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埃克哈特談創造力
*摘自埃克哈特網站2011年11月電子刊
創造力是從一個特定的層面升起的。這有點像燈芯上燃燒著火焰，而令這火焰得以燃燒下去的是燃油 – 它在一盞油燈之中，而你是那火焰。順便說一句，所有這些類比，都是有所欠缺的，它們只不過是一種距離遙遠的近似說法，用來帶你進入關於那個地方的感覺而已。你是那火焰，你感覺到了進入那個源頭的道路 – 在你的內在，沿著燈芯直達燃油。這就是那個地方，那個源頭，所以如果說有任何東西是新的，是有創造力的，那麼它一定攜帶著那源頭的香氣。
不知為何，人類，即便是依舊非常認同於他們的頭腦的人類，依然有很多人，當他們看見，或是聽見，或是以任何其它方式接觸到，無論是一件藝術作品，或是一首曲子，甚至有可能只是某個人在說話，他們都會被那個來自於更深層面的某個東西所觸及。那些話語是從那更深處升起的。有可能只是某個人有很強的幽默感 – 即使那也已經是一種創造的形式。即興的幽默是當有人突然看見了通常其他人都看不見的某個東西 – 一種看上去不相關的兩樣事物之間的連接，突然，你將它們連接起來，然後所有人都笑了。有些人有這個天賦。有的人在一個小的領域中充滿創造力，這個能力就足以讓你感到滿足，並帶來足夠的收入，它可以支持你的一生 – 同時你也可以將這個天賦貢獻給大家。
比如，偉大的相聲演員就有那個天賦。當然，並非他們所說的一切都是即興的，但是，在他們準備段子時，他們必須是有創造力的。我不知道此刻這裡是否有人曾經試過要成為一名相聲演員，但這真的不容易。很多人都試過。逗樂真的很難。但是有的人有這個本事，這真是奇妙 – 那些為數不多的擁有那個天賦的人真是讓人稱奇。那個自發升起的幽默感也令人讚嘆，它就這麼來了。它一直是與那個連接著的。能與那個連接上真是太妙了，能感受到來自於那裡的力量流經你進入這個世界真是奇妙極了。當然，要做到這一點，你需要某種管道，因為那個力量需要流入某種外在形式之中。
你也能觸及到那個地方，在你的內在，但它不一定會成為一種創造力，因為你還沒有為這股力量發展出一個管道。那個令創造力升起的同一種力量也有可能以我們並不稱之為創造力的其它方式顯化。比如在你與其他人進入互動關係的那一刻，這股力量有可能作為一種療癒的力量開始起作用。這是一種廣義上的療癒，而不僅僅指身體上的療癒。如果你從未碰過任何樂器，你不會僅僅因為在你的內在與那個地方接觸，就突然成為一名偉大的音樂家。在我的故事中，那股力量不會顯化為一個偉大的科學發現，因為這管道不是為那個準備的。我的頭腦不是準備用於科學發現的。這個頭腦甚至無法那樣運作。所以，期待我開創出統一場理論，那個愛因斯坦沒能發現的，在他發現相對論之後，用剩餘的一生為之努力的統一場理論 – 我可沒法搗鼓出來。這不大可能。那個管道沒有準備好。我也不會成為一位偉大的鋼琴家，因為我壓根兒不會彈鋼琴。所以不管我向內走得多深，這股力量都不會流向那裡。你需要為創造力準備好管道。
相較於管道來說，更重要的是那個地方 – 要使你自己能夠進入到內在那個充滿振動的活生生的寧靜場域，創造力正是從那裡升起。你可以進入那裡，如果沒有管道，它不會以任何外在的創造力的形式表達它自己，不會以任何傳統意義上的創造力的形式表達。但是它其實可以以其它方式來表達它自己。我剛剛提到了其中的一個，在人們的互動之中，它流淌出來 – 那是一種 – 很難用語言來形容的流淌，但是你可以感覺到它，當你遇見一位在互動中完全臨在的人時，你可以感覺到。有一種完全不同的能量頻率在運作。而這個就是療癒。它是如此無形，它不需要一個事先準備好的管道。你可以就這樣存在著。你散發著“本體”。
Eckhart on Creativity
There’s a particular dimension where creativity arises. It’s a little bit like the wick burning the flame, and its sustenance is the oil – it’s in an oil lamp, and you are the flame. All the analogies, by the way, are very deficient, but it’s just a distant approximation to get you into a sense of what that place is. So you are the flame, and you feel your way into the very source – down the wick into where the oil is, inside yourself. That’s the place, the source, so if anything is new, creative, then it has a fragrance of the source.
Somehow, humans, even humans who are still very much identified with their mind, many of them are touched by when they see or hear or whatever – come into contact with – something that came out of that deeper level, whether it’s a work of art, or a piece of music, or it could just be somebody talking. And the words come from that deeper level. It could just be somebody who has a good sense of humor – even that is already a form of creativity. Spontaneous humor is to suddenly see something that one wouldn’t normally see – a connection between two seemingly unconnected things, and suddenly you connect them and everybody laughs. Some people have that. Some people have one small area in which they can be creative, and that can be enough to provide you with fulfillment and an income, for the rest of your life – and to contribute that gift to others.
Great stand up comedians, for example, have that gift. Of course, not everything they say is spontaneous, but when they prepare their stuff, they have to be creative. Now I don’t know if anybody here has tried to be a standup comedian, but it’s difficult. Many people try. It’s hard to be funny. But some have it, and it’s amazing – those few that have that gift. And there too, the sense of humor is spontaneously something arises, and there it comes. It’s being in touch with that. It’s wonderful to be able to be in touch with that, and feel the power that flows from there, out into this world. Now for that, of course you need some kind of vehicle, because the power needs to flow into some kind of form.
You can touch that place also, within, and it may not flow into creativity, because you have not developed a vehicle for it. The very same power that gives rise to creativity can also manifest itself in different ways that we would not call creativity. It could be a healing power that comes into effect the moment you enter into relationships with others. Healing in a wider sense, not just physical healing. You will not suddenly become a great musician if you have never touched an instrument, just because you touch that place within yourself. It’s not going to manifest as a great scientific discovery in my case, because the vehicle is not prepared for that. My mind is not prepared for that. It doesn’t even work that way. So for me to expect to come up with the Unified Field Theory that Einstein didn’t come up with – he tried after the theory of relativity, he tried for the rest of his life to come up with that – I am not going to come up with that. It’s very unlikely. The vehicle has not been prepared. I am not going to be a great pianist, because I don’t know how to play the piano. So no matter how deeply I go within, it’s not going to flow into that. You need to prepare the vehicle for creativity.
More important than that is the place – to be able to go within to that place of vibrantly alive stillness, where creativity arises. And you can go in there, and if there’s no vehicle, it will not express itself in any form of creativity, not any conventional form of creativity. But it may actually express itself in different ways. I just mentioned one, which is an outflow in human interactions – and outflow of – very hard to put a word to it, but you can sense it, when you meet a person who is present in the interaction. It’s a different energy frequency that operates. And that is healing. It is so formless that it does not require a previously prepared vehicle. You can just be. And you emanate Being.
