Climate Collapse is Within us, Not Out There: Kancha Gachibowli Insight

Questioner: Hello Acharya Ji, I'm Prakash and I have been associated with you for almost like the last one and a half years. And it has been a great-great journey, so many changes and it was toughest today. I'm so happy, first of all blessed that you are here and secondly, today even my wife it was so tough for her to finally get accepted. You know, for me it was a lot of work and even this morning we have discussed so much and I'm glad that with your blessings she came forward and spoke so nicely about your teachings and the changes which she sees in me, the positive ones.

So, my question today is on the recent episode of Kancha Gachibowli which is all happening there and then student protest has gone to the extent that even the Supreme Court and a lot of social media attention is there. and the Supreme Court has also got involved. I understand that it is like in such matters the Supreme Court will not be involved all the time, right. Because this is a rare event. So my question is like how, what kind of search can be for these kinds of events. What role or awareness we should have in society or the parents or the schools itself. And what other thing I have noticed is that there's no celebrity as such that has come forward for such kind of event or such kind of it has never happened and um so I would like you to just bring some light on that.

Acharya Prashant: See two things. Firstly the kind of awareness you're talking of in cases like Khancha Gachibowli, that awareness is lacking not only in the general population but also among the celebrities. So just as the common folk are largely indifferent because I may say they are relatively uneducated when it comes to these matters of prime concern, so are the celebrities. That's one part of it. The second part is celebrities have a voice but then they are also vulnerable targets. So if a celebrity in today's environment raises his or her voice against something being done by the establishment or at the behest of the establishment then that celebrity is an easy catch, right.

All you require is a few policemen knocking at your door and taking you away on some pretext or the other. And even carrying you away might be an extreme step that is not always needed. A phone call from somewhere. Right? Or a quick notice or email from a particular department, all that can suffice. And if that celebrity happens to represent the voices of lakhs or millions then just by shutting up the celebrity all those lakhs and millions have been silenced at once. So that's a very risky and vulnerable tactic. Right? We do not want to put all our eggs in one basket No. old saying, then how can we want to make one person the representative of a million voices. Right?

You are giving the opponents or the perpetrators of inequality, brutality, or environmental destruction a sitting duck—to hurt, to shoot at, to put behind bars. No. If you all say, for example, here, sitting all of you, if you say, "I'm going to be a voice," let's say I'm declared a celebrity, and you say, "You will be our voice, you will be our representative, you will be our face," then something very risky has been done—and that makes the whole movement very vulnerable. Now the government doesn't have to deal with each one of you; the government has to deal with only one person. And we won't always remain face-to-face, would we?

So here we are, and we are together, and we can have solemn pledges, and we can take oaths and pass resolutions, and say, "We are all together and united in this fight." We can say all those things—and what happens then? I go back to my house, and there I'm all alone. And something is done to me, and there you know this entire gathering cannot come to defend me. I can be blackmailed, or arm-twisted, or coerced. And then, just by strangulating this one person, the entire movement—the entire force, the might of this entire collective—has been silenced. Silenced. And you won't even get to know. I might be pressured into striking a deal with the establishment. I might betray you. Backstab you.

I might go back, and let's say I have a family—I have a wife and kids—and I might find that my wife runs an organization, and some pressure is being put on the finances of that organization. A particular loan from a government bank is at stake, or a particular notice from the tax department is hanging over our heads—something. And because I'm related to my wife, I too experience the related pressure. And then I give in. Don't people give in? Don't people cop out?

So I too will do that—and you will never get to know. And so you will just keep waiting in expectation that here I am, your honest representative, and that I’ll represent your interests honestly, forcefully, and adequately in front of the authorities. And you will never even come to know that I have just sold myself out.

Does that seem to be, then, a good strategy—to rely on celebrities? Because celebrities are individuals, and all individuals are vulnerable to all kinds of pressures, temptations, coercions, blackmails, and what not. So, what has happened in the case you're referring to, sir, is probably just the right thing to happen, zero or very little celebrity support. The faceless and anonymous students themselves take things into their hands. There was significant agitation within the campus and also outside the campus, and then the courts had to take suo motu cognizance of the happenings. That's the best way the thing could have unfolded.No?

Now, you cannot just pick up any one student and, by pressurizing that one student, silence the agitation. That is not possible because the ownership and leadership stand distributed. If you are silenced, then she will take it up. If he is put behind bars, then some other face will rise and say, "Come on, yes — together we are." So the usual, traditional model of leadership, where one person would lead and show the way, is probably not the most effective for these times.

Because the more you bet on just one individual, the more you are exposing yourself to a targeted attack. Targeted attack. Who is easier to target? This lone individual as he stands here? Or an entire crowd as they sit here, dispersed, and not just here at several places? What's more difficult to target and contain? Please tell me. More difficult? This single person is a sitting duck — easy to target. So easy to target. And if you don't have a voice of your own, you'll find that this person can so easily either just buckle down or betray you, because people are people. We are all flawed and imperfect beings. Nobody can stand firm beyond a point.

And the more you put the collective weight of your expectations on one person, the more he becomes vulnerable — to torture, to blackmail, to pressure, to all kinds of things. So, we need individual responsibility. And that brings us to the role of education. How can you be individually responsible? How can you say that, "No, we do not necessarily and exclusively rely on one particular teacher or leader. My life, my responsibility"— how can you do that if you are not well-educated in these matters?

Please understand: the traditional model of leadership, in spite of all its pluses and goodnesses, is an authoritarian one. One person, standing aloft a higher stage, occupying a podium, and then guiding all the ignoramuses like a Pied Piper. Not a pretty egalitarian scene, I suppose. Or is it? It's not, right? That model is now outdated and ineffective. We need leaders without followers — which means each person has to be her own leader.

You don't need a crowd to become a leader. You need a conscience to become a leader.

