The Zen of Creativity

Author: John Daido Loori
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0307417557
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
For many of us, the return of Zen conjures up images of rock gardens and gently flowing waterfalls. We think of mindfulness and meditation, immersion in a state of being where meaning is found through simplicity. Zen lore has been absorbed by Western practitioners and pop culture alike, yet there is a specific area of this ancient tradition that hasn’t been fully explored in the West. Now, in The Zen of Creativity, American Zen master John Daido Loori presents a book that taps the principles of the Zen arts and aesthetic as a means to unlock creativity and find freedom in the various dimensions of our existence. Loori dissolves the barriers between art and spirituality, opening up the possibility of meeting life with spontaneity, grace, and peace. Zen Buddhism is steeped in the arts. In spiritual ways, calligraphy, poetry, painting, the tea ceremony, and flower arranging can point us toward our essential, boundless nature. Brilliantly interpreting the teachings of the artless arts, Loori illuminates various elements that awaken our creativity, among them still point, the center of each moment that focuses on the tranquility within; simplicity, in which the creative process is uncluttered and unlimited, like a cloudless sky; spontaneity, a way to navigate through life without preconceptions, with a freshness in which everything becomes new; mystery, a sense of trust in the unknown; creative feedback, the systematic use of an audience to receive noncritical input about our art; art koans, exercises based on paradoxical questions that can be resolved only through artistic expression. Loori shows how these elements interpenetrate and function not only in art, but in all our endeavors. Beautifully illustrated and punctuated with poems and reflections from Loori’s own spiritual journey, The Zen of Creativity presents a multilayered, bottomless source of insight into our creativity. Appealing equally to spiritual seekers, artists, and veteran Buddhist practitioners, this book is perfect for those wishing to discover new means of self-awareness and expression—and to restore equanimity and freedom amid the vicissitudes of our lives.

Creativity, Spirituality, and Making a Buck

Author: David Nichtern
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1614295182
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Book Description
A friendly, funny, practical guide for creatives and entrepreneurs, written by a four-time Emmy award-winning and two-time Grammy-nominated composer-guitarist-producer who has worked with Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Jerry Garcia, Lana Del Rey, and Krishna Das, among many others. Also a beloved and highly regarded Buddhist teacher, David teaches readers how to integrate their creative process with their spiritual practice and livelihood. “How do I make a living doing what I love?” “Am I a sellout as an artist if I want to be successful?” “How do I integrate my spiritual principles with the art of running a business? And actually, um, how do I run a business?” Wondering how to reconcile your calling with your need to make a living wage, or what to do once your art starts selling, or how to achieve success in your field, or what it even means to be successful? David Nichtern offers his lived, learned experience as an entrepreneur, musician, and Buddhist teacher to first help you figure out what “success” means to you and then show you how to get there. He offers advice on the creative process and principles of business and ethics—everything from “listen to the muse!” to “protect your intellectual property!”—and provides mindfulness exercises to help you integrate inspiration and aspiration, vocation and avocation—to go from surviving to thriving. Whether you’re a baker trying to grow from the farmer’s market to a brick-and-mortar or a CEO exploring how taking care of your employees can be the same as taking care of your business—if you’re trying to align your spiritual, creative, and financial pursuits and discover what it means to truly live well, this book is for you.

Zen Camera

Author: David Ulrich
Publisher: Watson-Guptill
ISBN: 0399580336
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
Zen Camera is an unprecedented photography practice that guides you to the creativity at your fingertips, calling for nothing more than your vision and any camera, even the one embedded in your phone. David Ulrich draws on the principles of Zen practice as well as forty years of teaching photography to offer six profound lessons for developing your self-expression. Doing for photography what The Artist’s Way and Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain did for their respective crafts, Zen Camera encourages you to build a visual journaling practice called your Daily Record in which photography can become a path of self-discovery. Beautifully illustrated with 83 photographs, its insights into the nature of seeing, art, and personal growth allow you to create photographs that are beautiful, meaningful, and uniquely your own. You’ll ultimately learn to change the way you interact with technology—transforming it into a way to uncover your innate power of attention and mindfulness, to see creatively, and to live authentically.

