Author: James Chiang

Saboteurs & Saviours: Part 2

The Ancient of Days by Sir William Blake, a poet and painter who believed greatly in the power of imagination.

“The universe is also actively benevolent.” — Steven Pressfield, Writer

We’ve discussed the ego — that malevolent force of resistence that entices with its rationality, ambition and self-serving obsession — but bigger and more powerful is the force of honour, truth, beauty and freedom. That amazing creative energy is incalculable, immeasurable and often invisible to the material world but is very real even if we may be too blind or too preoccupied to notice it. Unlike the ego, which has been manuafactured by our own minds, this indescribable force is what enables growth, pushes discovery and gives meaning to our existence. Without it, there is no science, no art, no life.

The Outer Saviours:

Sometimes, this generous force comes in the form of people; the amazing friend who’s always there when you need him; the co-worker who stays late with you during overtime offering comraderie and helping you maintain sanity; the old schoolmate or colleague who refers jobs/clients/opportunities to you without even telling you; the teacher/mentor who goes above and beyond his professional duty and who teaches you not just techniques but more importantly, how to think; and finally, that crucial, and sometimes lone friend/family member who always has your back because he loves you and believes in you no matter what. These individuals keep us going, support us without credit. They tell us what we need to hear and not just what we want to hear. We should forever be grateful to them (I know I am) and we must keep them in our memories and in our silent prayers ( I do so regularly). And although we’re not likely to be granted the opportunity to return the favour, what we can do is pay it forward — helping others like how we ourselves have been helped. That’s how a world in harmony works, not selfishly, but generously.

insight (n.) Root Definition/entymology:

c. 1200, innsihht, “sight with the ‘eyes’ of the mind, mental vision, understanding from within.”

The Inner Saviour:

Now, to depend purely on outside saviours is not only unfair, selfish and lazy, but it’s also insufficient; we must work on what happens inside of us. That inner power — that sublime intelligence which belongs to the universe but comes though each of us — arrives only when our minds are silent. What does that mean? Simply this: that only the attentive mind can listen carefully to what our work (and our world) says to us and what it needs, for our actions (including the thoughts and words we say/write) are a reflection of what’s inside, the culmination of that mental/emotional battle in our brains. For instance, when we truly listen to our craft and the results of our work, that is, without attachment, we’ll magically see better. What looked strong now looks weak. What appeared fast now seems too slow. What seemed on course before now appears clearly off track. A different perspective is revealed; we see wider, deeper and with greater accuracy. We see not just from our usual line of sight, but take on a bird’s eye view enabling our mind to walk around our problems and see it from multiple perspectives. Very quickly we learn that no one viewpoint gives us the whole truth — it’s only a collection of perspectives that can lead us to the right action. When the chatter of our mechanical brains stops we percieve things at a much higher level of insight — the kind of wisdom we witness in the words and works of history’s greater masters. And with that clarity, we can see the errors of our ways, both within the craft itself and within ourselves, both philosophically and morally. Humility arrives naturally rather than being forced. The same thing begins to happens to our decision-making and discipline. With greater truths revealed, options eliminate themselves, and the lone sane choice that remains literally compels you to take action — you don’t have to will it — the mind and body align on their own. This is the faith we must hold to, not that of any ideology.

“Verily, truth is sight.” — Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 5.14.4 (Vedic Sanskrit text)

The Inexplicable Saviour:

In our modern world, we’re easily tricked and confused into the idea that “more” is the answer — more options, more wealth, more friends, more contacts — we become obsessed with quantity rather than quality. The truth is that more “stuff” also means more to carry, both physically and, more importantly, psychologically. Everyone knows that when answering a multiple choice exam that it’s much harder when there four or five options to choose from rather than just two. Every rich person becomes disproportionally concerned with not “losing” their material wealth and comfort. The Casanova with multiple wives/mistresses never knows true love nor the freedom that comes from trust. The notion that more is better is as absurd as the situations these examples provide. We need to learn the value of limitations. The good thing is that sometimes, its the benevolent universe that comes to the rescue — by taking away those options for us. It may come in the guise of losing a job you didn’t really like, or ending a relationship that has become toxic. We lament and complain about the “loss” when it occurs because we don’t always realize what’s really happening — a gain of real freedom. It’s a beautiful thing to become unburdened, to see with the mind unclouded, and to be able to start anew. In fact, each day, each moment is new just as each painting, composition, animation, or sculpture is new. Do not be fooled by apparent failure or mistakes, for they are secretly guiding lights. For example, when a house fire burned down my entire art studio several years ago, it gave me the courage to finally do the “new” art I was meant to do. Now, instead of anger or regret I felt at the time, I feel an immense gratitude for the intervention, one that helped align me with my destiny, with the courage to be who I am.

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss, Writer

In summary, I’d like to say that you should not hope for help, but rather know that it will arrive, that there are benevolent (often invisible) forces out there assisting you. Don’t let that rational egoic mind of yours or the outside naysayers tell you that life is crap, cruel, lonely and meaningless and that the only thing that matters is you and what’s yours. We, and our capacity for creation, are intimately bonded to the greater universe. Ignore the saboteurs. Turn your attention instead to connection and discovery, to all that is good and beautiful. Really listen, listen with your eyes. Find wisdom in insecurity. Know that you’re a creator and like our own creator(s), the magic that enables discovery and creation is much greater and more magnanimous than we can possibly imagine.

We live in only one galaxy, yet we still know so little about it. The latest technology indicates there’s more than 100 billion galaxies in the cosmos.

Saboteurs & Saviours: Part 1

The combination of Jeremy Irons’ voice acting and Andreas Deja’s magnificent design/animation helped make the sly and charming character Scar into one of Disney’s best villians and saboteurs. From The Lion King.

Being an artist is hard. The promise of true freedom, honest self-expression, and joyful meaningfulness is often met with harsh and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Those obstacles are the Saboteurs to your creativity calling.

“… any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower… will elicit Resistance.” — Steven Pressfield, Writer

There are the outside malignant forces — frustrating and emotionally challenging hindrances that seem to work in collusion to impair your way towards your inner evolution: the boss that hates you; the co-worker whose negative and judgemental outlook/energy pulls you down with him; society’s sometimes unfair or non-sensical legal/bureaucratic barriers to your creative endeavour/ education/entrepeneurship; the lack of start-up money/social connections/privileges that others seem to possess as a birthright; the spouse or partner who fears that your commitment to your craft takes away your commitment to their individual selves; the friends and family who have absolutely no faith in you; the friends and family who like you but only as you are (or were) and prefer that you don’t ever change or grow to become anything that’s different. Like many artists before me and after, I’ve experienced nearly all of the above. They are all difficult obstacles to creative living. We have to fight them, ignore them, weave around them, discard them or sometimes just blow right past them as if they didn’t exist. The creative (genius) must never compromise.

Delicious magic from Japan’s most uncompromising Sushi Master, Chef Jiro Ono, from the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

But as nasty as these obstacles can be, they are on the outside, and what matters more significantly is what happens on the inside, in your mind, for the biggest enemy lies within. Writer and creative inspiration extraordinaire Steven Pressfield calls it resistance. Others, more scientifically inclined, might call it entropy. I call it the ego — that invisible force that will do anything and everything to stop you from reaching your fullest potential and thereby denying you and the world of the gift(s) that only you can bring to fruition. It will prevent you from living with truth and honour, teasing you with the allure of pleasure and quick success. It will appease your pride and sense of greed. It will inflame your ambition and endorse conflict and envy. And worse of all, It will turn your passion — the love of your art — into a mere means for the acquistion of material power and social glory should you make it your occupation. And, at the end of it, it will eliminate all your humility and crush any sense of gratitude or empathy for others. The ego is the ultimate saboteur and it resides deep inside your brain. You’ve given it a home the day you developed self-consciousness and brought up to conform to society’s customary rules and traditions. You need to look very closely, with utmost clarity and humility, to even see its shadowy nature as it tries to take hold of you.

“Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.” — Miyamoto Musashi, Samurai/Writer

What can be done about the ego and how can we live with it? Endless books, scientific, spiritual and otherwise, have attempted to answer this question and have yet to offer any real pragmatic solution. Most people aren’t even aware of it or if they are, they’ve come to accept it as an inevitable unchangeable reality. But the real truth is that while the ego is both present and elusive, it is, in reality, like all other mental constructs, nothing more than an idea. It’s a kind of illusory beast we’ve created in our minds that has convinced us to believe that it’s not only real but bigger and more important than anything else in the world, no matter time or place. That’s how smart it is — it’s a master negotiator, a superb accountant and a biting critic. And it will use as much “logic” as possible to convince us to be lazy (like looking for shortcuts), to doubt ourselves or our ideas (such as using extensive rationalizations/analysis to prolong taking action), or to quit while we’re still ahead (so that we never ever finish anything, thus justifying the lack of value in our contribution). Essentially, it’ll do anything to stop us from giving any loving attention to our inner aspirations or destiny.

“The ego mind both professes its desire for love and does everything possible to repel it, or if it gets here anyway, to sabotage it. ” — Marianne Williamson, Writer

And because it turns on as soon as our consciousness is awake, we never rest from it. The ego is always talking, always “working” us. It knows the power of words and likes to come across as both strong and careful, meanwhile bolstering its position by gathering more “in-line” data to give extra strength to its arguments. It breeds insecurity and thus makes us prime targets for propaganda and persuasion from the external forms of sabotage like the doubting friend or family member. Sometimes it might even take the form of false humility like self-loathing. It loves to follow the trend and give in to conformity. It loves tribalism — convincing us that our own family, work tribe, race or nation is above others. It endorses competition and conflict — anger, fear, and aggression make regular appearances — even as it condemns the violence of others who won’t side with its own ideologies.

And, even when the ego recognizes that its solutions or guidance have resulted in failure, it accepts no responsibility because the dark egoic mind likes to look back, not forward. Instead, it prefers to find things to blame, like other people, the government or the “system” rather than focus on what’s been learnt and where the solutions might lie. It always wants us to focus on the things outside of us rather than on the inside, so that we don’t see its machinations. In fact, it’s scared of the new so it always guides us back to the known (tradition) in sacrifice of the new (discovery). But its nastiest trick is that it lures us into thinking we are one, and that it’s here to serve our best interest but in truth it loves only itself, its own self-preservation and entices us to do the same by endorsing individualism, self-preoccupation and self-aggrandizement. In the form of its extreme culmination — narcissism — it destroys all that is kind or creative, and all that is holy or wholesome.

“Thought is on the outside.” — J. Krishnmurti, Philosopher

Once we see the ego for what it truly is — an ILLUSION — we’ll realize and understand that its persuasions, like most of our thoughts, are ultimately identifiable and absurd, no more than irritating, pre-digested chatter disguised as intelligence. Once we see that, we know that they can be overcome and discarded. Like weeds in a garden, they can be extracted even if they should continue to sprout. We need to take a farmer’s mindset of commitment and professionalism. We stay on guard and don’t accept the ego’s lies or compromise our truth. But at the same time, we must realize another truth; that it shouldn’t be surprising that most people lose their battle against the ego. It has craftfully deceived us, so why wouldn’t it deceive others? We must have empathy so that we can also be kind to ourselves. Dealing with saboteurs need not imply stomping out our obstacles with glee or anger because outward violence always begets more inward violence and vice versa. And finally, the most effective statement we can make about the ego is that it ALWAYS makes it both RATIONAL and EASY to be suspicious, dispassionate, or undisciplined towards your creative endeavour, even though giving up your creative passion will ultimately leave you a crater-sized hole of regret that will sit in your heart for the rest of your lifetime. (To be continued)

Yoda shares his wisdom. From George Lucas’ original Star Wars.

In Part 2 of Saboteurs and Saviours, we will discuss the ego-opposing forces that empower our creative drive and help us reach our fullest potential.