Acharya Prashant explains that the core teaching of the Upanishads is that the transient cannot attain the eternal. Transience is defined by its dependence on time, space, and the observer. Since the ego is the ultimate consumer of sensory experiences and is itself transient, everything it perceivesтАФthe entire world of dualityтАФis also transient. The speaker emphasizes that objects do not have an inherent, stable meaning; their value changes based on the state of the observer and the passage of time. This inherent instability leads to deception and suffering, prompting the ego to seek something permanent. The speaker argues that most religious practices are futile because they attempt to reach the eternal through transient means. He asserts that a transient seeker, using transient methods like rituals or specific paths, can only find a transient and false version of the truth. If the seeker remains limited and small, their concept of the divine will also be limited and small. The Upanishads challenge such paths by declaring that the eternal cannot be reached from the level of the ego. True liberation is only possible if the seeker realizes that their identity as a transient ego is a delusion. To find the eternal, one must offer all transient subjects and false identities into the fire of knowledge. Acharya Prashant describes this as a process of deep self-observation and inquiry, similar to peeling the layers of an onion. He explains that truth is not something to be searched for externally; it is the natural state that remains when falsehood is discarded. By questioning the relevance and validity of every thought and attachment, the seeker realizes they were never the limited being they believed themselves to be. Seeing the uselessness of the transient is the same as being free from it.
