Genius Stone Blog

We live in a world that is beautiful beyond description, yet most of us only glimpse this beauty occasionally. Why? What if the puzzle of life was that we are surrounded by, and a living part of, what the Taoist called “The Flow of Heaven,” yet we are not conscious of it because we became fascinated with the ability to conceive and create. What if the gift of thought was a blessing and a curse? I believe it is.

A Mixed Blessing

I am using thought right now to communicate with you. The Egyptians tamed the Nile and created great temples and cities that exist today. The beauty we have created from our imaginations and thought is marvelous. Yet a schizophrenic cannot tell the difference between reality and their thoughts. While this is an extreme example, many of us cannot always tell the difference between thoughts and reality. Wars have been fought over thoughts and ideologies.

In fact, any thought, or system of thought is at best an approximation of the reality it is trying to describe. Thoughts about things can never match the complex and beautiful reality of the world all around us, and taking our thoughts too seriously can drive us crazy. So you might ask, what does this have to do with happiness?

We Can Lose Touch With Life

If the world we live in is beautiful beyond description, but our consciousness is only focused on thoughts that describe reality, or worse, is focused on our thoughts about thoughts. Each level of thought takes us level after level away from the living reality of life. As we lose touch with the living reality of life that is all around us, we begin to feel bad. Overtime our mood plummets into depression, anger or other low moods. By our focus on these thoughts, we lessen our connection to life.

Ground Breaking Study

In a ground breaking book, Sanity, Insanity, and Common Sense, a team of psychologists discovered that low moods, or “states of mind,” are conditioned states caused by thoughts that repeat themselves in our minds, and that higher states such as love, gratitude, focus, contentment, and happiness in general, are natural unconditioned states of mind. What they are saying is, all we have to do is let go of repetitive thoughts that form patterns in our mind and we will feel happy naturally.

Happiness Is A Natural State if Mind

This is why babies tend to be naturally happy and curious. They are not worrying about what might happen tomorrow. We worry about tomorrow for them, and take action to keep them safe. The challenge is, how to plan for tomorrow without getting totally captured by our thoughts. This is the key to happiness.

But how? Understanding the use of and dangers of thought, is the key. If you believe that thoughts are real, instead of approximations, then it will be hard to let go of your thoughts. If you understand that thought is used to create, and realize it’s dangers, you will be able to let go of thoughts that are not working for you.

Our moods, both low and high. are feedback from our psyche’s. If we put our hand in a flame, we feel the pain and pull back. This is the bodies feedback system. Likewise a low mood is feedback that our thoughts are repeating themselves in our minds, and drawing us away from “The Life Force” or the “Flow of Heaven,” causing all forms of unhappiness.

Try This

For a week, observe the thoughts that repeat themselves in your mind, and write them down. Also notice your low feelings and see what thoughts might be associated with them. Overtime you will notice patterns that create your low moods. As you do, it will be easier to let go of these thoughts, realizing they are not real and are lowering your state of mind. As you start letting go of these thoughts, notice how you feel. See if you start feeling better.

Join Paul David Walker for Happiness Conversations, April, 13th, from 7pm – 9pm at the Center Club, 650 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA. Your investment will be $75. To register call Paul David Walker at 562.233.7861 or register a www.ethicaledge.org/happiness/

What is the difference between thoughts about thought, and thoughts that describe insight from a spiritual or transcendent experience? … And how do you know the difference?

Sail away from the shores you created for security before they enslave you. Ride the wind out into the ocean of the unknown, and come back and make a report. If you stay on safe shores, you will never discover new worlds. Your old hills and valleys, though familiar and safe will rob you of wonder. Once we become attached to the way it was, our ego’s needs and desires, or anything temporal, we are lost without going to sea. Business leaders who become attached to old business strategies are failing today. People, who are attached to their ideas, the way it was, or any other form of illusion, suffer. They miss the dance of life.

To Create the Future We Must Venture Into The Unknown

Columbus used existing technology-the great sailing ships, which were equivalent to our space shuttles, to explore and discover two continents. No one knew these vast lands existed. When Columbus lost sight of the shore heading for a new trade route to India, he truly entered the unknown. He was willing to let go of the belief that the world was flat and headed out into the unknown with a purpose. The result was enormous wealth and power for Spain, which sponsored him, and a reduction in the power of Italy, which would not. The opportunity of more trade with India lead to the discovery of the New World and it vast riches, but first Columbus and Spain had the courage to explore the unknown.

