Archives: IQTuneUps

Without a doubt this will be the most pleasant consciousness exercise yet created. To do this exercise you need a tool. You select that tool. Go to your favorite store and buy your favorite ice cream or fruity sorbet. Sixteen ounces (half a liter) will do nicely, but if others are going to also do this consciousness exercise with you, then they must all have their own full containers, right? Otherwise, do this exercise alone!

The exercise. Get comfortable, and dress warmly in case you decide to really rush through this exercise. Have your favorite spoon handy, and open the container. Do this slowly, very slowly, very very slowly, but don’t take more than about one or two seconds.

Now start eating! Also very slowly as herein aforementioned.

RULES:

1. While you are eating, do whatever else you feel like doing except that you MUST NOT SHARE with anyone, and you must finish the entire container (And you thought ALL rules were bad.).

2. You should try to constantly be aware of the taste of the delicious flavors.

3. While you are eating, you should silently read the follow-up questions below.

Ask yourself,What does the container mean to me before I open it? Why am I having some pleasure now before the first taste? Is this at all like “opening my life” when I was born? Where is that feeling now?

How often am I actually NOT paying attention to the tasting but am thinking about something else or “lost in another perception?”

Why doesn’t my ego join in and provide all sorts of commentary about how good it tastes, how wonderful the experience is, how lucky I am to have a consciousness exercise instructor instead of an exercise instructor? What is my “talker” saying about this? Wouldn’t I consider myself to be enjoying this “a lot more” if I had “a lot more” words to accompany this experience?

At what point in the consumption did I notice “taste bud burn out”? When did I note that the pleasure of those first few mouthfuls was definitely not being matched by the subsequent spoonfuls? Where does my pleasant gustatory experience turn into plain old eating? How often do I, in daily life, eat past this point?

How does the taste of the spoon affect this experience?

What side of my mouth is “getting more fun”?

Do I have any food issues? Is part of me feeling “bad about enjoying this”? Should I feel bad about eating this?

Or should I feel really really bad about eating this?

If tomorrow the government decreed that only this flavor would be permitted to be manufactured and sold from now on, how would I feel?

What actually happens when I get tired of this same flavor that Edg is FORCING me to eat? Why does my brain quit enjoying when the flavor remains the same?

What does the container mean to me when it is empty and I am full? Is this how I will feel when I am about to die? Would that be the right way to die?

Can all my desires be met right now without me dying?

Does God eat?

Sorry, but this exercise will be only of use to those very lucky few readers out there who by the sheerest of chance have the one piece of equipment that it calls for. Those of you that have ready access to a nicely loaded garbage can-one that you can go right up to and pick up the lid and stare at the stuff inside are those who are blessed. If you’re just not that lucky, well, other opportunities that you can go exploring for are dumpsters, or alleyways strewn with refuse, or if the sense of adventure just doesn’t sweep you up, looking into the basket next to your desk will have to do. Success with this exercise really requires a very nice example of a disgusting mess, but it’ll probably work for those of you who just do not have the wherewithal to otherwise obtain the optimal tools necessary to this exercise.

Once you’ve located your treasure, give inner thanks for the universe’s providence and support for your doing this exercise that will greatly increase the amount of wonder you feel for the universe.

Now, stare at your precious find for five minutes. During this time note the following attributes of the “image” that are hitting your eyes by conferring with the “think about garbage” checklist below and carefully using it to analyze what you see and thus support your complete appreciation of your visual experience:

Composition. Consider how completely you are convinced that this mess has been merely haphazardly strewed and amassed. Note that it absolutely fools you and authentically presents itself as randomness personified, even though many highly sophisticated laws were strictly obeyed for its creation-such as the law of gravity. Consider how difficult it would be for you to have assembled this as a collage whose very intent was to fool a casual observer that indeed this was stuff that had been ordinarily tossed into this heap.

Colors. How many distinctly different hues can you see? Note at least ten. Name them.

