Acharya Prashant explains that sorrow (dukh) is the thought or desire for anything that is fleeting and ephemeral. He uses an analogy from physics, stating that everything in the universe, including matter and consciousness, naturally seeks its most stress-free, relaxed, and lowest-energy state. This is its natural state of rest and peace. When something is not in its natural state, it is unstable and possesses excess energy or tension, causing it to react with its environment to find relief and return to stability. This principle applies to consciousness as well. An unstable consciousness, burdened by tension, will react with its surroundings to find rest. The fundamental tension of consciousness stems from its very existence, questioning why it exists in a limited form—confined to a body, time, and space, and unable to know fully. This inherent limitation is the innate tension of consciousness. Because of this tension, consciousness seeks relief by reacting with the world around it. However, everything in its sensory purview also possesses the same limited and impermanent properties that consciousness is stressed about. This is likened to trying to douse a fire with oil; interacting with unsuitable, ephemeral objects does not relieve the tension but multiplies it, and this increased tension is sorrow. Sorrow, therefore, is the act of looking for relief in the wrong places, which only invites more trouble. It is the association with the non-self (Anatma-rupah), the non-truth, and the ephemeral. The highest state of happiness (sukha) is to be free from the need to look for relief, to drop the very idea of being a troubled consciousness. The next best thing, if one feels troubled, is to find someone who can show them that they are not in trouble. The worst course of action is to believe one is in trouble and seek the company of others who confirm this belief, as their solutions will only exacerbate the problem.
