Yoko Ono: The Tate Gallery Lecture (2004) - excerpt

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love
yoko

Water Talk

you are water
I’m water
we’re all water in different containers
that’s why it’s so easy to meet
someday we’ll evaporate together

but even after the water’s gone
we’ll probably point out to the containers
and say, “that’s me there, that one.”
we’re container minders

For Half-A-Wind Show, Lisson Gallery, London 1967.

Dance Report - on floating

(or how to make the city
so light that it floats
away in the sky)

Carry a stone. Go on
carrying heavier stones
until they become so
heavy that the whole
city starts to look
lighter than what you
are carrying.

Dance Report - on hiding

hide in the cupboard
a) until your family starts to wonder
b) until your family forgets you
(make choice)

Dance Report - on facing

face the wall throughout the year
and imagine banging your head
against it: a) slowly until the
walk collapses and you see the sky.
b) violently until your head is
gone.

consider if it is such a catastrophe
to live without your head or if it
shouldn’t be easier for you to go
around since your body would be much
lighter.

October 9th 2008

On 9 Oct 2008, John Lennon’s birthday, Yoko Ono asks the people of Iceland to join her and many others across the rest of the world in praying for peace and stability. At 8pm, as IMAGINE PEACE TOWER is illuminated on the island of Viðey, she asks everyone to join together and let the power of light and prayer become a collective expression of the desire for peace and harmony on our planet.


Dear Friends

Please join me not only in remembering John on October 9th but also in spreading the message of peace. This is something that was so important to John - the fact that we could all work together for the positive good of our planet. He would have loved how we are all mobilizing ourselves in thought and in action. It's time for action and the action is peace!
with love, yoko

Yoko Ono
9 Oct 2008
www.IMAGINEPEACE.com



9th midday Anchorage • 9th 1pm Los Angeles • 9th 2pm Guatemala • 9th 3pm Chicago • 9th 4pm New York • 9th 4pm Montreal • 9th 5pm Rio de Janeiro • 9th 8pm Reykjavik • 9th 9pm Liverpool • 9th 10pm Europe • 9th 11pm Baghdad • 10th midnight Moscow • 10th 1am Karachi • 10th 2am Dhaka • 10th 3am Bangkok • 10th 4am Shanghai • 10th 5am Tokyo • 10th 6am Sydney • 10th 7am Vladivostok • 10th 8am Suva • 10th 9am Auckland • 10th 10am Kiritimati

At that time, send your wishes to the Imagine Peace Tower by email:
wish@IMAGINEPEACE.com

post your handwritten wishes on a postcard to:
IMAGINE PEACE TOWER, PO Box 1009, 121 Reykjavík, Iceland

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 13th day

13th day
future time

color yourself
wait for the spring to come
let us know when it comes.

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 12th day

12th day
dreamtime

SWIM
SWIM IN YOUR DREAM AS FAR AS
YOU CAN UNTIL YOU FIND AN
ISLAND. TELL US RESULTS.

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 11th day

11th day
daylight

send
send something you can’t count

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 10th day

10th day
morning

find
go find a clover and send us
measurements weight of all
possible parts of the clover

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 9th day

9th day
afternoon

shake
go shake hands with as many
persons as possible. Write
down their names. Try in the
elevator, tube, escalator,
street, toilet, on top of a
mountain, in the dark, daydream,
on the clouds etc. make it a
nice handshake by holding a
flower in your hand, perfume or
wash your hand, etc.

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 8th day

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 7th day

7th day
8 p.m.

watch
boil water and watch until it
evaporates

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 6th day

6th day
evening

watch
have you seen a horizon lately?
go see a horizon, measure it
from where you stand and let us
know the length

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 5th day

5th day
afternoon

watch
go to the nearest fountain
and watch the water dance

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 4th day

4th day
in the afternoon

draw a large circle in the sky
let us know the diameter of the
circle (guess), direction and the
color of the sky you were watching
and the duration of your watching experience

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 3rd day

3rd day
in the evening

breathe together

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 2nd day

2nd day
at dawn

breathe

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival : 1st day

1st day
midnight

breathe

Dance Report

Yoko Ono's 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival to be held worldwide!

