Acharya Prashant explains that before seeking treatment for the pain caused by the ego, one must first show gratitude. He equates this gratitude ('aabhar') with grace ('anugrah'). The reason for this is that what we ultimately seek is Truth. We are on a spiritual path to know the truth of the mind and life, not to reinforce the lies we live in. We need truth because only truth is trustworthy; lies are deceptive and bring unnecessary suffering. Therefore, when a painful event shatters a lie, one should be grateful for this step towards truth. Using an analogy, he describes a seeker who holds a false, great image of himself. This is a lie. When this seeker stumbles upon a stone—an obstacle or a hurtful event—and gets hurt, his illusion about himself is shattered. The pain of the fall breaks the lie that "I am great." Since the seeker's goal is truth, and a lie has just been broken, this event is a revelation of truth. The ego ('aham') is what gets hurt when it confronts the reality of life. The ego is called false ('mithya') because it cannot stand before reality; it lives in imagination, like fog with no substance. Whenever life gives you pain, it is actually lifting a veil from your eyes. Instead of saying, "It gave me a wound ('chot')," one should say, "It showed me my flaw ('khot')." The flaw was already present within; otherwise, the wound wouldn't have hurt. The incident simply revealed this pre-existing flaw. Therefore, one should not blame the wound but be thankful for the revelation. The natural reaction is to complain and wish the incident hadn't happened, but this reaction does not lead to liberation. One must learn to be separate from this reaction. Acharya Prashant states that the sufferings of life are like guests. If you complain about them, they stick to you. But if you show gratitude, they feel their work of teaching you a lesson is complete, and they leave. Life's hardships are the only way to test whether one is a raw or a baked pot; without these tests, one's inner flaws remain hidden in a state of false satisfaction. Thus, one should be grateful for everything that causes suffering in life.
