Jiddu Krishnamurti is regarded as one of the greatest spiritual figures of the twentieth century. Read (and listen to) what he had to say about TRUE CREATIVITY and, please let us know your thoughts.
Question: What is true creativity? And how is it different from that which is celebrated in popular culture?
KRISHNAMURTI: most creativity, as we call it, is man-made. That is, this creation takes from the known. Right? The known. The great musicians, Beethoven, Bach and so on, it is from the known they act. And the writers, philosophers and so on, also have read, accumulated, developed their own style and so on, always moving, or acting or writing from that which has been accumulated, known. And this we call, generally, creativity. Now is that really creative?…Or is there a different kind of creativity which is born out of the freedom from the known? …Because when we paint, write, create a marvellous structure out of stone, it is the accumulated knowledge, whether in the scientific field or in the world of art, human art, there is always this sense of carrying from the past to the present. Or imagination, romantic, factual, maudlin and so on. Is there creativity, something totally different from this activity that we call generally creativity?…
Extract from J. Krishnamurti Public Q&A Session 3, Ojai, CA, May 13, 1980.
Below are the links to the transcript on JKO, as well as the video of the Q&A meeting on the official Youtube Channel: