Film: Angels & Demons (Can a religion be flawless?)

"When you write of us and you will write of us. May I ask one thing? Do so gently. Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed. All men. Including this one." 

This line is said by Cardinal Strauss from the film, "Angels & Demons". The fictional film suggests the conspiracy in the oldest Christian denomination, however, it also shows the humanistic side of the Church, which constitutes faith and theology. It shows the comprise between the religion and science. 

On the other hand, Cardinal Strauss' last word to Professor Langdon, who is portrayed by Tom Hanks, does not demote the meaning of religion, but promote its humility. It is definite that religion is the source to our communication with a god. People believe that religion is given and provided by the god, so that the creation can connect with god through rituals and doctrines. This religion, of course, is flawless when created by the Creator, who created this world. However, can a religion be corrupted? As we saw a different side of religion in the film, we also see that religion can be corrupted. It is not because the Creator is corrupted, but we, who participate in the religion, are flawless.

This is why scriptures were given to us, so that we may follow the will of the god, who we believe in. Currently, HWPL is establishing WARP Offices all over the world, so that representatives from different religions can participate in discussion to compare the scriptures to see the similarity inside these scriptures. This is the practical solution that Chairman Man Hee Lee offered, in order to see how much we know about the religious scripture. Then, we will be able to truly understand the will of the heaven and the Creator. Anything can be corrupted. This is why there is a proverb in Asia that one has to empty his or her cup. Anything that stays inside the cup will become corrupted eventually and this is why we need to fill in the new. The wave of HWPL and the peace movement led by Chairman Man Hee Lee will become that the new water that will clear the flaws in the religions to answer the questions, can religions be flawless?

Quote: Chairwoman Nam Hee Kim

"An era of end of war and world peace, which is something the mankind desired for many years, has finally arrived. Beginning with the Declaration of World Peace made by Chairman Lee in front of the Peace Gate in South Korea, the wave of world peace has reached all over the earth to bear the fruit of peace finally today. Chairman Lee has visited various placed over the globe only for peace and I was able to witness the miracle of peace most clearly. This moment is also being shown on live to the whole world and everyone's eyes and ears are focused on this place. What is the peace that you dream of? Could we say world peace is a peace only for your religion or nation? True world of peace is filled with life, where tears, pains, and death do not exist. This is the peace that the Creator wants to give."

The question of the Chairwoman asks us our world of peace. The question brings us back to reality. We all dream of a peaceful world. However, this is only a dream that is created by our subjective nature. It rotates around us. For example, a person, who is not wealthy may think of this peaceful world as a place, where everything is free. A peace is kept between the buyer and seller. We all may have our own version of a peaceful world or an utopia as a place that fills in what we lack. But let us think from the perspective of a Creator, who built this world. The Creator created this world according to his opinion. What if the world becomes unbalanced with his first version of the world? Due to the wars and conflict around the world, the original world becomes corrupted with its nature suffering from these corruption. What would the Creator want? Above all, he would want balance in nature and the return to the original world. This is what Chairman Man Hee Lee is doing. He understood the will of the Creator, who created the world in his vision. But the world was walking towards destruction.

When I was young, I used play with legos and using multiple pieces, I created my own world. When a piece is not in right place or when something becomes broken, naturally I would want to fix it and restore it back to its original place. This applies to the Creator, who created the world. However, we have to become the ones, who fulfill his will, because we are not the same as the lego piece. We are different, because there is life inside us.

Peace in the Korean Peninsula

This month a mine exploded on the line that divides two nations in the Korean peninsula. Two staff sergeants were injured, which resulted various consequences in both nations. South Korea used giant speakers, which were banned 10 years ago, to broadcast news and k-pop songs, which served as a propaganda to lower the morale among the soldiers of the North Korea. On the other hand North Korea entered a quasi state of war. However, on Tuesday, after over 40 hours of talks, the representatives reached to an agreement. South Korea agreed to stop the propaganda broadcast and North Korea decided to end the state of war and expressed their "regret" of the tragic incident that happened earlier this month.

Even though the final agreement between the two Koreas is not as satisfactory to many South Koreans, the two Koreas were able to reach to an agreement through talks. I hope that other nations would not use this incident for their gains to increase their military power, but to support the agreement and the decisions that the two nations reached through this talk. I hope that more of these talks would happen around the world to resolve a problem, because in the end war will bring destruction to both conflicting parities. It is something we must avoid and through these talks, it is possible to reach to a better conclusion that will bring gains to both parties.

