The Ultimate Purpose of Twenty-First Century Religion

Sun Myung Moon
October 17, 2014
Excerpt from "As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen"
Compiled by Taekon Lee

The twentieth century was a time of tremendous change. More happened in that hundred-year period than during the past two thousand years. It was the century when there were two world wars and when communism rose to great strength and then disappeared. It was also the century when humanity turned its back on God and buried itself in material things. What about the twenty-first century, then? Some say that advances in science have proven that many religious beliefs are mere superstition and irrelevant to the modern world. I contend, however, that the role of religion will always be relevant as long as the spiritual aspect of human beings remains a reality and a world of peace has not been established.

What is the purpose of religion? It is to bring about God’s ideal world. The reason religions evangelize is because they desire to increase the number of citizens under God’s sovereignty. If everyone were to live under God’s sovereignty, we would have a world of peace where there would be no war or division. The ultimate destination of the path followed by religions should be peace.

God created this world out of a desire for love and peace. If we create division by insisting that our own religion is the only path to salvation, we go against God’s desire. God wants everyone in the world to work hard for peace, reconciliation, and coexistence. If people say that coming to church creates division in their family, then I do not hesitate to tell them that they should put their family first. Religion is only a means to bring about God’s perfect world; it is not an end in itself.

Humankind’s destiny is to bring together all the points of view that are now divided against each other. The philosophy that will lead humanity in the future must be able to bring together all religions and philosophies. The days have ended when one country stands at the forefront and leads humanity. The era of nationalism has also ended.

If we continue the era of people congregating together only by religion or race, then humanity cannot avoid a repetition of war. The age of peace absolutely cannot come unless we transcend cultural customs and traditions. No ideology, philosophy, or religion that has influenced humanity in the past is capable of bringing about the peace and unification that is needed for the future. We need a new ideology and philosophy that goes beyond Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. For my entire life, I have called on people until my voice is hoarse to transcend their religious factions and even their religions.

There are more than two hundred countries in the world, and each has its own national borders. A border separates one country from another, but countries separated by borders cannot endure eternally. Only religion can overcome national borders. However, religions that should be bringing people together have instead divided themselves into many factions that are busy fighting each other. They have fallen into a selfish thought process that puts their religion or faction first. They are oblivious to the fact that the world has changed and a new era of selflessness has dawned.

It will not be easy to tear down the religious walls that have stood for thousands of years, but these walls must come down if we are to advance into a world of peace. Religions and their factions must stop their meaningless fighting, find a middle ground for their differing opinions, and develop concrete ways to advance the world of peace.

For humanity to be happy in the future, material affluence alone will not be sufficient. It is urgent that the struggles of modern ideologies, cultures, and races be overcome through interreligious understanding and spiritual harmony.

All my life I have made the following appeals to the wide variety of religious people I have met around the world: First, respect the traditions of other religions and do everything you can to prevent conflict and discord among religions. Second, all religious communities should cooperate with each other to serve the world. Third, the leaders of all religions should work together to develop a structure that will let us accomplish our mutual mission of establishing world peace.

The right eye is there for the left eye, and the left for the sake of the right. The two eyes together exist for the sake of the whole body. The same can be said for every other part of the body. Nothing exists for its own sake. Religion, too, does not exist for its own sake but for the sake of love and peace. Once world peace is accomplished, there will be no further need for religion. The ultimate purpose of religion is to bring about the reality of a human community filled with love and peace. This is God’s Will.

It is not easy to create an environment where people’s hearts are filled with a craving for peace. Continuous education is the only solution. This is the reason that I devote myself to projects in the field of education. We founded the Sunhwa Arts School even before our church had developed enough to stand on its own.

A school is a holy place where truth is taught. What are the most important truths that should be taught in school? The first is to know God and recognize His existence in the world around us. The second is to know the fundamental origin of human beings, our responsibilities, and how to fulfill our responsibilities for the sake of the world. The third is to realize the purpose for the existence of human beings and to then create an ideal world for that existence. These things can be understood only after they have been taught with sincerity and dedication over a long period.

