September 13, 2011 – 8:40 am
Many people seek a higher consciousness in hopes of achieving personal improvements that will benefit their own life. However, they may not realize that their efforts to better themselves could eventually lead to peace on Earth.
Author and philosopher Ilchi Lee says that the only way the world can develop into a more peaceful and harmonious place is by pushing the brain power of populations forward. When more individuals live enlightened lives, there is less risk of violence and conflict.
By working to raise one's consciousness, it may become possible to contribute to the peaceful development of the world. This may seem like a lofty goal, but there are few other options when it comes to eliminating aggression and destruction.
The vast majority of conflicts that take place – whether they be disputes among co-workers or wars between nations – come from one party failing to understand the positions of the other. When there is a lack of give and take between two people or groups, disagreements are inevitable.
However, if more people are able to lift their consciousness to a higher level, these types of misunderstandings may become a thing of the past. Groups of people will be able to live together without pointless fights over meaningless arguments. In this way, the societies of the world may be able to advance to a point where fighting is a thing of the past.
There are many things individuals can do to elevate their consciousness. Lee says that exercises like meditation and tai chi are some of the best methods for developing a higher consciousness. Most people may be interested in these techniques for their own personal benefit, but eventually they may contribute to a more peaceful world.
September 7, 2011 – 8:41 am
It may seem hard to imagine what it would take to create universal peace. The differences that divide various cultures are wide and seem to be growing larger every day. In this climate, it may seem unlikely that humanity could unite under a common cause and start working toward peace and harmony.
However, peace may be more within grasp than most people would assume. All it would take is for a group of people to put their minds toward living in harmony. When more individuals start to share in this collective consciousness, it could lead to major advancements toward the cause of ending conflict.
For the most part, few people share their thoughts. Individuals live their own lives without communicating deeper ideas to other members of their community. The modern era has magnified these problems by pushing people out of public spaces and into their homes.
But it may be possible to lessen the impact of the divisions caused by life in the 21st century. Author and philosopher Ilchi Lee says that coming together to share a collective consciousness could help communities and nations unite around the common cause of peace.
The majority of conflicts that exist in the world are cause by a failure on the part of one or more parties to understand the views and beliefs held by those on the other side. This leads to tension and violence. However, by sharing elements of the same consciousness, it may become easier for individuals to come to terms with the motivations of their opponents.
In this way, conflict could largely come to an end. It may seem like an ambitious goal right now, but in the near future it may be possible for more people to share one consciousness and unite for peace.
August 26, 2011 – 7:53 am
There are many ways a person can reach a higher consciousness. Some involve developing oneself, while others are more focused on spreading universal peace throughout the world. Both approaches are valid, but only the latter can help put the world on a path toward harmony and happiness.
Few things in life can be as satisfying as true public service. When a person puts aside their own desires and needs and works to make the world a better place, they give a piece of their self to everyone in the world. At a time when millions of people are without jobs and children in all corners of the world – even here in the U.S. – go hungry, this can make a tremendous difference.
Due to world events, the people of Earth are in greater need of individuals who are able to devote their time to public service than ever before. Recognizing these needs and working to address them can play a major role in a person's ability to reach a higher consciousness.
Through public service and efforts to spread world peace, a person gets in touch with a deep part of their inner self. This aspect of their personality may not even be recognizable at first, but it exists within everyone. Through caring efforts to help others, individuals can develop their true self and allow it to be a more active part of their daily life.
It may seem counterintuitive that the best way to reach a higher consciousness is through selfless public service. However, the fruits of this type of effort may create a much more harmonious world, in which everyone is able to pursue their true potential.
August 23, 2011 – 8:44 am
Though the world may seem like a dark and dreary place where violence and conflict rage unchecked, there is still hope that one day the planet will experience peace on Earth. The secret to attaining this positive state is an elevated consciousness.
When a person works to develop their mind, it becomes overwhelmingly apparent to them that conflict and aggression have no place in problem solving. In fact, these destructive approaches are actually counterproductive when it comes to problem solving. This may seem like an obvious point, but it is one that relatively few people appreciate.
It often takes consciousness raising exercises for individuals to achieve a state of mind in which they recognize conflict is not a viable solution to their problems. Once a person begins to believe in the power of peace in conflict resolution, there is no limit to what they can achieve in their life.
Furthermore, once a majority of people around the world start buying in to the benefits of peace, the world as a whole may become much more harmonious. Peace has an exponentially compounding effect in which one person’s acts of kindness may be multiplied by the dozens of people affected who then incorporate peaceful principles into their own life.
