Federation of World Peace and Love

International Day of Living Together in Peace
Promoting Global Solidarity with Conscience: 
Creating a Peaceful Future with Love

 
Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze
President of Federation of World Peace and Love
Vice-President of Association of World Citizens
Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men
May 16, 2022

 

Throughout history, wars have brought untold misery and pain to humanity. World citizens all aspire to a living environment of peace, stability, and non-violence. The United Nations declared May 16 the International Day of Living Together in Peace, urging the international community to strive to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding, and solidarity. It is hoped that people will live and work together in peace, that they will handle differences and diversity with open-mindedness, and that they will respect and appreciate one another and unite to build a sustainable world of peace and harmony.
 
On an interpersonal level, living together in peace entails embracing one another's differences and being able to listen to, understand, respect, and appreciate others, and thus live together in peace and harmony. This so-called "external peace" is based on inner peace. Since ancient times, self-cultivation practitioners have employed various methods to attain inner balance, leading their hearts into a state of peace, harmony, and serenity, which the Taoist refer to as the state of being natural. When one is calm and secure, one can handle any situation, including adversity, with grace. How do we achieve inner peace? The key lies in the precious endowment from Heaven—conscience. Only with the awakening of conscience, can we create powerful positive energy, compassion, and acceptance to love and accept ourselves and maintain inner peace. When a person can sustain "inner peace," the person can certainly tolerate and respect others, embrace differences, and attain external peace. 
 
Today’s world is tumultuous, and the various challenges brought on by the pandemic, wars, natural and man-made disasters, and human rights violations have caused many disturbances and unrest. The lack of peace has originated from humanity’s selfishness, which has resulted in political, economic, social, and environmental conflicts, unearthing underlying concerns and crises that threaten the stability of society and people. Therefore, the International Day of Living Together in Peace also aims to uphold international peace and security, promote sustainable development, protect human rights, and safeguard international law or humanitarian actions. All world citizens share a common destiny. If we listen to our conscience, we can expand our hearts, act altruistically, tolerate and accept those who are different from us while sharing our resources to bring unity and harmony to the entire human family. Each person should be conscience-oriented in work, life, and education by caring for one another with compassion and cooperating with one another with gratitude, and set a good example of conscience, so that conscience education can take root from childhood and nurture the next generation to develop the virtues of tolerance and respect, as well as promote global peace and unity with compassion and great love. 
 
Peace is our common aspiration. The kind or evil thoughts of world leaders are the keys to humanity’s common destiny. Only peace can bring stability and prosperity. Conscience is the cornerstone of peace. The destiny of the world not only lies in the conscience of the leaders, but also in the conscience of every citizen of the world. Over the years, I have led a cultural goodwill group to different nations around the world to promote a culture of conscience with love and peace. Heads of state and visionary leaders from all walks of life are invited to ring the Bell of World Peace and Love, make wishes for peace and sustainability, take action to realize their peace wishes, and continue to work for global peace and sustainability. At this moment, it is imperative that global citizens unite, cooperate, and live together in peace to usher in hope and positive energy for the future of humanity and Mother Earth.
 
I proclaimed “Love of the World, A Declaration of Peace” on September 25, 1999, expressing the aspirations of all humanity, praying for the well-being of all people in a new century, and looking forward to returning to a harmonious world where there is no suffering, no fear, no war, and no pain. To date, the wishes to stop war, do good, and bring the world together as one have remained unchanged. We will continue our peace endeavors out of our love of the world. We hope that all citizens of the world will, in the spirit of the International Day of Living Together in Peace, unite and tolerate one another with love and conscience to promote a future of global peace! 
 
May you all be blessed with peace and health. 
May the world be peaceful and sustainable. 
 
 
*Presented at the ICDAY’s virtual event in support of 
UN International Day of Living Together in Peace