u/guptashelly28

There is a Korean folk tale called

The Mirror That Made Trouble.

A man named Kim buys a mirror in the capital, Seoul, and brings it home. His family has never seen a mirror before.

His wife looks into the mirror and sees another woman there. She thinks her husband has brought another woman home. Their daughter sees the same face and sides with her mother. The grandmother sees an old woman in it, and the grandfather sees an old man.

Very quickly, a huge fight breaks out in the house. Kim’s wife drags him to the judge. But the judge too looks into the mirror, sees his own face, and gets confused.

Finally, an official explains to them that there is no other person in the mirror. Everyone was seeing only their own reflection.

Not one of them had tried to examine the very thing they were taking as the truth and fighting over.

Now look at your own life.

Someone criticizes us, and we immediately feel that the person is against us. We build a flattering image of ourselves, and then we start interpreting every event according to that image.

We are more in love with our image than with seeing our mistakes.

That’s why, when someone points out our flaws, instead of looking at those flaws, we get busy proving that the other person is wrong. We justify our anger, label our selfishness as a “need,” and give our fear the respectable name of “wisdom” or “prudence.”

But knowing yourself and having a good opinion of yourself are two very different things.

To know yourself, you have to see what desire is really driving your decisions. Do we truly want to be right, or do we only want to prove that whatever we say is right?

As long as we don’t question our own thinking, we will keep seeing others through the lens our mind has already prepared for us.

Ask yourself:

When someone points out a mistake of yours, how do you respond?

Parenthood has a way of making you rethink everything you once took for granted. For me, becoming vegan was part of that process. It made me question many things I had simply accepted as normal. But the deeper shift came when I began questioning my own conditioning around animals.

Why do we love some animals, eat others, and treat them so differently? Why do we see animals as food, products, or possessions in the first place? These questions have also changed the way I approach parenting.

I don’t want to simply tell my child, “We don’t eat animals.” I want them to understand why and to develop the habit of questioning what they are taught. The teachings of Acharya Prashant, a famous Indian philosopher, have helped me see veganism as more than a food choice. They have made me reflect on my own desires, consumption, and conditioning. For me, vegan parenting is not just about raising a vegan child. It is about helping a child learn to think for themselves.

That said, I find it difficult at times to explain compassion for animals to my child and to encourage them to give up foods they have been eating and enjoying for a long time. At home, things are easier because dairy products are not available. But at school, other children bring dairy-based foods and often ask him to share. Since none of them are vegan, he is not always able to share food with anyone. Some teachers have even advised him to consume dairy because it is considered healthy.

At times, I have also wondered how to meet the nutritional needs of a growing child on a vegan diet. But after watching a video by Acharya Prashant, many of my doubts were cleared, and I felt more confident that veganism is the right choice for him.

How do you handle situations where your child’s vegan choices are questioned at school or by other adults?

Watch the video:

https://youtu.be/VCj9Dw4rA-0?si=W76Uv9-93u9VSxT9

This dialogue is from Season 2, Episode 2 of DUCKMAN animated sitcom directed by American illustrator and cartoonist Everett Peck.

Our normal pop philosophy for money is to make more and more money until the end of life.

This kind of philosophy has increased both consumerism and profit driven behaviour.

Why can’t we just stop at one amount like this much savings is required to fulfil some of my responsibilities and some for my old age ?

The main irony is that even very young people save money for old age.🙄

Instead of focusing on making more money we should actually focus on where that money is coming from and where i am using that money.

After a certain amount ,one should use his/her money where it is needed the most.

We are Mortal Beings. What is the use of making so much money and that too for next 2..3 generations?
Doesn’t it feel ridiculous?

After listening to this session, I have come to understand 'financial freedom'.

It is not about fulfilling one's desires, but rather about letting go of them. We are not free because of our desires, we are kept in a cage by those who fulfill them. We can earn money to meet our needs, but needs and desires are two different things, needs are natural, whereas desires are rooted in the ego.

