Creative thinking is the ability to think in unique ways and find unusual solutions to problems.

Convergent thinking produces one correct answer (standardized tests); divergent thinking produces many answers to the same question and is characterized creatively.

Most creative children are intelligent, however the opposite is not always the case. To increase creativity in children one can use the following for stimulation:

• Brainstorming and coming up with unique ideas
• Environments that stimulate creativity
• Do not over control and apply limits
• Encourage internal motivation
• Foster flexible and playful thinking
• Introduce children to creative people

What stimulates my creativity?

A free mind
A mind free of all positionalities
A mind at peace, clean, clear, liberated

Creativity is an inner ability; external environmental factors can influence the polarization of the mind, but to be one with what enables creativity is to be one with all of life.

Creative traits I find within myself:

• The ability to think analytically and intuitively
• Playful and childlike
• Engage frequently in solitary activities especially during childhood
• Ideas that are original and qualitatively different

Creativity is the texture to the painting of life in which reality is the canvas. Expression is innate; creative-expression is unique. To bring forth manifestation in a creative fashion is to shine light to the road of life in a way that is clever, resourceful, and most profound.

Posted on June 27, 2006 in Note To Self | Link | creative_childr.mp3

What potential consequences (individual & society) do you feel could arise in waking life as a result of behavior in dream life? I'd really like to get your perspective on it.

Since I was a kid, as far back as I can remember - probably around the age of 3 to 6 - before I would fall asleep I would go into a meditate state unwillingly. At the time I didn't know it was a meditative state, I simply thought that I was entering the sleep state. The interesting thing however is that I would find myself in a complete void that was silent, still, yet very comfortable (this is what many spiritualist will call the knowingness level of unconditional love).

The most interesting thing is that I would sometimes have communication with myself before falling asleep. As a kid I simply thought I was reviewing my day or planning for another day or just simply thinking about whatever I allowed to be channeled. Why am I telling you this and what does it have to do with dreaming/lucid dreaming?

It is my belief and understanding that the mind is essentially a tool - a tool that views and interprets what we call reality both waking and dreaming. Both Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung identify dreams as an interaction between the unconscious and the conscious. They also assert together that unconscious is the dominant force of the dream, and in dreams it conveys its own mental activity to the perceptive faculty.

Lucid dreaming simply exemplifies one's ability to become consciously aware of one's perception of reality both conscious and unconscious. That statement may sound philosophical, nonetheless I know it holds true with myself. If one has a firm grip on reality while in the waking state, then one will experience a stable dreaming state in which awareness is present resulting in a much clearer ("lucid") experience and usually enabling direct control over the content of the dream.

Although cortical regions of the brain are somewhat dormant such as sensory processing during the dreaming state, it does not mean intuitively one can not be aware of one's perception of the unconscious/conscious reality. The mental body of the human is only one of the many bodies. There is an emotionally body, physical body of course, sexual body, and the spiritual or intuitive body. Each body is an energetic power integrated and coordinated by the mind.

The essence of meditation is to detach the mind from the mental body (illusions, concepts, time, judgments, beliefs, even values, etc.) and as a consequence one's awareness (which exists beyond all the bodies and does not live within the mental body) becomes consciously visible of the unity of all of life.

Below is an analogy that will help fuse this information together.

Mind is much like a TV. Televisions are plugged into cable outlets in which they receive an input or broadcast. The mind is plugged into reality (unconscious and conscious) which is essentially a continuous broadcast of energy that we interpret as information.

The mind receives these broadcasts and displays them to the human/animal. Humans have the higher cortical abilities to interpret these broadcasts by organizing, translating, reflecting, debating, believing in them etc. etc. Our mind's are always "on" because life is much like the power to the TV. If the power is present, then the TV will always stay on unless the power is turned off which would essentially mean death for the mind/human.

The human mind is able to interpret and manipulate the input broadcast data (reality) during the waking state. This would be analogous to changing the TV station, or hooking up a surround sound system, or adjusting the color on the TV (all done during the waking state).

Now, during the dreaming state the mind is still receiving input data. However, the ability to exercise control over the information that is being download ceases. Here is where it gets interesting.

If one has attained a level of consciousness in which awareness extends beyond the mental, physical, emotional, or sexual body, then one is not dominated by those bodies and one can experience consciously the dreaming state and the waking state.

How do you do this? Meditation, having an open mind, accelerating awareness, maybe conditioning your mind to recognizing symbols during the waking broadcast so that they can be recognized during the dreaming?

I can tell you from personal experience much that is experienced in my dreaming life is directly correlated with my waking life and vice versa. Often times when things are suppressed or repressed in waking life they will arise through dreams. This is what Freud called sublimation.

I truly believe that there is no difference between the dreaming life and waking life. They are both essentially the same broadcast as described above. What is fundamentally different between the waking life and the dreaming life is the interpretation of the broadcast: waking = conscious brain; dreaming = dormant brain. What allows lucid dreaming is the presence of awareness beyond the brain.

Posted on June 18, 2006 in Q & A's | Link | the_dreaming_mi.mp3