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The Symposium to Commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Miwon's Death, organized by Kyung Hee University as part of the Peace BAR Festival to Commemorate the 41st UN World Peace Day, was held on Wednesday, September 21 at the Peace Hall.

Symposium to Commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Miwon's Passing, The Meaning of Peace Through Miwon's Philosophy
At a time of civilizational transition, new light on the value of peace and the role of humans

Kyung Hee University hosted the Peace BAR Festival-Miwon's 10th Anniversary Commemoration of the 41st United Nations International Day of Peace. Held at the Peace Hall on Wednesday, September 21, the United Nations' International Day of Peace, the event consisted of various programs on the meaning of the day and the implications of the philosophy of Dr. Miwon Young Seek Choue, founder of Kyung Hee University, for today's world. In the morning, the ceremony and the World Peace Day-World Peace Day-Miwon 10th Anniversary Dialogue were held, followed by the Miwon 10th Anniversary Symposium and the World Peace Day Roundtable in the afternoon.

Ceremonies, talks revisit founder's philosophy to explore solutions to global problems
The purpose of the day was to revisit the philosophy of Dr. Miwon Young Seek Choue, the founder of Kyung Hee University, and to identify and modernize its relevance to us today. The ceremony honored the founder's efforts to establish the International Day and Year of Peace and his philosophy. The centerpiece of the ceremony was a video essay, "The Responsibility of Peace in an Age of Transition," dedicated to the 10th anniversary of Miwon's passing. The video reflects on the founder's ideas and philosophy on peace between people, people and the world, and people and the planet, which he cultivated throughout his life. The video screening was followed by the unveiling of the anthology of Founder's speeches, "Raise Your Eyes to the Sky and See the Earth," and the performance of commemorative music. The commemorative music was a new arrangement of "Magnolia Flower," a song written by the founder. The song was written by the founder to instill dreams in students and was included in the "Cantata Kyung Hee's Four and a Half Centuries of Song" performed at Kyung Hee University's celebration in 1974.

The commemorative conversation was hosted by Inwon Choue, President of Kyung Hee Institute, and moderated by Kibung Kwon, Dean of Kyung Hee University's Graduate School of Peace and Welfare. The conversation touched on the core of the founder's philosophy and discussed its lessons for Kyung Hee and human society today. The founder made peace and human flourishing his life's work. He built a philosophy of universalism, exploring universal norms and formulating ideas that encompassed the universe, humans, and civilization. With a holistic worldview, he dreamed of a global community in which human and planetary life lived together. The founder's philosophy provides a clue to the need for civilization transformation in the face of the complex problems facing humanity, such as the climate crisis, nuclear and war threats, inequality, hunger, and refugees.

In the afternoon, a symposium commemorating the 10th anniversary of Miwon's passing was held to further explore the founder's philosophy. Dr. Shin Jin Sook, Professor of International and Regional Studies at Kyung Hee University, gave a presentation on the topic, and Dr. Song Jae-ryong, an expert member of the Kyung Hee Institute, moderated the discussion. Under the theme "Peace is more precious than improvement - the meaning of peace through Miwon's philosophy," Prof. Shin shed new light on the founder's philosophy from today's perspective and introduced his message to future generations. The title of the symposium, "Peace is More Precious than Improvement," is the title of a keynote speech delivered by the founder at the 6th General Assembly of the World Association of University Rectors in 1981. It was in this speech that he proposed the establishment of the International Day and Year of Peace. This sentence summarizes the historical practices and ideas of the Founder in the history of the global peace movement.

Prior to the presentation, a message of remembrance on the 10th anniversary of the founder's death was sent by Irvin Laszlo, founder and president of The Club of Budapest, who had longstanding educational and academic ties to the founder. Mr. Laszlo said, "(The deceased) combined deep insight with a keen sense of reality. His achievements as an educator are a testament to his significant contributions to the education of young people not only in Korea but around the world," he said, reflecting on his long relationship with the founder. The founder and László shared a vision of world peace in ideology and practice, a bond that has led to mutual cooperation between Kyung Hee University, the László Institute, and the Budapest Club.

