Sun Myung Moon
November 27, 1980
Fontainebleau Hilton Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, USA
Ninth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences
Photo date and location unknown
Honorable chairman, distinguished scientists and scholars, ladies and gentlemen:
I sincerely welcome you to this ninth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences.
During past years this conference has repeatedly dealt with the theme of science and absolute values and has achieved great results. Furthermore, I feel that the conference has made many contributions to humankind's long and fervent search for peace.
The theme of this year's conference is, "Absolute Values and the Search for Peace for Humankind." In regard to this theme, I would like to share with you my view of how world peace can be achieved.
Today's world yearns for peace
As you are no doubt already aware, the more chaotic the world becomes, the more human beings thirst for peace.,
Then how can peace be achieved? In today's world, orderliness is increasingly being disrupted in many countries and cultural regions. To establish peace means to restore a true order. To restore a true order, subject partners and object partners must find their positions and establish mutual, harmonious relations.
People desire peace not only on the world level but also on the level of nations, societies and families. Even individuals yearn for peace between their mind and body.
Of these various levels of peace, which should be established first?
It is easy to think that if world peace were established first, then on that basis the peace of nations, societies, families and eventually individuals would also be established.
But this is wrong. This is actually the reverse of the sequence necessary to establish peace. It is individual peace that must first be realized. Then family peace can follow, and only on that foundation can the peace of societies, nations and the world be expected. This is because individuals are the basic unit of families, and families are the basic unit of societies, nations and the world.
Frequently leaders believe that through outstanding organization and superior policymaking they can restore the order of society and create world peace. In reality, however, the peace of humankind can never be realized through these two means alone. International organizations such as the United Nations and thought systems such as communism and democracy have all tried to realize world peace in their own ways, but peace is still far from our grasp, and the world is experiencing more confusion as the days go by.
True peace is achieved only when people unite through absolute love
Unless the quest for peace starts from the peace of the individual, it is bound to fail again and again.
Then how can the individual achieve peace? It is by becoming a person of absolute love and then practicing this love. This is true because love is the precondition for all unity. Unity can be established on the basis of love, and peace on the basis of unity.
Both relative love and absolute love exist. Relative love changes according to time and place, but absolute love is unchanging and eternal. Because the former is self-centered, it changes according to the interests of the moment. On the other hand, because absolute love always exists for the benefit of others and serves the whole, it is unchanging. Absolute love, because it is absolute, must flow from an Absolute Being. Therefore, that love must be God's love.
Through relative love, unity can never be achieved. It is only through absolute love that unity becomes possible. The mind and body of an individual can come into unity only through absolute love. Then such feelings as tranquility, joy, satisfaction and a sense of worth can be experienced. Only from such an individual can a standard for peace be drawn.
When the parents and children, husband and wife, and brothers and sisters of a family all practice absolute love in a way appropriate to their own family position, the unity of that family will be achieved. That family will be full of happiness and harmony -- and above all, peace.
Accordingly, the society formed by such families of peace will be a society of peace. If the families within a society become harmonious and help one another, the society will undoubtedly be bright and peaceful, because order will be established and unity attained. The nation formed by such societies of peace will also surely become a nation of peace.
World peace based on God's love
Moreover, a nation is not merely an assembly of many societies. It is an organic organization composed of and based on individuals and families of love. Within it, perfect order and unity must be established, and then the true peace of the nation can be realized.
In other words, even a nation needs God's love in order to realize and maintain peace. Even though the families that are the basis of the nation may be centered on absolute love, the nation as an organic body must also be able to practice absolute love as a nation, on the national level.
The government and people of the nation should attain unity internally, and the nation externally should unite with neighboring countries, thereby realizing true peace.
Needless to say, the peace of the world comes into being only on the foundation of the peace of all nations. When each nation ceases to place all its emphasis on trade and other ways to secure its own national interest, when each nation begins to serve other nations and the world with absolute love, and when each nation maintains such an international posture consistently, the eternal peace of humankind will have been secured.
The pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty leads to world peace
Thus, it becomes apparent that world peace begins with individual peace and expands through families, societies and nations to ultimately cover the world.
At this point I would like to mention the relationship between absolute love and absolute values. Love is the foundation for the values of truth, goodness and beauty. For example, when a person practices love of others, society calls it goodness. Therefore, it follows that when a person practices absolute love, which is God's love, absolute goodness results. This is to say, the actions of an individual practicing absolute love for the sake of peace are absolutely good. Likewise, the actions of a family practicing love for the sake of peace are also good. The same is true for societies, nations and the world.
In other words, in order to realize true peace, the individual, family, society, nation and world must all practice absolute love and thus realize the absolute values that are absolute truth, absolute goodness and absolute beauty. The world today most especially and urgently requires the practice of absolute goodness to deter the interference of evil that begets chaos.
Love, absolute truth, absolute goodness and absolute beauty cannot be realized without knowledge of absolute love -- God's love -- since love gives rise to the spiritual values of truth, goodness and beauty. And where these absolute values are not realized, there cannot be true peace.
Thus, for the true peace of humankind, we need to practice absolute love. But before we can practice absolute love, we first have to understand it.
I have already stated that absolute love is love that acts for the benefit of others, that serves others and that is unchanging and eternal. Then why does absolute love serve the whole and remain unchanging? And why can peace be realized only through love? These questions require answers.
To achieve true peace, we need to understand the Absolute Being
For these questions to be completely answered, the Absolute Being and His motive and purpose for creating the universe and humankind must first be fully clarified. The motive and purpose for creation particularly serve as indispensable standards for the practice of love and the establishment of peace. Before any plans can be put into action, there must first be a definite purpose. Any action without purpose is meaningless.
If the Absolute Being created humanity and meant people to practice His love, then it is certain that there is a motive and purpose for the creation of human beings. In order for that motive and purpose to be clarified, an explanation of the Absolute Being, that is, a correct concept of God, must first be established. Establishing the correct concept of God will clarify His motive and purpose of creation and, on that basis, the reason we must practice the Absolute Being's love in order to realize peace.
Thus, I submit that for the true peace of humankind, it is necessary to understand the Absolute Being correctly so we can practice His love and finally realize His absolute values.
These points conclude the ideas I wanted to share with you. In closing, I would like to wish you all great success in this conference, and I hope you will contribute greatly to the search for the peace of humankind.
Thank you very much.