Unification Church Press Release on the Waco Tragedy
by Dr. James Baughman
This statement was released to the press by Dr. Baughman, President of the Unification Church in America.
The Unification Church shares, with the majority of Americans, the deepest regret for the events that have taken place in Waco, Texas. The loss of life and the harm done to innocent people is deeply saddening. The Church categorically rejects the use of violence in the pursuit of religious ideals. For over twenty-eight years, since first coming to the United States in 1965, the Reverend and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon have been vocal advocates for peace and have urged people of all faiths to be the model Christ-like exponents of true love.
The Unification Church is appalled by the way in which some of the media have irresponsibly exploited this tragedy to cast aspersions on other innocent and legitimate religious communities, including the Unification Church. Any implications and inferences that the Unification Church engages in violent or depraved behavior is unfair, untrue, and entirely malicious.
The term cult, as meaning a closed or totalistic religious sect, does not accurately apply to the Unification community.
With 30,000 members in the U.S and 1.2 million members worldwide, scholars and religious historians recognize that the Unification Church has passed through its formative phase and currently stands as a bona fide member of the religious community.
In the media however, the term cult is being attributed a new and sinister meaning. It is being employed pejoratively, to connote aberrant or disdained phenomena such as the occult, the followers of Jim Jones, or the devotees of Charles Manson. In addition, non- religious organizations like those of Lyndon LaRouche, Tony Robbins, Amway, Snap-On Tools, or even groups of magazine salesmen, have all been recently described as cults This loaded and emotive term has now become a convenient label to dehumanize entire segments of society.
In the hysteria ensuing from the Waco tragedy, there is an increasing propensity by the networks to accept the definition of cult that is being propagated by the so-called cult experts.
The primary resource for these commentators is the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) and its affiliates.
Through the years this organization has perpetuated intolerance and bigotry towards members of legitimate religious and non-religious organizations. CAN has been condemned by the major religious leaders in America and CAN has been condemned by the major religious leaders in America and has been linked by the F.B.I. to criminal activities, including kidnappings and other felonies. In fact, the national security director of the Cult Awareness Network, Galen Kelly, is currently under house arrest and awaiting trial for having forcibly abducted an adult woman whose mother disapproved of her lesbian lifestyle and wished to have her deprogrammed.
In light of the ongoing scrutiny of CAN by the FBI, it is not surprising that CAN officials have been the most outspoken critics of the FBI's handling of the Waco incident.
CAN experts make no distinction between the over 700 groups which it condemns as dangerous cults. Thus large religious groups such as the Jehovahs Witnesses, the Unification Church, Campus Crusade for Christ and even the Catholic Church are considered to be on par with small fringe survivalist groups like the Branch Davidians. Obviously not all groups labeled as cults are violent, however CAN experts make no distinction between the danger posed by small "weapons-amassing end- of-the-world groups" and those bona fide religious institutions, like the Unification groups" and those bona fide religious institutions, like the Unification Church, which have no history of violence of any kind.
Yet the networks continue to rely on CAN's array of experts without scrutinizing their credibility and motives. The media have unwittingly permitted CAN to exploit the current climate of fear and hysteria for their own economic gain. As evidence of their contribution to society, CAN highlights the fact that it receives thousands of calls and inquiries regarding the so-called cults. However, over the years, CAN has routinely referred callers to professional "deprogrammers" who charge upwards of $50,000 to forcibly abduct and "deprogram" their victims. In return CAN and its associates have received referral fees from these deprogrammers which has fueled CAN's ability to market its services under the guise of a non-profit educational organization.
We call upon the media to exercise restraint and responsibility in reporting on the issue of the cults. Nationwide, there are an array of qualified and credible experts, which include among others, Dr. J. Gordon Melton of the University of California -Santa Barbara; Marvin Bordelon of the American Conference on Religious Movements; Catholic Sociologist, Dr. Joseph Fichter; Reverend Dean Kelley, the National Council of Churches. The Unification Church will hold accountable those news organizations that maliciously misrepresent or mischaracterize the Unification Church.
True Parents Meet with Korean Women Leaders in America
by Mija Han Baughman
On Sunday, March 7, True Mother invited 150 women leaders from the Korean community in America to attend a special banquet at East Garden. While two thirds of the guests came from the New York area, another third came from New Jersey and Washington, DC, as well as a few from other parts of the country.
