Acharya Prashant addresses the question of why modern relationships have become very casual and short-lived. He begins by stating a spiritual principle: only the Truth is timeless, meaning only that which is true cannot be destroyed by time. Consequently, the more false a relationship is, the shorter its duration will be. The degree of falseness in a relationship is inversely proportional to its lifespan. This phenomenon is correlated with the short attention spans prevalent today. However, the speaker clarifies that it's not the attention spans that have become shorter, but rather the objects of attentionāthe relationships themselvesāhave become increasingly false. Because these relationships are so false, it is impossible to attend to them for a long time. Only the Truth is beautiful enough to enchant and mesmerize, making one stick to it. The speaker explains that people enter relationships because they think they will get something, which is a consumerist and exploitative mindset. He uses the analogy of a mango: once you have sucked all the juice, you discard the seed. Similarly, when you get what you want from a person, the relationship is exhausted, and you throw them away. This is akin to saying one loves chicken, which means one eats it up, and the chicken is gone. This is how people treat each other, leading to behaviors like "ghosting." The root of the problem is a worldview centered on consumption, where one's existence is about feeding and fattening oneself. With this philosophy, all relationships are for consumption and exploitation. To improve this situation, one cannot simply work on the relationship in isolation. The entire worldview and understanding of oneself must change. A relationship can only be sustainable when there is an inexhaustible beauty in it, a beauty that is not available for consumption and cannot be eroded by time. This requires having an eye for the Truth and real love. The speaker emphasizes that one cannot have good things in life, including good relationships, without first being good oneself. The problem is not about loyalty or fidelity in the conventional sense, but about the fundamental, often rotten, view of life that one holds.
