Understanding the source of originality in our creative endeavor.

 As long as I am breathing I will be thinking, thoughts never end; they will subside but they never end. It is a fact that your breath controls the flow of your thinking mind which ironically eventually ends when you stop breathing , once and for all and you are dead. Normally when you 'catch your breath' or when you heave a long sigh of relief, you sneeze or you focus you mind on your breathing alone, your thinking mind is affected in one way or another. Hence when ou attain Samadhi or absolute silence through meditation or through absolute focus on an intention like starting a one hundred meter dash, your mind stops thinking. The cessation of thoughts happens when the mind is totally occupied with an action or absolute focus upon an intention through the awareness of one's breath. This is one of the purposes of doing Zazen or sitting meditation. Primarily the goal of Zazen is the cessation of thoughts or at the very least to bring the mind into direct focus of what is here and now. To achieve a state of peace and tranquility within amidst the busy-ness of everyday life. To let go of that which is unreal and focus on the reality that presents itself when the mind is not clouded by incessant thinking. .

Professionals in every field of endeavor, albeit a scientist, an artist, a song writer, a chef, whatever the trade or undertaking to produce an original work is paramount. Originality is a cornerstone, a marker for a successful work produced by any professional in their field that transcends all other works in the same field. originality stands out as fruit of original ideas never before expressed by other in similar field. The question is where does originality originates from. A mind that is influenced by external events, thoughts and ideas will never produce an original product that is a product never before thought of or expressed into forms. Hence originality will have to come from within, from the recesses of one's unconscious or subconscious mind where where the ground of primordial state resides laying dormant until triggered by a stimuli or shaken loose by an extraordinary circumstance that has taken place in the external environment. This can also happen while in a state of absolute silence of the mind whereby an opening occurs for the latent state of consciousness is allowed to emerge unobstructed. An epiphany, an intuition, a stroke of genius, whatever the result may be, the originality emerge from within the creator inner state of subconsciousness or the unconscious. For this to happen the ground work has to be laid out by the individual in the form of practice or discipline or simply having a thorough understanding of the inner engineering of the human psyche. 

#zazen,#innerengineering