Acharya Prashant explains that if a person slips after a hundred years of devotion, it proves that their devotion was false and mechanical. He emphasizes that falling or slipping always has a cause rooted in the past, whereas rising or awakening is an act of grace that is free from the law of cause and effect. He clarifies that suffering is a result of one's own actions and a false lifestyle, while liberation and joy are gifts of grace. A religious mind is one that takes responsibility for its pain as its own fault and attributes its peace to divine grace. Regarding the concept of past karmas and the cycle of eighty-four lakh births, Acharya Prashant states that one can be freed from the fruits of past actions only if the 'doer' who performed those actions no longer exists. If a person continues to carry their past identity, they must also carry the consequences of their past deeds. He explains that mental suffering persists only because an individual remains the same mind today that they were yesterday. To be free from the fruits of karma, one must stop carrying the burden of the past and the false self.