Dear Friends

I am very happy and suprised that so many of you did the Acorns Event which took 100 days!

I feel like we got to know each other through sharing those days.

As a little bonus to wind up the 100 Acorns blog, I will additionally present here (from 27 Sept 2008) my 13 Days Do-It-Yourself Dance Festival.

It was originally sent out by mail order in London between 27 Sept and 9 Oct 1967.

Keep dancing through life.
Know that you are not alone.
Enjoy!

lots of love
yoko

END PIECE

Each planet has its own orbit agenda.
Think of people close to you as planets.
Sometimes it's nice to just watch them
orbit and shine.


HAPPY ORBIT 2008!

Love, yoko

Yoko Ono
24 September '08




Bonus extra from tomorrow...

REVELATIONS

Bless you for your anger.
For it is a sign of rising energy.
Direct not to your family, waste not on your enemy.
Transform the energy to versatility
And it will bring you prosperity.

Bless you for your sorrow
For it is a sign of vulnerability.
Share not with your family, direct not to yourself.
Transform the energy to sympathy
And it will bring you love.

Bless you for your greed
For it is a sign of great capacity.
Direct not to your family. Direct not to the world.
Transform the energy to giving.
Give as much as you wish to take,
And you will receive satisfaction.

Bless you for your jealousy
For it is a sign of empathy
Direct not to your family, direct not to your friends.
Transform the energy to admiration
And what you admire
Will become part of your life

Bless you for your fear
For it is a sign of wisdom.
Do not hold yourself in fear.
Transform the energy to flexibility
And you will be free
From what you fear.

Bless you for your search of direction
For it is a sign of aspiration.
Transform the energy to receptivity
And the direction will come to you.

Bless you for the times you see evil.
Evil is energy mishandled and it feeds on your support.
Feed not and it will self-destruct.
Shed light and it will cease to be.

Bless you for the times you feel no love.
Open your heart to life anyway
and in time you will find
love in you.

Bless you, bless you, bless you.
Bless you for what you are.
You are a sea of goodness, a sea of love.
Count your blessings every day for they are your protection
Which stands between you and what you wish not.
Count your curses and they will be a wall
Which stands between you and what you wish.

The world has all that you need
And you have the power
to attract what you wish.
Wish for health, wish for joy.
Remember you are loved.


I love you!
y.o.

QUIZ VI

Heart Talk

The weight of your heart equals:
a) a feather - when you're happy
b) an ocean - when you're sad
c) an old truck on a dusty dirt road - when you're angry.
d) a bright summer cloud - when you're dreaming

QUIZ V

Check the one you think is right.

Wind Talk

The age of the wind is:
a) a billion years older than the Empire State Building
b) three hundred years older than the Alps.
c) a day younger than the sea.
d) two months younger than your daughter.
e) a wind will be born when you pass away.

QUIZ IV

Check the one you think is right.

Wink Talk

An intensity of a wink is:
a) two cars smashed head on.
b) a storm turned into a breeze
c) a water drop from a loose faucet.

QUIZ III

Check the one you think is right.

Line Talk

A line is :
a) a sick circle.
b) an unfolded word.
c) an agressive dot.
d) what you want to erase.
e) what you regret after you dish it out.

QUIZ II

Check the one you think is right.

Youth Talk

You are still young because:
a) you never matured.
b)you talk baby-talk to your mate.
c) your children say so.
d) your grandchildren say so.
e) you don't see any wrinkles on your face.
f) you still hate the same friends.
g) other reasons (give your reason).

QUIZ I

Check the one you think is right.

Yellow Talk

a) All colours are imaginary except yellow. Yellow is the colour of sun at its height. Other colours are shades of yellow in varying degrees. - Dr. Song

b) Yellow is the only imaginary colour. - Dr. Suzuki.

c) All colours have yellow in it. - Dr. Lee

d) All colours are imaginary - Dr. Kato

QUESTIONNAIRE II

Check the following statements: True/False.

1) Adam and Eve were social outcasts from another planet.

2) People are afraid of shadows. People are even more afraid of being in the shadow. But without a shadow, life will be two dimensional.

