"Our dream is as simple as it is ambitious, one flame uniting people worldwide." ~WorldPeaceFlame
World Peace Flame
"On 31st July 1999, for the first time in history seven live flames, lit by eminent peacemakers on five continents, were flown by military and commercial aircraft to the UK, where they were united into one flame: The World Peace Flame."
Since then, this powerful message and statement of a world united under one flame has spread.
World Peace Flames can now be found across the globe as beacons to awaken and inspire peace, unity, freedom and celebration within each human heart. Each individual plays a crucial role in creating peace at every level. The flames are an open invitation for each of us to make a difference in someone's life- to make today, and every day, special. One kind gesture, one conversation and one thought at a time. With intent and by design.
​
"You are the flame."
-Ashland Culture of Peace Commission, Stewards of the World Peace Flame in Ashland
​
​
​
Irene's Story
As a young woman, Irene Kai found herself by chance in Madison Square Garden in New York. On stage stood John Lennon, performing his iconic song "Imagine". This was her first encounter with the muse that is still a widespread inspiration. The experience had a profound and lasting impact on Irene, changing her life forever. Years later, in 2015, the muse of Inspiration visited her again during a trip to Wales. Together with her daughter, Irene was divinely guided to the World Peace Flame. Deeply moved and inspired by the sight of the flame, in that moment she understood it to be a representation of unity.
​
Originating from Hong Kong, Irene knew the potential of the Peace Flame as a way to not only inspire unity and peace; she realized the power it held to bring healing and unity to the land in Ashland, where she lived. She recognized the ancestral wounds present within southern Oregon, both as Native American land as well as being an area where people of Chinese descent once labored to dig ditches for the gold mines - until the gold dried up and they were either driven away or executed. Furthermore, understanding Ashland to be a historical peace gathering place for the people who are indigenous to that area, she felt encouraged to bring the World Peace Flame there.
In 2018, the Ashland World Peace Flame was thus lit, to bring unity to past and present, as well as inspire it for the future in all individuals who come across it.
​
This represents the second of two World Peace Flames currently in the United States. The first flame was brought to Memphis, Tennessee in 2002 at the opening of the new human rights building at the National Civil Rights Museum, representing a beacon of light towards greater respect and honor for all of humanity. There now exist two dozen World Peace Flame Monuments, from the United Kingdom, to Europe, Australia, India, and the United States.
​
"My heart is my sacred flame. When we get inspired, that's when the flame will glow."
~Irene Kai, co-founder and secretary of the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission
​
Irene's story is a moving example of the powerful inspiration a World Peace Flame is able to ignite. Project Evolve and Pathways To Peace know to never underestimate the power of inspired individuals. Each Peace Academy Campus may wish to install a World Peace Flame, as a tribute to the dedicated inner fire and solidarity of purpose held by those who devote their lives to Peace. We share in the vision of spreading these World Peace Flame Monuments, as beacons to be established in Cities of Light as they emerge.
​
The analogy of all of us carrying a flame within us is especially potent. As lighting a candle gives the ability to light infinite additional candles, so does one person turning their conscious intent towards nursing their inner flame yield the ability to ignite infinite additional flames. What's more, when many flames come together they become one unified body of fire - an imagery that elegantly reveals our innate unity.
​
Further, within the intention and process of cultivating outer peace, an aspect of courage of heart is called forth. The cultivation of outer peace inevitably requires us to face the aspects of our own inner being that may to various degrees be misaligned with an intention of peace. Many describe the process of letting go of these aspects of ourselves as moving through a destructive fire that ultimately clears and nurtures the ground for a rebirth into greater connection with our true nature - that of Peace and Unity.
​
​
What better imagery than a heart on fire
to fuel the courage
of those setting out on the quest for greater freedom for all?
​
​
​
​
​
To learn more about The World Peace Flame and their grass root initiatives and humanitarian projects, visit their website.
​
​