Acharya Prashant explains that two-year-old children often make their own bodies into toys. This behavior can start as early as three or four months, when they might suck their thumb, grab their toe, or even put their foot in their mouth. They do this because they need something to engage with; the mind is restless and needs to hold onto something or create some mischief. Children also touch their genitals, and mothers often scold them, calling it a 'bad thing.' However, the child is not bad; they are simply unaware and need a toy to play with due to their abundant energy. The mother then provides a toy to keep the child occupied. Acharya Prashant states that the same is true for adults. The two-year-old child does not disappear but remains within us. If this inner child is not given a meaningful 'toy' or engagement in life, it will resort to playing with its own body parts. This 'playing' is not limited to the genitals but extends to any body part one can get a grip on. He provides examples of adult behavior that mirror this, such as obsessively looking at one's face, counting fallen hairs, or spending hours in salons getting pedicures. He equates this to the child sucking its thumb. People spend hours on such activities because they have nothing else to do in life. Similarly, spending a long time adjusting a tie perfectly is another form of playing with the body, which wouldn't happen if one had something urgent to do, like catching a flight. He points out that society accepts some forms of body-focused activities like ear piercing, tattoos, plucking eyebrows, and waxing, but considers others, like touching one's genitals or masturbation, to be wrong. He argues that all these attachments to the body are fundamentally the same, whether it's an attachment to the nose, stomach, thumb, or genitals. The single root cause for all these behaviors is 'fursat,' which means having leisure or nothing meaningful to do.
