Imagine, you are wandering in the  deep Jungle when suddenly you come across a wild Tiger.

You try to climb the nearby tree but there is already a hungry leopard sitting on the top branch.

You whistle aloud. But the day is bad, it attracts two more lions from the sides.

You start running back only to fall into the Pit. The wild predators are now watching and ready to pound over you.

What should you do?

Don’t be scared. The answer to this riddle is simple.

STOP IMAGINING!

Imagination is a wonderful human virtue, a powerful tool readily available to all of us right away. It is the very foundation by which the creative potential in humans is unleashed.  Fundamentally,  Imagination is  visualizing a vivid picture of possibilities in the mind.  Once we are convinced and determined to realize the imagined version of reality, it takes the form of Vision. This inspires us, excites us, and also enables us to invent new things.

 “Everything that is Real was Imagined First” 

This is a  quote from the children’s storybook Velveteen Rabbit.

It is astonishing to know, many modern inventions were first described in science fiction novels  around 50 yrs back. It includes Smartwatches, Submarine, Autonomous Cars, Mobile phones, Defibrillators, Space Travel, and Credit cards.

“Heavier than air flying machines are impossible,” said Lord Kelvin, one of the eminent scientists and president of the Royal society in 1895. He was proven wrong by Wright Brothers by demonstrating the working flight just eight years after that.

Imagination bestows the creative power while at the same time brings about interesting psychological aspects of the day to day living.

When a consumer goods company is selling fairness cream, what they are actually selling is Hope! Hope is a positive imagination of the future possibility.

As consumers, we all experience the influx of joy, excitement, and happiness when we want to buy a new car, a new phone, or plan a new vacation. Many consumers believe that the purchase will make them more fulfilled and happier. However once the purchase is made, the enjoyment or happiness declines. In all likelihood, the thing turns out to be not exactly the same way it was first imagined!  More is the gap between imagination and reality,  steeper is the decline.  This pattern is called a “Hedonic Decline”.

On the subtler aspects, emotion like fear, anxiety, and restlessness is sourced from the negative imagination of the future. The mind has the power to exaggerate, dramatize or tamper with the real picture.  It’s like attempting to solve a difficult, complex problem that exists only in imagination and not in reality.

Whether exciting, wild, or scary, it is still the imagination. It can come to fruition only when real actions are performed. Without actions and strategy, imagination remains a mere fiction and conceptual idea.

There is an amusing story about Sheikh Chili – a foolish and daydreaming character from my memories of childhood stories.

Sheikh Chilli once was given an offer by a rich trader to carry the pot of oil for some handsome pay. Sheikh Chilli immediately agreed. As he walked with the pot, he started dreaming

After I get this money …. I’ll buy a few hens.  I’ll then sell a lot of eggs and buy the cow.

I’ll sell the milk of cows .. Then I’ll buy more cows … Thus I’ll become richer. I’ll buy a big farm and also employ a few labors

I’ll marry the beautiful lady. We’ll roam around the world and then We’ll plan for the kids…..

and then suddenly Sheikh Chilli hit a bump on the road. The oil pot tumbled and crashed to the ground.

The trader suddenly shouted. You idiot, the whole oil is lost.

Sheikh Chili immediately replied

How Unfair! You only lost your oil. I lost everything..my hens, cows, farm, wife, and kids!

Although it was a dream, it was a beautiful dream for Sheikh Chilli.  Dream and imagination go hand in hand psychologically. Imagination is a controlled dream. The constructive imagination has few intangible benefits to human psychology. We are already surrounded by disturbing, violent, and annoying incidences around. Without the aid of imagination, the immediate reality is enough to destroy our mental well-being and dilute the spirit of living. Just Imagine!

Interestingly, stories and storytelling is found to be powerful technique to enhance cognitive skills in kids. It helps them with multiple benefits like enhanced imagination, visualizing spoken words, improved vocabulary, and more refined communication skills. (link)

Upanishads or Vedic texts describe the world as the imagination of the Supreme Being. Adi Shankaracharya said

“Bramha Satyam, Jagat Mithya” – Brahman is only real, the world is an illusion.

This is called Mahavakya (a great statement) as it establishes the basis and provides a strong guiding principle to lead a meaningful & blissful life.

Let’s do a quick thought experiment. Imagine you are waging an epic war with a small army of 50 soldiers fighting with 1000 soldiers ruled by a fierce enemy king with a fleet of elephants and horses on the battlefield.  Now let’s ask, Who are the enemy king, soldiers, animals fighting for or against you?

In fact, they don’t exist outside your imagination window. There is no one in the battlefield other than you.  Thus, the war is an illusion-Mithya and the dreamer is the only reality – The Brahm.

In the same way, if the world is a God’s imagination then by the same logic we are none other than manifestation of that supreme being. We are part of the dream but are simply ignorant treating the world as Real.

The mere idea itself has the power to set us free from bondage, anxieties, fear, and restless chatter of the mind.

This comes close to the recent Sci-fi cinema “Free Guy”. The protagonist  in the movie realizes that he is a part of a grand video game, a colourful world of jazzy characters programmed by young software freaks. He decides to set himself free from the routine program. Finally he overcome barriers and reaches to a new island,  landing into a new and free world.

The theme is equally true for all of us. It needs us first to believe and then reflect on the higher truth. Awakening is same as  waking up to realize everything  was a part of a lucid dream or creative imagination. 

The best part of the Vedic teachings is, that we can reimagine things, alter the course of events and create new possibilities in this adventurous game – We call Life.