I encourage you to work smart, not hard. You may think that less time working on a project is dangerous. This is the baby boomer mind that belongs to an older generation. Less time better spent is a sure guarantee of greater creativity. And in a crowded world, creativity is the competitive edge you need.
Less time working on a project does not mean no investment. It actually means spending more time mastering the art, more time contemplating the action, and then getting down to business on the project.
Do it just once, do it right.
In business I meet many people whose mode of success is exhaustion. They tell me how tired they are and then have to leave to go to another meeting. But in that meeting there are people who are not tired. Clients who are relaxed, happy, caffeine-free, who’s trailing behind in that meeting?
Do it once – doing it right is a major leap from doing it hard.
To achieve the do-it-once strategy requires that you spend significant time in contemplation before pen goes to paper. In spiritual language we say, “the soul speaks in pictures” – this means that in your “mind’s eye” the process, the production and the result should be a kind of slide show before you act.
See it in my mind, before I shake my ass.
To me, this seems like a very important part of my life. In any area of life, I know if I can’t see it then it won’t happen. Sometimes I can’t see it but I want it. But then I just can’t act because I know that if my soul doesn’t project it, any action is just robotic that I’ll have to do twice.
The clearer the image, the deeper the conviction.
Sometimes the images you will have in your mind will be so clear that you will be confused between reality and reality. You will think that you are sailing in a boat but in reality you are walking the dog in the snow. Be careful where you do these mind’s eye things.
The images come to you, not from you
Inspiration is the art of awakening the mind’s eye. I teach inspiration. There are three layers to inspiration.
En – means that it comes to life inside of you
Spirit – means not in material form
Ion – comes from outside of you
The soul speaks in images. This is true. But any image that you conjure up in your head is not a real image in this sense. The images come to you, not from you. This means that the mind’s eye sees things that you don’t, so you, the thinker, cannot project thought into an image and expect it to be a true mind’s eye inspiration.
You have to become a receiver. not a projector
Inspiration comes to you, not from you. That is why monks, artists and creative people perform all kinds of strange rituals. They’re softening up their mind for receptions. You have permission to ask for a certain reception. For example, you may need an idea for a new marketing campaign. So you can sit or walk around with the intention of generating a new idea for a marketing campaign. But that’s all. The idea (must be a form of image) must come to you.
Activities that inspire mental images
There are certain activities that will inspire mental images. A painter can paint without a real intention to finish the art, he is just practicing. The composer could play early music simply by losing himself in the simplicity of familiar territory. The filmmaker could make love. The business tycoon could swim.
The key is to slow down
Mental images cannot enter an active mind. There are many parts of your brain, the highest one is centered at the top of your skull, there is even a place where you can put your finger and feel for the tooth. This place is the receiver of signals. You’re always getting inspiration, but the other 6 levels of the brain are louder, so it’s hard to get reception when there’s too much static.
Thought, such as learning, worry, excitement, stimulation, tiredness blocks mental images.
In my workshops I do exercises to help people quiet their minds. I suggest that when your mind is calm you will have an inspiration. I always suggest that if something comes up during this exercise, these people write it down, because nothing can come up if we’re trying to remember the last one. (lower brain). There are always one or two people who complain, “Nothing’s coming,” and this is really funny because they can’t break the habit of reaching for things, they can’t sit back and let the ball come to them.
Let the mental images land on your hand.
Mental images cannot come to a mind that is trying. To catch a ball thrown to you, your job is to hold your hand in the general direction of the ball and allow the ball to “find home” or rather land in your hand. The universe is full of vibration – again in spiritual language, this is called “Akash” or “Akashic Record” – in ancient times it was known as the great library of all knowledge. The Thinker’s job was to learn to “shut up” long enough to access the “AKASH”.
It is a free resource, available to all who are ready.
Einstein, Plato, Pythagoras, Shakespeare, Newton, Galileo, Picasso, Miro, Joseph Campbell, Gandhi and anyone who has left something immortal touched the Akasha. Each recognized that something occurred to them and that was what sparked his genius.
