MOVING TOWARD THE MILLIONTH CIRCLE:
Energizing the Global Women’s Movement
(title and subtitle of new book)
For a UN Fifth World Conference on Women
(“reading line” on bookjacket)

PREFACE

I am in flow writing Moving Toward the Millionth Circle. I think of it as a sequel to The Millionth Circle (1999) but with a different focus. The Millionth Circle described how real change happens when a critical number of people adopt a new perspective. It also had how-to sections about creating women’s circles with a sacred center which I called “Zen and the Art of Circle Maintenance.” While still very much about circles, the shift of focus in this book is toward a definition of heart-centered activists and how circles help to sustain and support and be a sanctuary for the women who work for change in their lives and in the world.

I was inspired to write this for women I meet each year at the UN from grassroots organizations, who are motivated to act by compassionate action or fierce mother bear protectiveness, which is a combination of love and outrage. It is also for women wherever they are, who are activists because of a promise made to others, to divinity, or to themselves. It may have been a calling or is the result of one step leading to another. It may be a vow to stop a multi-generational pattern of family or institutional indifference of abuse toward women, that will stop with them. Regardless of what started them on this path, these are women committed to look after others. And now, when resources are scarce, and there is more need than ever, the generation of founders and leaders, most who were energized by the UN global women’s conferences from 1975 to 1995, are older and in need of reinforcements and new inspiration.

I am writing this for younger women who want to get involved in something bigger than they may know of, who will recognize a calling when they meet a need that touches heart and outrage and for those who can join the millionth circle movement. I am a persevering advocate for a UN 5th World Conference on Women (5WCW) and circles because I believe that this would energize a global women’s movement, and provide activists with the support they need to keep vision alive and hearts open. There is still time for inter-generational mentoring, which is a two-way experience that gives to both. It is a time for circles instead of hierarchies, for home-base circles and virtual online ones. It’s a time for synchronicities to happen and for a ripple effect that can go viral on the internet.

I believe that empowered women in sufficient numbers can truly influence the course of humanity at this time in history and fulfill Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Sun Kyi’s vision about women’s ability to contribute to peace. She was under house arrest for 15 of 21 years between 1989 and 2010 for her opposition to the military junta’s seizure of the democratic government of Burma. In her open­ing keynote via a videotape to the 1995 NGO Forum on Women at the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Bei­jing, she said:

    “For millennia women have dedicated themselves almost exclusively to the task of nurturing, protecting and caring for the young and the old, striving for the conditions of peace that favour life as a whole. To this can be added the fact that, to the best of my knowledge, no war was ever started by women. But it is women and children who have always suffered most in situations of conflict. Now that we are gaining control of the primary historical role imposed on us of sustaining life in the context of the home and family, it is time to apply in the arena of the world the wisdom and experience thus gained in activities of peace over so many thousands of years. The education and empowerment of women throughout the world cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life for all”.

I am convinced that we contribute by what we do, to how things turn out. This thought energizes me and 5WCW supporters, who were heartened by the joint statement of the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Al-Nasser on March 8, 2012. They said it was high time for a Global Women’s Conference, asked member-states to pass a draft resolution to set plans in motion for a 5WCW. Their support was preceded by almost a decade of grassroots activism: 5WCW blue buttons—now a logo, parallel events during the Commission on the Status of Women, and statements sponsored by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that were accepted as official documents and translated into the six UN official languages, a petition with substance and thousands of signatures, and a website (5wcw.org <http://5wcw.org> )

Their joint initiative stirred opposition—with lobbying against 5WCW by ambassadors from member states that oppose empowering women, and unexpectedly from other quarters, including some prominent NGOs who voiced their concerns about losing ground on women’s rights and about the lack of money for a conference. Their opposition became anti-5WCW political fodder, evidence that “Women don’t want this conference!”

Moving Toward the Millionth Circle is written to inspire and enlist women to be millionth circle and 5WCW activists. Women do want there to be a World Conference on Women in the 21st Century, which will contribute toward energizing a global women’s movement. The conference is not a goal in itself, but a means toward valuing women and the feminine to bring about a tipping point.

Circles with a sacred center support those in them to be true to themselves, to follow whatever the calling or assignment might be, to support each other, make wise choices, and call upon invisible help through prayers, intentions, and meditation. It’s about circles and about heart-centered activists. It is about a third wave of feminism, about spiritual equality and the healing power of the sacred feminine .

Table of Contents

Preface:

1. Heart Centered Activism

2. Moving toward the Millionth Circle

3. Stone Cutters

4.Sovereignty

5. Circle or/and Hierarchy

6. Path with Heart

7. The Dalai Lama and the Millionth Circle

©2012 by Jean Shinoda Bolen.
Manuscript for Moving Toward the Millionth Circle

Breaking News: September 24, 2012. Jean was one of the honorees at the CEDAW Women’s Human Rights Award Luncheon, with Mayor Lee of San Francisco the keynote speaker. She and ten others received “Inspiring An Equal Future” an impressive, heavy, engraved plexiglass award: hers read, Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen, Convener Millionth Circle,” category: “Global.” Each awardee was introduced by a supporter of the Friends of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women, who read the edited bio of the awardee. Acceptance remarks were limited to twelve words: Jean’s was: Energize the global women’s movement. Ripple effect from 5WCW. End patriarchy! Award was accompanied by a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Nancy Pelosi, and three other officials.

    My activist, Jungian analyst and author roles are quite compatible. To take on an assignment as an activist is for most of us, an act of service—an expression of compassion in action, an element of living our personal myth or individuation. When I lecture and lead workshops, the outer world of events and inner archetypal world, psychological and spiritual come together. If you are at a crossroad and can now make a choice about what direction you will take, these are the questions:  “Is it meaningful?  Will it be fun?  (it is fun to use your talents and your life experience, be with others who share your values, make a difference), and Is it motivated by love?

Upcoming Events

Oct. 19-20, 2012 - Portland, Maine

C.G. Jung Center for Studies in Analytical Psychology

Friday October 19 at 7-9 PM  Trees and Tree People: Greening Ourselves, Saving the Planet

Saturday, October 20  - 9AM – 5PM workshop: Grail, Goddesses, Circles and the Sacred Feminine       

Click Here for information or to register

November 16-18, 2012 – Big Sur, CA
Esalen Institute
A Workshop for Women: Your One Wild & Precious Life
Click Here for information or to register

 (For more details about current schedule: Click Here

End of November-Beginning of December 2012
Book & Lecture Tour to Argentina, Peru, Chile
Arrangments through my Spanish publisher
Editorial Kairos Click Here
Spanish Translations of Jeans Books Click Here

    Books:

    The Tao of Psychology: Synchronicity and the Self
    Goddesses in Everywoman: Powerful Archetypes in Women’s Lives
    Gods in Everyman: Archetypes that Shape Men’s Lives
    Ring of Power: Symbols and Themes  in Wagner’s Ring Cycle and in Us
    Crossing to Avalon: A Woman’s Mid-life Quest for the Sacred Feminine
    Close to the Bone: Life-threatening Illness as a Soul Journey
    The Millionth Circle: How to Change Ourselves and The World
    Goddesses in Older Women:  Archetypes in Women Over Fifty
    Crones Don’t Whine: Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women
    Urgent Message From Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World
    Like a Tree: How Trees, Women, and Tree People Can Save the Plane
          
For more information about books: Click Here          
      (all available on Amazon.com)

With love, hope, perseverance and optimism,

Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD

Sign the 5WCW Petition
 

To join or follow the 5WCW group click on the links below
Facebook:

www.5wcw.org 
and the archival site www.5wwc.org
www.millionthcircle.org