Many of the guests had attended Mother's speech late last year and came to receive further guidance from her and to know her better. Also, most of them came because they knew of Father and respected him as a worldwide leader despite their religious differences with our church. The event began at 4:00 pm with Mother greeting all of them and explaining a little of the background of the Women's Federation for World Peace. In her greeting, she explained how women are central to bringing world peace in our modern age through nurturing true love within their families. Mother then introduced Father who delivered a 4 1/2 hour address on the Divine Principle and the Proclamation of the Messiah and the Completed Testament Age. He began by describing the numerous problems in America, including drugs, free sex, homosexuality and dysfunctional families, and how these can be solved only by true families centered on true love. He pointed out that, in order to solve this problem, one needs to know the truth about God's original ideal and the origin of the problem. In his usual style, Father spoke directly and strongly to the audience, but always with eloquence and with the heart of a parent desperately reaching out to his lost children. As Father spoke about the creation, fall, restoration and Second Coming, the audience could feel his seriousness and immense effort and love, even though it was often difficult for them to understand and digest the content.
Because of the stature of some of the women, a couple expressed their concern about the late hour. However, Father firmly and lovingly subjugated the atmosphere and reminded them of the seriousness of the hour for their families, America and, most of all, Korea. The beauty of it all was that at the end of the banquet, those same women were the first to rush to grab Father's arm and stand at his side for a photo opportunity even apologizing for their impatience. To see this was a testimony to the power of True Parent's heart and position with regards to the world. The banquet and entertainment was held after the speech in a style of elegance and celebration which typifies True Parent's traditional heart of giving. Korean songs were performed by various Japanese and American members. A particular moving part of the program was when one Japanese sister publicly apologized to the audience for the past history of Japan's abuse of the Korean people. Some of the guests were moved to tears.
Afterwards, Father and Mother went with the guests to their buses waiting outside, and even entered the bus with them to bid farewell. As they said farewell to each other, I could see the endearing feelings of warmth, gratitude and reverence on the faces of the guests towards True Parents. It was certainly an evening they would never forget!
I felt personally that this meeting was very significant for a couple of reasons. First of all, even though many had come to listen to Mother's speech last year, they now heard Divine Principle directly from Father. Secondly, this was Father's opportunity to begin his public proclamation of messiahship, not only to the Korean women leaders in America, but as a first step to proclaiming it to the nation and the world. While many may not have understood everything, it was a significant moment for launching the Completed Testament Age into the public domain. Reflecting upon the fact that many left with a vague understanding of the importance and content of Father's speech, I feel that the next step is for members of the WFWP to continue the process of teaching them based on Father's initiative so that they can come to a clearer understanding of Divine Principle and the role of True Parents. This event was simply another of True Parent's initial efforts to start the process of salvation of America and the world through the WFWP, which we, as their children, must have the same vision and determination to carry on and complete.
The Value of the Tradition Book
by Kathryn L. Coman
When I joined the church in 1972, major church centers had a booklet prepared by national headquarters which explained how to prepare an offering table for the holidays and various other accepted traditions relating to at relating to attending Rev. and Mrs. Moon and other elders. These traditions were not ones that we Western members were taught by our parents, so we would practice them focusing on the center director and his wife. In this manner, we learned the proper attitude of heart. After I left Kansas City to go out on a One World Crusade mobile team, I discovered that the smaller centers did not have this booklet. We went many years in America with no written resource for the traditions of True Parents. When I worked on the ICUS staff, we made the effort to include local center members on the staff so they could have the experience of attending True Parents. Of course, many mistakes were made, but everyone involved knew the members were learning. Confusion reigns
As I got older in the church, I found younger, newer members of the church looking up to me for guidance in the proper traditions. Yet I knew that there was so much that I did not know. In 1982, when I was blessed with Hugues Coman, things became so much more confusing. We discovered that we had been taught different things by elder members; we had different attitudes and traditions. Some were not so different, but some caused major problems.
It was a great blessing to finally have the Tradition Book in 1985. Now we had a clear concise place where the traditions of our church were written. If my husband and I had a difference of opinions, we were now able to consult the book and learn the proper way to do things. Most important of all, was the attitude that "heart is the most important thing" as stressed by Rev. Kwak in his introduction.
I have consulted the book with questions about holy days, seung hwa ceremonies, funerals, birth control, and family celebrations birthdays and dedications. I have found it helpful many times in the eleven years of our marriage, and still find it so.
Hyo Jin Nim once said that each person should read the Tradition Book completely through. I agree; if you read it once through (at least) then you will have a grasp of what information is available. You may not remember every detail, but you will at least retain a general sense of what it contains. Thus, you will be able to consult the book when you have questions.
