Acharya Prashant addresses the question of how to prioritize a career over emotions by first reframing the concept of relationships with "loved ones." He suggests that it is not that we have loved ones, but that we love to be disturbed. He questions whether these relationships would mean anything if the element of mutual disturbance were removed, implying that many relationships are founded on the premise of giving each other the right to invade personal space. This enjoyment of disturbing others, he explains, stems from a need to feel important to them. He then connects this emotionality to its biological roots, stating that emotions are something we are born with and are particularly powerful in the biological scheme of things, especially for women. These emotions, he clarifies, arise from the body—the senses, the brain, and its various parts. The body itself is not interested in a career, knowledge, or wisdom; its concerns are primal, like those of an animal. The entire body gives rise to emotions, and its fundamental drive is for food, sex, and sleep. He illustrates this by asking rhetorically if one's nose or eyebrows are offended by academic failure, pointing out that the body's functions are separate from intellectual or conscious pursuits. Acharya Prashant highlights the inherent conflict between the body's desires and the individual's higher aspirations. Since relationships are often founded on the body, they are not naturally aligned with intellectual or spiritual growth. He describes emotional disturbances as a conspiracy of the body against one's real purpose in life. The body, he asserts, has no respect for the real things in life; its only concern is its biological constitution, which can be summarized as "eat, sleep, be merry, repeat." Therefore, relationships that are body-based will not be conducive to one's career or real growth. His advice is to be watchful and not become a servant to the body. One must learn to see emotions as bodily phenomena, not as personal identity. Instead of saying "my emotions," one should see them as "the body's emotions" and fight against them rather than patronizing or energizing them. He acknowledges that this is difficult, especially for a woman, who faces additional societal and biological pressures that can militate against the purposes of consciousness. However, he concludes that this struggle makes her victory sweeter and her success more meaningful. The ultimate purpose of a conscious human being is to gain the heights of consciousness, wisdom, and freedom, and this battle against the body's compulsions is worth fighting and can be won.
