He chose a wife, not a Guru || Acharya Prashant, with Ahimsa Fellows (2023)

Acharya Prashant

Video Information:  04.04.23, with Ahimsa Fellows (Online-talk), Greater Noida  Context: ~What are the most common reasons for veganism? ~What do vegans struggle with the most? ~शाकाहारी सबसे ज्यादा किससे संघर्ष करते हैं? ~What are the three pillars of veganism? ~Why are relatives not understanding veganism?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~ #acharyaprashant #veganism #vegetarian

Transcript

00:00We have the question by Pooja.

00:11So people who try to become self-aware and knowledgeable of themselves, they usually

00:18they become the black sheep of their families.

00:21Question by Pooja is, what can we do if our loved ones, that is spouse, parents, friends

00:27are not receptive to veganism or they do not show understanding towards animal welfare?

00:33So what do we do?

00:34See, you cannot be vegan without being really spiritual.

00:40And this would ruffle a few feathers and probably hurt a few.

00:46But let me put this, when you are spiritual, the first thing that you realize is that your

00:50family is not really your own.

00:53You cannot be a vegan if you continue to be too attached to your family.

00:58You can either be a family man or really a vegan.

01:03It's a difficult choice and most people will not like the way I am putting it.

01:09They'll say he's turning it into an either or situation.

01:12Why can't we have both?

01:14Why must there always be this kind of a conflict?

01:18I know the arguments, but I also know the truth.

01:25I see it everywhere, I see it in my own family.

01:30Just because you are a vegan, that does not matter to people who will not listen.

01:38And those who won't listen, they just won't listen.

01:41And if you think too much about your family, then forget about the wider family that you

01:47really belong to.

01:52There is no need to think of it as a heartbreak or something.

01:57It's just a fact of life.

02:00You see, to be a vegan is to stand up stoutly against the pleasure principle.

02:10And if you think of the institution of family, it stands on the pleasure principle.

02:16First of all, why do the man and the woman get together?

02:19For pleasure, what else?

02:22The family rests primarily on these two pillars, right?

02:27The man and the woman coming together.

02:29The mother and the father, the husband and the wife, whatever.

02:34The beginning itself comes from lust for pleasure.

02:40And now you tell these two who came together for pleasure that you cannot have pleasure

02:45anymore.

02:46You have to give up on milk and your chai and such stuff.

02:50Why will they listen to you?

02:52Why do parents beget kids for pleasure, in a moment of pleasure?

03:01In a moment of pleasure, the kid is conceived and if it's a planned pregnancy, then the

03:06entire motive is to have somebody support you in your old age.

03:11Again the same pleasure principle.

03:17So the family rests on pleasure and veganism says there is something far higher than pleasure.

03:30My pleasure cannot be bigger than the right of that little fellow to live.

03:38My lust for pleasure cannot be bigger than my commitment to consciousness.

03:46So the family system and veganism just don't go together.

03:49The family system and spirituality don't go together.

03:53At the risk of sounding just too cynical, let me say, in general the family system and

04:04goodness do not go together.

04:07It's another matter that by dint of your perseverance and your effort, you are able to convince

04:17and convert some of your family members.

04:20That is possible, entirely possible.

04:22But to think that just because a certain group of people belong to your family, therefore

04:28they'll be more amenable to your virtuous advice is just wishful thinking, daydreaming,

04:35it won't happen.

04:36And if you try too much of that, all you'll get is some heartbreak.

04:41In fact, if you want to turn somebody vegan, focus on your neighbors, not on your parents,

04:47not on your spouse.

04:49These are the last people who listen to any kind of, they'll simply, they'll say you're

04:57virtue signaling, you just want to have an upper hand, you know, why can't we have our

05:02own choices, they are not going to be amenable because they are related to you via the pleasure

05:10principle.

05:11When a man chooses a wife, is he really wedding a guru?

05:20Now the wife turns vegan and starts sermonizing, why will the man take it?

05:26The man will say, I brought home a luscious body and remain that, remain that.

05:34You are trying to become somebody I never opted for.

05:41This is not what I chose to bring home.

05:47You are trying to be a guru, you are trying to be a preacher, I don't want a preacher,

05:53I want a cute wife, that's all.

06:05Focus on the neighbors, instead of your family whatsapp group, focus on anonymous people

06:13on social media, you'll get greater success there.

06:16If you raise a big civil war on your family whatsapp group, and we have family whatsapp

06:24group, extended family is there, some 30-40 members are there, all you'll get is silence.

06:30And if you try too hard, some admin will simply throw you out of the group.

06:37That's all that you'll get.

06:41I think you just put it out there, the unapologetic answer, like deal with it.

06:49So the last question from our side would be from Aarti, she says that from an ethical

06:57standpoint is it more important to push few people to be perfect vegans or a large number

07:04to reduce the consumption of non-vegan food?

07:08See somebody's life has to be saved, it doesn't matter how that life will be saved.

07:15If 40 people can become half vegans, whatever that means, if 40 people can become half vegans,

07:24that's obviously better than having 10 perfect vegans.

07:28So I do not care too much for purity.

07:31I care for that little one's life.

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