The Essential Guide to Creative Action

My Personal Transformation

The Starting-point of personal development,
since a person is an agent,
is the development of the ability to act.
-- John Macmurray

Welcome on the other side of life, the side of creative thinking, feeling and acting. You are here not by any chance or editorial trick of mine, because first of all there are no chances in this reality and secondly, this is not some kind of a squeeze page or any other tricky list building scenario. You are here, simply because you were born with this inherent desire to live a purposeful, meaningful and joyous life. And so, it is not something you may or may not enjoy depending on circumstances, but this is your birthright, your way to be on this plane and actualize your human potential. You are here to reveal to the World who you really are, what’s your unique characteristics as a separate and therefore united with the Whole entity.

The concept of your uniqueness is on almost everybody’s mouth, it is a common truth these days, and for too many in the Internet land, it is a trendy concept to play around with. For me if you want to know, it is at least a very sneaky idea. When you stick to it in the beginning of your journey, you will fall into a dirty ditch as surely as most before you did and many after you will probably do. It is true however that the differentiation of the life forms adds to the riches of this World, separateness and uniqueness are the characteristics that make our life so abundant in variety of entertaining each other entities, species, genders and breeds.

But before separation was the Oneness is. Before I met you I had known you as you are not even known to yourself. And as the concept of oneness is finally emerging into the consciousness of social masses, it is also true that most people are shifting totally and forgetfully into the other border. I am even inclined here to state that we have developed and nurtured a some kind of collective borderline personality, that makes us constantly and notoriously shifting from one side to the other and never achieving even a slightest state of balance in our life. And to be totally honest with you on this point, balance is also a very tricky concept. Enough to warn you here that even the balance is not our desired state of existence. Or maybe not enough?

Many nowadays, speak about balanced lifestyle, balanced diet, balanced account sheet etc., but balance is a dead state of being and can only be truly achieved by your body when it is already done and you are already gone. That’s why your close will rightly engrave neatly balanced wish or prayer on your marbled grave. Rest in Peace they sigh envying you and taking pity on themselves at the same time. And contrary to a common belief you are not going to fulfill this wish, you are not going to hear this particular prayer, because you will be in the most unbalanced and unpredictable process ever. The transformation will finally realize itself in the twinkle of an eye, instantly and with unimaginable ease.

Are you going to wait till that day only to see you could have done it now, when the Way has come to you? I trust you are not, and in order to make you trust me too, I am going to share my personal story with you. This is a story of an instant and painless transformation that happened to me because I was determined enough to hear the answers to my prayer. As the man grows… the Essence begins to emerge from within and enlightens the way.

This sudden realization happened in my life a bit over a decade ago during my studies of theology and spirituality in Ireland. And believe me or not I was doing this studies by “mistake” in an enrollment process, because my Alma Mater, where I had been studying philosophy, registered me for the wrong faculty. To make the story short, I ended up with a choice to make, I could take the offer or go back home, simple as that, but…

To get the picture of my internal struggle, you must know I hated theology at that time and it would had been my last choice if any. However, after talking with some wise people, I ended up facing the Dean of Theological Faculty who not only understood my dilemma but explained me as gently as only possible that all the places in the Philosophical Faculty are already taken and there is no way I could be enrolled since it was an Official Exchange Program sponsored by third party. Nevertheless, I did not left his office disappointed and frustrated. He offered me a proposal that was just next to the most desired one. I got a permission to study theology and spirituality from a philosophical angel. He announced it to all my lecturers and I was allowed to be skeptical, critical and even a complete renegade. So you may imagine how happy I was and how much power this simple solution had given me, and guess what, my teachers lived up to the challenge, in some cases it was really very demanding on them, cause I did not only asked difficult question, wrote unorthodox essays, but also challenge them to give me instant answers. I remember one incident when (with the permission of the other students) the professor had jumped some 3 hundred years to the modern times to give me the answers I demanded. In order to do that we had to study a whole new system of thought, which took us some few weeks to accomplish. I got my answers and my class mates were not dissatisfied too.

I am telling you this story not to fill up the pages, but to encourage you to follow my example, to ask questions, even the most difficult ones and demand the answers, instant and in depths. So, if your teachers, coaches or mentors are not able to stand up to your demands, simply walk away from them, do not waist your precious time on them, find the ones that will be the right fit for you. I encourage you to challenge me any way it fills good for you and to enable you to do so I have created a special study network, totally dedicated to the subject of our course. Please visit the network right now, sign up or sign in if you are already a member of any Ning Site and get to your core issues instantly.

Click www.creativeactionguide.ning.com and familiarize yourself with the site, create your profile and set on your intention for the course, then describe your challenge on your page. After you do that, come back to the book to continue your journey with me.
Enrolment incident described above, was not in itself the breakthrough I intended to talked about here. It was however a gate opening event, which enabled me to pursue my desire to learn and grow. At that moment of time, I was already an advanced student of life, having behind my back nearly ten years of regular studies of philosophy, psychology, pedagogy and spirituality. And it would not be true to say that I had not gained anything from these studies. I was already metaphysically oriented and trained thinker who developed, over all those years, a systematic approach not only to constant learning, but most importantly to self-growth process. My system evolved from disappointment with all known psychotherapies I had to go through during my studies and the insights of genius mind named Victor Frankel. The Philosophy of Meaning reinstalled me on the track to the Essence so I called my system accordingly but distinctly to differentiate my approach.

