Thinking is known to be the mind's most valuable endowment. Imagination is superior to thinking. In grading the powers of mind and its representatives, Sri Aurobindo puts the philosopher below the poet and the yogi above the poet. The philosopher thinks, the poet exercises his imagination. A great poet like Shakespeare or Valmiki is born when in his imagination personal experiences are transformed into impersonal truths. The phrases into which such ideas go remain in the language forever. When we speak "Physician, heal thyself" or "Brevity is the soul of wit", we scarcely remember that we are quoting great minds.
Before the mind receives the full benefit of academic training, it mistakes imagination for fantasy and even frowns on it. In truth, rather in Spiritual Truth, imagination is that faculty of mind which renders a real possibility into actuality. In 1969 when Indira proposed the nationalisation of banks, the President of the club of bank chairmen opposed it saying, "This is not going to do any good to any one". After the meeting ended, Indira commented that he had no imagination. That the banking industry in the intervening period grew 300-fold belies the renowned Bank chairman and confirms the imaginative truth of Indira's vision.
In the movement of activities there are three stages, viz. possibilities, imperatives and actualities. The Mind sees two of the three and misses the important link of the imperatives in the middle. Imagination sees in possibilities the shape of things to come as actualities and lends the power of the mind to realise the actuality. All great minds that have accomplished are endowed with Imagination. A self-trained mind can develop its faculty of imagination with the help of literature. But, it is the Spirit of Mind that shapes Imagination in a person by its transcendental power. Imagination is the efflorescence of a rich, powerful mind.