Software programming/Art and Buddhist Practice - Pursuing creative activity

Its a major problem but .I think if you do it unconsciously it comes with the frustration of not working rightaway as well as finding out later that you've been short sighted and hasty .But doing it consciously lets you respect the size of the work and direct your effort wisely .

Unconscious mind works like parallel processing it has a rewarding effect in finding creative solutions through relations between seemingly unrelated information and sometimes if you are attuned you can work so fast thats why you and I get attached to it in the creative process sometimes you don't even know how you solved the problem but if it takes over the mind completely it will be chaotic undirected and your programming will be narrow and shortsighted.

This is where the conscious mind comes in it works like serial processing it takes one piece of information after another sends feedback with instructions to the unconscious like you input values to a calculator then the unconscious produces a solution to it back it works in a loop and the unconscious gets hardwired to doing the operations in the process.So it essentially programs the unconscious.It is slower than the unconscious because its not automated but it is open to new information and acts accordingly.

So in understanding the relationship one should be conscious/mindful about the thoughts received from the unconscious by first giving instruction asking a question .Ex: "what can I do to solve this problem ?" .then watch whatever that arises and know its there its quality and according to that information you ask another question correcting the direction of your work as you go on.

If you became advanced in this then you reach effortless effort where you become aware of the thoughts mentally real-time this is the ultimate mastery.

This is the best I have understood so far hope you find solace in your seeking.

Now let me finish with this quote

In the cognized there is only the cognized lord Buddha

Actually very unsuitable, not only because IT-section and virtue are two different worlds, but because steady focus on reaction, requiring a lot of resources and do not easy give mindfulness on the foundations place. Also the use of the most stuff produced is not really for beneficial objectives but focuses on binding others and so one get"s of cause bound as well.

As less programmers actually really know their job at the base, but take form here and there, all the time, a great punch of debts is always co-created.

Huge and fantastic concentration is required, great if capable in such, yet one should think about ones potential to use it for something that goes toward lasting.

If caught in such a livelihood, one should put much effort, like always, into developing right view, resolve and right virtue (ending with right livelihood).

The IT-ideas are a good sample how unwise people thought of giving others more independence and in effect make all more and more defuse depending on each other. Think on the relative clear dependency of a ordinary painter or brick-layer, someone who had learned a skill by a master, something that IT-world is totally void of and therefore huge physical and mental problems in this area with fast growing tendency.

(Note: Not given for trade, exchange, stacks or other that binds to the world but for liberation and beyond)

Vedana is also a cetasikacetasika (mental concomitant). When the Buddha says, sabbe dhamma vedana samosaranasabbe dhamma vedana samosarana, it means that the experience of all mental concomitants includes and is inseparable from vedana.

Why Vedana and What is Vedana?

Whenever you are doing creative activity it creates sensation or mental stimulations which are pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. In situations like this you have to keep equanimity and knowing the arising and passing nature of the sensations. The following answer has more detail.

This is a good question, because in the modern world, we mostly create benefit by using our minds, and most people cannot simply become immersed in traditional mindfulness practices and retreat situations most of the time. We need to discover the "one mind" in our little minds, while minding what we do, without minding what happens along the way. Mind you, this is a lot to ask.

I was a programmer for 12 years, creating complex things that got used commercially. I am familiar with frustration, and elation. Now I teach programming to adults making a career change, and I tell that that programming is frustrating! But, as my Guru says, "There is no 'problem'. We are the problem." You are frustrated. As you say, there is observation of this fact. With observation and reflection come the possibility of awareness and knowledge. So you are on the right track.

It might seem that using the mind to create mental models and concepts (such as in programming) is somehow more ensnaring than other types of work. Perhaps. But if your observer sits with you and helps you remain connected inwardly, then this gets better. There is no fundamental obstacle to conceptual work being also mindful. Eventually, your observer has done a good enough job and dissolves. Then there is no one to get ensnared, frustrated, or wonder if it is being done correctly. (This is nonduality.)

For your other question, deciding what is best to do, how to balance work, practice, rest, etc: that is more practice. Make a decision, observe what happens, reflect. There is no way out of this, it is how life is. Good luck!

ADDITION: Whew, this is a thicket if I ever saw one. Related questions about Mindfulness and so on swirling like a storm of words... Here is how I experience all of this, if it does not clear it up for you, perhaps your mind simply functions differently than mine.

My consciousness is a collection of points of view. I see the functioning of the mind as a bunch of "bubbles of awareness" of varying sizes, more or less known to me at any given time. In an alpha state, or perhaps a nondual state, it feels as though my entire consciousness is a single, silent point of view, but of course small bubbles are constantly arising below awareness and causing small effects, which might grow and distract me again. One cannot live one's life in an alpha state! My model of multiple points of awareness in the mind has scientific backing, but I came to it from my own experience.

My mind includes 4 past life personalities (which I no longer have a view on whether they are "true" or not, they are relics of earlier in my life). A few years ago, I created about 5 "personality facets", based on my understanding of the Archetypes, in an attempt to develop more areas of my abilities. I have other experiences of "voices" and things going on inside that I will not attempt to categorize. To me, all of this is just the simple functioning of a creative mind. We can model other minds, so it is obvious that we can model and construct personalities in our own minds. This is the basis for part of Transpersonal Psychology. (I found out about that long after I created my facets.) Also, I have one "Accompanying Voice" which I do not see as part of myself at all. I learned what it was once, but the understanding was so powerful that my mind halted and rejected it. (So I can't tell you what it is.) My facets and past lives comment on my life, have emotional reactions (often two or more of them at once), converse with each other, paint, write books and do other things. It is like living in a busy household. This is my normal state. Everyone I have described it to understands and finds me sane, although different from themselves. I call it, being a Creative Person.

I have long thought of my mind as my "experimental laboratory": I get to try things out and see how they work. When we come to questions like "who is watching the watcher" etc, I see these as just silly. Consciousness is "whatever it does" and does not need a definition from us. However, it did not come with an Owner's Manual, so we need to discover how it works as best we can and learn how not to fall in to error. Some ideas are approximations, some are tools, some are crutches, and many are crippling.

Krishnamurti's Master when he was a boy said: "You are not your mind, but it is yours to use." Have fun!

I get frustrated when something doesn't work ... the cause being I am not mindful ... which may lead to emotions.

Frustration is a good example of Dukkha (the painful feeling of wrongness). It is generated from mismatch between "how things are" and "how they should be". If you look carefully once you are already frustrated - you will see this mismatch right in front of your nose. Then it's up to you to let go of "how they should be" idea. If you let go, the dukkha will subside. If you keep grasping, the dukkha will keep getting generated. Sometimes the right choice is to pay with dukkha for something bigger. But most often accepting "how things are" is a wiser choice, even if it goes against our foolish heart.

Also, sometimes work is incomplete, and you do get an urge to work on something but also you could spend the time to do samatha or vipassana.

Same problem. You have a conflict between "is" (work) and "should" (meditation). Let go of this conflict and you will be good. That is the real mediation, the higher kind of meditation.