Accessing Your Inner Creator

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Engulfed in darkness, a rhythmic pulse increased in speed and amplitude. Small beams ofnn lights appeared, swinging through space as if they were floating in the blackness. Eachnn moved hesitantly to a separate position and then disappeared again into the darkness. Ann unified rhythm formed becoming still more thunderous until at last it broke into thousandsnn of smaller cadences babbling in a cacophonous roar. That, too, vanished into the darkness.

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"In the beginning . . ." curiosity drew me to this place, annchance invitation.

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I knew little about what would unfold from the darkness before me but my hands, too,nn joined in the rhythm of the night. They found their own cadence, and then settled back atnn my sides in the silent cover of the night. Tints of lime green and a rich lavender slowlynn appeared from the darkness, washed over the area, and flooded my eyes. Vivid colorsnn pierced my separateness and stirred the core of my being.

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"In the beginning . . ." I was furious. Why him instead of me? Why not me? If not me, what am I to do? No answers!

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Internally, order crumbled; meaning I believed I had found, dissolved: again, I starednn into void. Two hours passed as the figure entranced the crowd. I hated the way I loved hisnn act. Still no answers! I recognized the way his music knew me. It touched me in spite ofnn my defenses. Out of order I returned to chaos and chaos I recognized. I wasn't at the end: I was in transition. I hadn't stepped from the looking glass nor from the spotlight. I wasnn the receptive aspect of the creative process and just as vital in this moment of creation. I was the living "feedback" in a system larger than the experience to which Inn surrendered. I was personally "in the beginning . . ." .

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Beginnings, like births, are hard painful experiences. The event described abovennwas for me a moment of re-creation, of re-birthing from a perspective as a performingnnartist, to an understanding of the creative process as an inseparable duality. Creativitynnis a spiritual process that unfolds around us and requires our action and compels thennparticipation of our audience. It is the dual dance of the spirit in the creative process I wish to address in this writing. Creativity is ostensibly like a Mobius strip, thennone-sided plane of Euclidean geometry that casts the illusion of duplicity, yet, isnninfinitely one.

Accessing our inner creator is a sympathetic process with which we learn to resonate. Thus it replicates itself, and beginnings beget beginnings.

People commonly view creativity as something possessed by some (those in annspotlight whether scientific or artistic), and not by others; yet, creativity equallynnmystifies those "who have it," and those "who don't." Creativity isnntranscendent yet it is our ground of being, natural and inescapable. Our human creativennability is but a part of a larger universal pulse.

I do not claim to prove what creativity is; that continues to elude. Rather, I seek to stimulate a new view of creativity that shows the unity in perceivednnduality; and diminishes the separation between those who feel they lack creative ability,nnand the artist-scientist-creators (from here on called creators), who are banished to livennin the spotlight.

It all starts....

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. . . In the beginning this world was merely non-being. It was existent. Itnn developed....It was split asunder. (ChandogyaUpanisad)

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. . . In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was withoutnn form and void . . . (Genesis 1: 1-2)

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. . . In the great beginning, there was non-being. It had neither being nor name. Thenn One originates from it; it has oneness but not yet physical form....That which is formlessnn is divided [into yin and yang].... Through movement and rest it produces allnn things....Being one with the beginning, one becomes vacuous (hsu, receptive to all), andnn being vacuous one becomes great....one is then united with the universe. (The Chuangnn Tzu)

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There is a striking resemblance amongst creation stories: order emerging fromnnchaos. Balance is ever represented in them. Western religions focus more on order whilennother religions see the void as the ultimate. They all indicate that polarities, whethe nphysical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, are attributes of creation. Creativennindividuals also balance a paradox of polarities.

The ability to conceive of antithetical ideas simultaneously, that is, bringingnntogether "habitually incompatible frames of reference," for example, light andnndarkness, is called "janusian thinking" or "bisociation" by Albert Rothenberg and Arthur Koestler respectively. Creation involves polarities and thennemergence of form through their bisociation.

Taoism provides a clear example of this in the formless, nameless Tao, itsnnsupreme ultimate. From the Tao emerge first yin and yang, and then form. Being fromnnnon-being. One may think of the Tao as the chaos of non-being but the void is unitary. Cannnthere be chaos in unity? I believe this Chinese metaphor proposes another role for chaosnnin the duality of the creative process.

Yin is the receptive principle and yang is the creative principle. (Since the namenncreative principle may cause confusio I will refer to yang as the projective quality andnnyin as the receptive quality. Creation involves yin and yang equally.) Interaction betweennnyin and yang produces form, and thereby, order: they are an intermediary step betweennnnon-being and being. I suggest that chaos emerges from the Tao as duality and that fromnnthe interaction of duality comes order. Chaos is fixation in either extreme of thennyin-yang polarity.

