Sun Myung Moon
July 16, 1972
Chong-ro, Seoul, Korea
The church to which you belong is the Chong-ro Church. When you say, Chong-ro, what does it bring to mind? It is the street (in Korean, ro) where there is a bell (in Korean, chong). There is a big bell in front of Hwa Shin Department Store. It is not the Emille Bell; what bell is it? Anyway, there is a big belfry and we remember this belfry.
Bells are rung to transmit good news or special news to all the people, near and far. When a bell rings we immediately think that something special has happened or will happen in the country.
From this perspective, we Chong-ro Church members are reminded that we are given a special mission to carry out, consisting of presenting a special event to the world. The newly assigned church leader, Mr. Chung Goo Park, is a man full of pioneering spirit. He would rather pioneer and lead his own way than just follow someone, and you have con e to know this through the last few months. As you already know, when he was in Choong ju he created the Sung Hwa School and exerted a lot of influence on many of the townspeople. So the fact that you have come to meet this kind of leader in Chong-ro Church has a special meaning, as you can readily imagine. So we expect that the Chong-ro Church will play a crucial role in bringing out a new event within the Unification Church, suggesting that there will be a good new challenge for the entire city of Seoul.
In sounding a new bell, what defines a good sound? We want to become a bell that spreads good news to the country, rather than sad news. There should be two kinds of sounds, according to the events occurring in a country: one signifies the occurrence of good and the other signifies the occurrence of evil.
I had planned to visit the entire country and then quickly come to Seoul, but it took longer to reach Seoul than expected, and I am sorry for that. Then a couple of weeks ago, Mr. Park came to me and said, "You must come to Chong-ro Church on the 16th without fail." So I am here today. This morning I spoke, and there are 141 Japanese members waiting in Soo Taek Ri. So, what I am going to say to you Chong-ro Church members is that you are to bring forth events. What events? Good events. The topic about which I am going to speak to you is, "At the Crossroads of Good and Evil," or "At the Crossing Point of Good and Evil."
When you come to think of it, there are no people in the world who do not think that their country is good. This is true of the people of any country, of all countries. By the same token, no one thinks that their family is not good. What about an individual? When it comes to the individual, it is the same. On the individual level, there is no individual who does not think he or she is good. Thus, everyone likes to think of himself as good, of his or her family as good, and of his or her country as good, and likes to be proud of himself. So, they all like himself, but what about the world? We find that not many people like the world beyond their own countries. This is the difference. Man likes to better himself, to see his own family become better and to see his country bettering itself. Humankind has striven this way throughout history.
A citizen of Korea immediately becomes aware of himself as Korean when he steps abroad. He becomes very happy when he meets fellow Koreans in a foreign country. If his countryman is mistreated in another country, even though he is a perfect stranger he feels anger on that person's behalf. He would rather meet the sorrow himself, and does not tolerate his fellow countrymen becoming saddened. This is true for all countries without exception. People of all nations, regardless of race or color, have desire on this level, but you must be aware that there are not many people who want to see the world become better.
In relation to something bad happening, such as a disaster, a person automatically wishes that bad thing not befall me, and that the disaster should bypass me even though it may fall upon someone else. Further, bad things can happen outside my family but nothing bad should happen to my family, and also bad things can happen in other countries, but not in my own country. This way of thinking becomes a desire of people with respect to their own country on earth, their own family on earth and even themselves, for each regards himself as most important. We find that when it comes to a good thing, a man wants it to happen centering on himself, and when it comes to a bad thing, he wants it to happen centering on someone other than himself, his group or his country. This is unmistakably so. Do you not agree? You, too, are no exception.
Despite this reality, it is questionable whether or not things do really happen the way everyone wants. We know all too well that I do not get the best things all the time, nor am I in the best place all the time. One may do his best to get ahead in the world and succeed in the world, but he is not the only one trying to do that. Everyone else is doing the same. Thus everyone wants to become better, but does the result obey their wish? The answer is no. Though everyone hopes for good results, many accept that what comes is not so good, and often the results are rather more bad than good. If there were more good than bad things in human life, such common phrases as "bitter sea" or "tragic fate" would not be uttered to describe life. Even though we wish for good things, we become connected with bad results far more than with good ones. "Life is sad, and is like a bitter sea." Despite the fact that we all hope for good things, it is never easy to obtain good things.
From this point of view, we need a standard by which we can say what is good (or bad), on the level of an individual as well as a country.
