Acharya Prashant explains that whenever you desire something, you are actually desiring the highest, which the Upanishads refer to as Rudra or the Supreme Self. However, the mind's condition is pitiful because it desires something that is beyond its capacity to desire. He uses the analogy of a small child who wants the entire ocean. The child says he will open his largest vessel, which are his cupped hands, to receive the ocean. He believes he is fully prepared and has held nothing back. But he doesn't understand that the ocean cannot fit into his palms; rather, he must drown in the ocean. This is the mistake we make. Our desire is right, but the ego sits at its center. We say, "The ocean should come to me," instead of, "I will meet the ocean." If you desire something truly worthwhile, it cannot come to you; you have to go to it. If you ask for something that can fit in your palms, then that thing is even smaller than your palms and cannot bring you fulfillment. We are like this child, wanting the supreme peace but wanting it within the confines of our limited existence. This is an insult to the great thing we desire, like asking for the ocean to be packed and home-delivered. Spirituality is not against desire but against such foolishness. It helps you understand your own desires. You are caught up in small desires, not knowing that desire can never be for a small thing. You are already small; if a small thing meets a small thing, the infinite will not emerge. Using another analogy, he says that if a piece of musk is hidden in a pile of chaff, the fragrance comes from the musk, but we think it comes from the chaff and fall in love with the chaff. Our real attraction is to the essence, like a few strands of saffron, but we get attached to the whole pile of chaff and throw away the real thing. This is what we do in life. The objects of the world that attract us do so because they remind us of the ultimate truth. However, we get stuck with the objects themselves, which are just the means, and forget the destination. The wise person knows themselves and their desires, so they enjoy the essence. The fool, lacking self-knowledge, enjoys the chaff. The difference between the foolish and the wise is that the wise knows himself and his desire, and therefore, he enjoys the musk, while the fool, in the absence of self-knowledge, enjoys the chaff.