호주 원광선문화원 개원

SPEECH BY CONSUL GENERAL

AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF

THE WONKWANG SON CULTURAL HOUSE

BENSVILLE, CENTRAL COAST

10:30am Saturday March 8^th 2008

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Ladies and Gentlemen!

 

I am very pleased to be here today for the Opening Ceremony of the Wonkwang Son Cultural House.

 

I believe this is the first Cultural House founded by Koreans in Australia.

 

Ever since Koreans began to settle in Australia, we have wanted to build a Korean Cultural House to better facilitate the understanding of Korean culture in this land.

 

Koreans began to immigrate to Australia 50 years ago, and mass immigration commenced after the Vietnam War.

 

This month happens to be the fiftieth anniversary of Korean immigration to Australia, and we will celebrate this milestone with the launch of a new book “The Fifty Year History of Koreans in Australia”.

 

So the timing of the opening of this Son Cultural House is very auspicious. 

 

I sincerely congratulate Dharma Master Hangsun and Reverend Chang In Myung on the completion of this magnificent spiritual meditation centre and I thank you for your efforts to raise awareness of Korean culture.

 

I also offer my sincere congratulations to all who dedicated themselves to the development of this project.

 

I am sure that your efforts will be greatly appreciated by all who come to this peaceful place in order to practice meditation for their spiritual development.

 

*   *   *

 

I am well aware of the great value of meditation or son, as I have practiced Gukseun-do since 1994.

 

I began to practice in the 1980’s but as meditation requires much patience and time I could not really develop my practice until the 1990’s.

 

As you know, meditation is very good for the mind as it helps one to discover one’s source of inner strength and recover the light of self-nature.

 

Meditation is also very beneficial for the body since it helps to build ki which is essential to generate self-healing power.

 

Thanks to this practice, I personally experienced these benefits and I recommend the practice of meditation to others whenever possible.

 

Nowadays people all around the world are coming to recognise the benefits of meditation.

 

If we discover our mental power we can overcome the limits of western material civilisation and we can lead harmonious lives.

 

We can advance civilisation as a whole.

We can build global village of the 21^st century.

 

This is eastern wisdom, and I can proudly say - Korean wisdom.

 

So the Wonkwang Son Cultural House is at the frontier of spreading Korean wisdom around the world.

 

Therefore, I greatly appreciate your efforts in founding this meditation centre.

 

*   *   *

 

 

The Wonkwang Son Cultural House is also a new cultural landmark for the Central Coast area and an excellent new resource for the community here.

The Central Coast is a very beautiful place, blessed with a wonderful climate and magnificent scenery that draws many people here for their retirement.

 

I am very happy that many people in Australia will come to this Cultural House to practice meditation and enhance their daily lives.

Also, I believe the planned Temple Stay program here will bring many people to the Central Coast and they will return home to tell their friends and family what a wonderful experience they have had here.

Certainly they will have experienced Korean culture and will become living examples of the benefits of meditation and Korean culture.

 

Once again, I offer my congratulations on the opening of this fine new Cultural House and I express my appreciation for all those who dedicated their efforts to founding the Wonkwang Son Cultural House.

 

May it bring great peace and harmony to all who visit here.

 

Thank you.