Belvedere International Training Center
Translator - Sang Kil Han
We have the title of members of the Unification Church. Unification means bringing everything together, and it includes the idea of leadership, since unity takes place around a core. Within a company, for example, there is a president and various types of work to be done. These are the two main things which bring the employees together and give them direction.
There is unity within an individual as the body follows the mind. We don't develop automatically, but only as our body follows our mind. We need to remember this. An individual is comprised of three important elements-mind, body and deeds. Likewise, a business has a president, employees, and its work. Within a country, the president, the citizens and national policy must be united. In a family, parents, children, and the family's tradition over the years should work in unity.
When you closely examine unity, you can find the center point where unity begins. This center point is important. Americans tend to think in a vaguely democratic way and assume that everyone unites at the same time, but we find that this is not really the case. Whether the scale is large or small, unity always has a core or beginning point. In a democracy such as the United States, many people help select the person who will be the center. But it is of utmost importance to know how this unity begins.
How does a person's mind develop? Does your mind intuitively distinguish good from bad, or does it learn to do so? Are you born with this awareness, or do you need to learn it from other people? Let's rephrase the question. Is a good mind contained within the realm of education, or is it beyond it? Certainly education plays a substantial role in shaping the mind, but the depth of the mind is beyond the realm of education.
How big is the mind? The mind is invisible, but still very real. Is a small person's mind bigger than his physical body? We can measure that. If you are helping to hand out clothes and food to needy people in New York, does your mind agree to stop when your body gets tired, or do you want to keep working because more remains to be done? Suppose you wanted to feed all the hungry people in America or in the world. How does your mind move toward these problems? Do you decide to stop because you don't have the capacity to do more, or does your mind keep expanding, trying to help the whole world?
Maybe cosmopolitan Americans can understand this question, but what about an African living on a remote mountainside who has never left his small village? We can still say his mind is the same as that of an educated person. Does this sameness happen naturally? This is an important point. Certainly there are people with a bad state of mind who need to be enlightened, but essentially, a good mind is beyond the realm of education; a person is born with it.
What about the law? Of course, our mind recognizes that there is something good about following the law, but is one's mind under the law or beyond it? How much beyond it? Is your mind governed by the universal laws of nature, or is it beyond even those laws? Every day you have to deal with this. Can you refuse to do something that is within the law just because you prefer something else? We have already concluded that our minds are beyond the law, so why don't we always act as we please? Why do Unification Church members follow their consciences? Everyone knows that it is necessary, but why is it so?
Our mind has a certain beginning point and moves in a specific direction. All the mind's functions have a beginning and a purpose which enable the mind to continue operating until they are fulfilled We need direction in what we do. The mind of even the smallest person is huge, but its direction varies according to that individual's personality. Each person's mind sets out to accomplish the same things, but they take different directions. Our minds are big and round, but they move in different directions. Can someone decide the direction his mind will take at will? If so, his realm of activity will be somewhere within the circle of his mind. Would you like the sphere of your mind to be oblong, like a football, or perfectly round?
We observe from day to day that the moon changes its appearance, becoming rounder and then decreasing to a crescent shape and then becoming full again. As we breathe, we inhale and then exhale; the movement of air in our bodies is strong and then weak. Why doesn't the wind blow consistently in one direction instead of blowing one way and then another? When wind blows over a body of water, it creates waves; the waves behave in certain ways because of the wind's activity.
If we pictured everyone with a round mind, should we draw millions of circles to depict them, or one huge circle which includes everyone? A cosmic roundness is more suitable. Roundness encompasses 360 degrees. If someone is sitting 10 degrees from the point of origin, would he move 350 degrees to reach the origin, or 10 degrees to get there quickly? We know that we should encompass all 360 degrees, or else we would miss many things. Above all, we wouldn't meet the point of origin.
The radii of some people's circles are short, while others are long. The only acceptable radius is one which passes through the point of origin. As long as your line passes through this point, it is the same length as the others. Regardless of the number of radii, they are all equal in length and all pass through the center of the circle. Why? That is how unity begins.
Suppose millions of people were to agree that they need only 120 degrees, instead of 360, and they choose one person to center upon. They may agree that any form is acceptable, not just a circle. But 360 degrees are absolutely required to make a circle. There is no getting around that.
