Sitting For Ideas

Many years ago, Napoleon Hill wrote about the technique of sitting for ideas in his book Think and Grow Rich. It can be a very useful technique if we are trying to solve a problem, plan a future course of direction, or simply to gain some insight. We could think of it as brainstorming for one.

First, we need a quiet place where we will be undisturbed... a library, a study, or a similar place where we can sit comfortably at a desk or table and not be distracted or interrupted.

All we need are a pencil or pen and a large pad of paper.

We sit quietly, relaxed, with our eyes closed.

We mentally frame the problem or issue, in a single sentence, as clearly and concisely as we can.

We mentally repeat the problem statement softly, and then we allow our consciousness to relax, quietly centered in our own Being, our own inner Self.

Soon we will begin to experience thoughts, ideas, flashes of intuition, sensations, even images. They may come rapidly in succession. Some will be concrete enough that we can describe them in words.

We open our eyes and begin to write down these thoughts as rapidly as we can. We simply write them down. We don't filter our thoughts, we don't critically evaluate what we have written. We don't worry about fragmented thoughts or incomplete sentences or misspelled words... we just write.

Eventually the flood of thoughts and ideas will diminish and finally stop. It may take only a few minutes or even an hour. Then we look at what we have written and critically evaluate it to see if there are any useful ideas that could provide the basis for action to accomplish the goal of solving our problem.

This is a time-honored technique. Whenever I use it, I am amazed at how productive and effective it is.

The Great Sculptress

Many years ago there was a wandering pilgrim who came to a remote village where, in the village square, he found a beautiful marble statue of a young woman standing on a pedestal. The statue had been carved many years earlier by a reclusive sculptress who now lived far away and whom none of the villagers had ever seen.

Over the years the villagers had grown so accustomed to the beautiful sculpture that they had come to take it for granted. They hardly ever looked at it as they passed through the square.

The wandering pilgrim fell in love with the beauty and magnificence of the sculpture and decided to settle in the village so he could enjoy it. He spent every minute he could in the village square, admiring the masterpiece.

Months and years went by, and he came to understand and love the sculptress's creation so well that he was able to explain to others how the sculptress had done her work and why her creation was such a masterpiece. Other villagers came to listen to him talk about the grace and beauty and purity and refinement of the masterpiece, and so their own love and appreciation for the sculptress's creation grew.

Over the years, as villagers traveled to other towns and cities, they talked about the beautiful sculpture in their village square, and of the person who so loved and appreciated the masterpiece, and who understood its beauty and magnificence so well that it enhanced their own appreciation of the creation, and of the unseen sculptress who had created it. And from far and wide, people made pilgrimages to the village to see the magnificent creation and listen to this person, this devotee, who loved and appreciated it so much.

And, ultimately, the story of the creation and the devotee who loved and appreciated it, reached the far-distant land where the reclusive sculptress lived... and she decided that she must go and meet this devotee who loved and appreciated her creation far more than anyone else ever had. And so she made the journey, and appeared before her devotee... and he was blessed and fulfilled.