Acharya Prashant begins by questioning what one truly loves in another person: the physical flesh of the eyes, or the sparkle and light that shines through them. He uses the analogy of a window, asking whether one loves the window itself or the sun and sky that are visible through it. He explains that even when one says they love someone's eyes, they are actually loving the sun and the sky behind them, as the eyes are merely windows. This attraction is not for the body or the flesh, but for something behind the eyes. This is evident because when that something is gone, as in death, unconsciousness, or madness, the magnetism and charm also disappear. The speaker identifies this force behind the eyes that pulls us as consciousness, stating that it is the subject matter of all spiritual inquiry. He notes that poets, saints, seers, gurus, and prophets have all meditated on this fundamental question: Who is the one behind the eyes, behind the body, sitting at the heart? What is this thing called the life force ('pran')? The essential inquiry that every wise person has pursued is, "What is consciousness?" The answer to this question, however, has never quite arrived because the question itself is an expression of consciousness. The question arises within consciousness as a disturbance, a pinprick, or a wound, and the search for an answer is an attempt to heal that wound and allow consciousness to relax. The question exists so that the disturbance may be relaxed. If relaxation and freedom from the question are what is truly sought, one could aim to be directly free. The speaker presents a hierarchy of love: what is higher than the body is consciousness, and what is higher than consciousness is the relaxation of consciousness. Those who love the body must discover that they actually love consciousness. Those who are in love with consciousness, or the mind, must discover that what they actually love is the deep stillness and silence behind consciousness. This final stillness is the most lovable thing, the finality. If one is a body-lover without knowing consciousness, or a mind-lover without knowing the source of the mind, then life is hell. The body is sacred only when it is understood as an expression of the mind, and the mind is sacred only when it is seen as a manifestation of the ultimate stillness.
