Ilchi Lee's Blog, page 65
April 2, 2015
What Will We Leave to Our Descendents?
What is left then to leave to our descendents? Shall we leave automobiles? Shall we leave them airplanes? Shall we leave them the atomic bombs humanity has researched? Do you want to leave such things to them? What will we really leave to our d...
March 24, 2015
Ilchi Lee Film “From Seoul to Jakarta” Wins 3 Awards
Ilchi Lee’s latest film, “From Seoul to Jakarta,” co-produced by Damien Dematra
From Seoul To Jakarta, a film produced by Ilchi Lee Films from South Korea and Damien Dematra Production from Indonesia, was awarded three awards from two film festivals in the United States. The Accolade Global Film Competition gave two Awards of Merit, one for Lead Actress to Natasha Dematra and the other for Cinematography to Damien Dematra. The San Fransisco Film Awards also awarded the film with an an Award of Merit in the Feature Film category.According to Rick Pricket, Director of the Accolade Global Film Competition, From Seoul To Jakarta won because of the superb acting performance by actress Natasha Dematra and the magnificent cinematography. The Accolade Competition is a prestigious festival and among the top 25 festivals worth the entry fee chosen by Movie Maker Magazine. Many of its previous winners later got an Oscar or Emmy. Laurel Kapros from the San Fransisco Film Awards stated that From Seoul To Jakarta was chosen for its high technical expertise.
Ilchi Lee’s third film, From Seoul to Jakarta is a testimonial of the power of trust and faith in yourself, and especially, in your brain. It portrays the winners of a K-pop competition in Jakarta, Indonesia who go to Seoul for the competition finals. Afraid of the top group, they poison the lead singer, making him lose his voice. That begins the lead singer, Haneul’s, journey to discover what he’s really worth and capable of. He’s helped along the way by visions of Grandfather Dahngun, an enlightened Korean king who ruled more than 4,000 years ago.
CHANGE: The LifeParticle Effect, Ilchi Lee’s first film, also won an Award of Merit from the Accolade Global Film Competition in 2013. Prior to that, it had received an Award of Excellence in the International Film Festival for Spirituality, Religion, and Visionary and later was shown at the BolderLife Festival in Colorado. That film was followed by its sequel, CHANGE: The Brain and Divinity.
Ilchi Lee Film "From Seoul to Jakarta" Wins 3 Awards
March 18, 2015
Choose a Dream for the Earth
Thirty years ago, as I meditated on top of Moak Mountain, the greatest question that came to me was, “What am I to do with this enlightenment?” I had just had a great awakening that answered the questions I had asked since my youth. But what came next? At that time, two futures for humanity spread out before me. One showed the Earth united by peace and co-existence, the other showed the Earth completely destroyed by war and environmental pollution.I knew then that both of those two futures were possible. The one that became the future we would experience was a matter of choice. So I chose. I resolved that I would awaken each and every person’s heart to their inner truth, their true value, so that peace and harmony could bloom in the world.
Since then, I have given everything I have to the path I chose. I’ve lived 30 years like one day and each day like 30 years. But the destruction of the Earth’s natural environment continues to worsen, and the harm of people’s loss of humanity cuts deeper every day. The Earth’s time flows increasingly faster, and if we continue this way, humanity has no future. I can see it all too clearly with the searing anxiety of a heart that sees a fire sweep through a village.
That’s why I keep going, even when I’m tired. But one person cannot do it alone. I believe at least 100 million Earth Citizens, a tipping point, need to awaken to the fact that we are all one and entirely dependent on the Earth and its bounty. Together, these 100 million people will participate in conscientious Earth Management. They will make choices while seeing the big picture, choices that are good for themselves, good for other beings, and good for the Earth itself. Awakening and empowering many people to the choice of living as Earth Citizens is the Earth Citizen Movement.
