Tai Ji Men’s Artistic Martial Arts Performances Add Color to ANU Religion Conference 2023 | WPN World People News

Tai Ji Men members posed for a group photo with other attendees after conducting a cultural exchange activity during the lunchtime plenary session of the ANU Religion Conference 2023 at Australian National University.

The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia hosted an international conference on "Religion in Modern Education: Conflict, Policy, and Practice" from April 13 to 15, 2023 to explore the role of religion in education for the development of excellent global citizens. Over 70 religious and social scholars as well as members of civil society from more than ten nations, including Australia, the United States, Italy, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Taiwan, attended the event. They suggest that public and private schools should incorporate the power of civil society organizations to exert the influence of social education and that schools should also emphasize spiritual growth to help students develop good value systems in life.

Tai Ji Men members, with the nearly lost martial arts formations, demonstrated the spirit of the highest level of martial arts, which is to stop conflict and promote goodness.

Twelve delegates from Tai Ji Men and the Federation of World Peace and Love participated in this important international meeting to share their vision of promoting a culture of peace with love and conscience. During the lunchtime plenary session on the 14th, to celebrate the International Day of Conscience, Tai Ji Men members presented a wonderful cultural performance that was deeply rooted in the ancient Taoist wisdom and fused with modern martial arts.

Tai Ji Men was invited to perform in the Sydney Olympics and Sydney Opera House in 2000, causing a sensation.

In 2000, during the Sydney Olympics, Tai Ji Men was invited by the Sydney Organising Committee to march down the Olympic Blvd. with various weapons and perform martial arts, making it the only organization of qigong and martial arts to do so at the Olympic Games. It was also invited to present the "Night of Ancient Culture" at the Sydney Opera House, the first ever to do so. On the evening of the presentation, on behalf of the Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, the then Governor of New South Wales Gordon Samuels rang the “Bell of World Peace and Love,” praising Tai Ji Men members for their actions mirroring their words.

The Love of the World Cultural Goodwill Group participated in the 63rd Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference held in Melbourne, Australia in 2010, encouraging the world to respect human rights and protect the Earth.

In 2010, the 63rd Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference was held in Melbourne, Australia, where people from all over the world gathered to focus on global health issues. The Love of the World Cultural Goodwill Group, composed of members of the ECOSOC-accredited NGO Association of World Citizens, the Federation of World Peace and Love, and Tai Ji Men, participated in the conference, and hosted ceremonies of ringing the Bell of World Peace and Love, a world citizen summit on love, peace, and human rights, several seminars, and a rare cultural exchange of qigong and martial arts. Additionally, they went to neighborhood schools to spread the word about a campaign that was both deeply educational and inspirational, encouraging people to write essays about how they would protect the environment and encourage others to do the same.

Tai Ji Men members performed the "Tai Ji Sword Dance," embodying both tenderness and bravery, while wielding the swords of righteousness. By doing so, they transmitted positive energy and inspired others to do the right thing.

This April, Tai Ji Men members visited Australia again to present dances and martial arts based on the Tai Ji Men culture, which is praised as a precious treasure of the world. Tai Ji Men members performed the "Tai Ji Sword Dance," embodying both tenderness and bravery, while wielding the swords of righteousness. By doing so, they transmitted positive energy and encouraged others to face all problems with compassion, courage, and conscience. Tai Ji Men members also presented a nearly lost martial arts formation titled "Unity of Tai Ji Civil and Martial Arts." Their demonstration of kung fu fan and fan dance symbolized "to promote goodness," displaying the spirit of the highest level of martial arts, which is to stop conflict and promote goodness. Through their performances, Tai Ji Men members wished everyone to join hands and protect their common homes with conscience and promote world peace.

Ms. Lina Koleilat, a member of the ANU Religion Committee, right, presented a certificate of appreciation to Tai Ji Men on behalf of the Australian National University (ANU) for its outstanding cultural performance.