More than conscience — you need consciousness to become a leader. You don't need a crowd of followers. That's a traditional thing: "I am a leader when I have 100 people behind me. And if I can have a million people behind me, I'm a bigger leader." That's a traditional thing. No. Today, we all will have to be our own leaders. And that is possible only through education. Unfortunately, that kind of education is not provided by the traditional education system. No, there is no education system that sufficiently tells us why felling all the trees in a 400-acre area is just not right. We are told in vague terms — things like deforestation, reforestation, afforestation, climate change, soil erosion. That doesn't help. That doesn't help.

We aren't told how biodiversity is such a vulnerable thing — that if a few species go extinct, it's not only those few species, but actually ten times more the species that are put at grave risk. All these things have not been taught to us. So, we need to educate ourselves on our own. We need to understand that — for our own sake and for the sake of our kids — it's necessary that we know that things are apocalyptical right now, that we are well and truly into the sixth mass extinction phase. When you know this for yourself, then you don't look out externally for a leader, because now it's your own personal matter. It's a thing of your own life and the life of your loved ones.

Will you say? “You know I don’t have a leader therefore I won't act now.” Ma'am, it's your life. If you don't get a leader, how will you not act? We have a few kids here. Will the parents wait for somebody else to come and support them if the kids are threatened? No. They'll do whatever is in their own hands. And today, yes, we have come to that point. We'll have to do whatever we can — without waiting for any external party, agency, leader, or charismatic individual to support us, defend us, or represent us. Are you getting it?

This is the Anthropocene. This is the Anthropocene. It is not about that limited 400-acre area. We have had five mass extinctions on this planet before as well, and three of them were due to exactly the same reason that accounts for the present one: excess carbon dioxide in the environment. You understand? The only difference is that this time, the excess carbon dioxide is man-made. Earlier, it was due to some natural events. This time, it is not a natural event. This time, it is the work — the crime — of a single species on this planet: Homo sapiens.

It's not happening because of volcanic eruptions or because some great rock has come and hit the planet. No—it is happening because of us. And when we talk of mass extinction, unfortunately, we are not talking of only our species — the culprit species — going extinct. Mass extinction means that all the species, 99% of the species, will go extinct.

In fact, our species, the one responsible, the criminal species, the convict species, our species will probably be among the last ones to go totally extinct. Firstly, because we are very numerous — 8+ billion of us. And secondly, because out of these 8+ billion, there is the top 0.1 percentile that controls a disproportionate amount of money, technology, and political power. So they'll be able to save their skin and hold on, hang on, for a very long. Which means, technically, the species — our species — wouldn't have gone extinct, because some members of the species — the very privileged members, the billionaires and the politicians and the controllers of the media — some members of the species would have survived. So, technically, we would still not be extinct.

We’ll be there as a species to see the extinction of every species that you have known. How many species have you known? Think of peacocks, think of dogs and cats and cows. Think of the little ants, think of the birds, think of all the animated life you witness in the jungle. And we'll see it go. We have seen it go. This is the education that we need. Otherwise, there is going to be no response from the public in general. Over the last 50 years just the last 50 years—Hold your breath, please. Over the last 50 years, 70 to 80% of all wildlife has been wiped out by human beings. Take a few seconds to process that: just over the last 50 years, in our own lifetime. In our own lifetime.

So, when you were born — if there were 100 creatures in all the jungles over the Earth — only 20 to 30 of them are left today. 20 to 30. Any guesses on how many species are going extinct per day? You understand extinction, right? What does extinction mean? Gone. Never to return. Gone irreversibly. That's extinction. You will never see a member of those species ever again. That's extinction — permanent, irreversible. Per day — how many species do you think are going extinct today? The number has run up to close to a thousand now. A thousand species are going extinct every day. Every day. Every day. That's what we are doing. And it's a web. It's a web. You cannot have one species existing when others are disappearing. Everything is related to everything else. The shape of our body is related to the distance of our planet from our sun. If Earth were only 10% more distant from the sun, it would be so cold — we wouldn't have survived.

Our skin, our bodies, can survive in very narrow temperature ranges. If the radius of the Earth had been a little more or a little less, you wouldn't have had the same height as you have today. Your heart wouldn't be beating at the same rate as it does today. Because if the size of the planet changes, then the atmospheric pressure changes, right? Atmospheric pressure is related to the gravity that the planet exerts on the atmosphere. And your heart must exert enough pressure to counterbalance the atmospheric pressure. Otherwise, our veins would simply collapse under the atmospheric pressure or burst, if the pressure outside is too low.

Do you understand the Western model? It is that one thing is separated from the other thing — a model of isolation. Whereas wisdom lies in seeing that everything is connected to everything else. You destroy one thing, and there is no way other things are going to stand for long. That's the education we need today. Now, this education involves both a scientific aspect and a spiritual aspect. You have to know about yourself — why we are so destructive, why we want to bring down everything just for our own amassment, amusement, greed, and fun, and what it does to the entire world when we exploit all natural resources for the sake of our ignorance.

Both kinds of education are needed. If those educations are not there, then we'll just coolly walk past a burning jungle. We'll never understand that it's a matter of my own house, my own life, my family, and hence it's my individual responsibility. I cannot wait for a leader or a court to intervene. Do you understand? If you get a disease in your body, do you want the Supreme Court to do something about it? If your child fails an examination, do you want a great leader to do something about it? You act on your own, right? You act on your own. The problem is: we do not understand that this planet is our home — and only home.

We think we are some kind of travelers or tourists over here. No, we are not travelers or tourists. We arise from this soil, and we go back to the soil.

You have not come from somewhere else. And there is no other world or "loka" you are returning to after your death. You arose from the soil, and you will return to it. Once you realize that in this way, you are going to stay here eternally — why won't you want to take care of your planet? Because your planet is not your planet — your planet is you. Your planet is who you are. This body is this planet. And if this body is this planet, and you want to take so much care of your body. cosmetics and this and that won’t you want to take care of the very stuff your body is made of? Your body is made of this planet.No amount of cosmetics will help once the planet is gone. And the planet is already mostly gone.