Is there peace in religion?

What does religion teach about peace? We often wonder as we see the deeds of those who identifies themselves with a religion. Some may judge and assume the god of a particular religion by looking at their believers. It is true that religions were not the best example of pursuing and living their lives. In the history, there were times when religion was more corrupted than any other group of people. So does religion teach peace? What does religion say about peace?

Specifically, in the Roman Catholic Church, the idea of peace is embedded in their most important rite: The Mass. To a Catholic, mass is the mediator that connects the them to God. In mass, two parts sparked me. These are the Sign of Peace and Lamb of God, which is also known as "Agnus Dei".

The Sign of Peace is when the participants of the mass wishes one another peace by saying "Peace be with you". This blessing may apply to each individual in their personal lives as it was the what Jesus Christ greeted his disciples, who looked at the resurrected Christ in awe. The hymn, "Agnus Dei" has a similar message. However, instead of greeting and blessing others with peace, the believers ask for peace.

"Dona nobis pacem" (Grant us Peace)

In every mass, Agnus Dei has been sung. What is the meaning behind the lyrics of the hymn? Do we (as I come from a Catholic background) follow the lyrics of this hymn? Even in the Sing of Peace, we have repeated the words, "Peace be with you" so many times that it has become a meaningless greeting, although the idea of peace has been non-existence. There always have been wars that roamed and ruled the world. It was never an era of peace, when wars did not happen, but it was only a period of time waiting for another war to spark.

A religion mostly teaches about peace. Even though it was taught and people repeated the words about peace in every rite, no one truly thought about peace. I also never thought about world peace in a way that Chairman Lee explained. Until I heard Chairman Man Hee Lee's speech about world peace, a religion was an individual journey towards God. As we see in the Catholic mass, religion teaches about peace, but those who practice a particular religion does not fulfill peace. This is the time start thinking about what religion teaches about peace and fulfilling the teachings say about religion.

Performance: Korea. Bound to One

On August 15th, a string that was 3.8 km long connected each embassy of the two Koreas in Berlin, Germany. This was a small performance by an artist named Eun Sook Lee. An online newspaper called Voice of the People (VOP) published an article about Lee's small event to commemorate the 70th year of the National Liberation Day in the Korean peninsula after 35 years of Japanese control. According to the article, the 3.8 km that Lee walked represents the 38th parallel that divides the Korean peninsula into two. The string that connects the two embassies is to create unity and harmony between the two nations, and this also originates from one of the traditional Korean customs. 

As it was mentioned in the article, Berlin is an iconic city of unity that overcame the division, which resulted from the Cold War. Yet, the Korean peninsula still suffers from the division that was brought right after its liberation. Because of ideological differences, families and friends had to part away from each other, instead of celebrating their liberation. The fall of a common enemy created a division among themselves that continued until today. Despite the current state of the Korean peninsula, especially incidents that happened this August in both Koreas, Lee's performance in Berlin serves as a lesson that we must learn from our mistakes in the past. War is not answer. Rather than carrying weapons across the 38th parallel, I hope to see people bringing string like Lee across the border that separated us as a sign of peace and unity. I hope to see one day, where two flags will become one as we were one before. All you need is love.

Jai guru deva. Om...

Jai guru deva. Om... This is a phrase that appears in the song, "Across the Universe" by The Beatles in Sanskrit. The song also makes an appearance in the film, "I am Sam" as its original soundtrack. The phrase, "Jai guru deva. Om" is a mantra, a form of spiritual prayer in Hinduism that can be translated as, "Victory or Glory to the divine god". (Guru dev was the teacher of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who The Beatles followed as their teacher). However, I noticed that some bloggers interpreted this phrase as, "Allow us enlightenment, O divine God",which I prefer more than the actual translation of phrase. Because of the spiritual influences of Hinduism to the members of The Beatles, this song explores the transcendental meditation, in which the members struggled to dwell as they attempt to walk away from other negative influences.

According to John Lennon, he began writing the lyrics during time when he was conflicting over his relationship with his wife, Cynthia. Most of the lyrics, I think, it is is spiritual state during his reflection and meditation. It explores how his world is moving through various states with mixed feelings through various metaphors, such as "pools of sorrow" and "wave of joy".

