Acharya Prashant explains a couplet by Kabir Saheb: "Aavat gaari ek hai, ultat hoi anek. Kah Kabir nahi ultiye, wahi ek ki ek." (One abuse comes, and upon retaliation, it becomes many. Kabir says do not retaliate, it remains just one). He begins by stating that chemicals react, and if we live like chemicals, there is no fun in life. Well-wishers like Sant Kabir advised against acting like chemicals because chemicals do not experience joy. For instance, salt in the kitchen or benzene do not experience fun. To experience fun, one must be awake, which is called consciousness. Acharya Prashant contrasts the reactivity of chemicals with the choice available to consciousness. A chemical has reactivity, meaning it will react under certain conditions, and this is not in its control. For example, sodium will always react with water; it has no choice. This reactivity is a form of bondage or slavery. In contrast, consciousness has a choice. A material object, like a light bulb, is a slave; it has to glow when current is passed through it. Similarly, eyeglasses see everything but experience no joy or sorrow, whether the wearer is laughing, crying, or seeing something beautiful or ugly. We are born to experience the great fun called joy, not to be like unfeeling objects. He explains that only conscious beings can experience joy. The reward for being conscious is joy, while the punishment for being reactive like a chemical is the absence of joy. If someone says 'A' and you predictably react with 'B', you are acting like a chemical and will not get joy. In the context of Kabir's couplet, retaliating to an abuse is a reaction. By reacting, you prove that you are like a chemical, and the punishment is the loss of joy. If someone knows your 'buttons' and can predict your reactions, you are like a machine, a dead thing. A conscious person is not predictable; they have the freedom to choose their response. This freedom is the power and joy of being conscious. Therefore, Kabir's advice is not about morality but about the laws of life. To avoid being a slave (matter), one must give up reactiveness. When you are provoked and you react, you degrade yourself from a conscious being to mere matter.