Acharya Prashant explains that the foundation or substratum of consciousness and knowledge is the mother, which is the Atman. He describes awareness as the mother of consciousness and the source from which manifestation, or Prakrti, arises. He cautions against becoming arrogant with knowledge, as the origin of knowledge is something superior to it that knowledge itself cannot reach. The foundation of knowledge does not lie within more knowledge or the mind; rather, the cause of the mind and the universe is something uncaused and unanswerable. This source is the unapproachable paradox of spirituality: we come from there, yet we cannot reach there through effort or thought. He further clarifies that one can only reach this source when the individual 'I' and the effort to reach are dropped. Citing the Kena Upanishad, he notes that the source is the 'ear of the ear' and the 'mind of the mind,' meaning that while all thought proceeds from its energy, the mind cannot think of it. Referring to Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, he explains that even Maya belongs to the Divine. One can either go to the source directly or wander through the infinite cycles of Maya, which is essentially the creation of time and the postponement of the inevitable. Ultimately, the source is the uncaused, unborn, and self-originating reality.