The Principles Of Excellence.pdf

King Solomon's Masterclass:

Creative Achievement & Personal Success

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Page 3

Part 1 — THE OPTION OF EXCELLENCE

1 First Fall in Love

2 Landscape Your Life

3 Think Like a Shepherd

4 Act Like a Horse

Part 2 — YOUR CREATIVE MIND

5 Be Inspired

6 Get a Green Bed

7 Become a Nothing

8 Don't Get Mechanical

9 Learn to Bleat

10 Pillow Talk

Part 3 — BASIC BARRIERS TO EXCELLENCE

11 Catch Your Foxes

12 The Time Barrier

13 The Thought Police

14 Negative Capability

Part 4 — PRACTICAL PROJECTS

15 Make Metaphorical

16 Be Childlikeand Flexible

17 Multi-sensory Imagination

18 Create Appropriate Form

19 The City Inside Your Head

20 Your Subconscious Consultant

21 Think Visually

Part 5 — PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE

109

22 The Creative Mood

23 Think Until It Hurts

24 Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

25 Keep Playing by the Rules

26 Ninety Nine Percent Perspiration

27 Binding Commitment

28 Creative Puberty

Part 6 — AN INVITATION TO EXCELLENCE

138

29 Your Immense Potential

30 The Invitation

INTRODUCTION

King Solomon's Masterclass

All that is now known, or that probably can be known, about creative achievement and personal success

was discovered by King Solomon of ancient Israel -- the wisest person who ever lived -- or revealed to him

by divine inspiration. It is not surprising , therefore, that recent research into the working methods of some

of the most highly creative individuals the world has ever known strongly suggests that they all achieved

their immense success, no matter what their field of endeavor, by the patient and persistent application of

some or all of the common set of quite simple yet powerful principles he identified almost three thousand

years ago.

Those principles — the Principles of Excellence — were in fact systematically taught as a Masterclass by

Solomon, probably the greatest genius the world has ever known, and then preserved by him for posterity,

because of their immense potential importance, both artistically and economically, in the often erotic

passages of Hebrew poetry that make up the enigmatic "Song of Songs".

Solomon's inspired masterpiece, the significance of which has long been regarded as the greatest puzzle in

all literature, now forms the basis of this short course in success and creativity which aims to make those

powerful yet deceptively simple principles once again available to any person interested in discovering and

developing their creative potential and achieving excellence in their chosen field.

Two Kinds of Creativity

Success in any field has to be created, and how such creative action can be initiated and controlled has

long been regarded as a mystery, yet in the "Song of Songs", Solomon demystifies and simplifies this

complex subject, without recourse to elaborate psychological jargon, by identifying and describing two key

processes -- that might be called Inspired and Practical creativity -- both of which become easily under-

standable and deliberately manageable when we perceive, as he did, their uncanny physical parallels in

nature, in the growth and reproduction of plants and animals, including human beings, as we shall see

later.

This uncanny connection between mental and biological creativity is no accident of some mythical evolu-

tionary process, but the result of deliberate divine design. According to the Genesis account of creation,

when God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he gave them twin creative commissions: first, to

reproduce and populate the Earth, after the manner of the plants and animals around them, a process of

biological creativity; and, second, to use their minds to subdue and rule over the whole Earth, a process of

mental creativity -- to investigate, hypothesise, design, invent, discover, build and beautify. These two

kinds of creative action, mental and physical or biological, operate in uncannily similar ways, the former

seemingly designed to illustrate and inform the latter, and so encourage man to continue the creative work

begun by God.

General speaking, all the plant and animal life with which God beautifies the Earth begins with either

conception or fertilisation. Likewise all human creative achievement and progress depend on two parallel

mental processes. A gigantic business corporation, for example begins with a thought -- a conception -- in

the mind of one person, and it is interesting that the word "corporation" signifies a body or organism,

virtually a living thing which metaphorically has a brain, arms, legs, muscles, energy sources and all

manner of internal systems that keep it functioning. Like a living creature, that corporation can also die

but can also outlive person who conceived it. These two creative processes are recognized in inspirational

books in the assertions that "Whatever you can conceive and believe you can achieve" and "Every problem

contains the seed of a far greater benefit".