Presentation Zen

Author: Garr Reynolds
Publisher: Pearson Education
ISBN: 0321601890
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 316

Book Description
FOREWORD BY GUY KAWASAKI Presentation designer and internationally acclaimed communications expert Garr Reynolds, creator of the most popular Web site on presentation design and delivery on the Net — presentationzen.com — shares his experience in a provocative mix of illumination, inspiration, education, and guidance that will change the way you think about making presentations with PowerPoint or Keynote. Presentation Zen challenges the conventional wisdom of making "slide presentations" in today’s world and encourages you to think differently and more creatively about the preparation, design, and delivery of your presentations. Garr shares lessons and perspectives that draw upon practical advice from the fields of communication and business. Combining solid principles of design with the tenets of Zen simplicity, this book will help you along the path to simpler, more effective presentations.

Zen and Creative Management

Author: Albert Low
Publisher: Tuttle Pub
ISBN: 9780804818834
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 255

Book Description
In Zen and Creative Management, Albert Low, Zen teacher and former business executive, combines Eastern and Western thought to provide mangers with a blueprint for better understanding, improved decision making, and increased awareness of society as a whole.

Zen Pencils--Creative Struggle

Author: Gavin Aung Than
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 1449488633
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
Zen Pencils: Creative Struggle is a call to wake up the creative spirit inside you. Through Zen Pencils cartoon quotes on creativity from inspirational artists, musicians, writers, and scientists, you'll discover what inspired each of the subjects to reach the full potential of their creativity. In each comic, the speaker of the quote is the character in the story. Imagine cartoon versions of Albert Einstein, Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, and Vincent van Gogh revealing the spark that ignited them to achieve their dreams!

Bringing the Sacred to Life

Author: John Daido Loori
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834823500
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 131

Book Description
Zen rituals—such as chanting, bowing, lighting incense before the Buddha statue—are ways of recognizing the sacredness in all of life. A ritual is simply a deliberate and focused moment that symbolizes the care with which we should be approaching all of life, and practicing the Zen liturgy is a way of cultivating this quality of attention in order to bring it to everything we do. Here, John Daido Loori demystifies the details of the Zen rituals and highlights their deeper meaning and purpose. We humans are all creatures of ritual, he teaches, whether we recognize it or not. Even if we don’t make ritual part of some religious observance, we still fall into ritual behavior, whether it be our daily grooming sequence or the way we have our morning coffee and paper. We run through our personal rituals unconsciously most of the time, but there is great value to introducing meaningful symbolic rituals into our lives and to performing them deliberately and mindfully—because the way we do ritual affects the way we live the rest of our lives. The book includes instructions for a simple Zen home liturgy, as it is practiced by students of the Mountains and Rivers Order of Zen.

The Zen of Creative Painting

Author: Jeanne Carbonetti
Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications
ISBN:
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 116

Book Description
By the author ofThe Tao of Watercolor, this book, the second in her "Path of Painting" series, offers creative artists of all levels empowering guidance based on Zen principles.

Ten Zen Seconds

Author: Eric Maisel
Publisher: Courier Dover Publications
ISBN: 0486821617
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
Blending Eastern principles of breath awareness and mindfulness with Western principles of positive psychology, these powerful but easy to learn meditative incantations offer an antidote to stress, procrastination, and anxiety.

Making Pearls

Author: Jeanne Carbonetti
Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications
ISBN: 9780823030453
Category : Conduct of life
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
For artists and painters who wish to create not only projects of beauty, but ones that also reflect inner spirituality,Making Pearlsis the ultimate primer for expanding creativity and spirituality in every area of art and life. Filled with dozens of lush, reflective paintings,Making Pearlstakes the reader, step by step, through the seven stages of the creative cycle: Waiting, Opening, Closing, Holding, Releasing, Emptying, and Sitting. Within each chapter are several evocative essays and inspirational exercises that demonstrate how each of these creative stages affects the mind, body, and spirit. Chapters also include meditative exercises, as well as an evolving painting project for the readers that serves as a microcosm of the full creative process. This reflective, inspirational guide demonstrates the essential process and purpose of creativity: to make pearls of meaning and beauty of our selves and our lives. For the new-age artist on the path to spiritual awareness,Making Pearlsis the ultimate resource for living a totally creative life, body and soul.