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Having achieved a lot, why am I still dissatisfied? || Acharya Prashant, at Kedarnath (2019)
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5 years ago
Dissatisfaction
Achievement
Glimpse
Maya
Truth
Spirituality
Transcendence
Kabir Saheb
Description

Acharya Prashant addresses a question about the perpetual cycle of setting a target, achieving it, and then immediately looking for something else, leading to a constant state of dissatisfaction. He explains that the things one commonly looks for and achieves have a limited purpose. Their purpose is to provide a glimpse of what one is truly seeking. This glimpse is useful, but it cannot be a substitute for the real thing. The reward for achieving a target is this glimpse, which should impel a person towards more of that which is truly sought. The glimpse essentially says, "Now surpass me." If this much is good, how much better would the next step be? This cycle of seeking and achieving only stops when the glimpse becomes life itself. This destination is not far if one understands the glimpse correctly, but it is very far if one uses the succession of glimpses as a proxy for the real revelation. Acharya Prashant quotes Kabir Saheb to illustrate this point: "Maya is a great deceiver. For Keshav, she becomes Kamala; for Shiva, she becomes Bhavani. For the priest, she becomes an idol; in the pilgrimage, she becomes water. For some, she becomes a diamond; for others, a worthless shell." He explains that whatever one identifies with becomes their Maya (illusion). For the devotee, the idol is Maya; for the pilgrim, the holy water is Maya. For the poor, poverty is Maya, and for the rich, money is Maya. This Maya must be transcended, not through renunciation, but by using the very thing to go beyond it, much like using water to swim through a river. These glimpses of satisfaction from worldly achievements must be used to go beyond the glimpses themselves. He further elaborates that all worldly achievements, such as those bought with money, are ultimately I-centered. Money can show what it can and cannot do. The glimpse it provides is already there, and it is up to the individual to attain that which cannot be monetized. If money cannot bring lasting peace to oneself, it cannot bring it to others either. He points out that the world is unstable and conflicted because it lacks a spiritual foundation. The Upanishads state that Brahman is the stabilizing tail of the universe, not a destabilizing one. Truth, or Atman, stands for peace and love, not disquiet and separation. Therefore, families need not fear the spiritual path, as it is not about destruction but about purification and elevation. The images associated with spirituality might be terrifying, but the real thing is alluring. Truth is the solution to all worries, not another worry.