Not being attached to our beliefs while using them as a platform for discovery of new realities is the key to happiness and business success.

Why Do We Cling To Our Beliefs?

Our beliefs and egos help us navigate through the unknown that surrounds us daily. They give us a foundation and direction, security and a feeling of self. Our ability to use language is the reason we have dominated this planet. We learned to store up supplies for the winter, use fire, and build shelters. But for each new discovery, we had to let go of an existing belief. We had to try something new.

Columbus believed the World was round, so it gave him the courage to leave the shore. Most thought it was flat and stayed home. Knowing when to let go, and leave the old behind is the key.

Discover New Realities or Shrink Back Slowly

The only way to discover new realities in anything is to let go of what you think you “know to be true,” if only for a short time. Even three minutes without the filtering beliefs from our insecurities, could yield insights that could change the way we live. Having written a lot about genius, I have learned that a genius has beliefs and assumptions that govern their life, but they hold them lightly. They use their framework of beliefs like Columbus used the latest technology, as a platform for discovery, instead of identity. Clinging to frameworks of the past in an ever-changing world causes suffering.

Our thoughts are at best approximations of reality, they are useful, but not reality. They point to possibility, but to achieve that possibility we must let go of them and venture in the unknown. Yet we will often fight and die to be right about something we decided. How could a thought or belief possibly describe the experience of deeply living the moment? Thoughts can only point to something beyond their content. They are approximations, and wonderful building blocks for the future, but they get stale and can harm you if you substitute a word or a thought for the experience of swimming in “The Flow of Heaven.” All thoughts and beliefs have been formed in the past, and, therefore, placing importance on them draws our attention from the present, which is the only true reality, and the gate to the future.

When Is It Time To Let Go?

When we watch repeats of our favorite TV Shows, no matter how good the acting, there becomes a point when we become bored. We stop laughing and become restless. It just does not turn us on anymore. Likewise, a belief loses its usefulness. The actions the belief drives loses effectiveness. Our results diminish, and we just are not inspired anymore. If we are bored or unhappy, this is an indicator that our beliefs no longer serve us. We need to let go of them and venture out into the unknown.

Imagine the adrenaline rush when Columbus and his crew realized that they no longer had enough supplies to return to the shore they left behind. They were at the point of no return. They might have been frightened, but not bored!

Then imagine the feeling of landing on an undiscovered shore, the feeling of accomplishment when they returned to Spain. If you are not feeling like this, it is time to let go of some beliefs and venture out into the unknown. Find a mission and do it before you bore yourself to death.

A distinguished group of thought leaders, lead by Deepak Chopra, met at UCLA’s Royce Hall last week to put out the call for higher levels of consciousness. Deepak started by explaining the problems we currently have, followed by others all explaining, in their own ways that increased levels of consciousness is the answer to most of our problems, from the way we deal with the changing environment to our own personal happiness.

Deepak said in a flyer handed out at the event:

“The most important skill that we can develop is to be listening to the collective conversation that is facilitating evolution at the moment, and that has to be a very deep listening – a listening that involves getting all the facts, a listening that involves emotions, a listening that involves incubating at the level of the soul.”

What I hear him saying is – the deeper our consciousness, the more nuanced our understanding of life becomes, and the greater our responsibility for our actions becomes. So deepening what we are conscious of is critical to the long-term success of living on this planet.

Complexity is The Challenge

In an interview with CNBC, Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of The Age of the Unthinkable, explained that the world has reached an existential crisis. He said that the complexities have reached a level that is beyond our ability to solve them. Adding responsibility to “the level of the soul” makes the complexity of leading a business organization even more difficult.

Deep Listening and Business

As a business leader, I am wondering how Deepak Chopra and the “Evolutionary Leaders” can apply their wisdom to business, which is the most powerful force on the planet today.

As CEO and Founder of Genius Stone, I have found that the first step in solving any business problem is a deep understanding of present reality, which is consistent with Deepak’s advise. The problem most often is that leaders cannot always tell the difference between their business realities and their thoughts and beliefs about those realities. With a distorted starting point, their solutions will be less effective, so we work hard to develop a deep level of understanding for the facts, and perhaps emotions, but the soul is completely off the table. Most people don’t even know how to define soul.

