.

06:40 You take a Muslim kid, a Christian kid, a Hindu kid, a Buddhist kid, an upper caste

06:47 kid, a so-called lower caste kid, you take these kids, a baby boy, a baby girl, you take

06:54 all of them and you give them 10 rabbits.

07:01 There is a large lawn where rabbits play.

07:05 And you send these kids there.

07:07 These kids are not going to pick up the rabbits and eat them alive.

07:11 Irrespective of where the kids come from, they'll be delighted looking at the rabbits,

07:17 they'll run after the rabbits, they'll play with the rabbits.

07:20 That's what.

07:21 That's what.

07:22 So, it doesn't matter who I am.

07:23 Don't I love the rabbit?

07:26 And the discussion begins from there.

07:28 And if the discussion starts diverting from the real thing, if religion or other persuasions

07:35 start creeping in, then you again revert to the kid.

07:40 You point back again to the fact of one's essential humanness.

07:45 Don't you love the rabbit?

07:47 And if you do, why do you want to rob the rabbit of its hair?

07:53 Why do you want to brutally pluck its fur away?

07:57 How can you do that?

07:58 Don't you love the rabbit?

07:59 You might be a Brahmin or a Christian, a Protestant, I don't care.

08:05 There's the rabbit in front of you and you're looking at the rabbit and what's your relationship

08:08 with the rabbit?

08:09 Come on.

08:10 So, that's how we talk of it.

08:11 That's very well said.

08:17 And I would like to thank you for answering all our questions.

08:21 The answers provided us a new direction.

08:23 And thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with us.

08:27 With that, I'd like to hand it over to Gauri ma'am.

08:31 Thank you.

08:32 I thoroughly enjoyed all this.

08:34 Thank you, Acharya ji.

08:35 I think you enriched our consciousness with a lot of wisdom today.

08:42 I completely agreed with so many of your answers about the system of inquiry also.

08:49 That is, you know, you can call it scripture, the literal English translation could be anything.

08:56 But there's a system of inquiry that was the bedrock of our civilization.

09:01 And I think rather than being told stories, we should inquire and introspect.

09:08 And each one can have their own little religions, but we will know ourselves so much better.

09:12 And we'd be so much better connected with each other, and with all other forms of consciousness

09:18 that are around us.

09:19 And that I think is more important than any, you know, group of people who call themselves

09:27 anything but ourselves connected with the whole world.

09:31 That's probably so important.

09:33 And that's the spirit of that's the ethics of veganism that I see.

09:37 Very well, very well put.

09:40 So thank you so much.

09:42 We are totally enriched today.

09:44 And we will look forward to many more sessions with you like this.

09:48 And I'm sure I speak on behalf...

09:51 I'll be glad.

09:52 And in fact, I thank the entire team to make it an enriching evening for me as well.

09:59 And I just hope I was not too boring, or too heavy or something.

10:07 I enjoyed it.

10:08 And I hope all of us did.

10:10 Totally.

10:11 In fact, there was so many things that are kind of conflicting within us, and we don't

10:16 find the courage to, you know, articulate them so well.

10:21 But I think a battle of compassion requires courage, and to actually speak our minds.

10:30 And it's great that we have somebody like you doing that as a mission.

10:38 We are partners in the...

10:39 Thank you, Gauri ji.

10:40 You are an inspirational figure, believe me.

10:43 And I really wish you all the best and all the courage and all the success.

10:50 Definitely from my heart.

10:52 And may your team do well and prosper.

10:56 Thank you.

10:57 Thank you.

10:58 So...

10:59 Thank you.

11:00 Thank you.

11:02 [Music]

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