Happiness, Creativity, and Playfulness

Playfulness and happiness; Playfulness and creativity; Happiness in creative state.  I feel they are almost synonymous among themselves.  In other words, in that state, don't we feel a good utilization of our talent as if it is meant to be so?  Don't we feel like being really "alive"?  Don't we feel bliss, no words can describe?  And if so, how important is it to be connected to that state of playfulness, creativity and happiness?

Observe children in the sandbox.  Are they happy, playful and perhaps creative?  What about me writing this blog?  Am I playful, creative, and happy?  How about you immersed in your work or hobby which you like, or perhaps having a playful moment with your kids?  And of course, how about having a moment of intimacy with the loved one when the time has lost its meaning?  Don't you feel playful, creative, genuine and lively in such a moment?  

We do not have to be children to be "qualified" to play in the sand box...

OK there may be "hurdles" to overcome before getting there- like making a living, or address concerns of this and that.  Yet, as paradoxical as this may sound, are we not often dictated by those play of our own mind, to the point of blocking us from accessing those states where our senses are hightened, i.e., bright sunshine in the blue sky, vivid sense of colors of all surroundings, and smell and fresh breeze in the air.  In other words, intimacy with all!

What if we lose inquisitive eyes of children but to live in fear and anxiety?  What if we are caught up in our mind way too often and simply live as if according to the script from the TVs, and magazines and idiosyncrasy of the society?  Lost soul, lost paradise, lost intimacy with all...fun and pleasure of eternal children are no where to be found?!  Yet, I wonder, how can it be the case, especially when we are born as playful, creative, and happy children to start with?   Why not to be with the bliss, or follow the bliss and let the unknown future (new DNA) to unfold?  Or, whatever the task we may have, be engaged in it, forget time and space, or our self-identity.. just merged with the task at hand?

I want to propose to define happiness as the state when we are in the "zone" to express who we genuinely are?  And, may we also define "zone" as us connecting to the primary (the source, heart, law, order from God)?  If so, is it not absolute - beyond right and wrong of human mind?!  In other words, mind has little to do with what we may 'really' and 'truly' enjoy.  Yes, very subjective, is it not?  Although I recognize there are certain "rules" to follow, but they seem to be more of common sense, which is like not to hurt others and if possible, help with each other.  Yes, I propose, we can be playful and creative and happy alone, or with others - if we choose to be.

Desire less and be satisfied (from Buddhist sutra)

Then, I also see the connection to awakening or ultimate happiness (The free state) where Lester Levenson said five elements to characterize it, i.e., imperturbability, desireless, actionless, effortless, and witnessing.  And of course, there is no room for ego. 

Happiness is tied to liveliness, and it is about creativity, playfulness, fun, love, enjoyment!!!  Happiness is physical and biological!!! Also, it is tied to channeling the energy well toward new DNA whereas all cells are jumping!!!   And one more to add: body/muscle is totally relaxed when you are in that state.  These are the essence of LIFE, is it not?!

To end this post, here are some words of wisdom from those who walked ahead of us:

"To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me."  -  Issac Newton

When Pablo Picasso was 85, he was asked how his later paintings could be so innovative - could have the boldness and fire of a young artist's work.  Picasso's reply:"It takes a long time to become young."  -  Pablo Picasso

"Man is a thinking reed but his great works are done when he is not calculation or thinking. 'Childlikeness' has to be restored with long years of training in the art of self-forgetfulness. When this is attained, man thinks yet he does not think. He thinks like showers coming down from sky; he thinks like the waves rolling on the ocean; he thinks like the stars illuminating the nightly heavens; he thinks like the green foliage shooting forth in the relaxing spring breeze. Indeed he is the showers, the ocean, the stars, the foliage. "  -  Daisetz Suzuki

* Related Posts:
Bliss, Ecstasy and Ultimate Happiness
Have Fun and Express Who we are

Bliss, Ecstasy and Ultimate Happiness

Having touched on Deeper Level of Connection, Primary Relationship (Heart), The Free State (Levenson), etc., let us dive into the subject of Bliss, Ecstasy and Ultimate Happiness (Nirvana).  My conviction is that these experiences have a common foundation and that it is easily accessed if we are more attentive to at least some of the characteristics I mentioned already.  The terms may sound foreign, but if patiently examined, reflecting one's own experiences, many if not all people may find the connection to what appears to me as miracle or wonder of LIFE.  (After all, all of us are from there to start with.)

In order for us to familiarize with such experience, let us first revisit Levenson, who said there are five elements that characterizes the free state.  They are: 1) imperturbability, 2) desirelessness, 3) effortlessness, 4) actionlessness, and 5) witnessing.  Some may already relate to such a description.  (Imperturbability and witnessing seem to correspond to what I call, "mirror mind.")

