Acharya Prashant addresses a question about the relationship between love and attachment. He begins by deconstructing the questioner's logic, which posits that since people normally hurt others, not being attached to a loved one would lead to hurting them as well, thus implying that attachment is necessary for love. He highlights the flawed premise of a "normal human life" being one that hurts everybody, calling such a person "a pain to the entire world." He follows the questioner's reasoning to its absurd conclusion: "I hurt everybody else, but I don't hurt the one I'm attached to. Therefore, if I'm not attached to the object of my love, I'll hurt him as well. If I hurt him, how is it love? Hence, attachment is love." He challenges the assumption that one can have a different self towards different objects, asserting that it is the same mind that operates in all situations. He argues that one cannot be a corrupt worker all day and then a loving husband at night, as the corrupt mind will persist. The speaker explains that this fallacy extends to all relationships, including that of a mother and child. A mother who is indifferent to the suffering of other children cannot be truly loving towards her own. Her supposed love is a form of violence, and the world is the way it is because people have been brought up by such mothers. He clarifies that a mother is a normal human being, and giving birth does not make her a goddess; a corrupt mind remains a corrupt mind. He emphasizes that the same mind that is possessive and insecure about material things like clothes, money, and the future will also be possessive and insecure in relationships. He uses the analogy of selecting clothes based on superficial criteria—pleasing to the eye, comfortable, and appearing expensive while being cheap—and states that the same conditions are applied when selecting a partner. This reveals the mind's consistent, conditioned nature. Acharya Prashant concludes by asserting with certainty that one cannot be violent towards the entire world and yet be loving towards a select few. If you are violent towards everyone, you will be violent towards your family members as well. If you are fearful on the road, you will be fearful with your loved ones because it is the same mind. If you are ignorant in the boardroom, you will be equally ignorant in the bedroom. The mind's deepest conditioning will be present everywhere, spoiling everything.
