In this excerpt from my recent talk to Austin IONS, I explain how the tendency to equate creativity with thinking processes has held back our society's understanding of creativity as well as the ability to tap into the creative experience. If we listen carefully to what creative individuals have to say about their own experiences, we can begin to see clues of an entirely new way of comprehending human creativity.

This video covers a lot of ground in four minutes. Please see for yourself:

Business leaders are beginning to acknowledge that: a) creativity is the most important leadership skill for navigating the challenges of this new millennium; and b) most corporations and other institutions are under-prepared to meet these creative challenges. In this two-minute video, I explain why this situation exists and begin to discuss what can be done about it.

In commemoration of the upcoming Passover and Easter holidays, a gratitude chant seems fitting. Here are the words:

I just want to thank you; gratitude fills my heart (2x)
For all the blessings and abundance you bestow (2x)
I want to thank you.

Happy Passover, Happy Easter!

Today is a very special day for me. My home for the past 15 years, the Temple of Sound, just went on the market. This is a happy occasion because I get to live with my wonderful and beloved bride, Maria. At the same time, I know that I am parting with a uniquely sacred space.

​In December 2007, Global Chant hosted the Maitreya Project Heart Shrine Relic tour  (which has now ended) in Tucson. For four extraordinary nights, my home housed the relics of the Buddha and other Buddhist masters. These pearl-like crystals, called ringsel or Śarīra , are often found in the cremation ashes of enlightened beings. Each night, while a relic custodian guarded them with his life, the sacred relics sat on my bedroom altar, seen here:

That is when my home was transformed into the Temple of Sound. In the past 12 years, I have had every imaginable blessing come my way in this space, including an explosion of creative inspiration. I wrote all four of my books here: The Chanter's Guide, The Way of Play, Repose: The Potent Pause, and most recently Deep Creativity. I also recorded hundreds of chant videos, most recently my weekly Five-Minute Chant series:

And based on some calculations, I estimate that I have spent approximately 2500 hours chanting here. You can see why this is not just a home; it is undoubtedly the Temple of Sound. To find out more about this remarkable space, please check out the listings on Craigslist or Zillow (link will be posted here shortly).

Even though it is the basis of some of the most profound creative breakthroughs in human history, the experience of inspiration continues to receive relatively little attention from the research community.

Having spent 30 years studying this important yet elusive topic, I offer the only known model of what creative inspiration is and how it works. Here I summarize the defining features of the experience in less than three minutes: