Acharya Prashant addresses the nature of the ego and the feeling of hurt that arises from external condemnation. He explains that if being criticized hurts, it indicates an underlying, perhaps subtle, hunger for praise or a condition the ego has set upon the world. The ego attempts to dictate how the world should behave, but since the world follows its own flow, any expectation or condition leads to suffering. He advises observing this tendency and allowing the hurt to exist without imposing further conditions for improvement. Furthermore, he clarifies the concept of sacrifice or Yajna in the context of consuming media. He states that engaging with high-quality literature or films is a form of sacrifice if the material is challenging and demands the dropping of one's current state or conditioning. Such activities are not mere indulgence but acts of daring that require a genuine giving up of the lower self for a higher consciousness.
