"Upbeat Philosopher" Says the Bay Chronicle

The main newspaper of Kerikeri, the largest town in Northern New Zealand, the Bay Chronicle, recently interviewed Ilchi Lee during his current visit there. Ilchi Lee has been frequenting Kerikeri, with its natural beauty and friendly people, because he finds it an excellent place in which to lead people in meditation. Here you can see the article the newspaper published on June 26, 2014:

Best-selling author, philosopher and teacher Ilchi Lee is visiting Kerikeri for the second time and he wants to came back to stay for three months.

The drawcards, he says, are Rainbow Falls in Kerikeri, the people and the peacefulness of the area.

The 63-year-old South Korean has followers across the world. He is the founder of a variety of mind-body training methods using yoga and meditation—a “humanity movement” aimed at creating world peace.

He says we should primarily consider ourselves earth citizens and work together to manage the earth’s resources.

Based on South Korea and the United States, Lee integrates ancient Korean philosophy and taekwondo culture with applied neuroscience, quantum mechanics and a wisdom for healthy living.

Lee says we are all made of the same elementary particles—what he calls life particles. But on a level everyone can understand and practise, he recommends becoming a “fun” person—someone who makes their existence beautiful.

“Becoming a fun person isn’t hard to do. Right now, at this very moment, change how ou smiles, how you speak, how you walk, and how you breathe,” he says.

“Practise it every day, in every moment. Smile, talk about good news, walk with a spring in your step, and breathe,” he says.

Lee struggled in school because of attention deficit disorder. In his adolescence he turned to the martial art taekwondo to help calm his restless mind. In 1977 with a degree in clinical pathology and physical education, he opened a health clinic, got married and settled down to raise a family.

However, Lee was fascinated by questions about the meaning of life and the universe. In his early thirties he engaged in 21 days of ascetic practice and meditation without food, water, sleep or lying down.

He began to teach methods to gain insight to classes gathered in a community park.

The popularity of the classes led to the opening of the first Dahn Center in 1985 in Seoul, South Korea, the first of hundreds of centres to develop in South Korea and later in the United States.

In 2013, Lee inspired a project for personal and global change. He calls it the Change Project, involving lecture tours, a documentary film, two books, and website, all aimed at helping people embrace a cultural movement for peace.

Lee believes peace can only be achieved if humanity gives up nationalistic identities and becomes more self-sufficient in health care.

He ponts to modern civilisation’s over-reliance on pharmaceuticals and specialised health care, and urges people to discover what he regards as natural means of health maintenance.

In 2011, Lee wrote The Call of Sedona: Journal of the Heart, listed as a New York Times best seller.

Ilchi Lee visits Oromahoe School on July 2 and Russel School at a date to be confirmed.