Introduction
True love is the central theme of the teachings of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. It is also the driving force of his life. But the one thing it is not, is his exclusive possession. True love is the birthright of all men and women. It is the essential empowerment of our existence. Thus Reverend Moon's words on true love have universal and eternal value. And their purpose is to awaken us to that which we already possess, and to teach us how to substantiate it within ourselves and our world.
This is why his message is received with equal enthusiasm in every corner of the world, no matter what culture, race or religious tradition. True love transcends all limitations. It is the reality underlying human life in all its manifestations. Therefore, true love is the key to world peace and harmony.
More than that, true love is the source of joy and happiness. At this juncture of history we find that many perennial difficulties are being resolved, such as the conflict between communism and democracy, or the barriers of time and space in global relations. However, the problem of how to find happiness has not been solved. And it is the advanced societies, living in peace and prosperity, which demonstrate most abjectly the failure of the human race to discover the source of true joy in life.
Some preach that joy comes solely from faith in God. But no religion has adequately combined the desire for spiritual joy with the desire for physical joy. Religions bring people to some spiritual euphoria, but this is always brief and partial, because the realities of physical existence cannot be ignored. No religion has completely succeeded in combining perfect devotion to God with complete physical fulfillment.
Others teach that technology will bring happiness. But ease of life will provide nothing more than sensual pleasure, which finally
reduces to meaningless leisure. Millions of individuals enjoying the abundant material blessings of western civilization live degraded lives filled with broken relationships, sexual perversion, exploitation of others, drug abuse, depression and suicide.
Clearly, the spiritual and physical desires must be harmonized through a higher principle. That principle is true love. The environment for the complete manifestation of true love is the family. This truth is not Reverend Moon's invention; it is God's original principle of creation. It will never change.
True love is also the element common to all the great and various religions of mankind. The great religious founders all spoke with the power of true love, articulated to specific historical cultures. Now is the age of worldwide culture, of the global village. God's messenger to this age, to people and nations of all religions, is the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Reverend Moon is of course a Korean. Korea was considered until recently the "hermit kingdom," isolated from the mainstreams of history. On a small peninsula live a people strongly independent, who have carried on a dynastic tradition unbroken for over 4,000 years. Within this culture, various religious traditions have coexisted, chiefly shamanism, Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and today Christianity and Islam.
Undergirding and harmonizing these formal religious traditions has been and is still a powerful family and clan life. Koreans hold family and clan relationships as the most important element constitutive of the good life. Koreans historically also have a strong sense of the reality of the spirit world, and consider the honor and care for departed ancestors to be as important as that for each other in the physical plane.
Why would God choose a man from this out of the way, seemingly insignificant nation, to give His message at the end of the second millennium after Christ? From my point of view, the reason has to do with both the Korean family traditions and the Korean resiliency. This resiliency, patience and absolute determination is borne of the experience of countless invasions of Korea by great foreign powers. Korea repulsed an average of one invasion every generation for the last 4,000 years, but never once invaded another country. The endurance of such suffering created a race with awesome tenacity, indomitable will, deep dignity and sense of personal identity, and a great ability to enjoy life, centering around family and friends. Also the Korean culture is unique in its being the meeting point of diverse religions. Koreans adhere to various faiths with great fervor and yet do not conflict over religion. The strong Korean tradition of filial piety and patriotism have kept the nation united over the centuries.
With that being said, I would like to move on to state that Reverend Moon is not a Korean. Through the power of true love,-through his unchanging dedication to the salvation of the world ever since he was sixteen, Reverend Moon speaks from beyond his cultural origins, with an absolutely God-centered love for all people no matter what race, nation or religion. When meeting him, one knows that one is meeting a universal man, a man for all seasons, a contemporary "renaissance man." By what power has Reverend Moon achieved this? No power other than true love.
I invite you to delve seriously and thoughtfully into the pages of this book. You will encounter a man of amazing breadth of faith and thought, profound and simple, ageless and childlike, sophisticated and homespun. He speaks of the bedroom and of world affairs with equal elan, connecting them, as they are indeed connected in human existence. You will be fascinated, challenged, surprised and, most of all, inspired with a new level of understanding the heart of God, and what the relationship of man and God is all about.
It is our heartfelt yearning that all people could read Reverend Moon's words in the original Korean. Until then, however, we receive partial content, an inadequate representation of Reverend Moon's message. This book is removed from its source by an interpreter, translator and editor. To receive the internal heart of the words, the reader is encouraged to apply him or herself with a pure, prayerful attitude.
I extend my thanks and commendations to those responsible for the compilation of this book: Dr. Tyler Hendricks, Jonathan Gullery, Annie Iparraguirre, Suzanne Inglis, Kaye Allen and Richard Ramras. I pray that you the reader may discover that the true love spoken of and written of is a mere reflection of that greater reality: true love in our own lives, coming from God. With this true love -- which is your own to know completely -- let us continue forward to the rapid establishment of the Kingdom of God on this earth.
Reverend James A. Baughman President, Unification Church of America New York City Children's Day, 1989