Earlier this month, the Earth & Spirit Center took part in the Louisville Resonant City Peace Project, part of the larger Global Peaceful Cities Project. I served on the planning committee for a time and did an interview about the project for the Earth and Spirit Podcast. The project leaders chose a specific focus area in Louisville, gathered enough meditators from across the city (and beyond) to equal a certain minimum percentage of that area’s population, and facilitated 20-minute guided daily meditations for 11 days, with the intention of reducing crime and violence in that area by at least 25%. It is a double-blind research study, so none of the meditators knew what part of Louisville was the focus area. Number-crunching PhD statisticians will now be analyzing Louisville crime data to see if there is a correlative reduction in crime. 

 

This project is based on the conviction – subjected to scientific scrutiny – that meditation can have tangible effects beyond just the individual meditator and her own behaviors. A musical analogy explains it best. I’m a guitarist, and even without my touching the strings, my guitar can vibrate sympathetically in response to tones of my voice or other instruments, when those frequencies match the guitar tuning. Similarly, it may be possible for there to be resonance and amplification of shared, focused prayerful and meditative intentions for the peace and well-being of others – such that there are tangible correlative effects. I don’t pretend to comprehend that, but in a world of interdependent quantum entanglement (I love Einstein’s phrase, “spooky action at a distance”), it certainly doesn’t seem implausible. I certainly like the idea of resonating with others who share common intentions for good.

 

The point, which we’ve emphasized since opening our doors in 2005, is that meditation is never just a private pastime. It can and should have ripple effects – resonance! – far beyond yourself. As always, we’re here to help and support you as you tune up, center down, and join the symphony.