I ask you to develop the heart and mind to benefit all people and the Earth. Embrace others and embrace the Earth. Have passion in your heart for a greater cause. Let us take infinite responsibility for the Earth Village we all live in and become leading figures in a new era of the Earth Citizen Movement.
May a time come when peace and harmony coexist in the Earth Village. I long for that day. When we earnestly long for it, the one, great, unchanging truth will become a reality in the world.
Let us go forward together toward this dream and hope.
Ilchi Lee
March 16, 2015
Learn How to Live as an Earth Citizen with ECO
Ilchi Lee’s idea of Earth Citizenship has grown beyond a mere concept. An Earth Citizen is someone who puts their identity as an inhabitant and steward of the earth before any other identity, whether cultural, national, or religious. They’ve realized that the earth is the common denominator in all of our lives, and that without it, we could not have life. An Earth Citizen lifestyle reflects that awareness.
This concept was taken up by passionate people who turned it into the Earth Citizen Movement. At first, the movement consisted of loosely organized activities and local groups. Now, however, a 501(c)(3) non-profit has emerged that is spearheading and organizing the Earth Citizen Movement—the Earth Citizens Organization.
Based in Sedona, Arizona, the Earth Citizens Organization (ECO) was formed on September 11, 2013 to provide education, conduct peace projects, and organize community actions that help people create changes in their lives in support of peace and sustainability at all levels of community. It runs the Earth Citizen School, which gathers people together to live and train in methods of mindful living for sustainability and community leadership. In this “Heroes Leadership Training,” participants are guided to develop their body and mind and cultivate the greatness of the human spirit. They learn yoga, qigong, meditation, organic farming, and other holistic lifestyle practices.
While at the school, participants also go out into their local community and develop their leadership capabilities through the real-life experience of helping and teaching other people. When they return home, they have the tools and experience they need to continue this work and share an Earth Citizen lifestyle.
By helping individuals make small changes, ECO aims to grow those small changes into big changes in people’s lives, their communities, and ultimately, the whole earth. They want to make at least 100 million people on earth aware of the idea of Earth Citizenship and help them live by its standards. That is more than one percent of the earth’s population, but they believe it is the tipping point to create momentum toward a peaceful and sustainable world.
ECO’s website, EarthCitizens.org, goes into more detail about their plans and activities. The website also explains the ways you can support or join this movement that liberates the human spirit. The simplest way is to become an ECO member for a one-time donation of $10. Their programs are all run under cost and are funded by the generosity of individual and organizational donors.
By Michela Mangiaracina
New Book of Inspiration
After more than 30 years of creating brush calligraphy through meditation and displaying them in shows, Ilchi Lee has put the best together in a beautiful hardcover. He’s paired them with simple, yet profound insights that expound on the meaning behind each piece. Publisher Best Life Media will release it widely on April 1st, but it is currently available on their website and at ChangeYourEnergy.com.
About his new book, Ilchi Lee said, “I made each stroke of the brush in a state of nothingness—complete presence—with the intention to communicate my wish that each person who looked at my work would discover their unconditional and limitless capacity for happiness. This book also contains messages that can help every human being discover their value and put it into practice.”
Here is a sample for you . . .
Your Perfect Refuge
Ahn: Being comfortable
Set your body down comfortably. As you control your breathing, let your mind watch your body. Tell yourself, It’s all right. Then your soul will become more comfortable, and your body will gain new comfort and strength along with it.You can obtain genuine strength and rest within yourself. Your body is your refuge and your energy generator. Your perfect refuge is inside your body. When you’re shaken and confused, go into your body.
If you relax your body, control your breathing, and tell yourself, It’s all right, with those words your soul will gain strength. You cannot find true rest outside yourself, no matter how far you may drag your body. Our souls gain greater strength from comforting ourselves than from being supported by others.
