An new sun rises in the interconnected human heart

The interconnecting nature of creativity
One of the most striking features of creativity is that it connects. It brings together two previously unconnected objects, people, thoughts, or ideas in such a way that they form a larger whole. The product of the creative process is thus a new whole formed by connecting the building blocks available at the outset of the process. The objects, people, thoughts, or ideas present at the start are still present in the newly formed whole, but they have become interconnected by entering into a new relationship with each other. This means that creativity is progressive in nature - it builds up on what has happened before. A new whole can only be constructed from parts that are already available.
   
    If creativity interconnects building blocks that are already present, is there anything really new in the creative event? The novelty must lie in the nature of the newly formed interaction. If this is significantly different from previous interactions, then it is new. But this raises another issue - an infinite number of potentially new connections are possible at any time, but only a handful of these are both new and relevant. Relevance is defined here as a new connection that generates a larger whole which is free from internal contradiction. Freedom from internal contradiction is essential if the newly formed whole is to remain stable without falling apart. It is also essential if the newly formed whole is to become available as a building block for the next level of creativity.
   
    Freedom from internal contradiction is the absence of antagonism between parts of a whole that would contradict their creative union. This is the absence of a negative quality, but it can be taken further to make it a positive quality: a creative event is defined by the arising of synergy in the newly created whole. Synergy is an interaction between the parts in a whole that mutually enhances both the whole and the parts, and thereby changes the parts in a positive manner. The novelty of a truly creative event therefore lies not only in the novelty of the new interaction, but also in the way that the building blocks are changed by this new interaction.
   
    If there is strong synergy in a newly formed whole, the parts gain greater freedom from internal contradiction than they had before their creative union. This is paradoxical, since the parts give up some independence as separate wholes in order to become parts, while at the same time gaining freedom from internal contradiction by becoming parts. This is because the increased synergy present in a newly formed whole depends on the wholeness of the parts. Only parts that are themselves stable wholes can contribute to a larger whole by creative union with other parts. Thus the greater synergy present in a larger whole acts as an attractor for the wholeness of its parts, and it reinforces their wholeness by consistently demanding the wholeness of the parts for its existence.
   
    An important aspect of any creative process is therefore a critical appraisal, or ‘quality check’, of the level of internal contradiction versus internal synergy arising in a newly created whole. For a new whole to be stable, the level of internal synergy must always exceed the level of internal contradiction, and any whole that does not meet this standard will fall apart again into its parts. Creativity thus depends not only on the generation of relevant new connections, but also on the destruction of old connections that do not meet this criterion.

Guidance of creativity both by the relative and the absolute context
Since any creative event depends on the building blocks available to it, the nature of the building blocks determines the starting point of the creative process. This can be viewed as the guidance of creativity by the relative context in which it arises. If we consider the evolution of the cosmos, this is illustrated by the example of atoms joining together to form molecules. At this moment of cosmic evolution, the most complex and highly developed building blocks available are atoms, and so the only truly creative event possible at this point is the formation of chemical and physical bonds between atoms to generate larger wholes called molecules. Therefore, at any given point in the evolutionary process only one truly creative event is possible, and this event is defined by the nature of the most highly developed building blocks available at that moment.
   
    If the relative context determines the starting point of the creative process, what determines its outcome? We have seen that the creative process generates new connections between building blocks giving rise to a larger whole, and that relevant new connections are selected on the basis of whether they generate a whole that has a higher level of internal synergy than it has internal contradiction.
   
    While any whole can be shown to have a greater or lesser degree of freedom from internal contradiction in the relative dimension, this is not the case in the Absolute dimension. In the Absolute, there is only One whole, which by definition cannot be broken down into parts, and the Absolute is therefore completely free from internal contradiction. Since the creative process is an attempt to generate a new whole that is free from internal contradiction, the creative union is an attempt to generate a new whole resembling the Absolute by virtue of this property. The outcome of creativity is thus guided by the Absolute, which acts as an attractor for the creative process.

Human creativity adds reflective consciousness to the creative process
Given that creativity is a universal feature of the cosmos and of its evolutionary unfolding, is it always the same creativity? In other words, is there only one creative process? I argue that this is indeed the case: the fundamental features of creativity are identical, no matter whether atoms are joined into molecules, genes are recombined to form new organisms, or thoughts are joined to form new ideas. Human creativity is therefore fundamentally similar to any other creativity in the cosmos. But there is nevertheless a feature of human beings that distinguishes them from almost all other wholes in the cosmos: the presence of self-reflective consciousness. Creativity in human beings is therefore cosmic creativity with self-reflective consciousness added to it.
   