When the standard of goodness on the national level differs from person to person, the very desire for good for the nation is ridiculous. Furthermore, even if everyone in a country agrees on something as being good, unless they can describe clearly why it is good, their desire for goodness is ridiculous. We conclude that when we say good, we should be able to say what is good for an individual, for a family, and for a nation, based on a clear model formula or objective. Without that, it will not do. That model is the Divine Principle.
History does not develop centering on evil; when evil prospers, history recedes. Only when going over evil does goodness prosper and that segment of history, or historical circumstance, develops, be it for an individual, family or nation. That is the principle. Then what is the standard which can define good and evil in an individual? This is extremely important. Those individuals who do not know God's existence live, saying, "I only need to live conscientiously. If I live conscientiously, I am not bothered by my conscience, (or," if my conscience is not being bothered, then I do not need to worry")
But do all people's consciences agree? We have to say no. Just as much as all faces differ, so are the consciences of all individuals placed differently. One person's conscience may be positioned on the upper side, or the lower side. If we draw a vertical line, centering on this vertical line one person's conscience may run 90, 10, 20, 30, and so on. The angles and positions in which their conscience is situated are all different. So, even the conscience is not at all dependable but is questionable. Thus, although everyone wants to become good, not everyone knows what it is to be good, or why we want to be good, or how we should conduct ourselves in order to become good.
Mathematics is always constant: one plus one equals two, then add three and we get five. This formula always works, even beyond the limitations of time or history. Then, when you say, "He is conscientious," relative to what position is he conscientious? That is the question. Does his conscience work according to the upper position or lower position? Is it in a position beyond the line of limitation? Or is it inside the limitation line?
You are now all listening to me speaking to you. This is no accidental happening; our meeting came through a predestined cause and effect. There are girls, boys, students, and there is Mr. Jung Kyung Ro. When I call Jung Kyung Ro, he replies, "Yes, sir." When you ask him, "What did you do today?" he will answer, "I have done such and such today." This incident is a single event. If carrying a bucket of water is what he did today, that is a simple act. But there is an enormous historical background for that bucket of water to be placed right here by Mr. Jung Kyung Ro, a background which extends millions years into the past. The hand which carried the water was the hand of Jung Kyung Ro. Who do his hands resemble? His hands take after his father and mother, but that is not all, they also take after his grandfather's hands and his great-grandfather's hands. They are the hands that have inherited thousands of generations. Looking at him centering on his hands, his hands could be the president of a hands corporation.
Look at his eyes. His eyes are blinking, and they look like his eyes, but they are not his alone. They are the fruit of many cause and effect relationships. Then take a closer look at different parts of the eyes. The part which resembles his good ancestors will look good and other parts that inherited from his bad ancestors will look bad. The eyes which resemble good ancestors will see good things more than bad things. Now there has developed a technique to analyze an individual's hair, and by analyzing it you can tell the person's personality and even profession, as well as background and present circumstances. As science reveals more and more these days, we can easily understand that no part of oneself belongs to the person alone. Everything is interconnected, all the way through.
The Borderline of Good and Evil
From this perspective, if he is in a position to exclaim, "Oh, good," is that a position in which goodness belongs only to himself? That position is an apex position representing history. This is why we measure in relationship to history. We should balance perfectly horizontally, but when we tip to one side it shows a certain phenomenon, and tipping to the other side shows a certain other phenomenon. This borderline is hardly recognizable, but makes a world of difference. This is such an important matter: a slight move will tip it to goodness and a slight deviation will tip it to evil.
Therefore there must be a correct way. There must be an absolute standard with which no one can interfere, to which not the slightest amount can be added or diminished. In other words, there must be a correct way by which the individual, family, nation and world must advance. Do you not think so?
When the formula by which the individual should live is presented, and the question of who complies to this standard is asked, who can say, "I do?" Have you ever thought, "Even though I am a girl of slight build, I am the one who is standing right in the middle of the correct way for all the women of the world?" If good and evil are confronting each other, there must be a border between them. Would that not be so? Take the 38th parallel, for example. The 38th parallel is the line of demarcation drawn to indicate the demilitarized zone. It is a thick line, but whether or not that line exists is questionable. When you are asked whether the 38th parallel exists or not, you say, "Yes, yes, there is such a line." If the question is pursued, "Do you really know that it exists?" then you are not so sure where that line runs. That line runs where the borderline should be and at the same time runs where it is not a borderline. That line is where it is this side as well as that side, but it is neither this side nor that side. A borderline is that kind of position.