This is why it is so important for individuals to work to raise their consciousness. The more people attain a higher level of awareness, the sooner the world will become a peaceful place. Given the amount of conflict and violence the people of the world currently have to put up with on a daily basis, the benefits of consciousness raising can’t come soon enough.
August 16, 2011 – 8:34 am
Attaining a higher consciousness is not just about improving oneself. Striving to push your brain potential to its maximum can have effects that ripple through society and make the world a better place. These types of individual actions are exactly what is needed to push the world forward and achieve peace on Earth.
Author and philosopher Ilchi Lee says that there is currently a significant amount of strife in the world. Conflict and violence have spread like a virus, threatening to overtake everything in its path. The situation is somewhat dire, but there are things individuals can do to stop this tragic set of circumstances from becoming permanent.
Developing one's mind is one of the surest ways to do this. Consciousness raising activities can show a person that violence never solves any problems, it only makes them worse. Individuals develop an appreciation for the fact that conflict only disturbs the person who started it, causing deep wounds on the inside.
As more and more people come to these types of realizations after working to elevate their consciousness, it may become apparent to a majority of the world's population that peace and harmony are the only tenable solutions to the problems facing the planet.
To be sure, there is a long way to go before the world is able to embrace this type of approach to learning and peace. The old ways of solving disagreements with bombs and bullets are too engrained in our culture and among our leaders.
However, the most profound changes are often incremental. Gradually working to create a more enlightened society over the course of several years could pay off with a peaceful planet.
August 10, 2011 – 8:56 am
For individuals who are looking to attain a higher consciousness, thinking more about peace and how to incorporate it into their daily lives may be a good way to go about achieving the mental state. The two things may not seem all that closely linked, but when you look closer, you may see that peace is at the forefront of a healthy consciousness.
Practically speaking, there is no way to separate matters of peace from cognitive functioning. The reason for this is achieving a consciousness shift involves not just developing one’s self, but also working to improve the world around.
Any time a person embarks on a journey of self-improvement they do so for one of two reasons. First, they may work to better themselves out of a desire to be more impressive in the public light. A self-consciousness drives them to be more what the public wants them to be. This type of pursuit is inherently selfish and often ends in failure.
However, other people work to develop their minds out of a desire to do good for the world as a whole. A strongly developed intellect is a powerful thing, and when this type of mind is used for peaceful purposes, the whole world benefits. This is what is known as a global consciousness.
Given the amount of dedication and commitment it takes to raise one’s consciousness, it may be difficult to say that you are doing purely out of a desire to better humanity. It is only natural to want to get something out of it. However, this thinking is shortsighted.
When a person develops their intellect and begins using it for the benefit of humanity, the entire world becomes a more harmonious, peaceful place. This makes things better for everyone, including the person who has put in the work. A more peaceful world is its own reward.
The world is full of strife and conflict. Wars continue to rage and fighting remains a constant part of life for people living in many parts of the world. At times, it may seem difficult to image how the people of Earth could ever unite to embrace universal peace.
To be sure, the nations and interest groups of the world are not close to reaching such a compromise. We are reminded of this on a nearly daily basis. A gunman opens fire on a crowd, extremists blow up a building, hate groups hurl disapproving slurs. The signs of conflict are all around us.
However, it will not always be this way. Author and flutist Ilchi Lee has predicted a time when people of the world will unite and celebrate their common humanity, regardless of their backgrounds.
He calls this the Earth Citizen movement. It talks about a time in which people put aside their racial, religious, national and cultural differences and begin to identify first as a citizen of the Earth. When this identity becomes a person's first priority, it becomes much easier for them to overlook their differences and embrace others who share their interest in humanity.
This type of peace philosophy in action could lead to significant reductions in violence and conflict worldwide. When a person views a threat of violence as potentially harming their brothers and sisters, they are much less likely to follow through on these actions.
As things stand today, the world is awfully far away from achieving peace on earth. The differences between many groups are too wide to bridge at the moment. But incrementally moving things in a more peaceful direction could be an achievable goal.
Many veterans return from war with many peace philosophy questions. They have left the fighting behind, but why are they unable to shake the demons of the battlefield? Why has returning to their old life not given them the joy they expected.
These questions can be difficult to answer, but former soldiers are increasingly looking to their four-legged friends for answers.
CBS News recently reported that an organization called Pets2Vets is helping returning service men and women find a pet as part of an effort to help them overcome the scars of the battlefield. The goal is to make returning home from combat the peaceful arrival it is supposed to be.
Dave Sharpe, the group's founder, told the news source that when he returned from overseas, where he was with the Air Force stationed in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, he had many mental issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder. The condition prompted him to start fights for no reason and he found little peace in his everyday life.
