Acharya Prashant responds to a question about feeling stuck between a new spiritual life and the old life of comforts and relationships. He begins by stating that the entire process of living a true life is one of negation. The reason for this is that we are born with inherent flaws and tendencies, which he refers to as a congenital defect or "jat-dosh". He explains that this is not a flaw of caste but a flaw that is present from birth. Because of these tendencies, we continue to accumulate more impurities or "dust" as we age and experience life. This filth does not get cleaned on its own over time. He uses the analogy of a faulty engine that emits more smoke the longer it runs, polluting its surroundings and itself. Similarly, a human being is born like a dilapidated engine with a manufacturing defect. The more one lives with these inherent flaws, the more mess one creates, rather than getting better. Therefore, the path of spirituality and a true, clean, simple life must be a process of negation, of saying "not this, not this" ("Neti-Neti"). There is no other way. Acharya Prashant further explains that the comforts and pleasures we are attached to are like crutches or painkillers. They are not real happiness but merely compensations for an underlying pain and weakness. When one moves to a higher level of consciousness, these crutches are no longer needed. He quotes Kabir Saheb: "The swan has found the Mansarovar lake, why would it wander in ponds and puddles?" He clarifies that Mansarovar is not a physical place; the very act of leaving the small ponds and puddles is finding Mansarovar. The things that are leaving one's life are doing so because the need for them is gone. They were never essential. He concludes by addressing the fear of loss. We have sold the real thing—the Truth, the Self—for counterfeit things and have become so accustomed to them that we mistake them for being real and essential. The most valuable thing is the Self, which has infinite worth but is not perceived by the senses, so we do not include it in our life's accounting. Therefore, if one gains an authentic life even at the cost of everything else, it is a deal of infinite profit, not a loss.