"Just as your life is extremely dear to you, similarly the lives of others are equally dear to them. A person who thinks thus and shows mercy on other creatures is really a virtuous person. When this idea dawns on one's mind, one realizes, "Why should I kill an innocent creature just for the sake of the gratification of my palate?" Again one may suddenly discover a scriptural injunction - 'Oh yes, you may sacrifice animals in a particular way and the sacrificial animal will attain salvation.' People follow the scriptural injunction helplessly, but in their heart of hearts they realize that the whole thing is irrational. Yet they cannot gather sufficient courage to go against the scripture. This sort of idea which chokes the progress of the mind is called 'dogma.' A dogma is from either a defective philosophy or a scripture. This sort of dogma should be rejected forthwith. Even if a young boy says something logical, it should be accepted, because that will lead to progress. But when a dogma comes, it chokes the progress of humanity. Many scriptures teach wrong things along rational lines. They fail to understand that just as their lives are very dear to them, similarly the lives of animals also are equally dear to them. Then why should I act like a mean, selfish person? And if they say or argue that if the animals are sacrificed in this way they will attain liberation from animal life, then I will counter argue, 'Oh human beings, you are also a creature, why don't you attain liberation by cutting your own throat? Why don't you help your children or your relations to attain liberation from human life by sacrificing them? Why are you so eager to apply this liberation movement, this hatchet or axe, against innocent goats?'"
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"In economic life there is extreme inequality and exploitation. Although colonialism no longer exists openly in the political and economic sphere, still it persists indirectly, and this should not be tolerated... In this respect you should remember that in economic life, we will have to guarantee the minimum requirements of life to one and all... There cannot be any sort of adjustment as far as this point is concerned. The minimum purchasing requirement must be guaranteed to all. Today these fundamental essentialities are not being guaranteed. Rather, people are being guided by deceptive economic ideas like outdated Marxism, which has proven ineffective in practical life and has not been successfully implemented in any corner of the world. Why do people still believe in such a theory, which has never been proved successful? The time has come for people to make a proper assessment of whether they are being misguided or not." |
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"Human beings have still not been able to form a human society, and have still not learned to move with the spirit of a pilgrim. Although many small groups, motivated by self-interest, work together in particular situations, not even a small fraction of their work is done with a broader social motive. By strict definition, shall we have to declare that each small family unit is a society in itself? If going ahead in mutual adjustment only out of narrow self-interest or momentary self-seeking is called society, then in such a society, no provision can be made for the disabled, the diseased or the helpless, because in most cases nobody can benefit from them in any way... in that case there always remains the possibility of some people getting isolated from the collective. All human beings must attach themselves to others by the common bond of love and march forward hand in hand; then only will I proclaim it a society." |