Acharya Prashant explains that life force (Pran) and the Self (Atma) are one and the same. He states that the Upanishads say that the life force is the Absolute (Brahman). The human body is made of earth, and all its processes are mechanical. However, something non-mechanical also begins to happen within this body. While everything mechanical has a cause, this non-mechanical aspect allows one to experience bliss, attain understanding, and be immersed in love. This is a remarkable phenomenon: the body, which is essentially matter like earth, air, and water, starts to experience love. The speaker defines the life force as that within a person from which the Upanishads can emerge. It is that which can experience love. That is one's true life. If a life lacks understanding, bliss, and love, it is considered lifeless, merely a lump of earth. The magic that infuses matter with love is the life force. He elaborates that while we are destined to become ash and have come from ash, the flight, understanding, and depth of this "ash" is what the life force is. Life truly exists only when it has this life force. He warns against mistaking the life force for mere breath. A person is truly alive only when their life contains that which makes it worth living—liberation, bliss, and love. Otherwise, even if one is walking, breathing, or doing breathing exercises, they are considered a corpse, lifeless. One can be breathing even when on a ventilator, but that does not mean they are truly alive.