It so happens that the mind of every person-whether living or dead, in a civilized or underdeveloped country-is round. Everyone is the same, even God. Are 359 degrees enough? No matter how firmly you may believe it, 359 degrees don't meet the standard.
Advocates of democracy try to prove that theirs is the best system. In effect they are saying, "We have 359 degrees. That is close enough" But a law passed today in a democratic country will not be in effect for eternity; laws change from decade to decade, from century to century. Therefore, democracy does not encompass all 360 degrees. In chemistry, on the other hand, the elements never change. Over the years, a particular reaction always proceeds in the same manner.
Is the sun flat or round? Does it move whimsically in many directions, or is its movement consistent over the years? Perhaps you would get bored if you had to do the same thing over and over. Imagine what would happen to our world if this fantastic sun were to move erratically. If laws were not constantly operating on the sun's movement, it would be destructive. The nine planets of our solar system never vary one iota from the laws of nature that direct them. Could they change their orbits after 10 billion years? If one planet left its course, the harmony of the whole system would be shattered.
The human mind is very versatile. Can a baby girl change the fact that she was born female? If you go outside the law, your existence stops. Some women might lament the limitations of their physical body, but can they change their situation? Women have a course to follow, and so do men. If you insist that men and women are equal, then men must also bear children! To say they are equal still requires taking into account their inherent differences. Men and women are equal in the direction and objectives that guide them, but they are intermingled in complex ways. This is what people have a hard time resolving.
We can agree that each mind, no matter what direction it may take, still needs to be round and encompass 360 degrees, and go through the center line. Beyond that, of course, we are free and equal. We know that the mind is huge, round, and has many directions, but in order to reach the same objectives, each needs to go through one point of origin
We are all created beings, of course. Why did the Creator create us in this fashion? Why didn't He allow for individuals to go one way or another as they choose? God set up a standard in order to ensure unity and harmony among large numbers of people.
All our activities center on a certain point. Common denominators among people include money. Power and knowledge. For example, a renowned professor working at a famous university may be considered the greatest authority on nuclear physics and people would not question him. The President of the United States is at the center of power, and those who conduct national affairs must defer to him. At one time, John D. Rockefeller was a center of money, and people involved in the stock market, for instance, had to consider him.
The universe is composed of matter in motion. Everything is always moving; there are natural laws which govern that motion. A particle may go back and forth, but it still follows natural law. The universal central point welcomes every person and every existence and requires them all to pass through it. That central point can accept everything- even from millions of years ago. So what is that universal central point which enables everything to work in harmony and unity? What qualities should it have?
If God has an endless, huge, round mind, whom would He like to live with? What would be in the center of His mind? There are many things of value in this world, such as money and knowledge, but God could make all of them by Himself. Still there is one thing God cannot accomplish by His will alone. What God really wants to welcome into His mind is love.
Do any of you feel God should have picked something else as the center of His being? What about our ancestors who lived thousands of years ago-would they have felt that way? What about people in other nations? What about people millions of years in the future? True love is necessary because without it unity and harmony could not be possible. If Unification Church members really understand this deeply, there is hope for harmony among all races. But if you don't really understand this, no ideal and no harmony are possible on the earth.
There are four basic directions from the central axis point: east, west, north and south. We refer to these all the time; which one is closest to the center? Is the east wrong and the west correct? When Western civilization reaches its highest point, it must descend. Then the East will rise up in its place. Western civilization is now declining, and the civilization in the East ascending.
We are very conscious of being Unification Church members. The Unification movement is set up to bring churches into oneness, to bring the world into oneness, and to bring the spirit world into oneness. Where does this universality begin? It is when things on earth and in the spirit world come into unity. To create this, there will be a sweeping trend toward unity, like a big storm, and every person, regardless of where he lives, will become conscious of it.
Before we make that storm, however, we have to think about the high- and low-pressure areas. Heaven would be the high-pressure area, and somewhere on earth there should be the lowest-pressure area. Some area should be persecuted and mistreated more than anywhere else. If that survives, it will eventually shoot up to the highest point. Should I pound on you over and over so you can shoot up to the highest point? Is it good to give someone a strong hit on the back to help him go faster? Suppose you are about to go in one direction but I drive you back the other way. Will you think it is just the Oriental way and decide to take your own course? What America needs is the universal way.