The Future
Rev. Kwak has begun work on the next book of traditions. At the time of the 30,000 Couples' Blessing last year, he told me that another book of traditions would be one of his top priorities after the 1992 World Culture and Sports Festival was completed. He explained to me that since Rev. Moon has completed his responsibility, our responsibility is now much greater (tribal messiah). Yet in order to build the Kingdom of Heaven, we must establish the proper traditions. He, therefore, feels it is very important to put these traditions down so they are available to everyone around the world.
Every blessed couple should have a copy of The Tradition: Book One. It is the only complete source of information which we can turn to with respect to the traditions we are establishing now while we build the Kingdom of Heaven. The traditions we create now are the ones that our children will be expected to continue to practice. Let's make sure the proper traditions are established!
The First Anniversary of the Foundation of the Women's Federation for World Peace
by Dr. Tyler O. Hendricks
At 7:00 a.m. on April 10, 1993, leaders of the Women's Federation for World Peace and the Unification Church in the New York and New Jersey areas gathered at East Garden to commemorate the first anniversary of the foundation of the Women's Federation for World Peace. The morning was cold, rainy and windy, as it was one year ago in the Seoul Olympic Stadium where True Mother delivered her inaugural address to an international gathering of 150,000 from over 70 countries.
That speech marked the beginning of a series of over one hundred public speeches over the following eight months for Hak Ja Han Moon, Founder of the WFWP and wife of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The first series of speeches was in Korea. This was followed by a tour of Japan, marked by a gathering of 50,000 at the Tokyo Dome in September. Mrs. Moon spoke in eight cities in the United States through October, and went from here to eight cities in Europe, then to Moscow, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand, and finally to mainland China. Since then, the WFWP has been sponsoring activities locally around the world, centering on the ideal of world peace through the creation of ideal families through the harmony of man and woman. Recognizing the unique mission of women to resurrect their husbands and children and bring them into the Messianic realm, Unification sisters have been taking major responsibility in countless ways to further God's Kingdom on the earth.
The morning event at East Garden had an interesting and unusual arrangement. In the center on a low stage were the True Parents' chairs, representing the dual essentialities of God, the logos of masculinity and femininity, to have been substantialized in Adam and Eve if they had not fallen. To the left and right of the chairs stood two trees, symbolizing to this author the Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge, which represent Adam and Eve.
Representing the American's WFWP, Mrs. Betsy Jones, representing the American WFWP President Nora Spurgin, gave a short message, and presented to True Mother a list of the over 1,100 charter members of the American WFWP chapter. She also presented a plaque on which was embossed the names of the Founding Members of the American chapter, and cards and messages from chapters around the world.
Following Mrs. Jones, Mr. Tagelin Hamad offered gratitude to True Parents on behalf of the Islamic couples who received the Blessing of Holy Marriage on April 10, 1992. He presented a large plaque inlaid with mother-of-pearl, on which were written the 99 names of God as understood in the Islamic faith.
Following the presentations, True Father invited True Mother to speak. She declined, preferring to listen to Father, with all of us gathered.
The following is an unofficial summary of his main points, according to the interpretation by Mr. Peter Kim.
Excerpt of True Father's Words
Women have had to take responsibility for the fall, and must continue to do so today. Since the fall, women have paid indemnity of heart. Eve was to have created the family environment, including rearing and educating the children, and caring for Adam. In the indemnity course her position of eminence was reversed, therefore women have been mistreated and scorned throughout history, victims in the indemnity course. America after World War 2 was in the bride's position, which is also the queen's position. Therefore American women have high prestige and aspirations. If the Messiah had been received in 1945, women would have gone the right way, but because the Messiah was rejected, women misused their freedom, and this resulted in a society of free sex and homosexuality.
Forty years were necessary to re-establish the foundation for women. Father, as John the Baptist, had to prepare Mother's foundation, centering on Korea, America (representing Christianity) and Israel (representing Judaism). America became Abel, Germany Cain, and England the Eve nation. An island is in the woman's position, longing for the continent. At the end of World War 2, seven nations were united in order to meet the Messiah centering on Christianity, as the Christian culture representing the bride. But Christianity stood against Father.
The WFWP must indemnify this by taking the bride's position. They must receive True Mother, and have her stand in the position of true queen and Eve, and unify Christianity and America, representing the unity of the Jewish nation and religion at Jesus' time. The cross was only a spiritual foundation, not a physical foundation. The three thieves were fighting, representing the struggle of right and left, and Christianity and Islam. The Second Advent is the time of Jesus' resurrection. Because of the fall, Adam lost sovereignty over Eve. Now, True Mother has fulfilled the four realms of heart. She is a true child of God, sister of God's children, wife in the eyes of God and mother of God's children. These four realms are restored and given to True Mother. By 1960 the Holy Wedding established Korea as the third Israel. Father had to walk the course of John the Baptist for forty years, in front, with Mother standing behind. After forty years, he could recognize Mother on the world level. This took place April 10, 1992. The Holy Wedding in 1960 restored the Old Testament Era. To restore the New Testament Era, Father's family had to move around the world. Therefore, Father came to America and suffering and sacrificed for the world. Centering on Korea, six countries should have united on the world level. They failed, and therefore Korea was divided. Kim Il Sung acts as if he were the Messiah. To bring his surrender, the free world must accept the true Messiah.