Shapes. Look for triangles, circles, squares, lines, letters, numbers, micro-worlds, and tiny sculptures. Note at least ten of them. Look for especially unique shapes which, if isolated and converted into a “stand alone sculpture of much greater size” would be, in fact, quite lovely.

Depth. Note the overlappings, shadows, highlights, high and low contrasts, and the binocular nature of your examination process. Note how slight movements of your head reveal depths, secret nooks, and passageways. Pretend you’re an ant who’s scouting for routes to the bottom of the mess while doing air-reconnaissance. Note ten good prospects for easy travel to the bottom.

Variety of objects. Note at least ten different items. Paper, crud, wads, organic matter, “schmutz”, containers, broken artifacts, etc. Name as much as you can or at least put items in a category such as “fresh”, “rotten”, “really really rotten” or “still edible”.

Values. See the display from the point of view of a fly, a dog, a homeless person, a prehistoric cave-person suddenly transported to this future world and given this sight, and finally an archeologist from the distant future.

Energy. Feel intuitively which items have more “ooomph” more “power” more “personality”. If all the separate items were suddenly to become alive, which ones would be the “big shots” with true charisma?

Ask yourself,If I imagine that this rubbish is actually a painting that has completely fooled my eye in a museum and is an artwork which is an example of an artist’s exquisitely photo realistic style of painting, what honors would I think such an artist deserves?

Is there a way for me to see this whole world as a photo realistic painting?

Can I appreciate the basic beauty of creation?

What is the difference between the two experiences of rubbish-museum work and dirty work? Why do I emotionally react so differently to the images even though they are identical? (No fair mentioning smells.)

How is it that merely by placing my attention on something and allowing my intellect to “do its thing” that a “worthless” experience becomes so “value packed?”

If I could transform this rubbish right now into a two-dimensional painting that I could hang on my wall (and perhaps tell about this wonderful way to open one’s eyes to beauty), would I do so?

What would be the long-term payoff to doing this exercise every day for at least a few minutes? Would it ever become an automatic process?

When a person who is perfectly wise and happy meets me, what is on the checklist as I am examined? What items are on my “think about people” list?

When the next strong emotion comes to you, imagine that this emotion is an actual person who has knocked on your door. You come to the door, greet the person with your attentiveness, and almost immediately recognize that this person is in an “emotional state” and is demanding that you to feel that way too. Using your mental imagery, actually picture a person, appropriately dressed in some symbolic clothing, standing before you, and who is trying to get you to “buy into” their view of life. It is important to imagine that this person is quite outlandishly attired. You’ll see Mr. Anger, or Ms. Love, or Mr. Depression standing there. This is a “pushy” person who will not take “no” for an answer.

Think how you would react, in real life, to just such a person who “suddenly is in your doorway unannounced” and who wants you to feel the same way that he/she is feeling. This person will be going on and on about being in love, or this person might be trying to convince you how horrible someone is, or this person might be trying to get you to share a big piece of chocolate cake RIGHT NOW!

Practice saying “goodbye Mr. So-and-so” mentally to the person politely and then quietly “closing the door” while the person is still “talking.” It should be “okay with you” that they are “out there still” though now somewhat muffled, and you are attending to your other interests and not giving that person any encouragement by peeking out the window to see if they’re still talking!

Practice this skill with every strong emotion that you have today. Note how your use of this skill improves and to what degree you can “objectify” emotions that are strong or even overpowering. See if clarity comes to you about how you can handle such “events”, and see if you can “take your own sweet time” before you decide whether or not to “get into” this mood. And finally note if your “neutrality” and “live and let live” attitude shortens the duration of the emotion’s “visit”.

This exercise has these elements:

1. To practice using mental imagery to enable you to see an emotion as an actual, separate entity that “enters” your life-an entity that is a well known “friend” or perhaps a “stranger” at your door, but nevertheless is uninvited or uninitiated by you on purpose. The emotion might be welcomed but still have come unplanned.

2. To practice seeing that you have a choice on HOW MUCH to indulge in this emotion’s request for the use of your nervous system, your time, your energy, your attention. The purpose here is to give yourself an amount of “decision time” in which emotions are considered as separate from your consciousness that “registers” your emotional activities.

