For many years, I was unable to see where my self-development journey would lead. I now feel that I have come full circle. I have been through numerous methods of self-development and during the ‘90s, I went through a journey within Buddhism, which might have been a detour. I tried all sorts of stuff and went on various retreats, eventually, I realised that I was looking for an identity in Buddhism and within the possibilities that Buddhism offers.
I would not call myself a Buddhist, but Buddhism still inspires me. To me, Buddhism is not a religion but more of a path, a toolbox and a state of mind. The Buddhists have been involved in understanding the human mind for more than 2500 years, so I reckon they have discovered a few things.
I have also returned to my earlier conviction that it is necessary to give up the thought-process, which played a big part in my quest for self-development. I feel my search should not be forced, which it has been previously. I have concluded that the intellectual approach is not beneficial to me. It is important to go into the world and to be able to let go of the self-consciousness and ensure that it does not become a self-absorbed activity only focusing on oneself.
The subconscious needs time to process the information you have gathered. This is also one of the reasons I have been so fond of the Buddhist techniques in my creative line of work. The process of having a philosophic breakthrough is very similar to having a creative breakthrough. They are both characterised by the fact that at some point, you have to surrender yourself to the process. You have recognised that in order to attain your goal, the process cannot be forced – it is not possible to force the process. In Zen, the expression is: “If you seek, you cannot find it.”
Often if we do not need to find a solution – it appears. This is also one of the reasons that throughout history, it has been believed that creativity was a divine inspiration. The really good ideas are typically located in the subconscious.
