A  Gallery of Light, photographed in North Wales over the last few years.

 

I woke in the night with a dark sense of foreboding hanging over me.  I glanced at the clock.  The fingers pointed to 3.25am.  I knew that sleep would elude me while my mind was enshrouded in darkness.  It’s always worse at night.  The imagination slips effortlessly into overdrive and all manner of anxious thoughts arise from the subconscious.

I made my way to the kitchen, brewed a mug of strong tea and settled back into bed to write my Morning Pages, even though there was no sign of morning at that unearthly hour.  In the garden a lone blackbird sang a beautiful song.  He instinctively knew that dawn was on the way.  

After a few minutes I began to feel surprisingly calm.  Writing does that for me.  It’s like emptying my mind onto the paper, watching the indigo-coloured ink from the fountain pen as it makes its way across the pages quite automatically, or so it seems.  Anxieties and worries fade away. 

Serenity settled over my whole being.  I eased myself back against the pillows as peace descended.  The dark thoughts had fled.   A new feeling of anticipation arose from a place unknown, deep inside, as if drawn up by a hand unseen.  I sighed with relief. 

Writing is marvellous therapy.  I should do it more often, not just early mornings.  I find being in nature very therapeutic too. 

Peace reigned profound.  I love this feeling.  Pleasure and Peace go hand in hand.  The mind quietens and the body relaxes.  Simple pleasures are best.  I will make an effort to write in natural surroundings as soon as possible.  I am inspired. 

All these feelings arose quite naturally, simmering on the surface of my consciousness.  A new sense of excitement hovered in the background.  Something good was beckoning on the horizon.  

I hesitate to enjoy life, to live life to the full.  So many times I have asked myself: “How can I be truly happy when the world suffers?”  I remember a mentor saying to me “You carry the world on your shoulders, but there’s no need, for God already carries it on His.  And His shoulders are much broader than yours.”

I do believe that what we focus on…..grows.  When we dwell on the suffering in the world, we are adding to it.  But when we dwell on the beauty, the kindness, and the love…they grow too.  The world becomes a lighter, brighter place.  Just imagine if everyone did this.  In fact, if you were to add the Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon to the equation, it would only need a relatively small proportion of humanity dwelling on light and goodness, to tip the scales for the better.  

The Hundredth Monkey

A story of social change.

The Japanese monkey, Macaca Fuscata, had been observed in the wild for 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 that 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, right 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 something startling took place.  In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes – the exact number is not known.  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.

THEN IT HAPPENED!!

By that evening almost everyone in the tribe were washing sweet potatoes before eating them.  The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!  

But notice : a most 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 may vary, 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 these 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!

From the book “The Hundredth Monkey” by Ken Keyes Jr.

[The book is not copyrighted and the material may be reproduced in whole or in part.]

What an amazing thought!  So let’s choose to be happy and let’s live our precious lives to the full.  What a difference this will make.  Our world will be uplifted out of the darkness and into the Light.  Eden will eventually be restored on earth. 

What good does misery do?  The end result is only more misery.  Misery spreads.  But so does Joy.  Joy begets Joy.  Happiness begets more happiness.  It will spring up naturally in our hearts, in every heart.  When we are uplifted, the world around us is uplifted.

So let’s shine our Light, knowing that every little flickering flame is helping to illuminate our world.  Every single one of us has something to offer and no offering is too small.  Nothing goes unnoticed.   Eventually these tiny flames will flare up into a stupendous blazing fire of Happiness, Joy, Peace, Beauty, and Love – all things good and beneficial, the way it was meant to be.  Paradise reclaimed and restored, firstly in our own heart and then across the globe.  The future is bright.  THE FUTURE BEGINS NOW.