What is the first step towards attaining liberation, and why is perceiving the world as transient so crucial?

The path to liberation begins with a crucial mental shift. According to the teachings in Chapter 19, there can be no liberation without knowledge, and knowledge cannot be attained without detachment. The text explicitly states that the idea of detachment does not even spark as long as the mind fails to perceive the world as transient. This is because worldly affairs are likened to the arrangements of a dream; they are a false play of Maya. Recognizing this transience is the 'awakening' needed to break the bonds of grief and delusion, allowing one to stop laboring in vain for things that ultimately disappear upon waking to one's true self.