Having achieved a lot, why am I still dissatisfied?

Following is an excerpt from a samvaad (dialogue) session with Acharya Prashant.

Questioner: Sometimes we start off as something, then we set a target. Then we achieve it, and once I’m there, I still look for something else. And once I’ve received that something else, I’m here again looking for second something else. So, what am I actually looking for?

Acharya Prashant: That which you commonly look for, and that which you achieve has a limited purpose. Its purpose is to give you a glimpse of what you are really looking for. A glimpse is useful but cannot be a substitute for the real thing. So, there is one target that you set. You achieve it, well done. And the reward is a glimpse.

The glimpse must impel you towards more of something. The glimpse is a fleeting sensation, a momentary revelation, a passing flash of light. And it’s one’s reward for the pains, the planning, the execution. And the glimpse says: ‘Now, surpass me’. The glimpse says: ‘If this much is this good, how good would be one step further?’ That’s what it says.

Q: Where does it stop?

AP: It stops when the glimpse becomes life itself.

Q: How far?

AP: Not at all far if you bow down to the glimpse and read it rightly. And very, very far if…