Questioner: My question is, why is creativity, like poetry, dying these days? And poetry is a part of literature. And how much contribution of literature is there on the way to Adhyatma?
Acharya Prashant: See, the more you will lose touch with yourself, the more material your world will get. There are two directions you can look at — the outer direction and the inner direction. In the outer direction, there is only the material, right 1.26? When you look outwards, what do you find? Buildings, roads, vehicles, stones, mountains, people. All that is quite material, right? Material.
The subtle is here, inside. And the subtlest truth is the self, which is again within. But the way life has been, the way we have come to our age, it has been actively disincentivized to go within. How? First of all, industrial production has stuffed our world with so many lucrative objects that there is no time, no space, no opportunity, and no incentive to look the other way.
There are so many tempting objects all around you, 360 degrees. And there are corporations and factories constantly producing those objects. So, you are looking at those things, things, things, things, things, things, things, things. Wherever you go, things, new things. And those things appeal and attract. So, the material has started ruling the mind.
Additionally, there has been a great decline in true spirituality. Bogus cults and babas have risen and are ruling. So, the importance of going within has totally gone unaddressed. Self-knowledge is on the decline. People are not really reading books of wisdom. I have seen a very visible change in the quality of content available in bookstores. The philosophy section is out. Self-help has expanded. Wisdom is out. Superstition has ballooned.