In the opportunities for action section, the “Evolutionary Leaders” have defined a simpler role for business:

“Working for Integrity in Commerce: Conscious businesses that are aware of the scope, depth, and long-range impacts of their actions are key to achieving sustainability. Business must become an ethical steward of the Earth’s ecology and consciously establish an economic basis for a future of equitably shared abundance.”

This sounds good, but now in addition to the soul, business leaders have to “establish an economic basis for a future of equitably shared abundance.” WOW! Now it is getting real complex. Who has the level of consciousness to manage all these responsibilities? The Evolutionary Leaders are asking a lot.

Collaboration is Key

Many of the Evolutionary Leaders talked about the importance of conscious collaboration. Given the increasing levels of complexity in business and global politics, which often interfere with business, collaboration skills are essential. I work with leaders and their teams to collaborate, however the need for speed in decision making often interferes. The needs and wants of markets often change faster than the pace of decision making, and collaboration often turns into a committee, which are notorious for creating something that is useless.

While the most successful business leaders are focused on creating new realities that attract customers, most see business as highly competitive environment, which seems the converse of collaboration.

Collaborating With God?

Life can become so complex that some want God to be their guide. The problem here is that many cannot tell the difference between God’s guidance and their egos, and if they could, might find God’s advise in conflict with their board or the stock holders short-term goals. If they answered their board’s complaints by saying, “God told me to do it,” they would certainly lose their job.

I define genius as conscious collaboration with the flow of what Emerson called “the great intelligence.” Is this God? Not in the traditional definition, but if you define God as an intelligence that creates our world moment to moment, then learning to listen to the flow that comes from this intelligence is essential to working with complexity in any aspect of life.

In “The Kaybalion, a study of The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece,” who were at one time very successful societies, Hermes said, “As above, so below; as below, so above.” This suggests that the spiritual rhythms and flows that come to us from the highest levels form patterns that manifest at every level of life. For business the flow of the market place is formed by the needs and wants of people, and when leaders do not listen to this flow, they often make big mistakes.
So perhaps listening “listening that involves incubating at the level of the soul” might make sense, if the soul is, as I believe, our portal to our divinity. If a divine flow creates all life, then it would make sense. If not, this would be a dangerous approach. In either case, more work needs to be done to apply this deep wisdom to business. As always, I look forward to your insights.

What is the difference between an idle thought and an intention powerful enough to move providence?  Some say if you want it to be so, think about or write down our desires and it will come true. Others point out it has to be a strongly held thought or intent.  Goethe said that, “The ground raises to the feet of the committed man.”

It seems to me that intention is more like a feeling than a thought.  Like working your way into a wave when you are surfing. As a friend of mine who is a Harvard PhD. and surfer, Said,  “You cannot think your way into a wave, you have to feel it.”

Connect To Who We Really Are

Like the surfer connected to a force of nature that propels them forward, our intentions have more power when they are flowing with the natural current of our lives.  We all have a natural current and rhythm within us that is part of the greater flow, which is our unique being or who we really are.  When we resist this current, which some call purpose, we suffer.  When we know it deeply, and learn to swim with it, we move forward with grace and ease in an almost magical manner.

“Know Thy Self”

Knowing yourself is not a mystical notion, it is entirely practical, but it is not easy due to the distortive effect of our thoughts and belief systems.  Once a belief system gets a hold on us, we distort our true reality to be right about what we believe. It is like trying to navigate to a location without knowing your present position. It is impossible, and will be filled with misadventures, frustration and anger.  Our present reality is not a framework or belief, which by their nature are only an approximation of reality.  These notions must be discarded or put into perspective as approximations, before we can feel who we truly are.  As the Buddhists say, “Don’t mistake the finger pointing at the moon, for the moon itself.”

It’s the Feeling or A Knowing

Knowing how to connect with the larger current that we are part of on a deep level is genius. Feeling the difference between emotions that come from our thoughts and beliefs and the feeling of being connected to our unique river is the secret. Once we know this, we can begin to expand ourselves while moving forward in our natural current, and use intention to create new realities that change the flow of our lives, and the flow itself.  We move with grace and ease creating something that is a natural extension of our deepest purpose while adding to the beauty of the world around us.

