Participants arrived throughout the morning and, after a Welcome Lunch, received a "Brief Orientation and Introduction to the Universal Peace Federation". In total there were 34 participants, including guests from Britain (London 5; Birmingham 6; Edinburgh 4) Belgium 2, Denmark 1 (a judge), the Czech Republic (a judge), Poland 1 (a journalist) and 4 Dutch Ambassadors for Peace; from many varied religious (including Moslem, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, humanist), national, racial and cultural backgrounds.

The UPF lectures by Dr. David Hanna, a one time architecture student, who, on meeting the Unification Movement, decided to focus rather on spiritual temple creation (not his words), later studied at the Unification Theological Seminary and eventually became a Doctor of Theology, formed the bulk of the program and in addition there were four guest speakers, walks in the surrounding nature (the area is famed far beyond the boundaries of the Netherlands and much is a protected nature reserve), a very full and varied cultural evening, delicious food and ample time for discussion and fellowship, indeed for many it was a unique occasion to spend time together with others, and become as brothers and sisters.

Mention should also be made of the superb renovation of Huize Glory’s Great Hall, now with a newly sanded and re-waxed floor, a remodeled ceiling and new overhead lighting, that all creates a much greater sense of space and light and warmth. In addition, a permanent service area has been created where temporary tables used to be placed, remarkably efficient and discrete.

Through Friday afternoon, two lectures covered "UPF’s Founding Principles": Humanity - One Family under God; Living for the Sake of Others; The Spiritual and Moral Dimension; and The Family as the School of Love and Peace.

After dinner, under the title "Principles into Practice - The Middle East Peace Initiative and Ambassadors of Peace sharing experiences of the Holy Land", Mr. Gerry Ph. Mok (former foreign editor of Elsevier, an eminent Dutch weekly magazine), a Jew whose whole family perished in World War 2 and who has participated in six MEPI visits to Israel/Palestine, gave his analysis of the situation there. His main assertion was that so many people lived in their own illusionary world; and before one could hope to create peace, one had to be clear and honest about the real situation in which one found oneself.

Saturday began with a Morning Meditation for those who wished to attend (Wim Koetsier read from World Scripture regarding Spiritual Growth) and, after breakfast, two lectures on UPF’s Founding Principles addressed "The Roots of Conflict", then "Conflict Resolution – the Path to Peace and Cooperation".

After lunch, many responded to the suggestion to use the 90 minute break to "Walk in nature". And then all gathered to listen to talks by three of their fellow participants.

Dr. Monica Bouman is a psychologist, NGO manager and author. She has a Dutch-Indonesian family background and has been described as "one of the few people who has studied the spiritual aspects of the United Nations". She is an active member of Initiatives for Change, a member of the board of Religions for Peace and the author of the book Dag Hammarskjöld – Citizen of the World. Dr. Bouman spoke at the joint UPF-NL and Stichting voor Ontwikkeling van Vietnam (SOV: International Foundation for the Development of Vietnam) conference "Towards a common future?" (to mark the 30th anniversary of Vietnamese in the Netherlands – and Hopeful Developments in Vietnam) on Saturday, December 30, 2006. Her topic was "The Spiritual and Moral Leadership of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld".

She referred to the talk of Gerry Mok the previous evening, saying how our opinion of others tended to be based on what group they were part of, that we did not see people as they were as individuals, and to the UPF lectures, saying we needed to show "respect for the Word".

In keeping with the title of the symposium, she had included "Leadership and Good Governance" when preparing her talk and referred to two examples of leadership in recent Dutch history. She said governance was a broader term than government and that good governance required listening to, and participation of, all parties, the response to need and the importance of starting from where people were rather than where they should be, trust building, reciprocity and accountability. Dag Hammarskjöld was creative and innovative, steadfast in principles but flexible in approach, always looking for the common good. He felt that international service had become his obligation and privilege and called for leaders to strive, as he did, for "maturity of mind".

She remembered, "This morning we heard how faith can strengthen how we behave horizontally" and asserted towards the end of her talk, "the other isn’t evil, he may do evil things, but we must find his goodness".

Dr. Edouard Prisse, a baron and member of the Dutch Establishment and a strong advocate of a federal European government, spoke on "The Future of Europe". He first of all said he was "in debt to Mr. Koetsier and Mrs. Verstraeten" for inviting him to speak: he had been invited to speak at a UPF conference in 2005 but had refused (after first accepting), being rather apprehensive as a result of rumours he had heard, he was grateful to be given a second chance.

We prayed to God for world peace, but we knew that He did not intervene to bring it about because doing so would take away our responsibility. He maintained, "we are not taking our responsibility in Europe", and considered that Europe was decadent, quoting Samuel Johnson, who, on investigating why the Egyptian and Roman civilizations declined, concluded that decadence occurred when people were "lured into inaction, being too comfortable and shortsighted and having developed a collective lack of will".

Dr. Prisse remembered how "Europe" did nothing about the situation of Kosovo under Milosevic, and of how America had "used NATO" to intervene, bringing shame on Europe, which was despised "because we can’t handle our own problems".

He added that, while America did not create "Cuba" (presumably meaning the threat from there, particularly at the time of the "Cuban missile crisis"), it took responsibility alone, Cuba being on its doorstep. Israel was on Europe’s doorstep, and was largely a creation of Europe, but Europe had no influence in the Middle East.