When the morning passes into the afternoon and a clock strikes noon, can you say it is exactly noon? Is it noon because a clock is striking? There is only one noon in the world, is it not so? You say you do not know exactly whether it is noon or not; it is that difficult a question. When spring changes into summer, can anyone say he knows exactly where the borderline between spring and summer is? You would rather admit that spring left without your knowing and summer also came without your really knowing. Do you think you can meet someone who knows summer is coming? It is difficult to meet a person who really knows when summer comes. Is there anyone who can pinpoint when summer is coming and greet summer at that instant? Have you met such person? No, we have not.
Thinking in this fashion, do good and evil really exist? If they do, then what is good and what is evil? There must be borderline between good and evil -- that line which both good and evil form. When good and evil cross, there must be a crossing point. There must be a crossing point, and where is it? This is the question. Do you understand?
Today we say, "The Unification Church," but when we question from where unification should start, you would answer that unification should start right at the origin. Being asked where that origin is, you would answer, "Right from my family." But that is wrong. Before your family entered into the picture, your father and mother came, and before your father and mother come into picture, a man and a woman must have been there. Therefore, unification must start between a man and woman. Then, are man and woman all it takes for unification? Through a man whose mind and body are united, and through a woman whose mind and body are united, a unified family comes into being. This is the way it is, do you understand?
If a mind and body face completely opposing directions, and the body insists on a direction different from where the mind wants to go, can unification be possible? Do your mind and body fight each other every day, or do they get along well? (Fight) Then which side are you on? You are on both sides. There are two parties in yourself: one party supports your mind and the other your body. Then where is "my" position, from which I can say, "I can't live without you, and you can't live without me, can you? So let us unite in such and such a way." Have you or have you not looked into that? There must be a crossing point between good and evil in an individual. Therefore, we must take apart and analyze ourselves so that we can say exactly what is wrong.
When a person becomes sick, we must trace the root of that illness. This is the reason we have to treat the conscience more deeply, as we dig down to the root of the problems. To do this, we must have a certain model available and determine a standard. Thus, without establishing a standard (or model) at some single point in history for what a truly conscientious person is, what a unified person is, what a good person is, we cannot pursue seriously the world where the heavenly way and human way, heavenly ethics and human ethics and heavenly heart and human heart all harmonize. Trying to do so without first determining the true model will be ridiculous. Do you not agree?
When you go to France, in the Louvre there hangs the Mona Lisa. There are crowds of people in that room, so one person places a high chair and he climbs on it, viewing the painting from above as he draws his picture. In copying the picture, suppose an artist used a brand new canvas, new paint and newly developed techniques, and created a painting nearly as good as the original, so that amateurs could not clearly tell the difference. That actually happens.
There still is such a thing as an original measure, and there is only one authentic measure in the whole world. Therefore, if something goes wrong with it, we are in trouble. It is unchangeable; no matter how the climate might differ throughout the world, it will not be affected by those changes.
Saints Are God's Servants
Likewise, where is the beginning point of the person of goodness, a truly good person? If you do not know that, in other words, if you do not know the standard by which a truly good person is measured, then what happens? Then you will never know that something which is opposite to goodness, i.e., what it is to become evil. Is this not so? Thus you first must define goodness clearly before you can disclose evil.
There are many famous people in the world, and people insist that great persons be famous. Any nation can have great people. In Korea, Admiral Soon Shin Lee is regarded as a great man and deservedly so. But there are not that many saints. Isn't it so? When we think of saints, we refer to four great saints, only four. Why are these four people saints? If you look into it, you will see that they were odd people. Today, in the development of human history, if we were to set up a direction for human ethics and morality, it would not be done by people gathering together and working according to a constitution. That is for sure. Since every nation tries to improve, they use the noble thoughts of good people in national history as the base for their structure. There is no way to deny this.
But if you pay close attention to those who are called saints, you see that they were odd people. Why do you say that? Those who are called saints were people who did not have their own assertions. Do you say you do not understand? Saints are men who do not insist on their own view. None died insisting upon his own view. Instead they worked to run errands, and died. What kind of errands? God's errands, errands for that One who is called the absolute being. Jesus, likewise, when praying said, "Father, do not do as I will, but..." But what? What did he say? "Do as You will." Is this a person of independent character? Of an active or passive character? (Active) No, it was a passive one, but how could a passive man become a saint? That is odd. Today we do not want to lose anything of ours, and do not want to be invaded by others. Listen to what Jesus said: "If someone wants you to go half a mile, you should go a mile for him; and if someone wants you to give your coat, you should give him your clothes as well."
Jesus seems not in the category of human being. He was a different kind of man from what we see today. It might not be right to use such an expression, but I am trying to clarify a point to you. You like material more than a man; this is odd. Consider: for those who drove nails into his hands and feet, his very enemies upon whom he should wreak revenge at the cost of his life, for such an enemy (humankind), Jesus prayed, "My Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing." What strange behavior! Observing closely, we see that what these saints have in common is that none of them insisted on themselves, but they were running an errand for someone else. Thus, what kind of people are saints? They are a group of people who center on God and obey Him. They obey God no matter what God commands them, once, hundreds of times, thousands of times, even unto death.
Who became saints? Religious leaders became saints. Isn't it strange that Jesus is the leader of Christianity, Buddha is the leader of Buddhism, Confucius is the leader of Confucianism and Muhammad is the leader of Islam? What about Socrates then? He did not become a saint. He is a mere philosopher. He could be a philosopher but not a saint. Why? He may have been a king of knowledge but he could not become a king of life. What did religious leaders do? They were able to move lives. Therefore, leaders of the religions could bear the banner of revolution in the development of history. Philosophers may have borne a banner of knowledge, but they failed to start a revolution of life and provide the impetus for the development of the history of life. This is why philosophers do not attain the rank of saint.
In the worldwide perspective, what is the leading characteristic of those who believe in religion? They have a thought of their own, as an odd group of people. All of you believe in the Unification Church, don't you? Perhaps some of you came to see what Reverend Moon is like. Such people are not Unification Church members. Then what is Reverend Moon of the Unification Church? He is the leader of the Unification Church, is he not? Jesus is the leader of the Christian churches, Buddha is the leader of Buddhism, Confucius is the leader of Confucianism, and Mohammed is the leader of Islam. They all are leaders of religions, but with different contents.
Then all leaders of religions, excluding Reverend Moon, have moved into the rank of saints, but among them who is the center? (Jesus) Those who believe in Christianity will say that, but Buddhists will say that Buddha is the center. (Laughter) But if you give the reason why one is the center of them all, it is reasonable to choose the one who has the most and best content of all. In assessing the most and the best content, let us ask the question, "How big is a man's desire?"
How big is your desire? Is it bigger than the school bag you carry, or smaller? It is bigger, isn't it? (Yes) Is it bigger than your three story building? (Bigger) Even after putting into the bag all of Korea, it still has room to spare. Is it or isn't it so? No one will be satisfied and say now it is enough. Only after putting several, no, more than a hundred worlds into it, leaving nothing more to be put into it, one will now say it is enough. A human being has that extent of desire. It's a pretty big bag of desire, isn't it? (Laughter) Even after you put the whole world into your bag of desire and do whatever you want to do with it, if you find there is God, who created the world and is even a bigger person, would you or wouldn't you like to put Him into that bag of yours? (We would like to) It is the same for both man and woman, whether old or young.
Then, among heaven and earth, which is first, heaven or earth? Is it heaven and earth, or earth and heaven? Is it father and mother, or mother and father? Is it husband and wife, or wife and husband? No one wants earth and heaven, everyone wants heaven and earth. Therefore which should come first? It is heaven which should be first. Then after that, what must come next? Earth. We have parents. Why shouldn't mother come first? I am not ignoring woman -- you continue to listen, I will attend to woman, too. Between parents, father must come first.
If you watch the letter for mother carefully, it's very interesting (writing on the black board). The letter for mother is two of the letters for woman. That is the letter for mother. The letter for mother is made up of two letters for woman, connecting and inverted. Two woman put together comprise a mother. Since this is the letter for mother, a mother must have the mind of heaven and the mind of the earth. In other words, a mother must become a woman with the mind of heaven and must become a woman with the mind of earth, representing the woman of the earth. A mother must contain these two minds. Isn't it interesting?
As for father, the letter for father is two of the letters for man. It is two men instead of one. It means that a man of heaven and man of earth together can become a father. Isn't it interesting? Then the letter of heaven is two men. Therefore two men should come together to comprise heaven. It's very interesting. It symbolizes that if two men cooperate with each other, it will penetrate the ceiling and soar up high. That is what a husband is.
