For me, one of the core values of Unificationism is transcending differences. It doesn’t mean we don’t have clear beliefs and ideals of our own. It means we continue to value, respect and love others who may be different from ourselves. It means we actively find ways to connect with “the other” and work together with “the other” until there is no longer a feeling of “otherness.” This may be just my interpretation, but I believe in it strongly.

The World Summit 2020 Assembly, which was sponsored by UPF, took place February 3-8, 2020, in Seoul, Korea.  The summit was aimed at addressing critical challenges facing humanity, from climate change to poverty and conflict, bringing together a wide range of experts and stakeholders to deliberate collaboratively, offering insights and recommendations that contribute to building a world of lasting peace. 

Post 12 of 36

Interdependence in politics is best served when people are united in their hearts, minds, and actions. The only way for this unity to be realized is when there is a higher purpose. Interdependence is like a family of true love. When there is true love in the relationship, each party is equal. Participation is balanced. Parties interacting with true love will naturally cede control to each other.

Although The Principled Academy aspires to be the character education school of the Bay Area, we do not overlook the importance of a core curriculum.  There is significant knowledge that students must learn from preschool through middle school.  

Post 11 of 36

We long for peak experiences or great moments in life. Natural highs are intense, exhilarating experiences that affirm the best in us. They do not depend on substances and are physically, emotionally, and mentally empowering. They serve as rewards for our accomplishments and confirm that we are on the path to maturity, love, and mastery.

In recent blogs I have written about the 24 strengths, or capacities for virtue, as explained by 
studies in positive psychology.  In addition, I explained how the practice of mindfulness allows us to 
attend to our awareness in the present moment.  In Hardwiring Happiness, Rick Hansen explains how 
the experience of positive moments of beauty, goodness, and love, for the self and the other, develop 
the brain.  It has the ability to seize upon these moments and develop pathways, that allow for further positive experience.  The brain grows throughout our life. 
 

Post 10 of 36

There is a natural human desire for freedom that can only be fulfilled when we draw upon all our mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical resources to accomplish meaningful goals. Why does this definition include more than the words, “absence of restraint” as dictionaries often define it?  True freedom is being able to do things that aren’t just required of you. When we decide on what we want to do, feel right about it in our heart and conscience, and can carry it out; we live in true freedom.

More than 7,000 people, including former and current leaders from 171 countries, religious leaders, businessmen, and Nobel Laureates, have joined together to seek human happiness and lasting peace in the world.

As parents and teachers, we know when students do well in their activities and when they struggle. Our job is to raise healthy, happy, intelligent, and compassionate young people. To do this we need to know something about those in our care.

Post 9 of 36

Getting back to a “Hero’s Journey,” a hero needs to ask, explore, and find out how to do something. The journey a hero takes is within the scope of normal activity but is valued because of virtues such as: boldness, insightfulness, good heartedness, sacrificial attitude, struggle, conquest, restraint, integrity, etc. Real heroes act from their inner conscience. Their attitude is often that anyone else in their circumstances would have done the same thing. Joseph Campbell compares a “Hero’s Journey” to our internal growth and transformation...