15-03-2021
The Vision-In-Action Leaders Roundtable, August 2006
Led by Yasuhiko Genku Kimura
Day 1
From Lao Tzu (老子), Tao Teh Ching (道徳経), Verse 17 (translation by Yasuhiko Genku Kimura)
The supreme leader is one whose existence is barely known.
Next best is one who is loved and praised.
Next is one who is feared.
The last is one who is contemned.
No Trust will ever be accorded to a leader who lacks integrity.
Therefore, with deep commitment,
Honor your words and trust the words of others.
Then, when the work is done and success achieved,
The people will say, “We did it ourselves.”
To be a leader means to be authentic in the true meaning of the word, that is, to be the author of your own life, to be your own inner authority, and to live in integrity with your authentic higher self. It is that authenticity which powerfully attracts others to you—those others whose seeds of authenticity and leadership are growing within.
An omnicentric world civilization becomes possible only when a core group of such authentic leaders creates a new evolutionary vortex.
We do not change the world; rather the world changes through us. The world is not an object that we can change but the intersubjective field which changes and transforms as we change and transform ourselves.
Therefore, to be a change agent means to be a changing, self-transforming agent.
We must ourselves become dynamic evolutionary currents to engender a world dynamically thrusting for optimization in the co-intentional and co-destinal flow of conscious evolution.
The statement attributed to Mahatma Gandhi encaptures this well: Be the change you want to make.
The ultimate in creativity is the creativity that creates new perceptions of reality and visions of world. This creativity transcends and is more fundamental than any artform. It is the direct participation in the creative process of the universe. It is the foreseeing of a possibility arising as a new future in the cosmic evolution.
Evolution is synonymous with exploration. The more evolved we are in consciousness the further is the horizon of our exploration and the greater is our competency for exploration. I hold that the exploration of this vast physical-metaphysical uni-multiverse, and the concomitant evolution in and of consciousness, is the purpose of our cosmic existence. We are cosmic explorers and we should never forget this glorious assignment.
Day 2
From Awakening to the Highest Reaches of Integrity by Yasuhiko Genku Kimura:
On the road of integrity, you will find yourself often alone, but never lonely.
On the road of mediocrity, you will find yourself never alone, but often lonely.
The world, more than ever, awaits you who choose to travel the road least traveled,
ready to travel alone but always with arms open in joy.
The Japanese word “toku (徳)” (teh in Chinese), which is usually translated as “virtue,” also means “power” or “integrity.” Toku is the consciousness of the whole that makes your life coherent, consistent, and integral.
Therefore, toku is integrity, and toku is also power because through toku your vision, action, and result become coherent and consistent. Success in life and business requires power to make your vision realized through action. Success thus requires integrity in the sense of toku.
Thomas Jefferson in his Syllabus (1813) states:
Happiness the aim of life.
Virtue the foundation of happiness.
Utility the test of virtue.
Thomas Jefferson whose thought was profoundly influenced by Benedict de Spinoza via John Locke and other British philosophers who were influenced by Spinoza. His statement above from his Syllabus is a distillation of Spinoza’s thought on virtue, which was beautifully aligned with Lao Tzu’s concept of virtue.
Spinoza’s concept of Conatus, which Nietzsche termed the Will to Power, is the power or virtue that moves us toward self-preservation and self-realization. The virtue is to be in integrity with the conatus, the evolutionary power within, and the evolutionary will or desire to preserve and realize oneself.
Therefore, the virtue of Lao Tzu, Spinoza, and Jefferson is the virtue of integrity and authenticity. “The Law of Nature and of Nature’s God” in The Declaration of Independence, signifies the Law of Nature’s Conatus and Nature’s God is synonymous with Tao.
The English term “integrity” is defined on three levels: (1) being true to your principles; (2) being true to your word or commitment; and (3) being true to yourself.
Integrity means being true to your principle, your word, and yourself, and total integrity involves a total accord between these three levels of being true.
Men and women of integrity who have the power to sustain their commitment through to the end and achieve their objectives, sometime against all odds, are those in whom their principle, commitment, and self are all in accord. For we can sustain our commitment only when it is one that is in accord with our authentic self and with our deepest values and principles.
Therefore, unless it is an authentic expression of our self and unless it is consistent with our principles, our commitment is bound to be inauthentic. If our commitment is inauthentic, regardless of how much willpower we may have, we will probably be unable to sustain it. Thus, the essence of integrity is “to thine own self be true.”
We cannot be true to our own self without knowing our own self. That is, authentic self-knowledge is the requisite of integrity. In terms of our career, business, and personal development, the most effective way of attaining self-knowledge is to know our true passion and vision.
Passion arises through the realization of our authentic self as a creative vision. Vision is the call of our own evolutionary possibility that beckons us to be from the future. Vision is that which we envisage as the fulfillment of our evolutionary thrust for optimization.
When we become awakened to our passion and vision, we have a definitive standard with which we can be in integrity. When we live from our passion and vision, we achieve authentic freedom and responsibility, because now our life becomes truly our own making.
For you who have a vision and live a life of integrity, your passion is your life’s mission. Your knowledge of your passion and vision and your commitment to living a life of integrity, responsibility, and freedom make you a true leader of your organization and of humanity.
Leaders lead. Now it is your time to lead. Be ready to travel the road less traveled. Be ready to travel alone but always with arms open in gratitude to receive others as co-travelers in your visionary journey.