A creative life involves an element of the sacred

We are indeed reworked stardust. Scientists first got an inkling of this shimmering fact in the 1950s. We now know that every element on Earth and in our bodies that is heavier than hydrogen and helium was created in the bowels of a supernova that blew up in this sector of the galaxy some five billion years ago. (Actually, our star system was probably born of colliding outwash of several exploding stars. . .)
     - Connie Barlow, Green Space, Green Time

The universe is not static and hasn’t been since the Big Bang. And it’s not random: it adheres to laws of mathematics and physics. There’s an underlying structure without which solar systems and life on earth would not be possible. Roman Catholic monk Thomas Berry, in his books and during my interview of him, offered a theory of the creative disequilibrium of the universe that is neither traditional Christianity nor traditional science.

Since the universe began, its three major tendencies have been differentiation or articulation, the bonding of different parts, and spontaneity. The universe is divine precisely because it is composed of parts. All creative realities are composed of parts. They combine to create something new.

The tendency towards differentiation is counterbalanced by bonding, or, in the physical order, gravitation. No one knows what gravitation is. An attraction between bodies. Newton knew how it operated but he said he didn’t know what it was. And we still don’t. But it is why the Earth must be round. The bending back toward each other, the spherical shape, allows things to be. Otherwise, we would have an endless proliferation.

Anyway, the two forces of difference and bonding mean several possibilities. If the differentiation was stronger than the bonding, then the universe would explode and drift off. If the bonding overcame the differentiation, then it would collapse. One more possibility is equilibrium but if there is equilibrium then there is fixation. Nothing happens. There is only one possibility of having a universe. That is a creative disequilibrium. The process by which the universe self-creates.

Art emerges out of a disequilibrium in search of a new equilibrium.
      - Thomas Berry, author, historian, Roman Catholic monk (Heron Dance interview, Issue 21, June 1999). See the Thomas Berry page on the Heron Dance website here, and his books The Great Work and Dream of the Earth.

Approaching the subject from the perspective of an astrophysicist, Martin Rees, professor at Cambridge University, states if six numerical relationships were slightly different -– for instance the mathematics underlying gravity or the speed at which mass becomes energy (Einstein’s theory of relativity) -– not only could life not exist but the universe could not exist. It would collapse or fling apart or have been unable to form. See Rees’s book Just Six Numbers. The work of Thomas Berry and Martin Rees suggests the following:

• There’s an order to the universe that is not random.

• The universe is not static and hasn’t been since the Big Bang.

• We who are made up of components of that universe have the ability to reflect on it, to discover the underlying laws of mathematics that govern it. In the words of Thomas Berry, “the human activates the most profound dimension of the universe itself, its capacity to reflect on and celebrate itself in conscious self-awareness.” We are the universe pondering itself.

• The universe could not exist without countervailing forces that are never one hundred percent in balance. That creative disequilibrium makes the universe possible.

• Creative disequilibrium is also what makes art possible. To quote Berry again, "Art emerges out of a disequilibrium in search of a new equilibrium. The creative act itself is the emergence of something new. That is why it is so important to create. That is why the artist is always at the margin. Nothing creative ever happens at the center. The artist revels in the ultimate disequilibrium of things.”

Through creative work, we glimpse an inner landscape that is beyond our understanding. Art offers a portal into realities that otherwise may remain unseen. All of this supports the contention that creative work has a sacred element in the sense that it is a manifestation, a continuation, of the creative force of the universe. The implication of humans as the products of a dynamic universe, created in order that it can reflect back upon itself, is that our internal world, our imagination, our levels of consciousness, also possess an element of sacredness.

I first interviewed Ethan Hubbard (author of Grandfather’s Gift and other books) in the early 1990s. He said to me,

I believe in the abundance of this planet. I don't want to speak too much about it because the more you think you know, the less the magic works. But I am a true believer that there is an abundance factor, either through angels or through karma.

The forces described above are closely related to the spiritual element, the magic, in Joseph Campbell's hero's journey. While you can glimpse the magic, and often feel it, you cannot understand it. If you think you know what is really going on, you are probably mistaken. If you talk as if you know what is going on, the magic won't work. You approach the magic with humility not hubris. You surrender to the sacred path; the sacred path does not surrender to you. You serve it before it will serve you.

The hero's journey may last a month, or it may last a lifetime, but whatever else it is, it is a step away from the life of relationships and "busyness" that squeeze out a relationship with oneself. As the myths and wisdom of many indigenous peoples have said, it is a search, a vision quest, for the state where the beauty and radiance within link up with the beauty and radiance of the natural world, of the universe. It is a journey into mystery because there are no clear answers in the creator's life. In fact, it is a search for a life, or at least a time, where the answers are few -- where wonder takes the place of answers and certainty.
      - The Hero's Journey, edited and with an introduction by Phil Cousineau

As we love ourselves, we move toward our own bliss, by which Joseph Campbell meant our highest enthusiasm.  The word entheos means "god-filled."  Moving towards that which fills us with the godhood, that place where time is not, is all we need to do to change the world around us. Then we, naturally and without effort, love others and allow them to move beyond their self-imposed limitations, and in their own ways. The goal is to evolve to that place where the energy that had been projected outward to correct the world is turned around to correct oneself -- to get on our own track and to dance, in balance, between the worlds.

