Cruelty originates from Religion? || Acharya Prashant, with IIT-Madras (2023)

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:  29.09.23, IIT-Madras (Online), Greater Noida  Context:  ~ What is compassion ? ~ Is cruelty and compassion originate from same source or completely separate ? ~ What is opposite of cruelty ? ~ Why only humans can have compassion not animal ? ~ Why feelings of mother towards her child is not compassion ?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00I extend my warm welcome to all of you. It was a very rainy day today, but in spite of

00:18that many of you have come for the interactions and many of you have also joined online. So

00:25I welcome all of you with my whole heart and today our topic is basically where to draw

00:33a line between right and wrong in many activities that we do on a day-to-day basis. So basically

00:43is there any absolute dimensions to it when you say the concept of right or wrong? Is

00:48there any absolute dimensions to it or is it all related? It's a confusing question

00:54that we all have. Now saying that, but in spite of we have a lot of confusions, we

01:01basically need to take the right decisions at the right time and also in the right way

01:08so that we can have our mental health balanced and also the physical health balanced. So

01:13we have Acharya Prashanth ji to interact with us on this topic today and it's my pleasure

01:21and privilege to welcome you sir to this event. I'm glad to be with you. Thank you. Thank you so

01:28much. So I would like to commence today's session with a question from my side. So my basically

01:36first question is about spreading the concept of veganism. So I have heard from many religious

01:44discourses that cruelty and compassion originate from the same source and they are inseparable.

01:55So my first question is that, is that true and what is your opinion? No, no, not at all.

02:00Not at all. You see, there are certain things that are not of the mind. They are not actually

02:09things at all, but for want of a better word, let's just call them things. So obviously cruelty

02:17is of the mind and then what we usually call as care and concern in our layman language,

02:26that too is of the mind. But compassion is a different animal altogether, suits when we are

02:37talking of veganism to call compassion as a different animal in a different dimension. So

02:46the opposite of cruelty is not compassion. The opposite of cruelty is often either attachment

02:57or possessiveness or taking care of those who are related to you by way of self-interest. So

03:12that's the domain of duality. So yes, it is true that the mind wanders about in duality and then

03:22there is hope and there is hopelessness and then there is friendship and then there is

03:34enmity. So all these are aspects of duality. But compassion does not sit anywhere in the

03:45dualistic framework. Compassion is when one can transcend the usual center of the mind.

03:55Let me elaborate please. Operating from my usual egoistic center, if it is in my perceived interest

04:08to hurt someone, demolish someone or simply slaughter and eat someone, that we'll call as

04:18cruelty. Now the act is of butchery and debauchery and you know it appears very violent. The violence

04:28is very obvious. But it's not the act that we must focus on but the actor. The actor is the

04:35ego. Now please see that when we express care and concern towards those who are related to us,

04:45let's say by blood or by interest or simply by accident, then are we not again operating from

04:53the same center? So the center has not changed. Now that's duality. Just as when you have a

05:02simple pendulum oscillating, the extremes that it swipes, they change but the center does not

05:12change and that's when you call it the normal run of duality. You know the thing is oscillating

05:20from this side to that side but it is hinged at one particular place to a particular center.

05:26In case of human beings, that center is called the ego. So operating from my ego,

05:32I like to take care of this one and operating from the same egoistic center, I want to hurt

05:41the other one and often I want to hurt the other one just so that I can take care of someone else.

05:47Like a butcher slaughtering animals so that he can take care of his family. That's duality.

05:56He is the same person when he is slaughtering and he is exactly the same person when he takes

06:01the proceeds of the slaughter and hands it over to his family, to his son, daughter or wife or

06:08somebody. These two acts appear very dramatically different. Slaughtering an animal versus let's

06:17say caressing a baby. How different do they look? But let's please see that they come from the same

06:24center and had it not been for the purpose of taking care of that baby, the fellow would

06:33probably not have needed to slaughter the animal. So these two things are linked and that's why two

06:41aspects of duality are said to be as inseparable as two faces of a coin. But compassion is

06:49altogether different. Compassion is when you are not operating from ego at all.

06:56Compassion is not about the ego wearing a pleasant face.

07:02Compassion is about transcending your limited self-interest.

07:08So cruelty and compassion in no way are two sides of the same coin.

07:14So when we say that, we actually pull down compassion to the level of cruelty

07:22and when we do that, obviously we have a vested self-interest. We want to prove that the

07:28compassionate ones are actually no different than the cruel ones and in that way the cruel ones want

07:36to save their skin. They want to say, you know, it's a thing of my choice. I am being cruel.

07:41Another moment, another situation, I exhibit compassion. Similarly, you are being compassionate

07:50in this particular case. At some other point, you too will become cruel. So there is really

07:55no difference between the two of us. So this is, you see, just a very silly kind of tactic

08:01that people use to justify their cruelty. Compassion is what makes us human.

08:09The usual center of self-interest, which we are calling as the ego,

08:12is something that we find among animals as well. Animals too team up, animals too display friendliness,

08:20but only towards those who would be of some tangible use to them.

08:27This was, thank you very much, sir. This was actually an enlightening session.

08:32I was having this doubt for so many years ever since I have turned out to be a vegan.

08:36I was a vegetarian, but after I knew the cruelty behind it, I turned out to be a vegan. But ever

08:42since I was trying to make people understand what is the essence of veganism, this is one

08:48of the questions which I was not able to clearly make people understand. So I think, I mean,

08:54the second question has no validity now. My second question has whether compassion can still stay

09:00as a single entity. Now I understood, yes. Please, please, please repeat the question

09:05and nevertheless, please. The second question was, if they are two sides of the same coin,

09:14then whether compassion will exist as a single entity. But from your explanation, I understood

09:20that they are not. Obviously, obviously, you see, compassion has to exist in a standalone way,

09:26not another side of cruelty. It is because, you see, we've used the word compassion very loosely

09:34in our vernacular, in our everyday conversations. We use that word in a very unconscious way.

09:43So, for example, if a mother is exhibiting a certain behavior towards her child,

09:54we start calling that love and sometimes even compassion. But that's not that. That's not that.

10:02If I am being good towards someone who is related to me via self-interest, that is not

10:12compassion. Compassion is a relationship free of self-interest. You see, the dog on the road

10:20can hardly give me anything. In fact, there is a danger if I go close to it, it might turn upon me

10:28bark or even bite. But still, if I want to do something nice to it, that probably comes

10:35close to compassion. Taking care of the ones who are related to you by way of a reciprocal

10:46arrangement can hardly be called as compassion. I do good to you and in the bargain you will do

10:53good to me. That's not compassion. Taking care of people who belong to your own sect or community

11:00or ideology, that too again cannot be called as compassion. Or taking care of people because that

11:07would fetch you fame or something, recognition, that again cannot be called as compassion.

11:14Wherever self-interest is involved, compassion is ruled out and self-interest is seen both in

11:22in cruelty and in the normal kind of care and concern.

11:26None of these belong to the same plane as compassion.

11:29Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

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Transcript

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