Founder Ilchi Lee
Ilchi Lee is a visionary educator and peace advocate who began the Earth Citizen Movement over 36 years ago. What started with a simple act—teaching mind-body exercises in a public park in South Korea—has grown into a global movement for personal awakening, community empowerment, and planetary peace. His core message is that true peace begins in the human heart, and that every person has the potential to live with purpose, mindfulness, and love for humanity and the Earth.
ECO Aotearoa
Inspired by Ilchi Lee’s vision, three directors established Earth Citizens Organisation Aotearoa (ECO NZ) in 2016. While honoring his original spirit, ECO NZ operates as an independent nonprofit to serve the people of New Zealand. Its core mission is to nurture young Earth Citizens—conscious leaders who will take responsibility for creating a peaceful and sustainable future.
Ilchi Lee delivering the Prayer of Peace as the opening address at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000
In 2000, Ilchi Lee wrote and recited the Prayer of Peace at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders. He composed this heartfelt poem to convey a message that transcends religion, race, and nationality—a message rooted in our shared humanity. His intention was to awaken what he called “human peace,” a peace that belongs not to any one group, but to all people.
At a time of increasing conflict and division, Ilchi Lee shares this prayer once again to remind us that true peace begins within. It is not merely a political goal or diplomatic effort, but a natural quality already present in the human heart—waiting to be awakened. Through this prayer, he invites us to remember our innate capacity for unconditional love, inner calm, and deep connection with one another. As suffering in the world grows more visible and more personal, this prayer serves as a quiet yet powerful call to return to the peace that lives within us all.
Prayer of Peace
I offer this prayer of peace
Not to any one god nor to many gods
Not only to a Christian god
Nor only to a Jewish god
Not only to a Buddhist god
Nor only to an Islamic god
And not even to the indigenous gods of many nations
But to the Divinity within that we all hold inside
That makes us all brothers and sisters
Truly One Family
In the name of humanity.
I offer this prayer of peace
To the cosmic Oneness
That is our birthright
And our privilege
And our strength
That should we let it shine and show us the way
Will guide us to the road of peace:
Not a Christian peace
Nor a Jewish peace
Not a Buddhist peace
Nor an Islamic peace
And not even the indigenous peace of many nations
But the human peace
That has a place in the hearts of all people
To allow us to truly fulfill our divine potential
To become the children of one humanity.
I offer this prayer of peace
To allow us all to realize
The truth of our existence
To allow us all to discover
The sanctity of our lives
To allow us all to seek
The spirituality of our beings.
Please allow us to experience
With all our hearts and our souls
The intimate connection to the divine
That we all possess inside
For our bodies are the temples of worship
And our souls the altars
Before which we shall stand tall
And live out the true meaning
Of our existence.
I offer this prayer of peace
To declare a revolution
Of the human spirit.
I wish to announce that
It is now time
For all of us to spiritually awaken
And become enlightened
That the time of the enlightened few is over,
That the age of elitist enlightenment has passed.
For how long shall we wait for prophets
To come down from mountaintops
And tell us what to do?
We must all become enlightened
To recognize our divinity
To raise up our consciousness
And proclaim our independence
From blind reliance on long-ago sages
And find the answers from our own well
Of spiritual wisdom.
We must ourselves become the enlightened ones
We must ourselves realize our Oneness.
I declare that we must all become humans of the Earth
Beyond any religion, nation, or race
But of this Earth, for this Earth, and by this Earth
To create a lasting peace
On Earth.
I offer this prayer of peace
To You the Almighty
The God that lives within all of us
So that we may stand proudly
One day before you
As one humanity.
I offer this prayer of peace
With all Earth Humans
For a lasting peace on Earth.