 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
PDF Version << Syllabus Home Page2 Page3 Page4 Page5 Page6 Page7 Last >> Creativity and Personal Mastery Course Outline Prof. Srikumar S. Rao
The quest for 'more': One of the most pervasive myths of our society is that 'more' will make us 'happier'. Too few even recognize that this is a myth. Powerful institutions, such as the advertising industry, parade it as fact. Our entire economy is geared to fostering consumption and the more, the better. Our measures of societal well-being - such as per capita consumption enshrine this notion. In fact, for most of us, our entire lives are a treadmill of effort to acquire 'more' - more money, bigger house, more attractive spouse, more power, more fame, more control, more cars and more luxurious cars, more vacation homes, more exclusive and more expensive trinkets. More of anything and everything.
Swami Vivekananda Recognize that there is no problem in seeking more or wanting more or enjoying more. The problem lies in believing that any of this will bring us 'more' happiness. The causative link is spurious but, Oh, how firmly we believe in it!! Time for another instructive parable. Here goes. He was a powerful monarch and presided over a prosperous kingdom. Art and science flourished and there was literature and theater and wholesome entertainment. His ministers were wise and dedicated. His wives were many and beauteous. His offspring were brilliant and dutiful. His army was powerful enough to keep all enemies at bay. He had leisure enough to pursue any field of learning and a mind keen enough to make rapid progress. There was nothing of this world he did not have. Yet he knew that there was something missing. Serenity eluded him and his sleep was troubled. He eagerly sought out wise men who could possibly cure his malaise. One day he learnt of a sage in a distant town, a man of the greatest wisdom and accomplishment. He hurried thither to meet him. The mystic was emaciated and unwashed. His locks were unkempt and he was barely clothed. But his eyes shone with an unnatural light and the king somehow knew that he was in the presence of greatness. "Tell me, Sir," asked the king anxiously, "Are you truly happy?" "Of course I am, my son." He replied. "How could I not be?" And the king knew it was true and he earnestly asked for instruction. The sage agreed, but the conditions he set were severe. For ten years he was to have the rule of the kingdom and the palace. If his slightest action was questioned, he would leave immediately. The emperor agreed and the wise man took up his abode in the palace. He immediately started living a life of unbridled indulgence and luxury. Barbers and masseuses tended to him, the finest tailors clothed him, jugglers and clowns entertained him and he had sculptors create massive statues of himself all over the kingdom. The emperor was taken aback by this transformation, but he kept his word and instructed his staff to obey the sage. They grumbled loudly and felt that the king had taken leave of his senses, but grudgingly they obeyed. Every evening, for one hour, the king received instruction and the wise man seemed different at these sessions. His words carried the ring of truth and the ruler learned much about statecraft and about philosophy. At other times he despaired and regretted his impulsive invitation. The intruder discovered tobacco and puffed like a chimney. He was introduced to intoxicants and imbibed freely. He made boundless use of the ruler's harem and the king shuddered and turned his head. The breaking point came some months later when the king was with his favorite concubine and the sage asked him to begone so he could indulge himself. Red-faced with wrath the sovereign berated him and asked him to look at what he had become, how low he had fallen. "There is no difference between you and me," he asserted. "How could I have possibly thought that you had anything to teach me." "I was wondering when you would erupt," said the sage amusedly. "I will leave now because you broke your word. You are wrong. There is an enormous difference between us and until you understand this difference, you will suffer as you always have." "What difference?" the king shouted. "You indulge yourself just as I do and seek enjoyment more than I ever did." "Your word was weak," said the philosopher calmly, "So I will leave. But you are a good man and your intentions were honorable, so I will teach you this difference as a parting gift. But I cannot do it here at the palace. You must come with me alone, for two weeks." So the two set out and traveled far and the king kept pressing for answers and the sage smiled enigmatically. At length they reached the border and the mystic kept going. The king stopped even though the other pressed him to follow. "It is not safe," protested the emperor. "I have to hurry back. There are affairs of state to tend to and much to do. I regret that I indulged you again. Tell me the difference and begone." "That is the difference, my son," said the sage as he discarded his raiment. "I was in the lap of luxury and I leave with no regrets, not a moment's sorrow. The time for such enjoyment is past. Like all things it comes and it goes and I accept this fully with total equanimity." "You, on the other hand," he continued, "Are so stuck with being an emperor that you are prepared to forgo your own quest. This is the tragedy. What you seek is within your grasp, but you can only reach it if you let go of what you are clasping so tightly to your bosom. I understand this. You do not. That is the difference between us and it is a mighty chasm." "Return to your palace. Rule wisely, my son, and I pray that some day you, too, will discover this truth for yourself." The scales fell from the king's eyes and he remembered their evening sessions and how much he learnt. He earnestly begged for forgiveness and entreated the other to return. "No, my son," said the sage firmly. "If I return now you will forever doubt whether I was a master gamesman or a true master. There is no more I have to teach you. Go back to your kingdom." He turned and strode off. He did not look back. The king returned to his palace and resumed his rule. He pondered on the sage's words and reflected on his teachings. And suddenly, one day, he understood. Thoughts on the nature of work and about life: You will spend half your waking hours at work, maybe much more. It would be a shame if so much time was spent on just a job. Here is a sampling of views on the nature and meaning of work and about life. Some of them should resonate deeply within you. If none do, then this course may not be appropriate for