Ten years back, when I would discuss the spectre of climate change, I would implore my audiences. I would say: Kindly think how you would answer history’s questions. The future generations will have prickly questions to ask. And you’ll be ashamed. The future generations will ask you: When all this was happening, where were you and what were you doing? Now, I no longer take this line — because there might be no future generations. Because this might be the very end of history. Because there might be just no one to even ask this question: What were you doing when all this was happening, this destruction of forests and ecosystems?

We are already 1.5 degrees above normal. And that has set in motion all kinds of feedback loops. And they are now not stoppable. They are irreversible. Even if we stop emitting carbon, those cycles will now proceed on their own. We are talking of cycles that further the emission of carbon. Are you getting it? Since we are talking of the felling of trees here, I usually mention the snow and glacial feedback loops to start with. But let's talk of the cycles related to trees. What is a tree — for the purpose of our discussion in a simplified way? A tree is a great mass of carbon dioxide turned into wood. Now, commonsensically, we all know wood is not just carbon dioxide. If you burn wood, it is not just carbon that is left behind. You get all kinds of things — so many elements and everything.

But a lot of it is just carbon, right? When you burn wood, what are you left with? Some black stuff, you know? Yeah, that's carbon. So that's what a tree does. That's what a tree does. Obviously, it takes in other things as well — nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, zinc — all kinds of minerals are found there. Obviously, iron, oxygen, hydrogen — everything. But a lot of carbon. A lot of carbon. So a tree takes in carbon from the atmosphere.

We are talking of all this in context of the massive and indiscriminate felling of trees that we were to recently witness. And it has been stopped, but we do not know for how long. So, a tree takes in carbon and turns it into wood. So, carbon dioxide is now no more in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide has been taken in and has been turned into wood, twigs, trunk, leaves, flowers, fruits, and all kinds of things. All kinds of things, right? All those things have resulted from atmospheric carbon dioxide — among other things. A lot of things are involved, but carbon dioxide as well. So that's what a tree does. The atmospheric carbon has been captured in the form of a tree. A tree could be defined as a structure that captures atmospheric carbon and keeps growing. The more it grows, the more you can obviously see that carbon is being stored in the tree. What happens when you hack down a tree?

Listener: increase in carbon dioxide.

Acharya Prashant: It's organic matter — and "organic" means carbon. We know that, yeah? It releases all the carbon. Not only has the absorption of carbon stopped — please understand — not only has the absorption of carbon stopped, but there is a double whammy: Firstly, now it will no longer absorb carbon. Secondly, now that it lies here, it will rot and release carbon — or it'll burn and release carbon dioxide. This is what the death of a single tree does to the environment. And we are talking of a point when feedback loops are already in motion.

A single tree gone, the death of a single tree, brings this planet even closer to the final calamity.

And I'm assuming that the final calamity can still be averted. There are a lot of scientists who are saying, "No, it is inevitable. You cannot stop it now. The temperatures will rise — not just to 2° or 3° — they will rise by 5°, 8°, 10°." And we are talking of the average rise in temperatures. The average is just the average. The spikes that you'll have — they’ll exceed even 10°. So in places like Dubai here, you can have temperatures running up to 60°. In India, you already have heatwaves. You know, we have places that have heatwaves in winters now. We have places now that have heatwaves in winters.

Listener: Last year, before last year, this time the temperature was so high. But now it's... changing.

Acharya Prashant: Yes.

Listener: Last year — that heavy rain.

Acharya Prashant: Yes.

Listener: Also the heavy rain was the effect of, I think….

Acharya Prashant: Yes, Yes. You see, when there is excess heat captured in the atmosphere — that's what carbon dioxide does, right? It's a greenhouse gas. What's the greenhouse effect? These molecules capture heat. In general, you receive radiation, and that radiation has to then escape back to space. That maintains a particular temperature. And that has happened for millions of years, right? The sun heats up the planet by way of radiation. And then what happens to the radiation you’ve received? Why are clear nights cooler than cloudy nights? Because on clear nights, the radiation just goes back. Whereas when there's cloud cover, it's warmer — because the radiation is reflected back, goes like this, and the clouds send it back. So... that’s the cycle.

And that cycle is maintained by a certain proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And the right proportion is 250 ppm — 250 parts per million. A very small amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is sufficient and necessary for life to be sustained on the planet. 250 ppm. Since the Industrial Revolution, it has kept going up. And it has exponentially risen over the last 50 to 70 years. How many ppm do we see today? PPM of CO₂?

Listener: 500?

Acharya Prashant: Not yet. Not yet. Though we’ll reach there. No — 430. 2025: 430. It can be more than 430. Be aware of the latest data — the fresh and more tragic news. They just keep rolling every 6 months. And we know what the next round of numbers is going to look like. So, 430 ppm — which means that our atmosphere is storing a lot of heat energy. Heat energy. And that heat energy shows up in many ways. Obviously in higher temperatures, in higher wind speeds, in different patterns of rainfall.You know, the system has more energy now. So it will do a lot of insane things. Like a man gone wild. Like the Earth has fever.

So a lot of insane things will happen.Now there is more energy.And that more energy will be dissipated somewhere. So, you have a greater number of cyclones. And those cyclones have higher intensity and precipitation. There will be places that will have no precipitation at all. So all the populations there will have to migrate — because agriculture won’t be possible anymore. No rains, no precipitation, nothing. And there’ll be places that will be inundated — flooded all the time. You may have floods here in Dubai. It’s possible. The Sahara Desert is a result of climate change. Do you know that?

The Indus Valley Civilization — we used to think that it had been destroyed by the Aryans or had been assimilated into the Aryan civilization. More and more evidence is now emerging that Be it the Indus Valley people, or even the Chola Empire in the South of India They disappeared as a result of climate change. Just then, the climate change was not anthropogenic — not man-made. This time, it’s man-made. Can you imagine the Sahara Desert was once a flourishing rainforest? Not just a forest — a flourishing rainforest.

