Generation of ideas through spiritual practices | Walter Gjergja | TEDxKazan

Walter Gjergja explores strategies from the ancient Shaolin culture that will help us enhance our ability to develop and propagate new ideas.

Walter Gjergja (Shi Xing Mi) is a Shaolin secular monk, master, entrepreneur, trainer, adviser, speaker and writer. He has been referred to by the media and leading organizations as "cultural acrobat," "monk of strategy" and "the master of effectiveness."

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx.

So, good afternoon.

I have the most comfortable
TED Talk for this afternoon,

and I would like to thank you
first of all for being here this afternoon

and for inviting me to open
this wonderful event.

My mission, for those of you
that don't know who I am

or what Shaolin is about,

is to share some very ancient ideas

and apply them [to] the modern times.

And so when I was invited
to speak about ideas

and idea development
and idea multiplication,

I thought about which idea
I could share with you.

And then I reflected that, perhaps,
instead of sharing an idea with you,

we should talk a little bit about
what makes ideas become something

and why ideas often remain as ideas

and don't get developed
and don't get multiplied.

In Shaolin culture, there are a series
of, let's call them, rules

that can help us develop ideas

and can help us share ideas with others

and turn ideas into something.

And so I would like to start
this time together

by sharing some of these tools
and some of these methods.

So the first one is to take small steps.

So when you have an idea,

when you want to multiply
and develop this idea,

according to Shaolin culture,

to make a big change,
to make a big revolution,

to start with this idea
to make a big revolution

is a big challenge.

And it's a challenge so big
and so overwhelming

that often leaves the idea undeveloped.

So the Shaolin approach
is to take small steps,

but take that step.

Don't let the idea be forgotten.

Don't let the idea
disappear and dissipate.

Take a small step today,

and take a small step tomorrow,

and take a small step the next day -

and through a whole series
of small steps,

through an evolutionary
rather than a revolutionary process

the idea can take place,

and the idea can dissipate and propagate

much, much further
than with a big approach,

which often just simply
is too big to undertake.

The second rule of the Shaolin
idea of development

is to accept mistakes,

and in fact, to welcome mistakes

as a necessary, indispensable part
of developing and spreading ideas.

So, if you make no mistakes,
you're actually not doing anything new.

You're not trying anything.

You really don't have an idea.

If you have ideas, and if the ideas
are new and stimulating and challenging,

they will invariably lead to mistakes.

And, you know, this morning
when I arrived here,

I was shown this amazing institute
and educational facilities.

And school is a great learning process,

but at the same time,

in Shaolin, we tend to say that school
is a little bit the opposite of life.

And the reason why
it's the opposite of life

is because in school you learn a lesson,
and then you have an exam.

And in life, you have an exam,
and then you learn the lesson.

And so there are going to be
a lot of exams that you don't pass,

and the process of developing ideas
and trying new things

means making all these mistakes,

means having lots of exams
that we don't pass.

But with every exam, we learn a new lesson

and we develop our ideas further
and we propagate them further.

And the third Shaolin rule
about idea development

is to apply discipline.

So discipline is a very, very important
concept in Shaolin culture

because discipline is, in a way,

the tool that allows us to develop
whatever it is that we want to develop.

Without discipline, we cannot reach
the targets we want to reach;

we cannot develop the ideas
we want to develop, and so on.

So discipline in Shaolin is not seen
as a kind of burden and a heavy task,

but it's seen as like the enabler.

It's the empowering tool that I need
to develop what I need to develop

or to propagate the idea
that I wish to propagate.

The next rule about Shaolin
idea-development processes

is to focus more on the journey
and less on the destination.

You know, ideas are a journey.

The process of turning an idea
from the first thought

to some kind of great project
or great result -

it's a process.

And this process is a journey,
and in that journey is the real process.

Not in some kind of utopic destination,
which I might reach or I might not,

because how many ideas
have started in one direction,

and then as you were traveling
towards that idea,

you realize it was something else there
that you should go towards,

and then something else, and so on?

So the journey is the very process

of developing and of spreading
and of growing of an idea.

But too often, we just focus
on the destination.

We have some result in mind
or some objective in mind,

and everything is focused on that,
and we lose perspective.

So in Shaolin culture,
the destination is important

because it gives us a bearing
on where to take our idea,

but the journey is the far,
far more important moment

and more important process.

And the next rule
is to focus on the present moment

because the present moment
is where the journey takes place.

So the only real moment
is this time in this room right now.

The past is just a memory in our minds,

and the future is just
a collective thought in our mind.

So to focus on the present

and to apply yourself in that present
to develop the idea

by taking, perhaps, small steps.