Stupid scientists look for something in the human brain to explain genius, but they are trapped in a prison of material reality. Nothing worth thinking about ever came from us, it only comes to us.
All you have to do is “slow down”
The monks call it enlightenment. Artists call it “the drug.” Songwriters call it the “other voice,” mathematicians call it “a moment of inspiration”: the brand is diverse, but we must be simple. Mental images are natural, you get them all the time. All you need to do is “slow down” – this does not mean watching TV. No, that’s called speeding up. Slowing down is doing something you love, for the love of doing it.
for the love of her
Acting without desire means running for the love of running. Walking for the love of walking. Paint for the love of painting. Sing for the love of singing. Dance for the love of dance. A child can play for love, and you? Without competition with yourself, with others without an objective. I think we lost this art in life. I work all over the world and the only person I met who lived for the love of work was Sri K Patthabi Jois. My yoga teacher in India. He started doing yoga at the age of 10, he practiced for 50 more years, he had only 10 students in his yoga school for all those years (he worked full time as a professor at the University to pay the bills), the only reason why the one who taught and practiced yoga, even at the age of 90 with 500 students paying $350 each for classes in New York, it was because her “mind’s eye” saw it, so she followed it.
Hard work is not good management
Try to catch the ball before running to score. Try to see the future before setting goals to cause it. Hard work is bad management. This mind’s eye image means to do it once, right? It means waiting for the ball to come to you. Trust is required, because sometimes the ball is not thrown. Hold your intention. Spend time learning to calm the lower parts of your mind and find activities that give you the space to listen to what is coming up in the higher realms, your mind’s eye.
A story
When I was 5 years old, I stood in front of my class at school, proud that I did my homework, and read my reading book to the class. I stayed there, happy, joyous, because for the first time in my life, a mental image would be made. Even in my dreams after my mother died, I saw myself on a stage. Now here I was on stage for the first time. But unfortunately, my pants were home made and badly sewn. The seam was left adrift, my little penis was shared with the audience. Humiliated I sat down. It took me 30 years before I stood in front of a crowd again. But all that time, that image was repeated over and over and over again. And now, they pay me to do it. (minus exposure)
another story
When I was 18 years old, I saw myself with a woman. 6 months later I met her, she was hitchhiking, I was driving. One of my friends picked her up, while she was driving, they kissed. It was hard for me to think of another girl but her. 8 months later I was invited to a party and there she was. We eloped a week later, she moved out, we had babies, and we lived a happy life. But it ended. One day when he was contemplating the future, she was not in it. I couldn’t see her. Unknown to me, the relationship had ended. 3 years later we parted ways. Did I create the image of the future or was I reading it?
latest story
More than 10 years ago my son came to my workshop. During that program we all did “mind’s eye” exercises. He joined at the ripe age of 15 and wrote the photo of him. He would sail the world, to the most exotic places, inaccessible by land, showing people the great beauty of the world, the ship would be 120 feet long, he would compete in the America’s Cup. This vision was so clear, when he spoke about it, everyone saw it in his mind as well. Just 5 years later, everything he saw manifested. What he said to me after that was profound.
Seeing the image of the future, the only thing that changed in him was that now he knew what to say no to. He was offered all kinds of sailing jobs, he turned them down, because none of them would get him to this. He knew what to say no to.
The mind’s eye
There are people who have mastered the art of touching the great Akasha. They see the future. This ability is yours if you wish. Learning to harness the Akasha means learning to slow down in order to speed up. Learn what to say no to. Learn to get answers from outside yourself. These answers do not come from a God. They come from a library, a library that is free to all of humanity, unconditionally, with no expectations of goodness or worth. Everyone, men, women, children, good, bad, of all religious beliefs can, if they wish, access the Akasha and, therefore, see the answers before hearing them.
live with spirit
chris walker