New Book of Inspiration
Learn How to Live as an Earth Citizen with ECO
March 12, 2015
Hatch Your Inner Power
While raising chickens in New Zealand, I discovered something amazing. One of the hens decided that, instead of letting me have her egg one day, she was going to incubate it. She even pecked at my hand when I tried to push her away. So I thought, there’s something to this chicken. Normally, if a person is coming, a chicken will run away. But when the chicken is sitting on the egg, she will risk her life. There is no retreat and no surrender. This chicken just sat there for one day, two days, and she wouldn’t even eat. So we let her brood and incubate the egg. If you give an egg 36 to 37 degrees Celsius in temperature, then the light of life comes on. Twenty-one days later, a chick came out. It’s such an amazing and wondrous phenomenon. It’s really the wonder of life. Watching this, I discovered a new method of meditation that helps you experience the preciousness of life.
Take a raw egg and hold it up around nose height with your left hand and cover it with your right hand. Decide in your mind: I’m going to incubate this egg. Cover the egg with your own body temperature. Close your eyes. Feel the temperature and concentrate. That temperature is what makes the egg become a chick. A miracle of life is happening in your hands. When you feel the temperature, when you become one with that temperature, you disappear and only energy remains. The more you focus on the temperature and become one with the temperature, you realize, oh, this is muah . . . nothingness.
When you disappear and all of your thoughts are stopped, then in that place, the spark of life can come to be, and even your body becomes purified. Even if you just stay three minutes in this state, then your body will change. Three changes will take place: a change in recovering your conscience and good character, a change in your natural healing ability, and a change in creation that happens through your awakening and enlightenment about life.
You have the power to create life. You possess this power, the power to create life. So when you have the awakening and enlightenment that you have this power, then your value becomes different. That’s not something you have to learn. That’s something given to us by nature. It’s the power of birth and the power of hatching.
Ilchi Lee
March 10, 2015
First Year of Alternative School Ends with Great Success
On March 4, 2015, Ilchi Lee participated in the first term graduation and second term induction ceremony for the Benjamin School for Character Education at the Institute of Korean Cultural Studies in Cheonan, South Korea. He spoke to the gathered audience as the founder of the school and the president of the Global Cyber University. Parents, educators, and visitors from South Korea, Japan, China, the United States, Canada, Ireland, and Russia were in attendance.
Students, administrators, and dignitaries gather for a group picture.
Led by Principal Na Ok Kim, the Benjamin School for Character Education is a futuristic alternative school that is drawing interest as a new model of education for Korea. The Benjamin School was launched on March 4th of the previous year for the purpose of developing global prodigies of character and integrity who make completion of their strength of character the purpose of their life and are self-directed and creative. Called “one year that changes your life,” it had twenty-seven students in the first term, who demonstrated huge accomplishments over the one-year program. They each showed a tremendous amount of growth through online and offline activities including a personal project called the Benjamin Project, part-time jobs, and work experience, and they drew media attention as outstanding cases of character education.
First term graduates
As the self-directed and creative educational format of the Benjamin School became known, over 1000 students with dreams and talent applied for the second term. The students went through a three-step application process, and 479 students were admitted. The admitted students included seven younger siblings of the first term students. There were cases of brothers and sisters being admitted together, and one foreign student from Paraguay was also admitted.
Some students walk on their hands to receive their diploma, as they learned at the Bejamin School for Character Education.
Besides Ilchi Lee and Principal Kim, the Honorary Chairman, former South Korean Prime Minister Suseong Lee, also gave a speech. A festive atmosphere was provided by congratulatory performances by soprano and professor Mikyung Jo and guitar duo Philos. One member of this younger brother and college-age sister duo, brother Hajin Jung, will attend the second term of the Benjamin School.
During her introductory speech, Principal Kim congratulated the graduating class, saying, “These young people turned the difficulties of the past year [with the Sewol ferry tragedy] and created a year shining with hope. The first term class chose to find their dream, and in the world outside of the classroom, created their own unique story of developing character and connecting with their humanity.”