The symposium to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Miwon's passing was themed "Peace is more precious than improvement - the meaning of peace through Miwon's philosophy," which sheds new light on the founder's philosophy from today's perspective and introduces a message for future generations.

The key to solving the civilization crisis found in Miwon's philosophy, which sought to rebuild human society in the last century.
The Cold War era, in which our founder's philosophy was born, was a "war atmosphere" society where the fear and dread of global nuclear war was real. It took the efforts and actions of countless people to bring about the collapse of the Cold War society and the transformation of the entire human social atmosphere into a "peace atmosphere. In order to create such a peaceful atmosphere, the founder also spread his vast peace ideas and carried out practical movements across ethnic and national boundaries.

Although the Cold War has ended, human society is currently facing a greater crisis of civilizational extinction than in the past. From the climate crisis and global social unrest, to the environmental catastrophe caused by abundance, to the transformation of the earth's ecosystems and the extinction of countless species that have lived alongside humans, we are facing a greater civilizational crisis that cannot be solved by our current knowledge and institutions. This symposium was a forum for discussing the philosophy of the founder, who was a peace activist and thinker during the Cold War, to find clues to resolve the various civilizational and historical challenges facing human society today.

The founder's peace ideas began with his questioning of the self-contradictory reality of civilization. Professor Shin explained that the founder's questions were, "Why do we live in wars even as civilization develops?" "Why are humans marginalized even as civilization develops?" and "Why is there no coherent philosophy in human society even as civilization develops? Prof. Shin emphasized that the founder constructed the core ideas of the philosophies of "juri generativity," "mastery generativity," and "totalization" in the process of rethinking the relationship between the universe and humans by pondering questions about the self-contradictions and anxieties of civilization.

The latter refers to the three-way relationship between existence, phenomena, and reason. Prof. Shin found the essence of the founder's philosophy to be that "everything in the world lives in relationships, and while there is intensity and density in those relationships, they are horizontal connections." When we look at human society from the perspective of a cosmic network in which everything is interconnected, influencing and coexisting, we realize that humans cannot exist or live alone. This has implications for reflecting on human arrogance, which has led to civilizational crises, and for imagining a planet where humans and other life forms live together.

Prof. Shin's explained that the founder wanted to "see life systems and human social systems together through a teleological lens," so that we can see that our existence and the world that sustains it, from microscopic systems to massive entities such as the climate, are all interconnected.

All entities are globally connected from a transcendental perspective.
In particular, Prof Shin said, it is worth noting the Founder's view of attention generation. The founder held the view that all existence and phenomenal changes in the universe act and function according to the laws of nature. However, at the same time, he saw the 'consciousness' of numerous entities such as organic and inorganic entities as drawing out the existence and change of phenomena of everything in the universe. The founder named it 'attention generation' because he found the principle of change and generation in the intervention and action of consciousness as well as reason. From the perspective of attention generation, humans are not the only conscious beings; plants, animals, and all entities in the universe have their own consciousness and will.

The actual process of how Juri-Juri-Generative Theory works and functions within the principle of all-day change generation is the philosophy of transmission. Professor Shin sees transmutation as a fundamental factor in the all-day cosmic movement that the founder sought to explain. Everything in the universe, everything that happens, is formed and dispersed according to the infinite flow of cause and effect. The intertwined existence of all things with all things is called correlation, and the philosophy of Zen Buddhism describes the appearance and operation of this all-pervasive relationship.

The specific working principle of the philosophy is explained by four main fundamental factors: time, space, return, and substance. According to Prof. Shin, the founder summarized the entire process of how these bodies relate to each other and interact within them as the concept of sublimation. In his view, the universal society, including plant society, animal society, and human society, is composed of a vast process of sublimation that cannot be fully grasped by human cognition. This is why Shin emphasized that the founder's philosophy of transcendence is an appropriate concept to explain the network of transformation and creation. Explaining the founder's holistic thinking, Dr. Shin said, "The perspective of holism seeks to see the life system and the human social system together. We can see that our existence and the world that sustains it, from microscopic systems to massive entities like the climate, are all interconnected."