What you call today barren, large, vast swaths of the Sahara any green place can become like that in absence of rainfall. If rainfall patterns shift — as they are doing today, as they are doing today — Are you getting it? When you understand all this, When you understand the bigger picture, Only then you can respond to those local events that our friend here mentioned. Otherwise, it's a very insignificant thing. 400 acres is not a large piece of land, is it? Okay, fine — from a small farmer’s point of view, 400 acres is large.

But otherwise, when you look at a state like Telangana — what is 400 acres? Nothing. It's just a tract next to the university where they want to set up an IT park and attract investments. But they're saying: “400 acres is fine. What's 400 acres? Nothing.” And it won’t mean anything to you — won’t matter much to you — if you are not well-versed in the macro. If you do not understand that we are a very unique species, a uniquely unfortunate species. And an even more uniquely unfortunate generation of that species. Then you will realize your responsibility.

To realize your responsibility, sir, first of all, you have to realize your predicament — your situation, your position. If we do not know where we are located, how will we know what our responsibility is? What kind of world do you want to leave behind for them? I'm referring to the kids.

Questioner: This question only — like, “I don’t know where I’m located. What will be my responsibility?” That was my question.

Acharya Prashant: Exactly. Exactly. If I do not know where I’m located, how do I know which road to take? Can you? If you do not know what your current situation is—How will you know the route to take and whether to move at all? I might think—wherever I am, that place is my home. You have to first of all understand what the whole thing is like: Who am I, and what my relationship with all this is? And it is no more a thing of the future. It is no more a thing of the future.

Kindly Google what the Doomsday Clock shows today. What the Doomsday Clock shows today. How close are we to an Armageddon? It's here. It's upon us. Right now. Right now. And just sporadically raising your voice when an incident like this one happens won’t help. It has to be something that shows up in our daily life: In our daily choices, in our thoughts, in our relationships, in our behavior, in everything. It’s not something that you can go to the government for. It’s something that you have to be conscious of when, first of all, you choose your government. Where, in these manifestos, in these various political manifestos, is climate change? And why should I vote for someone who is so uneducated that even being a leader, even being a representative of an entire political party — He does not even know what climate change is? Why should I vote for such a person? But we do, don’t we?

And there are so many angles to this. I mean, we could go on and on. I come here, and it becomes difficult to find good vegetarian food. And it's still relatively easy here because we have a large population of South Indians and South Asians, and Indians in particular. But there are so many countries in the world that call themselves developed countries, and if you go there, good vegetarian stuff — let alone vegan, veganism is a far cry even good vegetarian stuff will not be easy to find. Do we understand that, when it comes to climate change, the second most important causing factor is food choices?

We are talking of felling trees, huh, and so many of us want to protest. But do we understand that when forests are cleared, they are cleared largely for the sake of agriculture? Do we understand that? And do we understand that, when it comes to agriculture, 70% of agriculture is not for human consumption but for livestock consumption — so that cattle may eat, and then you may eat the cattle? It's not just 400 acres. Entire forests are being cleared every day so that we have more land for agriculture. And what will we do with the produce? What will we do with the crops that we raise there? We'll feed them to the goat, to the sheep, to the cows and buffaloes, so that we can then slaughter them and eat their mutton or beef.

This planet is almost gone, and nobody wants to talk about it. And just as you do not want to depend on a leader to take up your case, similarly, you cannot depend on the media to bring these things to you. The media will not bring these things to you because the media is in the hands of the same people who are, in the first place, direct beneficiaries of all the devastation. Why will they allow the news to reach you? They will not talk about it. But you have to talk about it. Fortunately, you have social media. You can talk about it. You'll never find this as prime-time news anywhere. They will not take it up — not because they are ignorant, but because they are very cunning and very greedy and very self-centered. They will not let the news reach you.

Billions of dollars are spent just on climate denialism — just to make you feel all this is a bit of a hoax. And even if you're not convinced it's a hoax, you are at least confused. And when you are confused, you don't want to take a tough stance. I could speak for three hours on it, and I want to, just that you have so many other things to talk about. But this is the most important thing. What else can we talk about today? This is it. To speak, you need a mouth. To have a mouth, you need a body. To have a body, you need a planet.

So how do we talk of, you know, "My boyfriend is not listening to me, sir. What do I do?" I mean, neither you nor your boyfriend is going to remain when the planet itself is disappearing and burning. And my pain is not so much that this evil species of ours is going to disappear. My pain is that with us, we will be sinking billions of innocent species who have done nothing. Who have done nothing and they will be the first to they are the first to bear the brunt and go extinct. And even among human beings our species

you know who are the ones who will be the worst victims of climate change? The ones who are innocent, the ones who have contributed very little to the deterioration of the climate. This is called climate injustice.

The ones who are really responsible — they will suffer the least. And they'll be the last to depart. And they might as well depart to Mars. That's what they are already planning, having killed the planet, let's run away to Mars and leave all these, you know, commoners behind to die here. We are a privileged species, they say. And even among our species, the members of our species — I'm somebody with privileged DNA — let me proliferate my DNA as much as I can. All these are inferior beings; they better disappear. Isn't that what Darwin said? Survival of the fittest. I am the fittest — I will survive.

Some bureaucrat sitting somewhere must have taken the decision. As far as I can remember, when I wrote the UPSC exam, even the General Studies paper in UPSC which, in general, has quite a detailed syllabus that covers all aspects of general knowledge quite decently — this thing, I do not remember, at least then, covered in adequate measure. So I'm not sure the bureaucrat who ordered the felling of trees was himself well-educated in this matter. Not my opinion. These are hard numbers, hard numbers. Carbon dioxide PPM.

You can measure the number of extreme weather events per year at any place. That too you can measure. These are all numerical. These are not somebody's ideas or opinions or imaginations. I'm not dreaming it up. This is hard data. You cannot deny it. Now do we need a leader? Do we want to depend on the media? What are we waiting for then?

Questioner: That's actually the media's job, right? I mean.

Acharya Prashant: They're not doing their job. They're not doing their job. So what do we do then? just complain that they're not doing their job — or rather take the job in our own hands?

