Acharya Prashant explains that true living is defined by being fully present in the moment, such as when one is purely seeing, hearing, or feeling without the interference of the past or future. He contrasts human consciousness with a machine, noting that a machine lacks a 'now' and is governed entirely by its past and future. He argues that if a person only experiences moments of pure awareness for a few minutes a day, their actual life lived is incredibly short, regardless of their physical age. He suggests that most people exist more like machines than living beings because they lack this presence. Using the metaphor of an infant, he illustrates that a person who has lived for eighty years might have only truly 'lived' for a few hours if their moments of awareness were sparse. He references Kabir Saheb to emphasize that life is as precious as a diamond, yet it is often wasted in mechanical activities like sleeping and eating, which even machines can simulate through programmed cycles. He concludes that physical growth does not equate to a life lived; true existence is measured by the depth of one's presence and sentience rather than the passage of time.