Acharya Prashant interviewed by Kip Andersen (#Seaspiracy) || Religion and animals

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articl...  ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information: An interview with Kip Andersen on Veganism, 29.03.2017, Advait Bodhsthal, Noida, India   Context:  ~ What are various view of religions? ~ What is veganism? ~ Why should one stop consuming eggs and milk? ~ Why do human cause cruelty and extreme harm to animals? ~ Why non-vegetarianism is prevalent throughout the world? ~ Why should one head towards a vegan lifestyle?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00Can we discuss how religion and animals come to play and things that you like to talk about

00:11with how animals are treated and you know things that you like to share with people

00:16when you talk about animals and say religion and things with them do you can you can you

00:23share things when you see when you say religions just for the sake of the conversation i would

00:41want to divide them into two streams one the abrahamic stream and the other the indian one

00:55so the judeo-christian view is that god has dominion over man

01:04and man has dominion over animals

01:16something similar also comes up in the third abrahamic religion islam which talks about

01:25allah having created all the animals fish insects for the sake of man

01:39and then there is the

01:43view of hinduism buddhism jainism sikhism

01:50which talk of

02:00which is non-violence oneness

02:10but i'm not

02:11not really convinced that when we use the word religion we must really talk of

02:27the view that organized religions take of this matter

02:32so

02:39the moment religion is organized

02:45it becomes something man-made so i'll take your question to mean that we want to talk about

02:55religion religion as such

03:04man animals man's inner world and man's relationship with the so-called outer world

03:12including animals

03:14so there is man and man lives according to himself in this

03:26so-called universe this universe that appears to him through his senses

03:34there is no other way man perceives the universe he perceives it through his senses and he

03:40interprets it through his reason through his intellect and through his knowledge and memory

03:58now how does man relate with

04:02the world how does man know

04:06how to approach how to touch how to live how to eat how to talk how to connect

04:21that to me is the essence of religion

04:26man's relationship with himself and the world

04:32that is religion and that is also the

04:36essence of all organized religions

04:40hence i find it more beneficial to talk about religion itself than the various organized

04:46religions i have named just six in the course of this talk but as you of course know there are

04:56hundreds of them and would be more useful to directly go into the one rather than the hundreds

05:07and get lost in the maze that's not very useful

05:14so man's relationship with the

05:19universe

05:20depends on how do i look at myself

05:30if there is a pool of water and i am playful then the pool of water

05:39is hope for me

05:41and i am playful then the pool of water

05:47is hope for me if there is a pool of water and i have a phobia of water then the pool of water

06:02is danger for me if there is a pool of water and i am thirsty then the pool of water

06:13is physical sustenance and survival for me so depending on who i am and depending on

06:23what my concept is self-concept and self-worth i take a view of the world

06:37now if i am someone

06:42who is always feeling incomplete within himself

06:45if i am someone who exists in order to take something

06:55snatch something extract something from the universe in order to fulfill himself

07:02then my view of the universe will be very utilitarian rather exploitative

07:09so there is that little squirrel there even as we talk she is there with her tail up how do i look

07:18at her how do i look at her i could look at her as food if hunger is what i most identify with

07:33i could look at her as a companion

07:36whatever is the form she takes for me

07:46is very very intimately related to the form that i have assigned to myself

07:52the squirrel will disappear in a while and she has indeed disappeared

07:56she is no more there she is all with herself somewhere the squirrel will disappear

08:04but that which i carry as myself will not i will carry it i will keep carrying it

08:16if i am feeling incomplete that incompletion will remain irrespective of the

08:22temporal presence and disappearance of anything outside of me

08:28if i always feel hollow and hungry then everything in the universe is but a resource for me

08:43i will want to exploit the man the woman the tree the rock the child the animal just everything

08:52the extent to which i can exploit would depend on my power

09:04and because to me this exploitation is itself a very important value in life so

09:15i value myself according to my ability to exploit the more i can exploit consume

09:32plunder and hoard the more i take myself to be i am bigger if i can exploit more

09:46i am higher i am more worthy more respectable if i can draw more from the universe

09:55if everything that i have collected as resources

10:02as usables

10:06are bigger more numerous

10:16more in utility if that is how i value myself and i respect myself

10:22then outside of me also i will have value only for that which can exploit

10:30now to exploit as a human being you require the intellect

10:38animals outside of me do not have that at least not in the same way as human beings have

10:46their consciousness does not proceed on the same basis of rationale as a human beings does

10:57their capacity to exploit is far more limited even assuming that they might have an intention

11:05to exploit which as per me really either does not exist or is extremely limited

11:14so if i value myself according to my capacity to exploit i will not value the one outside me

11:21who cannot exploit who does not have the intellect or the intention to exploit

11:26so there will be very little respect for the chirping bird

11:30for i can respect her only if she has power because i respect myself only when i have power

