Too often we think of creativity as the same thing as genius. Creativity, unlike genius, can be encouraged, and a process can be taught. We are all creative. We are not all geniuses. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention studied over 80 contemporary people in all disciplines from the arts, humanities, sciences, business, politics and inventions. He shows that creativity is not confined to the arts. We are creative even if we can’t draw, act or write a poem. Creativity involves a new way of looking at old information.
Genuine creativity is rarely the result of a sudden insight and usually comes after much hard work. Creativity is not the one sudden thought that changes the world. Inspiration happens after we immerse ourselves in a particular study or problem.
Three elements in the creative process:
1. Immersion
Study everything about the subject and look at the data in as many ways as possible.
2. Incubation
Pull back from the study, work on some other activity and do not consciously think about the problem. This allows the mind to relax and provides a chance for new ideas to germinate.
This is where we open to our spirituality to allow the flow of creativity. Inspiration comes from connecting to something greater than ourselves. That moment of illumination is the divine spark within.
3. Illumination
Wait for that moment of inspiration, clarity, or divine spark. This may not be a sudden “aha,” just a fresh way to view the information after taking a break from it. This step can’t be forced. If the problem is particularly challenging, days may pass before any illumination happens. Being aware of surroundings, dreams, things others say, or some event may provide a clue to the solution. An answer will present itself if given a chance. This may not happen without the two steps of immersion and incubation. Creativity inspired by our spirituality can’t be forced. It just happens.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Ego and Our Spirituality
Do you know what “Let Go and Let God means?” I ask not out of arrogance but out of humility as I realize how difficult that concept is.
In theory, I understand those words completely.
In practice, I struggle with this spiritual idea.
Ego seems to be the problem. I know I should not worry or try too hard to force results. Expectations and specific outcomes are requirements of the ego.
Rather than criticizing myself for being ego-driven, I accept that ego may have dominated up to this point. Just as children can’t understand certain books or concepts until they are older, perhaps we don’t understand or move away from ego before a certain age. That time seems to be now.
The ego invests too much energy in the outcome. The spiritual self focuses on the best effort without worrying about results. Allowing us to concentrate on doing a good job is a release from the pressure of worrying about the end product. A spiritual approach is the easy one. Our ego, however, doesn’t want us to know this secret.
Being critical is self-defeating. Judging is not acceptable. The answer is to stop the criticism and continue the work as the right things begin to happen.
Is ego interfering with your progress? I know it has affected mine. I'm working on focusing on doing the best job possible, not on the conclusion.
In theory, I understand those words completely.
In practice, I struggle with this spiritual idea.
Ego seems to be the problem. I know I should not worry or try too hard to force results. Expectations and specific outcomes are requirements of the ego.
Rather than criticizing myself for being ego-driven, I accept that ego may have dominated up to this point. Just as children can’t understand certain books or concepts until they are older, perhaps we don’t understand or move away from ego before a certain age. That time seems to be now.
The ego invests too much energy in the outcome. The spiritual self focuses on the best effort without worrying about results. Allowing us to concentrate on doing a good job is a release from the pressure of worrying about the end product. A spiritual approach is the easy one. Our ego, however, doesn’t want us to know this secret.
Being critical is self-defeating. Judging is not acceptable. The answer is to stop the criticism and continue the work as the right things begin to happen.
Is ego interfering with your progress? I know it has affected mine. I'm working on focusing on doing the best job possible, not on the conclusion.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Celebrate Another View of Easter
Easter may be a Christian holiday, but its roots go to a much earlier time. An astrologer friend in France, Jackie Lion, posted a blog on the symbols of Easter. I want to share my translation of an excerpt. My French-speaking readers may visit her entire blog at www.astrologiepicardie.fr and click on “Le Blog.”
The Easter Egg is a symbol of fertility and the birth of the Universe, representing the sacred nature of life. When one colors the eggs of Easter, one honors Earth and the earth goddess.
The Easter bunny is not only a sign of fertility but is also associated with the magical capacity of living in two worlds. In winter, the rabbit rests underground most of the time to reemerge in Spring. This animal is associated with both the physical and the spiritual world.
Easter baskets, today replaced with chocolate and candies, are the modern version of the pagan tradition of the bird nest, symbolizing the arrival of the new. Yellow is the color associated with the East, the rising sun, a new departure and rebirth.
I enjoyed her comments which provide another view of celebrating Easter, as we honor the rebirth of spring, the sacredness of nature, and our connection to the spiritual. This time of fertility reminds us of the abundance and renewal of life. Enjoy that.
The Easter Egg is a symbol of fertility and the birth of the Universe, representing the sacred nature of life. When one colors the eggs of Easter, one honors Earth and the earth goddess.