In essence, Solomon came to realise that the natural world, which he studied avidly, and lectured and wrote

about, is in reality a sophisticated audio-visual environment, designed by God to illustrate and explain,

among other things, the principles of excellence that would enable human beings to continue the creative

commission given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden -- namely, to have dominion or rulership over

the Earth and everything in and on it, and by implication to use their God-like minds to continue the

creative process, to imagine and invent, to design, build and beautify, and so make the Earth a more

interesting and exciting place to live.

Creative Excellence

But just what is Creativity? According to the Oxford Dictionary, to create means to involve the imagination

in bringing something new into existence, for example, a poem, a painting, a piece of music, but possibly

more importantly, a business, a product or service, a design, a scientific breakthrough, or an invention —

and, by implication, to achieve excellence in so doing.

Creative excellence, which is the focus of the “Song”, is not a singular entity, but depends rather, like the

flavor of a cake or a cup of coffee, on an appropriate blend of a range of factors — not just originality or

novelty, but also elegance of form, effectiveness of function, economy and efficiency, simplicity and perfec-

tion of detail. Nor is creative excellence narrowly limited to the arts, but is applicable in any and every

aspect of life.

It is helpful, also, to appreciate that creative projects can vary greatly in their complexity, from that of a

simple slogan or a note to the milkman, for example, up to that of a technical encyclopedia or a novel --

from that of a simple jingle up to that of a symphony, or from that of an improved hair clip up to a that of

a new type of engine or computer, a vast range of diversity that is well typified by that manifest in the plant

and animal kingdoms, which encompass the amoebae and the elephant, the lowly blade of grass and the

mighty redwood tree.

The Creative Purpose of Everything in the Universe

Joseph Anderson, one time vice president of General Motors, observed that: “Creation seems to be the

principle purpose of everything in the universe. The ground produces vegetation; every spot that can grow

something, the crack in a walk, the unseeded field, the unused pavement will grow something even though

the circumstances are unfavorable. If there is a predominating purpose behind it all, as most of us believe

that there is, through God, it seems that the purpose is to create. It would them follow that man must have

been placed on this earth to create.”

Human beings, made in the image of God, are by their very nature creative, and capable therefore of

bringing into existence things that are new, unique, beautiful, and better, not simply in the arts and sci-

ences, but in whatever area and activity of life their gifts lie. Every artifact, every organization, every

business, every system, every mechanism, technique and process — and every life — can be raised to a

level of excellence by the magic of the creative mind, which operates today as it has always done through-

out the ages, and as it will continue to do in the future, according to the principles Solomon was divinely

inspired to identify so long ago.

The Key to the Meaning of the Song

Although the true significance of the "Song of Songs" is still regarded by most scholars as a complete and

complex mystery, the simple clue to its meaning is in fact to be found in the title, which makes up the first

line of the text. That title, like much of the rest of the text, is deliberately susceptible to different meanings.

It can of course simply be a superlative, meaning the most beautiful of all songs, which is how it come to

be regarded.

On the other hand, however, it can also imply a song about songs, and the way they are created, which is its

real purpose. Because songs can deal with any subject and convey both meaning and emotion and because

every single note and word has to be a perfect fit, Solomon is in fact using them as a metaphor for all

creative works of excellence in all fields.

It is interesting also that a song is actually a detailed plan of action -- a sequence of notes and words that

trained musicians can readily produce in order to create a desired effect. A song also demonstrates other

principles of creativity -- first the creation of something new by arraning known elemements, notes, into a

pleasing new pattern; and second the combining of music with appropriate words, a creative act of synthe-

sis. Modern technology and invention relies on these two principles.

