Pursuit

There is no satisfaction in the senses and their enjoyments, the temporary fulfillment appears followed by the lack of fulfillment and emptiness leaving the mind for craving and a constant pursuit for pleasure in various avenues.

Gurudeva rightly describes the conscious mind as the donkey and the carrot.

The mind is constantly trying to find satisfaction in new content in

1. Songs.PK/Youtube - you hear a catchy newly heard song, you go and download it or watch it online on YouTube.  The habit builds up you end up downloading many songs, better, next song, next song, etc and you have lost a lot of time and the same lack of fulfillment is back after few days or weeks

2. FM Radio/TV: Same thing here except that you are now not only listening but also watching to the never ending ramifications in the stories and content by various writers coupled with artists trying to making their buck by overacting and the un-fulfillment is back

3. Chat: Met an old friend online, you exchange messages, you even meet up and have a couple drinks, not only talk about past memories and listen to mutual problems / interests, but also create some new memories, which leads to other consequences. A few days later you lose touch, the lack of fulfillment in meeting and catching up with friends is back.

4. Movies: See a lot of movies during holidays, each story is'nt really different from what you have already seen a 100 times in past movies. Back. End up boasting about it with friends

5. Career: Get a promotion/hike. You have a beer party, enjoy with friends, (end up making them jealous as well), after few days you wonder where you are going or whether you need to change your job :)

6. Car/Vehicle/Bike: Find a new car going across you or a friend bought recently, start doing research on what the features of the car (not how a new habit is getting created). There are many people I know who are so crazy about car and driving that they spend too much time even many many hours just discussing about the car features, they could have earned money had they been marketing for these cars in the company which made the car. After many hrs of discussion, back to real life, back to now and the lack of fulfillment is back. Meanwhile the guy who got the ideas about the car from this person is busy shelling out all hard earned money in buying one (inspired!)

7. Phone/Gadgets: There is always a better one coming every 3 months, always a better ROM available with faster easier handling, much better user experience. To do what ? To again repeat all the above habits more effectively online

8. Social Networking: World is now connected. You see your old friends, what they are upto, sometimes feel good, sometimes feel bad depending on where you are relatively positioned. Comparisons start : you may just get an idea to change your career path.

Yes these are the distractions which keep us away from the now. Yet they have their own lesson to teach
1. social networking
2. ROMS
3. Mobile Apps
4. Songs
5. Videos
6. TV
7. Shopping/Eating habits

I can go on and on and on, each of these can consume a person fully for many many lifetimes.