Love is possible only in detachment || Acharya Prashant (2014)

Question: Can we not have a simple aspiration of becoming a better human being, rather than completely detaching ourselves from everything around us?

Speaker: Can we not have a simple aspiration of becoming a better human being, rather than completely detaching ourselves from everything around us?

What do we mean by ‘a better human being’? What is meant by ‘a better human being’?

Listener 1: Not scheming, straight. Loves others, as he loves himself.

Speaker: Right. Do you think that is anything different from ‘detachment’?

Listener 1: ‘Detachment’ sounds scary.

Speaker: If ‘detachment’ sounds scary, then your definition of ‘a better human being’ is misplaced. You are saying, “A better human being is one who loves others, as he loves himself,” but you are saying, “Detachment sounds scary.”