Belvedere
Translator: Sang Kil Han
Every Sunday and on the first of the month we recite the Pledge of the Children, especially the fifth paragraph. That paragraph begins, "I am proud of the one sovereignty." It lists what we are proud of: the one people, the one land, the one language and culture centered upon God, becoming the child of the one True Parent, the family who is to inherit one tradition, and being a laborer who is working to establish the one world of the heart.
If you are asked, "Who are you, and where are you going?" what would you answer? Blessed wives might be likely to answer, 'Well, I never thought much about it. I'm going toward my husband, whom I've just met, and I don't know so much about him." The husband might say, "Well, for the time being I'm going toward my wife and afterwards, I'll do my best." When you are asked what you are seeking you might reply that you don't desire much more, you are content with what you have: a person who cares about you. That is how most people live. That is not a wrong answer; it is partially true, but it is not all we seek.
Until now you were told not to hold hands as brothers and sisters, but after the Blessing things change. In fact, to fulfill married life, you must hold hands, kiss each other, and go to bed together! Your situation has changed a lot. Along with that, some of you might start hoping for some position, some money, and some power. You start longing for lots of material possessions. To some extent that is inevitable, but there is something beyond that.
If you had a great treasure, where would you store it? You would probably want a safe place but still somewhere readily accessible. Instead of asking another person to guard it, you would probably want to keep it in your home.
Where is your home? Is it the house you are renting now? Many people come to the United States: some come on business, some as tourists; some become permanent residents and even citizens. They may have an apartment in this country, but is this country home or is home their land of origin? Home becomes more difficult to define. There is a popular saying in the United States that home is where you hang your hat, but that definition is not satisfactory. We need a more stable, permanent home, a place where we can dwell for eternity. You might call it your home town, or your native land.
YOU want to live in your original home town, in a house that you can call home. But your original home includes not just -you and your spouse but also your parents. You may be living in the United States with your spouse and children but AM miss your home town because there you find your parents, your brothers and sisters, and your relatives, including your third, fourth and fifth cousins. In Korea we count relatives as far as the eighth degree.
Before our relatives came into being, an environment already existed. That is our homeland, the source of our relatives. Where would your relatives like to live? If you ask this country where it would like to be located it might say, "How do I know? I had no choice in the matter, I happen to be here." That might be the best answer the United States could give. But it would be better to long to be situated as close as possible to the place of origin. Thousands of years ago the United States did not exist; it is a rather young country. But the world has been around a long time. Different races and peoples branched out of their homeland and came to places like America and settled down.
Michael, one of the security guards at East Garden who accompanied me to England, seldom expresses personal desires or opinions. He is very quiet and fulfills his responsibility without speaking much. One day he came to me apologetically and asked if he could visit Ireland. He had never made such a request before, so I asked him why he wanted to go there, since we had not yet seen other parts of Great Britain, including Scotland and Wales. "Because that's where my ancestors came from," he replied
This young man's relatives had been in the United States for generations, but he couldn't help wanting to seek his origins. He thought that by going to Ireland he could feel one step closer to his native land. His mind was seeking something which he didn't fully understand, but he knew that somewhere he would find something closer to his homeland. Even Americans want to return to their place of origin. People came from all over the world to the United States, so in that sense the world's existence is more real than the United States' existence.
If you ask the world where it would like to be, it would ultimately answer that it wants to return to its original ancestors: Adam, Eve, and God Himself. Since Adam and Eve and God are the root, the world wants to return to its root.
Picture a very tall tree with a tiny leaf hanging on to its top. If you ask the leaf where it would like to be, it might reply that the question had never come up and that it is satisfied with where it happens to be, at the top. But if the leaf is a little smarter it would travel in its imagination down the tree, through the trunk, and all the way down to the deepest roots and realize that rather than existing by itself it is sustained by its neighboring leaves, branches, trunk and even the roots. Since all those elements keep sending nourishment to the leaf, it would want to pay visits here and there to see how all the elements that support its existence are doing. A smart leaf would think like that.
A tree is an interconnected whole, just as is mankind. All of us are like leaves of a vast universal tree. We would like to visit each country. We realize that although customs vary, still each person is part of the same universe and comes from the same origin. Because our fatherland i's the same we share the same roots. Isn't that how you feel? You would like to visit all the various places in this world, wouldn't you? Furthermore, our world is not only horizontal but vertical, and when we become aware of the vertical aspect, we would like to go there too.
When you get married you want to visit not only your own home town, but also that of your spouse. You wouldn't demand that your spouse, visit your home town and refuse to visit his or hers. You want to go there because you are equally interested in his origins.
After you have been everywhere you have to settle down somewhere to live and raise your family-but where? Fundamentally, you want to stay in the center because that is where all things are connected.
In order to bisect a circle, for instance, a line must pass through the center. If you are at the center nothing bypasses you; everything goes through you and you are aware of everything that goes on. You are linked to everything.
What is the most important part of a tree? When you look at a tree and appreciate its beauty what part do you focus on? Do you admire the leaves? The branches? The roots? I don't know about Westerners, but Orientals evaluate a tree's beauty by its trunk. If you compare God, mankind and the universe to a tree, who is the root? God. Who Is the trunk? Someone answered True Parents.
A young tree has roots, trunk and leaves, but they are small and fragile. Even though the trunk is flimsy, still it is the center. When a tree is very tiny the distance between the roots and the leaves is very small; they are practically neighbors. But as the tree develops and matures, the trunk and branches grow; every year the branches become a few inches longer. As the tree grows up, the roots also penetrate deeper. Suddenly the roots become aware that the leaves which had been its neighbors have grown and are separated by a long distance. Do you think the roots would min the leaves and wish they could come back and stay closer to it, or would the roots focus only on penetrating deeper and deeper into the soil? Don't you think the root would somehow miss the leaves? One tree may boast of being taller, another of having better branches, another of having more leaves, another of healthier roots; but the true quality of a tree lies in the connection among all the parts.
