How to make family members vegan? || Acharya Prashant (2023)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...  ~~~~~  Video Information:  04.04.23, with Ahimsa Fellows (Online-talk), Greater Noida  Context: ~ What are the most common reasons for veganism? ~ What do vegans struggle with the most? ~ शाकाहारी सबसे ज्यादा किससे संघर्ष करते हैं? ~ What are the three pillars of veganism? ~ Why relatives are not understanding veganism?  Music Credits: Milind Date  ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00We have the question by Pooja. So people who try to become self-aware and knowledgeable

00:10of themselves, they usually become the black sheep of their families. The question by Pooja

00:16is what can we do if our loved ones, that is spouse, parents, friends are not receptive

00:22to veganism or they do not show understanding towards animal welfare. So what do we do?

00:28See you cannot be vegan without being really spiritual. And this would ruffle a few feathers

00:38and probably hurt a few. But let me put this, when you are spiritual, the first thing that

00:43you realize is that your family is not really your own. You cannot be a vegan if you continue

00:50to be too attached to your family. You can either be a family man or really a vegan.

00:57It's a difficult choice and most people will not like the way I am putting it. They'll

01:04say he's turning it into an either or situation. Why can't we have both? Why must there always

01:09be this kind of a conflict? I know the arguments, but I also know the truth. I see it everywhere.

01:21I see it in my own family. Just because you are a vegan, that does not matter to people

01:29who will not listen. And those who won't listen, they just won't listen. And if you think too

01:36much about your family, then forget about the wider family that you really belong to.

01:47There is no need to think of it as a heartbreak or something. It's just a fact of life. You

01:54see, to be a vegan is to stand up stoutly against the pleasure principle. And if you

02:04think of the institution of family, it stands on the pleasure principle. First of all, why

02:10do the man and the woman get together? For pleasure, what else? The family rests primarily

02:20on these two pillars, right? The man and the woman coming together, the mother and the

02:24father, the husband and the wife, whatever. The beginning itself comes from lust for pleasure.

02:35And now you tell these two who came together for pleasure that you cannot have pleasure

02:39anymore. You give up on milk and your chai and such stuff. Why will they listen to you?

02:47Why do parents beget kids? For pleasure, in a moment of pleasure. In a moment of pleasure,

02:56the kid is conceived and if it's a planned pregnancy, then the entire motive is to have

03:02somebody support you in your old age. Again, the same pleasure principle. So, the family

03:13rests on pleasure and veganism says there is something far higher than pleasure. My

03:24pleasure cannot be bigger than the right of that little fellow to live. My lust for

03:33pleasure cannot be bigger than my commitment to consciousness. So, the family system and

03:41veganism just don't go together. The family system and spirituality don't go together.

03:47At the risk of sounding just too cynical, let me say, in general, the family system

03:58and goodness do not go together. It's another matter that by dint of your perseverance and

04:07your effort, you are able to convince and convert some of your family members. That

04:14is possible, entirely possible. But to think that just because a certain group of people

04:20belong to your family, therefore, they'll be more amenable to your virtuous advice is

04:28just wishful thinking, daydreaming, it won't happen. And if you try too much of that, all

04:32you'll get is some heartbreak. In fact, if you want to turn somebody vegan, focus on

04:39your neighbors, not on your parents, not on your spouse. These are the last people

04:45who listen to any kind of, they'll simply they'll say your virtue signaling, you just

04:53want to have an upper hand, you know, why can't we have our own choices? They are they

05:00are not going to be amenable because they are related to you via the pleasure principle.

05:06When a man chooses a wife, is he really wedding a Guru? Now the wife turns vegan and starts

05:17sermonizing. Why will the man take it? The man will say, I brought home a luscious body

05:25and remain that, remain that. You are trying to become somebody I never opted for. This

05:35is not what I chose to bring home. You are trying to be a Guru, you are trying to be

05:44a preacher. I don't want a preacher. I want a cute wife, that's all. Focus on the neighbors.

06:02Instead of your family WhatsApp group, focus on anonymous people on social media, you will

06:08get greater success there. If you if you raise a big civil war on your family WhatsApp group

06:17and we have family WhatsApp group, right? Extended family is there, some 30-40 members

06:21are there. All you will get is silence. And if you try too hard, some admin will simply

06:29throw you out of the group. That's all that you'll get.

06:33Yeah, I think you just put it out there, the unapologetic answer, like deal with it. Okay,

06:43so the last question from our side would be from Aarti. She says that from an ethical

06:51standpoint, is it more important to push few people to be perfect vegans or a large number

06:59to reduce the consumption of non-vegan food?

07:02See, somebody's life has to be saved. It doesn't matter how that life will be saved. If 40

07:12people can become half vegans, whatever that means, if 40 people can become half vegans,

07:18that's obviously better than having 10 perfect vegans. So I do not care too much for purity.

07:26I care for that little one's life.

07:34Perfect. Total sense.

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