Maybe today you are very busy
and have many other things

and don't have the time
or the resources or whatever,

but you can take a small step
to make sure that that idea doesn't stop,

that idea continues to evolve
and to propagate and to develop.

And when you are doing this
in the present,

there is the next rule,

which is to do it with as much passion,

with as much heart,

with as much determination
as you can muster.

You know, a famous master once said

that somewhere there is
a museum of procrastination.

And in this museum of procrastination,

there are the greatest books
never written,

the greatest inventions never produced,

and so on and so forth.

So don't allow your idea to end up
in that museum of procrastination,

by applying yourself with discipline,

and by applying yourself
with passion and with care

in the small step -

not in the big step but in the small step
in the present moment.

And the next and second last rule

of this Shaolin idea-development
and idea-propagation process

is to do everything you do with values.

So values are a kind of platform

that supports and gives
meaning to your ideas.

And when I speak about values,

I mean things like respect,
trust, passion,

discipline, compassion,
courage, and so on and so forth.

And these values are the fundamental tool,
the fundamental building block,

on which any kind of idea
development and idea propagation

should be developed from.

Without the values,

any idea-development process
will lose meaning

and any idea-propagation process
will lose meaning.

Because what will give meaning

to that interaction between two people
and five people and a hundred people

is the values that they share.

And what will make the idea strong,

and what will make the performance of
the people that develop this idea strong

will be the values they share,
not the competencies.

The competencies you can get.

You probably already have;

that's why you're involved
in that process.

But the values that you share
with each other

will give it meaning
and will give it power

and will make the idea go very far.

The last one of these Shaolin rules

is actually, possibly,
the most fundamental one,

the one from which all
of this process should start from.

And it's the idea of being free,

of letting go of your fears,

of embracing change.

Ideas need change.

Ideas themselves are a process of change.

And so without the courage
to let go of your fears,

to let go of your barriers,

to get out of your comfort zone,

it's going to be very, very difficult -

possibly not simply possible -

to develop any ideas.

And so what I would like to do today
to conclude this very short time together

is to get you out
of your comfort zone a little bit,

to make you do something that -
it's a new idea for most of you

because it's something
you have no familiarity with,

and it hopefully will get
a little bit of that energy,

a little bit of that passion, out of you

so that you can then apply
that passion and that energy

and that free-spiritedness
of being out of your comfort zone

to the whole rest
of the afternoon together

with the wonderful speeches
and the wonderful ideas

that will be presented after me.

And to do this,
I ask you to please stand up.

So, we will do a little exercise together,

and to do this exercise,
the first step is to learn the exercise.

So, before we can use something,
we have to learn it,

and then when we learn it, we can use it.

So we will learn it very quickly
together - it's very, very simple.

It will take maybe one minute to learn it.

And I will turn the same way like you

so that you don't get confused
left, right and so on.

So what we do is we stand
in a very natural way,

and we breathe in,

and we breathe out, very deeply.

And then after we've finished
with the breathing,

we breathe in again,

and we bring our fists to our sides.

And from this position,
we will do three things, three movements.

The first one is we'll step
with the left leg forward,

and we push with our left hand forward,

and we breathe out.

Then we step back,

and we hit our right fist
on our left hand,

and then we step again to the left,

but this time, we punch
with our right hand forward.

And then we go back.

So, the more I hear laughter,

the more it means
you're out of your comfort zone,

and that's how you're dealing with
the uncomfortableness - so that's good.

So, we do it again.

Where we breathe in and out

and in and left

and back

and punch

and back.

Okay, one more time. Ready?

We breathe in and out,

and in and left

and back

and punch

and up.

So, I told you that the purpose
was to first learn the exercise

and then use it,
so now we have to use it.

You're wondering how we use this.
We'll punch each other?

No.

What we will do is we will get
some emotions out,

and emotions are linked to the breath
and also to the way we use the breath.

So what we will do
is we will use our breath to shout.

And what it means
is that when we do the punch,

the last movement,

we will shout

with all our breath and all our energy
and all our emotion and all our passion,

and how we will shout
will not be with our voice, so ah,

but with our breath, so ha!

(Laughter)

Okay? So, get out there.

This is your opportunity to get out
everything you have to get out, okay?

So, let's get ready.

So we breathe in and out

and in and out

and in and go

ha! -

and back.

Excellent.

(Applause)

Please take a seat.

So, as it's always the case
with these kind of speeches,

our time together has flown,

and I see people
wearing modern technology,

they're indicating to me
that it's time out,

so I thank you very, very much
for this time together.

I hope you got some ideas
about how to develop your ideas,

and I hope you got some energy

to apply to the next ideas
that will be presented to you

by the wonderful speakers here today.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)