Selfless Creativity
Art is a worthy pastime, even if you don't receive payment or recognition. There is value in creating art with the aim of simply observing things as they are, without bias or distortion, contributing to spontaneous enjoyment and self-awareness. The arts do not need a purpose beyond inspiring joy. Additionally, making art can be a viable way to earn a living.
Intrinsic motivation means having no incentive beyond the doing of the thing itself. Extrinsic motivation is the desire to gain a reward or avoid some punishment well described by the eight worldly dharmas—gain/loss, fame/shame, blame/praise, and pleasure/pain.
As we release extrinsic motivations, we can develop a stronger intrinsic motivation to create art for its own sake, enjoy the process, and view creativity as a practice of awareness.
*Tanha*: Sensory Enjoyment
*Tanha* is a Pali word that is usually translated as “desire” or “craving.” The Buddha discusses several kinds of tanha, one of which is *kama-tanha*, a craving for sensual pleasures. This craving is one of the main sources of suffering for beings. The three yanas take different approaches to minimizing this suffering, but all three agree that we should not cling to pleasure. The Buddha taught a middle path between indulgence and extreme renunciation.
Finding a middle path, we can still enjoy simple things such as moving our bodies without clinging to the pleasure, cooking and eating a healthy meal, singing or listening to a song, and creating or admiring a painting. Sensory experiences can be enjoyed with the awareness that they are temporary pleasures that can also be beneficial to our well-being.
Tending to our bodies, or self-care, can include eating well, bathing ourselves, dressing, and exercising. These experiences can be enjoyed as an act of self-generosity that honors our bodies as our vehicle for awakening.
*Paramitas* and Creativity
Diligence, concentration, and patience are three paramitas that support creative activity.
Mastery encompasses comprehensive knowledge and skill in a subject or discipline. Achieving mastery in any artistic field demands patience, concentration, and diligence. Diligence is the determined effort to accomplish something, which can be joyful and effortless if approached with patience. Concentration involves focusing attention on the technique, activity, process, and experience. Patience entails cultivating an attitude of perseverance throughout the process, which helps foster a mindset of non-aggression or gentleness towards oneself and the process.
Establishing a consistent habit of practicing—and sticking to it—enhances the learning and mastery of artistic and other techniques.
Siddhartha Gautama was a great artist and athlete before he left the palace. He practiced diligently, with concentration and patience, mastering many of the traditional worldly arts of his time.
*Lila* and *Mudita*
The Sanskrit word for play is *lila*, which also means sport, spontaneity, or drama. *Mudita* is a Sanskrit and Pali word that refers to a feeling of boundless joy or pleasure derived from being happy for another person's success or good fortune. Young children and animals often engage in play with evident joy in the moment, while adults sometimes seem to forget this spontaneous state of play.
Improvisation is the act of creating or doing something unplanned, utilizing whatever is available without expectations. In the performing arts, improvisation refers to a spontaneous performance that occurs without specific or scripted preparation. It involves the practice of fearlessly saying "yes," being aware of and not obstructing the flow of creativity, movement, activity, playfulness, and energy. The skills of improvisation can be applied across a wide range of fields, encompassing all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines.
Mindfulness practices can cultivate this attitude by training the mind not to grasp thoughts or expectations. The unskillful side of spontaneity is impulsivity.
"First thought, best thought" is a Buddhist maxim that encourages this kind of spontaneity.
*Anicca* and *Lila*
Impermanence (*anicca*) is one of the three characteristics commonly referred to as *the three marks of existence* (Pali: *tilakkhana*; Sanskrit: *trilaksana*). Impermanence indicates that everything, everywhere, is constantly changing or in a state of flux.
Spontaneity describes a mindset of being aware of what is happening, adapting to the flow of experience, and feeling free to make unplanned choices in the moment. Spontaneity should not be confused with impulsivity, which involves acting without thought, often driven by a strong emotional reaction—both occur quickly, but they are very different.
Contemplative practice helps us remove the filters that prevent us from recognizing the unexpected opportunities all around us. Being spontaneous sometimes requires compromise or letting go of habits. The actions of enlightened Buddhist masters are often creatively spontaneous.
In the *Bhaddekaratta Sutta: An Auspicious Day*, the Buddha said, "You shouldn't chase after the past or place expectations on the future. What is past is left behind. The future is as yet unreached. Whatever quality is present you clearly see right there, right there."
Opanayiko
*Opanayiko* is a Pali word which defines a quality of the dharma. It describes the way the dharma invites us on a personal, inward journey, leading us towards freedom, ease, and contentment.
This idea reminds us that the teachings of the Buddha are meant to be applied directly in life, serving as a mirror and a method to turn the mind inward. Rather than offering answers to be memorized or accepted at face value, the dharma encourages a process of deep reflection, inner investigation, and direct experience.
