Are plant based protein powders living or dead?

It completely depends on the brand you source them from. 

Most brands out in the market sell protein powders that are highly processed and refined, thus making them fall under the category of "dead food". However, there are also some conscious brands which make plant-based protein powders, with clean ingredients. You may opt for those. 

Apart from this, there are many natural plant-based sources of protein, such as sprouts, lentils, soaked nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews, walnuts, etc.) and seeds (chia, sunflower, melon, quinoa). Along with these, vegetables like broccoli, green peas and spinach are also rich sources of protein.