The Unification Church asserts that all people in the universe must come into unity. How can all the round minds become one? Like a string of pearls, they can be strung together with the thread of true love running through their centers. Everyone must open his deepest, hidden mind and welcome the thread of love. Once the Principle enters a person, it dwells in the center of his mind. Each pearl will be unique, but the Principle will penetrate the very center of everyone's mind.
You should ask yourself whether the thread of true love really passes through the center of your mind. Before joining the Unification Church, you may have been eager for money or power, but afterwards those things lost their importance. You should be proud of what you have now and proclaim it to the rest of the world. Once you have true love, even being kicked or hit just serves to stimulate you. You don't discriminate against any place; if true love is in Harlem, you will go there.
In the Chinese character for heaven, two symbols for man are combined, one above the other. This indicates true love. Love is not just for yourself, but for the whole. The center should always be able to lead; so if you are the center of true love, you should be able to lead others. Did you come to hear my sermon today in order to gain knowledge? No? Why? Perhaps to gain power-hoping my sermon would recharge you? Actually, energy is just a by-product. How about money? Remember how we didn't have a carpet here several years ago-only a cold concrete floor? When you feel that this is the warmest, coziest place and are perfectly satisfied to sit on the floor, I will introduce chairs! If the person sitting next to you complains about being uncomfortable on the floor, just remind him that he is in the training course for true love!
You should have seen the first American member that came to the Korean church. I couldn't help laughing. There were no chairs and after sitting on the floor for five minutes, his legs started hurting, so he lay down! You know how fussy Orientals are about manners; even dogs are trained to sit right!
You understand that you have to change certain habits. If I don't help you change, then the Orientals who come to this country will remark, "After ten years, your members don't even know how to sit properly or how to bow to their seniors"
The East moved towards the West, without a doubt; but the West will also move toward the East. U.S. immigration laws are very tight now, but if this policy continues, the world will demonstrate against America. What if potential immigrants went through 40 days of Principle training, in order to become the best Americans? After 40 days of training, people experience a complete change of attitude. Certainly we are not here to destroy America or to take something from it, but to give something.
A dictator takes something away from people against their will; but giving something against a person's will is not in itself bad. Once you understand this point, if you know a person will receive some benefit from what you are offering, you will pressure him, even if at first he doesn't want to go. Leadership and guidance by someone with a true mind and true love is welcomed by everything in the universe.
You have always heard that God is love, but you wondered how love works. Why does God covet love? Once you realize that there is nothing which does not respond to love, you have to follow this way. Whatever your purpose may be, your mind needs 360 degrees and a clear direction. These are the tools everyone needs in order to penetrate the center of true love. When you accomplish that, you are absolutely filled up; you lack nothing; you have no sense of inequality.
Where are we going? We are headed toward the ideal world of peace and unification. If love is not the center of that world, it cannot be ideal. Are democratic and communist countries ideal? Can we talk about peace when there is no love? Without love there is no permanent unity. In true love, the more you gain, the closer you move towards unity.
Here in our church, the family, clan, church, nation and world are coming into unity centering on this ideal. This is an ideal realm and atmosphere. With true love as the center of all things, we can be welcomed by every family wherever we may go in this world. Once you reach your goal, you automatically turn around and return. Our activities take us in all directions, but we come back. We follow this direction here on earth, and we extend it to the spirit world. Once you reach your goal, you return to your starting point, your foundation.
If the original family had not fallen, true love would have been extended automatically to the nation and world, since the correct center would have been established. However, as a result of the fall, the external form has remained the same and has been expanded to the worldwide level while the internal quality was destroyed. Even after you establish a true family, you run into a barrier when you try to move on to the clan level.
If the fall had not occurred, there would be no national boundaries. Instead of people selfishly taking things away from others, civilization would have developed through people trying to share with others. Any new movement to develop these traditions will be persecuted. People will oppose it with the weapons of money, knowledge and power, but ultimately the power of love will digest them all. Love is the original center of all things, and therefore it is most powerful.
We start from here and go to the world, but once we reach that level, we have to come back. Even if you don't physically go to the world, your mind must go there often in order for you to be connected with the world. Your original mind should function with true love at its center; apart from love it cannot move. When you reach one edge of the world with true love, you have to go to the other edge. Why? This determines your possession. Unless your mind connects in love with whatever you want to claim, you have nothing to do with it. Without this love, you lack the internal quality to establish the condition of owning the universe.
When I came to America, I immediately thought "This is my country" On what grounds could I say that? I love this country more than any other person who lives here. Of course God loves this country more than I do, but I am the first object of God to love America this much. I drove around all of the United States in 40 days and nights, establishing holy grounds in each state. Holy grounds establish the condition of returning the country to God.
I selected more holy grounds here than anywhere else in the world, and I proclaimed that here we would do more loving than anywhere else. I selected this country as the real center of the universe. No matter how much anyone helps or opposes me, my original mind of love for this country will never change. I knew this from the beginning. I became a well-known person in this country. My name was associated with a very low position, but once that happened, it was bound to rise up, and that is happening now.
We should go beyond the boundary of America to the world. Therefore, I proclaimed the Moscow rally. That event is indispensable; it is not merely the wonderful idea of one person, but it is what God and the world want. The rally in Moscow is supported by universal law.
I have been following this path on earth for 40 years. Even those who view things only horizontally realize that world events are moving very quickly. If the world can be led onto the right path, this rapidly spinning globe can easily be brought into goodness.
I have been very audacious. Whether people supported me or not has never bothered me, because I know the cosmic law. In the depths of winter, you may feel that you have never seen spring, but it is bound to come. In the Unification Church we have been going through a tremendously cold winter; 1980 was the peak of winter. Now the cosmic spring is awaiting us. There is only one central point of goodness, not two; that is love. Even though the polar areas are very cold, love is powerful enough even to melt their ice.
Now that you know why the world will come into unity and how events will move in that direction, do you think unification will take place quickly, or require another 20 years? If I had the chance to speak on television for one month to Americans, would this country turn around? I don't think it would take even one month. What about alcoholics and drug addicts? After gaining enough ground, we could rehabilitate them in no time at all. Do you agree?
Is it you idea to work only eight hours a day for goodness? Ten years ago I said America was in danger of perishing and perhaps you couldn't understand that, but now you do. When I supported President Nixon awing the Watergate crisis, even some of our members could not understand why. But if Nixon had not had to leave of office, Vietnam would not have been sold down the river, and America would not have lost its international status.
Why did we fight against Congressman Fraser? If he had not been toppled, the way would not have been open for a person like Ronald Reagan to be elected President. The Fraser hearings were not conducted in a spirit of protocol or diplomacy but were like a verbal fist fight. Until then everyone thought Congressman Fraser was formidable; but his defeat encouraged the anti-communists and helped make the foundation for Reagan's election.
In the past, people thought I was crazy to fight single-handedly in America. No public figure ever supported me. Was I doing all that to benefit myself? No, I fought only to benefit America. Our movement has spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars to change the course of this country toward goodness. With that in mind, would I have any reason to dodge a few thousand dollars in taxes?
Foreigners come to the United States for various reasons, trying to obtain something for themselves, and the Immigration Service gives them green cards. I came here and spent millions of dollars to help America, but the Justice Department wants to put me in prison! Only communists would want to see this happen. If I am sent to prison, university professors and world leaders will line up to meet me. I know that the universe will protect me and our movement, so should I be afraid of American public opinion?
Regardless of what lies ahead, we must go forward. When I am no longer the leader, you should carry the banner in the same direction that I have shown you. All the principles and explanations have been given. Do you want to go to the goal no matter what? Even without resting? You must understand that God does not rest. You should feel sorry that you never realized how hard He is working. God cannot accomplish His work without people.
Knowing this situation, how can we complain? If Americans are still dissatisfied, I will leave them alone and let the Japanese work for this purpose. Later maybe the Americans can follow in the wake of those pioneers.
I am reaching out to black Christian leaders. I decided to give them intense training so that, combined with leaders of other ethnic groups, they can teach the white American Christian leaders. Would you like to see that phenomenon? Through CAUSA and New ERA, religious leaders will form a mobile team and fill the empty churches around the United States. This is what I am assembling now.
The Asians apparently understand the situation more clearly than the Americans themselves, and the Asians have worked harder to save this country. America originally belonged to the Indians who are cousins to the Orientals. The younger generation of white people have increasing numbers of drug addicts and alcoholics who are like living corpses. Certainly we are concerned not only with wiping out communism but with rehabilitating everyone. White people settled this country with rifles and guns, but when the Orientals rehabilitate it, they will do so with love. That is a significant difference and that is what I am doing.
I need to speak to the American Moonies. Even after ten years of hard work, they are not fully sustaining the movement here on their own. Do you feel you should be grateful and do more, but you just can't? When you hear about a new start, do you think, "Another new start! We have had ten already"? Or do you feel, "Even in this impossible situation, there is new hope"?
I don't mind you tagging along, but I think that if I had spent the same amount of money on Koreans here in America instead of on Americans, they would have responded long ago. But no matter how many Koreans respond, they cannot save America. All we want to do is shake America with love and return it to God.
Many white people worry about losing their status or dignity. There is a different quality in my way of thinking. When I wake up in the morning, I think first of the world and what we shall do today to advance; after that I think about the clan and family; only after that do I think of myself. On the other hand, when Americans wake up, they think first of themselves, then their family, and maybe their neighborhood. Often they never think of the country at all.
When you are suffering day in and day out, do you think I am enjoying comfort and leisure? Of course I want to enjoy freedom also. I am not free because I have many things to attend to, but before I complain, I think about whether the world has freedom. In America, families have no true freedom, either. Under these circumstances, I feel that I can do without freedom as well; it is not my priority. On the other hand, most Americans focus on their own personal freedom, but they don't care about the freedom of their country or the world. So which is the right way of thinking? Actually, even world freedom is not our final goal. We are working for the freedom of God and the universe. Only after we ensure freedom on that level can we think about our own freedom and that of our family.
Unless the world is free, the country is not free. Is this country free to abolish its borders? If that happened, the result would be chaos. But if people of other countries trained themselves to help others, the Immigration Service would welcome them. We should teach many people around the world to come and help this country, not to get something out of it.
As of this moment, I will forgive you for all your complaints. Will you continue to complain in the future? If anyone has the right to protest, surely I have the most to complain about. But I have concluded that no one has the right to complain. You must realize the value of being personally trained by me like this. We are all going to the same spirit world, but do you think I will give talks like this when we meet there?
Chinese characters are very different from Western words, which have no symbolic meaning to their composition. We have talked about how universality will come into being. The Chinese character for universality is comprised of four symbols; a house; a field with a roof on top (representing the universe); a king (representing God); and a portion representing a sheep.
This character could be interpreted as indicating that human life means to live in the house and go to heaven; a righteous person is one who serves his master, lives in a big house, and later goes to heaven-the cosmic house.
In our organization we have "family-ism, rather than democracy, which is too broad. If the parents are the subject, the children are the object. They become one in love at the center of the whole universe. Relationships at the clan level are the same as for the family; the parental position is held by the head of the clan. When the central person suggests something, the others will always say yes, just as children respond to their parents. If the parents disagree with the head of the clan, the children will listen to him, because he is leader even above the parents.
The country is a further extension of the parent-child relationship. Many tribes and families live in a country. The governor of New York may disagree with the President, but the citizens of New York should go along with the President. This is the righteous order. This is the parent-child relationship on a higher level. The same applies to the world; the Messiah comes as the head of the world.
Who is the center of universality? The heads of all religions still come under God. Would you protest that since life is so short, you would rather forget such complicated things and do as you like? "What benefit will I get if the world becomes one?" you may ask.
Eventually, we will all go to the spirit world which is different from this world. All these relationships are very real in spirit world. In order to even breathe in that world, you need training here. It is difficult for Orientals to learn the rules of spirit world. By the same token, it is difficult for Westerners to understand the Oriental viewpoint. The American way of thinking does not extend to the spirit world, so I am teaching you the standards which are used there.
If you always act just as you wish, when you go to the spirit world, you will discover that something is very wrong. But after you are trained by me and after you restore the original state here on earth, you will feel at home when you go to the spirit world. You can learn to function normally in the spirit world if you feel unreserved love toward True Parents' family. You should feel that toward your clan leaders as well, with God as the center.
On every level, God is a father. God is the ancestor of all clans, nations, and the world. When you go to the spirit world, you will meet many people who will claim that they are your ancestors; they will want you to listen to them. What are you going to do? You have to dig into God and claim Him as your true ancestor.