The archangel went to the top after the fall, so he can only go down. Kim Il Sung, as well as the Korean Christians, are in this position.
Most of the Korean government is happy with Father, but they are hampered by a few narrow-minded Christians. Now Father must give Kim Il Sung a way out of his corner. After visiting North Korea, Father proposed the solution to the North Korea problem to Bush, based upon the principle of forgiveness and assistance. However, Bush was stubborn. He failed, and so now we have the repetition of Carter's era.
Eve destroyed the family, therefore American women must restore the family. Because of their failure, free sex and homosexuality are destroying the family. Within the family there are murders, beatings and strangulations, between husbands and wives, parents and children. Therefore, American women must unite to welcome the Messiah. They must stop playing around, laughing and joking with lewdness.
Even if you have to sell your house, we must save the country. Material is not the most important thing; true love is most important. Women must be united 100% with their husbands and children, and restore their relatives. Israel and Christianity did not realize that they existed to sacrifice for the sake of the world. Do not put your family first; it exists for the sake of the world.
We must unite with True Mother and understand her course. With each birth, Mother was in great pain, but she cried and prayed for humanity. She is the example and standard for all women. Eve was created from Adam, therefore True Mother was established by True Father. She is not to complain or show tears in front of Father. Divorce starts from one word, which can be interpreted as complaint. In re-creation there can be no complaint, only thanks. We are like the potter's clay, which can be molded in any way, and the clay cannot say anything.
Rev. and Mrs. Moon to Speak Throughout America
by Dr. Tyler Hendricks
On May 13 in New York City, Reverend and Mrs. Sun Myung Moon inaugurated a 32-city speaking tour of America. They are addressing the topic, "The True Parents and the Completed Testament Age," to audiences consisting primarily of clergy, scholars and civic leaders who have worked in concert with Rev. Moon's vision over the years. In addition, it is an opportunity for the extended families of church members to encounter the co-founders of the Unification Church first hand.
Although the Moons have spoken often at various conferences over the past 15 years, such as the Science Conferences, the Assembly of the World's Religions, and the World Media Conferences, they are speaking now on a broader theme at a moment of great providential significance. The theme, as referenced in the title of the speech, is the present- day transition from the New Testament Age into the Completed Testament Age.
To understand the significance of this tour, it is instructive to review the period of 1972-76, during which time Rev. Moon first spoke throughout America. America had lost its way through the cultural sea of changes of the 1960s. The hopeful idealism of the '50s civil rights movement and early 60s Kennedy era was lost amidst cities torn by riots, large-scale drug abuse and free sex. America lost any sense of its purpose in the Vietnam War. The country turned against its own government and finally its President en masse.
Amid this turmoil, there appeared as if from nowhere a large and activist contingent of clean-cut, college-age men and women who were proud of their country and exalted its Judeo-Christian heritage. They were proclaiming the arrival of a new religious leader, Rev. Moon. This leader, from the rather forgotten nation of Korea, entitled his message, "New Hope: Christianity in Crisis." He hosted banquets and delivered formal addresses in major halls in every state of the Union. He called Americans to be proud of their moral traditions.
If one looks back at those speeches, one finds that Rev. Moon addressed the trends which shaped the next twenty years of our history. He decried the increasing free sex and drug use among young people, and said that he came to launch a "new pilgrim movement," which would solve these problems through the power of God. Thousands of young men and women responded, and indeed were empowered to lives of sexual chastity, free of addictions. Reverend Moon called Christianity to re-instill traditional family values and morality, warning that without that, the national decline would only gain momentum. He encouraged Americans to forgive their President, in a spirit of love and unity, and said that with a disabled America, communism would spread rapidly.
This crusade culminated at the Washington Monument American Bicentennial gathering. Shocked that no celebrations of the nation's 200th birthday referred to God, Rev. Moon created the "God Bless America" rally at this important juncture.
The American response to Rev. Moon was ambivalent. Virtually no one of great stature supported Rev. Moon's message. However, we can see that, even without giving credit to Rev. Moon, by the late 1970s the themes which he articulated throughout the land were taking shape in the rise of the new conservatism, which led to the astonishing victory of Ronald Reagan in 1980. Family values, the vision to overcome communism, the revival of traditional Christianity these were the spiritual hallmarks of the 1980s, all themes to which Rev. Moon had called America in the 1970s.
