The 100th monkey

There is a book by this title written by a man named Ken Keyes Jr.  It is about social awareness and is based on the following story.

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 monkey 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 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 was 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!

There are many discussions about the validity of this story about the hundred monkeys.  But it is something that Eastern Philosophy has been postulating for much longer than 70 years.  If you ever listen to gurus in Buddhism and Taoism the search for inner harmony is always about making change withing yourself, and watching as those around you change as well.

Gandhi  says, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

Lao Tzu says that "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."

Wonderful platitudes, and inspiring statements, at least for me.  but what do they mean?

I suppose for me, they mean that if I refuse to take that first step, if I refuse to be what I want the world to be, if I stick with the bad habits I complain about in others, I cannot expect others around me to make the change.

I thought a lot about this as I was thinking about the potential of going back to graduate school and potentially changing my life in a completely new direction.

My calling is to help others fully realize their being.  My calling is to help others get in sync body, mind and soul.  Yet, I still follow the habits that bring me suffering.  I am not taking the steps toward positive change in my life.  Not really.

Certainly going to seminary was a step in the direction of positive change, but I keep making arguments to myself about why that won't work and how I can't do that full time.  I keep finding reasons why seminary was a good growing experience for me, but was ultimately a waste of time and money.  And in a way it is.  I have no certification other than an ordination and an assignment to a church in NYC that allows me the opportunity to legally perform weddings.  But it isn't a degree, it won't necessarily help me get on at a church.  I am now minister, whatever that means.

But I am still working at a job I don't really love, in a career that appears to be quickly reaching a dead end.  And I continue to fight to keep it.  I want to keep the security of it.  I want to keep the balance I feel with it.  I want to keep it because it is something to hold on to.

I realized in talking to friends about going back to school and making that change in my life, that there would be a lot of sacrifices that would have to be made.  It wouldn't be easy.  But, it would be a break in the habit.  It would be a step toward fully walking into being me.

How can I teach anyone else to fully realize themselves if I am not fully realizing myself?  So here I suppose is the opportunity to open up and step into fully realize myself.

So I end with this prayer:

Lord, I find myself wanting to take back control.  I find myself wanting to revert to the comfortable.  To hope for the recovery of the industry so that I can return to a place of relatively comfort.  Help me remain open to this change, this challenge.  With that, help me be able to live a life that will allow this challenge to be met without much struggle for those who are mine to provide and care for.   I have given this over to you, and I leave it in your capable hands.  Amen.