The first part of the song is about his spiritual state journeying across the universe. The word that becomes the center and the connector of the song is "Om". "Om" is an iconic word that represents the vibration of universe. Lennon's journey across the universe brings him to a different world, a state that can be reached through the divine support and consistent meditation with mantra. And although I do not want to presumptuous over the actual motive of song, I wish to believe that Lennon is fighting to keep the the world that he reached after this spiritual journey across the universe. This world includes the "sound of laughter" and the "shades of love" along with "limitless undying love". And yes, this could be referring to the woman he loves, but I think Lennon's thoughts on his personal struggle to keep his love and protect his world from changing can be extended to this world. Perhaps, this is why the song was used as the original soundtrack for the film, "I am Sam".

The film is about a struggle of a father, who has developmental disability, to retain his right as a parent for her daughter, who would soon be reaching an age that is older than he is mentally. His struggle to fight to keep his daughter is his struggle to protect his individual world from changing, because his daughter is his happiness and the one, who he loves without limit.

In my opinion, the songs of The Beatles are still loved by many listeners around the world even today, because most of their songs talks about a different world. Even from the title of the song, "Across the Universe" we are able to guess that this song will be looking at things big. Even if our conditions are not exactly the same as John Lennon, we are still able to relate to lyrics through our own experiences just like the producers of "I am Sam" did with the life of Sam. So, what kind of message does this message give to us today in our world?

Today, we have our own struggles. The world sees many different conflicts in between nations in different aspects and in between religions. We conflict with our neighbors because of minor differences. But we can reach to a better state. Just as Sam fights for his right to be with his daughter, our parents must fight so that they are able to keep their role as parents to their sons, who may had to join as a solider to face death. It is our journey, literally across the world to stop these struggles to join in unity and reach harmony. This must be the spiritual state of this universe. This is why Chairman Man Hee Lee is travelling around the world and meeting people, who are different than him, to ask them to join in this movement. To return the spiritual state of this world back to the divine creator. It is to fulfill the term, "Jai guru deva". We are not working for our own individual gods that we have created based on our culture and opinion, but we are working together for one creator, who created this world. It is impossible that all the gods of the world created the world that we live in. These gods are only a reflection of one true Creator.

The world that does not change is not the current state of this world, which is filled with struggles. It is the world that we must work to preserve in the future after reaching harmony. This world must see a change, but after its change, we should work to keep it, so that it won't return.

Looking two decades ahead...

Few hours ago, I read an article on The Kyunghyang Shinmun, one of the mainstream media in the Republic of Korea about a female student of the future, who was created in 1995 by. According to the article, her name is Eun Bee Ko. Twenty years ago, a research center in the Republic of Korea made various prediction about the future and published their works through Kyunghyang Shinmun's Magazine X, a page read by the younger generation at that time. "Eun Bee" was one of their creation and prediction. This year marks the target year that the researchers of that time picked to make their predictions. This branch of study is called futurology. Even though there were some exaggerated materials, I was able to recognize familiar objects with similar functions.

For her 20th birthday (2015), Eun Bee supposedly receives a device called PCS, which is an acronym for Personal Communication Service that has the same functions as a smartphone. Through this device, Eun Bee is able to receive personal messages and the device also comes with various application software like "personal fashion system" that gives suggestion for clothes to wear depending on the weather and her interest. Although the terms are different, I was able to see that the generation twenty years, who in the present day would mostly be adults, thought and imagined about things, which would create the culture today.

I guess every generation has a common interest on future. I do not imagine that the issue and the interest among the young generation twenty years ago would be different than the young generation today. Occasionally, I imagine the future world, when I think about my personal future and also whenever I watch films about future, which are usually about a dystopian world. Sometime, I do agree that these types of films have huge effect over our impression about future.

Some of the predictions are incorrect, but some predictions turned out to be true. Even though their imagination did not come true completely, I think if we are able to maintain a healthy culture, just like the heavenly culture, I believe that this mentality will be reflected in the later years. I would like to imagine where the spirit of the heavenly culture and the work for world peace will bring us twenty years from now on. Dr. Ian Pearson, a futurologist, says that "Anyone can predict stuff, but only a few get it right." But, also I think we also hold the key to the future, because the prediction will follow the trend of how this world flows. If these futurologists or anyone, who gains an interest to make a prediction about the future, they will look at the trend of the world and how it is reflected over culture. 

When they see continuous wars and films about the end of the war, they will probably predict something similar in that direction. But, what if they start seeing movements of peace and see films about peace winning awards and gaining the most viewers and fans, even before they make that their prediction, I think I would be more excited to see a different world, when wars would only be a fantasy in my dream, while peace will become a reality. What kind of world do you see twenty years later? What kind of world do you think is being created through the peace movement of HWPL and Chairman Man Hee Lee?

