Acharya Prashant responds to a question about the inefficiency of the iterative process of self-improvement. He uses the analogy of a folded towel to represent the self, with its many layers. The desire is to have this towel be well-pressed, neatly ironed, and without any creases or wrinkles. He explains that one way to deal with the creases is to keep looking at oneself and making superficial improvements. However, this is a long, drawn-out, and iterative process that is also untrustworthy because it is the untrustworthy self that is doing the improving. This method involves observing a bulge or crease and simply shifting it elsewhere, which only moves the problem without resolving it. This superficial arrangement will take a very long time and can be infinitely unproductive because a new bulge will appear elsewhere. Acharya Prashant presents another way of looking at oneself, which involves the same act of self-observation but with a different intention. Instead of making superficial adjustments, this method requires one to be merciless and ruthless enough to peel off the layers and get to the root of the problem. By getting to the real culprit within, represented by a green ball hidden inside the towel, the issue can be resolved at its source. Once this core issue, the ego-tendency, is removed, the towel naturally becomes smooth and fine. This is the fastest method, which Sri Ramana Maharshi called the "straight-line method." The fault, therefore, does not lie with the process of self-observation, but with the intention behind it. The question is whether one wants to give the problem a superficial treatment or get to its root. Addressing a follow-up question on distinguishing between attachment and compassion (paramarth), Acharya Prashant explains that the first and foremost attachment is to one's own body. This is demonstrated by the fact that one would not trade their life for any amount of money, proving the body is the primary attachment. Consequently, those who are related to the body, such as blood relatives, become very close attachments. This is why the attachment between a mother and child is so strong, as it is fundamentally a body-identification. Therefore, when one works for those with whom there is a bodily relationship, it is likely attachment. Conversely, working for those with whom one has no bodily connection is less likely to be attachment and more likely to be compassion. The key is the intensity of the desire for freedom and the stamina to be at war with oneself, which comes from love and an insistence on being free.
