What did Walter Russell mean by 'genius is self-bestowed'?
He taught that every person already carries consummate genius; the only barrier is awareness, and desire is the key that opens that awareness.
Video Summary
Walter Russell reported yearly mystical illuminations beginning at age seven and a 39-day revelation in May 1921 that produced The Divine Iliad (~30,000 words).
He taught that genius is self-bestowed and that desire unlocks consciousness already present in everyone.
Russell proposed a cosmology where light is the only substance, matter is an appearance, and the universe is a two-way rhythmic interchange (unfolding/refolding).
The Voidance Principle: wave motions in space reverse at boundaries, meaning effects cancel their causes and space has structured wave fields.
Crystals and element forms arise from the geometry of surrounding wave fields, described as nine octaves of the elements across scales.
He taught that every person already carries consummate genius; the only barrier is awareness, and desire is the key that opens that awareness.
Russell said he was held in a state of direct knowing for 39 days and nights, during which about 30,000 words came through him and became The Divine Iliad.
He argued that light is the only substance, matter has no independent existence, and the universe operates by two opposed motions of light unfolding and refolding.
The Voidance Principle holds that space has structured waves whose curvilinear motions void (reverse) at boundaries, so every effect cancels its cause and forms arise from wave interactions.
He challenged core scientific assumptions with a radically different cosmology, mailed his manuscript widely, and faced silence or dismissal despite endorsements from sympathetic figures like Tesla.
"Genius is self-bestowed. He held that every person carries consummate genius already."
"The boy was named Walter Russell."
"What Russell described afterward was another illumination."
"Awareness of his body diminished while awareness of God increased."
"Sitters included four presidents of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Warren Harding, and Thomas Edison sat for him."
Walter Russell had an impressive roster of notable sitters for his sculptural work, including four U.S. presidents and famous figures like Mark Twain. His bust of Twain stands out as one of the revered American portrait sculptures of its time.
Russell created the Four Freedoms Monument during World War II, further showcasing his artistic impact. Visitors often remarked on the unique quality of the eyes in his sculptures, which he believed reflected the soul rather than mere facial form.
"Eyes have no form. Eyes are transparent, and what a viewer actually sees is the light of the soul behind them."
Russell argued that many sculptors mistakenly treat eyes as mere shapes rather than luminous windows to the soul. He believed true vision would reveal the essence behind the eyes, indicating his broader notion that "light is the only substance in creation."
This philosophy informed his artistic practices long before he documented it within the context of physics.
"Changing mediums...resembles a violinist suddenly being handed a piano."
At the age of 56, Russell transitioned from painting to sculpting after being commissioned for a portrait of Thomas Edison when the originally hired sculptor failed to deliver. This change was not trivial; he compared it to a musician switching instruments.
His first sculpture was made during a meditative journey to Florida, suggesting that a calm mental state led to his successful venture into sculpting.
"Russell...originated a solution [for artists' housing]...where residents would collectively own the corporation that owned the building."
"At 69, he took three first prizes in figure skating, competing against a field entirely under 30."
"Representatives of the King of Italy then invited the same painting to the Turan International Exposition exempt from jury as a representative American picture."
Russell's painting about the power of thought was initially rejected by the National Academy but later gained international recognition, highlighting his resilience and the eventual validation of his talent.
He engaged in various artistic roles, from a war artist to an art editor, consistently maintaining prominence in the artistic community.
"If we knew the secret of light, we would have all the knowledge."
Russell responded to Sir Oliver Lodge's assertion that understanding light could unlock the mysteries of the universe. He confidently claimed his qualifications as a poet, painter, and philosopher, asserting his right to explore and articulate these profound ideas.
"He described the moment the universe arrived as a kaleidoscope suddenly taken to pieces."
During a prolific period of creation, Russell experienced a profound realization about the universe, visualizing it as a complex yet simplified construct of light and reflection. This transformative moment occurred over a span of days where he felt disconnected from sensory input but deeply connected to a universal consciousness.