The Easter bunny is not only a sign of fertility but is also associated with the magical capacity of living in two worlds. In winter, the rabbit rests underground most of the time to reemerge in Spring. This animal is associated with both the physical and the spiritual world.
Easter baskets, today replaced with chocolate and candies, are the modern version of the pagan tradition of the bird nest, symbolizing the arrival of the new. Yellow is the color associated with the East, the rising sun, a new departure and rebirth.
I enjoyed her comments which provide another view of celebrating Easter, as we honor the rebirth of spring, the sacredness of nature, and our connection to the spiritual. This time of fertility reminds us of the abundance and renewal of life. Enjoy that.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Choosing The Right Spiritual Practice For You
Spiritual growth requires spiritual practice. We choose a path that is right for us. Permission to choose is comforting and part of a practical spirituality that deviates from traditional dogma. This flexibility does not justify lack of action, but allows us to define our own way to the Sacred.
There are 12 Master Paths, or different types of spiritual practices, as described by Dr. Ellerby in Return to The Sacred: Ancient Pathways To Spiritual Awakening. Each path or spiritual practice has an ancient past, and most are known to us in some form.
Ellerby organizes these twelve possible practices into four groups. All practices are equally viable; the best one depends on the individual.
The four:
Body-Centered Practices: ceremony and ritual, sacred movement, and music and sound
Mind-Centered Practices: prayer, meditation, and sacred study
Heart-Centered Practices: devotion, sacred service, and a guru or teacher
Soul-Centered Practices: aesthetic practice, death practice, and a life path
The challenge is to define which of the four clusters best describes us, then choose the best practice within that cluster. This does not preclude choosing other practices since most of us experiment with many paths in our quest. We may finally choose a variety of practices, but I believe that most of us have a dominant group that is our initial spiritual connection.
For example, I am a very visual person and learn by reading. I always used sacred study as my practice. In later years, I added prayer and meditation. I fit into the mind-centered practice. Perhaps each of you can find your comfort. Which one seems most appropriate as you read through the four groups? Which of the practices seem most comfortable, or which one are you more willing to try? Question your way of reacting to the world.
Some of us need some activity when we learn, or we need to read when we learn. That defines the first two groups of Body-Centered and Mind-Centered Practices.
The Heart-centered group includes those who react with emotion as a first response. Devotion, sacred service, and a guru/teacher imply a relationship-based or heart-felt connection.
The last group may be the hardest to define: aesthetic practice, death practice, and a life path. These may need a little more explanation. Most of us don’t decide on extreme fasting or a hermit existence of the aesthetic practice, yet many mystics do.
The death practice is one that most of us will experience, especially as we see our elderly parents pass on. Dr. Ellerby’s advice is not to fear death, since death is what makes us human.
I like the Life Path, or third example of The Soul-Centered Approach, and find that my focus has shifted, over the years, to this practice.
We are all different. To be successful, we want to find our greatest strength as well as try other practices. Enjoy the process and remember that “We are spiritual beings having a human experience–not the other way around.”
There are 12 Master Paths, or different types of spiritual practices, as described by Dr. Ellerby in Return to The Sacred: Ancient Pathways To Spiritual Awakening. Each path or spiritual practice has an ancient past, and most are known to us in some form.
Ellerby organizes these twelve possible practices into four groups. All practices are equally viable; the best one depends on the individual.
The four:
Body-Centered Practices: ceremony and ritual, sacred movement, and music and sound
Mind-Centered Practices: prayer, meditation, and sacred study
Heart-Centered Practices: devotion, sacred service, and a guru or teacher
Soul-Centered Practices: aesthetic practice, death practice, and a life path
The challenge is to define which of the four clusters best describes us, then choose the best practice within that cluster. This does not preclude choosing other practices since most of us experiment with many paths in our quest. We may finally choose a variety of practices, but I believe that most of us have a dominant group that is our initial spiritual connection.
For example, I am a very visual person and learn by reading. I always used sacred study as my practice. In later years, I added prayer and meditation. I fit into the mind-centered practice. Perhaps each of you can find your comfort. Which one seems most appropriate as you read through the four groups? Which of the practices seem most comfortable, or which one are you more willing to try? Question your way of reacting to the world.
Some of us need some activity when we learn, or we need to read when we learn. That defines the first two groups of Body-Centered and Mind-Centered Practices.
The Heart-centered group includes those who react with emotion as a first response. Devotion, sacred service, and a guru/teacher imply a relationship-based or heart-felt connection.
The last group may be the hardest to define: aesthetic practice, death practice, and a life path. These may need a little more explanation. Most of us don’t decide on extreme fasting or a hermit existence of the aesthetic practice, yet many mystics do.
The death practice is one that most of us will experience, especially as we see our elderly parents pass on. Dr. Ellerby’s advice is not to fear death, since death is what makes us human.
I like the Life Path, or third example of The Soul-Centered Approach, and find that my focus has shifted, over the years, to this practice.
We are all different. To be successful, we want to find our greatest strength as well as try other practices. Enjoy the process and remember that “We are spiritual beings having a human experience–not the other way around.”
Thursday, December 10, 2009
A Past more Exciting than any Fiction
Before The Pyramids: Cracking Archaeology’s Greatest Mystery by Christopher Knight and Alan Butler has much scientific data about a Megalithic Yard that can be traced back to the pyramids and beyond. While one can get lost in the technical descriptions, they do provide validation to these ideas that might otherwise be just interesting. Perhaps the authors go too far when they suggest that all major sites in Washington, DC are linked by a web measured in the Megalithic Yard, bringing the Freemasonry mystique to the United States.
The authors suggest the possibility “that Washington DC is a continuation of knowledge held by an advanced culture from the extreme past. And there is still an elite group of people who fully understand this” (208).
They claim that the Sphinx and other Egyptian standing structures “prove beyond doubt that the emergence of civilization…took place long before orthodox history has ever considered” (209). And they suggest that now is the time to “look again at ideas of the past” (211).
Are their conclusions correct? I don’t believe there is enough information available. But their findings pose questions of a past far more exciting than any fiction, and I do believe that the best is yet to come.
The authors suggest the possibility “that Washington DC is a continuation of knowledge held by an advanced culture from the extreme past. And there is still an elite group of people who fully understand this” (208).
They claim that the Sphinx and other Egyptian standing structures “prove beyond doubt that the emergence of civilization…took place long before orthodox history has ever considered” (209). And they suggest that now is the time to “look again at ideas of the past” (211).
Are their conclusions correct? I don’t believe there is enough information available. But their findings pose questions of a past far more exciting than any fiction, and I do believe that the best is yet to come.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol
This is an exciting read, a hard-to-put-down book that I enjoyed even more than Brown’s previous novel, The Da Vinci Code. There is one significant aspect, however, that transcends the intrigue of the story. The research that one of the characters is doing is more important than the tale itself. This is the practical spiritual message of the book.
The research lab in the story is working to prove that “human thought, if properly focused, had the ability to affect and change physical mass” (55). This suggests that concentrated thought can affect anything, such as “the growth rate of plants, the direction that fish swim in a bowl, the manner in which cells divided in a petri dish…, and the chemical reactions in one’s own body” (56). These studies show that loving thoughts impact the structure of water and negative thoughts create a chaotic, disorderly form. The ideas come from ancient wisdom.
There is more to this story, of course. There is the drama about what is hidden beneath a building in Washington D.C. It would spoil the story to say more. What doesn’t ruin the story, though, is the importance of Brown’s research. While some of it is based in fact and some may be simply his projections of possibilities, I feel there is a significance hidden in the pages that forces us, once again, to remember that the power is within us, not solely in some hidden symbol or object yet to be found. What is to be discovered may be what many already know, as Brown suggests, that the power and secrets we search for are within.
The research lab in the story is working to prove that “human thought, if properly focused, had the ability to affect and change physical mass” (55). This suggests that concentrated thought can affect anything, such as “the growth rate of plants, the direction that fish swim in a bowl, the manner in which cells divided in a petri dish…, and the chemical reactions in one’s own body” (56). These studies show that loving thoughts impact the structure of water and negative thoughts create a chaotic, disorderly form. The ideas come from ancient wisdom.
There is more to this story, of course. There is the drama about what is hidden beneath a building in Washington D.C. It would spoil the story to say more. What doesn’t ruin the story, though, is the importance of Brown’s research. While some of it is based in fact and some may be simply his projections of possibilities, I feel there is a significance hidden in the pages that forces us, once again, to remember that the power is within us, not solely in some hidden symbol or object yet to be found. What is to be discovered may be what many already know, as Brown suggests, that the power and secrets we search for are within.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
A Review of Eyes Wide Open: Cultivating Discernment on the Spiritual Path
This book by Mariana Caplan, PhD has two significant points 1) the importance of dealing with the psychological as well as spiritual aspects of our lives and 2) the need, or not, of having a spiritual teacher.