Can you say, "I am very handsome and so great that I do not need a father or mother? Since I am a man, I do not need a father, who is a man. When my father dies, I will take his place as father myself, so father can die, but I want mother to live." Can there be such a man? (No) Then who do we need? Both father and mother. Is a daughter all we need? No, we need both a son and daughter. No one will bless someone just to have sons, or just to have daughters. That means you don't want to be alone. You may be a student, but if you are alone, you are lonely in the morning, you are lonely in the afternoon, you are lonely when you enter the school building, you are lonely when you come home from school. Even if you become an A student, is it any good? It is when everyone welcomes you, misses you and wants to follow you... you would like to be that way, rather than lonely, wouldn't you?
What is the teaching of the leaders of religion, who are saints? The content of their teaching is that one should follow heaven and earth according to the basic principle. In other words, "Let us know heaven and earth." In human beings there are not only human ethics but also heavenly ethics. There is not only the human heart but also the heavenly heart. Human ethics do not start from human beings, but rather perfects itself by following and copying heavenly ethics. It takes "above" and "below" to determine the horizon for everything. Therefore, after determining vertical relations, cross it at 90 and the horizontal can be determined. Then after measuring the distance you will know if it is a perfect circle or sphere, and locate your position.
Thus, what is the "way" which leaders of religion taught? They do not teach the human way alone. They teach the direction for which all humankind has searched throughout history; they teach ultimate teachings. However, if human ethics had its origin in lamentation, at the end of human ethics, the result of lamentation will have been developed, and if the beginning was an imperfect one, the end too will be imperfect. Happiness cannot be won through human ethics alone. Heavenly ethics must accompany it before happiness can be attained. Heavenly ethics, human ethics, heavenly heart, human heart, they are all here and where will they meet? What is the crossing point? Where is the dividing point? These are the questions.
But then again, the heavenly heart and human heart are going in opposite directions. Human beings want to go in one direction, and heaven wants to go in the other. The body wants to go to one direction and the mind would like to go in the other. The result of this is the communist and democratic worlds. What did Jesus want to do? To support the human heart as well as respecting human ethics cannot be accomplished based upon the human element alone. We must base these on heavenly ethics and heavenly heart, and establish the subject and object relationship. After connecting these, he hoped to decide their direction either as an object or subject. Thus, saints are the ones who came to teach the direction to the higher level world.
When we look at the individual in this perspective, the best direction for an individual is not toward the happiness of that individual alone nor toward that individual's ideal world alone. To pursue individual happiness is to introduce and connect to the prototype of happiness for the whole world. The family they want, namely man and woman meeting together, is not the simple meeting of man and woman with the human ethical perspective alone. It is the family in which heavenly ethics and heavenly heart can harmonize, too; the family which heaven and earth can guarantee. Heaven and earth can follow such a family and rejoice. There has been that higher standard. Then, what was the ideal family which saints pursued, as well as the ideal nation and the ideal world? It was not the family, nation or world which was of concern only to human beings. It was a world different from what we see today. Today young people and intelligent people in general scorn at "religion" and ridicule religious people. But this is because they have wrong ideas. We must understand that from the outset, religions are pursuing the ideal world of tomorrow; it is ridiculous that humankind complains about religion in the process.
Then what is goodness after all? What is evil? Why do saints remain as an object of respect to so many people, and why, even though history undergoes major changes and revolutions take place, is there no revolution possible in the teachings of saints? This is an important fact. The reason is that what saints teach is not affected by human ethics alone. What begins from human ethics can be determined and changed by elements of human ethics, and what begins from the human heart can be changed by a stronger human heart, but what begins with human heart and heavenly heart together cannot be changed without both human heart and heavenly heart together setting a higher standard, one which is stronger than either separately. This is why historical cultural realms are formed centering on religious thought. This is an inevitable conclusion, because there exists heaven and also earth.
Those Who Do Not Think of Themselves
That's how different religious leaders are. Stepping over human ethics and pursuing an elevated world, they have elevated values, elevated human ethics and elevated human heart, i.e. they have pursued heavenly ethics and heavenly heart. They worked very hard to digest heavenly ethics and heavenly heart, trying to return and reconnect to human ethics, often losing their life in the effort to make it happen, but preferring to continue rather than avoid death. Would not such a man become a great saint? You must understand this. Then what can you call such a man: a good man or a bad man?
If there were an absolute God, and if it were decided that we all die for Him, for example, how would we die? Dying all together, by exploding; how about that? There are many, many different ways of dying. Let's consider patriots as an example. If there were ten patriots, one patriot may have led a normal life and died a natural death, while another may have fought a furious fight against thousands of enemies, carrying the fate of his nation. Which is the patriot of greater significance? There is no question, there is no comparison. Isn't that so? And, in being hit by a bullet and dying, there will be those who die during the first attack, and there will be others with many, many wounds. Although they both died, the more miserable the way one died, the more people will respect one as a patriot. This is true isn't it? (No, it is not true) Are you saying, then, that the more miserable the process of dying the more valuable? (Yes!) There is no mistake about this.
