Peace Quotes

Peace Quotes: Albert Einstein and John Lennon

“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”
-Albert Einstein

Similar to the quote of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., peace is something that needs to achieved by understanding of one another. It is not by force, in which creates war. In the past, countries tried to keep peace and protect on their behalf, so that their countries will be safe. However, it is not by force that peace is kept, but it is by removal of war. The WARP Summit in September, 2014 brought all religions together towards understanding that we origin from one creator. Peace cannot be kept by war, but by understanding and tolerance of those who are different than us. The works of HWPL will guide the religions towards unity and understanding, rather than war. HWPL is not a powerful military force, but it consists of people, who works toward understanding.

“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.”
-John Lennon

As Albert Einstein suggests the ultimate solution to peace, John Lennon suggests the spirit of an individual, in regards to achieving peace. It is our desire and passion for peace that will allow peace to come true in our life. The culture that we live in naturally builds a desire for materialistic goods. If materialism is replaced with a cause that is aim towards greater good, then peace would come true. Even if Chairman Man Hee Lee has the practical solution for peace, if no one desires it, then peace would not be possible. Each individual must have the desire to replace the materialistic desire for peace, in order for the practical solution for peace suggested by Chairman Lee to work.

Quote: Chairman Man Hee Lee and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -Martin Luther King Jr.

In the past, mankind attempted to resolve conflict through war. Consequently, war resulted to another war. Both conflict and war are considered as darkness that sweeps the world. However, in the nature, darkness cannot overcome darkness. It would only make it darker. Likewise, we are not able to solve war with war. Martin Luther King Jr. interprets this darkness as hate and light as love. Hate is something is that is followed by a certain action. This action is war. Both Mr. Lee and Dr. King agree that only solution towards darkness is light. This is why Mr. Man Hee Lee says that when light meets light, there is victory. When we are gathered together for cause in the name of love, we are able to overcome darkness and achieve victory. A spark of light in the middle of darkness will light in some amount. However, as more lights gather together to form a greater light, it will ultimately overcome the darkness. This is truly peace that ends all wars.

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.

2015 Peace Walk (2nd Anniversary of Peace Walk)

Second Anniversary of Peace Walk

Over 200,000 young adults around the world joined in the annual walk for peace. This peace walk started two years, in hopes to raise more awareness in the world regarding its peace. In every war, youths were sacrificed as soldiers, even thought they received no benefit from the war that they sacrificed their lives for. Under the leadership of Chairman Man Hee Lee, the youths gathered to express their support for peace. They did not only gather for a cause that would benefit their future, but also for the welfare of the future generation. Year after year, the youths gathered in Seoul and also around the world to participate in the peace walk. Every year, their numbers grew. This obviously shows that everyone hopes for peace.

On the other hand, Chairman Lee visited Mindanao at the same day. Mindanao was a special island for the Chairman. The 40 years conflict between two religions was resolved after the visit of the Chairman last year. He showed the leaders of both religions that conflict and war is not the answer and it does not benefit anyone. This successful resolution of the Chairman brought the attention of the world on the practical method of the Chairman, in regards to peace.

Quote: Man Hee Lee

"We have promised that religions will become one. Our hearts, thoughts, and even each word we speak will have to be used for making peace. We must deliver the message of peace to all the people around the world."

The promise and the agreement, which we made at the WARP Summit, must be displayed through our action and word. Our promise must be reflected through our action. There is no purpose of gathering together for a cause, if there is no follow-up action. It must be a cause that needs to be carried on through our actions after the Summit.

Essay: The Spirit of the 21st Century

The Spirit of the 21st Century

The generation of the late 20th and 21st century are enriched with prosperous lives through the resources. We have the capability to be able to use the natural resources compared to our previous generations. We have seen and experienced the highest technological advances through strong and creative intellects. However, our capability and the accomplishment that we have made brought struggles and conflict (along with the capability to cause damage and destruction that we have not seen), in which the numbers are far greater than any other period in history. Could this be an example of Newton's Third Law, in which every action results an equal reaction? Or, from the oriental philosophy of um and yang (yin and yang)? Our advances and innovations has resulted an equal opposite of these triggers. What could be the appropriate spirit (mentality) of the generation of the 21st century?

In this generation, people classify themselves into a certain group, in terms of religion, political ideology, and other beliefs. People try to categorize other's into a certain group for what they say and act. For example, in South Korea it may be the case that a person is accused of being a communist for their compassion towards North Korea. They accuse each other for being different and attempt to categorize them into a group to create division. However, it does not mean one is pro-North Korea or support its government system, but it means that we are pro-peace. Just as this, it seems to be the trend that in the 21st century, we tend to identify ourselves to a particular group or we become classified to a particular group. As a result, conflicts rise from these differences into forms of minor arguments or physical war. Was there an opportunity, when we all worked together for a cause? The spirit of 21st century should be accomplishing something that has never been accomplished completely. It is the spirit of cooperation. It is not division, or reacting towards an action, but it is reaching to an equilibrium.