    Self-reflective awareness of the creative process has two different aspects. One of these is the awareness of the creative process as it happens in the cosmos and in other human beings, while the second is the subjective awareness of creativity as it happens in oneself. Both of these are important for human creativity, and the second is critical for the highest level of intersubjective creativity, as I will argue below.
   
    While human creativity is fundamentally similar to any other creative event in the universe, the addition of self-reflective consciousness does have a significant effect on the creative process. This is because reflective consciousness can be used to guide the creative process by coupling it to the decision-making faculty of human beings. One consequence of this is that the creative process in human culture is much faster than creativity in physical and biological evolution, which lack this level of guidance.
   
    Human reflective consciousness can be used to harness the guidance of creativity by both the relative context and the Absolute context. The guidance by the relative context is harnessed by analyzing the nature of the building blocks available at the start of the creative process, based on the understanding that any truly creative event results in a novel combination of the most highly developed building blocks. Harnessing the guidance of the Absolute context is more subtle, and depends on the faculty of intuition, which I argue is our ability to connect to the Absolute dimension. Since the creative process always aims to generate a new whole that resembles the Absolute by virtue of being free from internal contradiction, the ability to connect to the Absolute allows us to know something about the goal of the creative process. This connection to the Absolute is the subjective feeling state of being free from internal contradiction, and in the intuitive breakthrough of the human creative process, intuition is applied to the generation of a new whole that also has the property of freedom from internal contradiction.

Human creativity is the current leading edge of cosmic evolution
If only one really creative event is possible at any one point during the evolutionary process, what does that event look like at this moment in time? To answer this question, we must identify the most highly developed building blocks available right now. Clearly, these building blocks are human beings in one shape or another – the most highly evolved life form known to us, at least in this part of the cosmos. But there is a great deal of diversity among human beings - both cultural and developmental differences. Furthermore, we have seen that only parts with a high degree of wholeness are suitable as building blocks for a larger whole.
   
    To identify the most highly evolved building blocks currently available to evolution, we must therefore characterize the highest levels of human development, and define what wholeness, or freedom from internal contradiction, looks like at these levels. Secondly, we must characterize the interactions taking place, or potentially taking place, among building blocks at these levels, thereby leading to their creative union into a larger whole.

    Since the fundamental feature distinguishing human beings from other wholes in the cosmos is the presence of self-reflective consciousness, I propose that perfection of the human form lies in the perfection of this feature. I have already argued that at the highest levels, one aspect of this self-reflective consciousness is the reflective awareness of the creative process, as it happens in the world at large and in oneself. But another aspect of self-reflective consciousness in humans is the reflective awareness of wholeness. This is the subjective feeling state of being free from internal contradiction, and in its highest form this is identical with the eastern notion of spiritual enlightenment. It is the recognition that there is only One without a second, and the realization of being that One without a second. It is the union with the Absolute in human consciousness.
   
    I therefore argue that the highest levels of human development are those at which individuals have achieved the greatest degree of self-reflective awareness of both the creative process, as well as self-reflective awareness of wholeness. Since reflective awareness of wholeness is only possible when one is in a state of wholeness, this depends on freedom from internal contradiction, which is simultaneously the qualification of the individual to become part of a larger whole.
   
    In other words, human beings must be free from significant internal contradictions, and also deeply aligned with the creative process, in order to engage in creativity at the highest levels. A large part of human development is therefore simply the process of becoming aware of the creative process, as well as reaching an inner level of wholeness making one available to participate in it.

The human heart as the new center of creativity
I have suggested that the most highly evolved building blocks available at this point in evolution are human beings with reflective awareness of both the creative process and of wholeness. To become available as building blocks for the creative process, these individuals must in addition make the conscious decision to participate. What does this participation look like, and what are the interactions that join building blocks at this level of creativity into a larger whole?
   
    One might argue that the creative process at this level joins thoughts and ideas, and not human individuals. This is part of the truth, but I propose that at this level of creativity, much more than simply ideas are joined together. The reason for this again lies in the fact that the defining feature of human beings is self-reflective consciousness, and that the availability of human individuals for the creative process depends on the presence of this reflective consciousness. Since self-reflective consciousness is the essence of the most highly evolved building blocks currently available, this essence must be incorporated into their creative union. In other words, the creative process at this level joins together self-reflective consciousness present in human beings. The result of this process is the emergence of intersubjective self-reflective consciousness through the creative union of individuals with self-reflective consciousness.
   