3. To practice seeing that there is a possibility that emotional events in your nervous system can be allowed “their own space” where they can “live out their lives” without much resistance from you. To practice seeing that they do not have to necessarily obscure the essential distinction between “the experiencer” and “something to be experienced”.

4. To practice seeing that “giving permission to visit” to an emotion encourages it to grow in intensity, to commandeer the services of the intellect to create reasons why the emotion is valid, and to last much longer.

Ask yourself,How often today was I able to have a strong emotion without being “swept away”?

Did I sometimes feel that an emotion was happening to me or did I feel that I WAS the emotion? Which way would I prefer to be my normal way of experiencing an emotion?

When I see a movie that excites in me strong emotions and is a wonderful movie, does it really matter if it was a story of love or a story of anger? Do I equally recommend movies to my friends-even knowing that my friends will experience the whole range of human emotions including the darkest kind? Why don’t I exclusively recommend movies that excite positive emotions?

Is it possible that I can LOVE to have emotions excited by movies no matter what emotions they are? Can I take my “real emotions” that I have in daily life and put them into the same category and see them as “theatrical” events that are projected upon a screen called my consciousness? With such an analogy as my working concept, does it matter as much to me whether I have love or anger or depression or compassion as long as the “movie is great?”

How interested am I in my life story? How’s the movie? Does it have all the elements: drama, pathos, laughter, transcendence, pain, success, loss, and fulfillment? Has any movie ever produced in me emotions as intense as those I feel every single day of my life?

If I perfect this skill, do I become more like an actor, a director or a producer of my life’s movie?

Would I pay to see my life? How much? Would I recommend it to my friends?

Close your eyes and imagine a famous person who is “well known” to you (from seeing this person on television many times) approaching a microphone to answer questions. You will play the part of an unseen reporter in the audience asking questions.

It’s important for you to pretend that you really are a reporter and are going to ask responsible questions that you feel are important and deserve answers. You do not have to have clear mental images of the person talking, but count it as extra successful if you do have such ancillary phenomenon. You don’t have to “hear” your voice asking the questions or the voice of the person responding. The important point is that the person responds to your “intended” questions, and that somehow the answers become “known” to you.

For about five minutes, play with this scenario; ask questions that are “very normal” for the situation and the famous person being used. If the person doesn’t “come up with” an answer, it’s okay to ask another question or ask the question again and wait a bit. The goal here is to get comfortable with this person responding to questions until “it clicks into place,” and you’ve got a semblance of this inner experience having “a reality of sorts.” You’ll know when this has happened when the answers come easily, and they “sound like” answers that this person would give.

After this comfort is achieved, start asking questions that are not proper for the situation. For instance, you might be interviewing a movie star about their latest film, and then you ask a question about how well that star’s child is doing in school studies. Play with this again until comfort is achieved with the person answering questions that are “off topic.” Note: It is important to get to the point where the famous person comes up with unexpected answers that nonetheless seem authentic.

Success with this exercise is achieved when imagined conversations flow smoothly and effortlessly-as if you actually are doing what you are pretending to do. If you are only able to do this partially, that’s okay. With practice, this skill can be enhanced. A good start is a few questions getting answered clearly.

Ask yourself,What is this skill I have just practiced? Have I directly accessed my memory and ordered it to concoct answers based on statistical probabilities? Or, have I contacted THAT which actually creates the contents of the mind of the famous person and asked IT to give the answers?

Where do all the people in my dreams come from? How many of them have no counterparts in my waking reality? For those dream persons who have no counterparts in my waking reality, how do I “know” what to have them say next? Why are their answers so steeped in authenticity?

Is there a difference between this skill that I have just practiced and the skill that my dreaming mind uses to conjure up persons, conversations, scenarios, etc.?

Am I, in fact, using this skill, powerfully, all the time? And is all around me a product of that skill? Or, at the least, how often do I hear a person answer me and then construct “what they really mean” entirely from my imagination?

