Process and Flow
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Alfred North Whitehead
About The Quality of Life Institute"The Quality of Life Research Center at Claremont Graduate University was founded in 1999. The center is a nonprofit research institute that studies positive psychology — that is, human strengths such as creativity, engagement, intrinsic motivation, and responsibility....In the past, the study of behavior has focused mainly on what goes wrong in human affairs: aggression, mental disease, failure and hopelessness. While it is essential to study and address such pathologies, it is equally important to understand those aspects of human experience that make life worth living. The center conducts research on such issues, and provides a forum for scholars from the U.S. and abroad who wish to extend their studies in positive psychology." (from website of Quality of Life Institute) The Claremont Institute for Process Studies is known for its emphasis on process philosophy and ecological civilization. An ecological civilization consists of communities in rural and urban settings that are creative, compassionate, participatory, all-age-friendly, humane to animals, and good for the earth – with no one left behind. The residents of this civilizations are "constructively postmodern" in their recognition that they are small but included in a larger web of life and that all life has intrinsic value. They seek to live with respect and care for the wider community, humans much included. They have, as it were, a “process” or “open and relational” approach to life. The Quality of Life Research Center at Claremont Graduate University can enrich an understanding of what the quality of life can be for human beings in such a civilization. The philosophy of “flow” developed by its co-founder, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, bears significant similarities to process perspectives, albeit coming from the perspective of positive psychology rather than philosophy. The research done by the Quality of Life Center, and the pioneering work of its founder, offer an opportunity for the process tradition to integrate positive psychology into its imagining of the good society. The purpose of this page is to introduce process-oriented readers to the work of Csikszentmihalyi and the Quality of Life Research Center. (Jay McDaniel) |
About Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi"Csikszentmihalyi is known for his research on the experience of flow, a psychological concept he introduced in his best-selling book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial, 1990). The book has received much praise and attention, being described by the Library Journal as “…an intriguing look at the age-old problem of the pursuit of happiness and how, through conscious effort, we may more easily attain it.” Though published in the early 1990s, Flow has continued to draw attention from both researchers and the general public and has been translated into more than 20 languages. Since then, Csikszentmihalyi has written numerous books and articles on managing flow. In 2004, Csikszentmihalyi delivered a TEDTalk titled “Flow, the Secret to Happiness,” which has more than 3.5 million views." (from website of Quality of Life Institute) 
"The Claremont Institute for Process Studies works to promote a process-relational worldview (e.g. the philosophical tradition of Alfred North Whitehead)—including the principles of interconnection, change, and intrinsic value—for advancing the common good. This will be accomplished through educational outreach, collaboration with like-minded associations and people, and promotion of ideas, understandings, and means of practical implementation." (Claremont Institue for Process Studies) |
Csikszentmihalyi: We are at our best when we Flow
Csikszentmihalyi's research has been focused on ways in which creative artists enjoy moments of flow. In the life of an artist going with the flow takes years of practice, but there emerges a time amid which the results of hard work become spontaneous.
But Csikszentmihalyi is also interested in how the majority of us might find more and more flow in our daily lives. Many of the spiritual traditions of the world, Taoism and Buddhism for example, propose that we, too, must practice. One of the best practices is daily meditation, in which, at least for a moment, we take a sabbath from the busyness of agenda-driven lives and simply breathe.
But Csikszentmihalyi is also interested in how the majority of us might find more and more flow in our daily lives. Many of the spiritual traditions of the world, Taoism and Buddhism for example, propose that we, too, must practice. One of the best practices is daily meditation, in which, at least for a moment, we take a sabbath from the busyness of agenda-driven lives and simply breathe.
Whitehead: Reality is Flowing, Too
Csikszentmihalyi is a pioneer in the study of creativity, and he has spent a professional lifetime exploring the ways that we human beings sometimes fall into moments in which, inwardly, we become the Flow which is reality.
If, as Whitehead says, process is reality; then in the moments of which Csikszentmihalyi speaks, we experience quite directly the meaning of process. We are so absorbed in an activity that our egos drop away and there is simply the activity itself. This activity can be quiet and peaceful or active and productive. We may be listening to music or dancing. Whatever the activity we are in the flow of things of things in a creative way. There is no listener, there is just the listening. There is no dancer, there is just the dancing. Or, to say the same thing: the listener is the listening and the dancer is the dancing.
A distinctive feature of Whitehead's philosophy, paralleling an idea found in Buddhism, is that this is the way things truly are. The subject-predicate mode of expression might seduce us into thinking that we, as subjects of our own lives, are separate from the lives we live, including the experiences we undergo and undertake. But Whitehead and Buddhists suggest that we are not separate from these experiences. The experiencer and the experiencing are identical.
Perhaps Whitehead's philosophy can be a helpful companion to the work of Csikszentmihaly. Perhaps it offers, as it were, a Cosmology of Flow.