Questioner: Our own hands. Yes.

Acharya Prashant: That's how. The house is burning, and the fire engine isn't arriving. What do I do? Stand and lament and complain and cry? Or do whatever I can? My house right now is on fire. It's our house. It's your house. It's not just our house. It's our body. It's the very self that's been set on fire by our own ignorance.

Questioner: Regarding this one, everyone knows these things, and also in our school curriculum, college, all they know about

Acharya Prashant: No, no, no. They don't know these things. No. When I asked you what's the current PPM of CO₂ — did you know? No, you don't know. No, nobody knows

Questioner: the exact data. They don't know.

Acharya Prashant: That's what is to be known. Exact data, sir. Without exact data, everything is just fluff. My word versus your word. General gossip, Chitchat, Opinions that everybody has, and that nobody respects. It's only hard data that can be respected — hard data. And we are not in possession of hard data because we don't care enough. Otherwise, this data is publicly available. You can get it right now. And you don't have to go to various websites even now you have AI engines. Just go and ask Chat, "Give me relevant data on climate change," or say, "I want to know whether we are in a particularly critical stage of the climate crisis. Give me data to support or deny this." And then Chat will tell you.

Or you can go to the United Nations he UNCC reports and from there you will. Otherwise, it's a stale idiom "Oh yes, global warming is happening. That's why it's so hot today. I'm sweating." It's some kind of a joke or what? So many jokes. Random I mean nauseating jokes. Somebody comes to you in a presentation, you know, the fellow is making a presentation, and these people are sitting here and watching. We understand why you are sweating. It’s global warming. haha! Let's laugh.

making fun of the greatest tragedy that this planet has ever seen. Not only is this the greatest, probably the last one, the final tragedy. These changes operate on millennial timescales, which means when this happens, it's not going to just quickly return to business as usual. It will take millions of years and some other unknown, random cosmological change for some other kind of life to emerge on this planet. Some asteroid may come and strike the Earth and spray a lot of water, and the planet might cool down. Something like that may happen 8 million years later. And then again, you will have the little amoeba and life starting from there. Are you ready to wait that long? How many of us have enough patience to wait for a million or billion years for life to reemerge and come back to these levels?

Questioner: But who will educate them? Leaders are not taking the responsibility. The media is not talking.

Acharya Prashant: You, ma’am — you will educate?

Questioner: "Yeah, but… see, it's only a bunch of people here. They know, they will just communicate. But like, how will it be the others? They are not here..."

Acharya Prashant: How many people do you know? You are holding this phone in your hand. May I ask: how long is your contact list?

Questioner: "Okay… yeah, that's what I want to know."

Acharya Prashant: And that’s how I too started. There were like five people listening to me. I mean, this happens to be a smaller audience today. So this is reminiscent of my early days. Today I can have auditoriums packed in thousands. But when I started out, there were like 5, 10, 20, 40, 50, 100 that’s all. And one rushes from one place to another because one has to talk of it. And when I started out, there was no social media. Or there was only rudimentary social media. Orkut. How many of you remember?

Today, there is so much more that you can do. All you need is to make a broadcast list on your WhatsApp and keep sending the data. Insistently, let people be irritated. Dare them to block you! I mean, instead of: "Good morning ji", "Hello ji", "How ji", "Have a good day ji" — and that wicked rose, and that broken heart — send something relevant. Why can’t you take things in your own hands? Because no leader is going to emerge now. Just as in philosophy we say we are in the post-truth age, similarly in politics we are now in the post-leader age. No single leader is going to suffice. Everybody will have to be a leader unto yourself. Everybody will have to be his or her own leader. Not demanding followers — no! You don’t need to have followers. That’s just an ego, right? How many followers do I have? Do the best you can and don’t count your followers.

Questioner: I had a question, but now the way that I put across this question has changed because the topic that has come up and such a beautiful explanation that you have given has changed my perspective. Now, how should I put my question?" Say now, you told — survival of the fittest. Man has been living, making use of resources, depleting the resources. So man thinks that he is never going to die. And everybody is trying to survive as long as they want. And survival of the fittest in what sense? Health? Finance? Finance is keeping the person fit as long as he wants to.

So again, we are depleting the planet of many things which the next generation should eat and flourish. So when will man decide that: “I have done my job. It's time for me to leave and pass on the pattern to the other.” And for this again, I would say that many, many, many again, I don’t want to ask again — do we ask the leader? Should we have a respectful death, at least if not life? Insurance companies are doing their good job, no question about it. But the harm that they’re causing in other ways… again, it's a bag of worms which opens.

Acharya Prashant: It’s a beautiful question. And I’ll integrate this with the larger body of our discussion tonight, right?

Questioner: Because sir, you said — we are multiplying like anything. So is it so, so, so important to live long and long and long?No.

Acaharya Prashant: You see — survival, survival, huh? And continuous survival? Continuous — no. Survival, that’s something that every being on the planet wants, in its own way. And it's very important to understand what your way is. Being immortal, surviving till eternity — is a feeling so entrenched within us that the wise ones, when it comes to human beings, have said — immortality is your very nature. It is not even a feeling. You do not want to disappear because you cannot disappear. Every being on this planet wants to survive for as long as possible. Nothing wants to die. Right? But — death comes. So how do different categories of beings ensure their survival? It’s an interesting thing. Let’s go into it.

When it comes to a cat, or a mouse, or a fish, or a bird — some mammal — they ensure their survival by just forwarding their DNA, by just creating copies of their own selves. So, in that sense, you see — the dog that you have today looks so much like the dog that was there 10,000 years back. And since dogs have not progressed, in the common sense of the word, so take today’s street dog and the street dog that you found 10,000 or 50,000 years back and they look so similar.

