
Acharya Prashant: In general, human beings are not cannibals. We do not eat other men and women, do we? Why don't we ask ourselves: “Why don't we eat other men and women? If flesh is what we want to eat, then why kill animals?” There are many who say, “Eating…

Acharya Prashant: You might just say, “Well, no I am not looking for flesh, I am looking for money. I am looking for material success. I am looking to have another factory. I am looking to have a bigger house with better furniture.” You might talk of material things other

If you say that you must provide your daughter with a protein rich diet, why does the protein have to come from dairy? When everything in your life is anyway factory produced, why not use factory produced protein as well? People say, “Oh! But that would be unnatural.” Hello? If…

Acharya Prashant: You have to ask yourself what your primary identity is. If your primary identity is that of the body, then do what the body commands you to do. Good. The body has an inbuilt software of its own, and it’s a self-improving software. Its capacity to keep improving

Acharya Prashant: There are a few myths that need to be dispelled. Yes, man has had the inclination and the capacity to eat meat since a very, very long time. But even when man was in the jungle, he was primarily herbivore. And this is born out by scientific analysis




It is very common that you go to a doctor and if you are a vegetarian, he kind of scoffs at you. It’s a very disdainful glance he throws at you: “Vegetarian?!” And that too, you see, is a relic of the fifties, sixties, seventies. It has gotten into the

Find out from where in the world you can get all the nutrients that are not animal-sourced. Let industries come up. If it is required that artificial meat be made in order to satisfy people who necessarily want to have meat, I am all in favor of more technological research

Young people like to have some mass on their body, or they might just want to keep basic fitness. The moment they show up at a gym, and if they go to a trainer and seek advice, first thing the trainer would ask is, “What is it that you eat?

The argument that man has always been a meat eater needs to be studied and refuted. The current splurge in meat eating is not more than two hundred years old. It came along with industrialization and the popularization of thought that it is meat alone that can provide for protein,

Question: Pranaam Acharya Ji! I have watched many of your videos related to Veganism, and I would like to know your take on teaching Veganism to children. I know that Veganism has to be a thing of the heart and just forcing dry ideology is not good for anyone.

If there is one field from where the most overwhelming evidence in support of veganism comes, it is the medical field itself. Listen to medical science, and it is the medical science that tells you that veganism is the way. Every passing day, more and more, and stronger and stronger


A meat eater must not be able to hold a place of pride in popular culture. You need to have celebrities coming out and endorsing veganism, at least vegetarianism. You need to show the good guy in popular media, in the movies, as a vegan guy. It is very important.

Questioner (Q): Sir, everything was going alright back in November 2019; the world was operating as it does. And within three months, everything has just turned upside-down. We’re talking about the Corona outbreak.


It is final that meat eating is stupid for all kinds of reasons, and they will not that final conclusion arrive soon. It will arrive, just as it arrived in the case of cigarette smoking, just as it finally had to be accepted by the tobacco industry that cigarette smoking

Questioner (Q): Why in nature all living beings are not vegetarians? Why does life eat life? If killing is evil, then why do carnivores, lions, and wolves exist at all?


You might be an MBBS, or an MD, or a DM, but you could still be quite illiterate; you might still not have the basic knowledge regarding the nutritional value of various food products. You could have a quack graduating even from the best medical college. So many doctors just

If you can smilingly tolerate an animal being slaughtered for your diet, then you will equally well tolerate you being psychologically slaughtered for the sake of your profit-minded organization. If you are slaughtering the chicken so that you may eat it and fatten yourself, then you will equally well tolerate

What is it that is keeping beef affordable? It is milk consumption, because it is in circulation.

Episodes of physical sickness are occasions when you can truly test how much spiritual mettle you have.



The climate crisis is not caused by nature but by human beings, their growing population and relentless consumption. The desire for greater comfort, wealth and consumption defines success, while increasing families multiply this impact. Green technology alone cannot offset such massive growth in consumption. Climate change also triggers feedback loops that worsen warming. Unless happiness is separated from endless consumption and unchecked desires, the planet will continue moving toward mass extinction.



Climate change and global warming cannot be addressed honestly while the world's largest source of hidden carbon emissions—military activity—remains largely excluded from climate accountability. Wars, military expansion, and consumerism arise from the same psychological drive for domination and endless consumption. Unless the Paris Agreement includes military emissions and humanity addresses the inner causes of conflict, every effort to combat climate change will remain incomplete.

Humanity continues to increase emissions despite clear warnings about climate catastrophe. The crisis is not merely technological or political but rooted in endless human consumption and the belief that happiness comes from material accumulation. Development and basic needs are not the problem; blind pursuit of growth is. Lasting solutions require a deeper understanding of human desire, because environmental destruction begins in the mind before it appears in the atmosphere.

