Abstract Consciousness: Creation

Creation is the consciousness sense where you experience something completely new being formed in consciousness.

If you’ve ever had an ‘aha’ or ‘ureka!’ moment, that’s creation.  Creation is the consciousness sense at the core of the essence of human creativity, and how new ideas come into existence. It’s also a highly mysterious consciousness sense, because frustratingly, it often seems to work only when we stop trying to make it happen.

It is useful to distinguish between creativity and creation, as the two are often used interchangeably but describe different processes in consciousness. Creativity is typically an active, generative process where we deliberately explore, combine, and manipulate existing ideas to produce something new. It involves effort, variation, prior ideas or evidence, experimentation, and often a degree of trial and error. 

Creation, by contrast, is the moment when a genuinely new idea appears in consciousness, often suddenly and without a clear step-by-step construction.  While creativity can increase the likelihood of creation by expanding the range of possible patterns in the mind, creation itself feels more like witnessing than doing. It's that specific moment when suddenly a new idea just appears.

When we are studying consciousness, we are less concerned with forcing creative output and more interested in training ourselves how to cultivate the internal conditions where creation can most reliably occur. More simply put, our objective is to improve our ability to experience that moment of creation. We do this by understanding what it feels like in our consciousness before moments of creation occur and then practice the skills necessary to enable us to get to that state again whenever we choose.  In other words, we practice deliberate creation. 

If you grew up in a religious tradition, creation might be associated with the actions of a deity or God who is external to yourself, acting on you from outside of you to give you information. This is an understandable conclusion, as students of consciousness that observe carefully their creation consciousness sense know that ideas really just do appear suddenly out of nowhere, sometimes fully formed and in remarkable detail. If you grew up surrounded by mystical traditions or religion, it can be tempting and comforting to some to assume that the creative ideas come from a presence, force or entity that is outside of you. It’s entirely up to you whether you decide to adopt a belief that creation is the result of a ‘God’ or being outside of yourself that is acting on your consciousness at these moments. Those ideas are comforting to many people. Likewise, if you want to characterize this process as ‘listening to God’ or Spirit, or whatever, that is your choice. 

The Four Steps of Deliberate Creation

Deliberate creation is essentially a four-step process. First we create a deep space within our consciousness where we have 'switched off' as many of our other external, internal and abstract consciousness senses as possible. Second, we use our intention to direct our attention to the area where we want new ideas to occur.  Third, we wait, or even gently shift our attention away from the topic where we want a new idea to occur and let our attention drift. When you were a child, this state might have been called daydreaming.

Creation often happens when attention is directed by intention but released from pressure. In the fourth and final step, an insight or idea will occur, sometimes with a strong ‘aha’ sensation of new information clicking into space.  Some people even report a rush of information coming to them as a ‘download’ of information, as if they were connected to some kind of mental internet.  As the idea forms, we use our observation and perception to get more information about it, fine tune it, or understand it.

Creation can be an immensely frustrating process when we want it to work but the creative moment never comes. But it can be incredibly inspiring and energizing when it occurs. Often it seems that the desire for creation is the thing that actively prevents it from occurring, which can be a source of frustration.  

Once we have used creation to reveal a new idea, we integrate the new idea by fitting it into our current ideas, beliefs or emotions using our other consciousness senses. As part of the last step, we may need to come out of our contemplative process and write down the idea in order to capture the insight so we don’t forget it, do supporting research to validate the idea, or start planning how we might design a project to actually make the idea into a physical world reality.  

With repeated practice, creation becomes less mysterious and more reliable. You begin to understand that the most powerful new ideas rarely come from mental strain alone. They emerge when memory, abstraction, imagination, emotion, and intention reorganize into a new internal structure that was previously unavailable. You also realize that when you train your creation consciousness senses, new ideas will never be the problem again. Your challenge will probably become sorting out which ideas should pass the test of translating them into real world action.

Exercise: Inviting Creation

Find a quiet place where you can sit comfortably with a journal, notebook, or device nearby. Set aside at least fifteen minutes. Begin by settling into a still, contemplative mental space and allowing your breathing to become smooth and effortless.

The first part of this exercise is not about generating ideas. It is about creating the internal conditions where deliberate creation can occur.

• Notice your body.

• Notice your breathing.

• Notice your thoughts.

• Notice any emotions or unresolved tensions that are active in your mental space.

Now, gently notice and reduce any internal self-talk you have about your ability to creativity. Let go of any immediate need to solve anything. Creation is not solutioning. Allow your thinking mind to soften. You are not trying to invent or solve anything. You are preparing a space in consciousness where something new can spontaneously come into being.

Now, bring into awareness a single area where you would like a new idea. Choose one specific area that would be willing for creative ideas to occur within. It might be a:

• relationship

• life decision

• work problem

• creative project

• meditation insight

• way of being

• question about your future.

State the question internally in simple form: What new possibility is ready to emerge here? Then stop trying. This is the critical shift. Rather than forcing a solution, hold the intention softly but deliberately while move your attention away from active problem-solving. Try and sink into a space of blackness and silence, where you loosen control of any activity that is occurring and just let your attention drift wherever it wants to go. Remain in this spacious state for several minutes

At some point, you may notice:

• a phrase

• an image

• a future scene

• a systemic connection

• a sudden emotional clarity

• a pattern or structure 

• an unexpected “of course”

• a sensation or feeling of internal pieces clicking together

This is your consciousness sense of creation at work. Do not judge the idea yet. Stay with the first emerging form and just observe it. What is its shape? Did it arrive as language, image, emotional certainty, sudden insight, or a change in perspective? What existing memories, abstractions, or emotions is it reorganizing? Was it fully formed, or perhaps one piece of a puzzle falling into place.

If nothing arises, remain relaxed. The skill being trained is not forced creation of solutions, but openness while maintaining both attention and intention. When something tangible does emerge, immediately capture it. Write it down in simple words, not worrying about spelling or format or clarity. 

Many creative insights dissolve quickly when the thinking mind reasserts itself. Don't judge an idea when you are first capturing it. Later, you can start asking ‘What would this idea look like if I took it seriously in the real world?’

Self Reflection: Creation

• How creative do you consider yourself to be?

• Have you ever deliberately tried to increase your ability to sense creation occurring?

• Was there a time when you made a major life decision based on a single spontaneously occurring idea or insight?

• Did a spontaneous idea ever cause you to take a major risk?

• Was there a time when a creative idea backfired, and led to a result you regretted?

• Were you able to take responsibility for the impact of your actions?

• Do your best ideas tend to arise during effort, or only after you stop trying?

• Are there specific environments, moods, or times of day where creation comes more easily for you?

• Do you trust the first form of a new idea, or do you immediately judge and suppress it?

• When new ideas arise, do they feel exciting, disruptive, threatening, liberating, or something else?

• Have you noticed whether emotional conflict or internal resistance blocks creation for you?

• Do your most creative insights tend to improve your own life, help others, or solve problems that are physical or mechanical?

YOUR PERSONAL INSIGHTS

Make some notes in your journal about your consciousness sense of creation