11:39some kind of power, power of knowledge, power of wealth, power political, power social

11:48any kind of power the bird outside of me appears to have so little power

11:55so it is laughable i can go pick her up

12:05do whatever i want to do with her

12:10if this is how man relates with animals then man

12:19is saying that everything that limits him is valuable

12:32we are on the issue of religion

12:34so we have to go into that which we call as an immensity as god

12:42now man is proud of his intellect all exploitation proceeds on that and in fact

12:50one of the reasons why animals are taken as fit for exploitation is that they

12:57fit for exploitation is that they

13:01really are not rational beings so it is said that we can

13:08do as we want to do with them because they are lesser beings

13:15having an intellect

13:16does it really make man superior to animals

13:26yes of course the dog cannot read yes of course the dog cannot comprehend our books and our

13:32knowledge but if all reading and all knowledge

13:40is for the sake of peace is for the sake of a great silence

13:53then please tell me whether man's intellect and knowledge

14:00are indeed able to deliver the goods

14:04knowledge is limited intellect is limited knowledge always consists of objects and

14:09every object has a boundary

14:13if the purpose of life and if the purpose of religion because we are on the issue of religion

14:20and if the purpose of religion is to be one with god then the purpose of

14:28religion is to drop all that which is limited because god is unlimited

14:33as long as you identify with that which is limited there is no question of unity with god

14:44intellect is limited and intellect prevents man from closeness with god

14:52you cannot intellectualize your way to silence

14:56I want to now ask what is closer to goodness and godliness

15:07man's intellect or the simple innocence of animals

15:13now we have come to a point where we can also look more sharply at the view

15:20that man is superior to animals and that man has dominion over animals

15:26I have repeatedly said this and would

15:33repeat once again is man really superior to animals

15:39if god stands for innocence then animals are closer to god

15:47if god stands for a simple surrender to the flow of life then animals are closer to god

15:56if god stands for a basic ability to trust

16:05then animals are closer to god

16:10if god stands for

16:16a relation that is deeper than verbal communication

16:20a heartfelt communion then again animals are closer to god compared to man

16:30but man will live in his self-centered consciousness

16:34man will say that my greatest asset is my intellect because it helps me

16:41do a lot of things with the world and if man's greatest asset is his intellect

16:50then man will always look at animals as not only inferior

16:58but also just things to be had and he will look at not only animals that way he will look at

17:06everything that way if you are a man you will exploit a woman you will exploit a river you

17:11will exploit everything that you come across if it were in your power you would go and exploit

17:18the entire galaxy

17:34what do you say to people who say that it's similar to take a plant and eat a plant and it's

17:43the same to eat an animal because a plant has a soul a plant has spirit an animal does

17:48what do you feel about that there's no difference

17:54you see two or three things must be understood

17:59firstly a non-violent mind a mind that does not like destruction

18:10will not want to kill a plant either

18:21we talked about intellect man's basic violence starts from agriculture itself organized

18:34agriculture itself when man started utilizing and exploiting plants it is one thing

18:45to be one with a plant to be a part of its ecosystem

18:51and take something from it and it is a totally different thing to cultivate a plant

18:58the way a squirrel or a monkey connects to a plant or a tree is very different from a way a farmer connects to his crop

19:15so someone who does not want to look at the universe as a resource will not want to

19:28kill or consume

19:31anything and when I say consume I mean consume in a violent way

19:42there is enough that a tree offers there is enough that comes to us from plants and trees

19:54even if we do not kill them

20:00in fact if you see when a fruit drops from a tree

20:09the tree in some way wants that the fruit be consumed

20:17when you pick up the fruit when you consume it the seeds actually get spread through you

20:25you are being one with the plant you are actually fulfilling the tree's wish

20:33if you do not pick up the fruit and eat then it's not a favor to the tree then it is indifference

20:44the moment I say this the question of feeding the eight billion people of the world

20:51immediately crops up and hence this view will appear as impractical

20:58this appears as impractical only if first of all you are centered

21:05around the view that the earth must have eight billion people

21:16eight billion human beings

21:18these eight billion human beings exist

21:24only because they have taken a path that is not really the path of the heart

21:36otherwise nature knows what is the right number the right gap

21:48on the existence of any species

21:56this man can exist even if he is not a human being

22:06without harming trees and plants let alone animals

22:17it is possible but that will be a totally different kind of humanity

22:22and I'm pretty sure that when man lives that way

22:27then to sustain eight billion people in that way

22:33will not be possible

22:39you may immediately retort that this way is then very very difficult

22:47I would say it is very valuable

22:51it is very valuable because as far as life is concerned

22:55it is not the numbers that count something else is far more important than numbers

23:02that particular silence in being that particular love in relationships

23:11that particular peace

23:22be it a plant be it an animal be it a human being the exploitative mind is the same

23:32um

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