Education today is focused on creating a winner-take-all society where those who finish first are rewarded with a monopoly on happiness. This is not the right way to educate children. Education must be a means for creating a world where all humanity can live well together. The philosophies and methods of education that have dominated us until now must be changed to ones that let us advance toward humanity’s common goals. If the United States were to educate only for the sake of the United States, and Britain only for sake of Britain, then humanity’s future would be dark.

Educators must not teach how to live selfishly but instead impart the wisdom needed to resolve the myriad social problems we face today. The role of religious scholars is even more important. Religious scholars do not need to be teaching complex theories and the superiority of their own religions. Instead, they need to give their students the wisdom to love humanity and build a world of peace. They need to teach the principle of selflessness. We cannot expect a future of happiness for humanity if scholars do not take the lead in teaching our descendants the principles of peace. Humanity is one brotherhood and sisterhood, and the world is one family.

The most important wisdom needed by humankind comes from knowing God’s heart and His ideal. For this reason, the role of religion continues to be important, especially in the twenty-first century, when science and technology seem to be replacing the role of religion in understanding how the universe operates. Religions around the world must understand the destination of the human journey and immediately cease all major and minor struggles. They should not be fighting for the purpose of protecting their own honor. Religions must pool their wisdom and combine their energies and work diligently to build the ideal world. They must forget the past struggles filled with hatred and work out peaceful solutions. No matter how much we have done for world peace, there is always more to be done. Religious people, whose mission is to lead humanity into the ideal world, must not forget for a moment that truly their only mission is to be apostles of peace.

Tolerance, Religious Freedom and Interfaith Solidarity

Sun Myung Moon
September 19, 2014
Compiled by Taekon Lee

Tolerance begins with how we treat people of other faiths. We have gathered passages from the scriptures which urge treating non-believers and believers with equal respect. Religious disputes and doctrinal conflicts are condemnable; they are often motivated by egoism disguised as piety, and by displaying enmity they do not give fitting witness to one’s faith.

By extension, governments are to respect religious freedom and avoid any manner of compulsion in matters of faith. Most people think of religious freedom as a feature of modern democracy, emerging as it did after a long period of religious intolerance marked by wars and cruelty—the Crusades, the Inquisition and the 30-Years’ War. Still, each of the great civilizations has enjoyed periods of religions tolerance: in India under the tolerant Buddhist King Ashoka (3rd century B.C.) and the enlightened Mughal emperor Akbar (16th century), in 10th century al-Andalus (Spain under Muslim rule), and in Song dynasty China (10th - 13th century). Nevertheless, it was with democracy that the ideal of religious freedom became firmly established as a global value. Father Moon regards the establishment of religious freedom one of the hard-won victories of divine providence.

Beyond tolerance and beyond religious freedom is the higher vision of cooperation and solidarity among religions. This largely modern ideal was born out of people’s growing familiarity with the world’s religions and the efforts of religious leaders to dialogue with each other in order to resolve disputes and eliminate ancient prejudices. Religious unity has long been advocated by the Baha’i Faith. Relations between Christians and Jews were transformed after the horrors of the Holocaust led to a widespread reevaluation of Christian doctrines that had overtones of anti-Semitism. Still, until the late 1990s the predominant opinion was that the trend towards secularism would one day make religion—and hence religious intolerance—a relic of the past. Today that view is obsolete. Flare-ups of religious extremism and terrorism have made people realize that interfaith cooperation is a necessary condition for world peace. Yet for more than fifty years, without fanfare, Father Moon has worked for the goal of the unity of religions, regarding it as one of the chief goals of God’s contemporary providence.

