Acharya Prashant explains that 'Upasana' is not worship. He breaks down the term: 'Up-asan' means sitting close or being close. 'Asan' relates to your position, the place where you are, and is connected to 'asti', which means existence. 'Up' means close. Therefore, 'Upasana' is being close. He contrasts this with the common practice of worship, where the worshipped one is often made even more distant, which is a distortion of the spirit of Upasana. Real Upasana is intimacy, not adoration. The speaker states that resolving to gain closeness to gods or human beings for the sake of desire fulfillment is bondage. This is akin to wanting to be well-networked or hobnob with the elite to get desires fulfilled. Similarly, the tendency to accumulate things is also bondage. Wanting to be with someone in the hope that this closeness will grant inner completeness or joy is also a form of bondage, as it comes from a belief that you are worthless or of limited worth. If you did not feel worthless compared to the other person, you would not have gone to them in the first place. Most of our relationships are bondages because they do not arise from our fullness but from our incompleteness. Most of the time, when we form a relationship, it comes neither from the realization that one is already full nor from the intention to gain fullness. The best way to relate is when you are already full and connect with another without any particular motive, just for fun. The next best way is to relate from a feeling of incompleteness with the intention to treat that incompleteness. However, most people relate in a third way: they are not alright and relate with the other to hide, conceal, or forget their sickness and hollowness for a while. This happens in our social relationships, families, friend circles, and even our most intimate love affairs.