In that sense, that old dog has survived. That’s the only kind of survival they know. When it comes to animals, the only kind of survival they know is physical, through reproduction. We’ll reproduce. And we’ll reproduce more and more. And that was the survival that Darwin was talking of — survival of the fittest. He was talking of just physical survival. That’s the lowest category of survival. I know — “I’ll reproduce beings like me, and they will continue. And so that they may continue, I’ll want to bear healthy offspring. So I’ll look for a healthy mate.” And that’s what I call love.

In evolutionary language, love is nothing but the expression of your genetic programming to look for a suitable mate for reproduction. That’s what love is. So, you do all these things, the entire drama — and what does all this result in? The net result is an offspring. And that offspring carries the same cycle. And, you know, that way, some kind of survival is ensured. Survival. Now you come to human beings. In human beings, the urge to survive takes another form — leaving behind either a monument, or your fame, your name. “I’ll be gone, but my name will remain.” “I’ll be gone, but I have etched my name on this wall — and that will remain.”

So, you go to the old tombs, etc., and what do you find? “Arti loves Vijay.” And that’s a humayus makbara! We do not understand, but that too is the instinct to become immortal. You very well know that this structure has been here for 500 years and will stand for another at least 500 years or something. So, I’ll engrave my own stuff here, and so — you know — I’ll be gone and the affair will be gone, but something will remain here. Among human beings, that happens to be the lower kind of expression of the survival instinct. Then there is the real survival.

That is not to extend your longevity in time, but to see that you do not need to extend yourself that all this is one. All this by all this, I mean this physical universe that we see around us that all life forms are ultimately so related to each other that the more you study them, you will be forced to call them indistinct at some level. And the moment you see that, you realize that it is not necessary to extend your survival. Because this one is much the same as who I am. And not only members of my species, even other species at a very deep level, they are indistinct from me.

So I need not focus on my personal survival. That makes me free. That sets me free to depart when the time comes. And that also liberates me of the obligation to extend my own stay at the cost of others' extent. otherwise what do we do i'll kill the chicken because for my own health I have been told that chicken soup is good For my health I have been told chicken soup is good So kill the chicken so that I may live a few more years That may or may not even happen but the chicken is gone Even if this experiment fails the chicken won't return. Right? This happens when there is an Either or relationship between us and the environment. When you rise in consciousness you start seeing the oneness of it all.

You start seeing that it's a very-very bad deal to seek your own extension or gratification at the cost of others — why? Because it is not possible. There is no way you can be gratified when others are suffering. There is no way you can be joyful by inflicting sorrow on others. It is not going to happen. It's a bad deal. We are not talking in moral terms here. We are not saying, "Oh, you know, it is a bad thing to hurt others; be good to others." No, we are not saying that. We are saying you are bad to others because you want pleasure for yourself, right? You say, "I want to please myself, and in that process, if need be, I'll hurt others." It is impossible. It's a law — a law inviolable. There is no way you will ever be joyful by inflicting sorrow on others. You inflict sorrow on others, and all you will get is sorrow.

So, if you want to extend your survival by reducing the life on the planet, then actually, you have reduced life within yourself. It's reciprocal. It's connected. It's one. Are you getting it? Now, you are unlikely to be very bothered about your personal survival. You'll say, "Where am I going? What is this stupid question of survival? As if there was a point when I was not there. I was always there. Here is this soil — I arose from this soil, and I'll return to it. And then, in some other form, some other place, some other day, I'll rise again. Not in this form, not in this name, not as an extension of this person, not carrying the same personality — but it will be the same soil. Same soil."

So, how can I say that my survival is at stake? My survival is never at stake. Since the soil is immortal, I am immortal. If I am immortal, why do I need to worry about survival of the fittest? Survival of the fittest, is competition and violence. Do you see that? "I'm fitter than you, so I have the right to slaughter you." And that applies to beings of lower consciousness. That applies to cats and dogs. That does not apply to human beings. That's why among human beings, we venerate those who happily give up their life for the sake of others.

Their own extension is not important. In evolutionary terms, somebody will come and say, “Oh, you know, he’s such a failure — he died at 30. He didn’t survive long enough.” But in terms of consciousness, he’s a super success because he didn’t need to survive — because he realized that the pursuit of survival is a very foolish one. You don’t need to care about your survival because you are here, you were there, and you would always be here. What are you worried about? What are you worried about? If I’m anyway not going to go away anywhere, why do I need to torment and harass others just for my own pleasure or survival or whatever? There is no need. It’s stupid. Do you understand this? It is not just a basic human right but actually a responsibility to depart at the right time. And by departure, I do not just mean the death of the body. No one must need, one must know when to vacate a chair. There is a time to come in, and there must be a time to go out.

Look at the waves in the ocean. They know how to rise — and there is such beauty in their ascension. no? seen those waves at the beach, how do they rise beautifully? And when they fall that too is beautiful. Or do you want a wave that’s continuously hanging up there? Gone up and refusing to return? And saying, “No, no, no! I’ll die! I don’t want to come back!” No, ma’am. Come back. Die and die gracefully. And that’s the job of the ocean to keep producing new and new waves. And the stuff that was contained in one wave doesn’t it find its way into another wave? So, the wave is immortal. Why should the wave be afraid of dying? Are you getting it? And instead, the wave says, No, I’ll stand tall here, and I’ll exploit all the other waves who want to get up. I’ll be the tallest because it’s a survival of the fittest. No other wave should be allowed to get up. And if some other wave is trying to get up, I’ll shoot it down.”

Questioner: Don’t you think this is taught to all the kids in school? To have the right kind of competition and this is how we’ve been raised. So, we can’t think of anything else.

Acharya Prashant: Yeah. You’re right. You’re right. See, what’s being taught to the kids — the mic — what’s being taught to the kids is not necessarily wrong. It’s just misplaced and mis-cued. And it’s not being told which category this particular knowledge belongs to. Have you seen — how many of us have studied mathematics till Class 12th or something? So, say you have a function:

f(x) = 1 - x² for x < 0, f(x) = 1 for x = 0, and f(x) = 1 + x² for x > 0. Now, f(x) = 1 - x² — that’s not wrong, but that’s valid only for a particular place, a particular interval.