1. Tolerance towards Believers of Other Religions

Those who praise their own doctrines and disparage the doctrines of others do not solve any problem.
Sutrakritanga 1.1.50 (Jainism)

Do not dispute with the People of the Book but in the fairest manner.
Qur’an 29.46

Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that in case they speak against you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
1 Peter 2.12

Our rabbis have taught, “We support the poor of the heathen along with the poor of Israel, visit the sick of the heathen along with the sick of Israel, and bury the dead poor of the heathen along with the dead of Israel, in the interests of peace.”
Talmud, Gittin 61a (Judaism)

Kapathika: “How should a wise man maintain truth?” Buddha: “A man has a faith. If he says ‘This is my faith,’ so far he maintains truth. But by that he cannot proceed to the absolute conclusion: ‘This alone is Truth, and everything else is false.’ ”
Majjhima Nikaya 2.176 (Buddhism)

Like the bee, gathering honey from different flowers, the wise man accepts the essence of different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3 (Hinduism)

The Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ. Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti- Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.
Vatican II, Nostra Aetate (Christianity)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The ideal of True Parents and the ideal of world peace are directly connected. We guide all nations, peoples, cultures, and religions to harmonize with one another by becoming 100 percent tolerant to one another for the sake of the ideal; this is the way to establish world peace. (205:159, August 16, 1990)

By demonstrating the goodness of their teachings, religions should set the example for all humankind. Instead, religions are fighting one another. Even different denominations within the same religion fight amongst themselves over differences in doctrine. On seeing this, God feels great anguish in His heart. (167:99, June 30, 1987)

We who are in a movement for unity must make efforts to unite with all religions. If possible, we can resolve doctrinal differences through persuasion. Otherwise, with much patience and much tolerance we have to compromise in order to cooperate with them. There are no other ways than these two. (103:125, February 18, 1979).

A religion that can bring peace to the world should not regard itself as important. It should not have selfcentered views about its authority or its possessions. If it does, it will not go beyond the level of its own nation and the people who accept its doctrines.

There will be no escape from the history of conflicts and wars as long as our religion follows the conventional path of pursuing self-interest. God knows this; therefore He instructs us to deny and sacrifice ourselves. Even though we believe we have the central role, we should not pursue our own selfinterest but rather seek for the welfare of other religious groups. Religions should walk the path of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and service to others. (172:143, January 10, 1988)

God wants to save the world, not just the Presbyterian Church or the Methodist Church or the Holiness Church. God does not live for the sake of any particular church or denomination; He lives for the world. A true church sacrifices itself for the sake of the world. If need be, for the sake of saving the world, a church should be willing even to let itself go out of existence. This is the way of the Principle; we must travel this road to accomplish God’s Will.

On the other hand, churches that place themselves above every other church, that regard themselves as absolute while denying the validity of all other churches, will perish. (69:87, October 20, 1973)

In this age, God wants to lead the world through ‘parent-level religions’—religions with a parental heart… Religions that put down or are hostile to other religions or denominations are not useful for the realization of world peace or the fulfillment of God’s providence. (260:128, May 1, 1994)

2. Freedom of Religion

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, Article 1

There is no compulsion in religion.
Qur’an 2.256

Will you then compel mankind, against their will, to believe? No soul can believe, except by the Will of God.
Qur’an 10.99-100

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18

Whoever honors his own sect and disparages another man’s, whether from blind loyalty or with the intention of showing his own sect in a favorable light, does his own sect the greatest possible harm. Concord is best, with each hearing and respecting the other’s teachings. It is the wish of the Emperor that members of all sects should be learned and should teach virtue.
Ashoka, Twelfth Rock Edict (Buddhism)

A Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in honor by all the people, stood up and ordered that [Peter and the apostles] be put outside for a while. And he said to the council, “Men of Israel, take care what you do with these men. For before these days Theudas arose, giving himself out to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was slain and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!”
Acts 5.34-39

When the Messenger of Allah arrived in Medina he made a treaty with the Jews there: “The Jews of the Bani Awf tribe are one community with the Muslim faithful. The Jews practice their religion and the Muslims practice theirs. For them shall be their own wealth, property and persons. Except for he who has committed oppression or transgression.”
Hadith (Islam)