Noticing this quality of *opanayiko* when putting the dharma into practice can help build confidence in its reliability and goodness. It brings an understanding that the path of practice is not primarily about external rituals, theoretical intellectual analysis, or blind belief. It is about cultivating awareness, insight, and transformation within one’s own heart and mind.
This approach is like experiential education, where the truth of the teachings becomes clear through lived experience, inviting one to turn inward, guiding us toward deeper clarity, compassion, and wisdom.
The Middle Way between Extremes
The Buddha taught *the middle way* as a path that avoids extremes, not simply a compromise or the halfway point between two opinions, as some might think. Siddhartha experienced two extremes: a life of luxury and self-indulgence, and later, severe self-denial through intense austerities. Neither led to awakening. When he accepted a bowl of rice from Sujata, he realized that taking a balanced path, free from extremes, was the most effective. The Buddha later explained this to a musician named Sona by comparing it to tuning a string. A string sounds best when it is not too tight or too loose, just as our lives work best when we find balance.
The middle way applies to how we understand things. It means avoiding the extremes of eternalism (thinking things are permanent and unchanging) and nihilism (thinking nothing matters or truly exists). These aren’t just abstract ideas; the Buddha's teachings explain how we all fall into these views in daily life without realizing it.
The middle way is also to find balance in our bodies and minds, whether through sitting upright in meditation, practicing yoga, or dancing with awareness. This principle can guide us in everyday activities such as art, music, sports, or study. Walking this path means being aware of when we’re going too far in one direction, whether being too rigid or too loose, and learning to adjust our attitude and behavior so we can stay grounded and present.
Right Motivation
Intention, or motivation, is the reason behind our actions. Motivation is part of the aggregate of mental formations known as *sankhara*. It is the key factor that determines the karmic effects of our actions. Motivation can be layered, with surface intentions masking deeper drives, requiring honest self-examination to uncover true motivations.
Atisha's *lojong* slogan number 39 states, "All activities should be done with one intention." This intention is benevolence—the desire to benefit others while avoiding harm. The idea is that this basic attitude of having a good heart and a kind mind can be our continuous approach if we practice it consistently.
With a mindset of renunciation, satisfied with what one has, free from aggression or the desire to change others, we simply infuse goodwill into all our activities. This embodies the practice of right motivation.
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
The Zen tradition—with *zazen* meditation at its heart—balances mundane and surprising techniques of working with the mind. There is practical instruction to engage mindfully with ordinary life—to "chop wood, carry water"—alongside *koan* practice designed to go beyond logic and open the mind—"What is the sound of one hand clapping?" This seemingly paradoxical perspective opens up space for what is referred to as “zen mind, beginner’s mind,” describing an outlook that is open and curious, free from fixed expectations. With a “beginner’s mind” perspective, we can engage with the world by letting it come to us “just so,” without resistance and preconceptions. This open approach gives rise to boundless creativity—creativity that’s connected to the world as it actually is. When you meet the world in this way, humbly, curiously, open to “not knowing,” intuition aligns with spontaneity, and the world becomes fresh and workable.
This attitude toward the world brings a kind of lightness of mind and outlook with it—an antidote to the heavy fixation we often have, which comes from attachment to our preconceptions and ideas of how things are. As Shunryu Suzuki Roshi said: “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's, there are few.” Beginners—anyone who comes to a new situation with an open, curious mind, uncluttered and able to see “what is”—can do all kinds of wonderful, awe-inspiring things—including, above all, leading a life of compassion, contentment, and joy.
*Abhidharma*
Buddhism is a science of the mind that has been studied and practiced since the time of the Buddha. Over centuries, this study has produced a vast body of knowledge explaining the workings of the mind, known as the *Abhidharma*.
The term *mind* is not a singular entity and is, in fact, a very limited translation of concepts such as *vijñana*, *citta*, or *manas* in Sanskrit. The mind is understood as a continuous flow of experiences, insights, emotions, tendencies, habits, and perceptions. It encompasses all sensory experiences, intellectual and rational processes, as well as emotional states and cognitive functions. This entire continuum of non-physical, subjective experiences is what is referred to as the mind.
According to Abhidharma psychology, the mind can be analyzed in various ways. One common framework is the division into eight types of consciousness, which include the five sense consciousnesses, mental consciousness, defiled mental consciousness, and the foundational storehouse consciousness. Additionally, Buddhist teachings describe 51 mental factors that influence how the mind operates. These mental factors can be wholesome, afflictive, or neutral.
Abhidharma helps us understand the nature of reality by analyzing our experiences—sensations, thoughts, and emotions—so we can uproot the causes of suffering—craving, aversion, and ignorance. It offers practical, step-by-step methods to observe the mind like a laboratory, allowing us to see clearly how our mental habits create dissatisfaction. Through this clarity, we develop wisdom, compassion, and awareness, leading to true inner freedom.