you. "Labore ut orare--To work is to pray." "What you receive depends on what you give. The workman gives the toil of his arm, his energy, his movement; for this the craft gives him a notion of the resistance of the material and its manner of reaction. The artisan gives the craft his love; and to him the craft responds by making him one with his work. But the craftsman gives the craft his passionate research into the laws of nature which govern it; and the craft teaches him Wisdom." deLubicz "The spider dances her web without knowing that there are flies who will get caught in it. The fly, dancing nonchalantly on a sunbeam, gets caught in the net without knowing what lies in store. But through both of them 'It' dances, and inside and outside are united in this dance. So, too, the archer hits the target without having aimed - more I cannot say." Herrigel "But he learned more from the river than Vasudeva could teach him. He learned from it continually. Above all he learned from it how to listen with a still heart, with a waiting, open soul, without passion, without desire, without judgment, without opinions." Hesse "Live, as it were, in trust. All that is in you, all that you are, is only loaned to you. Make use of it according to the will of Him who lends it, but never regard it for a moment as your own." Francois Fenelon "There is nothing better for a man than that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor." Ecclesiastes "What you are now is the result of what you were. What you will be tomorrow will be the result of what you are now. The consequences of an evil mind will follow you like the cart follows the ox that pulls it. The consequences of a purified mind will follow you like your own shadow. No one can do more for you than your own purified mind - no parent, no relative, no friend, no one. A well-disciplined mind brings happiness." The Dhammapada "Most men would feel insulted if it were proposed to employ them in throwing stones over a wall, and then in throwing them back, merely that they might earn their wages. But many are no more worthily employed now." "The true husbandman will cease from anxiety, as the squirrels manifest no concern whether the woods will bear chestnuts this year or not, and finish his labor with every day, relinquishing all claim to the produce of his fields, and sacrificing in his mind not only his first but last fruits also." Thoreau "Caring about our work, liking it, even loving it, seems strange when we see work only as a way to make a living. But when we see work as a way to deepen and enrich all of our experience, each one of us can find this caring within our hearts, and awaken it in those around us, using every aspect of our work to learn and grow...Every kind of work can be a pleasure. Even simple household tasks can be an opportunity to exercise and expand our caring, our effectiveness, our responsiveness. As we respond with caring and vision to all work, we develop our capacity to respond fully to all of life. Every action generates positive energy which can be shared with others. These qualities of caring and responsiveness are the greatest gift we can offer." Tarthang Tulku "Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform whatever actions are needed. He who works in this spirit attains the highest end." "Whose works are all free from the molding of desire, whose actions are burned up by the fire of wisdom, him the wise have called a sage. Having abandoned attachment to the fruit of action, always content, nowhere seeking refuge, he is not doing anything, although doing actions." Bhagavad Gita "We are all, always, building foundations, either good or bad, solid or hollow, firm or frail. Every act is a hammer stroke. One coral insect appears to be of infinitesimal importance. But in time one such insect laid on another can wreck the staunchest ship that ever sailed the sea. Our hourly thoughts and acts, each in itself apparently of no moment, in time build our foundations and erect thereon our life's structure." B. C. Forbes "Ch'ing, the chief carpenter, was carving wood into a stand for musical instruments. When finished, the work appeared to those who saw it as though of supernatural execution; and the Prince of Lu asked him, saying, 'What mystery is there in your art?' 'No mystery, Your Highness,' replied Ch'ing. 'And yet there is something. When I am about to make such a stand, I guard against any diminution of my vital power. I first reduce my mind to absolute quiescence. Three days in this condition, and I become oblivious of any reward to be gained. Five days, and I become oblivious of any fame to be acquired. Seven days, and I become oblivious of my four limbs and my physical frame. Then, with no thought of the Court present in my mind, my skill becomes concentrated, and all disturbing elements from without are gone. I enter some mountain forest, I search for a suitable tree. It contains the form required, which is afterwards elaborated. I see the stand in my mind's eye, and then set to work. Beyond that there is nothing. I bring my own native capacity into relation with that of the wood. What was suspected to be of supernatural execution in my work was due solely to this.'" Chuang Tzu "The Buddha, in his wisdom, made 'right livelihood' one of the steps to enlightenment. If we do not pitch our discussion that high, we have failed to give work its true dimension, and we will settle for far too little - perhaps for no more than a living wage. Responsible work is an embodiment of love, and love is the only discipline that will serve in shaping the personality, the only discipline that makes the mind whole and constant for a lifetime of effort. There hovers about a true vocation that paradox of all significant self-knowledge - our capacity to find ourselves by losing ourselves. We lose ourselves in our love of the task before us and, in that moment, we learn an identity that lives both within and beyond us." Theodore Roszak Nine requisites for a contented life: Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support your needs. Strength enough to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience enough to toil till some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor. Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others. Faith enough to make real the things of God. Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "Your work should be an area of great passion. Most of the time right livelihood means we get up and look forward to the day with the same excitement that we feel on vacations." Michael Phillips A human being is part of the whole, called by us the Universe; a part limited by time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical illusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task is to free ourselves from this prison... Albert Einstein "This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before being thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy." George Bernard Shaw "Blessed is he who has found his work. Let him ask for no other blessedness." "Our main business is not to see what lies dimly in the distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand." Carlyle "Do little things in an extraordinary way; be the best one in your line. You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world. Show that God's creative principle works in you. Never mind the past. Though your errors be as deep as the ocean, the soul itself cannot be swallowed up by them. Have the unflinching determination to move on your path unhampered by limiting thoughts of past errors." Paramahansa Yogananda "God can dream a bigger dream for you than you can dream for yourself, and your role on earth is to attach yourself to that divine force and let yourself be released to it." "I will tell you that there have been no failures in my life. I don't want to sound like some metaphysical queen, but there have been no failures. There have been some tremendous lessons." Paramahansa Yogananda "The Master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both." Zen Buddhist Text "Many people are surprised to learn that in 27 years at UCLA, I never once talked about winning. Instead I would tell my players before the games, 'When its over, I want your head up. And there's only one way for your head to be up, and that's for you to know, not me, that you gave the best effort of which you are capable. If you do that, then the score really doesn't matter, although I have a feeling that if you do that, the score will be to your liking.' I honestly, deeply believe that in not stressing winning as such, we won more than we would have if we had stressed outscoring opponents." John Wooden What is work? What is beyond work? Even some seers see this not aright. I will teach thee the truth of pure work, and this truth will make thee free...All actions take place in time by the interweaving of the forces of Nature; but the person lost in selfish delusion thinks that he himself is the actor. Bhagavad Gita Required reading: The following books are required reading. It is strongly recommended that you finish ALL of the books BEFORE the start of the course. This will serve to give you an early orientation and thus a headstart. Also it will give you more time to do some of the other readings that will enable you to get so much more from this course. 1) FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Harper & Row, 1990 FLOW is a state of intense absorption where the distinction between you and the work you are doing practically disappears. Time appears distorted with hours feeling like minutes or vice versa. Peak performers achieve this state regularly and it has been extensively studied in champion athletes and sports figures as well as performers in the arts. University of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has researched the phenomenon in other occupations and explored the conditions under which FLOW can be achieved by practically anyone. Extraordinary creativity routinely occurs in the flow state. You may also wish to explore The Evolving Self by the same author. Inamori, the legendary founder of Kyocera, puts it beautifully, "I often tell a researcher who is lacking in dedication...unless he is motivated with determination to succeed, he will not be able to go past the obstacles...When his passion, his desire, becomes so strong as to rise out of his body like steam, and when the condensation of that which evaporated occurs...and drops back like raindrops, he will find his problem solved." 2) Creativity in Business by Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers Doubleday, 1986 Michael is the Stanford Business School marketing professor who was a pioneer in teaching creativity in a business school. The book contains many business anecdotes - now somewhat dated - and is very entertaining, but reading it like a novel will not do you much good. Practice the exercises he suggests, particularly those relating to the VOJ (voice of judgment) and in chapters 4 and 6. 3) Cracking Creativity by Michael Michalko Ten Speed Press, 2001 The subtitle of this book is "The secrets of creative genius" and it is exactly that. The author is a creativity consultant with many Fortune 500 clients and the business examples he gives are highly instructive. I particularly like the layout of the book and its excellent graphics. Use this as you would a recipe book, to search for ideas when you don't know what to cook. Pay particular attention to the strategies of thinking fluently and making novel combinations. 4) The Street Lawyer by John Grisham Doubleday 1998 You will do a great deal of tough reading in this course so I thought I'd give you one easy ball. This is one of Grisham's better potboilers. The protagonist is a hard-nosed workaholic attorney with an Ivy League degree and well on his way to making partner in a white shoe firm. Peculiar circumstances bring him cheek by jowl with the Washington D.C. underclass and cause some serious soul searching. Entertainingly presented with well-drawn characters. The questions the protagonist grapples with may well have some relevance for you. 5) A Search in Secret India by Paul Brunton Red Wheel/Weiser, 1990 Paul Brunton was a journalist on a quest and visited many parts of the globe. A Search in Secret Egypt is an earlier companion volume. The nature of his quest and the insistent questions that drove him may resonate with some of you. His observation is keen and his descriptions powerful. His matter of fact recital of some exceedingly strange experiences may leave some of you gasping. Suspend judgment and focus on the lessons he learned and would like to pass on. 6) The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander Penguin Books, 2000 Benjamin Zander is a conductor, so passionate about music that he literally sways audiences into rapture. He is legendary for his pre-concert lectures where he educates his audience about the music about to be played. He also offers to refund the admission of any member who is not emotionally moved. This is the kind of conviction that permeates this book. You, too, can be equally passionate about what you do. This book shows you how. PDF Version << Syllabus Home Page2 Page3 Page4 Page5 Page6 Page7 Last >> |
|
| © 2005 areyoureadytosucceed.com. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Contact |
  |