If, as Whitehead says, process is reality; then in the moments of which Csikszentmihalyi speaks, we experience quite directly the meaning of process. We are so absorbed in an activity that our egos drop away and there is simply the activity itself. This activity can be quiet and peaceful or active and productive. We may be listening to music or dancing. Whatever the activity we are in the flow of things of things in a creative way. There is no listener, there is just the listening. There is no dancer, there is just the dancing. Or, to say the same thing: the listener is the listening and the dancer is the dancing.
A distinctive feature of Whitehead's philosophy, paralleling an idea found in Buddhism, is that this is the way things truly are. The subject-predicate mode of expression might seduce us into thinking that we, as subjects of our own lives, are separate from the lives we live, including the experiences we undergo and undertake. But Whitehead and Buddhists suggest that we are not separate from these experiences. The experiencer and the experiencing are identical.
Perhaps Whitehead's philosophy can be a helpful companion to the work of Csikszentmihaly. Perhaps it offers, as it were, a Cosmology of Flow.
Whitehead: We Dwell in a Universe of Inter-Flows
Whitehead's cosmology supports Csikszentmihaly's ideas in at least two ways. One is that all entities, including solid forms or matter, are gerunds: that is, nouns which function as verbs. Mountains are mountaining, rivers are rivering, dogs are dogging, people are peopling, and Heaven is heavening. The second is that their boundaries are porous. They flow into one another even as they have their identities. Thus, for Whitehead, beings are actually present in one another even as they are distinct from one another. Whitehead presents, as it were, a universe of inter-happenings.
This does not mean that all is peaceful. Beings may be becomings in their essences; but many of them are solid, too, and sometimes they collide with one another. Witness the violence in our world. There is two much sadness to conflate the ideas "all things flow" with the mistaken idea that "it is good that all things happen as they do." Greed and cruelty, abuse and injustice -- they flow, too. A distinction can be made between bad flow and good flow, tragic flow and beautiful flow, life-nourishing flow and life-destroying flow. Some things flow in deeply sad ways. Indeed, there is a taste of sadness even apart from conflict and violence. The process which is reality includes what Buddhists call anitya or impermanence. At a certain moment beings lose their immediacy and become past events. The drop of water above, like a drop of experience in our own lives, is subject to this perishing. Flow cannot be flow without the transition from present to past.
This does not mean that all is peaceful. Beings may be becomings in their essences; but many of them are solid, too, and sometimes they collide with one another. Witness the violence in our world. There is two much sadness to conflate the ideas "all things flow" with the mistaken idea that "it is good that all things happen as they do." Greed and cruelty, abuse and injustice -- they flow, too. A distinction can be made between bad flow and good flow, tragic flow and beautiful flow, life-nourishing flow and life-destroying flow. Some things flow in deeply sad ways. Indeed, there is a taste of sadness even apart from conflict and violence. The process which is reality includes what Buddhists call anitya or impermanence. At a certain moment beings lose their immediacy and become past events. The drop of water above, like a drop of experience in our own lives, is subject to this perishing. Flow cannot be flow without the transition from present to past.
Whitehead: Heaven is Flowing, Too
To be sure, for some process thinkers there is an exception to this generalization: namely God or Heaven. In Whitehead's philosophy Heaven is the pure Flow in whom all things flow. Whitehead calls it the consequent nature of God. It flows continually without perishing, like the rolling of an infinite wave, including the whole universe, for which no shoreline spells an end.
The heart of heaven is changing at every moment, because perpetually affected by the flows of the universe. Thus Heaven is not un-moved but rather omni-moved. Just as a mother is moved by the suffering of her children, so Heaven is moved by the suffering of living beings. Thus Heaven is like a Buddhist bodhisattva, perpetually adapting to each new situation in hopes of saving all beings.
Of course, for process philosophers, we are called to be bodhisattvas, too: that is, to share in the sufferings of others. We are beckoned to be moved as Heaven is moved. The divine calling within each of us is to go with the flow of Heaven in ways that help make our world more just and beautiful, more satisfying for all. Because we are all connected with one another, there is no private salvation, only the common good which, at best, we can all enjoy. The Chinese put it well when they say that the aim of life is to enjoy four kinds of harmony: harmony within the self, harmony with others, harmony with the earth, and harmony with heaven. The enjoyment of harmony is constructive flow.
The heart of heaven is changing at every moment, because perpetually affected by the flows of the universe. Thus Heaven is not un-moved but rather omni-moved. Just as a mother is moved by the suffering of her children, so Heaven is moved by the suffering of living beings. Thus Heaven is like a Buddhist bodhisattva, perpetually adapting to each new situation in hopes of saving all beings.