If I practiced this skill and became adept at it, would I have the courage to “imagine” interviewing God and asking important questions about myself? With my present skill, can I at least get an answer or two right now? What would the value of such answers be to me? Why?

CAN I imagine God? What would be the “comfortable” questions for me to ask God, and what would be “off topic” and embarrassing for me to ask?

Is my imagination a form of prayer?

Is ALL THIS my answer?

How much do you weigh? No really! This is NOT a simple request. Just what EXACTLY do you weigh? If you get on an ordinary bathroom scale you might get within a few ounces of your true weight. Not good enough.

Let’s put a little more exactitude into this measurement. Let’s weigh you in a physics lab that does experiments with gravity. So up you go on their superduper sensitive scale. There now, what’s your weight? Wait a second! Where’s this lab? Is it at sea level or high on a mountain? That would change the values. So let’s get a physicist to affirm that the scale has been properly calibrated for distance from the center of the earth.

But wait, since the earth is spinning, this gives you a thousand mile per hour motion that affects your weight (faster you go, the more your mass increases), so what’s your true weight? The PhD says, “Our scale isn’t that sensitive to measure that small of an effect.”

So, instead of being able to know your true weight, let’s settle for an imagined method for finding out your true weight. At least we’d have some satisfaction that we “could” if sufficiently motivated and had the budget for it, find out your true weight. So, here is what we end up doing: we get a team of 300 scientists with billions of dollars in grant money who build this incredible scale that somehow takes into consideration all the known almost infinite mass-values of the universe. We know where every speck of the universe is and how much it’s pulling on you.

But wait, now YOU have to get a PhD in physics to truly understand the value of your weight so that it is not merely a number to you but instead, you REALLY know what a gram of weight means. You really really want to KNOW your weight, don’t you?

But wait, after you get your PhD in physics, you’ll find that you disagree with some of the prevailing theories that were used to base the computer models upon. Given that distrust and that amount of uncertainty, you must dedicate your life to ever more research into the mysteries of gravity.

But wait, even if you do get to that almost mystical moment when the entire universe is accounted for, and the scale is perfectly adjusted, and you are certain of your models, and you step on the scale, you have to decide what thought to have while you are being measured. If you have a really intense “big” thought, well, then that’s a lot more energy you’re using, and that will change your weight.

So, you study for years with a yogi who teaches you to turn off all thinking for a few seconds. Now you get on the scale, you sit in peaceful repose, you stop thinking, the team of scientists all coordinate their massive arrays of instruments and computers and, but wait, all the scientists are moving around and constantly “freaking out” the computers that are all set to measure you at an exact moment in time. They have to stand perfectly still.

Wait, everyone on earth should stop moving too.

Wait, everyone on earth should stop their thinking too.

Wait!

Ask yourself,Will I ever know a single thing? Is there even such a thing as “a single thing” if everything is so interconnected?

Can I honestly say that I truly want to know anything-let’s face it-I have been SO SLOPPY in my measurements of everything so far in my life? Why am I satisfied with “close enough?”

What DO I know absolutely? What is my proof, and upon what basis am I certain?

What gives me such courage to walk outside-where tomorrow, because a butterfly’s wing on the other side of the earth has set in motion a series of events, I will have a lightning bolt strike me?

Without faith, what could I do?

What is my faith? Why do I feel so comfortable in such a dangerous world?

Am I stupidly and blindingly ignorant of the immense complexity and sheer unknowable dynamics of life, or do I know a secret?

Do I know something? Can I whisper it in my ear?

Go to a place where there are a lot of people walking about. Airport waiting areas are great for this exercise, but a park, a bus stop, a street corner will do fine. They should all be strangers to you. Take a seat and have a pen and notebook. As you gaze about the area, name the people who “catch your eye” with one word or a short phrase like: “Chubby”, “Back pain”, “Hates life”, “Wife beater”, “Low IQ”, “Thinks she’s hot”, “Bug up his…”, “Type A”, “Takes self too seriously”, “Whiner”, “Whacko”, etc. Really get into this. Don’t hold back. This is where you’re allowed to sum up EVERYONE with blurbs shot straight from the hip. Nail them.

