"It is perplexing why we ever leave the here and now, which is the only place and time in which we ever enjoy ourselves or accomplish anything." Timothy Gallwey
CREATIVITY MEDITATIO
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All the meditation techniques described on this site - from Mantra to Zen - will certainly help you become more focused, creative, and productive, although that is not the stated goal of any traditional meditation technique. But some meditation practices move more directly towards unleashing creativity or enhancing performance.
The Dutch artist Frederick Franck wrote two books using drawing as a zen-like way to stretch creatively. He said: "We need a way to detach ourselves from an environment constantly bombarding us with noise, aggitation, and visual stimuli. We need to establish an environment for recovering our unspoiled creative core, an oasis of undivided attention, and an island of silence."
Franck teaches drawing in his books, but his are markedly different from other 'how-to-draw' books. He writes: "Everyone thinks he knows what a lettuce looks like. But start to draw one and you realize the anomaly of having lived with lettuce all your life but never having seen the semi-translucent leaves curling in their own lettuce way, never having noticed what makes a lettuce a lettuce rather than a curly kale. In the other how-to books, you will find objects reduced to their basic forms - to ellipses and rectangles. But to draw a lettuce, you have to draw lettuces until you practically become one."
The Salon.com cartoonist and writer, Lynda Barry teaches a drawing meditation practice that she says is derived from Buddhism in her book, One Hundred Demons. Using sumi ink and a calligraphy brush, Barry teaches how to exorcise the demons that create obstacles in life by capturing them on paper.
"I am not a guru," says Timothy Gallwey. But his book, The Inner Game of Tennis teaches athletes how to enhance their performance by working with their minds: "Every game has two parts, an outer game and an inner game. The player of the inner game comes to value the art of relaxed concentration above all other skills. He aims at the kind of spontaneous perfomance which occurs only when the mind is calm and seems at one with the body."
Patricia Monaghan describes other creative meditation techniques, from gardening to needlework in her survey book, which covers 35 different meditation practices.
Zen meditator and writing instructor Natalie Goldberg teaches a handful of specific exercises that help writers "come home to what they need to say and how they need to say it." For example, she introduces a 'timed writing' exercise based on Zen meditation discipline, lasting anywhere from 10 minutes to several hours. She advises: "Whatever amount of time you choose, keep your hand moving the whole time. Don't cross anything out. Ignore spelling, grammar and punctuation. Lose control. And go for the jugular - dive into every feeling that comes up. The idea is to burn through your first thoughts to the place where energy is unobstructed by politeness or any internal censor. In Zen you learn to not be tossed away, no matter how great the thought or emotion. The discipline is just to keep sitting, to keep writing."
Books Available from Amazon
The Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation, by Frederick Franck ($14) and a companion book, Zen Seeing/Zen Drawing: Meditation in Action ($13). Franck developed these books from his experiences teaching people to connect with their innate creativity through drawing.
One Hundred Demons, by Lynda Barry ($17) Barry shares some of her own demons, and offers instructions for drawing yours with ink and brush.
The Inner Game of Tennis, by Timothy Gallwey ($11). Billie Jean King called this her tennis bible when it was first published in 1972. This is a new and revised edition.
Meditation: The Complete Guide, by Patricia Monaghan and Eleanor Viereck ($12) This book covers more than 35 different meditation practices, from journaling and Shamanism to Zen. It’s the most thorough survey you can find.
Writing Down The bones, by Natalie Goldberg ($11) and on cassette ($20). A writing instructor and Zen student offers exercises and advice about writing more creatively.
The Method of Zen, by Eugen Herrigel ($7) and Zen and the Art of Archery ($8). The first book was compiled by Alan Watts and others after Herrigel died in 1955, and after his book on Zen Archey had become so popular.
Links
The International Shambhala Art Program is a non-profit arts education program created by the late Chogyam Trungpa and presided over by his son and heir, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche. The program explores the creative process and the product we call art from the viewpoint of a meditative discipline. Learn more at www.shambhalaart.org
