I had the chance to witness the ultimate day of per week-long Tibetan monk mandala creation in Santa Barbara, California.
The tradition for this kind of Buddhist mandala is to represent a super of an ideal universe, transforming our odd human minds right into a state that’s enlightened.
The Sanskrit meaning of the word mandala is ‘circle’, and these art pieces are a mix of intricate geometric patterns, iconic designs, and imagery contained inside a circle. The mandala is created using coloured sand and just isn’t designed to exist for long. The use of sand as their medium symbolizes the impermanence of existence.
The Tibetan monks I witnessed had been laboring for five long days, hand placing small grains of coloured sand in intricate patterns and designs on a 40” diameter board.
There have been three monks who worked on this mandala, ranging in age from mid 20’s to late 60’s. That they had been sitting for hours every day of the creation with unwavering patience increase small mounds of sand to create coloured and three-dimentional sections that transformed the general design into an other-worldly vision.
It was beautiful to witness, and I discovered myself transfixed on the detailed minutia of the patterns throughout the large circle, imagining the symbolism and meaning for every.
Once I stood back it looked like a painting, but after I leaned in I could see each sand granule in its perfect place. I marveled at the flexibility these monks needed to work in such harmony with one another and for the pure enjoyment of the act of creation.
On the day that I attended guests were invited to hearken to the monks speak in regards to the meaning behind their mandala and learn more in regards to the general concepts of the practice of creating these artistic endeavors.
Mandalas are each created with different intentions in mind. For this Medicine Buddha mandala it was created with the intention of healing and the promotion of peace, well-being, and happiness.
I used to be entranced by their words, nearly forgetting what was to return next.
Creation and Destruction
As is customary with the practice of mandala creation, equally vital is the mandala’s destruction. Brushing away the structure and releasing the design from its confines is part of the method.
It happens fast and in an oddly anti-climactic way. In a single fell swoop I witnessed the attractive design be brushed away. The detail gone as individual coloured sand that had just moments before stood along with partner colours were all suddenly blended into one mash-up of non-descript hue.
There was an audible gasp within the room when it happened but in addition an odd sense of relief. As if the tearing apart of the structure throughout the patterned design was a liberation of the soul.
The Burden of Being Precious
Watching the hours of artistic endeavor be quickly reduced to dust (literally) resonated deeply with me.
As a protracted time industrial artist, I actually have had the privilege of with the ability to construct a profession around artistic creation, each for myself and for clients. It’s rewarding to appreciate a vision that when had lived only within the mind come to life and take its place on the planet.
With my business, I could understand creation, but destruction I couldn’t. It went against my work ethos.
Watching this mandala be created and gifted to the world only to see it get brushed away got me fascinated by the concept of coveting what’s created. About being ‘precious’ in how we view the work we do and the product we create.
In line with the Cambridge Dictionary, being precious may be explained as “behaving in a really formal and unnatural way by giving an excessive amount of attention to details that should not vital and trying too hard to be perfect.”
This concept of being precious and perfectionistic about what we create just isn’t limited to careers in the humanities.
In every line of labor and business model, it’s easy to view the product that is obtainable through a really protective lens. Whether that product is you as a teacher, service provider, or a tangible good, the best way we view our product is reflected in how we express our work.
Being pleased with what you create is great, but being fearfully protective just isn’t.
It’s hard to talk of being precious without pondering of the character Gollum from the ‘Lord of the Rings’, coveting his ring and never wanting to let it go. This desperation perfectly illustrates the perfectionist predicament business owners often fall into regarding their product.
Once we have a look at the product of our efforts with precious eyes we discover ourselves gripping to a truth that will or is probably not real, and most actually is subjective within the greater perspective of the work.
4 Ways Preciousness Impedes Growth
1. Creativity Blocker
Creative Ideas are stifled when the one acceptable end result is perfection. Common thoughts like ‘when it’s perfect, I’ll get it out’, ‘once I actually have X, I’ll be able to go ahead with it’, or ‘after X happens, I can let others know’.
The common thread in all these thoughts is the concept of ‘when’ something happens, ‘then’ I can progress. Being precious about your product inevitably sets your work on a pedestal that is simply too high to succeed in and too heavy to maneuver.