However, it was a pit bull puppy that showed him there is a reason to live life in a more peaceful and fulfilling manner.
Ilchi Lee says that this kind of peace philosophy in action is exactly the type of things that a person can use to change their life for the better and spread harmony throughout their community. When enough people come to accept this approach to life, the world could become a much more peaceful place.
While veterans often have difficulty readjusting to their former lives, they can also be powerful messengers of peace. When someone who has seen the horrors of conflict says that peace is worth pursuing, it often carries extra weight.
With the ever-expanding role of technology changing the way business is done, employers are often forced to adapt their policies based on the schedules of their employees.
This has become particularly true in the case of remote workers, who often may have little experience working outside of an office environment and may need guidelines to help them work efficiently and effectively.
According to a recent Business Insider column, one of the first things employers should do is to ensure that office rules and regulations are still relevant for remote workers. While the employees may have flexible schedules, this should not take away from their professionalism or productivity, especially as the amount of distractions tends to increase while working from home.
Another aspect of one's personal responsibility as an employer is providing remote workers with all of the technology and equipment they will need to work outside of the office, according to the news source. While this may have been more of a problem in the past, cloud-based technology has aided employers by enabling employees to access work documents from their personal computers at any time.
While there are a number of benefits to having employees work remotely – particularly extra office space – it is also crucial to ensure that data security plans are in place, as the utilization of home computers can open up a whole new world of viruses and potential cyber attacks.
By implementing such plans, employers can thwart the attacks that seem to be a common occurrence in this new world of rapidly expanding technology.
Allowing employees to work remotely can also help cut down on commute times, which is important as a recent Staples survey indicated that telecommuters reported their stress levels dropped by 25 percent on average when making the switch to working at home, according to a release.
According to a recent column in U.S. News & World Report by Katy Marquardt, while most people turn to the internet to find a job, absent-mindedly blasting resumes to whatever job offer they find on the web, this is a "classic mistake," says Donald Asher, the author of Cracking the Hidden Job Market.
In order to tap into the hidden job market, it is important to make strong connections. Instead of waiting for a certain job to be posted, contact a hiring representative from the company you hope to work for and start a running conversation. If you have no contact whatsoever with anyone from the company, scan the company's website and find the name of someone who you can get in touch with, Marquardt writes. But stay away from the HR department, if you can.
"Casting a giant net," as the author calls it, is essential to finding a job these days. This includes reaching out to the smallest of acquaintances, even if it is through a social media networking site such as LinkedIn. Find someone who went to your high school that you may have never even spoken to, and see if they might drop your resume someplace.
It is your personal responsibility to proceed accordingly once you have solidified your network, according to Marquardt. Don't outright ask for a job, but don't butter a contact up too much, either. Get in touch with extended members of your network, engage in a lively conversation, and let it be known that you are on the job hunt, without appearing to need someone to lean on.
These networking tips, the author writes, will go a long way towards your brain education in learning how to find a job in a tough economic climate.
Global warming is not just an environmental issue. Officials from the United Nations recently said that the state of the world's climate is creating an "unholy brew" that could lead to insecurity and threaten any world peace philosophy that may have begun to develop.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the United Nations Security Council that extreme weather events could lead to much destruction both in wealthy and poor nations and that this could damage security apparatuses, potentially leading to conflict, according to the Herald Sun.
"Extreme weather events continue to grow more frequent and intense in rich and poor countries alike, not only devastating lives, but also infrastructure, institutions and budgets – an unholy brew which can create dangerous security vacuums," he said, according to the news source. "Not only exacerbates threats to international peace and security; it is a threat to international peace and security."
Ban was speaking before the Security Council urging member nations to pass legislation that would seek to reduce global warming. However, the body failed to act on the motion, a move that representatives from the U.S. called "pathetic."
The world is already beginning to see the effects of global warming. Severe weather including tornados and powerful thunder storms ripped through much of the U.S. this spring. Meanwhile extreme droughts rage in Russia and parts of Africa, while flooding drowned much of Pakistan in the spring.
These types of events have the potential to cause conflict between nations as they struggle for an ever decreasing share of safe and reliable natural resources. However, peace philosophy blog writer Ilchi Lee says that countries around the world can guarantee the safety of their citizens by working together to solve these problems.
In a world that is so torn apart by conflict and violence, it is reassuring to know that there are some people who are working to make the world a more peaceful place. The world peace philosophy of two leaders in the field was recently on display in Washington, DC in an event that served to inspire potential future generations of peace workers.
The World Peace Prize Awarding Council recently recognized the efforts of His Holiness Dorje Chang Buddha III and former Congressman Benjamin A. Gilman. Officials from the organization said that these two leaders had displayed great skill and courage in their work to make the world a more harmonious place.
