Population

Your Worth does not come from Bearing Babies or Breast-Feeding || AP Neem Candies
Your Worth does not come from Bearing Babies or Breast-Feeding || AP Neem Candies
6 min

Acharya Prashant: You have said, “What kind of change our education system needs to have so that our coming generations live together in peace and fulfillment?” Live together with each other, right? You haven’t said they live together with animals. The trees, the rivers, the rabbits, and the lions. That

Overpopulation and Greed: Is There Any Future for Mankind?
Overpopulation and Greed: Is There Any Future for Mankind?
4 min
We are looking at a scenario where nations have the population of India and the per capita consumption of the U.S. Multiply these two, and what do you get? Utter tragedy. Unless there is this basic recognition, which you can call a spiritual awakening, that the good life doesn’t consist of conspicuous consumption, we are hurtling towards a great disaster. It is already upon us.
Don’t Blindly Rush into ‘Good’ Deeds
Don’t Blindly Rush into ‘Good’ Deeds
18 min
Climate change is a result of the absence of spiritual education. The problem is man’s misguided and uneducated ego. Unless you educate the ego about who it really is, it will keep proceeding in the direction of blind consumerism. Lack of spiritual education has brought this catastrophe upon us. That is the only problem, and therefore, that has to be the only solution.
दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा संकट
दुनिया का सबसे बड़ा संकट
12 min

आचार्य प्रशांत: औद्योगिक क्रान्ति से पहले दो-सौ-सत्तर, दो-सौ-अस्सी पीपीएम कार्बन डाईऑक्साइड होती थी। अभी बताइएगा कितनी होगी? (श्रोता उत्तर देते हैं) नहीं, नहीं। उतनी हो गयी तो फिर तो ख़त्म। अभी साढ़े-चार सौ।

उन्नीस-सौ-नब्बे में क्योटो प्रोटोकॉल के आसपास के वर्षों की बात कर रहा हूँ, से लेकर अभी तक

Tree Plantation is False Climate Activism
Tree Plantation is False Climate Activism
9 min

Acharya Prashant: I will say something with respect to this tree plantation thing. You see, it is very well known that one tree over the course of forty years would absorb just one ton of carbon dioxide. How effective is that? Please. And that is if that tree gets to

The Hypocrisy of Climate Warriors
The Hypocrisy of Climate Warriors
4 min

Acharya Prashant: The very urge for liberation, when it doesn’t find an outlet, becomes the urge to consume. Do you see this? Where does the tendency to consume so much come from? It comes from the misidentified and thwarted urge toward liberation. If you will not provide liberation to a

To Give Birth is to Take Debt
To Give Birth is to Take Debt
4 min

Acharya Prashant: Parents have first of all committed the mistake of bringing another person into this world of agony, longing, and suffering that they compensate for by investing themselves in raising the kid. That is why it is imperative for parents to bring education to the kids, give food to

पृथ्वी नहीं खत्म हो रही, इंसान खत्म होगा
पृथ्वी नहीं खत्म हो रही, इंसान खत्म होगा
17 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: नमस्ते आचार्य जी। मैं कसौली हिमाचल प्रदेश का रहने वाला हूँ, शिमला के पास में ही है बिलकुल। यहाँ पर पिछले कुछ सालों में टूरिज्म बहुत बढ़ गया है। और उससे जॉब्स तो क्रिएट हो रही हैं, परकैपिटा इन्कम भी बढ़ रही है। बल्कि रीसेंटली मैंने एक स्टडी पढ़ी

The Violence of Giving Birth
The Violence of Giving Birth
5 min

Acharya Prashant: And there is another reason why kids appear so fascinating to us: it’s the hormones. It’s not only the human kid; the babies of even animals appear so cute. That’s a ploy of Prakṛti (physical nature). Babies have to appear cute; otherwise they are so defenseless that they

Is It Better to Let the Poor and the Sick Die?
Is It Better to Let the Poor and the Sick Die?
12 min

Questioner: We know that currently the Earth is overpopulated. People around me very loosely say that the people who are physically, mentally, or economically not so well off, they are better off dead. So, I want to ask, what is your take on this? And what do you think is

Mass extinction, Ocean depletion and Blind consumerism
Mass extinction, Ocean depletion and Blind consumerism
15 min

Questioner: Pranam, Acharya Ji. I’m Atul Kulkarni, I’m M.Sc. Physics student here in IIT Patna, and first of all, thank you very much for accepting our invitation. Sir, my question is a little contextual, so I’ll read it out if you allow me.

Acharya Prashant: In context of?