"God kept him in the universe of all knowing for 39 days and nights in order that he might know these things and then write them down."
"God had taken him behind the scenes away from the illusion of the senses into the universe of knowing so that he might see what the universe and man actually are rather than what the eyes report."
Walter Russell believed that a deeper understanding of the universe was granted to him, allowing him to perceive its true nature beyond the sensory illusions experienced by humans.
He criticized the methodology used by scientists of his time, stating that their reliance on observation, which is filtered through sensory experiences, led them to a distorted conception of reality.
Russell likened contemporary scientific texts to medieval concepts like the flat earth resting on the backs of elephants, revealing his skepticism about widely accepted scientific principles.
"Approximately 30,000 words came out of him during that period which became The Divine Iliad. He claimed that all of them were never erased and never changed."
During a period of inspiration, Russell produced roughly 30,000 words that he called The Divine Iliad, claiming that the work was written through him rather than by him, meaning he acted as a conduit for a greater knowledge.
He posed a challenge to his audience regarding the difficulty of producing a substantial body of work without revision, emphasizing the extraordinary nature of his output.
The book contained the foundational cosmological concepts that Russell would later expand upon, revealing insights into the nature of existence decades before they were explored by contemporary scientists.
"His conclusion arrives in the forest from a young man with no education. Motion and sound are transient. Stillness is the one permanent thing."
In his early contemplations, Russell posed fundamental questions about existence, such as the nature of sound and motion, while observing a quiet pool beside a forest stream.
He concluded that motion and sound are temporary phenomena, while stillness represents the only true reality, an idea he later articulated in his writings about light and knowledge.
Russell emphasized that thought is an extension of this stillness, paralleled with physical concepts like levers that demonstrate the relationship between movement and a fixed fulcrum.
"Underneath the two motions, he placed a single law, and he considered it the only law there is: rhythmic balanced interchange between all things."
Russell introduced the concept of balanced interchange as a central tenet of his cosmology, where everything existing is born from the equal exchange of opposites.
He asserted that health and harmony in all aspects of life—including physical health, emotional well-being, and business—stem from balance.
By lecturing corporate leaders on this principle, he challenged the prevailing mindset of profit over equality, demonstrating the lasting success of his cooperative business models as evidence of the effectiveness of balanced interchange.
"No principle in physics matters more. Space contains structure waves."
Walter Russell introduces the Voidance Principle, emphasizing that it is fundamental to understanding physics. He explains that space has a structure made of waves, and these waves interact with light, acting like mirrors and lenses.
The motion of these waves is curvilinear; when a motion reaches a boundary, it voids itself, resulting in a reversal of that motion. This continuous process illustrates that every effect cancels its own cause.
According to Russell, the seemingly infinite variety of the universe originates from one undivided source, reflecting through the mirrors of space. This division is merely optical, asserting that nothing is ever truly divided.
"Russell answered by describing the space around it. Crystals take their shapes from the shape of the wave fields that bound them."
Russell shifts the discussion to crystals, questioning why different substances like quartz and salt form specific geometric shapes.
While traditional chemistry attributes these shapes to the substances themselves, Russell posits that it is the surrounding space that dictates the geometry of the crystals. He argues that matter merely fills forms that space has already established.
He introduces the concept of nine octaves in relation to the structure of elements, suggesting that, at the core, the manifestation of creation is akin to music, with waves arranged in a repeating pattern across scales.
"Creation happens by thinking. The universal mind imagines, and the imagining produces the two opposed motions that wind light into the forms of the world."
Russell makes a significant claim that creation results from thinking, where the universal mind acts as the source of imagination. This mental activity generates the motions that shape our reality.
He stresses that creation is a continuous process rather than a single event and that this mechanism is rooted in mental activity rather than mechanical processes.
He describes "thinking" as a form of motion akin to electrical waves extending from the stillness of the mind, reinforcing the inseparable link between consciousness and reality.
