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Empathy, Education, and Environment: Factors Influencing Decision-Making || Acharya Prashant (2024)
11.9K views
1 year ago
Conditioning
Prakriti
Choice
Animal Welfare
Veganism
Compassion
Logic
Liberation
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that the disparity in people's responses to ethical calls, such as veganism, is due to the diversity in nature (Prakriti). This diversity manifests as two forms of conditioning: physical and social. Physical conditioning relates to one's biological makeup. For instance, an animal raised on an unnatural diet will revert to its staple food when given the chance, indicating a biological predisposition. Similarly, some people are more physically inclined to change. Social conditioning refers to the mental impressions absorbed from life experiences, which affects an individual's receptivity to improvement. Overriding both physical and social conditioning is a third factor: the capacity and desire to truly change and be liberated. This is a matter of love and a sovereign choice that cannot be dictated or cultivated. A person can only be held responsible for this choice, not for their inherent conditioning. Therefore, some people are more eager and prompt to take a cue for change, while others, due to their strong conditioning, are not. He advises the questioner to de-focus from trying to change resistant family members and instead direct her love and energy toward the broader cause of animal welfare. He suggests a logical and strategic approach: instead of wasting energy on those who will not listen, one should identify and work with the 'low-hanging fruits'—those who are more receptive and on the verge of changing. Compassion, he states, must be paired with brutal logic to be effective. Finally, he encourages perseverance without getting consumed by sentiments or disappointment, which is an energy-dissipater. If one is doing the right thing, the right results will inevitably follow, though not always in the expected way. Therefore, one must not have expectations but simply continue to act. The aim is to save animals, and one must find the most effective way to do so, even if it means moving on from those who are not ready to listen.