Breakout Thread: What is inspiration?

[Kyonin]

To me, inspiration is an external or internal influence that gets you to do things in your own style and time.

I don't think it's wrong to be inspired. I think it's wrong to get addicted to seek for inspiration. There is a whole industry of inspirational stuff that go from postcards to movies.

I've known people who invest a great amount of time reading quotes or sharing cute JPGs over social networks but won't do nothing they are looking to accomplish in the first place. They just consume inspiration.

Speaking about my practice, inspiration is when I read something or know about someone that leaves something inside of me. It could provoke thought or simply stays with me without provoking actions at all. But at the end it morphs into a teaching.

Not sure if that made sense...

Gassho,

Kyonin

[Heisoku]

'There would also be an overwhelming sense of potential, and of the energy to realize that potential. I believe this is the artistic equivalent to what athletes call the "zone". It is the place were real magic can happen and where a painting can be given the spark of life.' from Kojip.

In this sense the integration of our body-mind in 'resonanting' with it's environment (our Embodied Mind -Varela et al) is where Case 17 in the Koan Study is challenging us. I reacted in my post on the other thread and in this one am responding in that inspiration is the dynamic potential thatwe can find when there is no hair's breadth of difference. My experience of this Way is one that only I can find, in being 'wholly whole' in it and challenging the thoughts and feelings as they arise. I think my expression of gratitude is not one of exemplifying inspiration but of gratitude to those who have helped find responses to my own moments which I could not, due perhaps to there being a separation. The one thing I do know is that in 'wholeness' there is an energy which has been mentioned by Kojip.
It's our inspiration our individual life, and if there is attunement with other lives then that can only potentiate our lives further.

Sorry for the brainstorm, I hope it makes some sense?

[Amelia]

Hello, Chet,

I don't think that feelings of inspiration are to be avoided. I feel they are to be experienced and then not clung to.

Kojip, I agree with what you wrote and I like it very much: "...It is a special intensity of aesthetic appreciation that involves a welling-up of energy. This energy brightens and expands the whole outlook..."

I said it in the right thread . . .


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Yeah...I gotcha. Your reply was so brief, it sounded like a misplaced reply from the original inspiration thread.

Also, to some extent, I agree with the reply now that I understand it.

Chet

[Eika]

Hey all,

Eika said (in the wrong thread, LOL) that seeking inspiration is a trap. However, does that mean that feelings of inspiration are to be avoided?

Also, in my opinion, inspiration is not an attempt to be someone else, but rather - to me, the resonance of something I find in my internal environment that resonates with a quality that's exemplified by someone else.

IMHO,

Chet

I said it in the right thread.


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[RichardH]

For me inspiration is a part of painting. It comes and goes. This is from my studio journal....

Inspiration can be defined as the unexpected appearance of a novel idea, or vision. It can also be defined as a state of receptivity that allows for the flow of insight. But there is another factor that I think is more basic to all this. It is a special intensity of aesthetic appreciation that involves a welling-up of energy. This energy brightens and expands the whole outlook...

This spring I had a bad flu and was at one point feeling very weak. While in this state I was presented with a beautiful fresh tulip of vivid yellow. I saw that it was beautiful and felt uplifted, but from my place of exhaustion it may as well have been an old coffee cup, because the energy for appreciation just wasn't there. If I was in a healthy state, with a healthy level of energy, the beauty of that tulip would have certainly taken on a greater charge. If however I was in the heightened state of inspiration, the experience would be of a whole different order. The tulip would take on a burning intensity, a kind of resonant perfection that lights up every faculty and activates skills that are otherwise not available. There would also be an overwhelming sense of potential, and of the energy to realize that potential. I believe this is the artistic equivalent to what athletes call the "zone". It is the place were real magic can happen and where a painting can be given the spark of life.

In terms of zazen.. I sit whether inspired or not. In terms of Sangha participation, inspiration gives energy and enthusiasm. It has its ups and downs.

[Omoi Otoshi]

No, you can be inspired by anything and in my opinion it's a beautiful thing. To me it's the driving force or energy boost that makes you take action. Like anger bubbling up, but without the anger.

But seeking it can be a trap. Lots of people seek for a guru when they should be looking deep inside their selves instead.

Gassho,
Pontus

Hey all,

Eika said (in the wrong thread, LOL) that seeking inspiration is a trap. However, does that mean that feelings of inspiration are to be avoided?

Also, in my opinion, inspiration is not an attempt to be someone else, but rather - to me, the resonance of something I find in my internal environment that resonates with a quality that's exemplified by someone else.

IMHO,

Chet