"Parent-ism" is a workable idea. A company president is like the parent of his employees; the president of a country is like the parent of the citizens. Mankind has been coveting a world and a nation in which the leader acts as a parent towards the citizens!
Americans haven't recognized the value of parents enough. Can you separate yourself from the True Parents and take a different direction? How wonderful it is to follow True Parents and receive the marriage blessing from them! After living in the Unification Church, establishing God's country and enjoying God's world on earth, we can go to the spirit world. By following True Parents you can inherit everything on earth, for it all belongs to God.
When you are really dedicated to the will of God in America, you will not feel out of place when you go to Korea; you can sleep and eat there as though you are in your own home. By uniting with True Parents, you inherit everything along the way.
Do you say, "I like everything except such and such"? Are there exceptions in your thinking? At a recent matching, one sister wanted to refuse a brother and asked me to find her someone better. I told her that there was no one better; if she could unite with him, through him she would have a free pass everywhere once she got to spirit world.
Whom do I follow? I follow God, so by following me, you are following God as well. In the spirit world, you don't need transportation; you can just think of a place and you are there. In an instant, you can travel billions of light years away.
God made everything and we are meant to inherit it all. Once the ideal of true love is established' you can pull any subject or object toward you.
Don't you sometimes imagine living in the spirit world and traveling anywhere you like in an instant? Your body is your training vehicle in preparation for that world. What will you be in the spirit world-a prince, or a miserable person? Is it easy to find me when I am in New York City? Spirit world is much more vast than New York, so how could you find me there? If you are attuned in love, you will find me somehow. True Parents' love and God's love coincide.
Even though you cry out at the difficulties you experience in dragging your physical body along this path, still you must go on. Isn't it true that once we meet True Parents, nothing else matters? What good would it do to have millions of dollars or tremendous international power unless you were connected with them? If a person is stumbling forward, looking for the True Parents, and he dies along the way, where does he go when he reaches spirit world? He goes straight to the Parents, doesn't he? I am going the same way you are.
A baby in the mother's womb has a nose, but he doesn't need it for breathing there. He has sensory faculties that he doesn't use inside the womb, but which must be prepared for life outside or else he will die when the umbilical cord is cut after birth. Once he is born on earth, he starts using his nose to breathe. We breathe air while on earth, but we have to learn how to breathe love, so that we will not suffocate in spirit world where there is no more air to breathe. Without learning to love, people asphyxiate in the spirit world.
That is why we are here-to love others. We have to yearn and cry for True Parents, until the time we die. In this difficult life, you cry along the way, missing your Parents. That is the Principle. In the original life, nothing like this would have been necessary; everything would be automatic. But here you have to learn to return to the original state, because our human ancestors were fallen. Now is it clear to you?
Universality is True Parent-ism. You must create your own family and your own clan, guiding them so you can go to the same place. That is the work of home church. The steps to perfection involve three levels-the individual, family and clan.
This is the beginning, the foundation, of heaven on earth and it will be carried right along to heaven in the spirit world. Where do you meet the True Parents? Meeting me at Belvedere is temporary; your permanent meeting with me is in home church. Home church is your launching pad. Without being successful in home church, you will be unable to be with me in spirit world.
The conclusion is that you need universal love. In this universe, billions of people go to spirit world unprepared and miserable. But God has given us the key to the universe: we need to go through extensive training to serve the family, the country, the world, and God.
In this long process, how much room do you have for yourself? The utmost ideal is to be truly dominated by love. If someone loves you, do you want them to embrace you 100 percent, or 98 percent? You would want them never to let you go. That is why women have such thin waists! They want their husbands to hold them and never let them go. A wife has to jump up to kiss her husband because she is shorter; her husband automatically picks her up when he embraces her.
When I speak about love, everyone smiles from ear to ear. Now that you know so much, let's live a fantastic week! Not only that, let's be willing to offer our lives. The Bible says that whoever is willing to die will live. You want to invest everything for the sake of love, don't you?
On this third Sunday of 1983 you should feel a desire to drop everything to pursue this fantastic cause. Those who can say, "This coming week I will invest everything I have for this wonderful love," please raise your hands. Thank you.
