The Big Idea

The beat returns - Friday Sept. 17, 2010, 7:00 PM

Maybe it is ridiculous to think we can change the world. We know it is ridiculous not to try. Are we simply victims of fate, or are we creating a fate that will victimize us? This is a Global Experiment that will use drumming to focus a collective positive intention, then send it around the world in a continuous wave to improve our relationship with each other, and with a living planet upon which we live, breath, and have our being. 10 Billion Beats started in Sept. 2009. It grew and grew until nearly 200,000 people participated around the globe. In 2010 the grassroots movement will be even bigger and we invite you to be a part of it.

"It is quite true that in the history of human thinking the most fruitful developments frequently takeplace at those points where two different lines of thought meet..."

Werner Heisenberg

Sound - vibration - frequency - beat has for millennia been an avenue for outward creation and inner exploration. When we listen to the lilt of a mountain brook, or the rhythm of a human heart, sound provides us a pathway to the subtle energies in the deep reaches of our psyche. When we attune with the rhythm of those around us we join in the harmonious dance of life. Sound interconnects us with others and transports us to consciousness states where we encounter insight, healing, growth, and our highest creativity. So what might happen if we use the sound of drumming—like a physical prayer or meditaion—to help balance our relationship as a human family and with the Earth itself?

The human heart beats billions of times in a life. The human brain has about 10 billion cells that connect our nervous system and exchange innumerable signals every moment to create our thoughts and direct life functions. While 10 billion seems like a hugh number, to be human is to engage grand scale operations each time we simply take a breath. We have overlooked the magnitude of what it takes to be human and as we approach 10 billion humans on this earth, we have underestimated the effects of our existence on the planet. With, or without, our cooperation, nature will bring balance to the relationship.

This is an intention experiment.

It seems that somewhere deep within our collective psyche, for as long as humankind has been able to voice it, people have been predicting a world-ending catastrophe accompanied by a last minute rescue from some higher source. Gifted seers like early warning radar, have predicted that some enormous change will occur in this creation. Shamans have prophesied this "great turning" in indigenous villages, every religious tradition has recorded some description of it in their scripture, and like a weather-change many sentient beings that walk this planet sense something in their bones. 2012, Rapture, Earth Changes, Ascension, The End of Days, we don't know what is coming. For many it is a cause for alarm, for others a reason for joy. It is not our wish to challenge your religious beliefs or question that which brings you solace. Whatever the case turns out to be, in this coming period more will be asked of us. Whether it is in a New Heaven, on a New Earth, or walking more miles in the same pair of shoes, we should be asking, "How can we help create the world we all can live in, now, and come 2013?"

We will use positive intention to affect the uncertain times we sense and benefit every life on the planet.

The Theory

The connection between Mind, Body, and Spirit is probably familiar to anyone reading this page. Many research studies have demonstrated that prayer improves healing. Perhaps you know that in your own life. Other researchers have shown the benefits of meditation, and several studies have validated that a group meditation can affect change, even reducing the incidence of crime in several major cities. There are two key elements in these methods that greatly improve success.

One should achieve a deep, calm, state of awareness. (trance-like)
It's most effective to focus the intention with the heart, on a purpose greater than one's self.

A prime principal of systems theory says that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." This applies to all systems whether they are human organizations, computers, machines, living organisms, and a living Earth. This experiment will focus intention on the "whole" using sound to achieve a deep collective state of awareness.

Why 10 Billion

In The Global Brain, author and researcher Peter Russell shows how during the development of life on this planet a dramatic shift took place each time specific elements reached a critical mass. Amino acids formed from less complex molecules, proteins formed from amino acids, single cell life from that and complex life forms developed from them. This is not an attempt to argue for or against any creation theory. I see it as simply following the hand of the Divine in the process of creation. The key element here is that the critical mass—at which a new "whole" came into being—seemed to be about 10 billion. When the population density of any of these elements approached this critical mass, the whole became something more than the sum of its parts. Human life on Earth is rapidly approaching this critical population threshold! We are seeing a shift in the connection between people (as you using the internet right now demonstrates) and a shift in the spiritual, mental, and physical paradigms that have served us in the past. This intention experiment is to assist the emergence of a human family at peace with the Earth and itself.

All that is required from you is your participation.