Forget what you’ve been told about creativity. Sadhguru suggests the true source of innovation isn’t about generating something new but about something far more fundamental. This article reveals how a shift in your perception can transform your creative process.
Questioner: Creative professions require us to continually come up with new things, and that always makes me wonder: where does creativity really come from? Is it us, or is there more to it? And when we’re looking to tap into that, how do we find it?
Sadhguru: What I am about to say may be a little shocking: There is really no such thing as creativity. Everything human beings have ever done is simply an imitation and modification of what already exists. No matter what kind of machine you create, the finest mechanics are already within our bodies. The most sophisticated electrical and chemical systems are also present in our bodies.
If you look at creativity in terms of art, for example, everything that human beings do is a small imitation of nature. If referring to this process as “imitation” sounds negative to you, you could instead call it creativity.
To be creative in any field, you have to observe. The most profound observation brings an enormous vision of the possibilities in everything you do. If you develop the ability to observe every detail of your actions and surroundings, you can be enormously creative in everything you do.
Creativity need not necessarily mean inventing something fantastic. Even in something seemingly mundane like sweeping the floor, you can be creative. In every simple action, you can be creative if you observe everything that is happening within you and around you.
If you truly observe what is happening within you on all levels, you will be enormously creative. Similarly, if you constantly observe what is happening around you, you will see there is always another, more innovative way to do things.
For creativity to arise, you have to develop a certain level of clarity in the mind. If you carry the baggage of life with you all the time, you cannot see anything the way it is.
In Yoga, we describe the mind as a mirror. A mirror is useful only if it is clean and plain. If it is undulating or has accumulated something, it does not show you things as they are. The nature of the mirror is such that when you stand before it, it reflects you in full glory.
If you leave, the mirror retains no residue of you. When the next person comes and stands in front of the mirror, it reflects that person in their full glory. Even if a million people look at themselves in a particular mirror, they cannot leave an iota of their qualities in it.
If you can keep your mind like this – where the experience of life and the exposure to life leave no residue on your mind – then you see things just as they are. Then there is room to innovate and create every aspect of your life.
In my own life, I am supposed to be a guru, but people come to me for all kinds of things. They may want guidance on how to build a building, arrange flowers, design clothes, lay out a garden, or anything else. This is not because I have great knowledge about these things. It is simply because when I look at something, I see it clearly, the way it is.
When you see everything the way it is, it becomes simple and clear how you want it to be. This comes from a certain level of involvement that you develop. When you do not label anything as important or not important, as something you like or do not like, or as yours and not yours, you will see everything the way it is.
When you see things this way, it becomes easy to construct or create anything because it is just a question of the material at hand and how to put it together.
Some people even approached me about building a bridge in their town. The moment they asked me about that, those around me questioned, “What is this, Sadhguru? They are asking to build a bridge?” I said, “Yes, we are going to build a bridge.” I immediately accepted it.
I am not a qualified engineer; there are many architects who can design bridges. But these people came to me for this project simply because of the innovation they saw in the simple things I have built around me.
I have not spent much time on whatever we have created at the ashram and in other places. I did not spend any time learning about it, nor do I spend much time on making the idea happen in my mind. If you simply see it for one moment, it is there.
It is not about possessing a spiritual gift or talent. It is just that people have clouded their minds with likes and dislikes, with what they consider theirs or not, with what they deem important or not. Once this happens, you will not involve yourself in anything that you consider not important or not yours. Without involvement, nothing functions well.
When you are deeply involved with everything you encounter at any given moment, you will see everything clearly, as it needs to be seen.
Above all, if your mind is not at a certain level of clarity and involvement with everything, not only will you not function well – life will bypass you. You will live in this world without really knowing and experiencing it.
