Da Vinci Decoded: Discovering the Spiritual Secrets of Leonardo's Seven Principles

by Michael J. Gelb

Author Michael Gelb ignited the current fascination with all things Da Vinci with his runaway bestseller, How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day. Just as that book showed readers how to use the seven Da Vincian principles to develop their creative potential, his new book, Da Vinci Decoded, will help you use the same principles to cultivate your spiritual potential.

Wonder. Appreciation. Awareness. Wholeness…In the Western world of the fifteenth century, these personal qualities were all boldly embodied in one extraordinary man. From art to botany, anatomy to mechanics, Da Vinci was a profoundly original thinker fully in tune with the world of man and nature, and with the divine spirit that bridges the two. In this bold new guide to awakening the soul, Michael Gelb draws on Leonardo’s writings, inventions, and works of art to show how you, too, can practice the seven essential principles by which Leonardo lived and worked:
Filled with practical exercises that will help you put each of the seven principles into use, a series of reflective questions designed for self-assessment, and inspirational sayings drawn from the world’s great wisdom traditions, Da Vinci Decoded offers a wide range of tools to use in your spiritual quest. Now you can let Leonardo and this book be your personal guides to creating your own personal spiritual renaissance today.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 28, 2004

About the author

The world’s leading authority on the application of genius thinking to personal and organizational development, Michael J. Gelb is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, innovative leadership and executive coaching. His clients include DuPont, Emerson, Genentech, KPMG, Merck, Microsoft, Nike and YPO.

Michael is a Senior Fellow at The Center for Humanistic Management and a member of the Leading People and Organizations Advisory Board at the Fordham University Gabelli School of Business. Michael was also awarded a Batten Fellowship in Innovation from the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business, and he co-directed the acclaimed Leading Innovation Seminar there for more than 10 years. Michael was honored as “Brain of the Year” (1999) by the Brain Trust Charity – other recipients include Steven Hawking, Garry Kasparov and Edward De Bono.

Michael is the author of 17 books including How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci, Discover Your Genius, Innovate Like Edison, and The Art of Connection: 7 Relationship Building Skills Every Leader Needs Now.

Michael’s books have been translated into 25 languages and have sold more than one million copies. Recent releases include The Healing Organization: Awakening the Conscience of Business to Help Save the World, co-authored with Prof. Raj Sisodia, and Mastering the Art of Public Speaking: 8 Secrets to Transform Fear and Supercharge Your Career.

FUN FACTS

Author, Speaker, Consultant, Juggler!

A professional juggler who performed with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, Gelb introduced the idea of teaching juggling to promote accelerated learning and team-building. He is the author of The 5 Keys to High Performance: Juggling Your Way to Success.

A passionate wine lover, Gelb is the originator of a unique and enjoyable approach to teambuilding as expressed in Wine Drinking For Inspired Thinking: Uncork Your Creative Juices.

Michael trained as a teacher of the Alexander Technique, (the method taught at The Juilliard School for cultivating commanding stage presence), while completing his Masters degree. His thesis became his first book – Body Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique.

A fifth degree black belt in the martial art of Aikido, Gelb is co-author with Grandmaster Raymond Keene, of Samurai Chess: Mastering Strategic Thinking Through the Martial Art of the Mind.

Reviews

[Fatima Al-Quwaie · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأت العديد عن كتب تطوير الذات و لكن هذا يتميز بنكهة دافنشية لذيذة، يتحدث الكتاب عن ٧ قواعد من شئنها ان تجعل حياة المرء افضل و قد تكون كدافنشي.
بالطبع لن اطبق جميع تلك القواعد ليس لصعوبتها و لكن لعدم اقتناعي بها.
لا يمنع ان هناك بعض النقاط تجعل من الكتاب مثيراً للاهتمام.

[Katinas Čiobrelis | knygos, kelionės ir kiti įdomūs dalykai · Rating 1 out of 5]

Knyga visiškas nesusipratimas. Pradžia lyg ir buvo įdomi, bet kuo toliau tuo labiau visokių sausų nereikalingų faktų. Nežinau ką norėjo pasiekti autorius čia knyga, bet man asmeniškai nepatiko.

[Abdulaziz Alsharieff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of nonsense , but still amazingly inlighting , good to read , respectful to all religion

With false perception of islam

Looks like a self improvement book hidden under a davinci robe

[Thalaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

- أن تصبح ساعياً، حاضناً السعي وراء الحقيقة ، راغباً بالمعرفة
إن روحية ليوناردو الإستقلالية لم تأته دون ثمن . كان سبّاقاً لعصره ، بأشواط ٍ في مجالات عديدة جداً
إلى حدّ أنه ربما كان من أكثر الناس وحشة في الحياة.
ويكتب ليوناردو ملاحظات تشجيعيّة ومؤكد وملهمة لنفسه: " سوف أستمر " لا أتعب أبداً من أكون مفيداً
.
تحدث مايكل غلب وشخصيات أخرى عن حياة ليوناردو دافنشي ومبادئه ومعتقداته الغامضة
وعن أعماله في مجالات عديدة وعن أمور كثيرة جداً
.
كتاب معرفي جيد

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some parts of the book smacks of hero worship, but I do find da vinci's paintings amazing. I guess the man himself will always be an enigma, talented, misunderstood, exalted, hated and loved. I am reminded that the search for truth lies more inwards, through a mental journey. When u engage the spirit of curiosita, you will at last see rather than look.

