Acharya Prashant responds to a question about whether one should push their children towards veganism. He begins by explaining that the idea of letting someone follow their heart is sound, but one must first understand what the heart, or mind (man), is. The mind, he states, operates on two things: its deep, underlying tendencies (mool vritti), which are its hard infrastructure and include things like greed, comfort, anger, and fear; and the information or knowledge (gyaan) that is poured into it from the outside, which is like a liquid that can be changed. A parent's duty is to pour the right knowledge into the child's mind, because if they don't, the world will fill it with its own, often negative, influences. The mind is not empty; if you don't fill it with the right things, it will be filled with wrong things. Therefore, waiting for the heart to be ready is a flawed approach, as the heart itself is shaped by the knowledge it receives. Applying this to the questioner's situation, Acharya Prashant notes that his children have already become vegetarian, which shows they have some friendliness (maitri) towards animals. The next step is to provide them with the knowledge of the direct link between dairy products and animal slaughter. He points out that many people in India are lacto-vegetarians because they are ignorant of this connection. Once they have this knowledge, their hearts will be capable of making the right choice. He also advises against the vegan community's tendency to equate vegetarians with non-vegetarians, stating that progress is gradual and someone who has moved from non-vegetarianism to vegetarianism should be encouraged, not taunted. Acharya Prashant then broadens the discussion to the concepts of theism and atheism. He tells the questioner that by valuing non-violence (ahimsa), he is a theist, not an atheist. A theist (aastik) is one who believes in 'asti'—that a higher possibility for life exists. An atheist (nastik) is one who says 'na-asti'—that no such higher possibility exists. He explains that veganism, environmentalism, and other such philosophies are like flowers on the tree of spirituality. The root is spirituality and self-knowledge. The fundamental problem is the conditioned mind (kalushit man). When one addresses the root by asking "Who am I?" and seeking self-knowledge, all these positive actions will emerge organically. He concludes that the core issue is the corrupted mind, which is the source of all problems in the world.