The spirit can only acquiesce to that which seem to it to be true; the heart can only love that which seems to it to be good. Constraint will make a hypocrite of man if he is weak, a martyr if he is courageous. Weak or courageous, he will feel the injustice of persecution, and he will become indignant. Instruction, persuasion, and prayer: these are the only methods for the expansion of religion. Any method that excites hatred, indignation, or contempt is impious.
Denis Diderot (Humanism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Democracy is the system that God laboriously prepared over the last two thousand years. Democracy is the system that respects human rights. Democracy is the system in which a minority group can survive in the midst of a [hostile] majority. Democracy is the system that guarantees freedom— freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly. America is the representative democratic nation, and in the American Constitution the most absolute among all freedoms is freedom of religion. It states that the Congress and government shall not make any laws that restrict religions. (100:246, October 19, 1978)

God’s spiritual providence of restoration during the two thousand years since Jesus’ day has prepared a democratic social and legal environment that will protect Christ at the Second Advent. Jesus was killed after being branded a heretic by the Jews and a rebel by the Roman Empire. In contrast, even if Christ at the Second Advent is persecuted as a heretic, in the democratic society to which he will come, such accusations will not be sufficient grounds for him to be condemned to death. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Moses and Jesus 3.3.2)

I am grateful to God that He is using me as His instrument to ignite a movement to spiritually awaken America, to call her to protect religious freedom in this most difficult time in human history.(133:213, July 19, 1984)

3. Community and Solidarity among Religions

I came to the conclusion long ago… that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them, and whilst I hold by my own, I should hold others as dear as Hinduism. So we can only pray, if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu… But our innermost prayer should be a Hindu should be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian. Mohandas Gandhi (Hinduism)

Basically all major religions of the world carry the same message; therefore harmony between different religions is both important and necessary.

Each system has its own value suited to persons of different disposition and mental outlook. At this time of easy communication, we must increase our efforts to learn each other’s system. This does not mean that we should make all religions into one but that we should recognize the common purpose of the many religions and value the different techniques that they have developed for internal improvement.
Tenzin Gyatso, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama (Buddhism)

The Church therefore has this exhortation for her sons: prudently and lovingly, through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, and in witness of Christian faith and life, acknowledge, preserve, and promote the spiritual and moral goods found among these men, as well as the values in their society and culture.
Vatican II, Nostra Aetate (Christianity)

My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
Isaiah 56.7

And I [Jesus] have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.
John 10.16

The essential purpose of the religion of God is to establish unity among mankind. The divine Manifestations were Founders of the means of fellowship and love. They did not come to create discord, strife and hatred in the world. The religion of God is the cause of love, but if it is made to be a source of enmity and bloodshed, made to be a source of enmity and bloodshed, surely its absence is preferable to its existence; for then it becomes satanic, detrimental and an obstacle to the human world…

It is our duty in this radiant century to investigate the essentials of divine religion, seek the realities underlying the oneness of the world of humanity, and discover the source of fellowship and agreement which will unite mankind in the heavenly bond of love. This unity is the radiance of eternity, the divine spirituality, the effulgence of God and the bounty of the Kingdom.
‘Abdul’l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace (Baha’i Faith)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

As far as I know, God is not sectarian. He is not restricted by minor details of doctrine. We should quickly liberate ourselves from theological conflict which results from blind attachment to doctrines and rituals, and instead focus on living relationships with God. In my view, we urgently need to purify the religious atmosphere into one in which believers can have living faith and every soul can communicate with God.

In God’s parental heart and His great love, there is no discrimination based on color or nationality. There are no barriers between cultural traditions, between East and West, North and South. Today God is trying to embrace the whole of humankind as His children. Through interreligious dialogue and harmony we should realize one ideal world of peace, which is God’s purpose of creation and the common hope of humankind. (135:221, November 16, 1985)

Despite all efforts to the contrary, divisions and animosities among various religious groups continue. Religious wars are still being waged, as they have been for centuries. In spite of various ecumenical movements, religious arrogance, intolerance, and bigotry are still prevalent among devout believers. Thus, although most religions have professed the same God and often even the same views for centuries, their adherents have continually persecuted and warred with one another.

