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Food is not just food || Acharya Prashant, on veganism (2017)
Prakrati
661 views
1 year ago
Environment
Climate Change
Animal Rights
Suffering
Intellect
Self-interest
Harmony
Inwardness
Description

Acharya Prashant explains that humanity is moving toward a new relationship with the environment and other species. He notes a historical progression of rights, starting from the rights of men to slaves, women, and now extending toward the rights of all species to live and survive. This shift is driven by both a deeper understanding of love and harmony and the practical necessity of survival due to threats like climate change. He suggests that mankind cannot survive physically without learning to relate correctly to the world outside the human body. He uses the example of men sporting beards as a symbol of humanity becoming more comfortable with its animal nature and the 'soil' of the body, rather than suppressing it through the intellect. He further argues that the hope placed in technology, science, and material objects to solve internal human discomfort has failed. Since external directions have been exhausted, humanity must look inward. Upon looking inside, one discovers an interconnectedness with all living beings, such as animals and trees, making it impossible to harm them without feeling as though one is harming oneself. He emphasizes that suffering is not obligatory or necessary. When an individual stops supporting their own suffering, they naturally cease to be an agent of suffering for others. He concludes by stating that all suffering is foolish and needless, and one is not born to suffer.