Acharya Prashant explains that altruistic behavior or helpfulness are not ends in themselves. They are often recommended because they usually go hand-in-hand with an elevated state of consciousness. However, this is not always the case. One must remember what is the end and what is just a medium. Helpfulness is a medium, not an end in itself. The question to ask is whether the helpfulness is really delivering what anything must deliver to be of any worth. Only if helpfulness is delivering that, can it be called 'help' in the real sense of the word. Otherwise, it is not help. For instance, if someone desperately begs for cocaine, helping them is not truly help. Conversely, giving poison as an antivenom to someone suffering from a snakebite is life-saving. In this case, poison is not necessarily bad. This means that so-called good qualities are only good to the extent they elevate consciousness; beyond that, they can be bad. The real objective is consciousness itself. We often overdo so-called good things and absolutely reject so-called bad things because we don't know that the real objective is consciousness. This applies to relationships as well. If a relationship is based on need and mutual dependence, it is parasitic. A healthy relationship is one that helps you evolve mentally. The metric to evaluate a relationship is whether it is bringing you freedom or putting you in deeper bondage. The true self is another name for freedom, and the ego is another name for bondages. Any relationship that brings bondages to your life is not the real thing. Sacrifice is giving up something of little value for the sake of something of higher value. It is a constructive, pro-life, and affirmative act. One cannot create anything worthwhile without sacrificing something relatively worthless. The art of valuation is the real thing. One must learn what is valuable in life and never sacrifice it. Freedom, truth, clarity, and compassion are invaluable and should never be sacrificed. For the sake of what is valuable, everything else can be sacrificed. When there is clarity, there are no regrets. Wisdom is essentially about having a sound value system, knowing what is important and what is not.