God is beyond denomination, doctrine or sect. God’s purpose is and always has been to save the entire world, and not merely a certain race, nation, or religious group. As religious people, we cannot help God in the task of salvation as long as we fight among ourselves. Many religious leaders have realized this, but for numerous complex reasons their attempts to solve this problem have been repeatedly frustrated.

One of my essential teachings is that interreligious harmony is a necessary condition for world peace. Since no single religion has manifested God completely, religious differences have been inevitable. Yet because we are all sons and daughters of the same Heavenly Parent, we are all brothers and sisters in one great family. Therefore, conflict and divisive hatred among religions is unnecessary. (133:274-75, August 13, 1984)

Is God alienated from the world? No, God strives to save the world. Nevertheless, each religion cherishes its own believers but does not care so much about other people. Look at Islam: it tries to save the world, but it puts itself first. It is likewise with Buddhism: so far its adherents have not been active in going out to society. (99:17, August 27, 1978)

It was not God’s original purpose to establish Hinduism, or Buddhism, or Christianity. God wanted to see from the beginning one family under God. (March 2, 2003)

In the Orient, people go in search of the state of Emptiness or No-self. Therefore, they look for quiet places where they can release their attachments to worldly things. In the West, on the other hand, people make efforts seeking for money and material things. Therefore they want quick results, and their eyes become large… Oriental people are small, with small eyes [that look into the distance], noses and everything. Their legs are short, too. From this, we see that the West is external and the East is internal.

One of Satan’s goals is to permanently separate the internal from the external. God, on the other hand, tries to link the internal and external in a harmonious relationship. Thus we can foresee that when the West tries to unite with the East, God’s day of fulfillment is near. This is gradually coming to pass. (118:46, May 2, 1982)

The purpose of religion is to lead us to a united world. Although different religions have different names for God and different ways of worshipping Him, the central Being each religion worships is the one and only God. Therefore, the purposes and directions for human life taught by each religion inevitably converge towards one standard. Ultimately, each religion has to manage its own path in order that all religions may enter the era of reformation at the same time. (140:10, February 1, 1986)

With the progress of God’s providence, we witness that already in the spirit world there are no barriers between the four major religions at the level of their founders. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Confucius communicate freely with each other and often visit each other’s realms. Because I know these things well, I strongly encouraged all clergy… to transcend their denominations and sects and to unite as one. (May 8, 2001)

When all religions are as one family—living in one accord, cooperating as one body and treasuring the same idea—then all will be liberated. In that day, self-cultivation will no longer be necessary. (393:183, October 3, 2002)

World Scripture II V8 013107.ind

Sun Myung Moon Is Admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital

Taekon Lee
August 3, 2012

Following the Inaugural Rally for the Abel Women UN on July 16, 2012, True Father caught a cold. It worsened and developed into pneumonia. Complications set in, and on August 3, he was admitted to Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, known in Korea as Seong Mo (Holy Mother), one of the nation’s finest hospitals.

There, over the ensuing ten days True Father received every possible medical test, including several Xrays and PET CT blood tests. He spent that period in a private room at the hospital, not in the intensive care unit. On August 12, True Father insisted on returning to the Cheon Jeong Gung. There his condition worsened, and after a day True Mother rushed him again to St. Mary’s. True Father remained in St. Mary’s Intensive Care Unit until August 31, when he was taken to Cheongshim International Medical Center.

Last Visit to the Osan School in Seoul

Sun Myung Moon
August 2, 2012
Translation by Katsumi Kambashi
Compiled by Taekon Lee

The photos were taken the day before True Father was admitted to hospital on August 3.

