A Brief Description about the WARP Summit

The WARP Summit is an international summit held in Seoul, South Korea on September 2014. The summit consisted of politicians, religious leaders, young adult and women leaders, and the press. The aim of the summit is to unite under the banner of peace through discussing an international law that would end all wars and creating harmony among different religions. Chairman Man Hee Lee mentioned that the religions, which should set an example by keeping peace, have been the cause for majority of conflicts in the history of mankind. Chairman Man Hee Lee started to think about peace, when he served as a soldier in the forefront during the Korean War. As he watched his comrades fall in the battlefield, he experienced in attrocities of war and understood the experience of peace. The mircale of WARP Summit 2014, in which the participants from different backround agreed to the importance of world peace, was continued by numerous World Peace Tours of HWPL in various countries. On September 2015, the WARP Summit celebrated its first anniversary as leaders were invited from all over world to discuss the practical solution towards world peace and unification of religions.

For the first time in human history...

Every day is a new day. Every minute that we spend in our life is a new minute. This is an endless cycle of time that we are all part of. Despite these changes in time we experience daily, we experience the same life style. Although we have many different experiences, we all live in the same world, which has a direct influence in the choice that we make in our lives. Because of war, our lives are influenced by it either directly or indirectly. They may not be in the nations, where wars happen, but they are still influenced by it through the news. In the 21st century, the whole global community is affected by a war or conflict. We have seen many new years, we have celebrated many new years, but we still live in the world, in which wars persist... Until we saw a small light from South Korea that grew into a greater light.

HWPL, a NGO organization registered under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Korea started a new movement which is somehow different from the peace movements that we have seen in the past. In the center of this movement is Chairman Man Hee Lee, who experienced war as a solider of the forefront of the Korean War over 60 years ago. The peace movement that HWPL started under the leadership of Chairman Man Hee Lee became a new wave that slowly became a great tide. The ingredients that he suggested were, of course, people. Although movements are initiated by people, HWPL peace movements targetted specific group of people to initate the work: the youth and the women through IPYG and IWPG. Along with the religious leaders, the politicians, and the media, the youths and the women worked to persuade the whole world, because they were the group mostly influenced by the war. the ideology that combined them was heavenly culture. This is having the mindset of heaven by having the heart to take care of the earth.

Heaven provides earth with light, water, and air. It does not kill, but it strives to help. It was the actualy the earth that polluted itself. The heaven only wished to give life to earth. Just as this, we are the cause for the sufferings and pain. This means we need an ideology that transcends the cultures and the mindset of earth and holds us responsible for the home that we live in. This is heavenly culture, which is to have the heart to take care of this earth. There are many peace workers and environmentalist, who advocate to safeguard the planet. The spirit of heavenly culture unites this into one. This is why we will finally see for the first time in history, a new idea called world peace.

Into a new year of peace...

It has been already 18 days since the new year begun. As we enter a new year, we would go through the same tradition of making new resolutions and goals that we will strive to make the year 2016 more special. Although the result may not be promising... For some reason, I think that the last month that we would spend in the year 2016 may be promising in terms of the current affairs in many nations.

Like always Chairman Man Hee Lee along with Chairwoman Nam Hee Kim has been travelling around the world in many world peace tours to share their ideas of bringing peace into the world. The organization HWPL played a critical role last year in the preparation of implementing an international law. For this reason the two chairs of HWPL and IPYG were invited to the United Nation to give a speech on peace.

It shows that HWPL is now targeting the whole world to create a different world, which is a world that differs from other. They visited the conflicting countries in the middle east to gain more support for peace. The activities that they participate is not for their own authority, but to create a different world. We are able to understand their motives through their action. Whenever the chairman meets an advocate of peace, he greets them with a bow and shakes their hand with his two hands. The humility that he shows represents his hope and passion for peace.

 

Since the WARP Summit in 2014 (and also before the Summit), HWPL has been the center of peace movement in fulfilling world peace that has been a long lost dream to many people. We hope that this year the new resolution that HWPL and Chairman Lee made will come true.

Peace Quote: John F. Kennedy

“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.”  -John F. Kennedy

Since the WARP Summit, Chairman Man Hee Lee has been travelling around the world with his message and vision of peace. These trips are not just a simple visit to a nation or a certain figure. His visit is to gather more advocates of peace. He is meeting people to alert the importance of peace. Just as President Kennedy explains, Chairman Man Hee Lee is changing the opinions of people, which were created by simple differences that ignored the greater similarities of opposing groups. He also has been slowly breaking the barriers that once divided a nation or a group. This is truly remarkable. I believe this daily, weekly, monthly process will trigger the awareness of world peace in the global community. This will eventually result world peace, with HWPL as the center and the moderator. 

HWPL, Declaration of World Peace

As emissaries of World Peace; as people who are working towards the restoration of humanity through a new and heavenly culture, we declare the following.

We call on the heads of state of every country to sign an international agreement - a commitment to bringing all wars to an end. We ask them to do this from a spirit of a deep-seated love for the people of their country.

We call on all youth to unite in an effort to stop wars and pursue the restoration of peace by agreeing not fight one another.

