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William James wrote: "Most people live – whether physically, intellectually or morally – in a very restricted circle of their potential being. We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon of which we do not dream." And C.S. Lewis: "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship..." Where are these gods and goddesses? What plugs the well of innate genius? I think the answer is obvious: Think of times when you've been deep in flow, and there is only the dance, or the coding project, or the piece you're writing – times when you've surprised yourself with the quality of your output, when it felt like it didn't even come from "you." It didn't! These are moments when the self gets out of the way. It's what the mystics speak of, but usually when talking about a path that goes through meditation or prayer. But I don't see any reason unblocking genius shouldn't also be a mystical path. The theory goes like this: • Our constant craving & clinging takes up an enormous amount of RAM. Think about how many mental cycles are spent clinging to status, self-image, stimulation, rejection-avoidance, unresolved personal loops, meaning, etc. • If you lower petty clinging while *increasing* healthy desire then the mind will naturally act virtuosically in the world. Why? Much more free compute. • This path should be much more palatable to the ego. It will be drawn in by the genuine promise of achievement. And so the ego is drawn to create the conditions for its own surrender – which is necessary for the products of genius. But again, the key here is to do both the standard spiritual thing (releasing craving & clinging) while *increasing* desire. The Buddhist term for wholesome desire is "chanda." Chanda is desire that arises from a place of non-tension. It often feel like a relaxed current, but it can sometime be strong, channeled, like a great benevolent wave surging outward – and yet it is unattached to outcome. Intensify this style of desire while releasing craving & clinging, and genius springs naturally. I'd predict that if this path were cultivated and disseminated, you'd end up with way more renaissance people like Thang Tong Gyalpo, one of Tibet's "mad yogis" who built 50 bridges, founded Tibetan opera, practiced medicine, designed temples across three countries, and invented new metallurgical techniques.