That is not what is being told to us. Yes, competition is great but then, there is something within us that does not require us to compete, because it is absolute. And how can the absolute compete with anybody? And if you’re always competing, then you will always be full of violence because it is not possible to compete and yet be compassionate.

Questioner: And it’s very difficult.

Acharya Prashant: Yes, that’s what is happening. And that’s why we need to take things into our own hands. That’s why we need not rely on the schools to deliver holistic education to our kids. That’s why the parents must be illuminated enough to be the kids’ teachers. The traditional systems, ma’am, have all failed us. We are very much in the middle of a mass extinction. I’m repeating that. Which means everything that we have venerated so far, depended on so far, has failed us. Which includes the traditional education system. Which includes traditional economics as well. Your capitalism, your socialism, your communism they have all failed us.

We require a different kind of everything if there is to be even a sliver of hope left. We cannot say, “The traditional politics is going to come and save us” — because that was the presumption in the question raised: Why aren’t the leaders and the celebrities coming forward? Because the traditional model is gone. It’s bankrupt. Throw it out of the window. If there is to be any hope for you and your kids, then don’t depend on anything that you have witnessed, seen, or read of so far. Including the traditional model of religion also. The traditional model of relationships also. And the traditional view of the self. All that taken together is what has brought us to this catastrophe today. Don’t we see that what you are witnessing today is coming from a combination of everything that has emanated from ourselves — which is our politics, our religion, our society, our economics, our philosophy? All of that has to be debunked today if there is to be any hope.

Questioner: So, I have a daughter who is 3 years old, and I would like to connect it with two news articles I recently read. so A news I just read from Maharashtra, that a one and a half year-old and a two-year-old girl child was abused.So, first, what… being a parent, *ham apne bachon ko kaise save kar sakte hain.** obviously this was not something ki parents ki galti thi and being here in dubai it is comparatively saferBut when I see children here, four or five years old, and they are talking about having crushes and all sorts of things. So, being a mother, I really feel — how can I raise her? What knowledge can I impart to her? So, just…

Acharya Prashant: First of all, ma'am — do you see the relationship between this and climate change? Because there are no piecemeal problems. All problems arise from the insane thing within — within us, within human beings. And therefore, all problems are one. More and more, we want to consume. Today, I said the PPM curve has exponentially risen over the past few decades. And such activities — where four-year-olds too are found either raped or complicit in raping, and stuff like, “You know, I have a relationship at six,” and all these things — they too have risen exponentially in the same period.

Do you see what is happening? Climate change is nothing but an expression of man’s insane lust to consume. And when there is an insane lust to consume why will I consume just clothes or cars or apartments or vacations or money? Will I consume only this and stop at this? Please tell me. I have an insatiable urge to consume. Something here has gone insane. Something here is so hollow and so full of terrible sadness and loneliness — it wants to fill itself up through consumption. It will consume all the animals.It will consume all the trees.It will consume the swankiest cars possible.It wants to have all the money.It wants a lot of political power. It wants respect.It wants everything that can be wanted.

What else will it want? It will also want the body of a three-year-old girl to consume. Why will it not want that? Please tell me. Climate change and crimes against kids — don’t we see how they come from the same point? When there is no limit to consumption, why would a 3-year-old or 5-year-old be spared? Why would she be spared? Why should she be spared? Because the inner law is the inner insane law is: If it can be consumed, it will be consumed. So unfortunately, if the kid is found in a vulnerable state where she can be exploited, there is some insane, mad, lustful, violent man ready to pounce upon the opportunity. Do you see this?

So, first of all, let’s acknowledge: There’s a process that brought us here — that gave birth to us as a body. There’s a process. You know there’s a process that has been involved in raising us to this age, this height, this stature and has given us this knowledge and has also enabled us to be parents, to have kids of our own. There is a process. So we are coming from that process, no? We are coming from that process. And what are the dimensions of that process? Civilizational, cultural, religious, economic, political all kinds of dimensions are there to that process. Any of those dimensions go missing and you will not find this human being sitting on this chair. Right? Would you be the same person without the cultural inputs that went into you? No. Would you be the same person without the political environment that you experienced? No.

So all that has gone into this. Right? In fact, we might not even be born if it were not for these processes. Let’s say you are a Hindu. So, you are a product of a Hindu man marrying a Hindu woman. These two people might never have mated had it not been for certain religious processes. They might have chosen very different partners. Right? Right. So there is a process that has brought you here. There is a process. But that same process was always, always, always destructive. It’s just that we did not have enough technological or economic power for that destruction to totally manifest itself. We were always wrong.Our history is a history of nothing but wrongs. Everything that we have stood for has to be completely rejected at least re-evaluated today. But that will be very, very difficult because all that I’m talking of re-evaluating or rejecting is what has created this person sitting on this chair today. Do you understand?

So here I am — I’ll take it upon myself personally. Here I am, and there is a lot behind me that has contributed to the emergence, the appearance, of this person here. There’s an entire history behind me. And that history has several dimensions. That history has given rise to this individual and the mental makeup and all those things. But that history has resulted not only in this person, but history has also resulted in all the cataclysmic problems that this person is now left to experience. Those problems too have been bequeathed on me by the same history. It’s something that we say “We have inherited this body from our ancestors.” Right?

Where have we inherited all our flawed philosophy from, please tell me? From the same ancestors. The first thing is to realize that we are in a very, very tenuous position today. Everything that has contributed to the very assembly of this individual is also what has contributed to the destruction that this individual is going to see in her lifetime. And problems, problem is a very small word. Actually, annihilation that this person is going to witness in her lifetime today. Now, I cannot give up on this body. This body is a result of flawed processes from the past I can acknowledge that.