Following your bliss, as Joseph meant it, is not self-indulgent but vital; your whole physical system knows that this is the way to be alive in this world and the way to give the world the very best that you have to offer. There is a track just waiting for each of us, and once on it, doors will open that were not open before and would not open for anyone else.  Everything does start clicking along, and yes, even Mother Nature herself supports the journey.

I have found that you do have only to take that one step toward the gods and they will then take ten steps toward you. That step, the heroic first step of the journey, is out of, or over the edge of, your boundaries, and it often must be taken before you know that you will be supported.  The hero's journey has been compared to a birth; it starts out warm and snug in a safe place; then comes a signal, growing more insistent, that it is time to leave.  To stay beyond your time is to putrefy.  Without the blood and tearing and pain, there is no new life.
     - from A Joseph Campbell Companion.  Selected and edited by Diane K. Osbon.

Fifty trillion cells make up the human body. Each of those cells, in turn, consists of atoms -— countless millions or billions of them — depending on the function of the specific cell. And the atoms? They consist mostly of empty space -— protons and neutrons surrounded by electrons. Empty space, just as the universe is mostly empty space. The atoms existed before the human body they make up existed, and will be here after life has gone. In the meantime, in the short interval, the atoms are held together by a mysterious life force.  Life force needs a purpose. Without a purpose there is no reason for the unity. Without a purpose, a life is less than the sum of its parts.

A life force exists on borrowed energy. A life force is energy captured, for a brief while, from the surrounding world. Then it goes back into that surrounding soup. For those atoms to come together at random, without purpose, and then dissipate into emptiness is, I think, life without meaning. Destiny denied.

Listen for the special music the song that nobody else can sing but you. . . Your own karma badly lived is better than someone else's karma lived well.
      - Denise Shekerjian, Uncommon Genius

The root of sacrifice is the word sacred.

Trees For Life, a nonprofit founded by Balbir Mathur and his wife Treva, has planted millions of fruit trees in rural villages around the world. Here’s an excerpt from an article written by Treva for the Trees For Life newsletter.

Three years ago Balbir (Mathur) and I were in a small village in Orissa, India. The villagers welcomed us with songs and flower garlands.

After introductions, the village leaders sat down with us.

“Our land is very degraded and we are very poor,” they said. “If our children were educated they could get jobs, but there is not enough money for their school. It's like a trap, and we can't break free. What can we do?”

Balbir closed his eyes, listening intently with great reverence. Then he spoke.

“If you will donate some very poor land to your school, we can help you regenerate that land, and it can provide income for the school,” he said.

Several villagers started grumbling. Our lands have been divided and passed down for generations, they argued. How could our people give up their inheritance?

Balbir spread his hands. Nothing comes without sacrifice. The more important the task, the greater the sacrifice.

After reading that article, I called Balbir, Treva’s husband, and asked him about sacrifice. This is what he said.

“From time immemorial, spiritual leaders of all faiths have told us that anything worthwhile requires a sacrifice. Nothing happens without a sacrifice. Sacrifice is such an essential part of the equation of life. In order for a mother to give birth to a child, she has to sacrifice. A sperm germinates an egg, it has to lose its identity. A seed, to grow, has to lose itself. A candle can only give light if it burns itself out.”

Sacrifice is the cornerstone of life. When we say that life is sacred, that implies that it demands sacrifice. What we sacrifice is what becomes sacred to us. Without sacrifice, nothing becomes sacred.

First sacrifice, then art.

The true artists are, in essence, the most religious of mortals.
      - Auguste Rodin

Great improvisors are like priests.  They are thinking only of their god. 
      - Stephane Grappelli

That’s easy to misinterpret. Just as religion explores elusive subjects, so does the creative process. Rodin was saying that as artists we search for the unknowable, the spirit of the thing, the idea we are trying to understand or develop a relationship with. We try to be conduits.

If I had to come up with a one‑word answer, it would be clarity. The key is to clear yourself in order to become a conduit for creativity. In my book Expect a Miracle, Ann Nadel, a San Francisco painter and sculptor, said that when the work is really coming, there's something flowing through you that's not you. To me, that feeling is tangible proof of the existence of spirit: something we can tap into that's beyond ourselves and our senses. The highest goal we can aspire to is to become transmitters of that.  
     - The Clear Path To Creativity, An Interview with Dan Wakefield, The Sun magazine, April 1997.

Creativity is a search, a vision quest, for the state where the beauty and radiance within link up with the beauty and radiance of the natural world, of the universe.