Figure #1 illustrates these fixated positions. Imagine, if possible, beingnnsolely at either the yin or yang pole. The experience at either extreme is chaos. nnnn

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• If you fixate in yang, everything projects and moves away from you without constraint ornn return. It is like staring into the void.
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• From the yin pole the opposite would be true. Everything is drawn in, introjected. It isnn an onslaught from which nothing escapes.
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Within the physical universe, one might think of quasars (yang), "stars" thatnnseem to project matter endlessly, and blackholes (yin), gravitational fields that drawnnmatter in without escape, as metaphoric examples. Chaos has a distinctly different face atnneither extreme.

If chaos exists at both poles, then form and order must inhabit the territory betweennnthem; accordingly, form (whether a poem or universe), arises in the interactive tensionnnbetween the two extremes.

Figure #2 illustrates this range where order is created and suggests thatnnvarying degrees of balance are possible between the poles. A contemporary creation story -nnchaos theory - may be a metaphor to explore this range of tension. Chaos theory addressesnnthe multi-dimensional aspect of creativity, but for simplicity's sake I will discuss onlynnthe original pair of opposites, the receptive and projective principles. I will firstnndetail the stages of the creative process and then relate them to the projective/receptivennduality.

Graham Wallas began a model of the creative process in The Art of Thought. The stages in this model are: Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, Verification (see Figure3).

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• In Preparation, everything draws together with intention. If the product isnn artistic, you formulate an idea, equip yourself, and try combinations of the collectednn parts. Nurturing, research, and continuous input characterize this stage.
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• During Incubation, input of information, nutrients, or ideas becomes difficult:nn all is satiated to the point of compression. Incubation is the mysterious "blacknn box" stage in which the creation forms but remains inseparable, unknown and unable tonn survive independently. It is symbiotic.
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• The aggregate gestates and concludes with sudden Illumination or output. Ripenednn and settled, the accumulated resources thrust into a new state of being. It is independentnn and takes on a "life"of its own. Illumination is glamorous, appearing easy, asnn if the creative product springs forth effortlessly.
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• The final stage, Verification, reviews, refines, and adjusts the product ofn Illumination to the realities of reason: it must actually work in its applied field. Thisnn stage separates fantasy from creation.nnn
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Unencumbered, creativity is a natural process that flows through the stagesnnrepeatedly like a rhythmic pulse.

The wave form in Figure #4 shows the rhythmic pulse of the creative cyclennoverlaying a simile of the Tai Chi, the Taoist symbol of the interplay of yin-yang. Thisnnportrayal suggests the quality of the interplay in each stage of the process.

The I Ching (Book of Change), further illustrates the qualities of thisnninterplay. The I Ching uses lines depicting yin (-- --), and yang (-----) to buildnnhexagrams (six lines stacked vertically), that show the pattern of change applicable to annspecific question. The lines are either young (as shown above), or old, shown as follows:nnyin(--O--), and yang (--X--). Old lines change into their opposite.

In Figure #4, preparation and incubation dip into the lower hemisphere: yin mostnnstrongly influences them. Preparation is like young yin; that is, it is in the seductive "flower of receptive youth." Incubation, like old yin, has matured and begun tonnlose its attractive power. Illumination and verification arc into the upper hemispherennwhich represents yang. Illumination, like young yang, is active, aggressive and projectsnnthe ripened product outward. Verification then, like old yang, seeks validation as itsnnstrength wanes until it reverts into yin.

The cycle requires both yin and yang: neither principle dominates exclusively. Formnndances on the border between the two faces of chaos.

Mystic teachings refer to this narrow path along the border. It is the terrain anncreator must traverse . . .

Christian mystics stress the importance of keeping to the straight and narrownnpath, the center between the polarities of heaven and earth.

In A Treatise on White Magic, Alice Bailey teaches:

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"Let the magician [creator], guard himself from drowning at the point where landnn and water meet. The midway spot, which is neither dry nor wet, must provide the standingnn place....there is the place for magic to be wrought."

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An important word of caution: the duality of yin/yang and its myriad derivativesnnin form is not, repeat is not, the same as the duality of good and evil. Good andnnevil are both served by entraining with the power found upon the middle path: they bothnnunify the natural duality yin/yang in the act of creation. It is the intentionnnof the adept creator that separates good from evil. One fosters evolution toward harmonicnnunity, while the other brings quick personal reward, stagnation and separation.

Gopi Krishna speaks of the awakening of the Kundalini force that lies sleepingnnin human kind. He believes it is synonymous with creativity. It is a path of re-creationnnthat again involves the "bisociation" of opposites, Shakti and Shiva. He urgesnnaspirants to cling to the middle path and avoid the extremes they will meet. If annnaspirant directs the Kundalini upward, it is an evolutionary force that brings union withnnthe Divine. If the aspirant loses the balance on the middle way, the Kundalini force cannntu downward bringing destruction, separation, and madness.

