The Power of Imagination

When you were a child, did you ever get completely absorbed in a book?

The earliest memory I have of doing this occurred on a long, hot, lazy summer holiday with my family. My reading ability had only just reached the level where I could read with ease for hours on end, and I was devouring a wonderful book called Charlotte’s Webb, by E. B. White. Perhaps you know it? It’s such a beautiful, touching book.

I must have read it in just a few sittings, and by the end of the book I was really in an altered state. I was so deeply touched… and just immersed….

Immersed in a new world, a new way of being. It was magical.

As an adult, I’ve experienced a similar phenomenon when I attend workshops or retreats. I remove myself from my every day life and choose to consistently put my attention on my inner world. And in the process my experience of life can radically change.

This is one of the basic principles of spiritual practice, and it’s a powerful truth: we have the power to choose where we put our attention, and this choice has enormous ramifications. We are not victims of our life circumstances; we can choose how we experience what happens to us. And we can choose to withdraw our attention from the “world of things”around us, and dive into the inner world, where our full and glorious potential lies waiting for us.

So, when kids get lost in a book, or listening to a story, I think something really important is happening. They are flexing their inner muscles, discovering that reality is more malleable than many adults would have them believe.

Here’s one of my favourite stories on this theme: A Knock at the Door.