Though the message was accepted by some, the man was not. Rev. Moon underwent the insanity of a politically-crafted IRS tax-case. In this trial, bigotry and self-interest ran roughshod over the Constitution in order to suppress a religion unpopular with powerful interests. Thus various life-negating trends of the 60s festered, leading to crack-cocaine, satanism, high rates of divorce and adultery, proliferating pornography, satanism, high rates of divorce and adultery, proliferating pornography, continuing racism, a collapsing educational system, the rapid rise of violent crime, public approval of homosexuality, and AIDS. Anyone viewing the 1990s America from the perspective of 1960 surely would have to say that Rev. Moon's observation that God is leaving America was absolutely correct.
It is now fifteen years later. The Reagan era is past; Reagan himself looked the other way when Rev. Moon was imprisoned. Rev. Moon offered assistance to George Bush's two wars: against Iraq, and against drugs. Bush ignored both overtures; his administration's efforts failed, and he lost the presidency. Rev. Moon's investment of all the resources of his worldwide church into America, for the sake of America's future, has been shrugged off by the American establishment. Anyone among us, having been mistreated to such a degree, would, at the least, kick the dust off his sandals.
But Rev. Moon continues to love America and sacrifice for America. At the age of 73, he will embark, with his wife, on a grueling course of speeches in 32 cities. This man does not think in terms of dollars and cents; he does not think in terms of public relations or political leverage. His only concern is to give God's Word, sacrificing everything else. That is his responsibility. To receive God's Word or not is the responsibility of the people of America. Judging from the significance of his last speaking tour of America, it would behoove this nation to pay close attention to him now.
The themes on which Rev. and Mrs. Moon are expected to speak represent the cutting edge of his life's ministry. He will explain the providential course of his ministry, beginning in 1945 and leading to the present day. He will explain the meaning of the True Parents, and the responsibility that he and Mrs. Moon have fulfilled in relation to that position. He will explain the significance of that for all people, centering on family life, about how complete salvation is now afforded to families. This is one dividing line between the New Testament Age and the Completed Testament Age.
In the New Testament Age, salvation was according to the individual's faith, and extended no further than the realm of the individual. As Jesus said, in heaven people are neither given nor taken in marriage. In the Completed Testament Age, the Kingdom of Heaven is in the family. How, Rev. Moon asks, can a wife be happy in heaven if her husband or children are in hell? Rev. and Mrs. Moon will explain how, guided by God, they pioneered the course to established family salvation on the earth. The family is the real building block of society. Once family salvation is accomplished, the path is opened for the salvation of the society, nation and world.
Thus Rev. and Mrs. Moon believe that, with the guidance of God, we can solve today's problems. Through true family love, the problems of drugs, free sex, homosexuality and racism are overcome. They believe that a world of true freedom, peace and happiness are within the grasp of humanity. But to accomplish this, we must understand the will of God today. Those interested in attending their speech, please call the phone number provided in the city nearest you.
It is hoped that the American people will view Rev. and Mrs. Moon's visit as an opportunity to hear their message directly. It is hoped that the people will listen sincerely and pray, look at the state of our society, and decide for themselves.
Letter Communication With Spirit Self
by Dr. Sang Hun Lee and His Wife
This is the second half of the collection of letters which Dr. Sang Hun Lee's (director of Unification Thought Institute) wife (Mrs. Han Sook Kim) sent to her husband (Dr. Lee) through Mrs. Jeong (Mrs. Young Soon Kim, Rev. Ho Woong Jeong's wife) and the letters which Dr. Lee sent to his wife (Mrs. Lee) through Mrs. Jeong. These letters, with Dr. Lee's permission, were complied by the Unification Thought Institute. Translated from Korean by Jin Choon Kim with corrections by Paul Dominique. Mrs. Lee: Mrs. Han Sook Kim, wife of Dr. Sang Hun Lee (director of UTI) Mrs. Jeong: Mrs. Young Soon Kim, wife of Rev. Ho Woong Jeong (minister of Little Angels School)
From Dr. Sang Hun Lee to his wife [Mrs. Lee] (1991.11.15)
Dear Honey: I couldn't help avoiding writing a letter to you two years after you ascended into spirit world. Please forgive me for writing this letter even though I know you are busier in spirit world than the physical world.
Since I received two letters from you through the church leader Rev Jeong's wife, in Sept. and Oct. of 1990, the world has changed a lot in a year, and Father's providence has progressed, as you know, much more.
True Parents already restored eldersonship, parentship, and kingship, and then directed the hometown movement to tribal messiahs. Also True Parents initiated the concrete providence in preparation for the unification of South and North.
Father stands at God's position in substance, and Mother teaches God's words for educating and awakening women as the second founder of the Unification church. Last Oct. 31st WFPA (Women's Federation for Peace in Asia) was founded centered on Mother. Now Mother's era is opened. By this the true liberation of women who have suffered for six thousand years, has been realized by Mother.
A few days later, Mother gave an important message to 150,000 nationwide women's representatives at the national rally for the unification of South and North, and the unification of Asia. You are also women, so please help in spirit world.
I also spent some very busy times according to Fathers will as an editorial writer of Segae Times, and as director of UTI I attended International Conferences, that is, two seminars in Germany, one in US, and ICUS in Seoul. I tried to do my best to make good result for returning joy to True Parents.
By this letter I really want to give my appreciation to you. As a matter of fact the real purpose of this letter is to ask your help for my research in Unification Thought.
Because Unification Thought is Father's thought, and because I cannot go to spirit world and I cannot ask everything to Father, I have difficulties. Because you are now in spirit world, I am writing with hope you can help with something for your husband. Please don't feel any burden, and I will appreciate if you can just answer whatever you know or whatever you experienced.
First, you mentioned that your living place is almost a great blessed place where royal families live and love is full. I heard that in spirit world there are many levels from the highest level to the bottom of hell. I want to know whether you have been to the bottom of hell in order to give love. Especially I want to know whether you have met my physical parents and physical elder brother's couple in spirit world. Also I want to know anything about Mrs. Jeong Sook Koo. Secondly, I also heard that in spirit world their lives have food, clothes and shelter as in the physical world. I want to know whether you live at a house, and live by eating food. I heard that in spirit world, house and food appear whenever we want, and disappear whenever we don't want. I want to know whether you live by experiencing these things. Thirdly, I want to know how to communicate in spirit world where there is no air and no voices. I want to know whether you feel any voice in mind by communicating between two minds. I heard that in spirit world you also have beautiful music. I want to know how such music can be formed and transmitted in the mind.
Fourthly, I heard that spirit world is a world of love. In Divine Principle "Love is an emotional force given by the subject to the object". On earth in a case of horizontal love, we express such force by consoling with sweet words, by giving materials (money) or by helping through service and cooperation etc. to the poor and to the people in difficulties. I want to know how to express love, because in such a high level of spirit world where you live, there are no such people who are in difficulties, no poor people, and no such people who need help. That is there are no objects to express love. In other words I want to know how to express horizontal love to others, except the horizontal love between husband and wife (for the vertical love to parents we can express by filial attendance to them).
I want to know about the above four points, but please don't feel any burden. It is okay if you just answer what you know. If you don't know, don't respond, or you can say later after you get an answer from others.
While I give Unification thought lecture, the audience asks many kinds of questions to me. About the earthly things, I gave all the answers with Father's teachings, but about spiritual things, I couldn't give an answer, so I was very frustrated.
I am sorry for this long letter. Now I must stop here. Please invest total filial piety to True Parents together with brothers and sisters centered on Heung Jin Nim and Great Mother Hong in spirit world. Please come to Earth and help our Unification Thought movement on Earth. And if you have time, I hope you can help your husband.
I pray for your eternal peace and happiness in spirit world.
Sincerely Yours: From your Husband Sun Hun Lee, On Earth,
From Mrs. Lee to her husband Dr. Sang Hun Lee (1991.11.19)
Dear my beloved Dr. Lee: How much are you lonely on this season that the asphalt road becomes a road of fallen leaves and the chilly wind starts to blow? I never have had resentment towards you. I am more proud of you after coming to spirit world, even after I respected you on Earth who had always gone the right way. Please don't miss your meals. I am always beside you, but because I don't have a body you will not know about that. Please take care of your health and live a long life. You keep more filial piety to True Parents, don't you?
You have many questions. Mrs. Jeong's health is not good. She feels pain in her arms. She is writing this letter while her face is glowing with heat. I feel sorry and sympathetic toward her. Your questions are not personnel but public, so I cannot help but ask her. First question:
I live at the most royal place and I go to the lower poor place anytime, and I went there. You asked how I can help them. I comfort them by love and by words, and also I witness to the sinners, and I talk about True Parents too. But they are not willing to listen, like the people on earth. They don't pay attention but nevertheless, if I approach people who have some good merit on earth, they try to listen. You asked how we can communicate. If we look at each other, our minds can have give and take. Once we look up, we can understand the loving light of the eye. In spirit world too, we always witness, like in the physical world. In order to witness we go to the lower places. Their lives and their faces are dark, and in this place where I stay, we communicate brightly with light.
