The Fountain Within - An Art Essay

NARENDRA KINI manages to integrate his work as a successful Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur with being an artist, a poet and seeker of higher truth through meditative practices. He is currently the co-founder and CEO of Global Touchpoints, and here he talks of how he finds his inspiration for creativity and art.

- NARENDRA KINI

Meditation Inspires

I have found that my own approach to art is inspired by meditation. It is a process of letting go of control and allowing something to emerge. I took to art after I was inspired by an inner calling that happened after a meditation session about five years ago.

The efficacy of a meditation practice can be also assessed by its impact on our attitude towards life. It provides us with a sense of perspective and creative freedom that is unmatched. Through invoking stillness in the mind and relocating our awareness center to the heart, meditation – within minutes – offers a blank canvas with a wide range of possibilities. “Writer’s block” and “artist’s cul-de-sac” are common terms. Creativity can get stumped and inspiration can dry up, and we often look for external sources to revive these things. This approach is sometimes successful, but I have found the real fan to the creative flame lies within us. And if we lose that spark, we may irreparably dry up our authentic sense of creative direction. A visit to the fountain within will rarely fail to quench the thirst for inspiration. My personal realization is that paying attention to the inner condition, being centered in stillness and contemplation enables the manifestation of creative work. It is not to say that the work will be perfect, but it will be truly your own.