2. Immobility and ‘Stuck-ness’
Growth cannot occur when limitations and bounds are placed that don’t allow space for a product to evolve or transform. When preciousness blocks access to others, there isn’t any forward mobility. The easiest ideas and inventive endeavors are of no use to the world if they continue to be bubble-wrapped in your office.
3. Time Suck
Being precious in regards to the work you create takes a number of time, energy, and private bandwidth to take care of. It’s exhausting to maintain explaining away the litany of explanation why your product remains to be waiting for its big moment within the sun. Hours can easily turn into days, months, and years as you succumb to the burden of the wait.
4. Confidence Killer
Being precious is a gateway to insecurity. What you see as precious today, another person may either replicate higher or more successfully tomorrow, leaving you holding on to your product without realizing the advantages of all of the labor, ingenuity, time, creativity, and a focus you invested in it.
So what may be done to treatment this?
5 Ways to Let Go of Your ‘Precious’
Listed here are five ways you may start now to loosen and release your grip on what you’re holding on to and being precious about in your online business.
1. Think BIG Picture
In the event you hold tightly to what you create, never allowing the chance for it to breathe or grow, you’ll slowly kill it. Once you grip tightly, you’re pondering from a spot of fear and scarcity and viewing your product in a small and non-expansive way. When space is allowed in, you’re capable of practice release.
Envision your product making its debut on the planet. Take an eagle eye perspective and see that this version is just being born, and it’s appropriate and smart to see the space around it intended for growth.
2. Allow Energy In
Being precious takes a number of energy to take care of. Once you determine to attend, hold, and simmer in your product for whatever reason you identify, you’re actively participating in the development of your safety fortress. Partitions will definitely make you’re feeling secure, but they ultimately make you’re feeling trapped.
When a product is stuck contained in the partitions of a fortress, take a while to discover those partitions you’ve built around it. Name them (i.e. failure, rejection, loss of cash, etc.). Think in regards to the underlying energy behind the words of your partitions and query their validity. Are those thoughts true? How does this transformation the best way you view the readiness of your product?
Now, imagine a window opening in your fortress and a breeze containing all the alternative energy flooding in (i.e. success, acceptance, profit, etc.). For a moment, let yourself trust that this breeze brings in the reality. How does this shift your opinion? Has your product modified with this clarity?
3. Own Your Confidence
When stuck in a precious moment along with your work, it’s vital to ask yourself one crucial query: ‘Did I do my best?’ If the reply is yes, then you must stop there and own it.
Being stuck within the proverbial headlights of ‘but could I actually have done higher?’ won’t ever get your product released, the article written, the proposal sent, the project put out to a client, or the concept pitched. At one point, you must consider in yourself with confidence and say, ‘I did my best’, not ‘I did this perfectly’.
4. Let in Others
You’re not an island, but for some reason, women in business are inclined to struggle most with asking for out of doors input or help. It’s vital to grasp that even for those who end up wearing every hat in your online business now, getting an outdoor perspective is required to achieve clarity.
You realize your product higher than anyone, but perhaps your view is simply too narrow. Letting others in to extend the aperture of your online business will increase the arrogance you have got in your product’s readiness.
(*4*)5. Take Motion Steps and Rejoice
Take motion steps (even baby motion steps) toward making this latest clarity and perspective in your product more robust than the partitions of your fortress.
Rejoice each milestone you cross off your qualifier list on your product. Whether it’s an email sent, a phone call made, an account created, or the ultimate release into the world of your great idea, each of those steps are vital in the massive picture story of your online business and what you’re investing your energy in creating.
Release What You’ve Created
On that late summer day in Santa Barbara, I learned that the best (and healing) method to create is to be willing to let go.
Freedom from the preciousness predicament occurs whenever you see the product of your efforts as excellent and never perfect. Once you loosen the grip of expectation and begin letting energy in, you own your decisions and what you’ve created from a spot of strength and confidence.
This can be a each day practice, but whenever you work these muscles, you gain strength in your ability to maneuver forward.
You were created to create, and the product of your efforts is the gift you give to the world. Let go of preciousness and see where you’re led. It’s quite a bit more fun to be riding on the roller coaster of life than it’s to be standing on the bottom watching and waiting for permission to hitch the journey.