The only way to stop the fighting and pointless, tragic deaths, is to stop fighting. Nobody can sk fro anything greater than this, and know that your efforts - the efforts of the young people of the world today in pursuit of peace - will remain as never fading light of life for all future generations.

Further we call on every person, every man, woman, and child in the world, to pick up the mantle of peace. In whatever way you can, we ask that you work to further the cause of world peace and restoration, making it a reality in your direct environments.

Lastly, we call on the media to report responsibly and promote a message of peace to the world.

World Alliance of Religions Peace Summit

WARP Summit was hosted on September 16th last year with 1000 religious leaders from over 100 nations. In addition to these leaders, 300 IWPG members from 60 nations and 500 youth leaders from 134 nations participated in the event. I personally think that this Summit would be considered as the most influential event of this century later by historians. It is hard to see the effect in our individual daily lives, but the first step was taken towards peace. And slowly the world is going through a change in various places, as the participants are establishing HWPL WARP Offices around the world to discuss about peace and host religious dialogues.

One Lutheran Bishop commented "In the Scripture, it is said that everything about peace will be fulfilled by the inspiration of God. This means that it was by the inspiration of God that Chairman Lee, who hosted this event, was able to prepare for this Summit. The religious unification is the most beautiful evidence."

There have been religious dialogues in the past, but there was none with the participation of leaders from different areas. Although the meetings between religious leaders are important, it is not completely practical to only have religious leaders to meet. It requires numerous people, such as politicians, supreme justices, leaders of youth and women. This makes it more practical as each people are able to work in their area to make one idea called "peace" possible.

Georgian Youth Peace Debate

On July 24th, university students at Georgia hosted a peace debate with the title "The Pieces of Peace." It is somewhat interesting that the address of this blog is also pie pieces of peace. I guess youths in other parts of the world also share a cheesy sense of humor with the word that seems to be trend in the middle of this decade.

It truly fascinates me that the influence of IPYG, an organization that started in South Korea, is spreading to other parts of the world after the WARP Summit. It shows the mass effect of the WARP Summit on the world. It did not only influence its participants, but its energy and spirit carried on through the participants and the viewers across the world. We see many debates in our community, school, and even in politics. The purpose of this debate is to reach to a better conclusion or to present your opinion on a such topic.

It is great to see that debates are being conducted on the topic peace. I hope that more debates would be conducted around the world with the mind to create a better world. Also, as Chairman Man Hee Lee is travelling around the world, we should motivate ourselves to fulfill our role as peace advocates.

How to join IPYG

IPYG is an organization of international youth groups around the world that devotes its full attention to achieve world peace. The numbers of its members are growing every year. It started out as a small organization in the Korean peninsula few years ago, but today its number are in hundreds. This is a proof that youths want peace to be in their lives.

If you are interested in joining IPYG or if you are a leader of a youth group and you interested in joining the group, type ipyg.org and click 'Contact Us' and request for information.

2015 Peace Walk in Jeon-Ju

IPYG Peace Walk in Jeonju

Jeonju is considered to be one of the most traditional cities in the Korean Peninsula. In addition to being the hometown of the kings of the Yi Dynasty, the city includes one of the beautiful traditional towns with its renowned architecture. In the middle of traditional architectures, a Romanesque architecture stands to represent the religious freedom. Jeondong Roman Catholic Church is the site of the first martyrdom in a country that considered Confucianism as its national religion.

In the city with population slightly over 600,000, a spark of light has been lit to celebrate world peace and to renew their dedication to accomplish world peace. On the 25th of May, IPYG Jeonbuk branch joined the youths around the globe by hosting its second anniversary of the international peace walk. 

In its opening ceremony, the audiences were able to view different performances centered around the theme 'peace' along with many congratulatory speeches from leaders in Jeonbuk community. This is the evidence that even with the small population of Jeonbuk Province, IPYG is gaining strong and passionate supports from its community. This organized event of peace brought curious attentions from the citizens of Jeonju and tourists. It may have inspired the tourists with a thought and an impression that they could bring back home to start their own journey of peace towards unity in religion.

Behind the traditional percussion group is the church, where lies the spirit of those, who fought for freedom of religion. Being one of the checkpoints of the peace walk in Jeonju, the church promotes the meaning of the peace walk, since the peace walk is devoted towards unity in religion. The International Peace Youth Group is an organization devoted to achieve peace through the unified voice of youths around the globe. Even though the members are not sacrificing their lives for a certain religion, they are devoting their time and energy towards peace in between religions to avoid tragic religious conflicts that the world has seen in its history. Under the leadership of Chairman Man Hee Lee, IPYG Jeonbuk branch hopes to accomplish their brothers and sisters around the world to achieve a dream that continued for centuries.

Our Desire for Peace

Aren't we all humans? Then why can't we all live in peace?

Everyone desires peace, but war brings death, sadness and hatred.