Multiple Meanings

Such was the depth of Solomon's wisdom and genius that each metaphor, it seems, is capable of sparkling

forth a variety of insights, like a carefully cut diamond held up to the light experience, with the result that

numerous insights into a very complex subject were able to be condensed into eight short chapters of

poetry. Although I have attempted to point out what I see as the key principles in each section, I hope that

you, the reader, will perceive additional insights that are particularly relevant and useful to you, with

yourunique experience and viewpoint.

Amazingly, it seems also that the original Hebrew text, which is composed only of consonants, is framed in

such an inspired manner that different but complementary insights can be generated from the same phrases

by the insertion of different vowels, which is why different translators often offer radically different, but

complemenary, renderings of the same verses.

As a result, the insights I have attempted to draw out in each section, constitute, I am sure, simply the tips

of metaphorical ice-bergs of understanding, and the efforts of those who take the time to meditate more

deeply, will without doubt be richly rewarded. Additional insights will appear as your experience prepares

you to perceive and apply them.

Lost Knowledge

Although the knowledge of the principles of creativity originally revealed to the first human beings some-

how became lost, they were rediscovered some three thousand years ago by Solomon, famously the wisest

person who ever lived, and preserved by him for posterity in the eight short chapters of intricately woven

and often erotic poetry that makes up the "Song of Songs", acknowledged by many as the most beautiful -

- but misunderstood -- work in all literature. Although that poetry, also known as the "Song of Solomon",

was preserved by divine fiat as part of the sacred Hebrew Scriptures because of its immense potential

importance, both artistically and commercially, the knowledge of its true significance was somehow lost

for a second time -- if indeed it was ever made commonly known -- most probably when the kingdom of

Israel was destroyed and its people carried off into captivity soon after Solomon's death, and all but lost

contact with their language.

As a result some of the language in the "Song" is extremely obscure, and a number of words occurring

there are not used anywhere else in the Bible, a situation made even more difficult for the scholars by the

fact that the Hebrew text consists only of consonants, leaving the reader to supply the vowels and draw out

the meaning, based on an understanding of the context.

A Short Course in Creativity

As a result, his much admired masterpiece soon came to be regarded as an impenetrable mystery, described

by scholars as holding "without question the first place among the puzzles of literature". Happily, that

ancient puzzle has now been solved and Solomon's true intention rediscovered, showing the "Song" to be

in reality a short course in creativity -- the most powerful but neglected inspirational/self help work every

written.By studying his book of "Proverbs", said Solomon, the simple would be made wise, and even the

those already counted wise could increase their learning. Likewise, by studying the "Song of Songs",

those who are not yet creative can become creative, and those who are already creative -- even profession-

ally so -- can enhance their creativity. Such is the subtlety and depth of the inspired writings of Solomon

which now form the basis of this short course in the technology of creativity.

It has long intrigued me that all the principles of personal and businesses success promoted by popular

inspirational books, from Samuel Smiles' Victorian classic "Self Help" down to Steven Covey's recent

blockbuster, "The Seven Habits of Successful People", are in fact to be found in the wisdom writings of

Solomon, and readily available therefore in any copy of the world's perennial best seller, the Bible --

confirmation perhaps that Solomon was indeed the wisest person who ever lived. I was not unduly sur-

prised, therefore, to discover that the principles of creative excellence already mentioned are also to be

found in the writings of Solomon, also in the Bible, but this time tucked away in the enigmatic passages of

erotic love poetry of the "Song of Songs".

Discover and Develop Your Creative Potential

The inspired intent of the "Song of Songs" is for you, the reader, to discover and develop the creative

potential you already possess. What Solomon describes, you can experience, and you can do, because you

already possess the psychological wherewithal to do so. The first step is to discover your potential, to

become enlightened to the simple fact that the magical, productive thinking of the greatest creators who

ever lived is simply a more patient and persistent extension the way you have been informally thinking all

your life.

The second step is to deliberately develop that potential by applying the principles Solomon identifies and

describes in your own life, in your own unique manner.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: