Tai Ji Men cultural performances touch seniors’ hearts. Azusa Senior Center joins An Era of Conscience movement.
(Reported by Lily Chen) Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy presented a cultural feast filled with loving, happy, and thankful energy and introduced the global movement of An Era of Conscience at the Azusa Senior Center in the City of Azusa, California on June 9, 2015. Over 100 people attended the event, facilitated by a group of Tai Ji Men members from Asia, Canada, and the greater L.A. area.
Showing respect and gratitude to the elders has always been an important part of traditional Chinese culture. At the beginning of the event, the MC of the program, a young lady from Tai Ji Men, on behalf of the young generation at Tai Ji Men, especially conveyed their heartfelt gratitude to all seniors at the center for their contribution to the community and the country. She said as a token of their appreciation, the Tai Ji Men members would deliver a cultural program that aimed to bring happiness, youthful vitality, and hope to the seniors.
The cultural feast opened with the upbeat music of “Top of the World,” presented by Tai Ji Men’s “Love and Peace Band,” warmly conveying the message of love, as mentioned in the lyrics: “Your love’s put me at the top of the world.”
Two “Auspicious Lions” and Tai Ji Men martial artists presented a lively and cheerful lion dance and a powerful martial arts performance. The lions were so friendly and inviting that the elders happily interacted with them. People in the audience clapped their hands to the energetic music and excitedly cheered for the performance; happy and positive energy filled the entire room.
A group of Tai Ji Men young ladies presented a graceful lantern dance, radiating gentle, happy, and warm energy. The lanterns symbolized brightness; the dancers wished each one in the audience to lead a bright and happy life.
A Tai Ji Men female knight-errant, who has a solid foundation in qigong and martial arts, sang a melodic song called “The Ancient Moon Shines on the Modern World.” While beautifully singing the meaningful song, she gracefully demonstrated Chinese kung-fu and swiftly opened and closed the Tai Ji Men fan in her hand. Since the pronunciation of “fan” is identical to that of “goodness” in Chinese, her performance intended to inspire people to practice kindness and good deeds.
During the event, Tai Ji Men also introduced to the audience the global movement of An Era of Conscience, co-organized by Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy, the Federation of World Peace and Love, and the Association of World citizens. Since its inception on Jan. 1, 2014, people in 188 nations have participated in the movement; over 2900 organizations have joined as joint promoters, and over 210,000 people have endorsed the “Declaration for the Movement of An Era of Conscience.” The Tai Ji Men members invited all seniors at the center to join the movement and spread love and peace to others, collectively creating the butterfly effect of positive changes around the world.
Lenore Gonzales, recreation supervisor of the center and the City of Azusa, especially presented a certificate of recognition to Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, Zhang-men-ren (leader) of Tai Ji Men, in recognition of his promotion of love, peace, and the meaningful movement of An Era of Conscience across the planet. Dr. Hong presented a certificate of appreciation to the Azusa Senior Center for the promotion of love and peace through cultural exchange.
To advance the movement of An Era of Conscience for the common good, the performers of the event all traveled from Asia at their own expense and volunteered their time and talents for the event. They did their best to emit boundless positive and happy energy to brighten the seniors’ day and awaken the conscience in their hearts. They wished to inspire people to make positive impact on others and instill more positive energy into the world.
Munni Irone, a philanthropist, author, educator, businesswoman, TV host, Hollywood celebrity, and also Tai Ji Men member, shared with the audience her improvements in physical and spiritual health after practicing Tai Ji Men Qigong for a few months. She encouraged the elders, who commonly suffer from back pain and knee pain, to try an Eastern regimen—Tai Ji Men Qigong—to improve their health. She also said that she has toured the world and met many world leaders and prominent figures in various fields, and Dr. Hong is the most balanced and greatest leader and that Tai Ji Men is the most harmonious and happy organization that she has ever seen, where there is no power struggle.
The seniors at the center were very touched by Tai Ji Men members’ performances and the positive energy they spread. Lenore Gonzales, recreation supervisor of the center and the City of Azusa, said, “It was just beautiful, and our seniors very much enjoyed themselves. There was a lot of beautiful energy in the room from the very beginning of this morning. That was just wonderful! When the lantern dancers were dancing, they were just so beautiful and so happy. There were so many highlights. When the lions came out, that was humorous and our seniors very much enjoyed that too.” She also shared her opinion about the movement of An Era of Conscience: “I think it is very important. It’s enlightened me to try to be more positive and happy….To be a good example to others, and positive. And if your outlook is positive, then it’s contagious. So that to me is a good way of living day to day.”
Emma Mendoza shared what she thought of the event: “This is a really good, positive program.” She also encouraged everyone “to be kind to people, to respect, to encourage, and to help out with love.” When asked about her opinion of the event, Yolanda Castillo laughed heartily and said, “It’s very good. I’m happy. My heart is jumping and jumping. I like everything!”
At the end of the program, the attendees made the hand gesture of conscience and took a group photo with the “Smiley Earth” in support of the movement of An Era of Conscience.