Everyone desires peace, then why does war happen, despite this unquestionable fact? Wars happen, because of a conflict in opinion and conflict in interest. It is true that we wish to gain more than others. However, we must understand the consequences that war bring. These are death, sadness, and hatred. What is more important to us? Is it the special privilege that we have over others or is it peace? What are we willing to give up, if we are given the choice between these two? If we want privilege, then we must become higher in authority and position than others. This will naturally cause conflict. And this conflict will lead to war. Do we want this, because it turns out in our history, our choices were not optimal. So, are we willing to tolerate those with some difference? I think this is the true meaning of peace. It is the act of overcoming my thoughts and prejudices against other and transcending to unity with them. Peace is not only an absence of war, it is understanding others despite the difference. As the first quote says, we are all humans. We have one big similarity with each other. We are all humans.

Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)

Nelson Mandela is considered to be one of the greatest leaders in the 20th century. He fought for a problem that co-exited in the society as something normal and ordinary. The apartheid was taken for granted in the society. But, he fought for inequality and tolerance in South Africa.

Nelson Mandela can be compared to leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi. They did not use violence to resolve the problems in their society. Their works and passion are remembered and reflected through the works of HWPL and Chairman Man Hee Lee. However, the problem that we face today, at this era is not limited to one part of the world. It is a global issue: world peace and cessation of war.

Just as each leader were able to gain the support of the people in their community, Mr. Man Hee Lee is also gaining the support of the people across the globe, because they also recognized it as a problem. We must now treasure the history and the work of these renowned leaders of 20th century and look forward to the problem that we face in the 21st century.

What can one do to solve peace? HWPL and Mr. Man Hee Lee are dedicated towards achieving peace in the world. Even at his old age, Mr. Lee is travelling and visiting different parts of the world to promote the message of his peace. As more people join the international peace movement with HWPL, we will be able to see peace closer to us. This is because HWPL has the correct ingredients to create peace. It has the potential to create in every different type of people in the world a reason to love peace. This is the vision that was initially proposed by Mr. Man Hee Lee.

Inter-Religions Conference at San Jose, CA

Few weeks ago, A conference was held in a suburb of San Francisco. The name of the city adds an additional meaning to the conference, because the city is "Union City". It represents the place where all the religions are united together under one banner of peace. The theme of the conference was "Bring the Unity of Religions". There were about 40 participants from 9 different religions and denominations.

The religious leaders from San Francisco now joins the movement towards world peace and cease of war, as they hold hands in hands under peace. We are now one step closer to peace. A meeting for peace does not require large number or expansive decoration. It only require a dim light that will gather other dim lights to create a brighter light. The gatherings of light will change the world.

For never was a story of more...

Was Shakespeare a peace advocate? Not necessarily as his play, "Romeo and Juliet" was written as a tragedy. However, we are able to learn lessons from this play and the example that our two lovers displayed by overcoming their family ties. Unfortunately, because of the older generation's dispute, the two youths were sacrificed. Just like Romeo and Juliet, we all have our own personal ties. This could include, our family, religion, beliefs, or nations. Even though their love was romantic, they were able to overcome these boundaries and ties. In the famous 'balcony scene', we are able to learn a lesson from Juliet.

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;

Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.

What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,

Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part

Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!

What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.

A name is only a name. And she understands that there is no meaning in a name. This is similar to the example in our world. There is no meaning behind a name, title, or ties that is associated with a person. If this is the case, then we would not be able unite together and we would only quarrel among ourselves. We can always refer to someone, who is different than us, as a different name, in which would bring them closer. Many groups exist in the peace organization HWPL. However, we erased all the associations that we had previously, and we only come together and refer each other as peace advocates and a family in this global community. We all have the same beginning. It is only that we are not able to discover the similarities and come to an agreement. If we are not able to reach to peace, then just like Romeo and Juliet, it would be our next generation, who would be paying the price.

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;

The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:

Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;

Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:

For never was a story of more woe

Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

This would not be a scenario that we want. We already sacrificed and lost so many valuable things. We should not make the same mistakes as the two families did in the play and before additional damages are made, we should make peace. I think Shakespeare was considered a great playwright, not because of his tragic plays, but because of the insights that he offered inside the plays. He pointed out problems and seem to teach us a moral lesson through these plays. As he says "All the world's a stage. And all the men and women merely players," and  if we are in our Final Act, we must truly act to resolve peace between each other, so that mistakes in Romeo and Juliet would not be repeated again. And the last line of our play would end with "for never was a story of more joyful than this".

"What is a youth"

It is the law of nature that a rose would bloom and fade. Sadly, because of the mistakes of the adults, the youths were sacrificed, before receiving the chance to bloom. This is what the Chairman agonizes over. He was deeply affected, when he fought in the Korean War, as he saw many young men dying for a cause against other young men, who once they called each other countrymen. It is because of religion and politics that separate even the same race. In order to prevent this, HWPL created IPYG and IWPG, so that youths and women are able to raise their voices to religious and political leaders.

Quote: Chairman Man Hee Lee

A deep man believes in miracles, waits for them, believes in magic, believes that the orator will decompose his adversary; believes that the evil eye can wither, that the heart's blessing can heal; that love can exalt talent; can overcome all odds.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just because you are comfortable, does it mean you do not need a peace?  Our petty selfishness seems to make someone's misfortune to call for a war.  Wouldn't a small and little more attention and care enrich our lives.
-Chairman Man Hee Lee