But I'm not going to just give up the body, give up the host, and lie emotionless here. I'm not going to do that. So, what do I do? What do I do? The first thing is to detach yourself from the past. To be a dispassionate observer of the past. Stop all identification with the past. Because the past is what is responsible for all the mess that you are seeing around you — including the mess within. You must have no identification with anything that comes to you as history, your names, your beliefs, your whatever zero identification. I'm not saying you just throw it out of the window

Be a dispassionate observer. Very, very dispassionate. No, I’m not a product of the past.” No sir. No. This body is a product of the past. My consciousness is fresh.

Yes, this body might be coming from all kinds of processes that took place in history but my consciousness is untouched. Yes, the color of my skin is defined by history but my consciousness is not defined by history. And when you are able to detach yourself from the past, only then will you be able to look at the present very afresh. Otherwise, you will think: “You know, my culture is good just that there was this evil person who raped a girl.” What are you talking about? Why do we want to defend one thing at the cost of the other? “My upbringing is very good. The morality implanted inside us is wonderful. We are all moral people, and the tenets that have been bequeathed to us — they are sufficient to make a society run properly. All that is wonderful is just that there was this one odd evil rapist.”

No, no, no. There is not one odd evil rapist. He is a representative of something far bigger. “No, no, no. We are all wonderfully pious and moral men and women. oh! There is just that one odd corner in the city, famous for prostitution or infamous for prostitution. Otherwise, the people in the city are pretty great. We have wonderful relationships as husbands and wives.” Wonderful relationships? Who's visiting that place then? “Everything is right.

The problem lies in that corner of that red light area.”No. You have to understand that that corner is an extension of who you are. And if you want to treat that corner, you will have to treat everything that you stand for. “No, no. We are a very civilized society — just that 2% of the population is in jails. Just 2%. Or 0.2%. They are the ones at the margins. That’s the insane fringe.”

No, no, no, no. That’s not the margin. That’s what counterbalances your hollow morality. They are the products of your hollow morality. “We are great people, you know. I’m wonderful. I am respected. Look at my riches. Look at my riches!” sir, You are not a great person. You’re not even a noble person. You're not even a good person. What you are respected for is exactly the same thing that is eating away the planet. They respect you all the more when you get a longer car. And when you get a longer car, the planet inches just a little more towards its final destruction. But that’s the concept of respect we’ve always had, right?

Who is the greatest king? The one who had the most territory. Now, why do you call him Sikandar the Great, or Akbar the Great, or Ashoka the Great? So you too want a car that is “great.” If they can become great by having a great kingdom, who remembers a king who ruled two square inches of territory? “No. This is my territory. See? Would you call this king ‘great’?”No. So you are “great” by the length of your possessions. And you keep calling the great in your history books. As long as you keep calling the same people great in your history books, you'll be compelled to buy a longer car and that’s the devastation of this planet. Why don't you understand? This entire history is flawed. We do not know who is respectable. We do not know who is despicable. We have been respecting just the wrong kind of people.

Questioner: Just to add to this when these two news items were happening at the same time: One from Maharashtra, and simultaneously the media was covering the news of a comedian commenting on some leader. This news (about the crime) was just a short face in the media. Everywhere else that was the scene. So you correctly said yes because we have been told that happiness is the purpose of life. The media is not bothered.

Acharya Prashant: Yes, we have been told that anything that makes you laugh or gives you pleasure is wonderful because happiness is the purpose of life. Because all your elders bless you Beta, hamesha khush raho. (Child, always stay happy.) And if happiness is the purpose of life, then anything that tickles you is wonderful.

You’ll have to accept that our elders were ignorant people,and there is no shame in accepting that.You too would be an elder one day. Would that automatically make you wise? Do gray or white hair automatically lend wisdom to you? I mean I can speak on behalf of a gray beard at least. No, it doesn't. I still don't have very (Maybe ma'am could—sorry.) You tell me. Why do you accept that?

Questioner: That's what I deny. I deny the fact. I always deny and my mom kept on saying: ki tum sunti nahi ho (you do not listen).

Acharya Prashant: See, see... let’s say I’m 60 today, right? And I'm being told or let’s say like this: When you were 15, you were told that the one who is 35 is definitely wiser than you, because he or she is significantly elder in age, right? You are 15. That person is 35. So you better listen to that person. Today you are 35 and you know how big an idiot one is even at 35, right? So I wanted to take it upon myself. It refers to me. Right? So now, at least we should be able to see that we were made a fool of when we were 15. wo 35 wala hai wo hosiyar hai how? How? aaj mai 35 wala hun And I know I am an idiot. Very soon, you'll be 55 and then you'll realize you are still an idiot. So why were you told that the 55-year-old one is necessarily wise or whatever?

And it's something so obvious — it should be clear: Age does not give you wisdom.And just because something happened before you in the past that does not make it sublime or noble or wonderful. “Oh, you know, this thing comes from the 16th century!” So throw it away, it's very old. Or ride a car that comes from the 16th century? When it comes to cars, you hanker after the latest models. Or marry a woman that comes from the 16th century. How about that exotic piece? Some young suitor here ready for a woman from the 16th century? Vintage! “I have a vintage wife!” Why is everything coming from the past something to be identified with something to be venerated?

Why can't you be a little detached, a little neutral, a little dispassionate and look at it and see what has been going on in history? That’s called the cycle of Prakariti you know, that’s how the Bhava Chakra moves. And that can be known only when you look at it, not ride it. If you are on it, you will know nothing. You'll just experience a riot of emotions. Have you seen those giant wheels in amusement parks?

It’s very difficult to be a detached observer when you are on the wheel. But when you are observing it from the ground then you can see what is happening. Then you also wonder: Why are all these people shrieking and yelling as if they are going to fall or be killed? Nothing is going to happen, right? Nothing is going to happen. These idiots.hey chila mat But when you are on the wheel. It's a riot of primitive emotions, animalistic emotions.

Learn to see your life from a distance. See the entire flow and then you’ll be surprised how the right decisions spontaneously emerge.

Seeing is enough. Observation is enough. Realization is the most powerful force. Once you realize what’s going on, it’s not tough at all to decide on the next step. You don’t even need to decide. The next thing just effortlessly happens. It is unstoppable.

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