There is one occasion, when we see mankind becoming one and working with each other. This is in science fiction or disaster film. It is when earth is attacked by an alien force from outer space or from a natural disaster. One example is Roland Emmerich's SF film '2012'. In the midst of different natural disasters happening all over the world, mankind combines their effort to survive. However, should we become one, when we are facing something that will cause extinction? Could we not become one before an exterior force that threatens us to become one? Could we not realize that the wars, which happen in our time could lead to an extinction of our race? In addition to special effects of the film, it left a question on what it means to be a human and unity.

"Today, none of us are strangers. Today, we are one family, stepping into the darkness together."

"To be human means to care for each other and civilization means to work together to create a better life."

The spirit of the 21st century must be guided towards becoming one family, in order to prevent leading ourselves into destruction. We have to constantly attempt to achieve the true meaning of what it is to be a human. We study in college and take courses on humanities, but we never achieved what it is to be human according to one fictional scientist in the film. Perhaps, peace and unity is a fiction that only exists in our fantasy. However, the fact that we hope for such things and portray these through different visual arts show the possibility that peace and unity are possible in reality. It is essential that the spirit of the 21st century must be focused on achieving our humanity or in other words, world peace. It is even more essential, because we have enough power to destroy humanity. In order to prevent this our spirit needs to reflect, "What is the true meaning of being a human?". So, in this sense WARP Summit demonstrated the possibility that we are capable of working together and building the world that we live into a better place.

A song that gives us a friend

This is the song that gives us comfort, when we are in trouble. Even though it is a time of trouble, we have a friend that we can always lean on. The verse in the lyrics that stood out to me the most was "Swallow your pride". Pride is something that prevents us from reaching out to even our friends. If we are not able to reach out to our friends, who we are supposed to lean on, then how can we reach out to those, who we are different with? Having pride in something is good, because it means we have confidence in who we are. However, it cannot be something that causes us to separate from others. We need to understand that others also have pride in their identity just as us. And in order to earn the respect of others, we also need to respect them in who they are. I think this is the definition of friends. It may be different in terms of scale, when we compare the friends, who we meet in our neighborhood and the friends, who may be completely different than us, but it is a matter of perspective. The WARP Summit and the activities of HWPL and Chairman Man Hee Lee brought a greater awareness in terms of tolerance. The WARP Summit showed to its participants that we all share the same pain and sorrow. After the Summit, we all became wiser, as we come to understand more about each other. The Summit created friendship, in which we have a friend from a community different than ours, who we can lean on. And it united us together as peace advocates.

Lean on me

Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on

So swallow your pride
If I have things you need to borrow
For no one can fill those of your needs
That you won't let show

The History of United Nations

It is incorrect to say that no one attempted to create a world of peace. After the war to end all wars (WWI), an international government was proposed to regulate order in the global society. The horror of World War I influenced the leaders of the world to work towards preventing any future war. Although it was not successful, since another disastrous war was waiting for the world, the leaders of the world agreed that war needs to be prevented. This international government that became a predecessor of United Nations was called League of Nations. It was founded on 10 January 1920. The organization sought to prevent wars and solve conflicts through negotiation.

After two decades the League of Nations become replaced with the United Nations. The involvement of the United Nations during post-WWII era was essential and their position prevented wars becoming terrifying as the two previous World Wars. However, despite their effort, wars persisted. Even after the Cold War, the United Nations worked to prevent struggles in different places in the world.

Even though I am grateful for the efforts of the United Nations, in terms of their work on peacekeeping in the various parts of the world, I think it is a time, when we need to take another step forward. Instead of tackling the conflict, whenever they rise up, the United Nations needs to solve the origin of these problems. If there is a hole in a water bucket and water starts leaking, one cannot fill the bucket, if he or she only tries to put more water in. One needs to stop the original problem, which is the hole. Just like this water bucket, if the United Nations does not solve the original problem of all conflicts, then conflicts will continue to persist.

I believe sincerely that Mr. Man Hee Lee and HWPL has the key to world peace and the original problem. HWPL may not have the resource that the United Nations has, but it has the correct vision and the solution to world peace. These are the visions outlined by the Chairman. The WARP, an event held last September, brought different leaders from different society together to find a way towards peace.

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.

Quote: Man Hee Lee

One who lives by wearing grace cannot kill and destroy lives and expect to repay the grace. Truly, religion has to become one. I hope we can be the world’s joy and a beautiful legacy for the future generations.
-Man Hee Lee

What is the purpose of religion? Is it to kill and destroy? However, throughout the history we see that religion has been the origin and the center of war. If we understood and recognized this as a problem, we must seek to resolve. The guidelines outlined by HWPL and Mr. Man Hee Lee is spreading throughout the world after the WARP Summit. And with more inter-religious dialogues happening in the world and WARP office being established, it could be possible that peace can solved in our generation. With religious leaders and religion taking the front in this movement, it would fulfill the true role of religion and it will bring more people, who were once discouraged by religion, to religion.

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.