Be the 100th
Human to Create World Peace
March 8, 2008
It may feel to many of us that we can do little at this point
in time to help create peace in the world. However, by just
being conscious of our thoughts we might, indeed, be able to
move ourselves and the rest of the world just a little bit
closer to this goal. We can find peace if we only become
conscious of where we place our attention.
As the great Rebbe Nachman taught, "You are wherever your
thoughts are. Make sure your thoughts are where you want to
be." I heard this same teaching in metaphysical circles many
years ago expressed in a slightly different manner: Thoughts
are creative. What we think about expands. Our thoughts attract
what we want, which most recently has been called the Law of
Attraction.
In other words, if we spend much of our time watching the news
of war and terrorism and if we focus most of our attention on
the lack of peace and joy in the world, we will find ourselves
experiencing more war, terrorism, sorrow, and suffering.
However, if we force ourselves to focus on that which brings us
joy or makes us feel peaceful, we will find ourselves
increasing our own joy and peace. In addition, the more joyous
and peaceful our thoughts are - and, in turn, we are, the more
positive energy we send out into the world. Our manner of
thinking, therefore, becomes a form of "tikkun olam," which in
Hebrew means a way to heal or fix the world.
If enough of us focus our attention on joy and peace, maybe,
like the 100th monkey, we can cause others around the world to
experience more joy and peace. According to the story, one
monkey learned to wash its potato in water before eating it and
then taught others to do the same. When the metaphorical 100th
monkey began washing its potato in the water, the rest of the
monkeys suddenly began doing so. As if traveling in the
collective monkey unconscious, this behavior jumped across the
ocean and other monkeys in other places began washing their
potatoes as well.
It seems we don't need everyone to change to create change on a
larger scale. We just need enough people to change. Imagine,
you could be the "100th" human to transform your consciousness
and create a critical mass, a metaphysical and spiritual
quantum leap! And, "abracadabra," world peace would become a
reality.
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