Next, let us review "indicative signs of being connected to Heart" I characterized from my experience in the post, Deeper Level of Connection;

-  Sense of being in present, here and now, choiceless observation, witnessing

-  Vivid sense of inner body sensation, aliveness, liveliness 

(cells jumping around as if very happily)

-  Calm, clear and quiet mind; beginner's mind, no mind, mirror mind

-  Soft eyes...see without seeing - very intuitive, third eye as if opening up a new channel

-  Body/muscle is totally relaxed; There is a sense of effortlessness; no strains felt

-  no ego/self; desirelessness, actionlessness

-  It is as if a new channel opens up by itself from deep within (a new sense of connection)
-  Feeling of all answers are already there (there is no doubt or question any more)

-  Mind and body are felt as one; no boundaries; I am you; I am one with the universe

-  Sense of serenity, peace, arriving/being at home, nothing is missing

-  Wisdom and compassion come naturally; delusions/sufferings/errors are nowhere to find

-  Sense of living truthfully (connection to the Law, the Way); sense of being absolute, imperturbability

-  Sense of Ki (Life energy) manifesting; Blissful sensation spreading over

-  Sense of connection to unconscious/infinite potential (connection of external and internal)

-  Sense of oneness; non-duality

-  Sense of mind and body being 'healthy' and 'genuine'
-  Sense of everything seen as vivid and alive (inside and outside)

-  Sense of love, bliss, and intimacy to all 

-  Sense of time distortion (as if time lost its meaning)

It is also felt as a totally natural state, since it happens on its own.  Yet, as mentioned before, "If you seek for it, you will not find it" (Yuima sutra, or Vimalakirti sutra), which connects to Levenson's desirelessness, effortlessness, and actionlessness. And because of that, when we have it, there is a sense of deep appreciation of arriving at home.  That is ultimate happiness, as Levenson calls it.  Note however, it does not sound like a short temporary state for him.


BTW, this term, "ultimate happiness" points to true, absolute happiness, but "not" the happiness that is transient.  Again, as paradoxical as it may seem, if we seek for it, ultimate happiness will not be found.  Daisetz Suzuki says, "It is Happiness that does not depend on anything." That is Levenson's "Free State."  

Meditating Miroku Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Maitreya) of Koryu-ji Temple, Nara, Japan

(World famous for his gentle compassionate "smile")

Reflecting on his spiritual experience, Eckhart Tolle said since then, there was 80 % reduction in his mind activities since then.  I see it points a long lasting "calm and quiet mind."  Or, this is what Krishnamurti called, "choice-less observation."  Then, the exhibit above indicates the state of body and muscles totally relaxed and mind very calm such that there is a genuine smile emanating from within.  If you remember the "state of centering" in Aikido (the list of ten items), you should see a definite connection there as well.

Then, here are the characteristics of Saintliness summarized in "The Varieties of Religious Experiences" by William Games (p.216):

1) A feeling of being in a wider life..; and a conviction ...of the existence of an Ideal Power

2) A sense of the friendly continuity of the ideal power with our own life, and a willing self-surrender to its control

3) An immense elation and freedom, as the outlines of the confining selfhood meltdown

4) A shifting of the emotional center toward loving and harmonious affections, toward 'yes,yes' and away from 'no,' where the claims of the non-ego are concerned

Finally, here is Maslow's findings from Wikipedia.  Beyond the routine of needs fulfillment, Maslow envisioned moments of extraordinary experience, known as Peak Experiences, which are profound moments of love, understanding, happiness, or rapture, during which a person feels more whole, alive, self-sufficient and yet a part of the world, more aware of truth, justice, harmony, goodness, and so on.

 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

(When self-actualized, however, my view is like that of Suzuki, the state of bliss, ecstasy and ultimate happiness may not depend on the condition we are in*)

According to Maslow, self-actualising people share the following qualities:

- Truth: honest, reality, beauty, pure, clean and unadulterated completeness

- Goodness: rightness, desirability, uprightness, benevolence, honesty

- Beauty: rightness, form, aliveness, simplicity, richness, wholeness, perfection, completion,

- Wholeness: unity, integration, tendency to oneness, interconnectedness, simplicity, organization, structure, order, not dissociated, synergy

- Dichotomy-transcendence: acceptance, resolution, integration, polarities, opposites, contradictions

- Aliveness: process, not-deadness, spontaneity, self-regulation, full-functioning

- Unique: idiosyncrasy, individuality, non comparability, novelty

- Perfection: nothing superfluous, nothing lacking, everything in its right place, just-rightness, suitability, justice

- Necessity: inevitability: it must be just that way, not changed in any slightest way

- Completion: ending, justice, fulfillment

- Justice: fairness, suitability, disinterestedness, non partiality,

- Order: lawfulness, rightness, perfectly arranged

- Simplicity: nakedness, abstract, essential skeletal, bluntness

- Richness: differentiation, complexity, intricacy, totality

- Effortlessness: ease; lack of strain, striving, or difficulty

- Playfulness: fun, joy, amusement

- Self-sufficiency: autonomy, independence, self-determining.

Personally, I can relate to most of these characterizations... As in Tolle's case, my spiritual experience seems to have contributed to heightened sense of such state.  And, I am further drawn into it as if these are confirmation of me moving on the right path, I call here the new hero's journey - following that bliss.

--

Note: Related to my comment to the exhibit on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, here is a Zen koan (puzzle):

Monk: I am new to this temple. Please give me any proper advice.

Joshu (Master): Have you finished your meal?

Monk: Yes, I have.

Joshu: OK, wash the dishes well.

(Hint: If you live by following the law, that is all you need to practice - practice this in all situations)