Awaken the Poet within, else Life remains Asleep
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.
So, you are being attacked in both ways. Externally, there is a proliferation of lucrative objects. And there remains very little to educate you, to tell you to go within. The result is you are completely going outwards and outwards and outwards. So, the mind has become material, and the material is called gross — sthool.
Poetry is about the delicate, the fine. The more material your life will become, the less poetic it will remain. Because poetry is something delicate, fine, subtle. Instead, all that you want is the next great pair of shoes, the next mobile phone, the next car, the next girlfriend or boyfriend, the next mansion, the next tempting tourist destination. All of these are not poetic. All these are simply sthool — gross.
And there is nothing to send you within. Now you will see why poetry and spirituality are so interlinked. At least in India, you find that several of the great spiritual works have been composed in verse. In fact, we call them verses. Don't we? It is the “Shrimad Bhagavad Gita”. Gita — what does Geet mean?
Questioner: Song.
Acharya Prashant: Song. So, it is the “Shrimad Bhagavad Gita”— the song divine. The song is divine, not the essay divine. It’s not a long article or essay; it’s a song. Because certain things can be expressed only poetically. The subtle aspects of Truth can be brought out only poetically. Otherwise, words will fail. And poetry stands at the border between eloquence and silence. Poetry stands just at the point where words begin to fail. Therefore, if you want to just approach the Truth, the poem is the way.
So, you have the Ashtavakra Gita, Ribhu Gita, Avadhuta Gita, even Ram Gita, and Shiva Gita. Do you see so many “Gitas?” Just songs. Even the Ramcharitmanas, what do you do with it? You sing. Think of the saints; they wanted to bring self-knowledge to the masses. In that sense, they were a bit different than the sages. They said, “Everybody should know.” So, what was the medium they chose?
Questioner: Bhakti mārg and songs.
Acharya Prashant: They were singing. The saints were all poets. And they were constantly singing. Because there is something in a song that is very close to the ineffable. Getting it? So, the more you will find there is a decline in spirituality, you will find a decline in poetry as the symptom. And the more poetic a people will get, the more will be the chance of them turning spiritual. Right?
Poetry gives you nothing, except a certain invigoration, a certain transcendence of the usual self. You could call it a certain bliss. Nobody becomes a billionaire poet. And if all your life is just about billions of dollars, then why will you value poetry? Poetry is valued only by those who are aiming at something within.
And if the world becomes a place where “the within” is just ignored, rejected, or even humiliated, then you will find that poetry is dying. And the more material you get, the external symptoms are climate change, extinction of biodiversity, and the looming extinction of millions of species, including our own.
All that is just because there is nothing in life except this, this, this, this, this. All this that the corporations and the factories are churning out. All this that the advertisements are compelling you to shell out money for. Who has then the incentive to probe the subtle Truth within? Right?
Do not be like that. Even if you are a bad poet, still do write some poetry. Even if you are a bad songwriter, still have some songs of your own. It's, anyway, not for public consumption. It's anyway not for demonstration. Right? It's for yourself. Be a poetess unto yourself. And laugh at your poems if they are no good. That's okay. Getting it?
Questioner: Thank you. I'll write poems from now.
Acharya Prashant: Cute. All the best!