Your job is to write down that SO OBVIOUS trait that you see in people immediately-that first impression/impact they have on you. Do it in a phrase with as few words as possible. Summarize at least 100 persons. And, if it is really necessary, it’s okay to notice something nice about someone too, but this lesson is all about being emotionally free to “really have at it” and tell your truth. No fear. If the first thing that comes to your mind about a person is negative, SO BE IT; that’s what gets written down. Let the chips fall where they may.

Note: This exercise benefits strongly if you DO NOT read the follow-up questions until after the exercise. Innocence is suggested. If you just MUST read them, at least first do this exercise with eyes closed and imagine yourself in an airport and see who comes by! Take notes!

Ask yourself,What DO I think about innocence?

Did I see any of my problems in these strangers?

What percentage of these people’s problems (and good qualities) do I have-to at least “some” degree? Were ALL my major issues seen in just 100 random passersby? Do I have, like, dozens of HUGE chips-on-my-shoulder, or what?

How do I stop seeing my faults in these airport mirrors?

Can I see anyone truly? Did I see myself truly here?

Did the intensity of my emotion towards the qualities I saw “in” those people indicate the degree to which I am affected by having those qualities?

If I can’t see others truly, then they CAN’T SEE ME EITHER, so how can I translate this fact into a feeling-a feeling of personal freedom from my concerns about what others may “see in” (think of) me?

If I woke up and went about my daily life and suddenly a few hours into the morning I realized that I had not had a single negative thought about anyone or anything, would I be worried?

Extra credit: To really drive this lesson home, take a friend with you, and both of you do this SEPARATELY without commenting to each other. THEN compare notes. Prepare for a shock.

Here is an incredibly difficult and a seemingly impossible exercise. Almost no one reading this exercise will think it is worth the effort.

No matter how daunting it seems, YOU MUST DO THIS EXERCISE completely. You will think that something is seriously wrong that such a request is being made in this “environment” when ALL the previous exercises have been “rather light” compared to this one.

Yet, nevertheless, YOU MUST DO THIS EXERCISE. Your whole life will be affected if you do not do this exercise. It will be impossible for you to understand this now, but you must trust that given the history of these exercises, certainly there has to be SOME reason why such a ludicrous request is being made.

The task that you MUST accomplish is this: memorize the following list of sets of paired characters. This list must be so COMPLETELY memorized that you can start at any point in the list and recite the names of the character sets FORWARDS OR BACKWARDS. You should be able to recite aloud this list of names forwards in less than five seconds. You must be able to write down any two-character set almost instantly if any name of a set is given.

The list of character sets and their names:

*# (Name of this character set is Thray))& (Name of this character set is Twee)%# (Name of this character set is Mwee)@% (Name of this character set is Wree)+= (Name of this character set is Yee)^~ (Name of this character set is Thref)@` (Name of this character set is Bree)_+ (Name of this character set is Raych)^* (Name of this character set is Zai)^^ (Name of this character set is Zay)@! (Name of this character set is Tway)~` (Name of this character set is Frell)## (Name of this character set is Hrem)*^ (Name of this character set is Slen)$! (Name of this character set is Vro)+- (Name of this character set is Klee)(Name of this character set is Brue))- (Name of this character set is Har)(* (Name of this character set is Thress)== (Name of this character set is Shee)-* (Name of this character set is Twoo)%* (Name of this character set is Shree)** (Name of this character set is Wobbleque)@~ (Name of this character set is Shrex)() (Name of this character set is Prigh)$$ (Name of this character set is Kee)

Ask yourself,When I am expecting a consciousness exercise that is “light reading”, how do I feel when I am being presented with a boring, almost meaningless task that has no easily discerned payoff and is an obviously absurd offering that is totally bereft of propriety?

Is there more than one feeling in this reaction? Suspicious? Let down? Tickled? Presumed upon? Anti-authoritarian? Anger? Inadequacy? Irritation? Perplexed? Overwhelmed?