3) There is no ownship in beauty.

4) The human race is in its embryonic stage.

Make your own truth/false lines.

5)

6)

QUESTIONNAIRE I

Check the following statements: True/False

l) All streets are invisible. The visible ones are fake ones, though
some visible ones are the end parts of the invisible ones.

2) If you wear something long enough it becomes part of you and you suffer from serious physical maladjustment when you take it off.
A woman died from taking off her ring she wore for ten years. A man was found to be non-existent when his title was taken away.

3) When you leave things, you leave your spirit behind as well. But if you don't leave them, you age.

4) Your brother is the man you killed in the past world. He was born in your family because he wanted to be near you.

5) There are one thousand suns rising every day. We only see one of them because of our fixation on monolithic thinking.

6) Grapefruit is a hybrid of lemon and orange.
Snow is a hybrid of wish and lament

WISH PIECE VI

Write all the things you want to do.
Ask others to do them and move on.
Keep dancing.

WISH PIECE V

Whisper your desire to the wind.
Ask the wind to take it to the end of the world.

WISH PIECE IV

Make a promise to a tree.
Ask it to be passed on to other trees.

WISH PIECE III

Whisper your dream to a cloud.
Ask the cloud to remember it.

WISH PIECE II

Mend an object.
When you go through the proccess of mending, you mend something inside your soul as well.

Think of a "crack" in your own life or the World.
Ask for it to be healed as you mend the object.

WISH PIECE I

Make a wish. Write it down on a piece of paper.
Fold it and tie it around a branch of a Wish Tree.
Ask your friends to do the same.
Keep wishing until the branches are covered with wishes.

LIFE PIECE X

Walk in the footsteps of the person in front of you.

1. on the pavement.
2. in the mud.
3. on ice.
4. in the snow
5. on fire
6. on water

LIFE PIECE IX

Get a piece of rubber the size of your palm.
Imagine yourself stretching the rubber
to cover the world with it.
See how much you can cover.
Hang the piece of rubber
on the wall beside your bed.

LIFE PIECE VIII

A ghost was standing in a public toilet.
I suggested that he go up in the sky and be part of light.
"I don't want to do that", he said.
"Why?"
"Because I want to maintain my individuality".

I thought it was interesting that he would rather stand in the public toilet than join the light. Does he really treasure what he perceives as his individuality, or is he just simply afraid of making the move?

Tell us what you're story is in staying where you are now in life.

LIFE PIECE VII

Fly in your dream.
Spread your wings.
See how clear the world really is.
See how you never miss a turn.
See how you never fall.
See how you can fly forever.

Try to remember the feeling
when you are awake.

LIFE PIECE VI

Each time we don't say
what we want to say
we're dying.

Make a list of how many times
you died this week.

Dying is a necessary act
for living.

Just like inhaling is necessary
in order to exhale.

LIFE PIECE V

Imagine yourself being
in your mother's womb
as an embryo.

Stay in the position for awhile.

Ask yourself if you still wish to come out
into the world with all the knowledge
you have of what happened to you
and how you affected others.

LIFE PIECE IV

Life is about focusing and balancing.
If you focus and lose your balance, you fall.
If you balance and lose your focus, you die.

Check where your emphasis is on: balancing or focusing.

LIFE PIECE III

Imagine all the people singing one day of the year.
That day:
a) lawyers will argue in court by singing.
b) politicians will make their speeches by singing.
c) teachers will lecture by singing.
d) soldiers of both camps will sing to each other.

LIFE PIECE II

Imagine painting all the statues in the world in the color of the sky.

LIFE PIECE I

An old Japanese warrior who belonged to the famous Byakkotai Youth Regiment and who survived the battle of Suribachi Mountain at the turn of the century, told this story on a radio program when I was a child.

"I survived because I was too young to be a good swordsman. I mainly ran. From behind a tree, I witnessed a famous old warrior surrounded by enemy swordsmen fighting for his life. The warrior kept twisting and shifting his body, placing his body under the enemy sword in an angle in which it was difficult for the blade to slice the body. He kept placing his body in that angle as the swords kept coming down on him. From where I stood, it looked as though he was dancing a graceful dance. Suddenly, I noticed that he was in a very different position. I did not see it happening because it was done so gradually and subtlely, but somehow he removed himself from the center of the circle of swords. His enemies were now behind him.

