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<h1>Imagination Summary</h1>
 
<h1>Imagination Summary</h1>
  

Revision as of 10:16, 7 November 2018

Read more about Imagination from the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.


Imagination Summary

What is Imagination?

Imagination is the capacity to project oneself outside realized things and towards things realizable.

The Imagination is really the power of mental formation. When this power is put at the service of divine, it is not only formative but also creative.

Our surface imagination is a selection from a vaster more creative and effective subliminal image-building power of consciousness.. It is a substitute for a truer consciousness faculty of intuition of possibility.

Imagination is one of the ways of capturing the unknown possibilities of the infinite.

Imagination Represents Possibilities

Mind constructs figures which are not true to the outer experience. They are the appearance of it. Our mind is an observer of actualities and recipient of truths not yet known or actualized, a dealer of possibilities that mediate between the truth and actuality. It doesn’t have the capacity to know everything of an infinite consciousness; Mind has limited knowledge and it has to supplement its restricted knowledge by imagination and discovery. . It does not, like the infinite Consciousness, manifest the known, it has to discover the unknown.

All imagination represents some form of possibilities. Perhaps a very different form of actuality. Most of them are unrealized because they do not enter the scheme of present reality or do not come within the permitted potential of the individual or do not accord with collective principle or are alien to the nature of the current world.

Nature of Imagination

Imagination which persist in the human mind, end often by self-fulfillment; individual thought formation can actualize themselves. If there is sufficient strength in the formation or in the mind that forms, it. Imagination can create its own potentiality. In fact all imagination represents possibilities.

All human imaginations indeed correspond to some reality or real possibilities, though they may be quite inaccurate representation and therefore inapt to express the truth of supraphysical realities.

Types of Imagination

Mental Imagination

The one which comes from the mind. It includes ideas, images, scenarios etc. This imagination is more of delusional in nature. This imagination has a common tendency to want to materialize. This is something that every human beings possess. Ordinarily, our mental imagination is an instrument of Ignorance.

Truth Imagination

The one which comes from a higher state or truth consciousness. Inspiration and Intuitions are powers of this truth consciousness.

As the mind opens to the higher regions, a higher force passes through all mental layer. It reveals itself as new truths, a new philosophical system, a new spiritual teachings. This imagination prepare a new age. All the saints and great beings possess this capacity of truth imagination.

Sources of Imagination

The Mental and Truth imaginations have different sources.

Mental Imagination is sometimes coming from a variation of a memory and/or combination of actualities. It is a substitute for true conciseness faculty of intuition of possibilities.

The sources from which mental imagination comes has nothing to do with the reason and does not care for any rational objections. They come from the vital mind, which picks up random suggestions anywhere and present it to the mind just to see whether it will be accepted. If one watches he can see that a lot of irrational thoughts pass through mind.

It is the vital mind, i.e. the mental faculty under the influence of ‘desires, impulses, force-pushes, emotions, sensations, seekings after life-fulfilment, possession and enjoyment’ which builds the plans and imagines. Ordinarily, the vital mind’s imagination is governed by an unbalanced vital, a weak nervous system and unruled impulses without any true mental will or strong vital to steady it.

Mind is not an original and primary creative power of consciousness; it isa derivative, an instrument, an intermediary creator. Our mind stands between superconscience and Inconscience (subconscience) and receives from both the these opposite powers.

A higher Imagination or Truth Imagination

As mind ascends towards truth consciousness, the mental power becomes a truth imagination. The mind then is able to receive inspirations and seeing power of the mind develops. It is no longer constructing, imagining, fantasising, creating scenarios, but is a channel, a receptor of the higher knowledge, the truth consciousness.

How to Control Imagination

One can turn the imagination upwards or downwards. Up above lies all inspiration of artistic and literary things. This comes from another domain, not the mental-vital repository. The finer beauty and creativity can manifest through receiving light from above.

One can be aware of all the thoughts happening in the mind and choose to put them in their place, keep some thoughts, destroy some and focus all formative power on creating the images that confirms with one’s highest aspiration. Imagination is a faculty which can be disciplined, can be used at will, directed and oriented. It is one of the faculty one can develop in oneself and be used for definite purpose.

Use of Imagination

Imagination can be used to create one’s inner and outer life. It is an elementary way to creating and of forming things in the world. Our imagination goes ahead of our life. One can imagine what one wants to be and open paths for realizations. By using the power of imagination one can project oneself into the future and this helps the person in moving forward to actualizing that potential.

Imagination is useful in science. Without imagination humans will not discover anything.

The more optimistic one’s imagination is the greater the chances of realizing one's aim.

Imagination and Yoga

The power of imagination is very useful in yoga. This power of making form is a stays as a creative potential form in oneself. When the mind is put in communion with the divine will, the Truth begins to descend through the layers between the mind and the highest Light. This often takes the form of vision, and its communion with the creative energy helps translate the seed ideas and imagination into manifested realities.

Misuse of Imagination

If Imagination is used in unconscious and excessive way without discipline, it brings negative consequences on the person.

Most of the people give form to one's fears and anticipates accidents and miss fortunes. This undermines one’s own future. Stop imagining the wrong things and the misery will stop at the same time.

Practices

Imagining in detail about how one wants one’s spiritual and material life is a good practice to gain clarity and inspiration towards life ahead.

Being mindful of one’s Imagination is helpful to understand oneself better.

Dream journaling is also a good exercise to understand the content of one's deep unconscious mind.


Content curated by Stanly Sunny

Read more about Imagination from the works of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.