Tai Ji Men members also sang a song titled “We Can Change the World,” through which they enhanced cross-cultural and cross-generational understanding and vision of cooperation and encouraged everyone to spread love to make the world a better place. Tai Ji Men members introduced to the other attendees the global endorsement campaign for various declarations, including the Declaration of International Day of Conscience, the Declaration of World Prayer Day, the Declaration of World Day of the Power of Hope. They invited the other attendees to sign the declarations online and led them to meditate for 60 seconds to pray for the world. Everyone is a hero of conscience, and unity can change the world. If global citizens follow their conscience and take more actions of conscience to fulfill their hopes, they can create a happy and peaceful world.

Prof. Arshad Munir, left, praised Tai Ji Men's cultural performance for allowing everyone to enjoy it and for spreading the message of love and peace.

Tai Ji Men members invited academics to express their thoughts about Tai Ji Men’s performances and activities. Dr. David Kim, chair of the ANU Religion Committee, stated, “Prayer for conscience and world peace, that’s an important part of personality. It is good not only for mind control but also could have the chance to think about other people’s lifestyles. So it is good for me as well.” “Love and peace are important parts that we are living in a very high-technology civilization, but we often forget about loving each other, loving neighbors, and keeping the peace.” “So world peace should be the most important thing people have to search, and then get together, and tie together, and then work together,” he added.

Prof. Arshad Munir from Ghazi University, Pakistan, stated that Tai Ji Men’s performance was wonderful, very disciplined and that everybody enjoyed it. “The message very very impressive, and it's the need of the time, peace and love for you and for me, for all the humans,” he said, noting, “Especially as a Pakistani, we are facing a lot of extremism as a Muslim. We are facing a lot of problems regarding the extreme radicalization, so when I listened to you about the peace, so I thought that everybody is with us, and we are with all of you for the peace and for the love.”

Tita Tabjje, an ANU PhD student, stated that she was very impressed by the elegant cultural performance. “I think it’s like I am in heaven,” she said, adding, “I can feel the love. I can feel the peace. And you can feel something that’s very different.” “You have this one-minute prayer, which is very strong. It touch me so much, like I can feel it’s very spiritual for me. I feel God. I pray God. While doing that, I feel something, which is very peaceful.”

On April 15, Ms. Lina Koleilat, a member of the ANU Religion Committee, presented a certificate of appreciation to Tai Ji Men on behalf of the Australian National University (ANU) for its outstanding cultural performance.

A special session of the international conference on April 15 focused on conscience education, spiritual movements, and conflict in Taiwan, with an emphasis on the Tai Ji Men case. It explored the many obstacles encountered by Tai Ji Men’s leader and members in promoting a culture of conscience, love, and peace, but more and more like-minded people in the world have shown their support for such a culture. The meeting was moderated by Prof. Massimo Introvigne, founder and managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) and editor-in-chief of Bitter Winter magazine. Emma Chen, a member of the Federation of World Peace and Love and Tai Ji Men, introduced how Tai Ji Men has visited 101 nations, advocating conscience education. Rosita Šorytė, a former Lithuanian diplomat and member of the European Federation for Freedom of Belief, discussed an Asian spiritual movement and how its efforts were crucial for the United Nations’ adoption of the International Day of Conscience in 2019. Rebecca Wang, a member of the Tax and Legal Reform League, discussed conscience education and conflict in Taiwan.

In 2023, the world is celebrating the fourth International Day of Conscience. Starting from late March, a series of events have been held in Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Jose, Taiwan, Australia, and other locations to celebrate this UN-designated international day. The world is now facing global problems such as war, inflation, economic downturns, and climate change, which require global citizens’ collective conscience and power of hope to tackle them together. The United Nations declared April 5 as the International Day of Conscience in 2019 to build a sustainable world of peace, solidarity, and harmony. This day aims to further enhance global awareness and actions for world peace. Promoting a culture of peace with love and conscience can create positive butterfly effects and is a project of hope to save the future of humanity. Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, the leader of Tai Ji Men, was instrumental in the UN’s adoption of the International Day of Conscience. In 2014, he launched the movement of "An Era of Conscience," leading Tai Ji Men members to act with conscience and spread the idea to every populated continent, and people from 200 countries have already signed the Declaration for the Movement of An Era of Conscience.