Samma Samādhi

But we can rely on the fact that the task is unconsciously being worked on within us. This initial letting go is needed for the formation of ideas to follow. The mind does not yet censor the slowly budding ideas, so they thrive better. In the shower or during a walk we often have good ideas because we are not thinking about the task with any tension.

Once the idea is there, the next, clearly different phase begins, that of realization. This is the core of creativity. In the mind everything still looks wonderful, but realization is hard work. The concrete realization rubs against the limits of the real world. To bring something into the world requires perseverance, intelligence, social competence and craftsmanship. We experience the limits of our abilities and sporadic failure. We need 99% of our energy to realize an idea; everything else is usually hot air. The core virtue of this phase is the ability to concentrate on a task.

“Concentration arises when we devote all our energy to one cause,” writes Buddhist teacher and PhD psychologist Jack Kornfield. We direct our mind to a specific point, to a specific activity. The thinking becomes “narrow.” In Zen Buddhism, it is assumed that this focus creates a specific force, Joriki, which it is the fuel of the artistic act. In East Asian philosophy, “art” is understood as something close to everyday life, so the “art path” leads less to the museum and more to the accurate stacking of towels in the bathroom at home. “Art begins at home” is the title of an important chapter in the Tibetan teacher Chögyam Trungpa’s standard work “On Art.” Form and awareness of form play a prominent role here because they frame concentration and hold us when we are careless. Therefore, order, whether in the mind, on the desk or the desktop, is the golden path to the ability to stay focused on an activity without distraction.