心经内有几句名言“心无挂碍；无挂碍故，无有恐怖，远离颠倒梦想，究竟涅槃”。
单从“心无挂碍”已是人生中一件很不简单的心法。这心法是需要透过精进地修炼才可获得。小修炼即获得“小自在”，大修炼才能获得“大自在”！
一般人的思想是向往物质上的快乐。快乐的追求也有不同层面。无论如何，精神上的满足是远超过物质层面所获得的快乐。最终如能掌握智慧，人才能赐得“自在”的精神恩典！
为何创意与心经内的这句名言“心无挂碍”有关呢？“心”以身俱来与个人的思想、感情、觉受都有连接的关系。任何一种的出现都将会成为内心世界中的记忆。重复及累积就可能成为一种执着与习惯性的思维及行为。
创意是有必要从以上的“执着”框架跳跃出来才有可能发现“新的天地”！
持续以正念的方法来教育及引导孩子学习如何抛开“执着”的习惯性思维，而且方法是需要千变万化但必要有次第性的引导方式潜移默化中熏陶一个孩子的内在品德，将来才有机会成为一位有自信、创意、灵活但又可谦虚与自在处事的人！！！
有一天，我刚巧要将一堆“废纸”倒进垃圾桶，当下灵机一动，我自问为何不把这些“废纸”当成教材！？于是在某一个课堂便把这些“废纸”分派给所有的学生。
当我介绍新的一堂课是让大家共同创造一种特别的“大树”后，有几位学生很自然的反应是：
是绘画吗？哪一种？出外写生或想象？
是手工制作的？
是再生材料吗？
是拼贴？
是彩色？
其中有一位学生就好奇地问：“为何把我们要丢弃的废纸再派回给我们？”
我反问大家：“你们认为这些纸还能再使用吗？”
大家都纷纷争论并表达不同的意见：
a) 如果是要创造一棵大树，与这些凌乱的斑点有什么关系？
b) 而且需要各种各样的颜色？
c) 允许我们在纸上再添加色彩吗？
d) 可以让我们大改特改吗？
e) 我们的大树也可以是多姿多彩吗？
大家你一句我一句，就把一件本来被遗弃的东西转换成有价值的创作品。
引导孩子如何转念，互相沟通讨论，又如何重新评估一样物件或事务，从负面转换成正面的想法....这种种的引导就是教育及陶冶他们的情商。
也正是带领他们从被框着的思维走出更大的空间去探索无限的可能性！当一个人不执于过去的想法，他便有机会跳跃并前进而找出新的方向！
请参考以下的几张“废纸”，然后再观察他们组内共同讨论而创造的“彩虹图书馆”，也就是大树！
In the Heart Sutra, there are a few famous lines: "The mind is free from all attachments; without attachments, there is no fear, and one is free from negative dreams, and in the end, there is nirvana."
Simply to have an unobstructed mind is one of the most difficult dharmas in life. This mindfulness can only be attained through intensive cultivation. A small amount of cultivation is to obtain "small self-containment," and a large amount of cultivation is to obtain "great self-containment”!
The general human mind aspires to material pleasures. The pursuit of pleasure also has different dimensions. In any case, spiritual fulfilment is far more important than material happiness. Ultimately, it is the mastery of wisdom that bestows the spiritual grace of "freedom"!
Why is creativity related to the famous phrase "The mind is free from all attachments" in the Heart Sutra? The "heart" is inherently connected to one's thoughts, feelings, and sensations. The appearance of any of these will become a memory in the inner world. Over time, it can become an “obsession” and habitual thinking and behaviour.
It is necessary for creativity to free itself from the above "obsessive" framework in order to discover "new horizons"!
Continuing to educate and to guide children to learn how to leave behind the habitual thinking of "persistence" by means of positive thinking. The methods used need to be ever-changing, and it is necessary to have a sequential approach in grooming child's inner virtues. This gives the child a chance to become a confident, creative, and flexible person, yet modest and comfortable managing through life.
One day, I happened to be about to empty a pile of "scrap paper" into the garbage can, and I was struck by an idea, and I asked myself why I didn't use this "scrap paper" as a teaching material!
I assigned the "scrap paper" to all of my students in one of my classes. I introduced to my students that it is an opportunity to co-create a special "tree" with the “scrap paper”, several students naturally responded:
Is it a painting? What kind? Outside sketching or imagining?
Is it handmade?
Is it recycled material?
Is it a collage?
Is it coloured?
One of the students then asked curiously, "Why did you provide us with the waste paper that we are going to throw away?"
I asked the group rhetorically, "Do you think these papers can be used again?"
Everyone debated and expressed different opinions:
If the idea is to create a large tree, what does that have to do with these messy spots?
Do we need a variety of colours is needed?
Will we be allowed to add more colours to the paper?
Can we make big changes?
an our tree be colourful?
Through the exchanging of ideas and questions, the abandoned material was transformed into a valuable piece of creative work.
Guidance from us is to educate and nurture their emotional intelligence. This includes guiding children on how to change their perspectives, changing from negative to positive thinking; communicate and discuss with each other; guide them to re-evaluate an object or matter.
Our goal is to take them out of their boxed-in mindset, for them to explore the infinite possibilities in life! When a person does not cling onto the past, they can jump and move forward and find new directions!
Please refer to the following sheets of "scrap paper" and then look at the "rainbow library", or tree, that they created from the group discussions!