Inward and outward, balancing opposites is the rhythm of mystic teachings and thenncreative process; for creating, on every level of being, is a transpersonal act: it is thenndomain of spirit, a land of magic that demands respect. With care we develop vision tonnfind the way between these polarities and participate in the act of creation.

Harnessing this creative force requires that we see more fully despite ournnlimited human perspective. We pursue such vision in a creative act through what St. Bonaventure describes as: "the eye of the flesh, the eye of reason, and the eye ofnncontemplation." We must learn through which "eye" we perceive a given typennof reality, and in which realm a specific creative task lies. Thus, to be a creator is tonnperceive knowledge with these three"eyes," give it meaning in the world, andnnbring it to form.

Such knowledge applies to discrete realms of experience and of the creative process. Failure to discriminate between the perceptions of these different "eyes"nnresults in what Ken Wilber calls "category error." It renders creation impotent,nnif not destructive, and often fragments, blocks, or limits the creative processes of ournnspecies. I will briefly describe these three ways of knowing and relate them to the act ofnncreation. nnnn

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• The "eye of the flesh" gathers empirical knowledge. We learn and verify itnn through the physical senses, or instruments that extend them.
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• The "eye of reason" is interpretive. It symbolizes, organizes, and interpretsnn ideas, impressions, and feelings. St. Bonaventure said this realm deals with then "threefold activity of the soul"; that is, the psychic functions of memory,nn reason, and will.
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• The "eye of contemplation" beholds transcendent realms in the experience ofnn gnosis. It is the instrument of inspiration. In gnosis, one unites with the transcendentnn realm of inspiration and illumination.
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Religious traditions allude to transcendent states but debate their names andnndescriptions perhaps because of our inability to convey ecstatic experiences adequatelynnthrough language: we only reduce them.

Ken Wilber explains how reduction takes place when information transfers from annmore complex, to a less complex dimension:

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"Whenever higher dimensions are represented on lower ones they necessarily losenn something in the translation...whenever a three-dimensional sphere is reduced on ann two-dimensional surface it becomes a circle."

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The next logical reduction is that the circle represented on a one-dimensional mediannappears as only a straight line. "Higher" transcendent dimensions (inspirationalnnexperiences), are similarly reduced, and abstracted through reason and empiricalnnapplication. It is often diminished to dogma.

The skill needed by a creator is to capture inspirational experience in its purest formnnand transmute it so the eyes of reason, and of the flesh, perceive it. Creation myths arennproducts of Gnosis so transmuted to the "lesser" dimensions of reason and thennempirical flesh: they suffer from their reduction.

The three "eyes" described by St. Bonaventure have very practicalnnapplication for a creator when combined in a rhythmic manner. They offer you access tonnyour inner creator. I call this process Rhythmic Imaging. nnnn

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• First use the eye of the flesh to prepare your creative task using all the attractivenn determination you have.
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• When you can no longer prepare, incubate your creative task by forming a mental symbolnn of it in your mind's eye, the eye of reason. This impregnates your deep subconscious mindnn by actively sending this image inward. You may find the contemplative state is more easilynn achieved using a repetitive rhythmic event, for example, watching the waves, or the windnn blowing in the trees.
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• Let your image disappear repeatedly into the chosen rhythm. Then open your attention,nn for after some time the eye of contemplation will return the symbol reformed.
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• This symbol holds the birth of your creation, interpret it again with the eye of reason.
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• Finally, bring your creation into form through active physical effort.
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"Imagine a great number of tiny bells hanging near each other.If some of these arenn struck sharply, they will transmit their own resonance throughout the ensemble. No bellnn will remain the same, thus creating a new state for the whole of them".- Thenn Universe Is A Green Dragon, Brian Swimme.

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Like these tiny bells that are each responsive to the whole, humankind is inextricablynnembedded in a universe of creativity: our independence is an illusion. Creators serve as annvehicle through which information transfers from the infinite to humankind. In creators,nnthe first overtone of resonance appears: humankind, like the rest of the universe,nnresonates in response, or be shaken from existence. Like the bells, when one creato "chimes", a new state exists in us all.

The laws of physics explain the transfer of resonance between the bells, but thenninformation transfer in great creative works transcends physical law: it is transpersonal. That is, it transcends individual personality and includes the interaction of spirit. There are many examples of great artistic and scientific work that are remarkably similar,nnthough their authors have had no exposure to one another. It as if both creators perceivennthe same information through the eye of contemplation and transmute it independently intonnphysical form.

Transpersonal creations go beyond physical, emotional and mental information exchangennto touch and alter our collective consciousness. We know them deeply and a newnnconsciousness emerges in the whole. Through them we entrain with one another and perform "as if" one: through them we touch our common spirit.