Again, I look forward to your insights and thoughts, even though they are only an approximation of reality, as are mine.

The price of paying more attention to our beliefs than the complex multidimensional flows of cause and effect seen in the Gulf of Mexico, our financial systems, and in the health and well-being of our people is great. Oil is pouring into the Gulf because the process of regulation and technology could not keep up with the complexity of drilling for oil. Our financial systems are failing because no one really wants to let go of the existing system, and our middle class, who fuels our economy, is shrinking because no one seems to understand how, or cares, to strengthen them. Trust in government, business and our leadership in general is at an all time low. Yet all we do is try to be right about our agendas. Danger signals are everywhere, yet we fear being wrong more than having a desire for success.

Arrogance Combined With Ignorance Is Deadly
Focusing our consciousness on our beliefs, thoughts and political agendas instead of understanding how present reality is emerging into the future will destroy our nation, as it has destroyed many others. Standing arrogantly on a belief without understanding present reality is the most deadly form of ignorance. Operating like this is like a basketball team arguing in the middle of a fast break. It just does not work, and yet we cling to beliefs that have nothing to do with what is happening in the moment. The teams who have the best talent, coaching and, most important, are able to get into the zone more often, win championships in sports and provide a great microcosm. We as a nation, and many of our businesses, seem to be locked into what we believe to be true instead of paying attention to what is happening. Believing we are the greatest nation, sports team or business on Earth does not change the flow of cause and effect that has the momentum of a runaway freight train.

It Is Time To Change The Game Plan
We need a time out, and some coaching. We must learn to understand and acknowledge reality by placing our consciousness on the flows of cause and effect that are emerging in the present and respond to those flows like a team in “The Zone,” instead of arrogantly defending our beliefs. Stop, take a deep breath and realize that what we believe will not stop the momentum of climate change, the debt crisis, failing businesses, and the raising dissatisfaction of our people. We must work together like a team in “The Zone” or we will lose the game of life here on the planet, or in our businesses. Acknowledge reality, see how it is emerging into the future, make a plan and act with courage, while you keep an eye on the present.

Use More Common Sense and Genius, Instead of Belief
A genius has beliefs, but uses them as a platform for discovery, instead of being defined by them. A genius does not cling to what they believe to be true, they are practiced in letting go once they begin to discover present reality. They are masters of combining existing flows to create something new. They have their consciousness focused on the present to see how it will turn into the future, like an athlete driving to the basket in “The Zone.”

The Past Is A Weak Teacher
Most of our understanding about the past is highly filtered by the beliefs we were holding during our experience at that time, and further distorted by our present beliefs and moods. Our memories, history and beliefs about the past are generally distorted; yet we argue about it and often lose friendships, miss business opportunities, and create political systems that do not work.

Reality is unfolding in the present moment and will extend into the future. If we can hold our beliefs lightly and truly understand the present, we will see how it will lead to the future. Start with understanding present reality, no matter how ugly, and look forward. Leave the past behind, where it belongs. Don’t stand in front of a runaway freight train thinking “I have never been hit by one before” hoping for a miracle. Hope is a feeling, not a strategy for success.

How Do We Create A Better Future?
With the help of comments from my readers, I will explore how to create what I call “FastBreak” solutions teams that respond to the present and create the future. Since I do not know everything, I need your comments and wisdom. So please reflect on what I have written, and provide my readers with your solutions.

It seems to me that when our consciousness combines with the presence of our right brain, and with the discernment of the left brain, genius is created. Like an athlete in the zone or a CEO leading an Executive Team, both presence and discernment grow in an ever expanding spiral of insight and action. As one feeds the other, power and performance expand naturally. However, to maximize performance, both sides of the brain need training and practice, as does the synchronization of both together, which I call “Integrative Presence.”

No Substitute For Practice

Many leaders are masters of the left brain, less of the right brain, and few can sync both consistently. The leaders who learn to synchronize both see the right moves ahead of them as they approach, and move at a speed that seems like slow motion to them, but is like a sudden burst of lightning to those in a normal state of mind.
Different Practices

Each of the three skills are only mastered with training and practice. Determining your areas of strength and weakness and committing yourself to the rigor of training and practice is essential to achieving mastery. Each of these has a different nature and requires different approaches.