Questioner: Contextual

How to change the Inner Climate? || with Bard College (2022)
How to change the Inner Climate? || with Bard College (2022)
16 min

Questioner (Q): How can we encourage factories and companies in poor areas to prioritize the health of the local environment over having the greatest profit margins and the lowest costs? How can we motivate them for this kind of a change, when the natural tendency of human nature is to

Making life is better than making babies || Acharya Prashant, with XLRI (2021)
Making life is better than making babies || Acharya Prashant, with XLRI (2021)
5 min

Questioner: I’ve been thinking about the future in the light of the current technologies and the recent pandemic. COVID impacted the economies worldwide and also made people realize that life is precious and nature can offer us only a limited amount of resources, thus reducing consumption at least temporarily. So,

Having kids is a personal matter? || Neem Candies
Having kids is a personal matter? || Neem Candies
1 min

A fellow reproducing blindly is a threat to the entire humanity. How is his family his personal matter? Somebody sets a bomb inside his home, and the bomb is powerful enough to bring down the entire building, not merely his apartment. Will you say, “It is his private matter. How

On the global crisis of population, consumption and climate || Acharya Prashant (2019)
On the global crisis of population, consumption and climate || Acharya Prashant (2019)
6 min

Question: Acharya Ji, what will happen to us in old age? Will we be able to manage ourselves then? My mother fell sick a few days back. Had we not been with her, she wouldn’t have been able to manage herself. Will the same happen to us in old age?

Deadly happiness ||Neem Candies
Deadly happiness ||Neem Candies
1 min

Australia is one of the last continents that man colonized. Of all the animals that weighed more than 50 kg, and were therefore very useful in terms of meat, 90% are extinct. How many? 90%! Such is the devastating and deadly touch of this new god. Those animal species were

Man's inner ignorance is global climate catastrophe || Acharya Prashant (2019)
Man's inner ignorance is global climate catastrophe || Acharya Prashant (2019)
3 min

Acharya Prashant: At the root of the climate catastrophe, lies man's tendency to consume. And man consumes in 3 clear and distinct ways. Man wants to consume the entire world. And the entire world consists of human beings, prākritik beings (natural beings), and man-made things. Whenever you will look around

My very unpopular opinion || Neem Candies
My very unpopular opinion || Neem Candies
1 min

Teach the kids that this planet cannot tolerate even one more human being now. We are already eight billion. At the current rate, we are projected to be eleven billion by 2050. We cannot even tolerate eight point one billion.

You do not merely want to have kids; you also

Your ‘good life’ is the cancer of this planet ||Neem Candies
Your ‘good life’ is the cancer of this planet ||Neem Candies
1 min

Every bit of that which you call as the ‘good life’ is carbon emitting. A fellow comes from a small town to live in Bangalore. His carbon footprint probably increases five times, but you call it progress, you call it urbanization. A fellow gets a higher paying job and gets

A criminal is your role model ||Neem Candies
A criminal is your role model ||Neem Candies
1 min

If the hero in the popular consciousness himself is a debauched criminal, what do you expect the general populace to be? If your role-model is a lout and a scoundrel, what do you expect is going to happen to the population?

The final consumer of all kinds of nonsense is

Your hero is a scoundrel || Acharya Prashant, at IIT-Bombay (2022)
Your hero is a scoundrel || Acharya Prashant, at IIT-Bombay (2022)
10 min

Questioner (Q): There is enough evidence these days that the people who are unhappy with their jobs are having more carbon footprint on nature. I have been listening to you for over a year, and I have listened to your videos on climate change where you said that the only

You probably don’t realize the threat ||Neem Candies
You probably don’t realize the threat ||Neem Candies
1 min

If there is one thing that we must not talk of as something very beautiful, it is the coming of the next generation. It is not beautiful. It is not auspicious. It is not something to be talked of with a smile. It is something to be talked off with

The Earth cannot afford even one more human  being
The Earth cannot afford even one more human being
12 min

Questioner (Q): What kind of change our education system needs to have so that our coming generations live together in peace and fulfilment?

Acharya Prashant (AP): Why? Why must you think about the coming generations? Is this not the language of the old matriarch, who first of all ensures that

The biggest challenge || Neem Candies
The biggest challenge || Neem Candies
1 min

You must be wondering why I am speaking about this thing regarding procreation, regarding having kids. It is because this is the single most important issue facing you and me and the planet and the millions of species today. This is the one thing that man immediately, today, this moment,

Two things we need desperately || Neem Candies
Two things we need desperately || Neem Candies
1 min

We need two things: less people and less consumption, and both of them together. Even if one of them is missing, you are gone.

The US has not too many people, just 32 crores are there, and yet they are the biggest carbon emitters in the world because they consume.

The world can still be saved || Neem Candies
The world can still be saved || Neem Candies
1 min

We don’t need to do anything fancy to check climate change. Limit the number of human beings, and the Earth’s health will be restored very quickly. Nothing else is needed.