The typical American married couple today doesn't care much about leaves and branches; people don't know much about their roots or origins. Men and women just focus on each other. "We will live together and die together, just the two of us, leaning on each other," the husband and wife think. "That is all we care about and all we want." Can such people claim to enjoy the greatest happiness? No. For two people to be able to get along harmoniously with each other is a very good thing; a lot of people don't even achieve that. But theirs is not the ultimate happiness because while they may be able to connect with each other, they cannot be the center for linking all other things. The center has to be aware of all the far-flung elements that need to pass through it. Those who are hundreds or thousands of miles off to one extreme certainly cannot be the center.
A couple may appear content and free from worries about children, free from concerns about pleasing their parents and making sure the parents are happy. You wouldn't mind looking as fortunate as they do! But if you really look at them closely, theirs is not a truly happy state, because they are not at the center. Is it good for a couple to live a carefree life, just enjoying each other? If it is not good, do you know why? Goodness needs to be defined.
For husband and wife to focus just on each other is parasitic because they are living off others. We all depend on other elements. All mankind, including such a couple, is indebted to the universe. Man represents heaven and woman earth, and all parts of heaven should freely pass through them and connect in them. That is how we were created to live. The universe supports us in every way, giving us air, water, food and love. But a selfcentered couple returns nothing to the universe; they are not even aware of what they are receiving. Because their awareness is confined to themselves, they are not functioning as the center through which everything is supposed to connect.
In order to be healthy, grow, develop and bear fruit, all parts of the tree need to be properly interconnected. The center should be excited about being the center and help nutrients pass up and down and back and forth through it. It must help the traffic flow in order to become fruitful. Although it is important for the different parts of the tree to have proper give and take and fulfill the function of the center, there is an ultimate goal: to bear fruit. What is the fruits? Of all the parts of the tree, the fruit is closest to the original form. By bearing fruit, the tree completes a cycle. No matter how big a tree becomes, it started from one seed. The roots, trunk, branches and leaves grew from that one origin and produce a beautiful fruit. The fruit bears the seed. The tree sprouted from a seed and returns to a seed.
The process of development is not a straight line. Development expands in ever larger circles out from one central point. In a tree, for instance, the roots reach an ever greater depth and extent, while the branches and leaves reach higher and wider. Each growing cycle creates bigger and bigger circles. At first the distance from trunk to root tip or branch tip is small, but each cycle increases the span.
All this growth requires a lot of action, but by its very nature action is never produced by an individual. It always takes two: a subject and an object.
Women seek men and men seek women for the same reason: to develop. Knowing all this, can you say that a husband and wife should care only about each other and nothing else? Are you sure that is not the ideal pattern of development?
If I ask an individual if he or she would like to develop, the inevitable answer is yes. People would like to develop to the extent of forming a country-and not just a small one, but a large one. Everybody is ambitious. Is there a limit to development? You would not be content to occupy just a small comer of humanity; you would want everything to come within your embrace.
For a married couple, development means having children. You may have questions about other things, but whether or not you want to have children shouldn't be an issue. Let's say you have children, would you be so concerned about their safety that you would want to keep them in your bosom forever and never let them go? No, you want your children to go through a course of development too. The mother and father naturally want their children to be healthy, grow and reach out to the world.
Parents long for their children to grow faster so they can quickly extend out to the world. Parents tell their children, "We and your brothers and sisters enjoy being with you, but we would much rather that you develop yourself for the sake of the world. That is what we are here for." Parents don't want to keep their grown children at their side for the sake of their own happiness, ignoring the larger world; they want them to go out. Even though they miss them, parents encourage their children to go out and develop and become greater people.
Would you prefer to have only one child, so you don't have to worry about how to support him or her? You might think that you are capable of raising two children-perhaps three, if you -try harder. Or would you like to have four, five, six, seven children? Soon you will face this problem.
I began by talking about the fatherland. Now you are married. After you start your family and children come, you may have so many children that you can form a country! If you are going to have children anyway, would you like to have lots of them so you can expand your embrace to a big country-or would you be content with just a small country? You are so greedy! You aspire to big things; you look for what is good, you want the center. It's a difficult task, but do you mind going through difficulty? Do you prefer the easy way or the hard way?
Among American couples it has become fashionable to consider raising children a nuisance. People think that since they have only a short life to live, they should marry and enjoy each other as much as they can, without having children. But back to the former question, which is better: to have lots of children or no children? Even though it is a simple question, you should understand whether it is good or bad to have children. You think it's good, but how good is it?
You say you want to be at the center, but what geometric form do you aspire to be the center of? Those who want to have children may be content with just one son and one daughter. That means just two lines connect through you; at best you can define only four positions and create only a quadrilateral. But a circle is a more ideal form -than a square. Your eyes, your face, and even your body resemble a circle. All movement, all sports, all vigorous activities form a circle. Circular movement is the most efficient because it consumes the least energy; a ball is easier to push than a cube, for instance. Two lines drawn through a center can define a four-aided figure. If you draw another line through the center, you can define a six-aided figure; a hexagon is much closer to a circle than a square-and much easier to roll. The more lines you draw through the center the closer your come to defining a circle.
I have 13 children, and sometimes I think of each one as a month. I have January, February, March, April, etc. There are 12, one for each month, and a 13th, representing the center. When you think about the 12 months of the year, do you visualize them stretched out in a line or joined in a circle? They are like a circle, aren't they.? Even more than a circle, they are like a sphere.
You Unification Church members know how to draw a flat circle, but I am hoping somehow to coax you into drawing a sphere. Is that a bad idea? Even outside people can understand our approach more easily if we explain that True -Parents focus on transforming flat circles into spheres. It takes True Parents to do that. If you talk about your father and mother everyone can identify with your concern, but in the Unification Church we talk about True Father and True Mother because we are seeking the ideal. Those who are not seeking the ideal are content with just parents.
If you are ever going to roll, would you want to roll in just one direction or in all possible directions? Ideally, a ball revolves very smoothly; the bottom rotates to the top and the top to the bottom No matter what position you may be in temporarily, you can keep revolving without being hurt, Now you can draw your own conclusion to the question of whether lots of children are preferable over a limited number.
