Unfortunately it can also be very limiting. Most of us have all heard of the “100th monkey” story. If not here it is.
Over 50 years ago on an island off Japan, scientists had been observing the Japanese monkey in the wild for a period of over 30 years. They were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. Although the monkeys liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes they did not like the dirt! Then a young monkey 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 about this new way and they taught their mothers too.
This new idea was gradually picked up by various monkeys and over a period of about 6 years the scientists observed that all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this better way. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes. Then something startling took place. One morning there were say 99 monkeys on the 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 group was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!
Although the exact number may vary, the Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the consciousness 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!
This is similar to the phenomenon today of biological farming. Right now many farmers are becoming aware of new and better ways of farming. Sick and tired of compacted soils, lack of rain, higher input costs and just not getting better returns despite all their efforts they have looked for other answers outside the conventional system that they know so well. Many of these farmers have gone to talks, seen TV programs about biological farming or have bought books; CDs and Digital Products. Unfortunately these farmers are still the minority, often intimidated by the opinions of their local community. However there is no way now that they will return to the old practices as they have indeed found new and better ways and are enjoying the benefits that a healthy soil provides!
How many farmers is it going to take until the majority of farmers become aware of these new and better ways of biological farming – farming in tune with nature? The unfortunate situation is that today we are moving—sliding downhill—toward the probability or the likelihood that the life in our soils is so depleted that many farmers will give up.
Your voice of awareness is needed to spread the word! Your neighbour may be the “Hundredth Monkey” who may add the consciousness energy to create the shared awareness of the urgent necessity to rapidly achieve a sustainable biological farming system for the benefit of all.