Freedom is often assumed to be the ability to choose, yet most decisions arise from conditioning, biology, social influences, and habit. Real freedom begins by seeing how mechanical and unconscious life usually is. As awareness deepens, confusion and endless options gradually diminish, making life simpler and more direct. Liberation lies not in imagining freedom, but in recognising and understanding the forces that keep one bound.

Climate denial is less about ignorance and more about refusing to face uncomfortable truths. Environmental destruction reflects narrow self-interest, collective confusion, and a failure to see the connection between inner values and outer consequences. The greatest burden falls on the poor, future generations, and other species. Lasting solutions require a change in human consciousness, not merely technological or political fixes.



All consumption comes from this ecosystem, this planet and in the lust of our blind consumption, we destroy life for everybody. As technology progresses, you will probably be able to consume more with impunity.There is a consumption that is needed for basic physical sustenance and comfort,then there is consumption that happens for entirely different psychological reasons. It is the second type of consumption that I am always worried about.









India's emissions are actually rising fast. In 2023, we released three billion tons of carbon dioxide, making us the third largest emitter in the world. And yet, look at our vulnerability. Heat waves last year hit twenty-three states. Floods now displace tens of millions every year. Agriculture, on which more than half of India still survives, is at the mercy of the climate. I ask you, is this a victory or rather a warning?

It is only the rich and the ultra rich that are really responsible for the bulk of the carbon emissions. Also the emissions that are being contributed by the common man, they are being encouraged and motivated by the rich. You see, the rich are rich because they sell products to the common middle class. They are rich because they are getting money from you and me as consumers and customers. And how are we turned into customers? By diluting and corrupting our basic philosophy of life. We are told unless you consume your life is not rich.

The climate crisis is itself a product of internal human ignorance. It comes, we say, from emissions. But why do emissions happen in the first place? Because we burn something. 75% of emissions are coming from our energy needs. But why do you need energy in the first place? Because you want to use energy to pursue your desires. But are your desires worth it in the first place? How do you determine the worthiness of your desires? Are your desires really fulfilling you? So for the sake of these worthless desires, you are destroying the planet. That’s what the climate crisis is.