Do these emotions “blend” or come individually in a rapid mixture? Can I have two emotions at once-like hearing two people singing the same song and sounding like “one voice”?

What was it like to be asked to memorize the alphabet when I was five years old? What feelings did I have? Were they anything like the feelings I have just had when I read the instructions of this exercise?

When I was a child, what was the payoff to me for being innocent and letting my environment be a guide for my growth? Can I be innocent like that again and maintain my adult vigilance? Who are my teachers now?

How many accomplishments like this have I already had in my lifetime?What would I be able to accomplish if I fully engaged my adult discipline and set myself the task of acquiring as much knowledge in one year as possible?

How often in daily life am I confronted with a similar task?

In light of the amazing powers I have for learning, how is it that I have ever felt otherwise endowed or have not fully utilized my abilities?

Was I ever taught to fail? Am I “running a negative script” about my ability to learn?

Would a PhD in almost any field make me better adjusted, more lovable, more compassionate, more conscious? Why?

Am I a “learning machine”?

Am I smart enough to learn the most important lessons of life?

Story time again-another retold tale.

A carpenter whose skills were well known to all his co-workers was about to retire. In fact, he had, in his mind, already retired, and he looked forward to when the project he was working on would be finished.

He worked for a large construction firm that valued his skills. He had done good, solid, professional work for decades for the firm, and his employer was quite sorry to see his best worker go. He asked the carpenter to stay on “just a bit longer” and to do one more project, a house. Reluctantly, the carpenter agreed. The employer had been good, and, in fact, deserved this favor from the carpenter.

He agreed. He would build one more house.

But, truth be told, his heart simply was not in it, and he worked fast. Faster than he had ever worked. His only aim was to get this one last job done. He cut corners and “overlooked” some errors that he would never have committed before-let alone leave uncorrected. It was not the best way to end his career.

Finally the house was finished, and the employer came to inspect it. As the employer was about to enter the house, the carpenter lowered his eyes. He knew. But, the employer paused on the steps, and said, “For all these years I have greatly admired how much intent and meaning you put into your craft. I know what your work has meant to you. And so, after all these years together, I just wanted to give you something that I knew you would appreciate. This house is yours. Here are the keys.

Ask yourself,How cheated would I feel if I were that carpenter?

What have I wrought? What personality do I call home? How much concern do I have for it? With each nail that I drive, each time I feel the heft of a board, each selection of materials to use, how much do I care?

What is my level of integrity? If someone pays me to work, is the money the only thing?

Is EVERYTHING I do constructing me? Is there anything I have ever done that didn’t affect who I was, who I would more likely be, who I COULD be? What doors have I nailed shut long ago? What stairways did I not finish?

Am I worth a better dwelling? Given all the tools available today for working on one’s personality-these exercises, therapists, books, courses, and philosophies-what am I considering for the renovation of me? How much effort would I put into this place of retirement?

If someone in a restaurant serves me and does it with energy and panache, how thankful am I that they “were there” (for whatever reason) to fulfill that role? How much do I honor the integrity of the lives of others? Does that echo how I treat my personality? Is my personality a good servant or only working for minimum wage? How can I honor myself?

What emotions, attitudes, morals, beliefs, talents, and skills am I supporting with the joists of my intent?

When I make a mistake, what do I do?

When I do something just right, what do I do?

What do I want to be when I die?

For the next week, whenever you get something that you wanted BUT DID NOT EXPECT TO GET IT, carefully write down a brief description of this event. Over the week, try to notice all these events-no matter how small or insignificant they might be. Here are the four elements to look for and to include in your brief descriptions:

1. You consciously wanted something-an object, a privilege, an opportunity, a reprieve, a something extra, a surprise, a solution to a problem, etc.