The biggest contributor to climate change, rather the only contributor to climate change is human beings and their consumption, quantity

Earth Day: how to solve climate change || Neem Candies
Earth Day: how to solve climate change || Neem Candies
1 min

The Earth doesn’t have resources to support eight billion or eleven billion vegans. Veganism doesn’t help the cause of climate change beyond a point. We need two things: less people and less consumption, and both of them together.

You need a situation where there are not more than two or

If you dislike material progress || Acharya Prashant, with BITS Pilani (2022)
If you dislike material progress || Acharya Prashant, with BITS Pilani (2022)
8 min

Questioner (Q): I have a dilemma related to material progress. When I have debates with my friends and relatives who are good with academics and meditate sometimes, they are of the view that any kind of development, such as mobile phones, internet, etc., is a positive progress for us. I

Climate catastrophe is a spiritual problem ||Neem Candies
Climate catastrophe is a spiritual problem ||Neem Candies
1 min

Bringing one child into the world is the equivalent of cutting down a lakh trees, maybe more. Just do the maths.

You show so much of sentiment when a tree is hacked down, but you show no sentiment when you see family after family procreating. You, in fact, send them

Giving birth? Think twice || Neem Candies
Giving birth? Think twice || Neem Candies
1 min

This entire planet is suffering because of man’s obsession with kids. You produce kids as if the kid would forever remain a kid. You totally forget that the kid would soon, very, very soon be a fully grownup individual.

But for three years of kuchikoo, you burdened the planet with

अमीरों के चोचले: बच्चे बढ़ाओ, चाँद पर बसाओ || आचार्य प्रशांत (2021)
अमीरों के चोचले: बच्चे बढ़ाओ, चाँद पर बसाओ || आचार्य प्रशांत (2021)
17 min

आचार्य प्रशांत : पूँछा है (किसी प्रश्नकर्ता का प्रश्न पढ़ते हुए), 'आचार्य जी आप जनसंख्या नियन्त्रण की बात करते हैं लेकिन एलोन मस्क (अमेरिकन उद्योगपति) जैसे कुछ बड़े नाम खुलेआम कह रहे हैं कि आबादी और बढ़ाओ, वरना पॉपुलेशन डिक्लाइन (जनसंख्या में गिरावट) आ जाएगा। एलोन मस्क ने सात बच्चे

दुनिया की हर समस्या की एक जड़ || आचार्य प्रशांत के नीम लड्डू
दुनिया की हर समस्या की एक जड़ || आचार्य प्रशांत के नीम लड्डू
8 min

आचार्य प्रशांत: आदमी की हवस है ‘बने’ रहने की और बने-बने ‘भोगते’ रहने की। बने रहने की हवस के कारण आदमी ज़्यादा-से-ज़्यादा जी रहा है और अपने बाद अपने पीछे बच्चे छोड़कर जा रहा है। भोगने की हवस के कारण आदमी अधिक-से-अधिक उपभोग कर रहा है।

समाधान तो बहुत सरल

अब न ये खुशखबरी है, न 'गुड न्यूज़' || आचार्य प्रशांत के नीम लड्डू
अब न ये खुशखबरी है, न 'गुड न्यूज़' || आचार्य प्रशांत के नीम लड्डू
12 min

आचार्य प्रशांत: हमारी खुशियाँ खा गयीं पृथ्वी को। जितना हम भोग रहे हैं उतना हमें खिला पाने के लिए पृथ्वी के पास हैं नहीं, तो हम पृथ्वी को ही खा गयें। और हम कम पड़ रहे थे तो हमने अपनी तादाद बढ़ा ली, ताकि हम बहुत सारे हो जाएँ पृथ्वी

पृथ्वी से मनुष्य विलुप्त हो जाएँ? || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव ऋषिकेश में (2021)
पृथ्वी से मनुष्य विलुप्त हो जाएँ? || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव ऋषिकेश में (2021)
10 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: आचार्य जी को कोटि-कोटि प्रणाम। पिछले दो सालों से आपको सुन रहा हूँ। मेरा सवाल कुछ इस प्रकार से था कि अभी हम लोग देख रहे हैं कि तकनीकी बहुत बढ़ गई है। हम बहुत चरम पर हैं अभी मनुष्यता, और आध्यात्मिक रूप से भी हमारे इर्द-गिर्द बहुत प्रपंच

बधाई हो, खुशखबरी! || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव (2022)
बधाई हो, खुशखबरी! || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव (2022)
23 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: प्रणाम, आचार्य जी। आचार्य जी, मैं अपनी फ्रेंड्स को आपके वीडियोज भेजती हूँ जिसमें जनसंख्या वृद्धि को बढ़ावा नहीं देना है। तो वो मुझसे रिवर्ट में तर्क करती हैं कि उनका चाहे वो पहला बच्चा हो चाहे वो दूसरा बच्चा हो कि यह गुड न्यूज़ है। और आचार्य जी,