Not all creators achieve this transcendent state nor transmute it in their work,nnbut when successful the transpersonal transfer includes the receiver. The experiencennunites and changes both the creator and his/her patrons. Through this vehicle in itsnnhighest form, creators inspire and evolve humanity.

Creativity is a universal process in which we participate. I have attempted tonnsynthesize diverse examples in this writing to reveal a common pulse: the creative pulsennupon which the myriad forms cavort. The pulse portends omnipresence; and entraining withnnthis rhythm, as we are able, may reveal a deeper understanding of creativity.

William S. Condon discovered that muscles in separate individuals entrain innnmicromotions as they communicate with each other. We learn it as infants staring into ournnmother's face. We must entrain in this way to understand each other in conversations. Failure to do so causes miscommunication, conflict, or isolation.

How much more perilous is it to be "out of sync"with the beat of creation? Like bells, we are "a chord" resonating in a universe of vibration.

Tung Chung-Shu said of harmonic entrainment twenty centuries ago:

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"A beautiful thing calls forth things that are beautiful . . . an ugly thing . . .nn things that are ugly . . . for things of the same kind arise in response to eachnn other."

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By learning to entrain, or "tune into," the larger creative pulse, wennincrease our individual creative expression. Taoists call this finding one's Te, one'snnunique, individual expression of the Tao. A universe of rhythm is lacking without you nunique harmonious beat.

In The Silent Pulse, George Leonard expresses:

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"At the heart of each of us, whatever our imperfections, there exists a silentnn pulse of perfect rhythm, a complex of waveforms and resonance, which is absolutelynn individual and unique, and yet which connects us to everything in the universe. The act ofnn getting in touch with this pulse can transform our personal experience and in some waynn alter the world around us."

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Participating in the dance of Shakti and Shiva, the dance of creation, requiresnnperception with the three "eyes" St. Bonaventure described. nnnn

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• The "eye of the flesh" makes preparation in the empirical world.
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• The "eye of reason" separates "the wheat from the chaff" andnn provides entrance to the receptive womb that sustains the embryonic creation.
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• The "eye of contemplation" perceives illumination and births the ripenednn creation.
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• The "eye of reason" then becomes the birth canal transmuting illumination backnn to the empirical world.
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• Finally, the "eye of the flesh" verifies the creation in the world of thenn senses.nnn
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THE CYCLE OF CREATIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

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• It begins with a broad base in the physical world, the Preparation stage.
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• We then form symbols in our mental reasoning; this is Incubation.
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• The Illumination (or Inspiration) stage occurs when we surpass reasoningnn and allow ourselves to merge with the unknown in contemplation.
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• This creative inspiration is then converted back into symbols that we verify internallynn in the Confirmation stage.
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• Finally, the creative product is formed in the world of the senses and validated by itsnn usefulness -- the Validation stage.
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The creative process cycles through St. Bonaventure's three realms of consciousness, asnnillustrated in the triangle above. There are various stages, as illustrated on thenncircumference of the circle. I have adapted Wallas' four-stage model mentioned earlier bynnexpanding the verification stage. Confirmation is the internal process ofnnverification that uses the eye of reason. Validation occurs in the exte alnnworld and is the empirical verification provided by the world around us. Thus i The Cycle of Creative Consciousness, creation takes place as the individual'snnconsciousness rises toward the apex of the triangle and then returns again to thennempirical world in the cycle shown circumnavigating the triangle. The successfulnntranslation from one "eye" to the next is the key to creativity. (The Enter Quest process described elsewhere in this site accelerates the entrance into reverie, thusnnallowing access to the contemplative state in which symbols are transformed.)

A Course In Miracles describes our place in the creative process withnnspiritual eloquence as follows:

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"Creation is the sum of all God's thoughts, in number infinite,and everywherenn without all limits . . . God's thoughts are given all the power that their own Creato n has. For He would add to Love by its extension. Thus His Son [creation] shares innn creation, and must therefore share in the power to create (Anonymous, 1976).

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In conclusion, I seek to empower you, the reader, with a new view of thenncreative process. Through this new view, I hope you discover your own creative rhythm andnnsound your own unique chord in a vibrant universal symphony.

As a creator, you do not create in a vacuum. Your work, like a stone cast upon the tinynnbells, resonates far beyond your view. A painting may inspire a song, a song may inspire annbook, a book may inspire a movement or simply a smile to someone who needs it and thatnnsmile may inspire a song.

No matter what your work, you initiate a new state in us all. nnnn

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• Re-create the world in your work as if the world depends on it.
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• Re-create the world in your work to conform with your highest vision.
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• Re-create the world in your work as if it matters.nnn
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After all, the universal symphony infinitely begins its play, and your inner creato nalready knows the dance.

1996 by Carlisle Bergquist. All rights reserved.