Unlimited creativity

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?