Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy

One Minute Can Change the World

Thousands of Tai Ji Men dizi present the spirit of stopping conflicts and conveying kindness to safeguard the Earth At the

The culture of "praying to heaven" is an important cultural heritage. Last for five or six thousand years, the ceremony of praying to heaven has been one of earliest important ceremonies preserved in Chinese history. In the ancient time, people prayed to heaven for the country's prosperity, people in peace and good harvest due to favorable weather. Thousands years later in modern times, Tai Ji Men, a qigong, martial arts and cultivation group, will, for the first time, hold the "2008 Tai Ji Men Ceremony for Praying to Heaven for Blessing for All" at the National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center at 2 p.m. on April 18, 2008 (Friday). Presenting the legacy of culture and wisdom by generations, the ceremony is to lead the world to appreciate the Heaven and Earth, reflect on oneself, and pray together for world peace.

The meaning of the prayer ceremony is significant. It is estimated that tens of thousands people will present at the ceremony. Before the ceremony, Tai Ji Men will start with an activity of "One Minute Can Change the World" and invite people in different time zone throughout the world to meditate one-minute with good thought in mind at 2:p.m. in their local time zone. The goal of this activity is to gather every individual's one-minute kindness, good wish and the power of stability and peace country after country, time zone after time zone. It is just like the delivery of the love and peace flame to pass the positive energy of love the Earth heart to heart.

It is estimated that people in more than 100 countries will attend this event, which include Heads of State, UN ambassadors, NGOs UN representatives, FOWPAL's (Federation of World Peace and Love) Honorary International Consultants, Honorary International Ambassadors of Peace, Honorary International Development Committee Members, and Honorary members, members of UN NGO World Citizens Association (WCA) and members of its World Centers throughout the world, envoys and ambassadors, governmental and elected officials, faculties of all levels of schools, leaders of civil societies and various religions, people from various countries and all international and domestic Tai Ji Men dizi throughout the five continents. After one-minute meditation, people will write down or take pictures of their wishes of goodwill which will be posted on website of Tai Ji Men at www.taijimen.org or FOWPAL at www.fowpal.org to witness that the world can be changed in one minute.

The idea of "One Minute Can Change the World" called by Dr. Hong Tao Tze, Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men and President of FOWPAL, is derived from his article entitled "The Principle of Existence in the 21st Century: A Harmonious Life and the Philosophy of Yin and Yang" issued at the 60th UN NGO Annual Conference in 2007. Dr. Hong indicated that the key to change the world's destiny is to turn our thoughts into good thoughts, and then we can turn around the world. "It's like a signal that triggers everybody in the world at once. It's like a button being installed. The button is what we call "How one good thought can improve the world". Change is a state of mind. If our thoughts do not change, nothing will change." Therefore, the principle of existence in the 21st century is based on what you and I think in mind.

The ceremony will be carry out in ancient ritual and music. Under the instruction of Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men, 216 Tai Ji Men dizi (similar to students) of various ages form formations of broad sword, sword, fan, and stick. The 216 dizi will commence the ceremony by a classical qigong and martial arts menpai style and show their determination of safeguarding the world of goodwill. The ancient ritual of praying to Heaven is formed by 140 dizi of drum formation. The sound of the praying drum is reverberating of the wind's blowing, the thunder's roaring, reporting to the Heaven and Earth and stirring people's heart to do good deeds. The auspicious dance of praying to Heaven is performed by dizi of years solid qigong foundation. They present ancient ceremony with their sincerity and unity of heart and qi to appreciate the grace of the Heaven and Earth. The celestial dragon and phoenix formation displays the unity of yin and yang to bless the creature of the planet. In the end of the ceremony, 120 dizi will lead guests, families and friends to sing, "We are one World" at the section of "auspicious song of prayer." The ceremony will report to Heaven of people's wishes and actions to take and call for the world to do more good deeds.

A three-layer altar of heaven will be set-up for the ceremony. Tens of thousands of participants including ambassadors, governmental officers, leaders of non-governmental organizations will sit in the center of the site to show the unity of the world as a big family. In both sides of the participants, almost two thousand dizi will sit at their meditation mat with Tai Ji trigram. There are also a wall of appreciation to express Tai Ji Men's gratitude to their friends, domestically and internationally, who have supported and encouraged Tai Ji Men in its cultural heritage during the past forty and more years, and introduce the good words and good deeds that has been done by leaders of various circles together throughout the world. The other wall of wish is posted wish card of love and peace written by people from around the world. Let's pray for the world together!