Presence: Being in the present moment and experiencing unfiltered realities
Discernment: Reducing reality into meaningful related parts
Integrative Presence: Simultaneously integrating discernment and presence

If our discernment is not based on the actual flow of cause and effect, it will be weaker. Both must be strong to achieve “Integrative Presence.” There is a point in practice when your experience allows you to slip into “Integrative Presence” at will. It happens like magic after you have learned to feel your way into this state. Mastering these skills is the first step in the journey to become a great leader or fascinating person. We should all ask ourselves which we need to most work with.

In Roman Mythology Genius was a “guardian deity or spirit which watches over each person from birth.” To unleash your Genius would mean to stop resisting your spirit’s advice and collaborate with the Genius that has been given to you.
GENIUS CREATES BEAUTY

Genius is, as I define it, collaboration with the natural flow that extends from the present, and from the knowledge, intention and consciousness of an individual or group. It is achieved through Integrative Presence, which allows you to integrate all the realities of the moment simultaneously while combining them with your intention.

A story from William F. Russell, who was a star player with the Boston Celtics, who won 11 championships in 13 years:

“Every so often a Celtics game would heat up so that it became more than a physical or even mental game, and would be magical. That feeling is difficult to describe, and I certainly never talked about it when I was playing. When it happened, I could feel my play rise to a new level. It came rarely, and would last anywhere from five minutes to a whole quarter, or more. Three or four plays were not enough to get it going. It would surround not only me and the other Celtics, but also the players on the other team, and even the referees.

At that special level, all sorts of odd things happened: The game would be in the white heat of competition, and yet somehow I wouldn’t feel competitive, which is a miracle in itself. I’d be putting out the maximum effort, straining, coughing up parts of my lungs as we ran, and yet I never felt the pain. The game would move so quickly that every fake, cut, and pass would be surprising, and yet nothing could surprise me. It was almost as if we were playing in slow motion. During those spells, I could almost sense how the next play would develop and where the next shot would be taken. Even before the other team brought the ball inbounds, I could feel it so keenly that I’d want to shout to my teammates, “it’s coming there!”—except that I knew everything would change if I did. My premonitions would be consistently correct, and I always felt then that I not only knew all the Celtics by heart, but also all the opposing players, and that they all knew me. There have been many times in my career when I felt moved or joyful, but these were the moments when I had chills pulsing up and down my spine.

Sometimes the feeling would last all the way to the end of the game, and when that happened I never cared who won. I can honestly say that those few times were the only ones when I did not care. … On the five or ten occasions when the game ended at that special level, I literally did not care who had won. If we lost, I’d still be as free and high as a sky hawk.” (William F. Russell, Second Wind: The Memoirs of an Opinionated Man, 1979)

Sheryl Crow in her song “Soak up the Sun” says, “It is not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”  Every culture seems to have a phrase that describes a hidden weakness.   For example, many intellectuals in Northern Europe say, “If you are happy, you are an idiot,” which creates a double bind that is hard to escape.  Here in the USA it seems to be, “This is not it, and I am not satisfied,” which creates continual striving.  This is more economically productive, but also creates a double bind that leads to unhappiness.

Why Are We So Unhappy?

Philosophers, spiritual teachers and most religions say that we are spiritual beings living in the material world.  Most see this as the cause of unhappiness.  They see the material world as a place of suffering or, at best, a place to prepare for the next world, which is much more pleasant.  Suffer here and you will get your reward in heaven.  This of course is another way of saying, “This is not it, and I am not satisfied.”  In our consumer economy your reward comes when you “make it.” In religion it is in the next world.  Happiness is always in the future.  Not a good thing.  No matter how much you have there is always more, and what you have is often falling apart.

Is The Material World Really The Problem?

My understanding of the “Material World,” or what philosophers call form, is the following:  All form emerges out of a formless intelligence, which is often called God.  This intelligence is expressing itself in form, which is based on duality or differences.  For example, you cannot see black without white.  This duality splits into many parts, thus creating the array of things in this world including ourselves, trees, the oceans, the air we breathe, lakes, rivers and all living things.