Someone came to one of our international itinerant workers and boasted of a couple that after 30 years of marriage had multiplied into a clan of 300. Would you like to have 300 descendants, or 30007 Why is it so precious to have many descendants?
Why are people constantly seeking to increase themselves? It must be because our origin is so big. Is God big or tiny? He is infinitely vast. If God is so big His love must also be boundless. If God has power it must also be tremendous. If God could have money His wealth would be incalculable. We all prize knowledge for we couldn't live without it, but God's knowledge must be far more comprehensive than ours.
Let's come back to you. What would you like to possess? (God!) You are good students. But what would you do with God? Why do you long for God so much? If I somehow arranged it that you could have your desire, could you receive such a vast God?
Suppose we were talking about a diamond. If I offered you a large diamond and you had only a small place for storing valuables, would you be able to handle the gift? You might say with confidence that you want to own God, but I would say in return, "Okay, you can have God, but what are you going to do with Him? How would you accommodate Him? Do you have a sheet large enough to wrap around Him?" If you ask me how big my container is, I would answer that it is large enough to contain God hundreds of times over!
Actually, your mind is so big that if you want to accommodate God you could-with much room to spare. Because your mind is infinite, you are always seeking more and more things to fill it up. I have won over all of you by this answer. I can
thing
defeat you in a race of thinking The amazing is that no matter how tiny your body may be, your mind is big enough that, if you want to, you can accommodate God and still have a lot of room to spare!
How big do you think God's mind is? We can only imagine it, but it is at least big enough that all four billion people on this earth and their minds could be rolled up into one huge ball and stuck into it--and hardly fill it! Do you suppose that God's mind has lots more available space, or would it be almost filled to capacity? When we realize that it has lots more room we can feel at peace. At least I feel at peace. If I were worried about heaven being too small I would not feel good. But with your help, we have reasoned it out that God's mind is immense, and so is heaven, so my worry is
resolved.
Like a good pitcher, I toss everything to God and He catches every single ball, even the big ones, in His mitt. For hundreds and thousands of years, God has been catching balls and His mind still hasn't filled up. There is room to spare.
How big a mind do you want? Of course, we have some limits , but wouldn't you like to have a mind as big as God's? Well, not as big has His, of course, but you want it to be as big as possible. Your mind desires that, doesn't it? You certainly did not create such a mind, so where did it come from? From God. Why would God give you a selfish mind? God had a valid purpose in giving us such a huge mind. You were born with such a mind, and even if you try to throw it away, you could not. If you resolved to throw that mind away, it would return to you the next moment. You might keep trying to get rid of it, but it would keep returning to you. So you must realize that you cannot help but live harmoniously with your mind. You can't be successful if you try to keep pushing that mind down, for it will constantly spring back up to you.
Unlike your physical body, you will carry your mind over into the spirit world. It won't go away as you shed your physical body but will remain for ever and ever in the spirit world-and be far freer. You may wonder when your mind will be liberated. When your mind is no longer confined, it win stretch out and exclaim, "Now I have gotten everything I wanted. I have fulfilled everything. I am satisfied. I can do anything I want to without restriction." Our minds are in prison now. When will they be liberated? What shall we do to break out of this prison?
Let's examine the mind more closely. Is the mind of a man exactly like that of a woman? It's important to know how they differ. Let's look first at a woman's mind. Consider the interactions among three beings: God, man and woman. Would the woman reach out for God first and then the man, or would she reach first for the man and then God? Think about your answer. If you say you are reaching out first to God, have you caught Him yet?
Before deciding what the woman should do, let's consider God. Would God reach out first to the woman or to the man? It is important to know this answer also. Let's reason this out We know that God is fair. Think really hard about it. If God reaches out for the man first, someone will sniffle and complain. Women know how to complain, don't they? On the other hand, if God reaches out to the woman first the man will complain, because men are not exempt from jealousy. Actually, men are more greedy than women-greedy like a thief! So the only possible solution is that God must have two hands and extend a hand to each one and bring them together. According to the Principle, this is inevitable.
Let's return to my question about whether the woman should reach out first to God or to the man. Would God want the woman to reach out to Him first, or to become completely united with the man and then both reach out to God together? You have a hard time answering! This is like a primary school question, and I thought you Moonies were a lot smarter than that. When man and woman are completely united, God's love appears.
Have you seen God? Have you seen God's love? Can you find love in God? Suppose I were to say that there is no love in God, and you protest that there is, how could you prove your assertion? To state that love can be found in God is correct, but the reasoning that leads to such a conclusion must also be correct.
The Bible clearly states that God created man and woman in His image. As a man and a woman become intimate and experience great love for each other, we can deduce that God too must have the same kind of love, because we have essentially the same qualities as God. Because we are in God's image, we have the same aspects He has. Since we have love, God must have love. Isn't that simple enough? In essence, what difference would there be between human love and divine love? Wouldn't their essence be the same? If it were different, we would repel each other. But since the essence of love is the same, it tends to draw us closer together and bring us into unity.
Why does a man seek the right woman and a woman the right man? A woman reaches out to a man so she can contact God and dwell in God through him. The man does the same; only through finding a woman and becoming one with her can a man have God. In essence, we possess God through love. Suppose you possess God's mind, God's love, and God's everything, would you need anything else? As far as you are concerned, when God fills you up, you lack nothing, you want nothing more.
God's mind is big, but if His mind is filled with you that means your mind is also big. Your mind has never been fully satisfied, has it? It's so big, once you possess God I think that more likely than not, your mind will be full.
If you love a man with genuine love and someone offers to trade the entire United States for him, would you accept the offer? You say no, but perhaps the United States is too small for you, so would you trade your beloved for the world? Well, what about something of unlimited magnitude; would you trade your beloved for God? That is a hard question, isn't it? You might reply that if the negotiator threw love into the bargain, along with God, you might trade. You wouldn't trade your beloved for God alone, but you might do it for God and God's love together! Do you want to know why this would be a good exchange? Actually, God wouldn't know what to do with your beloved, so He would just give him back to you! When you understand this point, then you can graduate.
