Federation of World Peace and Love

The 9th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World
The Elites of the New Generation Carrying on Wisdom and Glory

In 2007, I was glad to accept the invitation from Mr. Gandhi to attend the 8^th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World and the 4^th Global Symposium: Awakening Planetary Consciousness, where 263 Chief Justices from 91 countries and esteemed members of various NGO organizations came together to promote International Law to protect human rights around the globe. Human right is a universal value. Chief Justices are the elites of the world who emphasize and recognize the importance of human rights. Through seminars and workshops we expect to inspire actions to move forward, and urge the protection of children’s rights to equality, dignity and freedom. This year, I am happy to be invited again to attend both the 9^th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World and the 5^th Global Symposium, to join with global chief justices and leaders from all walks of life in deliberating the above issues.

I have written 4 letters this year to heads of state, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN ambassadors and NGO leaders. Many positive feedbacks have been received ever since. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon especially wrote back with gratitude and caring saying “Thank you for all your good wishes. The Secretary-General remains deeply committed to his efforts to establish and maintain world peace, a goal made that much easier, thanks to the support of individuals like you. We thank you for your continued belief in the United Nations Secretary-General, for your interest in the work and goal of the Organization.”

We have received more than 500 letters from over 60 countries, including 25 heads of state of the Netherlands, Sweden, India, America, Brazil, Argentina, Ireland, Austria, Croatia, Gambia and others, 2 Vice Presidents, 13 Prime Ministers including Gordon Brown and Stephen Harper, 5 Governors of Australia and others, and many UN ambassadors. Some countries even sent in their support and feedback through video clips.

As a committed social worker dedicated to enhancing mankind’s well-beings, Mr. Gandhi has been invited to speak in many nations, including the Millennium Forum held at UN headquarters in 2000, UN General Assembly Hearing and many peace conferences in different countries. CMS has been preparing for the annual International Conference of Chief Justices since 2001. With the collective efforts of World Unity and Peace Education Department in CMS, Mr. Gandhi has achieved great success. The award of UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 2002 demonstrated his life-long achievements.

Each individual person on the earth is considered a world citizen. Our focus falls especially on the young generations of world citizens with whom our hopes and concerns are placed. The future generations are whom we will pass down upon our best experiences and the wisdom of our lives so that our ideals and goals will be continued. Therefore, guaranteeing the future of the children, and watching out for their current and future rights of survival are extremely important. The ancient Chinese Emperors would appoint civil officials and military officers from the palace to educate the crown prince and to teach him martial arts. The martial arts include both words and actions. Words, like Ying, are a quiet and thoughtful process. Actions, like Yang, are movement and the display of true understanding. In addition of having these two qualities, wisdom, kindness, and bravery are also needed to develop the foundation of cultivating the next generation. A great king must acquire a diverse understanding and inspiration to have wisdom. In this way, the crown prince, taught with the Tai Ji wisdom of Ying and Yang, can truly understand the difference of good and bad and become an outstanding king.

Tai Ji Men is a traditional Menpai of Qigong, martial arts and heart cultivation. There are many young generations who, starting at an early age, have cultivated their energy and minds in Tai Ji Men. They are nurtured by the excellent quality of traditional Chinese culture and taught the Tai Ji wisdom of Ying and Yang, combining both the study of words and actions together. They are not only able to develop a positive outlook on handling personal matters, but also, through the cultivation and changing of their own attitudes in life, their endless potential is inspired so that their unlimited energy of confidence, courage, and joy will shine as well. These elites of the new generation carry on the cultivation of martial arts, which helps them to establish an important foundation of their life.  The virtue of the martial arts includes both the inward and outward cultivation to acquire the spirit of “stopping violence through the promotion of kindness, being brave without any fear, and safeguarding the earth with love and peace”. The learning process of the elites of the young generation requires teachings with faith, patience, and persistence from adults. It also requires our persistent courage and the will to undertake such a great responsibility. Moreover, it requires an unselfish unity and devotion. From ancient times, Tai Ji Men has taken on such responsibilities of passing down wisdom to the new generation for the benefit of the world.

The 21^st century is constantly changing. The upcoming trends of the world and its future outlook will greatly impact the minds of the youth. We should pay very close attention to the development of the young minds. Family educations, school education, social and international education all impact the development of young psychologies and minds. Material wealth is not a guarantee for protection in the future. The ability to distinguish with wisdom the Ying and the Yang, the right and the wrong, and to deal with challenges in life is the core ability to reply upon and the world will benefit from it. The young generation should have good preparation on these lessons for entering the adult world. Educating the next generation well is our responsibility. A good learning environment helps ensure better learning results. Therefore, the formation of beliefs and consensus is very important. 

