Special sense called imagination

Wouldn't life be a drudgery, a dry desert walk if we could not fly on the wings of imagination? We create a virtual world by using our imagination. We depend on the power of imagination so much because our mundane reality is not very juicy and satisfying.

Most of the time we have to make adjustments, compromises and settle for something we have not aspired for. With imagination we can take flight in our own realm, fulfil all the dreams that cannot come true in life.

This faculty is also called the "mind's eye" or the "special sense" and it is exclusively human.

The human capacity to imagine has allowed mankind to discover some of the mysteries of nature.

The evolution of the human brain has created millions of new cells and new pathways that have opened a whole new world for mankind to enjoy.

In today's stressed times, people more and more take refuge in their own imaginary world.

But sometimes a bout of imagination creates funny situations. People start imagining things that are completely unrealistic.

An old man is sitting in a railway compartment and a young man in front of him asks, "Can I know the time, sir?" The old man has a watch, but the old man thinks for a while.

The young man thinks, " Perhaps he is deaf, he is old." So he shouts loudly, "I want to know, what is the time?"

The old man said, "Listen, young man, I am not deaf. I have heard that you want to know what the time is, but I was thinking whether to tell you the time or not, because once I tell you the time, there will be an opening between us. I will ask you, `Where are you going?' And you will say, `The next station,' and I will say, `That's strange, I am also going there. In fact I live there, so why don't you come and have a cup of coffee with us?'

I have a beautiful young daughter and you will fall in love with each other may be some time later.  And I don't want my daughter to be married to a man who does not have even a wristwatch!"

This kind of lucid imagination is good for creating fiction, but when one starts meditating this habit is a great barrier.

Because meditation is a search for the truth and imagination is anti-truth. Osho suggests, you can use this power of imagination and focus it on the present moment; it will help you go deeper into it.

If you can do it, imagination can be a bridge to reality.