Celebrating International Day of Conscience
Leaders from the Bay Area's cities and school districts shared their thoughts on conscience
Celebrating International Day of Conscience
Leaders from the Bay Area’s cities and school districts shared their thoughts on conscience
April 5th marks the third International Day of Conscience. On this day, Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy San Jose, Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL), and Dr. Hong Tao-Tze Culture and Education Foundation jointly organized a virtual event! The celebratory program opened with a video that introduced viewers to the origin of the movement of An Era of Conscience, and the subsequent establishment of the International Day of Conscience. The movement of An Era of Conscience attracted special attention in the United Nations and has received endorsements from citizens of 200 nations. Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze has dedicated his life to “promoting the culture of peace with love and conscience."Beginning in 2018, FOWPAL collaborated with the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Bahrain, Kiribati, Equatorial Guinea, and other countries on a draft resolution titled "Promoting the Culture of Peace with Love and Conscience." On July 25, 2019, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the draft resolution submitted by the Kingdom of Bahrain, declaring April 5th as "International Day of Conscience." Friends and dignitaries from all over the globe showed their support in commemorating the International Day of Conscience by sending their wishes in the forms of pre-recorded video messages, greeting cards, and letters!
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo presented a certificate to Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy. Leaders from the Bay Area's cities and school districts shared words of conscience to support the International Day of Conscience, expressing their hope for a global awakening of conscience.Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, Zhang-men-ren of Tai Ji Men, mentioned in his speech, “A single decision made by a person can change the path of his or her life; a single decision made by a head of state can affect the lives and deaths of millions of people and other living beings. In an age of misinformation, what people see and hear may not be genuine, and individuals may become confused, anxious, and unable to tell true from false. Conscience is the beacon of the heart, allowing people to see the truth through the fog and make choices for the benefit of all beings; conscience is the only way to lead the Earth and mankind through the valley of death and be reborn.”
Pat Burt, mayor of the City of Palo Alto, stated: “Conscience is such an important concept for all of us to reflect upon, especially as we’re in a period in the world where so many things have changed. And so many challenges exist in our families, our communities, and among nations. And conscience is the way that we will reflect on how we can have more moral and ethical existence, and how we can help each other to promote greater conscience and to promote the well-being of each other.”
Cupertino City Mayor Darcy Paul thanked the Federation of World Peace and Love and Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy for “bringing forth and promoting this very important day where we can reflect upon the importance of peace and making sure that we approach all of our activities with a sense of conscience and introspection to ensure that we have a lot of harmony throughout the world, which of course is always needed, and sometimes we’re in moments where we are especially reminded of that requirement.”
The Superintendent of the San Mateo Union High School District, Kevin Skelly shared a story: A man shows up at an amusement park with his 5-year-old son. And he walks up to the ride and the man says to him, “Is your son 6?” And he says, “No, he’s only 5.” And the man says, “Oh, you could have gotten in. You could have just said he was 6.” And he said, “Yeah, I could have done that. But my son’s here watching and he would have noticed that I had said he was 6 when he was only 5, and he’d remember that I didn’t tell the truth.” So your conscience is a little bit like that little boy only there is nobody there, and you have to do the right thing, and you don’t have any consequences but you know what’s the right thing to do, and then you choose either to do the right thing or not. And your conscience is what tells you that you should do the right thing. So either you’re a parent or grandparent or a kid at school with the opportunity to do the right thing, your conscience is what helps you do that.”
In this event, advocates of conscience from all walks of life shared their tales of conscience. Through the sharing of true stories, everyone can make an impact in their own communities and play a role in awakening the conscience of the world.