After the battle, he showed me his clothes and his body. All his clothes were shredded into pieces, but his body had only small cuts he called scratches. That's when he taught me how to place your body under the blades"

This story helped me, at one point in my life, when I was attacked from all directions and had to make series of quick decisions and moves.

Tell us if there is any story that helped you to survive.

DANCE PIECE X

Think of all your movements in life as dance movements.

Breathe
Watch
Listen
Touch
and move between
The earth
and the sky

DANCE PIECE IX

a) Dangle empty cans and bottles all over your body.
Dance without making a sound.

b) Carry a heavy object on your back.
Dance as swiftly as you can.

DANCE PIECE VIII

Imagine one thousand suns rising at the same time.
Dance in the field.

DANCE PIECE VII

Sit at the dock.
Watch the seagulls dance.
Dance with them in your mind.
Keep dancing until you feel
you can hear their heartbeats.

DANCE PIECE VI

Dance in your dream.
Hug your mother.
Hug your father.
Make them hug each other.
Hug your sisters and brothers.
Make a family circle and dance together.

Dance in your dream.
Go out into the street and hug everybody you meet.
Tell them how beautiful they are.
Dance together.

Dance in your dream.
Hug all the trees in the world
Tell them how beautiful they are.
Dance around them.

DANCE PIECE V

Go from one room to another
Opening and closing each door.
Do it very slowly.

a) Imagine opening and closing
your brain when you do this.
b) Imagine opening and closing
your heart when you do this.
c) Imagine opening and closing
people's minds when you do this.

DANCE PIECE IV

Watch a butterfly dance.
Watch the fireflies dance.
Watch the lights on the water dance.

Let your heart dance with them.

DANCE PIECE III

Take your pants off
before you fight.

DANCE PIECE II

Dream together.

DANCE PIECE I

Dream.

SOUND PIECE X

Fly out into space.
Listen to the music
Earth is making.

Fly out into space.
a) Listen to the music
the planets are making.
b) Listen to the music
the Universes are making.

SOUND PIECE IX

Tape the sound of the lake gradually freezing.
Drink a cup of hot chocolate, afterwards.

SOUND PIECE VIII

Winter

Tape the sound of your friend ranting.
Bury it in the ground on a snowy day.

SOUND PIECE VII

Autumn

Tape the sound of the moon fading at dawn.
Give it to your mother to listen to
when she's in sorrow.

SOUND PIECE VI

Summer

Tape the sound of your baby son crying.
Let him listen to the tape when he is
going through pain as a grown man.

SOUND PIECE V

Spring

Tape the sound of friends laughing together.
Save it for a rainy day.

SOUND PIECE IV

Listen to what the next person is thinking.
Listen to what the person in the next house is thinking.
Listen to what the person in another city is thinking.
Listen to what the person in another country is thinking.
Tell us what you’ve heard.

SOUND PIECE III

Listen to your town breathing.

l) at dawn
2) in the morning
3) in the afternoon
4) in the evening
5) before dawn

SOUND PIECE II

Listen to your breathing.
Listen to your child breathing.
Listen to your friend breathing.

Keep listening.

SOUND PIECE I

Seng, Sung, Sang, Sing and Song were good musicians. The princess asked them to give a concert in the midsummer night of the warmest day in Li- Fung. It was a tradition in Li-Fung for the best musicians to get together and play for the people all night to soothe the heated air.

Seng said he would not play because he did not have enough time to prepare. Sung immediately went into an intensive and elaborate preparation. Sang did nothing. He wandered around the fields until the day came.

On the night, Seng was not there. Sung's music overwhelmed people. Sang went on the stage, and when he sung, the warm wind went through his lungs and came out, transformed into the most beautiful music. It was the warm wind that made the music, he said. Sing did not even sing. He just stood on the stage and smiled, and the smile sent vibrations into people's minds, and they heard, they heard their minds tingling, and they smiled back. Do you know anything about Song? People say that he was too pure, and one day, he just suddenly turned into air and was assimilated into the skies.

