There are no inventions, only discoveries
A discovery is nothing but an awareness of something that already exists. To discover is to be conscious of something that has managed to evade the consciousness of everyone else. Discoveries tend to hide in plain sight only because one else has yet had the insight.
An invention, on the other hand, is believed to be the creation of something that has never existed. To invent something is to bring it to life through sheer belief, immaculate thought, and relentless strife. To invent is to birth an intangible idea and transplant it into tangible reality.
The two concepts might seem to have little in common but look a little closer and you will realize that deeper than the surface run their ties. There are no inventions, there are only discoveries in life.
# Nikola Tesla
“My brain is only a receiver, in the Universe, there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength, and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists.”
— Nikola Tesla
it is this quote from Nikola Tesla, arguably the greatest inventor of all time, that incepted this idea in my head. This quote echoes my beliefs and resonates with my inner truth.
Nikola Tesla came to realize, as all creators inadvertently do, that all his creations are not his own. That he is not the source of creation but merely a channel. He does not fabricate his reality, the universe does so through him. That he is not the inventor but the discoverer.
No device, poem, painting, sculpture, or other creation is invented, it is merely discovered.
# The creations are already there
“Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.”
— Michaelangelo
Every creation hides within this “core”, in much the same way that every block of stone conceals a statue within. Every invention is a potential discovery waiting to happen; every invention is a discovery actualized.
Every invention is an answer to a question that has been pondered by at least one human since the beginning of time. An answer is scattered and fragmented in a higher plane of reality till you piece the bits together.
You could not possibly bring into this reality something that does not already exist within the “core”. It is alive and kicking as a thought in the universal unconscious; you give it life and bring it to the collective conscious. You actualize the potentiality. You discover the inventions of the universe.
# Ideas transpiring into reality
If you could watch a time-lapse of the human worlds, the internal as well as the external, you would see that it is nothing but ideas transpiring into reality. The idea would begin as a seed planted in the internal world, the subconscious, of a few individuals. You would watch as the idea germinates in the subconscious, plants its roots there and if nurtured, it grows. It develops and sprouts and pops its head out, rising above the ground, into the conscious mind, ready to be transplanted into the external world, into tangible reality.
From there on out, you would see the spread out into the world. Eventually, you would see the advancement of the idea. You would watch in awe and delight as generations of human beings would improvise and iterate on that idea, spurring its inevitable evolution. It would continue to develop, striving to reach its “perfect” version much the same way plants, prodded by life, continue to do so.
An ideal version that would always appear within reach yet remain far. A state of perfection that could only ever be realized in the higher dimensions of life. An absolute state that would be unattainable but the striving would never stop.
All in all, you would see the intangible forms of thoughts and images morph into solid and tangible reality. Reality carries within it the potential for all inventions and discoveries, much like the seed shelters the possibility of a tree.
# Action is as critical
This time-lapse would not end with ideas and thoughts; it would only begin there. Like any plant, the idea could sustain itself without any external help but would do better and grow faster if nurtured well. As any gardener comes to realize, it is not the nutrients or the soil but dedication, love, and support that allows a plant to grow.
While the idea germinates within you and takes root entirely of its own accord (as long as you do not get in its way) it is for you to transplant it into reality. It is on you to nurture and support its growth. The universe can only whisper to you but it is you who must speak and speak you must through your actions. Actions, after all, speak louder than words.
# Connection with the universe
To be a channel for the universe, you first need to connect with the universe. The universe is omnipresent but it cannot work through you unless you bond with it. Powerful WiFi signals might be all around but the raw and limitless power of the internet cannot be leveraged if there isn’t a receiver to gobble up all that rich data.
You need to tap into this universal consciousness, the “core” and it is simultaneously the easiest and hardest thing there is to do. It is easy because, if you allow it, it will flow through you as naturally as air moves through you. It is the hardest because to allow the answer to come to you, you must first drop all the questions. Get out of your way and the universe will act through. You are, after all, the universe in action. Let it all go and everything will flow.
You must empty your mind before it can be restored. You must ask what is needed and not what you want. You must be willing to take and only then can you receive it. You cannot hear the universe if you continue to think and internally speak. You must have faith and for that, the thinking mind must recede.
The answer comes through the universal unconscious to your own. You must silence the conscious and sanction the unconscious. Allow the universe to speak to you and it will shout out from the rooftops.
# Know the question and the answer will come
It is the easiest and hardest thing to do because all your effort must be effortless; your action must be actionless. Only then the universe works through you the way roots make their way through the soil.
Your actions and effort cannot come through the conditioned ego, they must come from that pristine place that lies beyond. No action comes from the ego, only reaction. No ideas rise from the ego, only beliefs. No questions are formed within the ego, only preconceived answers.
Over and above everything else though, only one thing truly matters; your willingness to be accepting of the answer. In most cases, it is not that you are incapable of receiving the answer from the universe but rather unwilling. In most cases, it is not that you cannot hear the universe but you cannot stop listening to the voices inside your head. You do not want just any answer, you desire a specific one. You crave the one that you have already formulated and pre-conceived within your head. The one that will confirm the biases and prejudices in your head. You do not want the answer but rather your answer.
You ask leading questions. You ask not to be answered but to be pacified. You don’t want to discover, only to validate. You would much rather be ignorant than wrong. You are not fueled by curiosity but driven by fear. You don’t want the uncertainty of more questions but the false security of wrong answers.
For most of your life, the answer of the universe passes you by because you keep waiting not for the one you get but the one you want. Many a time it smacks you in the face but you push it away. Many a time, you let it go because it is not the one you want to know. Many a time, you do not have an answer because you cannot stop asking.
Stop asking, and start listening. Stop wanting, start receiving. Stop assuming, and start believing. Only then will you be able to stop inventing and discover discovering.