You asked about Mrs. Jeong Sook Ku. She is very fine with me. She says to me that she feels sorry to her husband because she came here to this wonderful place earlier than him, and lives such a wonderful life, even though her husband is anxious about housework and children. And I met your physical parents and all the relatives. Even though their living place is not so good, it is nonetheless okay. I insisted that they live together with me here and I will attend them. But they left here, saying that, "This wonderful place is not the place where I can stay." In spirit world we can come naturally to this wonderful high level place if our children or descendants pray a lot and accumulate merit.
I met your elder brother and his wife, but it seems to take a little more time for them to come to this nice place. They don't have a foundation of sincerity (prayer, serving). But they will come here soon because I am here and you are on Earth.
Your physical parents visited here where I am living, but your elder brother and wife didn't visit at all. They said to me that they don't deserve coming here to this nice place. In other words, they ask, "How can they come to this royal family place, a great place like the White House" .
Second Question:
Dr. Lee, maybe you think that here in spirit world we live naked, without clothes because spirit world is invisible, don't you? But we wear clothes. Maybe you ask me where the clothes are. If we think to wear some kind of clothes we can wear those clothes naturally. Since whatever we think happens, we don't worry about clothes, food, and shelter. It is incredibly convenient. But in the lower place, such poor people cannot do the same thing. Their position can be changed if their descendants do good deeds to others on the sacrificial holiday of Memorial Day. That is, their position can be changed to a higher level place.
Sometimes there is a special benefit that suddenly a person (spirit self) in a lower level place, comes here to a royal family place. This case happens if his descendants give great benefit to others, or do a good deed to others. That is , by good descendants, ancestors can go to a better place. There is nothing free in spirit world, too. The situation is the same as in physical world. I am happy because you do your best with filial piety
Third Question:
We can understand each other by feeling (mind by mind) even without calling name or shouting names as in the physical world. And if we want to listen to a hymn, suddenly the sound of a hymn reaches to our ears. In other easy words, whatever song or refined music we think reaches to our ears. Everything we can hear together. We can dance too. Always we can keep such a mood as flowers in the full moon. It is very difficult to express unless you come here. But in the lower level of spirit world, they don't have.
Fourth Question:
Really, love is the supreme. In spirit world also love is the most fundamental as in the physical world. Even though we are a royal family that lives together, we still have a difficult time. We have many struggles, but if we keep a loving mind, this mind is immediately transferred to the other and will melt those struggles like melting snow in spring. But if we go to a lower level of spirit world, love doesn't work at all.
In order to make effort for others to understand love and in order to show love by practice, we use money or materials in the physical world. But in the spirit world, money doesn't work well to solve problems. Instead we do make an effort by practicing a serving heart. For horizontal love relationship, we give and receive through mind and eye, and for conjugal love we go to physical world. Even I go to you nearby many times you don't realize, but I come back with joy. Because I live in such a wonderful place, I don't know so much about the situations of the lower level of the spirit world.
Even though I went there a couple of times for witnessing, I don't know their deep situations. Always there are people crying, fighting, and some bad smells. In physical world you cannot imagine how hell is. Though I went there a couple of times, I realized that only love is highest. If we say that our living in a higher level place is like a bright weather, the lower level of spirit world is like a cold winter night, where there is no music. Really we cannot describe the lower level of spirit world.
What I really want to tell you is that because the life on earth remains as the expression of eternal life in spirit world. If you attend the True Parents with filial piety, you don't need to worry about whether you can come to this wonderful place in spirit world. If we witness to children, and descendants offer sincerity (devotion with prayer), we can come here to this wonderful place in spirit world, even without ancestors good merit. By Divine Principle, I feel this more profoundly and think deeply in my mind.
Dear Dr. Lee, you are always a public man, regardless of my staying on earth or in spirit world. Keeping apart from public, please give me, your wife some love too. Am I not a woman? Can you understand how much pained and sympathetic my mind is when I see you eating alone? I will be with you whenever you are alone. Thank you very much for your donation to Rev. Jeong's church, I'm really appreciative of it. Whenever you do such deeds I, even as a royal family, become honored as if I had treated others the same way. I am sorry to Mrs. Jeong for making too much effort in the letter this evening.
Dear Dr. Lee, I will never leave you. Please wear warm underclothes, and please take care of your health.
