Crisis or Creativity - How Meditation Can Help
- stephenwebster21
- Nov 8
- 6 min read
Here are the final paragraphs (see previous posts for more) from the opening Chapter of my latest book, ‘Buddhist, Christian, Sufi, Yogi – A Meditation Journey’, in which I entwine my own meditation journey with an exploration of the heart of religion – the choice between crisis mode and creative mode and how meditation can help. Enjoy!
The Heart of Religion
At the heart of religion is the affirmation that we all share one being. This is the universal teaching of all the great spiritual traditions of the world. This is the essential point that often gets lost in the forms and formulations of multiple traditions, emerging from different starting points, in diverse cultures. Every religion starts with an unbalanced culture, and moves that culture towards greater unity, by correcting that imbalance. The specific solution is therefore different in each case, but the direction of flow, and the source of being, is the same. We are all one, spiritually, mentally, and physically. Spiritually we are one in being, mentally we are one in our aspiration, and physically we are one in infinite, measurable, and detectable interconnections. Each great religion starts with an individual who experiences in their heart the reality of our unity in being. They then begin to manifest that unity in dramatic and awe-inspiring ways, usually with great opposition, which leads to the foundation of a community that lasts, not just for centuries, but for millennia. It is the longevity of the message, unparalleled in any other cultural organisation or activity, that is the evidence of its authenticity and truth.
Emerging from this revelation of our unity in being, are the qualities that flow out from, and take us back into, that unity. Qualities that relate to peace, love, and wisdom. These qualities are the basis of the way of life that religions are here to promote. As Confucius and his master Lao Tzu taught, we are called to a way of life on earth that is in tune with our unity in being, because that is the order of the universe, and is therefore the way of power. However much people kid themselves that cutting corners, forcing the issue, lying, cheating, and bullying, work, our heart doesn't agree. Our heart knows we are all one and that we share one being, one aspiration, and one interconnected body. Our heart only comes fully alive when nurtured in the ark of positive human values. Peace is more powerful than violence and love overcomes hate, because that is the ultimate arrangement of our inner dimension, and wisdom reveals this truth. The essential point of religion is to facilitate a way of being and a way of life. The way of being is unity and the way of life is peaceful, loving, and wise.
The Crisis Mode and The Creative Mode—Fear or Hope
Throughout our lives, we constantly toggle between two different modes of being—the crisis mode and the creative mode. We are either dealing with threats, that come in from outside, or we act out our dreams, which rise up from within. The dangers we perceive start with something incoming, from outside of us, which gets perceived by our senses, interpreted by our fast-thinking brain, and channelled into adrenalin in our gut, to launch us into reactive action. The primary emotion of crisis mode is fear. The dreams that emerge from within, on the other hand, start with a feeling, in the metaphorical heart centre, become a vision, in the calm inspired part of our brain, and a whole series of actions, methodically pursued, usually over a long period of time. The primary emotion of the creative mode is hope.
Crisis mode is short term—avert the disaster! Creative mode is long term—build something beautiful. Crisis mode is a fundamentally negative perspective—stop what we don't want to happen! Creative mode is essentially positive—let's move towards what we do want to happen. Crisis mode starts with something hard and concrete, like an incoming missile. Creative mode starts with something soft, intangible, invisible, and subtle, like love, peace, or inspiration. Crisis mode is caught in the endless cycle of action and reaction, passing negativity down the generations and out into society. Creative mode breaks the chain of reactive conflict, returns nonviolence for violence, and raises humanity up to a higher level.
Both modes are necessary sometimes, but for a happy and fulfilling life, one mode should have priority over the other. If we are pursuing our dreams, it is worth averting a disaster, so that we can continue to pursue our dreams. The difficulties we face can even inform, turbo charge, update, and inspire our dreams. If we want to follow our heart, we have to use our head to work out the details and deal with the difficulties. But if crisis mode becomes our fundamental mode of being, we have lost the race of life. As St. Ignatius, the 16th Century founder of the Jesuits, warned, when training his protégé St. Francis Xavier, we might have gained the world, but we would have lost our soul.
Our life constantly asks us the same question. Will the world out there darken our soul in here, or will our soul in here, brighten up the world out there? The ancient Egyptians recognised this principle of the supremacy of the heart in their mummification process. They removed the brain, but carefully wrapped and preserved the heart, and placed it back in the body, as the core of the person's being, necessary for the afterlife. They believed their hearts would be weighed in the afterlife on a scale against a feather. If their heart was lighter than a feather, they made it into the eternal realm. The heart is the symbol of the inner dimension. They recognised that we should lighten up the world with our inner dimension, rather than letting the world darken our heart, making it heavy. Through meditation we learn to ride the rising currents of our being, so that our heart floats, light as a feather.
Global Pandemic—A Case in Point
As I started writing this book, humanity had suddenly been thrown into an epic crisis. We faced a global pandemic, and in country after country, people's way of life came to an abrupt pause. Whilst some resorted to panic buying in the shops, and selling toilet paper on the black market, others quietly started caring, creating, and developing new modes of being, forming invisible webs of love, helped by technologies that weren't around during the last pandemic. Despite our frenzied media habit of excitedly beating ourselves up all the time, whole nations made unprecedented sacrifices to care for vulnerable members. While this crisis has been novel in its global nature, the fundamental choice we have of crisis management versus creative expression, is as old as the human experience. Are we going to let the complicated, jagged details of things coming at us from outside determine who we are? Or are we going to let the soft, round, heart, at the centre of our being, organise the things around us to create beauty out of ugliness, harmony out of disorder, and inspiration out of confusion?
Meditation Can Help
One of humanity's most ancient resources, in helping to create order out of chaos, and hope out of fear, is our ability to meditate. For thousands of years, certain human beings have gone within, to a place of peace, and emerged with words of wisdom and a life of love. Many of society's greatest influencers, over millennia, have started their work with a mystical encounter, occurring at a moment of isolation and deep reflection.
Of course, meditation is not for everyone in the classic sense of sitting down crossed-legged for half an hour every day. I have been teaching yoga and meditation for many years. When I was younger, I was slightly more zealous in my encouragement of others to meditate. As I have worked with many people, over the years, I have realised that meditation is relevant to different people in different ways. For people like me, of a contemplative disposition, it's somewhat of a vocation. We practise it daily, morning and evening, because we love it. For some, it's a useful aid, that can be a real lifesaver at certain moments in the week, and at certain times in their lives. For increasing numbers of high-performance athletes and sports people, meditation is a way of returning to and maintaining excellence. For others, it's a useful experience which they dip into, perhaps several times in a lifetime, to help find a new direction, at a moment of crisis. And for some, the idea of meditation assists in thinking about life, and working out what is most valuable. So, whatever your situation, whether locked down in a global pandemic, or just dealing with normal life crises, what you need is some inspiration and practical help, to enable your essential being to determine your response to life. Then, hopefully, together, we can turn those gentle dream pulses you can sense rising up from within, into a world that's worth living in. As Jesus says in the gospels, 'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth'.
If you're gripped purchase ‘Buddhist, Christian, Sufi, Yogi – A Meditation Journey’ by Stephen Webster on amazon via author links below!
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