Acharya Prashant clarifies the profound meaning of Kabir Saheb's words regarding love, explaining that true love is not merely an attraction between individuals as depicted in popular media. He defines the self as a suffering and restless consciousness that fundamentally seeks peace, liberation, and truth. Therefore, love is defined as the natural attraction of this restless self toward that which can provide peace and dissolve its bondages. He critiques the common phrase 'Love is God,' stating that while love can be directed toward the Truth or God, love itself is not God. In the context of human relationships, Acharya Prashant asserts that true love exists only when a relationship serves the purpose of liberation. This means either associating with someone who can cut your bonds of ignorance or, if you have the strength, associating with someone whose bonds you can cut. Any other form of association, whether based on lust, loneliness, or social pressure, is not love. He explains that humans find it difficult to love because they forget their true identity as 'restless consciousness' and mistakenly seek satisfaction in worldly distractions like 'pizza' instead of the 'water' of peace. He further discusses how social conditioning and bad company lead individuals to accept suffering as a normal part of life. While the mind absorbs external ideas and pretends to be happy, the inner core of a person—the 'I'—never truly agrees with suffering because its nature is bliss. To overcome this internal conflict, he emphasizes the importance of 'Satsang' or right association. He advises that all relationships and actions should be conditional upon whether they lead to peace and truth, urging individuals to always remember their identity as incomplete beings longing for fulfillment.