[حسن القلموحي · Rating 2 out of 5]

لا بأس فيه لكن فيه إبهار أكثر من القيمة

[Dana Al-Basha | دانة الباشا]

a gift from my dear father

[Stormy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit hokey, but trying to get more than just the immediate visual image from each work. I think Leonardo would have liked the effort, but not the lack of science, in the writing.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael J. Gelb is fantastic at putting such broad and complex concepts into words that can be heard and understood easily. I found his words spiritually cleansing before I had even read up to the bits in which he provides practices we can integrate into our every lives in order to live out the principles of Leonardo’s spiritual secrets. For concepts so massive, I felt that, without being too repetitive, Michael J. Gelb was able to portray, in just the right amount of clarification, the points he was trying to get across. It’s for these reasons that I would recommend this book (and already have) to friends of mine that are ready to get serious about awakening their senses of their spiritual selves and being one with the ultimate divine.

[Chris Craddock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a while ago but I guess I had to procrastinate. Guess I had ambitious plans for a grand review. I read a lot of books based on Dan Brown's book, The Da Vinci Code, or that alluded to it, like this book, which was really about Leonardo, his genius, and not his code. I am now reading another book by Michael Gelb on how to think like Da Vinci, so expect my Mona Lisa any day now.

[Jeanine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book -I am fascinated by Leonardo Da Vinci! This book is wonderful in providing the principles of Da Vinci and also excercises to live by.

[Rahmah ♾️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

هذااالكتاب تقراءه عشان ترجع له !
عممممممميق جداًالتطوير روحك وذاتك

[Mike Landau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well researched book with meaningful takeaways, but Michael Gelb is trying to do too much with this book. Each of the seven chapters dedicated to the Seven Principles of Da Vinci serve two purposes. 1) Express an uncomfortable amount of love and praise for the genius of Leonardo. 2) Share advice based on religious teachings on how to find meaning in your life.

These two topics are very different, and attempting to follow well researched analysis of Leonardo with step-by-step instructions of physical exercises that the reader should do to improve their life just feels forced. After each chapter I felt that although both points were insightful, one certainly did not reinforce the other.

What I did takeaway from this book were numerous insights on Da Vinci himself, and a really great book recommendation. Gelb references "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl, which I am reading now, and am thoroughly enjoying. Also, if you're looking for a book to help center your approach to living a full, undistracted, meaningful life, I recommend "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. This book is a must read, and is made up of the private journal musings of the former ruler of Rome.

[Trent Madden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am obsessed with Leonardo Da Vinci so naturally I was drawn to the spiritual implications of his genius. This first half of this book was really inspiring, but the back end tailed off a little bit and focused more on various spiritual and meditation philosophies of the world. While this tied back to Da Vinci in a way, I felt like it got a little off track. Still a pretty good book though and a good intro to exploration of universal spirituality. The sections about Leonardo’s curiosity and attention to detail were super interesting.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a large number of self-help and self-discovery books. Michael Gelb presents and interesting view on spiritual discovery. Will I do every item he talks about - probably not but I'm usually satisfied with these type of books if I pick up one or two good ideas. In my opinion it's not as good as his earlier book "how to think like Leonardo Da Vinci" but there's enough good points and ideas to make it worthwhile.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the book an okay read but nothing special to take away from it. It is evident throughout this book that Mr Gelb has a very high regard for Leonardo. Of course he was a genius, no question but there appears to be very little substance to the book and a whole lot of love. The reader can save some reading time but reading Mr Gelb's summary of the 7 principles on pages 34 and 35. Even so it is a short read which took me only a couple of days to read.

[Orin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is very fascinated by Leonardo Da Vinci and it can be overwhelming at points but I guess it's a good thing that he is passionate about. A lot of spiritual tips and how you can discover this through various exercises and reflections on Leonardo's life itself. It's part biography, part spirituality and sprinkled with quotes from religious texts and philosophers throughout. I liked it.

[Mysteryfan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author wrote a book about thinking like DaVinci. This book is sort of a sequel and explores the more spiritual side of DaVinci's work. I'm kind of meh about it. I think he's stretching it to include so many belief systems under one person.

[Kristen Stieffel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was pretty interesting, but I lost interest in the second half, which contains some new agey feel-good spritual excercises. A bit at the beginning that answers questions about _The DaVinci Code_ feels tacked on. A good book, but not great.

[Lois · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is insightful, if a little boring. Rather watch the accompaining TV series on Discovery. Easier to follow.

[Stella Nocturne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as "How to Think Like. . ." but still good. Now to go back to work on the exercises. . .

[Francisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gostei. Muitas teorias, muitos pormenores a servirem de factos.

[Lori Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A should-read book on creative frameworks in self development for knowledge workers, managers, executives, and entrepreneurs.

[Ghada Zain · Rating 1 out of 5]

a loud of crap with alot of incorrect information specifically the ones regarding Islamic perspective on things.

[τλιϓλ · Rating 1 out of 5]

لا أراه بتلك الروعة التي حكوا عنها وكان يجب أن أعلم أنهم حينما يمدحون كتابا ما فلن يعجبني. إنني أقع في الفخ كثيرا بسبب حسن ظني بالبعض وبذوقه.
ياللوقت الضائع =_=

[مرتضى الموسوي · Rating 5 out of 5]

جيد جداً

[Kavita Card · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seemed pretty formulaic - like gelb took a number of theories and exercises from other people and put them together without putting his own spin on them. It seemed commercial and gimmicky.

[Shrooq Alsubaie · Rating 1 out of 5]

الكثير من المبالغات و الهرطقه و الترجمة سيئه جدا،، اقتباسات القران و الحديث مُحرَّفه .. لايخلو من بعض النقاط الجيدة

[Mohamed Essam · Rating 4 out of 5]

اعشق هذا النوع من الروايات المثيرة للجدل