A questioner, who has been on a spiritual path for six years, explains that after three years of peaceful spiritual practice, he got married and is now troubled by a strong curiosity for sex. He feels his fantasies about marriage were not met by reality, and he now desires multiple sexual experiences to get rid of this urge, believing it will help him return to his spiritual path. He is confused because his mind doesn't accept that sex is a normal affair and wants to experience it with others to be sure, even though he knows it's wrong to cheat on his wife. Acharya Prashant responds by first questioning the effectiveness of the man's initial spiritual practice. He explains that if the practice were truly powerful, it wouldn't have led to the current confusion after marriage. The issue is not with the householder's life but with the mind's underlying turmoil. The desire to get rid of the sexual urge to return to spiritual practice indicates that the practice itself was flawed and did not address the root of the restlessness. The problem is not the wife or sex, but the fundamental state of the man's own being. He is blaming external circumstances for his inner state, just as a person might blame youth, old age, poverty, or wealth for their unhappiness. Acharya Prashant clarifies that no amount of external experience or enjoyment can satisfy the enjoyer or change their fundamental state. He uses the analogy of a car with a faulty engine: no amount of petrol (enjoyment) can fix the car; the engine (the self) must be repaired. Fixing the self is the purpose of spirituality, which he describes as a negative path of cutting away, removing, and negating what is false. The root cause of the man's suffering is ignorance—not knowing things as they truly are. This ignorance cannot be removed by merely repeating a sentence but requires deep understanding. The solution, Acharya Prashant advises, is to seek the company of scriptures and the wise. This has a dual benefit: one learns the truth beyond one's own thoughts, and one is saved from corrupting company. He emphasizes that this requires effort and regular practice. Spirituality is not about positive thinking or motivation but about the hard work of self-correction and removing what is false within.