This formless intelligence is continually creating new forms.  Each form comes into existence, grows to its full radiance, shrinks back and dies.  All forms are infused moment to moment with this divine intelligence, which I call “The Life Force.”  We are all full of this force.  All the beauty that naturally unfolds every second is filled with this mysterious force.  Yet we often feel empty.  The Buddhists have a phrase for those who feel this way; they call them “Hungry Ghosts.”

“Hungry Ghosts” are always trying to fill them selves not realizing that they are already filled with divine energy.  They are over eating, over spending trying to find things to fill the void, which does not really exist.  They can never be satisfied. The whole process of “having what you want” draws our consciousness away from, “what we’ve got.”   Form is like fountains of beauty flowing all around us from the well of divine intention.  Yet we are always looking for something else. That is why philosophers are telling us to “Be Here Now” instead of hoping for something in the future that does not exist. Happiness is turning our consciousness to “what we’ve got,” which is beyond description.

How Do We Lose Touch With Beauty?

Last week I went to lunch at a restaurant that always has new paintings.  Waiting for my lunch date, I found myself entranced by a beautiful painting of a naked woman looking at her self in a tall mirror.  The colors and the moment of her seeing her own beauty sent chills up my spine.  My lunch date arrived and came over to the painting and had the same experience.  We talked about the creation this artist provided for us.  Then we looked at the price, which was very high, and thought, we cannot have this painting.  Suddenly we felt disappointed with a sense of loss, when in fact we had already experienced the beauty.  The artist created something that touched us until our desires to own it broke our connection to this existing beauty.  We did not realize that we already had it.

This is want happens to us moment to moment as we move our consciousness from the miracle of who we are, a living being full of grace, to who we should be or want to be.  We lose touch with what the painting was trying to tell us, we are all beautiful beyond description.  If we could only see that to live in human form is a gift we often squander trying to feed our desires.

While working with a company which does direct marketing through infomercials, I met Steve Ober, SVP and Partner. Steve directs and produces most of their shows. His success record is far greater than anyone in the industry. Seven out of ten of his shows produce successful levels of sales. The industry average is one, or during a good year, two out of twenty.

I asked Steve why he was so successful. He said, “I am driven to win and the answers are already there. If you work hard enough, you will find them.” He also said, “I know what I want because I can see it.” He went on to explain that he never gives up until the show is exactly right. He said that he stays humble, and always looks for a better way before releasing his shows.

After listening to his story, I told him about a movie Martin Scorsese recently produced about the life and career of Bob Dylan. As the story is told, they cut to interviews with Bob Dylan. He comments on the various stages in his life throughout the interviews. Dylan discovered the needs and wants of his market and became the voice of his generation, while transforming American folk music from the backrooms of Greenwich Village to a global craze.

Dylan in response to the interviewer saying he was the voice of a generation commented that, “It was already there.” He explained, that he noticed how people would respond positively to various aspects of singers like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and many others. Each singer had certain things that would connect with the audience: the look in their eyes, the tone of voice, the way they picked the strings on their guitar, and combined great singing with meaningful words. What the generation wanted was already out there, but not embodied in one person.

Dylan observed what worked and then let go of the aspects of his act that were not connecting, and adopted all of the elements that were connecting with the audiences. He literally became the voice of a generation by discovering existing realities and combining his intention and creativity with the needs he noticed in his audience. It seemed simple to him. He could see the future success by observing what was happening in the moment. He truly unleashed his genius by living in what I call “Integrative Presence” and connecting with an existing intelligence, which was the flow of cause and effect in his market.

When he returned to Minnesota after only five months in New York City, which was the center of folk music at the time, he had been transformed from an okay singer to a genius. Many from Minnesota commented on what seemed to be a magical transformation. One said, “It was almost like he had sold his soul to the Devil.” But, of course, he didn’t; he was able to let go of what he knew, and be open to a series of insights about what was really impacting the audiences, combined it with his intention, and became the voice of a generation.

To make that transition Dylan had to let go of his past and be totally present. He even changed his last name and often says that, “it really does not matter who I was.” Letting go of the past is the first step to insight and discovery of present reality.

After listening to the story, Steve Ober said, “Exactly, and that just shows what a great filmmaker Martin Scorsese is.” Steve Ober and Dylan have formed the habit of allowing insight: which is as Webster’s says “A clear understanding of the inner nature of some specific thing.” … Which in my view is the gateway to genius.