Acharya Prashant explains that the word 'nationalism' has two broad meanings that must be understood separately. Just as a person has two paths in life—one of the Self (Atma) and one of the ego (Aham), one of liberation and one of bondage, one of light and one of darkness—so too can a person speak of the nation from two different centers. Ordinarily, when a person talks about the nation, they are expressing a desire for people like them to have dominance over others and the world. This is their nationalism. A nation is a community of people, not necessarily a state or a country. A nation is a group of people who, for some reason, consider themselves related, whether through ideology, common origin, ethnicity, or religion. This shared identity is the center of the nation. However, this center is usually very shallow, based on things like skin color, food, language, or religious beliefs. This kind of nationalism, based on superficial identities, leads to division and conflict. The speaker cites the partition of India, where Hindus and Muslims were declared two separate nations, as an example. Because this form of nationalism is based on shallow, divisive identities, many thinkers, like Rabindranath Tagore, have considered it a problem, a disease that eats away at human consciousness. However, there is another, more profound possibility for nationalism. This is when a community unites not on the basis of superficial similarities but on a shared commitment to truth and liberation. Such a nation would consist of people who have decided to dedicate their lives to truth and the dissolution of the ego. This kind of nationalism, centered on truth and freedom, is a beautiful and lofty concept. The speaker cautions that this is a very rare possibility, and 99.9% of nationalism in history has been of the divisive, ego-based kind. For a nation to be based on truth, it would require millions of highly evolved individuals. While this possibility should not be dismissed, it is important to recognize that most nationalism is a dangerous disease. If nationalism is centered on truth and liberation, it is a beautiful thing; otherwise, it is not.