The almighty God already has the world and everything in it, so why did He go through so much effort to create people? You say for love, but so what? God could enjoy a the love He wants, since there's nothing He cannot do if He is omnipotent. So why did God create human beings? If you saw God off by Himself rolling around on the ground convulsed in laughter, what would you think? Even if it was God you saw doing that, you would feel troubled. You know that an individual cannot love in solitude. Man cannot love without a woman and a woman cannot love without a man. So why did God make people? To fulfill love. A person cannot love by himself; an object is needed for give and take of love. That was God's very purpose in creating man and woman.
Unfortunately, Christianity and other major religions teach that God is divine and the supreme being, and that people are sinful and mortal. They teach that God and mankind are on two different planes that cannot be connected.
God's love is always reaching out to others. God's love was to be expressed in Adam and Eve. Wherever a pure man and a pure woman are completely united, God will automatically be found. That is why God created us. When a husband and wife achieve such a bond and conceive a child, all three can go to heaven directly. Such people don't need sermons and prayers.
Let half of a circle represent Gods mind and the other half represent mankind. Mankind consists of men and women, and if you analyze God further you find two elements, positive and negative or plus and minus, which resemble men and women. Within God plus and minus elements have give and take and their interaction forms the basis for God's existence. God's dominant characteristics are manifested in man and the subordinate characteristics in woman. What was the purpose behind that? For true love.
The core of love is true love. Vertical and horizontal, plus and minus intersect at that center. All of us were born with a mind as big as God's so we could encompass a being such as Him, for God longs to encompass everything.
We like to see precision products, but even a large machine always has some uneven surfaces. The action of true love, however, seals all the crevices and smoothes all the irregularities until a perfect circle is formed. True love can go anywhere because of its shape; it flows wherever an opening exists. It can penetrate the physical and spiritual worlds equally well. True love knows no boundaries.
When true love touches you, it ignites you. No matter how strong the dosage, you savor it. You become so filled with true love it's almost like being drunk with it, Maybe the analogy of being intoxicated makes it easier to understand! You see, when every part of you is numb with contentment-however you may phrase it-you are full, you are satisfied. Every one of your billions of cells is relaxed and happy, brimming with God's true love. How about that! You can experience this wonderful love forever. Eternity is possible only in connection with love. Nothing else lasts forever. Love is eternity.
Would you like me to say something about the spirit world? But if I go into that subject, you will really lose your balance!
We can talk about science, religion, or a lot of things, but no other topic can compare with love. Love is interesting and satisfying. Needless to say, love has been very, very misused, so people are even afraid to express love! Still, you have done a very good job of understanding it. Here in the United States I have been talking about true love, but love is not unheard of in America; in fact, it's everywhere. Surrounded by free sex and all different types of love, how do you know which is true love? Does each type get an equal chance? We can come to the unmistakable conclusion that true love is the love between a man and woman that attracts the presence of God.
Does God's love change according to the four seasons? Of course not. God's love is constant. The four seasons come and go, but the center of love cannot vary. It retains the same quality, the same essence, the same form. The love that people talk about is a kind of love, yes, but when it strays further and further from God and becomes &in it is no longer love. Two days ago I explained that original sin was caused by illicit love. Illicit love is unlawful; it transgresses the cosmic law. Not only mankind but all creation comes under the jurisdiction of cosmic law. Illicit love caused the original sin. Do you understand?
True love can erase original sin. There is a constant struggle between your desire to overcome sin and sin's determination not to give in. Unfortunately, promiscuity is widely practiced in the United States. When something other than original true love prevails God must leave. Many parents have come to realize that Moonies are pursuing true love. If they are going to say you are wrong, they should come up with a good reason to substantiate that conclusion. If people continue too long being promiscuous, even the universe will expel them! The universe will repel those who continually violate God's law.
Unification Church members possess a very deep truth. Other people may not comprehend when you try to tell them these things. You may not even realize it, but every single one of you is equipped with this understanding, plus a powerful reasoning ability.
Take the Blessing, for instance. People came to this wedding because they are searching for true love. One reason we form interracial couples is that a white person's domain is extended when he or she can go through the center line and reach out to the opposite world, such as the world of black people. People who marry someone from their own race are more limited, while interracial couples have a broader domain of freedom. Americans wonder why democracy cannot be the center through which everyone should pass, but it so happens that it is not.
When husband and wife from different races come together, they can reach out for a more ideal experience of God's love. You may be at the north pole and be able to relate to your immediate vicinity, but if you want to reach the opposite pole you must go through the center. When you meet your opposite at the center point your thinking and ideals become more elevated, reaching up to God. This was God's original plan before the fall, but people have dosed their doors to it, not realizing its value. How wonderful it is that we can get married in order to serve the world and live in harmony with God!
How many of you here this morning are blessed? Do you understand clearly your purpose for getting married? It is very clear that until you have a true husband or wife you can never meet God. You may be able to contact God occasionally, but when that happens what would you do with Him? What would you say to Him? The purpose of meeting God and experiencing His presence is to have Him fill our mind and heart. When you are saturated with love you want to keep giving, and you are able to do so without diminishing your love or exhausting your supply. True love is like a spring of water, the deeper you dig, the more abundantly it springs up. It is true that the more you give the more you will receive. Even money is no exception to this principle; if you give money generously the universe will keep replenishing your supply.
My whole point is this: do you realize how precious your spouse is? Would you trade your dear husband for me? Would you men feel happy if your wife says she loves me more than she loves you? No, you're right. Before you get married, you love True Parents more than anybody in the world, more than even your own parents. I love you more than anybody else, too. But from now on, if you continue to love me that way I will say, "Bad girl! You should love your husband more." You have already established your center-, you know how to love True Parents.
How much do you love your husband? If your husband is dying, as a true-wife you- should wish you could die in his stead. As a true husband, you should love your wife so much that when she is about to die, you would wish you could die in her place, or perhaps die together. When your children are in danger or their life is in peril, as parents you will try to save your children at the cost of your own life. This is the heart of true parents. This is truelove.
Now you know the nature of a true husband, a true wife, and true parents. Anything that does not fit this criterion is bad and has nothing to do with truth. It belongs to the realm of Satan, or hell.
Everything that has to do with God is heavenly. Heaven is the opposite of hell. True Parents, true husband and wife, true children all belong to the same realm, heaven. That is where the Unification Church is going, and we will help everyone throughout the world reach it as well. Any family that adheres absolutely to this principle is a true family and the beginning of heaven. Always remember that God is the true center.
The center of true love does not come into being all at once-not even after 2,00.0 couples get married! It expands from a small beginning. According to the Principle, nothing comes about all of a sudden; everything grows. A tiny speck could be the center of the universe. The center of the smallest circle can be the center of the largest circle at the same time. Two lines can meet to form a small 90 degree angle or a large one. Two 90 degree angles can be superimposed to fit precisely. Once we ascertain that an angle is aligned with the model right angle, then we can forget about the model. We know that the angle is properly formed and that each successive angle based on that model will also be a right angle.
Is man above woman or woman above man? Men may answer one way and women another, but there should be a valid basis for the answer. Isn't it true that a receptacle or container is positioned below what it is to receive?
Something that goes up is bound to come down, and whatever is down always wants to go up. There is a plus/minus relationship between the sexes, with man constantly seeking woman and woman constantly seeking man, and their interaction forms a big circle.
Ownership is determined through interaction. All people want to own something, don't they.? If you have nothing, you are only a flat line, but nobody wants to be just a flat line. Your domain is determined by the extent of your interaction.
What differentiates men from women? Is it the nose? No, men and women have similar none, mouths and eyes. However, in one area there is a significant difference: one is protruding and the other hidden, one is plus and the other minus. No matter how many years you may study at Harvard you cannot change this law. On this point, simpleminded people have really misunderstood me and accused me of being anti-feminine, someone who devalues women. Not at all. I cannot change this difference because it's not something I made. I won't live more than a hundred years on this earth, but during my life span I will teach what is right and what is principled. That which endures forever is closest to the Principle.
So is woman in a higher position or lower position relative to man? If you are not satisfied with my answer I can elaborate on it. If you say my reasoning is inadequate, lees take a further look. Men have broad shoulders and a thick chest, and their body tapers in, while women have a larger mass at their hips. The typical masculine physique is almost the reverse of a typical feminine physique. This relationship reveals a lot of truth; it is an unalterable fact. Well, do you remain unconvinced that men should be in the upper position?
Conscience is something which sets human beings apart from animals. It is a common Korean expression to say that someone has a straight conscience, while in the Western culture, people talk about a clear conscience. There is a difference between a straight conscience and a clear con. science. To say that a person has a straight conscience means that it is exact and maintains a 90 degree angle with the vertical line.
Human beings are considered to be the supreme animal and that is because other animals walk on all fours while we stand on two legs. We walk upright because our conscience is meant to be straight. There is a correlation between a straight mind and a straight body-, to stand erect is the true human posture. We should maintain a 90 degree angle; nothing should be ambiguous or deviated. Some people's conscience may be at an angle of 50 or 60 degrees. Furthermore, some people have a straight mind but a bent or twisted body, and they experience pain as a result. Do you understand such a mind-body struggle? A straight person is someone with a straight conscience as well as an upright body.
We have five physical senses and five spiritual senses as well. Our spiritual sight should intersect at a right angle with our physical sight. Then our eyes can see straight into both this world and the spirit world. This should be very natural, since we were born to see this way. Also our spiritual hearing should be vertical. We should listen to the sounds of not only the horizontal world but also the vertical world. In general, when our mind and body are truly healthy and straight, everything is aligned at a right angle and our physical and spiritual senses both operate. The five spiritual senses overlap with the five physical senses. If men and women can lead such a straight life and re i
true to the original love, isn't it logical to think that God will come and dwell with them?
We know that people should not tell lies, but why not? Some people say it isn't good to tell lies, others say it isn't ethical. To he means to abandon the right angle. When you he, not only does your conscience stray from the right angle but also your actions deviate from it and you feel ashamed. Our purpose on earth is to correct deviations and live according to the proper standard; otherwise we will not pass the universal grade. Do you follow me?
Just as we have mind and body, we have a spiritual mind and a physical mind. When our physical mind and spiritual mind are aligned according to that right angle, that intersection forms the center of our being. From that center we can extend lines above and below, left and right, front and back. The right side is plus and the left side minus.
All levels of society are connected through the family center. We are reforming love through families-man, woman and children centered on true love. Such a family center is God's dwelling. Can the center of the family be different from the center of the clan or tribe? No. It is easy to understand that both tribe and family must have a common center that treats family and tribe on an equal, lawful basis. The center of the family should treat the clan with at least as much concern as his family. The center of the tribe must love the tribe more than his own family. The center of the nation should do the same. The love for ones nation should be the same quality as the love for one's family. Should you love your nation more or less than your family? What if your parents tell you not to love your country more than your family? They may try to discourage you or even kidnap you to prevent you from doing that. Then what would you do?
Does the family encompass the nation, or does the nation encompass the family? The family fits within the nation, doesn't it? For the sake of the' world, it is inevitable that we should love the nation more than our own family. You must remember that this is the ideal way.
What if your parents insist that you pay more attention to them or other things and forget about your nation? What if they ask you to be faithful just to your family? A home based on such values may exist for a time, but without the nation it can never be permanent, because it is open to invasion at any time. Sooner or later, a family that is focused only on itself is bound to be overrun by Satan.
If you extend this principle a little further, it is obvious that you should love the world more than your own family, in order to be the at the ideal family center of the world. People feel that a nation should love the world more than itself, so other nations have been highly critical of Americans, crying out, "Yankee, go home." Of course, communism has played a role in provoking this response, but Americans tend to feel that since the United States is a great nation, rather than serving the world, the world should serve it The United States is just one country-one component of a larger entity, the world-but the American people want to away the world.
God's will on this point is obvious. He says that the world encompasses the United States and not the other way around. In other words, the world is more precious in God's eyes than the United States. There is a similar relationship between the mind and body. Which do you think is more correct. for the mind to be subordinate to the body, or for the body to be subordinate to the mind?
You must clearly understand that there are two greatly differing systems of thought, one materialistic and the other spiritual. Each challenges the other, one clai that matter is subject and the other states that spirit is subject. This conflict has created so much turmoil, and the people perpetrating this struggle are not peaceful. The clash of these two opposing systems of thought creates uncontrollable confusion, and people don't know where to find a solution.
We certainly need both mind and body; there is no question about our need for a body. We don't say that we need only a spirit, because both matter and spirit, body and mind, are necessary. Communists mislead people when they call the conflict between mind and body a natural phenomenon and part of an inevitable process of evolution. That is not true at all. According to the law of nature, when things fight they diminish. A lot of intelligent people are attracted to the concept that to fight is natural and that only by struggle can people develop and evolve, but that is not correct.
The truth is very logical. We must make it clear to all people who they are and how they should live. Mind and body must take their proper position and be aligned in a right angle before ideal families can be formed Only such families can sustain a country; without many such families nations cannot endure. Do you understand? This is why it is important to know these things.
The family and the world can have the same center, but the smaller entity is contained within the larger entity and serves it. This principle must be followed in the family, clan, tribe and nation.
The same principle applies even to the relationship between the spirit world and the physical world. Which of the two worlds should we love more? The spirit world. But today many people do not know that God exists and are therefore unaware of the spirit world. All they know is what they see, so they insist that with their physical body they can comprehend the world. By emphasizing the horizontal axis to the exclusion of the vertical axis they are in danger of tipping over!
Religions generally put most of their emphasis on the spirit world and the life hereafter, rather than the physical world. Beyond the spirit world is God. More than all else, we cherish God. This is our conclusion. Somehow, people have known that it is right to love the greater whole, but they didn't understand why. We love the greater whole because that is how we can reach God. For the first time, we can touch God.
Which do you cherish more, true love or God? Which takes priority, true love or God? Even God is willing to sacrifice Himself for the sake of true love. In contrast to the belief of some Christians that God is omnipotent and carefree, God still keeps sacrificing Himself for the sake of true love.
In summary, the Unification Church and I keep teaching you to expand the scope of your love until you eventually occupy God through true love. If you consistently follow this process you will gain true love and, ultimately, God. If you love God more than anybody else in the world you will receive God's love and even more. What is so great about obtaining God and true love? Once you possess true love, it enriches every part of your being and you become the wealthiest person in the world! What more could you want? After that, you can dance. and sing in the spirit world. Do you understand?
Now that I am in the presence of a lot of parents for the first time, I have to say something straightforward. Many people believe that I am making these young people work incredibly long hours for the benefit of the Unification Church. What I am doing here is helping them to align their life properly, expand the scope of their love, and ultimately reach God.
My teaching is very direct. I teach that a wife should love her husband so much that she will willingly make sacrifices for him. Are you agreeable to that? Why? Because it conforms to universal law; it is the most righteous and straightforward way of life according to God's law. Do you women welcome this command? Will you abide by it forever? Amen. Likewise, for the sake of ideal love, each of you men realize that you should love your wife more than anybody else.
Through true wives and true husbands true love is beginning to be born. Some time in the future this country may reach the point where every wife becomes a true wife and every husband a true husband. Those who fully agree to this and pledge to love your spouse more than anyone else, raise both hands, representing husband and wife. That is great! Now you have a very clear concept of this.
My sermon ventured out in various directions in order to reach this very simple conclusion, and it took three and a half hours. But you must not forget it; you should keep it in mind throughout your lifetime. You will not always hear such a talk I may leave this country to visit somewhere else. Once you leave this place and return to your mission it is not likely that we will gather like this again for a couple of years. In the meantime, some may lose their fives-it may be God's will and we cannot help it. Or some may go as missionaries to a far country. So bear in mind these fundamental principles.
Once you have become an ideal husband or wife, what is your next task? Forming an ideal family. Does having children make your family ideal? No. You will be a family, but it may not be an ideal family. An ideal family is one that is will-ing to sacrifice for -the sake of the ideal. Such a-family is welcome in the ideal world. How can you be sure of this? Because forming an ideal family brings you one step closer to God's true love. God's true love is always our goal.
What is an ideal tribe? It is one that sacrifices itself for the sake of the nation. Do you want such a tribe? What is an ideal nation? It is one that sacrifices itself for the sake of the world. Then what is the ideal world? One that sacrifices itself for the spirit world. What is the ideal of the cosmos and all creation? It is true love.
Returning to ourselves, why was each of us born? We were born for true love, Women were born for true love. Men were born for true love. Families exist for true love. That is the beginning of life.
Even a nation like the United States became great not for its own sake but for the sake of the world. This nation may not have understood the reason; Koreans. did not realize why their nation developed as it did; the world has not known where it is going. But something in your mind indicates the correct direction. Somehow people perceive something of the ideal, although they may not clearly understand the reason. For the first time, now we know our destination.
To know is one step of the process, but to practice such a way of life is not easy. Once you sample the taste of love your course is less difficult; you keep wanting to go further so you can experience more of God's love. Without love, such a high ideal is almost unattainable.
Have you met God? Do you see Him in dreams or visions? Someone once asked me whether I could make a drawing of God, since He doesn't have a body. No, it is impossible to draw God. In the original purpose of creation, since God did not have a body He created one with which He could unite: that of Adam and Eve, especially Adam. God wanted to dwell in Adam like a mind dwells in a body. God Himself was to be the spiritual focal point of existence and Adam the physical focal point. These two focal points, God and Adam, were to intersect at a 90 degree angle. This was God's purpose of creation.
Mankind longs to follow the principle of love, the principle of creation. Had it not been for the fall, all people would be able to recognize God in the spirit world through their parents; but since the original parents fell away God has never manifested Himself in the spirit world. Had it not been for the fall, we would all have been good offspring of parents without original sin -and we would cherish our parents like God. Even now, we should try to live that way.
Unification Church members call Mother and me True Parents. What are True Parents? You have seen us exemplify the nature and function of True Parents. True Parents, for instance, don't expect others to come and serve them One function of True Parents is to carry out the work which God Himself cannot do because He doesn't have a physical body. When I asked you whether you see God in dreams or visions you said yes, but actually when my image appears in your dreams, God is present, isn't He? Those who have had such experiences raise your hands please. Other people cannot understand this phenomenon unless they have experienced it. One hundred percent of all Unification Church members have such experiences.
Your original mind teaches your body everything. Likewise, my function is to appear to you and teach you. The world is unaware of this relationship. You may know this very deeply, but there is no way you can convince your father and mother about it unless they too experience it. They probably want to rid you of what they consider undesirable elements, but as long as they exist in you, you cannot help being a Moonie. As long as you remain in God's love, nobody can snatch you away.
Now that you are joined in marriage as husband and wife and are resolved to form an ideal family, complete with children, you must work for three and a half years to fulfill the three steps of love-parental, fraternal and conjugal. Will you welcome this course? How can you say yes with such confidence? There is a very obvious reason for answering yes, which I will describe to you.
The road to heaven is the road which all individuals must inevitably take. It takes time--your whole life long, and even afterwards in the spirit world. Every single person must travel this way. Beggars must go it, everyone must go. But accompanied by a spouse, it is easier, therefore, now that you are married you are about to set out together. Your husband goes out to do the will of God, working hard day and night, sometimes returning very late in the evening. At home waiting for his return, will you make a face at him when he comes in?
In the beginning many husbands are not very considerate of their wife because marriage is a new kind of relationship. If that is your situation, you need to become like a mother to your husband. If you cannot do that-perhaps, because your mother did not show the example-at least try to be a good elder sister. Wives usually don't consider their mate "my dear husband" in the beginning. More often than not, you begin by considering him a good brother or a good father, and after a long time he will begin to be a good husband.
The other day I explained how conjugal love is the third important type of love. How fantastic it is when you wives can regard your husband as your real father and he can regard you as his real mother! In the next stage, you will regard him as a good elder brother and he will regard you as a good elder or younger sister. Afterwards, you will become true husband and wife.
Look at couples in America today. When one gets angry with the other, he or she goes out and gives affection to someone else. The husband comes home, kisses his wife and the next moment they are fighting each other-, the following day they are still arguing. That cannot be. If you ever want to kiss, you must not make war on each other!
In the early days of your marriage, you women should serve your husband as if he were your own father-not as a husband or as an equal, but as a father Then he win treat you like a revered mother. Later, as an elder sister your position is to take care of him as if he were your younger brother. Finally, in the third stage, you can say you are ready to be a wife and consider him your husband. This is part of the tradition you should practice.
It would be nice if there were a partition here so I could tell you women something in secret: when you baby a man, he melts and becomes like a child. It doesn't make any difference how old the man is-he may be a grandfather 70 or 80 years old-if you treat him like a baby he is happy! That is how men are. Who do men resemble? God. So even God is like that. God is like the King of babies! You have to know how to treat a baby. For American women, the best analogy for this kind of tender care is to treat your husband "like your fine china," but of course it encompasses more than that.
You must know dearly what the future holds. What is our fatherland, and where is it? It is our beautiful original home. When we arrive at our fatherland, we will find the original God. Are we able yet to relate to God as the original God? No. We have seen God trying desperately to save us, but that was not God's ori al intent. God is a
ginal desperate God; He passionately longs to save us.
In our original fatherland, however, we will know God as our original Father, and through our original Father we will experience original love. Children born from such an original couple, receiving original parental love, will multiply into an original tribe, form an original nation and an original world. After going through all these steps we win finally arrive at the fatherland. We are taking this way of sacrifice and hardship because we want to reach that original land, we long to be restored to the original country from which we actually came. Soon we must find our ideal fatherland on the earth.
The ideal fatherland is different from anything that presently exists. Within God's love there are no racial distinctions, no black or white. This earth is filled with barriers and national boundaries, but the original world which God intended knows no boundaries, no passports, no states or provinces.
What is our role in relation to the fatherland?
We are the founding army, the soldiers of heaven, doing heavenly work-God's work-to restore the world which God originally intended before Satan shattered the ideal. Look how horribly Satan has missed up this world! It has deviated so far from the ideal that hardly anything original re i . We so difficult to connect with God, and our mind keeps wondering whether God feels the way we do. But now we know what God intended and how Satan demolished it. We know what we are supposed to do: transform this world into the original world.
Our ultimate mission is to save and restore that world, but those tasks are not the most urgent ones now. Fighting takes priority. The kind of fighting we are involved in is more intense than physical fighting with guns. Either we win or we will get hurt. We are using ammunition of love; when our arrows or bullets strike people in their heart they are born again in God. Satan's ammunition is jealousy, slander, lying, etc. Satan tries to hurt people, but that is not our aim We are bombarding people with love. The more the forces of
evil shoot at us, the more intensely we have to return volleys of love. Our love must be greater than the enemy's opposition. Their weapons are ineffective against Unification Church members; no matter what kinds of bullets people fire our way, they just bounce back to them. People may slander us but we don't believe their words. In contrast, our bullets are extremely powerful and effective; whoever is struck by our bullets will be melted in love and born anew.
I have been striving to reach this point not only for the sake of God but for all mankind. The more people harass me, the more progress I make. The more people persecute me the higher I rise. Look at this court case: its ridiculousness has become apparent to almost everyone. The American government, versus Reverend Moon, a religious leader. This government, with all its arrogance at being the most powerful nation in the world, makes the competition more dramatic-like Goliath and David. Goliath had such a huge body, like the United States; but David was more righteous than Goliath.
