The Tree Monkey

Why did the monkey fall out of the tree?

...

Because it was dead.

Hahahahahaha!

What?

What do you mean it's not funny?
You just have to use your imagination and get a story behind it.

OK.
I guess you just have to be in a certain frame of mind... or fatigue.

Some people will find this joke funny for the simple reason that it is totally unexpected or absurd. Others will not find it funny at all. And some might find it funny only when they are tired or drunk and see it in a totally different way.

Which brings me to my point.

Our state of mind, whatever it is, affects how we perceive the world. I used a dumb joke here as an example, but this applies to everything.

When you are in a bad mood you take things differently than when you are in a good mood.
Sometimes you like doing silly things, other times you get irritated.
I could go on, but I'm sure you get my point (you might even be irritated right now).

Now, we've known this for a long, long, time. Artists and thinkers from all times have searched for ways to alter their state of mind, their consciousness, to be able to find creative solutions to questions they were asking. People have used all manner of drugs and alcohol, physical activity and exhaustion, gibberish, prayer, sleep deprivation and all forms of meditation and ritualised behaviour to get into what is today called "flow" or "inspiration".

And after a certain period of practice, all of these things seem to more or less work. Although many have harmful effects on your health and wellbeing so I do not recommend them. However, if they all pretty much can work, then the question here becomes:

What is the one element common to all?

What is the key to true inspiration?

Well... if you have ever studied these things at a deep level, like I have, you come to notice that the one thing common in all situations is that the thinking mind is completely silent at some point. Soon after this, ideas rush in like a stream. Great ideas.

Coincidentally, this is the true ideal and purpose of meditation. To turn off the chattering monkey that is our constant thoughts.

Contrary to popular belief, we do not get creative ideas from thinking. We get creative ideas from the silence between our thoughts. In the stillness of presence, as Eckhart Tolle would say. That is why people are told to "sleep on it" when they need to make a big decision. Sleep gives you a rest from thinking all the time and allows true creative ideas and solution to come to the surface. Otherwise they would get blocked by the wall of constant thoughts that we normally have.

This is also why most creative ideas come in times of relaxation. Great thinkers like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell would take short power naps in their favorite chair when they faced a particularly difficult problem. Often they had the clue they needed when they woke up. Or it would appear in a dream. Nietzsche and many other philosophers would take walks, especially in nature, to "clear their head". Einstein is also known to have placed a writing board on his bathroom wall because he noticed that he would often get great ideas while taking a shower.

So, learn to open up the space between your thoughts for more creative ideas.

Learn to relax, to meditate, to look at things without thinking about them. Allow yourself to let go of trying to "think". Do something you know relaxes you. Something you love, that takes your mind of the problem. You might not find the tree monkey joke funny - even in a different state of mind - but you just might be able to find the perfect solution to that problem you've been working on ... by letting the chattering monkey of your thoughts die and fall away.

Namaste.

Charles Bégin

Copyright © Charles Begin