2. At some point in the “wanting history”, you had CONSCIOUSLY given up all (or almost all) hope of receiving it. You had “pretty much written off ever getting it”. At an exact moment, you were aware of a thought (or emotional surrendering) that signified to you personally that you had given up expecting to ever get this “something”. You had resolved the “wanting issue”. Even though you may still have “loved to get this”, you had “come to terms with reality” or “made peace with your destiny”. You had given up, AND IT WAS HONESTLY OKAY if you didn’t get it.

3. You THEN obtained this “something”. It could be immediately or days or weeks later.

4. Obtaining this “something” gave you a FEELING of surprise.

This is a powerful observation exercise. Read the follow-up questions below to be more alert to this process of “getting”. The more effort you put into this exercise, the more astounded you will be that it actually works.

Ask yourself,Can I give up hope on purpose?

Is there a wide range of “how much” I actually give up? Can I give up absolutely? Do I ever give up absolutely?

How do I know when I have given up hope? Do I stop having desires or fears or at least have less desires and fears? For me, does giving up always mean subsequently having less thoughts and emotions about the “something”?

What happens when I surrender to my “fate” or “God’s will” or “how things work?” Is there a personal pattern I typically show? Can I augment or change that pattern or create a pattern if there is none?

When I give up, and then I DON’T get the “something”, how do I feel? How do these feelings vary in regards to the “something” desired, the degree of my giving up, and the strength of my original desire?

After this exercise, am I surprised at how much or how little I am getting my “somethings?”

Is there a payoff to never wanting anything but cherishing every something? Would such an attitude get me a whole lot more somethings?

If I tell a waiter in a restaurant what I want, and then insist on telling the waiter over and over again in redundant and precise detail what I want, how does the waiter ever get to the kitchen to place my order? And who’s cooking back there anyway?

If I were God, what would I give me?

Ask yourself these questions BEFORE you do the exercise below. Take the questions seriously and really imagine that you need these answers about yourself regarding your creativity.

How creative am I? If I had had the “right breaks” and “right background” and “right upbringing”, could I be a genius in Hollywood with so much talent that I could single-handedly be a combination of director, fashion designer, writer, stunt director, camera operator and film editor all rolled into one personality that far exceeds the combined talents of Spielberg, Hitchcock and Lucas?

How quickly can I create? If I were asked to be that above envisioned genius and was given a ten million dollar budget and 250-person film crew, how long would it take me to create a five minute film from scratch?

How finely can I create? When making this film, how much would I rely on the helpers to fill in the details of my more abstract plans?

How much does my education and personal life history limit my creativity? Right now, do I have enough training and experience to create anything with much “depth” or “maturity”?

What is my personal sense of my own creative power? When faced with a challenging situation that contains much uncertainty and requires a lot of “filling in of the blanks”, what is my spontaneous, emotional summation of my ability to contend?

The creativity exercise: The following is a powerful tool in at least two ways. It can be used in daily life almost irrespective of the challenge or needs of the moment, and, it demonstrates to you your power of creativity with an undeniable clarity. The instructions that follow actually teach you a technique for harnessing your creativity, and this is as important as your creativity itself.

Be prepared to enter a state of consciousness that is typically called “day dreaming”. This means that you feel reasonably safe and comfortable about closing your eyes for five minutes. If you have not had enough sleep lately, then this technique may simply set you up for actually going to sleep, so this exercise needs you to be fairly alert-not drowsy. Also, though not strictly necessary, it would be good not to try this technique when having a strong emotion. If you’re angry or happy, let the emotion settle down first.

Step One: Close your eyes and have the desire to see a person riding a bicycle on a STREET THAT YOU KNOW WELL. This means that you wait a few seconds with this intent and just “see what happens”. You may get a mental image or other mental experience that convinces you that you have properly followed this first step. If you do not, then having thoughts about what the street looks like should be introduced into the mind to “kick it off in the right direction”. If at anytime, no matter how fleeting, you feel like you have “seen a person riding a bike”, then you are prepared to go to Step Two.

