Acharya Prashant explains that there are three levels of perceiving reality: imagination, facts, and truth. Imagination is the lowest level, where one lives in fantasies and ignores the senses. Above that is the level of facts, which is the domain of science and investigation. The highest level is spirituality, which seeks the ultimate truth by understanding both the external world and the internal observer. He notes that the West operates primarily at the level of facts, which is why they are more practical and honest in their commitments. In contrast, India has historically possessed the highest spiritual knowledge, but unfortunately, the majority of what is practiced as religion today has devolved into the lowest level of imagination, superstitions, and blind traditions. He points out that in India, being religious is often equated with following rituals and superstitions rather than living in truth. People may be dishonest in their daily lives but consider themselves religious because they follow traditions. He criticizes the tendency to provide pseudo-scientific justifications for superstitious practices, such as claims about menstruation or tonsuring, instead of admitting they are merely beliefs. This detachment from facts has severe practical consequences, leading to inferior quality in manufacturing and a lack of competitiveness on the global stage. He cites the example of international companies finding better quality in products manufactured outside India because those cultures respect facts and precision. Acharya Prashant argues that India's historical defeats, such as in the Battle of Plassey, were not due to a lack of numbers but due to inferior technology and strategy resulting from a disregard for research and experimentation. He warns that unless India corrects its understanding of religion—moving away from blind faith and toward the pursuit of truth—it will continue to lag behind. True religion, he explains, is not a personal belief system or social conditioning; it is the dissolution of the personal self and freedom from conditioning. To progress, India must stop justifying its mistakes through radicalism or false stories and instead embrace the scientific and spiritual rigor found in scriptures like the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.