Acharya Prashant explains that desire is an urge that lacks self-knowledge, causing one to spend themselves on worldly attractions while forgetting their origin and destination. He clarifies that the 'softness' spoken of by Lao Tzu is not the dualistic opposite of hardness, but rather a negation of the ego's rigidity. The ego is inherently hard and stubborn, whether it presents itself as firm or unsure. Therefore, the softness Lao Tzu advocates is a metaphor for the non-dual truth that exists beyond the dualities of the ego.