Instant Gratification

 

Photo Credit: Quotefancy 

Instant Gratification

Instant gratification is a term that refers to the temptation, and resulting tendency, to forego a future benefit in order to obtain a less rewarding but more immediate benefit. When we have a desire for something pleasurable—be it food, entertainment, or sex—you rarely think thoughts like, “My stomach is rumbling and I would love to have that delicious dish, but I’d rather wait another hour.”

It’s a natural human urge to want good things and to want them NOW. It has almost certainly provided an evolutionary advantage for humans and their ancestors, as life for pre-modern humans hinged on decisions made and actions taken in the immediate far more than those intended for long-term gain.

It’s all well and good to plan for the future, but actions that are taken to benefit you in the here and now are much more advantageous when you’re being stalked by a fierce predator or offered the opportunity to eat your fill in a time when starvation was a much bigger concern than obesity.

The flip side of instant gratification is delayed gratification, or the decision to put off satisfying your desire in order to gain an even better reward or benefit in the future. It’s easy to see how delayed gratification is generally the wiser behaviour, but we still struggle on a daily basis with the temptation to give in to our immediate desires. Why is it so difficult to choose delayed over instant gratification?

Instant gratification in the spiritual field is never going to happen, as any kind of temptation, any expectation is a sure-fire recipe for groping in the dark. With all things which are good, they happen in their own sweet time and specially when one has reached the stage to evolve spiritually.

We have ourselves to blame when we expect things to happen immediately with the Guru’s Grace – in fact they happen too, but we are not in a position to receive and absorb what is being offered. We consider a diamond to be a stone and throw it away! I know so many people who think that Swamiji should do everything for them – promising liberation in this birth does not mean that he will take on your karma from the past birth. He does this for the current birth and that itself is a huge favour. Our problem is our expectation and our giving in to temptation. It is always one step forward, two steps backward.

Once we realise that meditation and regular spiritual practice is the only thing that will purify us and lead us to liberation, our desire for instant gratification also dies a natural death. We learn to take life as it is, living in the moment with complete awareness.