She went on to say, “Now, I ask the students of the first term graduating class, who have matured into global leaders, unfold your dreams where you stand with confidence, and become models for your juniors. Newly admitted students, I hope that you inherit the passion of your first term seniors and challenge yourselves to your heart’s content. Parents, truly believe in your children and wait for them, and just look over them so that they can make their own flowers bloom. We are gathered here to become the foundation for character education in Korea. I’m very excited to see our children, who have outstanding brains, growing into the happiest children and into global leaders.”
Honorary Chairman of the Board of the Benjamin School and former Prime Minister Suseong Lee said in a moving speech of encouragement, “When the students of the graduating class and entering class here become adults, you will proudly say that you know who you are, that you value yourself, that you love nature, and that you are living your life in a way that makes it worthwhile. Tears will flow from the parents of the young people here because they are so happy just to see the way they live. It may not be visible to the eye, but our country and our people will be grateful to you. Thanks to you, Korea will be a country that upholds its pride and dignity.”
In his own lecture that day, President Ilchi Lee introduced “egg hatching meditation.” He reflected on his experiences with the animals at the meditation center he’s developing in New Zealand as he shared his awakenings about life and the value and importance of creation. Each member of the audience had brought a raw egg in anticipation of this speech:
Ilchi Lee shares his awakenings on self-development and growth.
“Usually, when a hen sees a person, they’re afraid, but a hen that’s sitting on an egg is not only unafraid, but pecks at the person. In this way, the hen stakes her life to incubate the egg. Hold the egg in your hands and focus on the egg. When you focus on the egg and feel the temperature, what you think of as yourself disappears and only energy remains. That temperature is what makes the chick. The miracle of life comes from your hands. As the spark of new life arises, the change of recovering character, the change of natural healing power, and the change of creation that comes through awakening about life take place. In the same way that the chick hatches from the egg through love and attention, you will experience the hatching of a new birth as a model of character and integrity at the Benjamin School.”
The graduation ceremony began with a video and performance about the story of the students’ growth over the past year. The students gave a remarkable performance that showed the process of a caterpillar growing into a butterfly with glow-in-the-dark hula hoops to enthusiastic cheering and applause from the audience.
Video summarizing first term begins the ceremony.
Additionally, as representatives of the first term class, students Sunghoon Yang, Kyubin Sung, and Eunbyul Jo presented words of gratitude. They shared what they felt about graduating, saying, “As we attended Benjamin School, things that we couldn’t even imagine became reality. If we can be brave, we can accomplish it, and I am grateful to the principal and teachers of Benjamin School and to President (of Global Cyber University) [Ilchi Lee] who founded the Benjamin School.”
Thank you speech by first term students.
This graduation featured a very special honorary graduate—the late Jaewook Lee, who left the world too soon last year in the Sewol ferry tragedy. He was a junior at Ahnsan Danwon High School at the time of the incident, but in May of last year, he became an honorary transfer student at the Benjamin School for his long-cherished wish. Jaewook’s father, Seungchul Lee received a diploma on behalf of his son.
The second term students of the Benjamin School have 150 main teachers at sixteen experimental learning centers throughout South Korea to guide the students, and about 500 professionals as mentors, who will help the students with work experience and Benjamin Projects. And for the first time in the country, a university-level online Learning Management System (LMS) was developed. With access to a two-way video conferencing system and more, the diverse activities of all of the Benjamin School students will be shared online. More than anything, the school’s experiential curriculum, which is based on Brain Education and traditional Korean culture studies, provides the foundation for developing the creativity of the students’ brains as well as their strength of character.
Celebrating a new era in education.
It has long been said that education is the long-range plan of a country. The Benjamin School aims to become the cornerstone for the long-range plan of humankind.
Written by Jeon Eun Ae for iKoreanSpirit.com
Translated by Michelle Seo
Edited by Michela Mangiaracina
