harmony universal world common heritage

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HARMONY UNIVERSAL WORLD COMMON HERITAGE

Harmony universal world common heritagewww.chinaview.cn 2007-05-09 10:57:18 www.worldharmonyorg.net

By Francis C. W. Fung, PH.D.BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Since ancient times Religion,

Democracy and Harmony were passed down to us by our forefathersas the three main cultural pillars. I have shared this fundamental

observation with you often in previous essays. In today's conflictedworld full of extremism and unilateralism, the call for harmony

renaissance is a unifying global movement. It is essential to sustain

this spirit of harmony as our common heritage. Harmony belongs tothe world. In human development of civilization, only truth can stand

the test of history. Truth and common values belong to the world

regardless of their source and origin.For many, we can practice democracy and religions as belonging to the

world, yet we are unaware of harmony as our common humanheritage. Lasting cultures do not develop by accident. Through long

patient development they were born of necessity, observation ofnature, collective wisdom, and worldwide propagation by resonance.

The philosophy of Harmony is all embracing, enduring and endearing.It advocates non-violence and problem-solving by means of

consensus. Its premises include equity, tolerance, patience,

acceptance, humility and respect for other cultures.Equity and humility are the cornerstones of harmony practice. In the

eyes of harmony there is no nobility without humility. Individualspracticing harmony require discipline, humility and the strongest

conviction in gentleness, especially when challenged by force and

unilateralism. Every major civilization practices harmony in one formor the other.

The roots of democracy can be seen in all cultures to some degree orother. The rediscovery of the Greek and Roman Democratic tradition

during the age of European Enlightenment and Renaissance propelled

democracy to its world importance today. The movement also releasedour collective energy that brought us modern science for the

betterment of mankind. The world is mature enough now to know thatdemocracy is an important element in modern governance. This is

evidenced in the fact that almost all new nations of today regard

themselves democracies.Today's challenges to world development are sustainability in a

worsening ecology, limitation of resources, and the extreme disparitybetween rich and poor. In a world of cultural and historical diversity

one must allow different forms of democracy. The timely harmony
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renaissance will create the spirit of unity in diversity and the collectiveconsensus to solve the urgent problems that face the world today. This

will release a new wave of creative energy for higher humanaccomplishments beyond what the European renaissance brought.

With communication wonders today, harmony propagates by

resonance with Internet speed as stated in my essays "HarmonyPropagates by Resonance" and "Universal Wave Theory and Harmony

Consensus". In today's globalization, no nation can afford to insist onthe self limiting "not invented here" notion. Universally proven wisdom

will outlast shortsightedness. What is proven to be good is to be

adopted and improved by each nation as their own regardless ofwhether its source is east west or north south.. Simply put, harmony is

our common value and common human heritage. It will prevail.It is clear that throughout human history even before there were

defined national boundaries; harmony was practiced as the oldest form

of collective philosophy. It is the inspiration for major belief systems.Religion was practiced to keep harmony with the all mighty unknown,

regardless of the form in which we glorify the unknown. Democracywas instituted to keep harmony between the government and its

citizens. Moral values and legal systems were elaborately developed indifferent countries to promote harmony in human interactions. Family

and social orders are also forms of harmony. The noticeable lack of an

emphasis on religion and legal systems in the ancient Far East wasundoubtedly due to the dominance of moral teachings by Laotze and

Confucius. Both relied on popularization of moral education to bringharmony to human existence.

With the onslaught of globalization created by the wonders ofcommunication, there is veritably no excuse not to understand thediversity of cultures left by 5000 years of major regional cultural

developments. Now that we are facing the challenges of diversity inreligious beliefs and development of democratic governance systems,

it is time for us to return to harmony philosophy in order to create

balance. There is every logical reason to examine harmony practices inmajor cultures to bring some consensus to our troubled world.

From an analytical viewpoint, there appears to be definite differencesin regional emphasis and trends in harmony practice just as there will

always be differences in the inevitable adoption of democracy by allnations. Because harmony is even more embracing than democracy asa human management system we must accept diversity. Fortunately,

different harmony cultural practices are complementary in the sense ofa total engineering system that will enable prioritized world consensus

to be reached. In the process we will intuitively accept the simple truththat the best governance system for any nation is its own harmony

system. Harmony also embraces democracy.


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In broad strokes subject to further in depth global studies, I venture tooffer for discussion the following major emphasis or trends in

worldwide harmony practices. For harmony practices to stand the testof time it must be a universally acceptable common value and include

nobility and humility as a basic prerequisite.

