Can focusing on our intention impede creativity?
Then we will be able to practice bhakti sustainably.
Can consciousness impede creativity? Sometimes you say something pops up and that might be interesting and we may learn from it also. Yes, there are two different points being discussed over here. One is that we have a conscious intention to do something and we are distracted from that by some stray thoughts or stray ideas.
And the other is also the possibility that what is serendipity, accidental discovery of good things. Serendipity is also a possibility. We are doing one thing and another idea pops up.
That's a good idea. So that is possible. Now again here, what is required is the capacity to differentiate.
Not every pop-up that comes in the computer is going to be of something inspiring, something interesting, something worth learning. Much of it, we just waste our time. So it's not that everything is good, nor is it that everything that pops up is bad.
We need to have the capacity to differentiate. Differentiate means something we may just say no, something we may say later, something we say no, I'll do it now. So one of the ways I contribute is through writing.
And while I'm writing, as a writer, I always keep getting ideas. So now I can't just say that every stray thought is bad. Say for example, when I was giving an answer to this question, I thought at one point I could write an article.
I can't stop this talk and say I'll note this down and then I'll come back and start it again. So we have to have our own mechanisms by which we can catch these ideas without being caught by them. Sometimes we are doing something important and we can't immediately do that.
Sometimes we may not be doing anything important and we can immediately develop that idea. But if you're not able to do that, then at that time, you just maybe have some way by which you recollect things or note it down somewhere, record it on a phone and keep it. But don't let it distract us from something important.
So from the inner world, sometimes good ideas pop up, sometimes not so good ideas pop up. So we need to have some amount of capacity to discern. And what we are talking about right now in this class is even if we get a good idea, to develop that idea, we will need to focus on it.
What happens is if I don't develop that idea, while I'm developing that idea, another idea comes up. Then another idea comes up, another idea comes up. As an author, I meet hundreds of people who say, you know, one day I want to write a book.
Out of those hundreds, thousands of people, very few actually get down to writing a book. Why? Because getting an idea is good. But getting an idea is just the first part.
All the sweat, the toil, all that comes for translating that idea into a reality. And again there also, the mind can distract. So we need to catch the ideas which are good, but at the same time, we can't let the ideas keep distracting us from where we want to go.
So consciousness doesn't distract us from creativity. Consciousness enables us to tap creativity. If I'm conscious, then if a good idea comes up, I'll be aware of it also.
Take the same example another way. Now if I'm reading something and there are two windows that pop up. Now one is something very interesting, another is something just distracting.
If I get caught by the distracting, I'll miss the interesting. Sometimes in our mind, some anxiety is going on and some idea also pops up, but we just don't notice it. So even to tap a creative idea, to notice a creative idea, to note a creative idea, we need consciousness.
And then to develop that idea into reality, there also we need consciousness. So conscious awareness and conscious intention always helps us. But that doesn't mean, so we shouldn't think that being consciously intentional doesn't mean we shut off all other reality.
It just means we are aware of the primary reality the most and secondary things, we can tap on them as appropriate. Does that answer your question? Can we take one more question? Yes, please.