    What are the defining features of this newly created intersubjective reflective consciousness? Since it is a property of the larger whole formed by this creative union, it must be greater than the reflective consciousness present in its parts. However, we have also seen that the increased freedom from contradiction present in a larger whole enhances the freedom from contradiction present in its parts. In other words, the increased wholeness, and increased reflective consciousness of wholeness, present in the intersubjective dimension of the newly formed whole leads to greater wholeness, and greater reflective consciousness of wholeness, in its parts. This is experienced by the individual as becoming more whole due to creative union with other individuals. It is the feeling of attaining greater freedom from internal contradiction as a result of this union.
   
    What are the interactions leading to creative union of human beings at this level? Since that which is joined together at the highest level of creativity is self-reflective consciousness, I argue that creative union at this level must include at least some degree of awareness of the self-reflective consciousness being joined. This added level of reflection separates the subject slightly from the object of reflection, which in this case is self-reflective consciousness itself, and thereby makes this consciousness available as a building block for creative union. Furthermore, this added level of reflection must be intersubjective - it must be shared between the individuals participating in the creative union. In other words, self-reflective consciousness must be consciously present in the creative exchange at this level of creativity.
   
    How is this creative union different from one in which ideas are exchanged to create new concepts? If only ideas are exchanged, without the presence of reflective consciousness of wholeness and reflective consciousness of the creative process, then the resulting concepts do not incorporate the deepest essence of humanity. This essence must be present in addition to the concepts, and it must be consciously present in the individuals at the time of union, in order to generate the deepest level of human creativity.
   
    The essence of humanity has often been equated with its soul, but this essence can also be seen as its center, or the core of humanity. It is the heart, which balances and integrates all other parts of a human individual to generate a whole being, and it is this center which is joined to other centers like it in the deepest intersubjective creativity. The center can also be viewed as the seat of the self, or that which is more like the self than any particular aspect of a human individual. The self is closest to the subject, and is therefore usually hidden from its full reflective awareness. But at the highest level of human creativity the self is joined to other selves in intersubjective creative union, and it is thereby revealed in this union. As the self becomes accessible to the reflective awareness of the individual subject in the creative union, participation in this process is perhaps the most powerful way to reflect on one’s self. Deep intersubjective creativity thus has the potential to reveal who we really are.

Intersubjective creativity is both the ground and the goal of human evolution
At the highest level of creativity, self-reflective consciousness present in human individuals is joined together to generate intersubjective self-reflective consciousness. But I have argued that this is only possible if the creative union includes at least some degree of self-reflective awareness of the creative process shared between the participating individuals already at the outset. Paradoxically, therefore, intersubjective creativity is both the starting point and the end product of the creative process at this level. In that case, is anything really changed as a result of this creative union? I propose that the creative union leads to the formation of greater self-reflective consciousness. More self-reflective consciousness is present after the creative union than before it, and thus the novelty of a truly creative event at this level lies in the degree to which self-reflective consciousness is generated.
   
    Since self-reflective consciousness is the defining feature of human beings, I have argued that perfection of the human form lies in the perfection of this feature. Here, I further propose that perfection of the human form can only be achieved through intersubjective creativity, since this is the most powerful process whereby self-reflective consciousness is generated. Once again, this is paradoxical - a high degree of self-reflective consciousness is a necessary precondition for individuals to participate in this process, and yet the goal of the creative process is to generate more self-reflective consciousness, both in the whole and in its parts. Since intersubjective creativity at this level depends on the presence of self-reflective consciousness, this consciousness is both the ground and the goal of this process.
   
    If greater self-reflective consciousness is the product of intersubjective creativity, then what does this product look like? As consciousness is not an object, however, we cannot look at it from the outside. Indeed, self-reflective consciousness is so close to the subject that a better question would be: what does this consciousness feel like? Consciousness is highly elusive and escapes all grasping by the mind. Self-reflective consciousness, which is consciousness reflecting on consciousness, or the awareness of awareness, is even more subtle in nature. And since it is closer to the subject than anything else, it can only be understood from inside the subject, by direct participation in the process that generates it.
   
    Perhaps one of the best metaphors for consciousness is light - the awareness of something is like shining an inner light on to it. And hence self-reflective consciousness is the shining of light on to light, which thereby amplifies the intensity of that light. Direct participation in a process generating greater self-reflective consciousness thus feels like experiencing the birth of light from the inside. It is the feeling experience of a sun rising within oneself, inside one’s deepest interior.  And since this consciousness can only be born through intersubjective creative union of the human heart, its birth is the rise of a new sun in the interconnected human heart.