Step Two: Repeat Step One and have the additional intent to “follow” the bicyclist down the street. The experience that comes from this may be a vivid and continuous “dream movie” that shows the person riding the bike past familiar buildings, trees, etc., or it may be a series of quick snapshots of the bicyclist at various points along the way. Success with Step Two would be having more than one image in your mind. Hopefully, you’ll get a sense of motion of the bicyclist occurring in one or more moments during Step Two. The major use of your “will” is to simply and EASILY bring your mind, as often as necessary without feeling strained, back to the intent of having a picture or sense of a bicyclist traveling along a familiar street. Be patient with your mind when it thinks other thoughts or even produces other pictures in your mind. You do not have to fight your mind’s other productivity. All you have to do is reintroduce the “subject at hand” to the mind when it is found to have wandered off. Do not worry about chronological order. You may find yourself repeatedly starting back at the beginning of Step Two and then suddenly seeing the bicyclist “way down the street”. That’s okay. Do this until you feel you’ve seen the bicyclist travel at least a few blocks-even if it has been “all mixed up”.

Step Three: Intend for the bicyclist to move off the familiar street onto a wholly unknown side street or path through a park. Have a fainter intent to note, as the bicyclist travels, the other objects of the scene being traveled through such as trees, other people, clothing, animals, water, wind, grass, sounds, etc. Do this step until you have had an experience of the bicyclist traveling in an environment that is unfamiliar to you and that you have noted other objects in the scenes besides the bicyclist. This must again be a movie of sorts or several snapshots at least.

Step Four: Intend for the bicyclist to stop somewhere and talk to your best friend. See what happens. See what words they say, the looks on their faces and the EMOTION between them. As they are talking intend to see them from various angles-from behind your friend, behind the bicyclist, both from the side, a bird’s eye view, from below eye level. Note body posture. This step is successful if you achieve a few pictures and have a good “hunk” of conversation between the two.

In the future, whenever you have a decision to make or wish to understand a situation more deeply or are challenged with an emotional event that you feel you need to assimilate more fully or have to “come up with something by tomorrow”, then form a question or statement (a concept) in your mind that “embodies the situation you are in” and treat this concept as if it were the bicyclist above. Have the concept easily in mind, and be prepared to bring the mind back to it when wandering occurs. Do this repeatedly within the context of the moment (the familiar part), and then think about the past and the future of this concept. As long as your mind “stays on topic” that’s okay, but easily reintroduce the concept whenever you naturally note that wandering has occurred. Finally begin to “play with it” and introduce other elements to the concept BY PUTTING YOUR ATTENTION ON THE VARIOUS SIDE THOUGHTS that come up during the exercise. This “favoring other concepts” will lead you to many other thoughts about the initial concept. Do this until you feel you have explored the situation fully.

This amazing, powerful, and quickly effective technique can be relied upon to instantly transform how you see almost any situation. Solutions and understandings are merely a “thought away” from you. Practice this daily and you will quickly reap great rewards. The more you practice, the better you will get at this.

Ask yourself,

Why am I, I the Shadowking, so certain that I created the “dreams” when I had absolutely no “pre-dream” machinations within my awareness? Since I did not take any time whatsoever to manufacture a certain scene with its bicyclist, clothing, bike design, pathway materials, and other objects, why is it that I “own” this dream?

WHO DID create this dream’s huge number of details? How is this automatic process like breathing or my heart beating?

In terms of raw creativity, how powerful and fertile must my mind be to have done this virtually instantaneously and so completely? What can I do to really own my potential in this regard?

How would my life be different if I contemplated in this manner just one of my problems per day? How different could life be for me?

How does my normal use of my mind differ from this technique in terms of my moment-by-moment decision making processes? How much of my life is “considered?”

Was I ever the bicyclist in this dream? How was this identification possible when I was clearly manufacturing the entire dream-not just the bicyclist?

How does identification with a “part” eliminate or largely dampen my feelings of being intimate with the whole? How do I do this in daily life with my identifying with “me not you”, “us not them”, “then not now”, “there not here”, “right not wrong” etc.?

What would I think next if I decided to think about it?

What would happen if I told my mind to “surprise me”?

Can I use my heart like I have just learned to use my mind?