User:Franchesca Baily/sandbox

= Creative flow in Buddhism = Creativity involves the production of novelty. Buddhist creativity is any form of creative endeavour that comes from the context of Buddhism. It includes visual art, music, and literature.

Creative flow is defined as the mental state of being completely present and fully immersed in a task. The Hungarian-American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934-2021) argues that there are 9 fundamental elements that make creative flow so enjoyable. 1) There are clear goals every step of the way. 2) There is immediate feedback to one’s actions. 3) There is a balance between challenges and skills. 4) Action and awareness are merged. 5) Distractions are excluded from consciousness. 6) There is no worry of failure. 7) Self-consciousness disappears. 8) The sense of time becomes distorted. 9) The activity becomes autotelic. In the state of creative flow, one has full attention and awareness, and this allows spontaneity to take form.

Buddhist creative flow is creative flow in a Buddhist context. For Buddhists, true creative flow is born from the spontaneity (lhun grub, associated with luminous clarity) of pure being (Buddha-nature). To reach the state of pure being one must move past dual and relative awareness and must understand the world through absolute truth.

Zen and Buddhist Romanticism
The Romantics believed that a true artist could shed light on something new through a unique vision. The Romantics believed that art could show what language could not communicate, it could make the internal consciousness external, and could portray absolute reality.

Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki (1870-1966) was a dominant figure in the development of Buddhist modernism. He was a scholar and author and was influential in the disciplines of Buddhism and continental philosophy. In Japan, he influenced the reviving of Zen and the Kyoto School of Japanese philosophy. He played an important role in spreading Zen beyond East Asia to the West.

For many scholars Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki formed the conception of Zen. Much of his writings on Zen were influenced by Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and their successors. He theorised about the Buddhist-Romantic concept of creativity and spontaneity. Suzuki believed that humans are not separate from nature, he claimed that ‘Man came out of Nature in order to see Nature in himself; that is, Nature came to itself to see itself in Man.' For Suzuki, Zen enables one to become aware of this ‘primordial identity of man and nature.' Suzuki believed that absolute truth is the realisation that humanity and nature are one.

Zen literature such as Mondō and Koans are stories of interactions between Zen masters and disciples, and consist of a question and answer form. They intend to highlight that absolute truth involves transcendence of the ‘rational’ and ‘logical.' In one famous Koan, a master hits a post with a stick and a monk feels a sudden pain. Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki claims that the seeming 'irrationality' and 'incomprehensibility' of this demonstrates that logic only exists on the ‘surface’ of things, in the ‘realm of relativity.’ He also suggests that this illustrates the degree to which awakened beings are 'totally identified with Nature.'

Many scholars argue that Buddhism is fundamentally about being in touch with your true nature and letting it flow out of you without being blocked. In Buddhism there is a belief that language and concepts obscure the pure nature of things and obstruct the expression of pure being. This is because Buddhists believe that language and concepts are dual, and therefore prevent the expression of absolute truth (pure being).

For many Buddhists true creative flow involves spontaneity, which erupts only once the minds pure awareness can flow unobstructed. For pure awareness to flow unobstructed the mind must be emptied of language and concepts. Suzuki argued that to enter true creative flow one must ‘forget’ their mind and ‘become one with the work at hand.’ Suzuki believed that in this state of no-mind, ‘no traces of artificial contrivance exist,’ instead ‘everything (is) left to Nature itself.’

McMahan compares the 'well-trained' mind to a flash of lightning, to illustrate that from a Buddhist perspective true creative flow does not come from ‘intellectual deliberation,’ but is instead born out of the ‘spontaneous charge’ of the minds own ‘inner nature’ For Buddhists creativity flows from the depths of pure being, where the mind can act spontaneously and express its true nature, as all obstacles (dual awareness- language and concepts) are demolished.

The Great Perfection:
The Great Perfection practice (rdzogs chen) is the ‘highest’ tantric vehicle in the Nyingma tradition. Buddhists from the Nyingma tradition believe that, in this practice ‘one examines the fundamental nature of mind directly, without the need for images or visualizations,’ as they beleive that these images are themselves appearances. The Great Perfection practice is referred to as ‘cutting through’ (khregs chod), as for Buddhists it involves seeing through appearances to ‘perceive the primordially pure mind,’ and thus the practice moves beyond dual awareness. According to the Nyingma tradition, the 'pure awareness' in the practice of The Great Perfection is the ‘most basic element of all experience,’ it is the ‘basis of consciousness.’ The Great Perfection practice is the culmination of Emptiness (Śūnyatā). From a Buddhist perspective, a mind that is empty has relinquished dual awareness and understands the world through wisdom (Prajñā) and compassion (Karuṇā). Wisdom (Prajñā) involves a pure understanding of reality (absolute truth), and compassion (Karuṇā) involves working to reduce suffering.

For Tibetan Buddhists creativity comes from a place of integration, transformation, and transcendence. According to Nyingma tradition, when a monk enters the practice of The Great Perfection, their mind is emptied of relative and dual truth and they can enter a creative flow that spontaneously translates the ‘primordially pure mind.' For Buddhists the 'primordially pure mind' is characterized by compassion (Karuṇā) and wisdom (Prajñā), as Buddhists believe these are the fundamental qualities at the heart of all beings.