We are not free not because we are incapable of earning... No

Even someone who possesses thousands of crores of rupees is not financially free, because their desires are excessive.

Therefore, financial freedom does not mean not having money, financial freedom means being free from your desires.

Being financially independent is a wonderful thing, but we often misunderstand its true meaning.

Freedom in life is far more important, and the solution is incredibly simple, yet we fail to see it. It is simply a matter of letting go... just letting go.

If your mind is free from ego-driven desires, no one will be able to keep you in a cage.

Is philosophy merely a subject?

After watching this video, I realized it is actually the most important thing, something that should be understood first, as it forms the foundation for everything else. So, why doesn't it reach everyone? Why isn't it part of our education or our surroundings from the very beginning? Until now, I used to consider it a boring subject, but it turns out to be the essence of life itself, a cure for our suffering and a form of spirituality. Is it due to our conditioning, our environment, a lack of philosophers, or simply because we are too caught up in our own self-interests to listen to what they have to say?

Philosophers are the bridge between our suffering and our liberation, moved by compassion, they extend a hand to lead us out of our suffering.

I came across a video showing India’s population at around 1.47 billion on a Digital Population Clock. Social media says it represents “one baby being born every second,” but these clocks are actually demographic estimates, not literal real-time birth counters. Still, the number itself made me pause.

Every additional human life means a lifetime requirement for food, clean water, energy, land, housing, healthcare and other resources. India already has around 17% of the world’s population but only about 4% of its renewable freshwater resources. But population alone isn’t the whole problem. How we consume matters just as much.

This made me ask myself: Why do we want children? Is it always a conscious decision, or are we simply following society’s idea that marriage must lead to children? Do we sometimes expect children to give our lives meaning, remove loneliness, continue the family name, or fulfil something within us?

And when we say, “I want my child to have a good life,” what do we actually mean? A good education, good job, more money, bigger house, car, gadgets and more consumption? If our idea of happiness itself is based on continuously having more, then isn’t that same mindset also contributing to the destruction of nature?

This is where I find Acharya Prashant’s philosophy worth reflecting upon. His discussions on population, consumption and climate change point toward a deeper issue: perhaps the environmental crisis isn’t only an external problem requiring technological solutions. It is also a reflection of the human mind that constantly wants more.

So maybe the question isn’t simply “How many people can the Earth support?”

Maybe we should first ask:
“Why do I want what I want? Am I choosing consciously, or simply following society?”

Perhaps real environmental responsibility begins not only with changing what we do outside, but with observing ourselves within.

I was just sitting on a beach in Goa tonight, and a lot was going through my mind.

A new experience, a new place, this is my first time in Goa. It is the first time I have seen such a vast ocean. I saw the sea while flying above the clouds, and now, sitting here at night, I am watching its waves. I didn't even use my phone all day today.

I simply wandered around alone, explored a new place, gathered new experiences, and am now sitting quietly before the ocean. A lecture is about to begin soon.

Acharya Ji says, like the waves of the ocean.

A wave rises, and then it ends, it flows away.

With that in mind, I felt compelled to ask the AP Framework a question based on these new experiences. And the answer was truly profound.

The real question is this,

The true test isn't in Goa, it lies in the first week after returning. When you are back in the same room, with the same phone, facing the same nights only then will you see whether what you are experiencing now was merely the allure of a new place, or if something has genuinely opened up within you.

The question isn't whether I gained a new experience.

The question is: what changed in my life after this experience? Or did life simply continue in the same old rut?

Acharya Ji

No experience will be of any use if the heart does not change. 🙏🏻

Change my heart. ❤️

To let Gita help us, it is not to be worshipped as a symbol, nor recited out of habit, but to be understood and used as a mirror to examine the workings of our provoked and distressed mind.

Great way to understand the inner self.

I like to be with nature always.

Imagine staying here