Urantia Foundation Visits Taiwan
Urantia Foundation Visits Taiwan
By Georges Michelson-Dupont, international vice president and manager of translations, Urantia Foundation, Recloses, France
Editor’s Note: This visit was organized by Vicki Yang and her team of students in Taiwan, with help from Richard Zhu, the translator of The Urantia Book using Simplified Chinese characters. Originally planned for April 2020, it was postponed due to the pandemic. The delay benefited Vicki’s students by giving them time to better familiarize themselves with The Urantia Book in English.
Background
Vicki Yang is a truth seeker who translated A Course in Light—a series of lessons in spiritual development—into Traditional Chinese in the ’90s. Over the past 25 years, she has trained dozens of teachers and thousands of students in Taiwan and the Chinese diaspora, as well as in mainland China.
She is a woman of great wisdom and remarkable empathy, with a keen sense of organization. She displays a natural leadership, and her students, the vast majority of whom are women, trust and love her. She has developed a spiritual thirst in her students which makes the teachings of revelation a natural extension of their search for personal spiritual evolution.
Having become familiar with The Urantia Book, Vicki took part in a 1997 meeting of translators organized by Urantia Foundation in Paris. In 2014, Vicki contacted the Foundation, and committed herself to working on the translation of The Urantia Book using Traditional Chinese characters. She agreed to use the same term list as the simplified version so that the two would be compatible and consistent.
The Conference
On the weekend of March 16–17, seven members of the expanded board of trustees gathered in Taiwan for a two-day conference that was hosted by Vicki and her planning team. Our delegation included Mo Siegel, Gard Jameson, Victor García-Bory, Gaétan Charland, Geri Johnson and her husband Rob Mastroianni, Tamara Strumfeld, and me. Chinese translator Richard Zhu accompanied me from Paris.
It was a milestone in the spreading of the revelation into the world. After 20 years of dedicated work and financing, the translation of The Urantia Book using simplified Chinese characters was completed and published on urantia.org. And now we were building fraternal relationships with our sisters and brothers in Taiwan!
The primary purpose of the conference was to celebrate the Chinese translation and establish its presence in Taiwan and China. We were also there to introduce and explain Urantia Foundation's mission in the world, give some introductory presentations about the revelation, and forge a partnership with Vicki’s students, whom she had introduced to The Urantia Book over the years.
The event took place in Taipei, with 70 people attending in person, and another 50 by videoconference. It was an extremely well-planned conference, and no detail was overlooked.
All presentations were submitted in advance and meticulously translated. As with a simulcast, the presenters spoke in English while the volunteer translators spoke in Chinese. PowerPoint slides were projected on a screen so that attendees could follow along in their native language, and each presentation was followed by a Q&A session. The entire conference was recorded and streamed live on YouTube.
Saturday began with a warm welcome from Vicki, followed by a thank you from Mo, and a presentation about Urantia Foundation by Tamara. My overview of The Urantia Book included some advice on how to read and study it. After a short pause, I delivered the first presentation, entitled “The Urantia Book: An Introduction to Cosmic Consciousness.”
Gard led a 10-minute meditation after lunch. Then it was Gaétan's turn to present “The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man.”
Richard made the final presentation of the day titled “Evaluation and Guidance on Chinese Pursuit of Truth,” a fascinating parallel between the truth delivered in The Urantia Book and the millennia-old pursuit of truth in Chinese culture. A book-signing event followed the session, which included many thanks and hugs.
Saturday culminated in an elaborate banquet. Guests were seated at tables of eight, each with an interpreter so that we could get to know one other. It was a time of great conviviality and sharing, with everyone talking freely about their family life, projects, and difficulties.
The conference resumed on Sunday morning with a silent meditation led by Gard, followed by his presentation on “Epochal Revelation.” After a break, it was Victor's turn to speak about “The Origin and Ministry of Midwayers.” After lunch, Geri and Rob presented “The Revealed Appreciation of Jesus, Michael of Nebadon.”
Finally, Gard and Mo brought Vicki to the stage, and paid a heartfelt tribute to her and Richard for their dedication to the revelation, and for all their work on the conference. Vicki announced to her students that she wished to retire from her other activities so that she can devote herself to finishing the translation of The Urantia Book using Traditional Chinese characters. It was a truly poignant and emotional moment shared by all.
It's worth noting that not a single person left the room during the entire conference, and the attention of those listening to the presentations was high, with many taking photos of the various PowerPoint slides.
A Second Conference!
A second, somewhat impromptu conference took place on Monday in Vicki's hometown of Zuoying. Vicki, Richard, and I rose early and traveled by high-speed train to a location where she gives courses on A Course in Light. About 30 people, most of them women, were waiting for us there, and a video device was set up to broadcast the session live on YouTube.
I was invited to talk about Urantia Foundation, The Urantia Book, and how it had changed my life. I responded to questions in an atmosphere of great fraternity. Richard spoke about the origin, mission, endowment, and destiny of the Thought Adjuster. His extremely well-structured presentation aroused a great deal of interest; we saw many people taking photos of his slides, and two people were in tears when they realized that God was indwelling them.
We ended our visit in a very chic restaurant as guests of a generous student. Richard and I took the train back to Taiwan and left the next day for Paris, our heads full of memories of friendships and very encouraged about the future of the Urantia Revelation in Asia.