Questioner: Sir, when you were growing up, is there any special memory, or any time you realized and had this aspiration to become, or go on the spiritual path? Is there something interesting related to your life, from your childhood, that you want us to know?
Acharya Prashant: First of…
Yes, you need health. But for what? When you say a fellow, a young fellow, must have vibrant health, I agree. But I'll ask: What for? What for are the biceps? Yeah, girls like them, obviously. Yes, a young fellow must be able to run a lot. Towards? Chimpanzees run a lot. But it's again one of those romantic ideals—the youthful, strong, vibrant young man. Why must one be strong? Strength is a resource. If you do not know what the resource is for, why do you need the resource at all? Before you gain health, must you not gain the wisdom to use health?
When consciousness is your only hope, your only liberator,
How can you kill consciousness wherever it is?
If you are the body, then your real benefit lies in appeasing the body.
But if you are the mind that is crying out for liberation,
Then you must be very clear on…
As…
Questioner (Q): Dear Acharya Ji, for the sake of not sounding hypocritical, I have to admit that I have killed more than one mosquito in my life and many other insects too, but never intended to cause pain and suffering to them. Now hearing, let alone seeing the relatively conscious…
It has always been enlightening sitting with you and talking about life. Most of us today are…
Man is the only one who wants to drink cow milk, buffalo milk, goat milk, yak milk, camel milk. Camel milk is for the camel offspring. Buffalo’s milk is for the calf. So, what kind of ingredients is the buffalo milk likely to have? The ones that are suitable only…
Acharya Prashant (AP): Please understand, it is not killing that is bad. Killing does not operate in a vacuum. The…
Questioner (Q): When I see how meat is produced, how vaccines are produced, how wool is produced, how silk is produced, it seems so obvious that I am contributing to that cruelty by consuming those things. But it seems that the rest of the world does not see that; it…
You need to…
Climate change is more than an environmental crisis—it is a crisis of human choices. Our patterns of consumption, consumerism and endless pursuit of more are putting increasing pressure on the planet. But meaningful change does not necessarily begin with new technology or stricter policies. It begins with a deeper question: what are we willing to change within ourselves?
Rakshabandhan is not merely a festival celebrating the protection of a sister by her brother. Its deeper meaning is about recognizing vulnerability and taking responsibility for what needs protection. Today, that responsibility must extend to the environment—rivers, mountains, trees, oceans, wildlife, and the planet itself. True religion lies in self-knowledge, compassion, and understanding that greater power brings greater responsibility.
Mass extinction is accelerating due to human-driven climate change, resource consumption, and destruction of other species. The deeper problem is a worldview that equates happiness and development with endless consumption. Science itself is not the problem; without inner clarity, its immense power becomes destructive. Advaita points to a different relationship with the world, where it is not an object of exploitation but a means to deepen self-understanding and inner development.
Climate change is not merely an external crisis of emissions, technology, or policy. The deeper problem lies in the unchecked ego that seeks to fill inner emptiness through endless consumption. This psychological demand drives extraction, production, and environmental destruction while failing to resolve the underlying sense of incompleteness. Meaningful climate action therefore requires more than green technology and policy; it requires education that turns inward and examines the self.
The climate crisis is not merely an external environmental problem but a reflection of inner human greed, desire, and psychological disorder. Drawing from the Gita’s idea of yagya as desireless action, it says real ecological healing requires inner transformation. Outer pollution, exploitation, and destruction mirror the ego’s inner confusion, making personal consciousness and planetary health deeply inseparable.
From 1945 to today, consumption drives war beneath peace globally. We have continued to be exactly the same as we were on the day of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That war happened because the various powers wanted to consume. Have we changed internally? If not, how can there be peace? The problem is not in the structures of thought or governance. The problem is within.
We love to talk of Swami Vivekananda as a youth icon. And I am asserting that were he to be here today, it is the youth that would resist him the most. When he returned from the United States, a huge procession greeted him, right at the port. But when he asked for just a hundred people who could be his soldiers, he was denied. Nobody wants to accept a Swami Vivekananda. He was resisted then, he would be resisted even today.
Why the question of sustainability is relevant only to our species, out of the billions of species on this planet? Because we have a hollow inside us, and that hollow demands to be filled. So we want more and more manufactured products, more meat, more luxury, more money. And the sad part is, none of that really succeeds in fulfilling you. But you still want to consume endlessly. And that endless consumption, arising from a spiritual point, is what the sustainability crisis is today.
I am hungry, I am dissatisfied, I want to consume. And I do not know what it is that would appease me, make me happy, quench my thirst, so I will try out everything. If you have this big a hole in your heart, what else will you do? You will use the entire universe to plug this hole. That is what man has been doing. He wants to eat up everything. The very basis of climate change is the constitution of man himself. Man cannot help climate change; man is climate change.
‘I’m not feeling well.’ Your feelings are carbon. No other species is responsible for the climate disaster. We are. Why? Because only the human being has a hollow in her heart. Climate change is the unfulfilled, dark interiors of this species, Homo sapiens. We are destroyers because we are unhappy and loveless within. There can be no scientific, no economic, no political, no technological solution to the climate disaster. Not at all. Because this is purely a spiritual crisis.
Let the Earth be destroyed. We have to save humanity. Wow! The human body is 70% water, and the Earth’s surface is also 70% water. Can’t you see that we are the Earth itself? Going to another planet means thinking of collective suicide. Just remember one thing: we don’t live on this planet, we are this planet. Either two of us live together or we go down together, because we are not two at all. We are one.
Ours is a democratic system. You are the government. If you want to accelerate climate devastation, it will be accelerated. Who can stop it? A leader is just a poor person, typically an old man. How will he resist the combined might of the electorate? All real change can happen only at the level of the individual. Once it happens there, it takes no time for governments to toe the line.
If you think you can do it at the policy level, that sounds very tempting but means nothing, because you are trying to defy the very law of existence. You are saying the minister will do it. Why will the minister do it? The ones in power have the least interest in any climate action because they are the ones with the minimum stakes there. You'll have to awaken the individual so that the one in power listens to you. Awaken the individuals. What else? There is no option.
Climate carbon dioxide is not a problem of technology. It is a problem of civilization. It is a spiritual problem.
Climate change is not merely a problem — everything is going to change, and the planet will become uninhabitable not only for us humans but for all species. Mass extinction is what we are staring at — a catastrophe worse than the ‘Third World War.’ But we do not discuss this because it challenges our basic philosophy of life that says, "More is better." The climate crisis is a product of a wrong way of living. Therefore, taking Vedanta to every household is striking at the very roots of the climate crisis.
Climate change is assaulting us right within our homes. It is just that right now, the most underprivileged are bearing the brunt and the luckier ones are able to afford negligence. Not that they don't know the facts, but they are able to afford to neglect them for now. And what to do when one knows the facts, yet wants to deny them? The science of climate change is so easy. The problem, therefore, is not education but honesty. Your education system is not teaching honesty — it is only teaching external things, nothing internal.