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.On the off chance, I asked if he knew SuzanneMalcolm, but he didn't.An hour later he found himself at a cocktail partywhen the person next to him got a call on his cellular phone.He put it tohis ear and said, "Suzanne?"My publisher friend gave in to a sudden impulse."Could that possibly beSuzanne Malcolm you're talking to?" he asked.Astonishingly, it was.Myfriend took down her telephone number and also asked her to call me.Bythis time—we are still on the same day—I had flown to Los Angeles for ascheduled lecture.I was early, however, so I pulled my rental car over tothe curb; I had no idea exactly where I was.Checking my messages on thecell phone, I found one from Suzanne Malcolm.This was good news, and Idialed the number she had left me."Hello?" a woman's voice answered."Suzanne," I said, introducing myself, "I was wondering whether you couldfly over from Dublin.I think I have an art assignment for you.""Well, actually, I'm not in Ireland at the moment.I'm in Los Angeles.""Really? Where are you staying?" I asked."I'm not sure," she replied."Oh yes, it's 3312 Dominic." I looked outsidethe car window and felt a shudder pass through me—I was parked directly infront of her house.How unwittingly we fall into God's reach.This example clearly goes beyondintuition, because no one involved in the story had any.It amounts tomore than synchronicity, since this wasn't just a chance encounter thatturned out to be significant.What can we call it when a string of eventsbegins with a faint intention, only to be orchestrated across twocontinents, several time zones, and the random lives of four people?The answer is creativity.The mind field, being beyond time and space, canmanipulate them for its own use.Usually its workings are not exposed toview.We don't observe how the wheels of fate turn—until stage five, thatis.Now the time has come when fate no longer has to be hidden from view.This happens when a person gives up all notions of accident, coincidence,and random events, and instead claims responsibility for each and everyincident, however trivial.Events no longer happen "out there" but areguided by one's own intentions.Stage five joins the individual to God ina partnership as co-creators.When you are ready to form this alliance,the God you meet has these qualities:Unlimited creative potentialControl over space and timeAbundantOpenGenerousWilling to be knownInspiredThis is the most intimate God we have projected so far, because of aquality that is the key to stage five: openness.God the Creator iswilling to share his power with his creation.His abundance and generosityfollow from his openness.The Creator is much vaster than any previousGod, and our minds have to grasp just what it means to have all of timeand space at our disposal.When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, it immediately created a senseof shame in them.This first moment of self-consciousness caused them tohide from God, and to some extent we have been hiding ever since.In otherwords, the conviction of sin has deprived us of our own creativity, whichcould parallel if not equal God's.Getting back to the source has been aconstant theme ever since the first stage.In stage five, at long last,there is no trace of original sin, no imperfection to atone for.To return to my first example, the fact that I found my illustratordoesn't mean that I arrived at stage five.The crucial question is overthe role I played.If I see myself outside the process, then I am not aco-creator.Lazarus, after being raised from the dead, was incrediblyastonished, but he didn't raise anyone himself, nor did he claim to be hisown miracle worker.To be in alliance with God, you must uphold your sideof the partnership, which involves some very specific beliefs:You have to see yourself at the center of the creative process.You have to accept responsibility for all outcomes.You have to recognize that all thoughts have consequences, even the mostminor.You have to identify with a larger self than the one living here and nowin this limited physical body.Many people on the spiritual path willingly accept one or more of thesebeliefs, but the deciding factor is whether you live them out.Oneprerequisite is years of meditation, contemplation, or prayer; another isdoing a great deal of inner work to remove self-doubt and beliefs aboutone's imperfection.Above all, this is a stage of power, and that impliesgetting straight about whether you deserve to wield it.People in stagefive are usually inward and private, but they all know that theirintentions count.Things happen because they want them to, no matterwhether the results feel good or bad and irrespective of whether or notthey bring any obvious benefit.Behind their screen of privacy, thesepeople are not necessarily grand, rich, or famous.They are overjoyed,however, by knowing that God is sharing his creative genius with them.Brain research sheds little light on what mechanism is involved here.Itis surmised that when people are in a creative state, the cerebral cortexfirst establishes restful awareness.Creativity exhibits the alpha rhythmsof relaxation; subjectively the person feels open and receptive.Unlikeother periods of relaxation, this state is on the lookout for something—astroke of inspiration—and when it occurs a spike of activity is registeredby the mind as a moment of "Eureka!" Famous artists and inventors alltestify to this experience, and in their work it can have profoundimplications.A eureka isn't ordinary thinking.Truly creative people tendto introduce a question into their minds and then wait for the solution toarrive—hence the necessity of going into a relaxed mode.What is the brain doing for those hours or days before the creativesolution appears? We have no idea.While incubating a great theoreticalbreakthrough, Einstein's brain exhibits the same mundane activity asanyone else's.Yet it is undeniable that the mind is doing something highly unusual,particularly if we extend creativity beyond what an Einstein orMichelangelo does
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