We cannot ignore our psychological hang-ups. Just “being spiritual” isn’t enough if we still harbor old resentments, hurts, and other issues that have been ignored for many years. As a psychologist, Caplan may be a little biased on this topic, yet she is correct. Being spiritual is about being a healthy human. That includes using some form of therapy to clear our past. Caplan claims that we “must be willing to suffer our own darkness if we truly aspire to know the deeper spiritual potentialities that exist within us” (20).
When going through hard times, we may be experiencing our own karmic payback and “that it is necessary, even unavoidable, that we endure it” (101). Despite past lives and their significance, however, the fact is that “What is important is whether we are able to meet our present circumstance with a clear and discerning perspective and refrain from taking actions that further the endless repetition of unfavorable and limiting aspects of our karmic conditioning” (102).
The good news is that “future suffering is prevented through intensive self-study and practice that allows us to become aware of our unconscious processes and to intercept them” (102). Our awareness of our faults and limitations, and our desire and intent to change them, creates a better future. The control of our lives is within our reach.
The second significant point in this book is that we may not need a spiritual teacher. Caplan is very specific on this topic. She has had years of experience with teachers from different spiritual paths. While she continues to work with one, she warns of the difficulty in finding the right teacher who is both psychologically and spiritually healthy. Too many of the encounters she describes involve so-called gurus who take advantage of students emotionally, sexually, and/or financially. She mentions warning signs that can be sensed, even if not fully understood. She encourages us to listen to our instinct and steer clear of individuals claiming to have answers while making us feel uncertain and uncomfortable.
There are ways to grow spiritually other than running to an ashram in India or finding a personal coach. While we all need guidance, there are other forms of receiving assistance. Many people find a guiding book appearing at the right time in their lives. Others discover a connection to a guide on another dimension, and while there is caution against assuming or misinterpreting such a presence, there is a way to validate that. Again, trusting one’s instinct is crucial.
Caplan also warns against a “new-age” groupie mentality of following the latest, greatest person and/or idea. Chasing after this external gratification doesn’t allow one to fully develop one’s own talent or spiritual connection. There is no specific right way. That is the misleading part for many who desire answers, which may come in a variety of ways. For some, a teacher does physically appear. For others, that teacher may come in an unexpected form.
Caplan’s personal experiences bring validity to her discussions. She has lived through the psychological struggles, the spiritual quest and the multiple spiritual teachers. This book provides crucial challenges with affirming answers.
We cannot ignore our psychological hang-ups. Just “being spiritual” isn’t enough if we still harbor old resentments, hurts, and other issues that have been ignored for many years. As a psychologist, Caplan may be a little biased on this topic, yet she is correct. Being spiritual is about being a healthy human. That includes using some form of therapy to clear our past. Caplan claims that we “must be willing to suffer our own darkness if we truly aspire to know the deeper spiritual potentialities that exist within us” (20).
When going through hard times, we may be experiencing our own karmic payback and “that it is necessary, even unavoidable, that we endure it” (101). Despite past lives and their significance, however, the fact is that “What is important is whether we are able to meet our present circumstance with a clear and discerning perspective and refrain from taking actions that further the endless repetition of unfavorable and limiting aspects of our karmic conditioning” (102).
The good news is that “future suffering is prevented through intensive self-study and practice that allows us to become aware of our unconscious processes and to intercept them” (102). Our awareness of our faults and limitations, and our desire and intent to change them, creates a better future. The control of our lives is within our reach.
The second significant point in this book is that we may not need a spiritual teacher. Caplan is very specific on this topic. She has had years of experience with teachers from different spiritual paths. While she continues to work with one, she warns of the difficulty in finding the right teacher who is both psychologically and spiritually healthy. Too many of the encounters she describes involve so-called gurus who take advantage of students emotionally, sexually, and/or financially. She mentions warning signs that can be sensed, even if not fully understood. She encourages us to listen to our instinct and steer clear of individuals claiming to have answers while making us feel uncertain and uncomfortable.
There are ways to grow spiritually other than running to an ashram in India or finding a personal coach. While we all need guidance, there are other forms of receiving assistance. Many people find a guiding book appearing at the right time in their lives. Others discover a connection to a guide on another dimension, and while there is caution against assuming or misinterpreting such a presence, there is a way to validate that. Again, trusting one’s instinct is crucial.
Caplan also warns against a “new-age” groupie mentality of following the latest, greatest person and/or idea. Chasing after this external gratification doesn’t allow one to fully develop one’s own talent or spiritual connection. There is no specific right way. That is the misleading part for many who desire answers, which may come in a variety of ways. For some, a teacher does physically appear. For others, that teacher may come in an unexpected form.
Caplan’s personal experiences bring validity to her discussions. She has lived through the psychological struggles, the spiritual quest and the multiple spiritual teachers. This book provides crucial challenges with affirming answers.
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