Acharya Prashant addresses a questioner who is conflicted about his job, which he took for financial stability but now wants to resign from daily. The speaker explains that answers to such matters are never black and white, and one cannot simply be told to quit their job and sit at home. He defines self-knowledge as being fully aware of one's own condition, which prominently includes one's weaknesses. It means knowing exactly how deep in the water you are. The speaker advises that before making a significant external change like quitting a job, one must assess if they are in a position to bear the consequences. He has observed that people often quit their jobs in a momentary passion, only to find themselves lost and unsure of what to do next. He uses an analogy of wearing a mask due to a virus: you started wearing the mask because you were weak against the virus. If you want to discard the mask, you must first ask if that weakness has been eliminated. If the weakness persists, simply getting tired of the mask after a year is not a valid reason to remove it. He emphasizes that external changes should only be made after internal changes have begun. One should only make decisions for external change when they have developed the internal strength to handle and tolerate the outcomes. Otherwise, such decisions can become a ploy of Maya. For instance, if you quit your job, your mind might become entirely preoccupied with finding another one, and you might end up doing even less for the spiritual cause you care about. This, he says, is exactly what Maya wants. Using a cricket analogy, he compares the spiritual journey to a long test match. To play a long innings, especially when the situation is tough, one must be cautious and not take reckless risks. Those who love to stay at the crease don't swing the bat wildly. Similarly, on the path of truth, one must be very alert. He advises the questioner to first prepare internally by reducing needs and establishing an alternative source of income before making a major external change. He concludes by stating that one's primary responsibility is towards their own liberation, and all other responsibilities, including financial ones, are secondary to that.
