What is your creative process? Who do you think is the most amazingly creative people you have met?

Dr. Goswami and ourselves are working on the new manuscript for “Quantum Creativity”, and it’s all that we are thinking about currently. I find I am interested in the difference between dependent arising (situational) and the quantum leap of samadhi/satori that leads to a new context. Look forward to this discussion!

do be do is one method. focus, rest, allow time for the proliferation of possibilities.
stir up the pot!!! if we keep going thru each day in the same pattern, eating the same food, reading the same world views, seeing the same people, we will most likely also think the same thoughts. to get outside of our box we can step outside of the known.
after all… “ego loves the old!” no freedom there.

Mitri…good point. I am trying to understand this even more though. So we create from the ego, or do we not create from the ego? obviously we experience life as the ego….

we manifest from our ego i.e. take and idea and dot he work needed to make it manifest in the physical world but seem to create from a space of not ego i.e. from a space beyond the limits of what is already known.
as Humans creation appears to be our very nature.

We create of our own nature i.e. Just as it is natural for the bird to fly and thus express its nature in this fashion so it is for us as humans to create. ”it’s what we do! the idea however appears to be to bring all of our varied energies into harmony and in this way control what we create.

I kinda see it as always working towards manifesting from a non-local, connected space…. “Thy Will Be Done”, cuz when I create from my ego, it’s never as good.

Does creativity exist without manifesting in the external world?

Herb…I think creativity would have to exist before manifesting in the external world. Anyone else?

Dr. Goswami states there appears to be both inner and outer creativity. Outer creativity creating a new “product” that offers a new context of something, and then Inner Creativity where the “product” is our own personal realization or transformation… a new context of “meaning”. Now does the interior transformation do anything external? Well… Gandhi alway said “Become the change you want to see in the world”, so if it creates a realization that changes one’s life…. I would figure that would be good for all of us. Yet, my “external creative” says Ha! If we don’t have something to share, what good is a realization? An old monk I know says “You can feel it all you want, but doing something about is a lot different”.

My creative process has been slowed by to much thinking and not enough doing. So i have been trying to enjoy and search for anything new and even taking old experiences and reliving them as if it was the first time. For me the most important part is trying to remember to stay in the now and not to let possible future out comes and past events cloud my moment. When I can find myself living in the now i tend to instinctively lose myself and enjoy the moments im creating. As far as sharing my creativity i believe that it shares itself by allowing others to feel my energy or the emotion i beam outwards! On a side note….World peace is breaking out in my neighborhood someone alert the media!!!

Hmmm. OK, so this reminds me of a book called Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk. In it the main character tells the other “The same way a compact disk isn’t responsible for what’s recorded on it, that’s how we are. You’re about as free to act as a programmed computer. You’re about as one-of-a-kind as a dollar bill.” The suggestion then given by the main character to free oneself from this “ego cage” is to “Don’t do what you want. Do what you DON”T WANT. Do what you’re trained not to want. Do the things that scare you the most.”

I see creativity as one of the forms of intelligence.
The lyricist for the band Counting Crows, Adam Duritz, claims to have a dissociative disorder, and it is easy to identify his creative originality through both his lyrics, melodies and the mere way he performs.
Perhaps those who struggle to see the world the way they are conditioned to are more likely to exhibit creativity, or vice versa?

It seems apparent to many nowdays that being tethered to the conditioned state (i.e., identified with a collection of programs, instructions, etc) is not conducive to facilitating creative/intuitive insight and expression. So, the question then arises, how does one become adept at entering non-conditioned consciousness (at will) and applying that level of access to practical, time-space based intents and purposes? My contention is that unless we are able to find a way to transcend the ordinary conditioned mode of consciousness and elevate to a higher level of conscious functioning, we will be relegated to our personal heuristics and their inherent limitations.

the beginning is of course to recognize how we react in conditioned ways. It is not such an easy task. Ask, how is my life? how are my relationships? how are my communications? my family, children, work. How is my relationship with my partner, my sadhana, my dreams, career, friends, relationship with oneness. are these better, more harmonious than last year? last week? .
the process of self reflection and inquiry is the beginning of freedom. recognizing that all lack of harmony, all problems have a relationship to what is going on within. “it is first off an inside job”! suffering/ the feeling of life not being satisfactory is not a feeling to be cultivated. Yes we must grow if we seek to create a better more balanced life. N one can do it for us, it is ours to do. inch by inch is in a cinch, yard by yard it is hard. We have the tools, they begin with self enquire, are furthered by discernment and contemplation, balanced thru meditation both on the mat and off.
The method of doing so at will is practice. As we help bring balance to the whole of our life the field created becomes a source of support as well. do be do be do.
great questions….

The following might apply to all creative outlets but I can speak only from the viewpoint of a musician and occasional graphic artist as that’s what I know. You will often read interviews with musicians who are asked what the inspiration was behind a song that has stood the test of time. More often than not the answer is something along the lines of “it just came to me”, or some may say “it’s like it was just sitting there waiting for someone to play it”. I myself have received the most positive response to songs which I wasn’t even aware I was writing until I looked down on what was a blank page now filled with lyrics and the melody bouncing around in my head. I think creative people, on a regular basis, knowingly or not, are able to unify with God consciousness. This isn’t to say that a song written purely by ego won’t be recognized or accepted but it’s on the level of another’s ego. It’s superficial and lacks “soul”. I think most people can hear, and feel, the difference between the two. The beautiful thing about music is it’s an art that is repeated allowing us to possibly tap back into God consciousness while playing or listening to it or at the very least remind us it’s there.

yes, as an artist I generally feel that art or creativity occurs when ” I am not there” the expereince of observing the creation. As soon as I as an individual become aware of what is occurring it is generally at that point that creativity stops.