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Consciousness Shift

Submitted by Susan Livingston on March 10, 2006 - 1:01am.
This is for the people who ask me what we mean when we say that there will be a consciousness shift when the idea of a Culture of Peace reaches critical mass.

The Hundredth Monkey
by Ken Keyes, Jr.
A Story About Social Change

The Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years. In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant. An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way, and they taught their mothers, too. This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists. Between 1952 and 1958, all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.

Then, in the autumn of 1958, IT HAPPENED! Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning, there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let's further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes. By that evening, almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough. But an even more surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea! Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes. Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind.

Although the exact number is not known, this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the conscious property of those people. BUT there is a point at which if only one more person tunes in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone, and we say that critical mass has been achieved and a consciousness shift has occurred.

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Inner*Child

Submitted by Rainbow Brain on March 22, 2006 - 3:33pm.

Kid*Stuff

Kids are stuffed full of joy and hope for the new day,
Stuffed full of curiosity and energy in which to play,
Stuffed full of innocence and grace beaming from every crack in their face,
Stuffed full of emotions and haste with not one moment to waste,
Stuffed full of life and love then let loose on this world like the wings of a dove.

* * *
Support, love and live the dreams of your Inner*Child, for S'he will bring you peace.

BL*M

Love*Rulz - (Available on DVD ;) - @
Timeless-ink-Press.com

Public Peace

Submitted by Susan Livingston on March 21, 2006 - 10:15am.

Children are the peacebringers. I've heard it said that peace is a women's issue. Even moreso, it's a children's issue. There's a line from a song in "South Pacific": "You've got to be taught to hate and fear." It's not our natural state of being to hate and fear. Our natural state of being is to love and trust, and the children can show us the way back to that true path.

I was in my doctor's waiting room last week when four-month-old Jeremiah caught my eye. I never deny eye contact to a child. He was so open that I had to smile and wave hello. He responded with that unmistakable universal "pick me up" gesture - leaning toward me with outstretched arms. His mother was shy about making eye contact with me, but she relinquished him to me and told me his name and age when I asked. He and I played "big hug" - made my day! He shared his peace with me, and I shared it with his mother. I can't help thinking that his mother's peace also grew as a result. In fact, in that moment, in that place, the amount of peace multiplied itself.

Another way to make our peace public is to celebrate in public places where the media have access to us. I know so many peaceloving people, and yet even the so-called progressive media think we're an apathetic, spineless, ignorant minority. Participation in nature walks, book circles, drum circles, multi-ethnic food fairs, and festivals of all kinds will go a long way toward making peaceful sounds and movements even if you're not the type to demonstrate or attend political rallies.

Share your peace.

Editor, propeace.net

big happy movement

Submitted by Jason White on March 20, 2006 - 10:48pm.

Susan Livingston wrote:
much of our problem today is due to the fact that violence makes more noise and moves around so much more than peace. My personal favorite solution is public song and dance, and I'm guessing that others can enlarge on that.

So true. I take the train into the city to work each day, and I am often struck by the silence and constriction that people exhibit, myself included. There is no joy and delight anywhere on the train, with one exception. A working mother brings her small child with her each day, and around her there is always conversation. There are always smiles.

When did adults stop moving, really moving? Children make big happy movements, demanding a reaction and an adjustment from their surroundings. There is mystery and surprise and unintended creative genius. There is discovery. This is waging peace.

Lovely Prayer

Submitted by Susan Livingston on March 20, 2006 - 9:08pm.

..., but remember that, while peace starts within, it must not end there. Prayers and conscious support are necessary but not sufficient; your physical presence is needed or your peace cannot penetrate and perpetuate. I used to think that I was fulfilling my responsibility by achieving the peace that comes with knowing that I was doing the best I could do - playing the hand I was dealt - and leading an exemplary life. However, I've come to believe that much of our problem today is due to the fact that violence makes more noise and moves around so much more than peace. My personal favorite solution is public song and dance, and I'm guessing that others can enlarge on that.

Editor, propeace.net

Peace Within

Submitted by belnapj on March 20, 2006 - 9:26am.

In the philosophy my partner and I practice it is beleived that peace first begins within. We also practice prayer as a method of unifying minds to accomplish intent. "Ask and it shall be given". "As a man believeth so shall it be done unto him". These quotes from a jewish mystic that still bear truth today.

Here is a prayer that will promote joy and peace within.

Beloved Mother your spirit lives within us always, joy is within us always. In every moment of being aware of you, we connect with a sacred celebration that is happening within us as our humanness embraces our sacredness. The joy of our souls is profound. We experience a joyful celebration of knowing that we are whole and holy being created by You and sustained by you. Mother, because your spirit lives within us we are whole and holy beings. Amen.

Namaste'

That's the Spirit

Submitted by Susan Livingston on March 18, 2006 - 7:52pm.

...and welcome aboard, Jeff and Jill. I'm glad you "get it." One of my fellow activists says it so well: "Protest [antiwar] is the sound of victimization. Rally [propeace] is the sound of empowerment." I like to say that protest is the sound of a two-year-old with a load in his pants!

I hope you'll get around to sharing some of the "messages" you've received regarding peace through peaceful means. Now that you are a member, you can "create content" with the link in the left sidebar, and one of the choices will be "personal blog entry." Click there and you'll get a composition screen. Just don't forget to Post after you Preview, or you lose your work.

Editor, propeace.net

Gratitude

Submitted by belnapj on March 18, 2006 - 11:09am.

My partner and I are so grateful to find this site. We have received so many messages regarding peace through peaceful means. It is reported that Mother Teresa was once asked to participate in a war protest and repsonded that she would not participate in a protest but if she was asked to march in support of peace she would be there. That is what this site feels like to us. We gladly add our prayers and conscious support to this powerful movement and the unfolding of the shifting of awareness across the globe.

Jeff & Jill

Shift*Evidence

Submitted by Rainbow Brain on March 17, 2006 - 6:45pm.

Perhaps in these times it is also relevant to point out that the creation of any large scale shift in consciousness follows the same natural pattern and path of every universal creation event. The evolution of each being based on a single localized action, which then expands outward.

Therefore, one can look for the seemingly unrelated outcomes, as each small shift builds another bridge toward the greater sum of these related parts coming into a full scale action of knowing what the new reality is.

Creation is not static, and not based on a single event, it is the ongoing series of motions and actions which expand the spherical reality into the process of continuum.

"You Are Doing It" ;)

BL*M
Global-Luvolution.blogspot.com