Who do you think you are, Sing, Seng, Sang, Sung or Song?

CLEANING PIECE VI

Send a note of appreciation to silent courageous people
you happened to have noticed: parents, teachers, shopkeepers,
street cleaners, artists, etc.

Keep doing it.
See what happens to the world.

CLEANING PIECE V

Let a list of arbitary names come into your mind as you go to sleep.
Say "bless you" after each name.
Do this with speed, by keeping a constant rythm,
so, in no way, you would hesitate to bless them.

Let a list of names come into your mind as you go to sleep.
Say "I forgive you" after each name.
Do this with speed, by keeping a constant rythm,
so you would not hesitate to forgive them.

You will find that sometimes you are blessing and forgiving
people you never thought you would.

Try whenever you remember to do it.
Try whenever you feel stressed out.
See what happens to your life.

CLEANING PIECE IV

Write down everything you fear in life.
Burn it.
Pour herbal oil with a sweet scent on the ashes.

CLEANING PIECE III

Try to say nothing negative about anybody.
a) for three days
b) for forty-five days
c) for three months

See what happens to your life.

CLEANING PIECE II

Make a numbered list of sadness in your life.
Pile up stones corresponding to those numbers.
Add a stone, each time there is sadness.
Burn the list, and appreciate the mount of stones for it’s beauty.

Make a numbered list of happiness in your life.
Pile up stones corresponding to those numbers.
Add a stone, each time there is happiness.
Compare the mount of stones to the one of sadness.

CLEANING PIECE I

Write down a sad memory.
Put it in a box.
Burn the box and sprinkle the ashes in the field.
You may give some ashes
to a friend who shared the sadness.

ROOM PIECE VI

Imagine what would happen
to your room
when you move away.

Imagine if there is anything
in the room you could take
when you die.

ROOM PIECE V

Get a telephone that only echoes back your voice.
Call every day and complain and moan
about your life and people around you.

ROOM PIECE IV

Count all the words in the book
instead of reading them.
Count all the objects in the room
without classifying them.

Unclog your mind.
Unclog your room.

Arrange your room
in a way you wish
your mind would be.

ROOM PIECE III

Think of your room as a prison.
Make the best of it and be proud.
Think of your room as a castle.
Invite people and share the joy.

ROOM PIECE II

Sleep in separate rooms.
Whisper to each other.

Sleep in separate cities.
Sleep in separate countries.
Sleep in separate planets.
Whisper to each other.

ROOM PIECE I

Your room is an extension of your mind.
If a room is lopsided, just trying to keep a cup on a table
becomes a drama.
If your mind is lopsided, everything you do becomes a drama.
See if anything is lopsided in your room. See if you would like
more lopsided things in your room.

Complimentary Balance:
a)When the snow covers the outside,
and your room is in a mess.
b) When the snow is melting into a mess,
and your room is in order.

Symmetrical Balance:
a) When the snow covers the outside,
and your room is in order.
b) When the snow is melting into a mess,
and your room is in a mess.

See which makes you feel more comfortable,
complimentary or symmetrical balance.

WATCH PIECE VI

Imagine water coming down a dry riverbed.

WATCH PIECE V

Watch two people arguing on the street.
Check how you feel about them.
a) Fly up about ten meters over their heads.
Check how you feel about them now.
b) Fly up as high as the Empire State Building
See how you feel about them now.
c) Fly to another planet.
See how you feel about them now.

WATCH PIECE IV

When you go to the fields or the woods, 

you will not know what it is really like there 

unless you are very, very still for over an hour.
Many birds, insects and animals stop making noise or hide as you arrive.

Lie down in the field before dawn.
See the changes.

Sit still in your room.
See what it tells you.

Be silent in a group of people
See what they reveal to you.

Live with a person for a long time.
See what unfolds:
a) in two years
b) in ten years
c) in twenty years

Do this holding peaceful loving thoughts.
Do this holding resentment and hatred.
Observe the difference.