Chang Buddha III has been a prominent figure in the Buddhist religion and has suffered significantly for his work. Various nations have at times sought his arrest, as his views were considered dissenting. However, he has since been able to move on with life and avoid prosecution.
Gilman was presented with the Peace Prize for his work battling against world hunger and drug addiction. He retired from the U.S. House of Representatives in 2003, but has remained active in many charitable pursuits. Officials from the committee said that he had "demonstrated vision, initiative, and leadership in the effort to achieve a world without hunger."
The award ceremony was attended by U.S. government representatives and other figures from the non-profit and charitable sectors. Through this type of activity, individuals may get a chance to witness a peace philosophy in action and become inspired by it.
Author and peace philosophy expert Ilchi Lee says that getting more people involved in the peace process is the best way to achieve harmony throughout the planet.
Lite-Bright is a tool for young children to unleash their creative forces and has never been regarded as much more. However, one artist is using the toy to make a powerful statement of his peace philosophy in action.
Rob Surette, an artist and resident of North Andover, Massachusetts, recently set a record for the world's largest Lite-Bright installation, and according to the North Andover Patch, his world peace philosophy was the main motivator behind his creation.
The installation required a year's worth of work and 504,000 pegs. The image depicts a scene of people from various national and ethnic backgrounds uniting together with a sense of common purpose. Faces of Americans stand on one side of the image while individuals of other national backgrounds are represented on the other side. A heart lies in the middle of the two components.
"I felt that with my inspiration, to have it be a world record will help catch more people's attention and help it travel and be seen around the world," Surette told the news source. "I felt called to do this and felt it in my whole being."
He added that he first became inspired to try something like this after the terrorist attacks of September 11. He hopes his work will unite people from different backgrounds.
This is the type of world peace philosophy that author and trailblazer Ilchi Lee endorses. He says that differences in nationality, religion and race are some of the main drivers of conflict throughout the planet. However, when people work to overcome these issues, the world becomes a much more peaceful place.
Lee had encouraged people to become more involved in peaceful efforts and hopes that larger sections of the population will become interested in sharing a common purpose with their peers.
Like it or not, the issue of world peace largely rests in the hands of political leaders. While regular citizens are responsible for putting these individuals into power, the politicians are the ones with their fingers on the buttons, pulling the levers that may send nations to war.
However, a new program at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia is working to educate tomorrow's leaders on how to run businesses and governments without starting conflicts that could eventually lead to destruction and violence.
The World Peace Game is a summer program that has participants work to increase their hypothetical nation's net worth while avoiding conflicts that could eventually escalate to war. The players must balance their desires to increase prosperity against the necessity to avoid violence.
"At the start of the game, the countries represented by students are tangled in disagreement and crisis. Throughout the game, the students must straighten out their differences through diplomacy and strategy, while winning the health and strength of their own countries," said John Hunter, a fellow at the university who created the program.
Following the conclusion of the game, students participate in talks with experts where they are given a chance to reflect on their experiences and talk about any mistakes they may have made. This further reinforces the world peace philosophy that they picked up during the course of the exercises.
By instilling this world peace philosophy in the minds of young people who may one day become world leaders, this program and others like it may put the world on a more solid path toward peace and harmony. Author and philosopher Ilchi Lee says that peace can be attained. All society has to do is put in the work achieve it.
Setting a peace philosophy in action means taking real steps to make the world a safer, more harmonious place. While nearly everyone would agree that the world would be a better place if it was more peaceful, few people actively work toward this goal.
However, one Japanese group is trying to change this. Through their actions, the Committee of Seven for World Peace Appeal is trying to get Japan and the rest of the world to abandon nuclear power as a way to promote safer, more environmentally friendly energy, according to the Mainichi Daily News. This could contribute to a safer, more peaceful world.
Limiting the amount of nuclear material that exists in the world could have important implications for promoting peace, but the group's officials told the news source that world leaders have done far too little to promote this issue. Rather than setting in motion policies that make it possible to expand the use of environmentally friendly energy, lawmakers continue to stick with policies that pollute and contribute to the profusion of dangerous nuclear material.
Officials told the news source that strengthening the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency could lead to greater control over nuclear power providers, which could limit the degree to which atomic-related risks arise.
The statement by the group is a confirmation of Ilchi Lee's world peace philosophy. The author and trailblazer says that the nations of the world need to work together to create an environment in which individuals can pursue happiness without fearing for their safety. This will contribute to a more peaceful situation.
While some world leaders continue to show reluctance to move toward these goals, the fact that some private groups are pushing this agenda may encourage environmentalists and peace activists alike.
