Creative Solutions?

When one is confronted with a problem, there is a tendency to classify it, to find a similar problem in one's memory, either previously experienced or heard about, and to apply the previous problem's solution to the present problem. As soon as this process starts, the perception of the present problem fades and distorts, and the present problem is not solved. If one is presented with a problem that is entirely outside one's previous experience and knowledge then one must apply one's whole attention to it, and make a creative solution. Can one treat every problem as though it were fresh and completely new? Seung Sahn the korean zen master says "Only don't know" and someone else speaks of opening the hand of thought. -- Andrew Macnab