WATCH PIECE III

Go outside of you.
Look at yourself walking down the street.
Make yourself tumble on a stone and fall.
Watch it.
Watch other people looking.
Observe carefully how you fall,
how long it takes and in what rhythm you fall.
Observe as seeing a black and white slow motion film.

Look at yourself rising from the fall.
See how long it takes you to start rising, how you stand
and what you do afterwards.
Observe it as seeing a technicolor film.

WATCH PIECE II

Watch a fly slowly dying on the windowsill.
Watch its movement and how long it takes
for it to become completely still.

Thank the fly, in your mind,
for showing what you may go through
one day.

WATCH PIECE I

Watch a hundred year old tree breathe.
Thank the tree in your mind for showing us
how to grow and stay.

CONNECTION PIECE VI

Swim as far as you can in your dream. Away from:
your home
your mate
your children
your pets
your belongings
your work place
your colleagues

See if you drown or survive.

CONNECTION PIECE V

How do you connect with people the most?

With the feeling of:
Curiosity
Interest
Forgiveness
Adoration
Competition
Envy
Fear
Control
Detachment
Rejection

Make a list of people around you and see how it comes out.
Ask yourself if you are comfortable with the way you connect.
Don't simplify the situation by just saying I love/hate them all.

CONNECTION PIECE IV

I was asked to create a special edition work for Sumdiskunst Museum in Roskhilde, Denmark as part of my one woman show.
So I made an edition of glass keys called, "A key to open a faded memory" and gave it to the Museum.

When I arrived in Roskhilde, to my surprise, I was presented with "The Key to Heaven". It was a beautifully carved metal key which had been made many centuries ago by the vikings of the town.

a) Was this a mere coincidence?
b) Was this a psychic connection made by the fact that we are all together, anyway?
c) Was I just tapping into my ancestral memory through
the memory genes in my DNA?
d) Was I in Roskhilde myself, in one of the many reincarnations?

Give us an example of your experience of a coincidence.
Give us your view on it.

CONNECTION PIECE III

In the evening before sunset,
go as far as you can from where you reside
without losing its view.
Watch it for awhile.
Think of all the things that happened in there,
and the many miles you walked inside the rooms.
One day, you may move away from it.
One day, you may pass away from there.

Be kind to yourself this evening.
a) Buy something for yourself.
b) Treat yourself to a meal.
c) Look at the mirror and give a smile to yourself.

CONNECTION PIECE II

Imagine your friends being without the baggage
you know them by.
See how you feel about them then.

a) You can relate to them better.
b) They cease to be interesting.

Think which of their baggage you are connected to.

CONNECTION PIECE I

Whisper your name to a pebble.
Give it to a friend
instead of yourself.

CITY PIECE X

Imagine one day in a month
where only bicycles and walking
are allowed in the city as transportation.

Make that two days.
Make that a week.
Make that a month.

CITY PIECE IX

On the Flag Day,
put out a flag that has a message
that conveys your emotion: such as
"I LOVE YOU,” "YES!" and "HELP!"

See what happens.

CITY PIECE VIII

Carry everything you own with you.
Go shopping, or climb a mountain.
See if you can see where you are going.

CITY PIECE VII

Imagine the largest rainbow
going from north to south.
Visit the two ends of the rainbow.

CITY PIECE VI

Imagine the city getting greener and greener
with plants, vines, trees and green fields.

CITY PIECE V

Imagine painting all the buildings in the city
the color of light.

CITY PIECE IV

Imagine tying balloons to the roof
of every building in the city.
Let the balloons wave to the breeze.
See if the buildings are lighter for it.

CITY PIECE III

Count all the puddles on the street
when the sky is blue.

CITY PIECE II

Walk from where you live to where your friend lives.
Be aware of the turns and the views while you walk.
Walk back the same way.
Be aware of the turns and the views your friend experiences
when he or she visits you.

CITY PIECE I

Find a spot that is comfortable for you.
Keep the spot clean.
Think about the spot when you are away.

EARTH PIECE X

Dream Earth.
Dream you.
Dream eternity.

EARTH PIECE IX

The Earth is like your mate
you have abused and ignored.

Ask to be forgiven.

Tell the Earth how much you care.
Tell the Earth how beautiful she is.
Tell the Earth you love her.