Sincerely Yours: From a far distant heavenly place: Your Wife Han Sook
Message from Mrs. Lee on Thanksgiving Memorial Service (1992.9.9) Place: Dr. Sang Hun Lee's home
Dear Mrs. Jeong: How are you? I am Han Sook Kim. I am also so amazed that I cannot tell whether I am in spirit world or on earth. I came here to help with something for Mrs. Jeong's great job. And also Heavenly Father wants me to go. Heavenly Father asks me to tell the situations of spirit world to the people on earth.
Dear Mrs. Jeong, let's understand each other because you and I have the same heart to live for others. What can we not do if we want to live for the sake of the True Parents? If we cannot understand each other I cannot come to you because of being sorry. Please understand me. I want to write a letter for Dr. Lee. Please lend me some time. I am very sorry for that.
Dear Dr. Lee, I am Han Sook, your wife Han Sook Kim. How much did you wait for my news? I know all your heart. But how can I do. My heart longs for you. We are not the only couple who are separated from each other, and who miss each other in their hearts. I worry about your health. I know well that all the foods are not suitable to your health. You must live a long life. Please come here after you reveal the secret of spirit world, and thoughts of physical world, and God's will in detail on earth for the sake of True Parents by living a long life.
These days in this heavenly kingdom of spirit world flowers are in full bloom with the spring of blessing. When there are blessing events on earth, we in spirit world, are talking with each other about our euphoria (happiness), intoxicated with more ecstasy and beauty than earth, and blooming of flower of the mind.
We prayed a lot for True Parents health. Rev. Hyo Won Eu (the first president of HSA-UWC in Korea) gives DP lecture restlessly, Heung Jin Nim and Great Mother Hong pray again and again for True Parents health with incredible sincerity. Especially Great Mother Hong prays unceasingly for True Mother, True Children, and True Grandchildren. Everyday our life consists of prayer, singing our hymn's, and service. Our life is such a beautiful heavenly kingdom life. But without coming here you cannot understand. In conclusion it is just happy. I am not such a person who follows wherever you go and controls you whatever you do. But always I pray for you.
Dear Dr. Lee, can't our children receive pre-marriage blessing? There is no exception. For the happiness in this world we must receive blessing. But it is pitiful that I cannot show this world to you. Before you come to this world, please you must accomplish our child's blessing. Otherwise we will not have a foundation.
Dear Dr. Lee, thank you. I really appreciate you because you hold memorial service in advance to make me not alone. I thank you and respect you, because you are careful (shrewd). Today Heavenly Father gave me a graceful long time, so I'm writing a long letter to you. In this spirit world, love is really really precious. So we need only love. It is not the love of material, but the love of mind. Dear Dr. Lee, whenever you feel alone, please look at this flower (oriental orchid) which I gave to you. This is my gift for you. Dear Dr. Lee, even though I miss you but I don't wait for you to come here soon.
Please live a long long life, and please attend the True Parent's will forever.
The waiting and my missing heart for you is much stronger in this world, but I will overcome and pray for God's will on earth. Please say to our children that I am very fine.
Sincerely Yours, from your wife, Han Sook.
Implications of Religious Belief
The letter was published in The New York Times on Tuesday, April 27, 1993.
Was the Justice Department's disastrous decision to bring down the Branch Davidian compound the result of poor advice? In the initial hand-wringing after the debacle at Waco, amidst pronouncements by FBI officials and so-called cult experts, I am struck by the absence of commentary by scholars of religion. We have heard authorities pronounce on David Koresh's state of mind, viewing him as a psychotic, a criminal, or a cult leader. But what if he were recognized to be driven primarily by a religious conviction? Then the tragic outcome would have been no surprise.
The Talmud tells the story of four hundred captive youths who were on a slave ship bound for Rome. Imagining what immoral purposes the Romans might put them to, they resolved to throw themselves into the sea and drown. Scripture taught them that if they drowned in the sea, they would attain to Paradise. Willingly they leaped to their deaths.
Religious suicide has a long history. When challenged by hostile secular authorities, many religious people have preferred death to surrendering their principles. At Masada, nine hundred Jewish defenders resisted the Roman siege for more than a year, and when the Roman legions finally broke through they found that all the defenders had committed suicide. In Rome, many Christians willingly went to the lions, confident of the heavenly reward of a martyr's death. Some Romans were puzzled by such "fanatic" behavior, but others understood and credited the believers for their nobility of spirit.
It does not require the mind of a cultist or a psychotic to believe that it is more noble to die in one's faith than to give in to the forces of evil. As Jesus taught, "Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." A believer who takes this teaching seriously might very well find in the FBI's provocation an open invitation to martyrdom.
Dr. Andrew Wilson, NYC