Of course, for process philosophers, we are called to be bodhisattvas, too: that is, to share in the sufferings of others. We are beckoned to be moved as Heaven is moved. The divine calling within each of us is to go with the flow of Heaven in ways that help make our world more just and beautiful, more satisfying for all. Because we are all connected with one another, there is no private salvation, only the common good which, at best, we can all enjoy. The Chinese put it well when they say that the aim of life is to enjoy four kinds of harmony: harmony within the self, harmony with others, harmony with the earth, and harmony with heaven. The enjoyment of harmony is constructive flow.
Modernity: We are too Hurried to Flow
Those of us influenced by Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity, or Islam -- may not be competent in such practices. To be sure, our own traditions contain practices which enable us to find the flow of Heaven. But these have remained hidden to many of us, and the problem is intensified by two factors.
One is the fact that many well-intentioned Jews, Christians, and Musloims carry a secret suspicion that practices such as meditation are a waste of time and perhaps even selfish, because they are not overtly focussed on helping make the world a better place. One of the gifts of the Abrahamic religions is an emphasis on helping create a new and more just world in which all people enjoy the benefits of respect and care. But this gift is also a curse, because it has led many well-meaning Jews, Christians, and Muslims to neglect a quieter and more contemplative side of religion: one that is less preoccupied with saving the world and more attentive to the needs of the soul.
A second problem is the rise of western modernity in the west, and its subsequent exportation to the whole of the world, has brought with it a sense of hurriedness, a compulsive busyness, which is incapable of finding meaning in any activity other than problem-solving, wealth-acquisition, and conquest. There is no time to go with the flow. We must always be achieving something later and we can never be home now. There is something deeply inhumane about this over-emphasis on achievement. It is too hurried and greedy, too insensitive to life's need to say yes to the flow of the present moment. It is harmful flow, out of touch with the quieter rhythms of love.
One is the fact that many well-intentioned Jews, Christians, and Musloims carry a secret suspicion that practices such as meditation are a waste of time and perhaps even selfish, because they are not overtly focussed on helping make the world a better place. One of the gifts of the Abrahamic religions is an emphasis on helping create a new and more just world in which all people enjoy the benefits of respect and care. But this gift is also a curse, because it has led many well-meaning Jews, Christians, and Muslims to neglect a quieter and more contemplative side of religion: one that is less preoccupied with saving the world and more attentive to the needs of the soul.
A second problem is the rise of western modernity in the west, and its subsequent exportation to the whole of the world, has brought with it a sense of hurriedness, a compulsive busyness, which is incapable of finding meaning in any activity other than problem-solving, wealth-acquisition, and conquest. There is no time to go with the flow. We must always be achieving something later and we can never be home now. There is something deeply inhumane about this over-emphasis on achievement. It is too hurried and greedy, too insensitive to life's need to say yes to the flow of the present moment. It is harmful flow, out of touch with the quieter rhythms of love.
Let Justice Flow, Too
One of the values of Asian cultural traditions for the West -- and for Asia, too! -- is that they invite a recognition that there is more to life than goal-drivenness. Indeed, there is more to life than ethics and a sense of ethical obligation. Of course, ethics has its place. We humans do indeed need to hear the call of Heaven as it invites us to reduce suffering in the world and add joy: that is, to build communities that are creative, compassionate, participatory, and equitable, with no one left behind. We need to hear the call of Martin Luther King Jr. toward beloved community.
In truth, beloved communities flow, too. They are never fixed in place, settled in their habits, at the expense of being open to new ideas and experiences. They are enriched by novelty and a sense of adventure, but joy as well as struggle. They are creatively resilient.
The purpose of a beloved community is not simply to have people doing things together. It is also to provide them space to be alone and to find their own place in the deeper Flow of the universe. We all need private moments of rest and relaxation, joy and pleasure, letting go and letting be. Heaven dwells within us as a lure to help create a better world, but also as a lure to flow with heaven's Flow in a spirit of inner freedom. If our lives unfold moment by moment as drops of experience, then some of those moments need to be so transparent to the Flow that the Mother's life and our own lives become one life. We need moments in which there is no separation between Heaven and Earth. We need moments of pure dancing. Only as we know these moments can we find the inner freshness to say, with Heaven itself: "Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." (Amos 5:24).
In truth, beloved communities flow, too. They are never fixed in place, settled in their habits, at the expense of being open to new ideas and experiences. They are enriched by novelty and a sense of adventure, but joy as well as struggle. They are creatively resilient.
The purpose of a beloved community is not simply to have people doing things together. It is also to provide them space to be alone and to find their own place in the deeper Flow of the universe. We all need private moments of rest and relaxation, joy and pleasure, letting go and letting be. Heaven dwells within us as a lure to help create a better world, but also as a lure to flow with heaven's Flow in a spirit of inner freedom. If our lives unfold moment by moment as drops of experience, then some of those moments need to be so transparent to the Flow that the Mother's life and our own lives become one life. We need moments in which there is no separation between Heaven and Earth. We need moments of pure dancing. Only as we know these moments can we find the inner freshness to say, with Heaven itself: "Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." (Amos 5:24).