EARTH PIECE VIII

Imagine two billion universes.
Visualize yourself on a planet in each universe.
Imagine what all of you are doing and thinking
at this moment in time on the different planets.

Think if the activities are correlated amongst all of you.

Think how those activities are affecting the balance
of the infinite space.

EARTH PIECE VII

Think of the Earth
as a turning point in eternity.
Think of the Earth
as a meeting point in infinity.

Check if there are any holes
in your shoes.
Tie your shoelaces.

EARTH PIECE VI

It takes a billion light years for a blinking of a star to reach us.
Likewise, the light from Earth will take a long time to reach another
planet. By using this time warp, we can observe the Earth from different distances, one day, and record what happened on our planet on any given time in the past. All truth in the history of the Earth could come to light then.

I am sure that the history of the human race, at least, is recorded in our DNA memory genes in its precise detail.

So don't look back.
Look forward,
Only then
the past will be revealed to us.

EARTH PIECE V

Watch the sunset.
Feel the Earth moving.

EARTH PIECE IV

Have you seen the horizon lately?

Measure the horizon from where you sit.
Let us know its length and why.

For example: The horizon is short
because it is between two buildings.

Think what that length is doing to your mind.

EARTH PIECE III

Your feet are your physical connection to this planet.

Touch the earth directly with your bare feet.
Let the Earth energy circulate
from your feet to your head
and back again.

EARTH PIECE II

We, humans are not satisfied with just knowing the tip of the iceberg. With technological advancements, we are changing the map of the world in a big way. For centuries, we kept changing the map to simulate our nervous system, by creating roads, building dams, and skylines. But now, we want to reveal what is under the ice.

Icebergs are melting.
The snow on the Alps is melting.
It will create a big shift
in the axis of the globe itself.
We will see shorelines disappearing,
oceans turning into rich fields
and deserts turning into green lands.
Some of us may want to leave this globe
to live on another planet.
But there’s no need to panic.
Knowledge will always give us a solution.

Melt the icebergs and snow in your life.

EARTH PIECE I

Listen to the sound of the fire burning
in the center of the globe.

SKY PIECE X

The sky is not only above our heads.
It extends all the way down to earth.

Each time we raise our foot from the ground,
we are walking in the sky.

Walk around the city with that awareness.

Check how long you walked in the sky today.

SKY PIECE IX

Jump up into the sky.
Jump down from the sky.

1) Before you jump, plan how you want to do this:
a) to jump in one go
b) to jump in two or three leaps
c) how to space the leaps

2) Make sure how high you want to go:
a) to where people could still see you
b) just out of the stratosphere
c) to another planet

3) Make note of where you want to come down to:
a) the same place you jumped up from
b) a city or country you know
c) somewhere you have never been to

SKY PIECE VIII

Sit under a blue sky.

Keep your head open
and empty.

Let ideas come into you.

Cherish them.

SKY PIECE VII

Climb up a ladder to reach the sky.

Try ladders of different heights.

See if the sky looks any closer
from a higher ladder.

SKY PIECE VI

winter

Watch the sun
until it comes into your body
and stays as a tiny sun.

It will keep your face shining
even in the coldest of winter.

SKY PIECE V

autumn

Imagine running across a wheatfield
as fast as you can.

Imagine your friend running towards you
as fast as possible.

Imagine the color of the sky.

If it's clouded,
see if there are any blue spots.

If it's clear,
see if there are any clouds.

If it's stormy,
look out for thunder and lightning.

If it's snowing,
take your coat off
so you can wrap it around your friend.

SKY PIECE IV

summer

Imagine a dolphin dancing in the sky.
Let it dance with joy.

Think of yourself at the bottom of the ocean
watching.

Imagine a group of dolphins dancing in the sky.
Blow kisses to them
in your mind.

SKY PIECE III

spring

Imagine a cloud
slowly
going across the sky
and back.

Send a postcard to your friend.

SKY PIECE II

Look at a star in the sky
not as something unreachable
but as a planet you would visit one day.