(1) Major religions of today all include belief in harmony, otherwisethey would not have survived the test of history. It is taught by

scriptures and reinforced by preachers in houses of worship with fewexceptions. The practice of harmony is based, in part, on a fear of

punishment by the almighty unknown and the reward of going to

heaven, rather than for the goodness of harmony itself.The further spread of religion is limited by two major factors. The first

is the fixation of modern religion to exclusively accept its owninstitutionalized conception of the almighty unknown. The second is

the waning authority of the clergy within the community. Faith in the

almighty as the savior of mankind and submission to his will continueas the modus operandi of nobility and humility to drive religion.

(II) Since the age of the European Enlightenment the concept ofdemocracy has spread far and wide. It is universally accepted as the

foundation of good governance. Nations in the midst of inevitabletransformation all agree. True democracy must blend in with each

individual nation's cultural heritage and its various stages of

development. It takes evolution to truly bring harmony to a society.Democracy must adapt to the harmony of dynamic balance in

changing times. The western democratic tradition, with America as thedriving force, relies heavily on complex legal practice and penal

punishment. Law and order has worked to bring harmony in thatparticular society.No democratic system prescribed by one nation for another can be

perfect for our diverse world with systems developed regionally over5000 years. Unfortunately the noble goal of spreading democracy by

any means necessary, including overt political action and occupation,

has greatly tarnished the image of Western democracy. As Pan Ke-Moon, the current U.N. Secretary General, stated in front of the recent

Asian Development Forum "Democracy is not an import export item".Still, empty marketing slogans bereft of consideration for cultural

diversity and history is drumming to the call of war cries.The noticeable lack of humility of past proselytizing processes of Euro-centric democracy and colonialism left an irreparable chasm dividing

developed and developing countries. This suggests alternateapproaches for the developed world to help the needy. An approach of

harmony, with its gentleness and respect for all cultures, appears morepalatable to the needy world for mutual development. It is time for

America, the young dynamic democracy with abundant resources, to


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rise to the occasion.(III) In the Far East harmony was practiced with heavy doses of moral

education. The system promulgated comprehensive moral teachingsreinforced by family unity and civil service examinations. This

examination system reached its extreme during the 19th century. A

harmonious society is supported more by family order and unity, thanby law and order. Nobility and humility are reinforced by education and

morality and sacrifices are extolled by all. Law was the bottom linewith moral values taking precedence. A focus on harmony creates a

society where materialism and commercialism can acceptably be

placed in low priority positions.With the onslaught of Western individualism and commercialism, the

flood gates of self indulgence and corruption were forced wide open.The venerable ancient system of relying on education of nobility and

humility was shaken to the core. Today Far East nations including

Japan and Korea have adopted law and order to complement theirmoral value system, followed closely by China in its reform and

opening up. The successful transformation of Japan and Korea fromsystems based on moral values and family unity to their own

individualistic modern democratic societies is worthy of attention.Despite the fact that both societies were heavily influenced by foreign

cultures East and West, these modern societies have combined the

best of both worlds and their choices have flourished. Until very recenttimes, both nations' histories were recorded in Chinese characters.

Today both Japan and Korea are proud of their own innovationsculturally and scientifically.

This lends to the optimism that diverse culture, despite oppositeideals, can be blended together resulting in modern, competitive andharmonious societies. China today is determined and motivated to

combine the best of East and West to forge a harmonious society withits own characteristics, sans outside occupation. The result is very

encouraging and to be commended by the outside world.

When the economic and scientific conditions are mature enough, andthe historical moment comes, politics will change. Nations will become

harmonious societies by their own resonance with external influence.Outside force and constant chastisement can be counter-productive

given the probable impact on national dignity. Today, many parts ofthe world have suffered the collective mental anguish of a loss ofdignity under Western dominance for far too long.

The truth can be seen that in this rapidly changing materialistic world,no ready-made system is perfect in bringing harmony to the world. For

unity in diversity we need to call for world harmony renaissance andadvocate consensus through dynamic balance. Many of my previous

essays have expounded on this. Please visit our website


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www.worldharmonyorg.net and blog sitewww.worldharmonyforum.blogspot.com By adhering to the true spirit

of equity and humility, perhaps the world can work together throughindividual harmony practices to bring about a better and more

understanding world. By doing so, a new wave of innovation will

release our creative energy to bring human beings to the next level ofaccomplishment. Failing to do so will cast the sustainability of

expanding world development very much into doubt.May Harmony Prevail in the World!

About Me

Francis Fung

MY BOOKS ON HARMONY RENAISSANCE, HARMONY DIPLOMACYAND HARMONY CONSENSUS ARE AVAILABLE FROM

WWW.AMAZON.COM SEARCH FRANCIS C W FUNG

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