Arirang of Peace

Arirang is a traditional folk song of Korea and there are many different versions of Arirang with similar lyrics. The music played in the video clip is a mob performance at a traditional district in Seoul, Korea. The lyrics is about a separation of two lover and its lyrics is portrayed sadly through the tune and the melody of the song. At the WARP Summit, the performers showed a slightly different rendition of Arirang. In the same tune, they added a deeper lyrics to hope for a better world. It talks about a person, who searches for this world and enters the new world of peace. There are many interpretation of the word, Arirang, but I would like to say, the song in general is about rediscovering the meaning of love and peace.

Many of the participants were inspired by this performance. They commented that this truly is heaven, because it overcame all differences. One youth group leader said that he has met the advocate of peace and his dream finally came true. I was not able to find a clip to revisit my memory of the performance, but it truly brought peace and harmony in the stadium, where people with differences became one.

The Speech of Mother Teresa, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

"Let us thank God, for this beautiful occasion, where we can all together proclaim the joy of spreading peace, the joy of loving one another, and the joy acknowledging that the poorest of the poor are our brothers and sisters."

This is the opening words of Mother Teresa, a Catholic nun, who devoted her life towards helping those who are helpless. She was a Christian, who believed Jesus Christ as the saviour. However, she also was a person who lived on this earth. Her affiliation with a religion did not stop her to reach out to love people of different religion. This is why she is still respected by many people, even if they do not have the same religion or do not possess the same beliefs as she did. Her example of love shows that peace is not intended for a specific group. It is intended for all and one as a whole. All peace movements must seek to accomplish unity between everyone. The World Peace proposed by Chairman Man Hee Lee does not limit to one specific group. As Mother Teresa says we celebrate and proclaim the joy of spreading peace all together. It is something that we must work and celebrate all together. As we come close to the First Anniversary of the WARP Summit, which was an event that many different groups participated to work towards peace, we must look back on how we can work together to build a peaceful world and what can we do in our own community.

Building a New World

Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker in the film, "The Dark Knight" was breath-taking. I have never seen an antagonist as the Joker played by Heath Ledger. His death after the film was an unfortunate tragedy. I first saw Heath Ledge on film in "The Patriot" that also starred Mel Gibson. On the screen, Heath Ledger played the son of Mel Gibson, who played a colonel fighting for independence. In the film, Gabriel Martin (played by Heath Ledge) speaks about a new world.

"They call this the new world. It's not. It's the same as the old. But, we will have a chance to build a new world. A world where all men are created equal under God."

America was considered to be a new world, as everyone was given the chance to start anew. However, it was only a new world with the same mentality and culture. There were still inequality between the race and the same system existed as the previous world. This applies to our world as well. What is the purpose of looking for a new world, if our mentality and culture continue to stay the same? This is why we need a different culture. This is heavenly culture. It is different than other cultures that we have seen so far in the history because it transcends other cultures. When we build this new world, we must lose the thoughts of the old and look forward to something new, where we are able to create equality in every part of the world.

The Speech of Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate

I think she is an example that age does not matter in peace movement. Her works astounds me, because she is impacting her community by working for what she strongly believes in. The example that she shows, along with Chairman Man Hee Lee, inspires many people in the world to join the peace movement to change the community that they live in.

Quote: Chairman Man Hee Lee

Chairman Man Hee Lee's Speech in the Opening Ceremony

"The WARP Summit since the creation is an unprecedented event, where all the spirits of heaven and the people of earth gathered. For this Summit, we invited the heaven and the earth as witness and in front of the Creator, we begin the WARP Summit for the end of war and world peace. By the will of the heaven, we are the ones with mission, who meet the new era after the end of the corrupted old era. On this world, on this earth, the youths and the students were not given any chance to blossom and were sacrificed on the forefront of war. The politics and the law were not able to compensate them for their sacrifice. So, UN and the presidents and supreme justices of each nation must establish an international law."

Many nations in the world, entrust the leadership of their nation to political leaders and politicians. At the same time, we abide the law of the nation, because we believe it is just and moral. However, in terms of peace, the law and the politicians were not able to fulfill their duty completely, because we see more conflicts in the world that occur because of various reasons. The purpose of the WARP Summit was to support both political leaders and religious leaders to be able provide their people with peace. It was to provide the leaders a place, where they can discuss for building a better world.