"Russell attempted to move the whole enterprise forward by 2 or 3,000 years in a single step."
Russell faced substantial resistance when trying to disseminate his findings among the scientific community, spending his own resources to mail his manuscript, "The Universal One," to over 500 leading scientists.
Despite his persistence, the responses ranged from silence to dismissal, as he sought to challenge the foundational elements of science itself. His wife, Lao Russell, noted that he was physically and financially exhausted but continued undeterred.
His work aimed to challenge the standard physics paradigm, yet he received little support, demonstrating the isolation often experienced by groundbreaking thinkers.
"Tesla believed energy filled space rather than traveling through emptiness."
Nicola Tesla recognized the relevance of Russell's insights but feared that endorsing his work could lead to personal ruin, given the entrenched scientific norms of the time.
Tesla's perspective aligned with Russell's in that he saw energy as a fundamental component of space, diverging from the then-prevalent particle-based views.
Their collaboration highlighted the intersection of creative genius and scientific inquiry, with the potential for revolutionary insights to remain buried due to societal constraints on acceptance.
"Mediocrity is self-inflicted. Genius is self-bestowed."
Russell asserts that every individual possesses innate genius, and the distinction between the master and the mediocre lies in one's awareness of this potential.
He identifies desire as the crucial key to unlocking this awareness, promoting the belief that individuals can achieve their aspirations through understanding the unity of all life and their connection to a higher source.
He illustrates his philosophy through his own journey, underscoring that true brilliance can be achieved without formal training or institutional validation, and that self-awareness is paramount in realizing one’s full capabilities.
"The mystic has attained cosmic consciousness through complete severance of the seats of consciousness and sensation."
The mystic is defined as someone who has achieved cosmic consciousness, a state marked by a deep awareness of light, while being almost wholly unaware of the physical body.
In recorded history, fewer than 40 cases of partial cosmic consciousness have been documented, with only three nearing the complete state.
Walter Russell believed that this cosmic consciousness is the ultimate goal for every human being and asserted that eventually, all will reach this state before the culmination of humanity's journey.
"The deterrent to cosmic consciousness is the feeling that God is far away rather than within."
Russell identified a primary obstacle to achieving cosmic consciousness: the perception that God exists externally, rather than within oneself, leading people to seek divine connection through external sources.
His remedy involves cultivating a continuous sense of companionship with God in every moment and task, fostering a realization of oneness that potentially leads to a complete transformation.
"It is better for illumination to arrive gradually because the complete severance is very dangerous."
Russell advised that the arrival of illumination should be gradual, as the intensity of the full experience could be overwhelming, causing individuals to lose their desire to return to their physical state.
He warned that while severing the soul from the body can be easily accomplished, reintegrating into the physical body can be extremely difficult.
"He spent the next 42 years translating what he had been given."
After a profound experience lasting 39 days, Russell dedicated the next 42 years of his life to disseminating the knowledge he acquired.
In 1946, he met Daisy Cook, whom he later married and renamed Lao. Together, they sought a place to house his work, which culminated in finding an Italian marble palace in Virginia, where they opened the University of Science and Philosophy.
"Whatever anyone makes of the cosmology, the shape of that ending deserves attention on its own."
Walter Russell's life journey is remarkable, transitioning from a boy running a dry goods store to living in a marble palace surrounded by his artwork, all while teaching others about his cosmological discoveries.
Despite facing skepticism from the scientific community, in 1949, at the age of 78, he published another book, revisiting the foundational insights he had as a child and illustrating the clarity and simplicity of his early observations.
"The voice that whispered to a boy in a forest whispers in me because it whispers in everyone and always has."
Russell's teachings emphasize the importance of returning to quietness to connect with the source.
This deep stillness is where true knowing and power reside, and the practice of returning to this quiet space allows individuals to tap into their inherent genius without external validation or qualifications.
Ultimately, the essence of his message is that everyone carries the light within and is capable of becoming a messenger of the light through attentiveness and quiet reflection.
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