True Father visited Osan school on HC 6. 15 (Aug. 2, 2012). That day, True Father suddenly decided to visit the school and moved to Seoul. He seemed to miss his school years. In the car, he asked to call Chang Yeol Lee who is his cousin on mother's side (Ex-president of Il Seong construction company), President Seon Jo Hwang, President Nan Young Moon, Vice-president of UBC Ro Hee Park, President Jeong Ro Yoon, Ex-director of Yook-Young Foundation Keun Young Park.

Osan school was found by True Father's great grandfather Yoon Kook Moon and Teacher Sung Hoon Lee in Jeong Ju, North Korea. It was reopened in Busan after the Korean war and re-established in November 26, 1955 in Bo Kwang Dong, Yong San Ku, Seoul.

True Father was admitted to Osan school in 1934, at the age of 15 to learn modern science. He had received patriotic education based on Christianity at this school until he was transferred to Jeong Joo school one year later.

True Father visited the school at around 5 pm and there was a scorching heat on that day. True Father listened to the testimony by Chang Yeol Lee, his cousin on mother's side and is an Ex-president of Il Seong construction company. True Father recalled his past while listening to the testimony and spoke for 3 hours and returned to Chung Pyung.

While speaking that day, he coughed quite often but it didn't seem to bother him. He kept on speaking to the people who were attending him and they all felt sorry for his condition.

Photos of True Father taken on 6-15 HC (August 2, 2012)

My Final Words for Humankind

Sun Myung Moon
January 8 -- 15, 2012
Cosmic Assembly for the Settlement of the True Parents of Heaven, Earth and Humankind and for the Proclamation of the Word by God's Substantial Self Public Rallies in Korea
Excerpt by Taekon Lee

True Parents have already prepared the last words I will give to humankind. These have been prepared based on my triumphs over six or seven life-or-death situations, including six periods of unjust imprisonment. I am leaving behind eight textbooks and teaching materials for humankind to use for all eternity. Altogether, these are published in almost a thousand volumes.

They are The Sermons of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Exposition of the Divine Principle, Cheon Seong Gyeong [Heavenly Scripture], The Family Pledge, Pyeong Hwa Shin Gyeong [Messages of Peace], True Families—Gateway to Heaven, Owner of Peace and Owner of Lineage, and World Scripture. These are textbooks you will have to read and study even after you go to the spirit world. They are not just teachings that come from the mind of one person; they are textbooks and teaching materials that teach the heavenly way that God has granted to His suffering children for their salvation.

You should now set up the Hoon Dok Hae study tradition in your families using the books I have mentioned. That is the tradition where three generations of a family start each day by reading Heaven’s word, and lead a life of practicing what they read, with a new heart. Let’s create a world where people in the spirit world and the earthly world can both attend True Parents at the same time, and read the word on the heavenly path together.

Once this happens, no matter how hard Satan may try to worm his way in to infest your lineage, once he encounters the Hoon Dok Hae tradition he will find no room to move. If a family is aligned with God as at high noon, where no shadow is cast and still does not receive God’s blessings, who then could ever be deserving of them? When such heavenly families fill the earth, the world will automatically become the heavenly kingdom on earth and in the eternal spirit world, fulfilling the vision of one family under God.

Ladies and gentlemen, last year, my memoirs, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen, an honest and candid account of my life, were published. Through this book I share how I discovered God’s will for humankind and the path that we, as God’s children, should follow. My life has been a typical model of the saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.” I have as much faith in this book as in the Hoondok textbooks and teaching materials I have mentioned. For this reason, I recommend it to you, believing that it will show you how to lead your lives according to true principles. It does not subtract or add anything to the ninety years of my life, which I have led under Heaven’s decree. I pray you will carefully read this articulation of true love and find great inspiration.

I have already mentioned that a life of vertical “noon-time” alignment casts no shadow. If we can all shine as we live such glowing lives, there will be no chance for the shadow of sin to be cast. Those who receive the light will be indebted to the light. I pray that we can now wipe away the tears of people in misery and poverty, and lead an illuminated life of eternal true love that dissipates all darkness.