SKY PIECE I

Towards the end of the Second World War, I looked like a little ghost because of the food shortage. I was hungry. It was getting easier to just lie down and watch the sky. That’s when I fell in love with the sky, I think.

Since then, all my life, I have been in love with the sky. Even when everything was falling apart around me, the sky was always there for me. It was the only constant factor in my life, which kept changing with the speed of light and lightening. As I told myself then, I could never give up on life as long as the sky was there.


Tell us when you first noticed the sky.

Tell us when you first thought that the sky was beautiful.

YOUR PIECE

NAME (include all the names you are called by):


Address:

• Past:
• Present:
• Future:

Age: I am at the age where.....

What you like:

• Place:
• Time:
• Weather:
• Color:
• Sound:
• Smell:
• Taste:

Describe your world as you see it.
a) Inner:
b) Outer:

Your regret:

Your pride:

Your attachments:
a) Animate:
b) Inanimate:


Your wish:
1)
2)
3)

ACORN EVENT by Yoko Ono

Dear Friends,

At our first event together 40 years ago, John and I planted two acorns, firmly believing that our "Seeds of Peace" would keep multiplying forever.

Were we naive? Yes, definitely.

Before a week had passed, the seeds were dug out by, well, curiosity seekers... OK, they stole them.
That's the word. But that did not stop us.

We immediately sent two acorns to each of the World Leaders at the time, asking them to plant the acorns for peace. Some of them said, "Yeah, we planted them. Thanx much." Not in those words, of course!

The seeds were not only a symbol of Peace, but a
symbol of East and West coming together.

Here, I have to quote Rudyard Kipling's famous poem.
I know you probably would say, "Don't tell me, I know
that one."

But just read it again:

THE BALLAD OF EAST AND WEST

Oh, East is East, and West is West,
And never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently
At God's great Judgement Seat;

But there is neither East nor West
Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face,
Tho' they come from the ends of the earth!

Are you suprised?

Yes, Rudyard Kipling didn't just simply say "never the twain shall meet."
But that's how the whole world remembers the poem.

Critics! They quite often do things like that to me, so I know.
They want sensationalism, not a beautiful concept like Kipling expressed in his poem.

I thought it was very important that I bring this message to you, to honour Kipling on this day of our celebration.

In the end of my little note today,
I thought I'd quote what John said about East and West.

It is from the song "You Are Here" on MIND GAMES (1973.)

YOU ARE HERE

From Liverpool to Tokyo
It's a way to go
From distant lands
One woman one man
Let the four winds blow

Three thousand miles over the ocean
Three thousand light years
From the land of the rising sun

Love has opened up my eyes
Love has blown right through
Wherever you are, you are here
Wherever you are, you are here

Three thousand miles over the ocean
Three thousand light years
From the land of surprising sun

Well now, East is East
And West is West
The twain shall meet
East is West
And West is East
Let it be complete

Three thousand miles over the ocean
Three thousand light years
From the land of the morning star

Oh, okay.
And I said...what did I say?

DRINKING PIECE FOR ORCHESTRA

Imagine lettting a goldfish swim across
the sky.
Let it swim from the West to the East.
Drink a liter of water.
Imagine letting a goldfish swim across
the sky.
Let it swim from the East to the West.

1963 Spring

It's from Grapefruit, my book of instructions.

So that's all for now.
Take good care of yourselves.
Remember, we are all together!

As Gandhi said:
"I AM WHAT I AM BECAUSE OF WHO WE ALL ARE."

I love you!
yoko

yoko ono
14 june 2008

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Brought to you by www.IMAGINEPEACE.com

INTRODUCTION

It's been 44 years since my book of conceptual instructions, GRAPEFRUIT was first published in 1964.

On 15 June 1968, John Lennon & I planted two acorns for peace at Coventry Cathedral. It was the first of our many Peace 'Events'.

In the summer of 1996, I picked up from where I left off, and wrote 100 ACORNS.

Starting on the 40th anniversary of the Acorn Peace Event on 15 June 2008, I will publish here an 'Acorn' every day for 100 days.

After each day of sharing the instructions, you should feel free to question, discuss, and/or report what your mind tells you.

I'm just planting the seeds.

Have fun.
Love, yoko
June 2008