Meta-therapy, a system which I developed, was initially building on the Metaphysics of Love and Being, created and taught by my professor, psychotherapist and personal mentor Antoni Jarnuszkiewicz SJ. He in turn created it on the works of Emmanuel Levinas, a French twentieth century metaphysician and mystical writer. But this mystical angel in particular, was something that have been putting me away from Levinas and in some degree from Metaphysics of Love and Being. I was looking for much more practical and earthy approach and could not find it for years although I had gone over almost every thinker I could put my hands on at the library. And even at Milltown Institute’s Library, a huge and really well equipped with the treasure of thought, I could not find what I was looking for.

The breakthrough came when I was drown to a title in the bookshop; it was Persons in Relation written by John Macmurray, totally unknown to me at that time, even by name. I started to browse through the book, read single sentences, statements and paragraphs and as I was doing so the intuitive conviction began to rise. I started to feel, deep within my body, this strange rising sensation that warms you up and makes your heart to pump faster and faster. It was it, at least it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for so many years. And guess what, did I buy the book right away? What would you do if that happened to be you?

Sincerely, I do not remember if I bought the book that day, but even now, after so many years I still see myself with utmost clarity asking one of my trusted professors about John Macmurray and the answer he gave me: this is a philosopher, whose works are worth spending a few years of your life to pounder and study thoroughly. And I do not have to tell you what happened next, right? I bought all the three books of Macmurray, accessible at that time, and a bit later, contacted the best known expert in the field, Jack Costello SJ, for my farther studies of Macmurray’s works. Thanks to Jack, I did not only acquired all his published books, which amount to 15 volumes, but also dozens of his articles, occasional openings and other public speeches and even private letters to his friends and family members. But if I had to choose one particular piece that have changed my life instantly, I would definitely point to Persons in Relation. And even more precisely, the book’s very title was so mind opening to me that I am now convinced it was the breakthrough moment which have changed my life forever on…

With this instant insight into the essence of being, a new consciousness have began to emerged, consciousness of oneness revealing itself in time and space through the differentiation process. Persons in relation, multitude within the one, the one within the multitude. To grasp this concept mentally is one thing, but to implement it wholeheartedly in your life, is a quite another issue. An instant shift in consciousness, the Enlightenment, must be followed up by a constant, systematic process of changes within the whole structure of being.

Understood as it is, be aware that the first without the second is not the first and the second without the first is not the second. They are both indispensible and as the first verifies the reality of the second and makes it a simple continuity that happens with a natural flow, so the second verifies the reality of the first and assures you that you were not misled by some fallacy of a hyped infatuation. As above so below. The reality of your enlightenment is proven by the reality of changes that are a simple and straight forward continuity of the shift that took place in your consciousness. If otherwise, you have just been fooled by the chemistry of your brain. Live up to the facts, not fiction, however fascinating and convincing it may appear to your eyes.

The Essence will never mislead you and you will know It by the reality of changes that will occur in your life. Factual shift in consciousness will definitely produce tangible results in your life that in turn will broaden your awareness of the Essence. This interdependence of the action and the reaction that follows spontaneously and you cannot help it, is the surest criterion of the reality of you experience. As above so below. If you can change your reaction to the action performed to you, the action by this simple fact is proven to be unreal and in its core, reactive in nature.

A real creative action produces its inevitable results that are perceived as some kind of miracles by the spectators watching the agent from the outside. If the results are not miraculous in nature, if they are not real and lasting, you are considered a performer, maybe even a skillful and magical one, but only a performer, an impostor doing trick in front of your audience’s eyes. And you may do well for a while, you may get rich quick and be admired by the masses, but be aware, it is not your audience’s life at stake here, it is not their business after all, it’s yours. It was you who put yourself on stage of life and it will be you who will rip your fruits. The true nature of your Self is not being a performer or impostor of any kind, but it lies in being an agent. The Self is an Agent of Change, the Self is an Essence in Creative Action and that alone makes all the difference, that alone is The Essence of Personal Existence.

You may well ask yourself now: what the heck is he talking about?, what is he driving to? what conclusion is there here for me? And if you did not get it by now, just go to the network site and ask me anything that comes to your mind, ask me your question, challenge me to give you a straight forward answer and see if I can stand up to the challenge… and if you are not fully satisfied with my answers, just do yourself a favor, take up only what your are comfortable with, stay in your comfort zone and find yourself a suitable coach. I am not a perfect fit for everyone, and truly, with no offence, I may well be a perfect fit for only a few, the most determined and committed ones.
But when in doubt, when still hoping to find the answers, please consider that following statement: The Truth unfolds itself progressively in time. If you can grasp just a bit of it, just a fraction of the truth I am revealing here, do not give up, stay tuned and focused to see how miraculously the Reality unfolds itself in front your eyes.

So let me wrap it all up by quoting John Macmurray; All meaningful knowledge is for the sake of action, and all meaningful action is for the sake of friendship. It is simple as that and there is really nothing else you should or must know to know all there is and to live a life that is worth living. These are the principles of knowledge, the rest are the principles of action. So if you want to know how to implement your insights into your life, stay tuned and focused. We are about to put our feet on the Way.