I like to think of us as interconnected beings, each at the center of a large spider web and at each interstice of the web another person is at the center of their own web, and so on and so on, each connected to a vast network of spider webs that stretches in all directions. As with a spider’s web, if I push or pull on a point on the web, all of the nearby intersections move in the direction of the push or pull. If I walk along the web, wiggle or move, think a positive thought or fall into drama, the reverberations from those actions flow outward from my center and impact everyone on the web.
The effect of each movement or reverberation impacts each other person differently depending on their level of connection and their emotional and physical proximity. You can imagine that the webbing connecting family and friends is large and sensitive, gossamer filaments that tremble with the least thought or feeling.
While we can feel ripples coming from the far reaches of the web, we are more closely connected to our family, friends, close associates, and community. If the web moves a foot in our proximity, we feel almost the full movement, but if it moves a foot at the far edge of the web, we are barely moved. Likewise, if we move a foot, we affect all those who are close to us by that foot. We send out waves that are large and strong close to us and gradually weaken as they extend to the edge of the web.
When we take up a self-transformation practice like meditation, yoga, taiji, qi gong, or turning, the ripples from that practice reverberate out across the web and support not only our personal transformation, but also affect our personal network and our community. If you raise your vibratory frequency or consciousness it affects all those around you. When you elevate your point in the spider web, the whole web shifts with you, with the greatest change affecting those in your immediate circle. As you continue to work on yourself, the benefits ripple out across your community. If you really want to help those around you, help yourself first: be dedicated, disciplined and devoted to your transformation practices!
For more information on the documented effects of group meditation read this article about the 1993 TM experiment’s effect on crime rates in Washington D.C.