एक गधे की मौत पर || आचार्य प्रशांत (2020)
एक गधे की मौत पर || आचार्य प्रशांत (2020)
33 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: पिछले दो दिन से मेरे को प्रश्न पूछने की इच्छा थी, पर पता नहीं क्या झिझक है, क्या डर है कि पूछ नहीं पा रहा था। पर आज तो जैसा वाक्या हुआ, उससे आज का प्रश्न थोड़ा वैलिड (वैध) भी हो सकता है।

मैं होटल से निकल रहा था

आज के युग का सबसे बड़ा अपराध - आप भी इसमें शामिल तो नहीं? || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव (2023)
आज के युग का सबसे बड़ा अपराध - आप भी इसमें शामिल तो नहीं? || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव (2023)
28 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: प्रणाम आचार्य जी, मैंने आपसे पहले भी कंज़म्प्शन (उपभोग) से सम्बन्धित प्रश्न पूछा था और आपने कहा था कि अगर किसी सही काम के लिए किया जा रहा है जैसे कि यहाँ पर हम जो इलेक्ट्रिसिटी यूज़ (विद्युत का उपयोग) करे रहे हैं, तो ये कंज़म्प्शन में नहीं आता

और हम चीन से आगे निकल गए || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव (2023)
और हम चीन से आगे निकल गए || आचार्य प्रशांत, वेदांत महोत्सव (2023)
40 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: नमस्ते सर। सर, मेरी एक कज़न हैं जो पहले से ही एक बच्चे की माँ हैं। और अभी हाल में ही उनसे बात हुई थी तो वो दूसरा बच्चा भी प्लान कर रही हैं। इस बारे में जब बात की कि इंडिया की जनसंख्या चाइना से ज़्यादा हो रही

सबसे ख़तरनाक जानवर कौन? || नीम लड्डू
सबसे ख़तरनाक जानवर कौन? || नीम लड्डू
1 min

आज से १ लाख वर्ष पीछे जाओ तो अरबों-खरबों जानवर थे, हज़ारों-लाखों प्रजातियों के; और मनुष्य थे कुछ लाख, अधिक-से-अधिक। अब आदमी हो गए हैं ८ अरब और जानवर बचे हैं (हाथों से कम मात्रा दर्शाते हुए) इतने से!

साहब!

जानवर भी कौन से बचे हैं बताइए? जो मनुष्य के

माँस खाने वालों को एक ज़रूरी सूचना || नीम लड्डू
माँस खाने वालों को एक ज़रूरी सूचना || नीम लड्डू
1 min

जहाँ माँस खाना शुरू किया, तहाँ समझ लो कि आप कार्बन डाइऑक्साइड बढ़ाने वालों की कतार में शामिल हो गए। उपभोग के माध्यमों में जो चीज़ ग्लोबल वार्मिंग (वैश्विक उष्मीकरण) के लिए सबसे ज़्यादा घातक है वो है माँस का सेवन। माँस का सेवन समझ रहे हैं सबसे ज़्यादा घातक

इसे तुम खुशखबरी कहते हो? || नीम लड्डू
इसे तुम खुशखबरी कहते हो? || नीम लड्डू
2 min

पृथ्वी पर नहीं है इतने संसाधन कि तुम बच्चे पैदा करे ही जा रहे हो, करे ही जा रहे हो। और मैं जो बोलूँगा वो बात बहुत चुभेगी, बता देता हूँ!

इस समय पृथ्वी पर बच्चा पैदा होने से ज़्यादा अशुभ काम दूसरा नहीं है। मातम का काम है अगर

जानवरों का बंध्याकरण कितना ज़रूरी है? || (2018)
जानवरों का बंध्याकरण कितना ज़रूरी है? || (2018)
4 min

प्रश्नकर्ता: पशुओं का परिवार नियोजन कैसे करें, और क्या नियोजन करना सही है?

आचार्य प्रशांत: प्रकृति इस बात से बिलकुल सरोकार नहीं रखती कि तुम्हारे जीवन की गुणवत्ता क्या है। उसको सरोकार बस इस बात से होता है कि जीव कितने हैं। जीवन की गुणवत्ता क्या है, इससे प्रकृति को

भोगवृत्ति और अध्यात्म || आचार्य प्रशांत (2019)
भोगवृत्ति और अध्यात्म || आचार्य प्रशांत (2019)
10 min

प्रश्न: आचार्य जी, वर्तमान जीवन के व्यवहारिक कष्टों पर प्रकाश डालने की अनुकम्पा करें।

आचार्य प्रशांत: दो-तीन बातें हैं, और बड़ी सीधी-सीधी हैं।

पहली बात तो ये कि - बच्चे मत पैदा करो। अगर ये उम्मीद कर रहे हो कि दुनिया में आठ-सौ करोड़ लोग हैं आज - जो कि

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