He then inferred that European governments were merely "opportunistic", strongly asserting that this opportunism has caused them to allow China to join the World Trade Organization without having met necessary conditions (America then reluctantly agreeing against its better judgment because it didn’t want to be perceived as China’s enemy), and how that was now resulting, amongst other things, in the influx of Chinese cheap products, resulting in the loss of jobs in Europe.

He looked forward to the creation of a real federal Europe, allowing national governments much freedom to conduct their internal affairs, yet having a united foreign policy. He felt that the relatively new German Chancellor Angela Merkel might be a key figure, but that Britain would not immediately join the federation that he envisaged: and that "Europe" should continue regardless, knowing that Britain would eventually join.

The third speaker was Konstantin Pavlidis, founder & artistic director of Unstructured Light, and a teacher, therapist, healer & psychic, artist, scientist and company director, in short a "Renaissance man". He analyzed the title Universal Peace Federation and said that peace was more than the absence of war, concluding that it was "a state of Harmony and Inner Balance". And that, as all religions and philosophies had affirmed, "we are not just physical, but have another element – and a higher element". He is of Georgian and Greek ancestry and has investigated the paranormal from a scientific (quantum physics), one might say "Hellenistic" point of view; "we are deluded if we think only the material is important".

He spoke of the need to transform the arts and media. One suggestion was to peruse the "news" and choose and research the top five "stories" for that day, analyze and research them, and then disseminate a positive response or equivalent (my phraseology).

In a very wide-ranging talk, he asserted, "you can make as much money putting out items doing good for people as things doing bad", "peace lies in the metaphysical, not external; this is natural law, we must acknowledge its existence". "you are pushing or pulling if you remain only male or female: when you are fused, male and female, you are with the light". He was very excited with a project to create healthy water (not his phrase), which he was certain would be of great benefit to humankind. Later in the weekend, he showed a video about this.

There followed a vigorous question and answer and discussion session. One participant, a spiritualist, explained, "as a spiritualist, I feel my role is to wake up people to the truth. We always feel we have to ask politicians, but we shouldn’t be relying on them. We the people should do." Dr. Prisse responded that he wanted to speak to "people" rather than politicians. A judge from Denmark opined, "the media is more important than politicians; we need to research how to get the media to go in the right direction".

Konstantin Pavlidis added we should look at the positive contribution Europe had made in the rest of the world and that in particular Europe was needed to mediate between the U.S. and the emerging nations, in particular BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China). He mentioned that Germans did not like change, and how they tended to hero worship, as did the French, while the British always supported the underdog – and dismissed the hero after he had done his job (as with Churchill in 1945).

A delicious dinner, with three choices of main course (meat, fish, vegetarian), was followed by a Cultural Evening: as all joined in with a lesson in dancing the tango, one onlooker commented "everyone has become like young children" and, not for the first time, professional musicians expressed their admiration for Hans Campman’s piano playing.

Morning Meditation again preceded breakfast on Sunday, followed by David Hanna’s presentation "A Life for World Peace: The life and work of UPF’s Founder, Rev Dr Sun Myung Moon". The rest of the morning was given to Concluding Remarks and Reflections. Of note was Dutch Ambassador for Peace Imam Hamza Kailani’s appreciation of David Hanna’s lectures, which he found warm and clear: he was particularly appreciative of David’s knowledge of, and obvious respect for, Islam.

After lunch, those that had time before their flights were able to take part in "Sightseeing – Dutch traditions and crafts"

Our Director of Education in the Netherlands, Hans Campman, commented that David Hanna’s lectures were excellent. He was impressed with David’s warmth and with the seamless connection between his words and the PowerPoint images and diagrams. He mentioned that many of the participants were "pro-active", everyone contributed. He had been concerned that the Saturday cultural evening might be lacking, but the opposite was the case; and in addition to singing and music there had been meditation, storytelling, dancing (solo and group learning of the tango and spontaneous response to music).

Elfi Verstraeten, Public Relations Manager, said the cultural evening "opened up an incredibly happy atmosphere", that she had never before experienced at such a meeting. As well as the content of the lectures, the guests were impressed with Huize Glory and a number said they wanted to come back on holiday with their families. Konstantin Pavlidis, a guest participant from London, said that often the environment worked against the aspiration of a meeting, but in this case the "location and filling (investment) in this house is very positive".

Michiel Pater, UPF-NL supporter/activist, testified, "The lectures from David Hanna were very good, it is always very good to hear them from somebody else, presented in a different way. Father Moon’s life, with photos, was very moving. Also, the guest speakers had very important things to say, but most valued by me was the personal contacts with the guests. Coming from very different backgrounds, religions and countries, it was very powerful to share with, and listen to, them, trying to find common ground to build friendship on. Also, being able to share in private conversation about my own experiences with the Unification Movement/True Parents, I think I was also able to make a little contribution in making these guests see what Father & Mother Moon, the True Parents can do for you."

The weekend was a great success, not least for all the preparation and organization, which many of the guests commented on, thanks to the efforts of a large number of people. Mihoko Koetsier was involved in coordinating much of the organization and in a letter of gratitude she thanked 31 people. This number didn’t include UPF staff such as husband Wim (or herself), nor Hans Campman (except for the excellence of his piano playing), nor Elfi Verstraeten, nor Rita Salaris who is a major recruiter of VIPs. In writing these words, other members come to mind, who may have not been involved directly in this symposium but are still regular contributors. One might say a round, nicely Principled number of 40 Dutch members and supporters, at least, contribute to the success of these symposia.

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Information
Tparents Home