Miwon's Peace Thought and the Search for Meaning in the Present from a Holistic Perspective
The symposium continued with a discussion on the meaning of peace as seen through the philosophy of transmission. According to Miwon's interpretation of the universe, all beings are horizontal and equal to each other because they exist in a single, all-encompassing relationship. This logic inevitably leads to another question. This logic inevitably leads to another question: what is the causality of this all-encompassing and vast network of transmission, and what is the role of humans within that network of causality?

Professor Shin proposes to reintroduce and develop the founder's concept of peace based on the philosophy of transmigration that he was trying to establish. Professor Shin first discussed the essential orientation of 'difference and harmony' in the founder's concept of peace, which was constructed during the Cold War in pursuit of a peaceful atmosphere. Peace, which is the most beautiful order from the perspective of traditional Chinese culture, begins with the harmonization of differences. Peace cannot be reduced to "sameness," nor can it be a state of "equilibrium" in which all disparate differences are eliminated. The Founders propose a "peace code" as a pragmatic solution to realize peace without eliminating these differences. This means that humanity sets common values, norms, and goals and works to realize them. The founder emphasized that peace is not achieved by subjugating others.

He explained that the concept of peace is not simply the realization of a fixed ideal, but a major concept that creates a consciousness revolution in human society under constantly changing historical circumstances. Prof. Shin further introduced the founder's theory of a civilized society, the Global Common Society, which is constructed within the philosophy of transmission without separating matter and spirit, and discussed why peace is an urgent call for humanity. Prof. Shin reiterated that the essential view of the Global Common Society from the perspective of transmission is that it aims for a society in which not only humans and cultures, but also nature itself and all non-human beings live intertwined.

From this perspective, the world in which humans live is a system connected to the infinite life system of the planet Earth, and therefore humans are not the only ones who are part of the global community. Prof. Shin concluded his presentation by saying, "The path of peace imagined by the founder was a world of 'Oughtopia,' 'ought to be, ought to do,' and it was an expression of the founder's imagination and hope for a third way, not a utopia or a dystopia."

Prof. Shin's presentation was followed by a discussion with Dr. Jae Ryong Song. The discussion focused on the civilizational implications of the founder's philosophy for us in the midst of a global crisis, and the role and value of humans in civilization.

How the founder's philosophy and peace ideas are the key to a global crisis
The presentation was followed by a discussion with Dr. Jae-Ryong Song. "It was a time to enhance our understanding of Miwon's holistic thought system and transmission, and to understand the ideological and practical aspects of his peace ideas," said Dr. Song. "There is a part of Miwon's peace thought that presupposes acceptance of differences and differences. Usually, it is easy to think of political and sociological concepts such as the politics of recognition or the struggle for recognition, but his philosophy seems to go beyond these concepts." "In his thought, there are conflicts within harmony and harmony within conflicts. He also raised the topic of the civilizational implications of the founder's philosophy, which looked at the universe, human beings, and global society with holistic thinking, for today's crisis, and the true civilizational roles and values imposed on human beings derived from it.

In response, Prof. Shin said, "Every living entity strives to maintain its life. It is only through change that life is maintained and lived," he said. "Even at the individual level, we can be given the absolute task of self-extinction. We, as a species, can be shocked, frustrated, and not end, and use that to drive new change across the board." "Furthermore, given that humans are both the creators of civilization and the catastrophizers of it, the role and value of humans is not being abandoned. Rather, they are given greater roles and responsibilities, which is what the philosophy of transmission explains."

The symposium explored the founder's philosophy and peace ideas as a key to solving the global crisis we face today. These discussions reminded us that it is time for a shift in thinking that allows humans to accept other beings as equals and understand their perspectives as they belong to the entire universe.

 ** More information about the PBF event is available on the PBF homepage at http://pbf.khu.ac.kr.