A Deal With Memory & Imagination

An elderly man in a bar picked up a tissue paper and scribbled a line “Why  Suffer  The  Past  And  Future …. that does not exist”. He then wrote “A Deal” you pay for my drinks and I shall reflect on your "Deal With Memory & Imagination” and placed it on the next table where 3 friends were sitting. On reading the note the three were adjusting their seats closer to the old man.

After exchanging their names, the elderly man said in your conversations I could sense you three were living in the past or worrying about the future. A physicist may disagree but generally it is not hard to accept - the past and future do not exist in the moment… yet we suffer them. Blaming the past and the future for our sufferings is quite wrong, it actually is all about our “Deal with Memory and Imagination”.

Suffering is an experience every human being encounters, but understanding its roots can help us break free from its grip. Living in the past or worrying about the future are common habits that exacerbate our misery. We choose to live with unresolved emotions, attachments, and a failure to live in the present moment. By consciously analyzing the roots of our pain, we begin to see how unnecessary suffering arises from unconscious habits. This awareness is the first step towards cultivating a more fulfilling and authentic life.

A million feelings, thousand thoughts a hundred memories. We do not remember days but remember moments. A good life is a collection of good memories but one is careless not choosing to live well in each moment. Today’s moments are tomorrow’s memories.

Memory plays a crucial role in identity, growth and our sense of connection. Let it act as a spiritual library of divine encounters, life’s lessons and relationships, One must cultivate wisdom through practices like reflection, remembrance, forgiveness and imagining sacred stories, One must align the present with a deeper spiritual purpose viewing memorization as a way to internalize guidance. Scriptures teach - use memory for learning, not lamenting and to find strength with Divine’s presence rather than dwelling on past pains.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination, and true changes take place in one’s imagination. You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus. Imagination should be used, not to escape reality, but create it.  

Spiritually inclined imagination becomes a powerful inner tool for discovering, experiencing, and creating meaning, enabling a more profound and active spiritual life. 

Your deal with imagination is not to serve you as fantasy but a vital spiritual faculty for connecting with deeper truths, fostering personal growth, and driving positive change, serving as a bridge between the mundane and the sacred.

In spirituality, memory and imagination are profoundly interconnected, working together to shape personal experience, foster hope, facilitate compassion, and provide a pathway for spiritual growth. Their togetherness provides a rich resource for navigating life, fostering a profound sense of connectedness to oneself, others, and the wider natural and spiritual world. 

Memory should guide wisdom, not regret. Imagination should open possibility not fear.

In that sense the week 20^th – 27^th December in remembrance of four Chote Sahibzada’s martyrdom (sons of Guru Gobind Singh ji) stands as the ultimate counter example to suffering- based memory:  They are remembered not to mourn pain, but to activate courage, faith, and timeless presence.