The United States is trying to fight me, but it is a useless effort. Even if I die, millions of people will follow me and dedicate their lives for my cause-which they will take up as their own. The United States will perish if it carries its wrongdoing to the extreme. When it becomes apparent that I am right and the United States wrong, all the world's condemnation will be directed towards this country. Nobody will sympathize with it. This is why my conscience is always clear, this is why I can always act so boldly; this is why I can persevere in this great cause.
I have never been indebted to the United States. The food I eat and the house in which I live are not the product of the United States; they have not been provided by Americans. I supply my own means, from countries other than the United States. The food I eat, the clothes I wear and the house I live in were not bought with one red cent from America. You, more than anybody else, know that that is true.
Each of you should remember that you and your spouse are heavenly soldiers on active duty. That is your first qualification. You should remember that no one can embody the ideal as an individual; no individual can reach the ideal without a spouse. Once our fatherland exists ideal families can emerge within it, but the proper order is give the fatherland priority. Each of our families needs the environment of our original fatherland, and we are the soldiers to create and recover that fatherland. We are soldiers not as individuals but as families. The family is the soldier. Without fighting as soldier-families we can never hope to reach the fatherland.
These are not merely words. I have been demonstrating this truth to the world. I began in the family, but I never allow the family to stand in my way. My attitude has never been, "Let's be happy and let others worry about the world." Until now, my family has been like Gypsies. Gypsies don't have a fatherland; they traipse around from one place to another. I don't have a fatherland.
Each of us must recognize that the central purpose of our family is to dwell in this original fatherland, together with the original God and our parents and everyone we can save. That is not only our purpose but the purpose of the many millions of people who will follow us. Unfortunately, communism is impeding the fulfillment of this purpose. If we don't accomplish the work of reaching the original fatherland, the communists will destroy all of us and everyone else, and nothing will remain. Do you understand? You must realize this clearly.
Already I have explained everything in detail. We must give this truth to the world;- we must reach them before the communists do and influence them first, teaching them the truth and leading them back to the original way. If we don't do that, the communists will overrun the world and ravage it; they will lead the world in a godless, materialistic way and cause its eventual destruction. We must realize that we have been entrusted with a heavenly mission to reach out to the world before the communists get their hands on it and mesa it up even further. We must reach all mankind and bring them back to God. This is our mission.
I could go on and on all day, giving you more detailed explanations, but time is limited. For this cause I am risking everything to stand on the front line to fight communism. President Reagan would very much like to contain communism and overcome it, but he can't. Only Reverend Moon can. The government wavers back and forth; political leaders have no effective means of accomplishing the goal. But I can demonstrate the proper course and show the solution. I know the path. You must understand that this is why we need CARP, ocean church and home church. As soldier-families, we are going to fight this war.
If you go on a honeymoon now, even your best destination is still in the satanic world, for you have no true place to go. I have never entertained the idea of a honeymoon; that is somebody else's invention. You newlyweds will indeed enjoy a honeymoon someday-a fantastic one such as no one has ever enjoyed before-but only after we get to. this -fatherland. This is the course of the ideal couple.
Each of us is supposed to do our portion of responsibility. As an individual I have fulfilled more than my share. I have taught you everything about the world. I have explained what communism is and why we have to fight it; I have explained the position it occupies in relation to God's overall ideal. I have guided you in each activity, such as fundraising. All these details I have taught and demonstrated. The most precious and important things I have given to you without price.
People in South America are approaching me and saying, "Reverend Moon, why do you put up with those North Americans? We knew they were not so good. Why don't you come and live with us?" People are making such an offer. If I were a satanic person I could go to South America and start an anti-United States movement. But I cannot do that. Even if I go there I would still have to work for the sake of the United States, and the South Americans might still protest that I am unduly concerned about this nation.
If I do go to South America, even from there I would drive you more intensely to save the United States. Do you understand that? Is someone with such an attitude a bad person or a good person?
We should protest against those parents and those nations that have been opposing our missionaries. Your children will suffer if this generation doesn't do its job.
I have great confidence that we will achieve our goal, but it is based on meticulous planning and accomplishing each step along the way. I know that there is no room for mistakes. Therefore, I have no fears about this court case. I will be brave as I face the judicial system. You too should never be intimidated. Do you understand? Do you really understand?
This is doubtless a major transition in your life. You have been single, and now you are united in matrimony and your goal is clearer than ever: our fatherland. You must do your very best to reach it.
I have given you all the reasons and explained the purpose for reaching this objective, so will you pursue the goal on your own, whether asleep or awake-or will you need someone to keep encouraging and supervising you to make sure you get there? Will you do it voluntarily, even if nobody keeps reminding you? Do you really mean it?
I will not remain in this country much longer; I have already spent ten years here. You will be left here all by yourself. When I leave, will you Voluntarily remain and pledge to take responsibility for the United States-or will you follow me?
Will you work more intensely than 1, or will you slow down and complain that you cannot keep up with my pace on your own ? Your numbers are many, and I am only one individual, so you have that advantage.
Actually, saving America is not the final goal. Our next objective is Moscow. We have to liberate those people too. Do you have that confidence? You men might say yes, but how about you women?
You are embarked on this course together as husband and wife, but it is unlikely that you will die at the same time. When one dies and goes to the spirit world, haw will the survivor respond? If the husband remains on earth, will you hold your family together single-handedly until you join your wife in spirit world-or will you remarry?
You must live at least for the sake of your country. This is not my country, the scope of my mission is far more than one country. I have done enough for the United States. I have worked for the sake of this nation, but it treats me like an enemy. Still, I never tried to retaliate but continue to embrace it with love.
You know how difficult it is to reach out with my heart through an interpreter because much of the meaning and impact is diluted. You, in contrast, don't have to use an interpreter to reach out to your fellow Americans. You speak the same language and you are from the same culture. Americans won't persecute you no matter how intensely you work-even if it is ten times harder than I have. Therefore, you should work harder than I for your own country. Can you do that?
Are you determined as a couple to reach our fatherland? Are you resolved to work harder than I have for your country? If you lack confidence, you don't have to pledge. Those who can voluntarily make this pledge, raise both hands to God. God bless you.