From the current international situation and the unusual social signs of each country, the global and human consciousness is now aware of the crisis of existence. The issue of global warming faced in the 21^st century is now widely deliberated in the international community. Today, energy sources are getting scarce. The globe is facing a worldwide financial meltdown. In reaction to man’s actions, Mother Nature has brought about many natural disasters including melting icebergs, more frequent storms and earthquakes, flooding, wild fires, and dwindling oil reserve. The acts of God have led to volatile prices in oil and food items, the meltdown of the world economy, ceaseless war, social disorders, and increasing hunger. The resources are not evenly distributed while too few people are having too much and too many people are having too little to survive. All of these have become the realities of our world today which have caused the unceasing disputes and fears in every corner of the world. Today, people in the whole world, especially the children, are feeling deeply unsecured and frightened about their futures.

In 1922 the advancement of world charter on children’s rights was to ensure the rights of children through legislation. In addition, United Nations had declared 1979 as the “International Year of the Child”, and passed a “Convention on the Rights of the Child” in 1989 to affirm the basic human rights of children, forging their legal rights into International laws. In the Article 17 (child’s access to information,) the signing nations acknowledge the important function of mass communication. Hence, they should guarantee children’s access to obtaining information from their country or other international fields, especially information of promoting their social, spiritual and moral well-beings, and physical and mental health. The living model of the new generation is now based on television, internet, or even newer wireless telecommunication technology which greatly influences the shaping of the children and teenagers’ values. According to a survey by Nelson Media Research, American teenagers spend an average of 22 hours per week in watching TV. Another 13 hours to 33 hours are spent in watching videos and playing computer games. This shows where they get the majority of their learning.

Abolishing nuclear weapons and safeguarding the survival rights of the children are also essential. What we do to today’s world will become consequences for the future children to bear. How can we ask the next generation to suffer from the mistakes we make in this generation? What needs to be done right now is to prevent any future problems that we may create and to host a discussion from 4 perspectives.

1, Seeking Inward: The present environment has deteriorated in such a way as to have weakened the immune system of human beings. The whole immune system of the human being is so heavily taxed that getting ill must be our first problem to face. We are losing our natural protective shield. New technology and design can never replace the natural protection we were born with. Therefore, instead of taking medicines, we must focus on strengthening our bodies and minds in order to build up our own immune systems and retrieve the first line of defense to protect ourselves.

2, Seeking Outward: Authorizing a new age of the 21^st century is a must. We must hand control over to the next generation. The time of the past will come to an end. We anticipate a newer and better future for the children around the globe.  Therefore, stopping all the wrong-doings is our duty and responsibility. Any ongoing plans, which may affect the survival rights of the future children, their basic human rights, and the rights of the freedom, speech and education, need to be considered in light of their influences on the future generations. Only in this way can we safeguard the survival rights of the next generation.

3, Seeking Close: Crisis is also a turning point for a change. Helping the youth to deal with personal matters can ease the impact of challenges that affect children and teenagers. The adaptive ability of the children in the new generation is generally weaker. Therefore strengthening the training of their minds can help them to solve the crisis. Adult’s timely assistance during a crisis can help children to discover crisis management and assist the children’s development in the right direction at early ages. The intervening during the crisis is also called “crisis adjustment” or “crisis management.” It is a method of instantly taking care of the problems and dealing with the anxiety and abnormal behaviors caused by the pressure of personal matters, family, or group interactions. Through dealing with the crisis properly and learning how to turn to good thoughts will help to face difficulties in life with ease and confidence.

4, Seeking Far: Global problems will undermine the advanced thinking processes of children. The collective behaviors of each country will become the children’s role model of actions and words. This type of natural imitating is inevitable. So the long-term implications of the global issue will deeply shape their current morality, value systems, and economic views. Whether they are raised into a generation of deviating behaviors and thoughts is something we need to watch closely. Technology is the crystallization of human thinking processes which comes from heavy use of machines and the consequent way of life as mechanization alters the geological environments of the earth. In general, the global civilization, the aggregate effects brought forth by the technology, is the reason for the global climate change, the decline of the natural resources, and the outbreaks of social disorders. From the current oil crisis to the fall of the economic order, we are witnessing the limits of the technology. Therefore, with the long-term implications of our collective behaviors in mind, we should be very careful about the fairness and the legitimacy of the modeling effect of the actions and words on future generations.

   

We should realize that the urgent needs of survival have flown into every corner of the world like millions of the arrows. Amid the changes in world situations, where is the turning point of changing the world’s destiny? How do we solve the crisis and discover the most important key point? Let’s do one thing for ourselves and the future generations – “be prepared for the next life.” There is a limit on each person’s life expectancy. The only way to change the world’s destiny is to have the elites of the new generation carry on the wisdoms and the glories from our own times and previous generations. The present comes from the past as the past has created the prosperity of this era so that we can be proud of past human achievements. Since ancient times, whoever destroys the inheritance of the culture will become the villain in history. If people behave illegally, exercise excessive power, squander the national treasures, destroy the great traditions, they will certainly be punished by the heaven. Therefore, we can never underestimate the consequences of our actions.

In closing, I would like to give out my best wishes to everyone, and all the organizations participating today. I believe that with the support of the chief justices of each nation, the 9^th Intentional Conference of Chief Justices of the World, hosted by Mr. Ghandi, will definitely be a great success. I wish prosperity and harmony in every country, and love and peace in the world.