Federation of World Peace and Love

The 5th Annual Youth Assembly
The Path of Guidance:
Helping the Youth to Engage the World
 

Every individual in this planet is a world citizen. The new world citizens are the youth and they are our hope and concern as well. We hope that they will inherit the best experiences and wisdoms of our times and continue our goals and aspirations. However, in the meantime, we are also concerned that the future generations will live in the world described in “an inconvenience truth”, facing a tougher environment. We have to assist the youth to engage the world as soon possible and get together the youth leaders to understand the state of world affairs, to evoke the pure energy of hearts and to let go of a life of differences.

The importance of youth development and youth education cannot be over-emphasized. Material wealth is not enough of a protection for future generations. The ability to solve problems with wisdom is what will count the most for the younger generation. We all have our jobs to do. While youth have to get ready for becoming mature adults, it is our collective responsibility to educate better future generations. We all know from experience that the mental development of the youth is a culmination of the collective influences of: family, schooling and social education.

A new generation emerges approximately every 20 years. Facing the changing world, the willingness of the youth to shoulder their responsibility as world citizens is a key to measure peace education. Today’s discussion on peace education and the interaction of hearts is especially meaningful and also a vital milestone for the future generations of the youth. Creatures have evolved to adapt to the changing pattern of climates. Mankind has observed how quickly a drastically different future world approaches.

Teenagers from different cultural backgrounds will be shaped into different adults. Nowadays, cultural changes occur quickly. It is very likely that as a teenager grows into adulthood; his cultural experiences from his teen years have been subject to dramatic changes. Therefore, teenagers usually face the problem of adjusting cultures. They also must accommodate the dominant thinking of their parent’s generation, while at the same time sustaining their own lifestyles so as to fulfill the needs of peer life, psychological developments and inter-personal relationships. Therefore it is natural that teenagers develop a unique lifestyle and culture that belongs only to them. The teenager sub-culture is a collective of lifestyles, behavior standards and value systems. The greatest concern is alienation from and resistance against the main societal culture.

We can reconcile these differences by doing the following: Firstly, elders should communicate with juniors with wisdom. In the meantime, we should promote good examples in their peer groups to set guidance. Secondly, traditional cultures play a vital role in the nurturing of personality. Every country has its fine cultural heritages. The consolidation of wisdom from ancient sages will facilitate the search for life’s meaning. Thirdly, positive thinking by elder citizens will set a good example for teenagers to follow; they should encourage businesses to foster their corporate culture in order to attract good workers to join the company. The earlier we start, the earlier we can remove the bad concepts of past days.

Active engagement with the world by interacting with and learning from the special guests who have devoted themselves over the years to the work of love and peace is the best learning process for our youth. The youth must have a firm grasp of the international environment and the various aspects of the Millennium Development Goals, including cultural preservation, reduction of child mortality, empowering women, human rights protection, eradication of poverty and hunger, combating the diseases of AIDS and depression, environmental sustainability and nurturing a global partnership. It is our goal to combine the wisdom and strengths of Tai Ji Men, FOWPAL, AWC, Dr. Hong Tao Tze Culture and Education Foundation（DHCEF）and the resources of international organizations such as the UN and NGOs to provide the youth with hands-on experience in the deliberation of global issues and operations of UN affairs so as to enhance their leadership capabilities and vision.

As adults, we must open ourselves to listen to the ideas and opinions of the global youth, as they will become the future leaders of the world. I am deeply impressed by the proactive participation of the youth in the work of culturing love and peace. They are moving fast and we have to act quickly in order not to be left behind.

What can hinder the learning of a free heart? It is thoughts. A full heart leaves no room for more things. In spite of the billions of lives and the thousands of technologies that we may have on Earth, we only have one Earth. The sustainable development and quality of mankind’s existence will shape the future. We are planting the seeds of love and peace so that they may grow in all the different corners of the world. Please join the effort of “safeguarding the Earth” by discussing these issues in the Assembly Hall of the UN with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders, with your help the young generation will usher in a new era.

 

I would like to offer three suggestions to the youth.

           First, be prepared at all times. You may need to stand up and take the lead at any moment. The youth have to maintain good energies and exert positive influences. This is the radiation of inner confidence, courage and potential, not vain showmanship.

           Second, embrace a heart of appreciation and believing. A pure heart is the foundation to receive positive energies. A heart of appreciation will bring fortune and blessings. We should say thank you to everyone who teaches us through experience or knowledge. We should also receive other people’s kindness with appreciation. A heart of appreciation and looking at the bright side is the way to obtain wisdom.

           Third, learn the intuitive thinking process of making analogies. This comes directly from the heart, without the interference of the brain. It is heart-felt. The pure hearts of the youth enable them to receive the most genuine messages. The intuition of the pure heart in combination of situational and scenario analysis is the learning process of the wise.

 

The urgent search for a key for survival is like an arrow dispatched to every corner of the world. The world has run along a course of actions that has resulted in abnormal climate change. What is the critical point in which to change the world’s destiny? How do we find the key solution to resolve the crisis?  I advocate that everyone should do a good thing for himself and generations to come; which is to “prepare the world for future generations.” Our lives have limitations. The destiny of the world has been returned back into the hands of Mother Nature. The way to change the world’s destiny is through compassion and corrective actions.

I am sure that the Fifth Annual Youth Assembly at the United Nations, organized by Dr. Elaine Valdov, Secretary General of Friendship Ambassadors Foundations, President of IICP and also FOWPAL Honorary International Development Member, with special assistance from the Permanent Mission to the United Nations of Hungary, and endorsed by the Permanent Missions of: Argentina, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Grenada, Italy, Jordan, Lichtenstein, Monaco, Slovenia, Sweden, Tanzania, Turkey and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be greatly successful. 

May peace and great success be with all the participants here today. May there be great success to the international forum. May all nations enjoy stability, prosperity and lasting peace. Thank you all.