Then among numerous sons of filial piety who live for the sake of God, there must be a top son of filial piety. It is not such a nice way of referring to such a person, but young people like the colloquial.
Obviously some sons of filial piety will be better than others. There will be some who, when hungry, will eat a meal and bring the remaining food to their parents, saying, "You must be hungry, mother and father. Please eat." They too are sons of filial piety, because some will not even do that. (Laughter)
If you explore into the history of filial piety to find the greatest son of filial piety, who would be the one? The one who would serve his parents with blood and sweat, and who, as if that were not enough, would sell his own blood to support his parents. To bring what he can is a son of filial piety, too, but if the other appears, who supports his parents by selling his own blood, who is the greater son of filial piety?
Would any parents teach their children saying, "You must forsake your life to become sons of filial piety?" (No) "This is the way true sons of filial piety are made. All parents covet true sons of filial piety. Therefore you must lose your life to serve me." Are there any parents who would teach their son in this way? (No) Then what? Are parents not educating their sons to become sons of filial piety? We will come to this later.
If there are two types of sons of filial piety, one will die for the sake of his parents without regard for his own recognition or the potential value of his existence, and the other one will serve and die for his parents thinking that he could have been such and such a man and should have become such and such a son, but that he is dying instead. Which son would have the greater filial piety? (The one who does not even think of himself) You know that.
What is the saint of all saints like? This is an important question. Is he like the son of the most filial piety? We all have pledged that we will become sons of filial piety. But it is not easy. The loyal subject (loyalist) becomes one only after death, though we can be candidates. (Laughter) Historic patriots all became such at the risk of their lives. Thus to compete and become such you must go through much harder times before you become a champion. Are you all going to be sons of filial piety? (We will) Do you want to become loyal subjects? (Yes) Really? Good. Then do you want to be saints? (Yes) Those who dedicate their lives for the sake of kings we call patriots; those who dedicate their lives for their parents are called sons of filial piety; and those who dedicate their lives for heaven are called saints. We must know what saints are like. What are saints like? We must know this. We must dedicate all we have. "My ears exist for him, my eyes, my limbs and whole body." Then you are in the rank of saints.
You do not just dedicate your life for God, but you do that with the motivation of leaving the holy tradition which will be kept throughout human history. Many give their lives for their beloved ones so that the loved ones can remain within the teachings of saints, too. In other words they are willing to die with the mind of love for the country and the world and to leave such tradition behind.
Within this context, Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, "Father, if you can, let this cup pass from me, but do not do as I will, but as You will." "Do not do as I will, but as you will" means that there is a correspondence of two wills. He did not simply say, "Father, do as You will." The Father's will and Jesus' will are in correspondence, aren't they? (Yes) But many people say that Jesus' will is the same thing as God's will. But my will and the will of God are different. Isn't it so? I do not equal God's will.
Then what is will? It was to indicate the purpose which Jesus was going to achieve, and not Jesus himself. Isn't it so? (Yes) The future of the world was at stake in the will, and the world progresses in the course of that will. In this process of history, races are formed, and nations and the world are formed.
Through this discipline one comes to respect the will of the Father, overcomes his own personal interests, comes to give up all trivial matters, pushes himself onto higher level and enters the domain of sainthood. If we reach this level, is it bad or good? Answer me, is it good or bad? (Good) It is good, but it has differing contents. It is bad for me but it is good for God. Is it good to die? (Yes) What are you talking about? (Laughter) It is not good to die for myself, but for God, it is good.
Value Cannot Be Made Centering on Oneself
Then what is God like? He is in the subject position to me. The object exists for the sake of the subject. We must come to this awareness, but we are not yet in that position. For whom does the subject exist? The subject does not exist for the subject's sake (for himself); he exists for the sake of the object. Therefore, it is good for the subject to sacrifice for the sake of the object and for the object to sacrifice for the sake of the subject.
We call it good for parents to sacrifice for the sake of the children, and we call him a son of filial piety when he becomes loyal and sacrifices for the sake of his parents. What does it mean? It means that it is not bad but good for a subject to sacrifice himself for the sake of his object. It is good both for the subject and object to sacrifice for the sake of the other. (Yes) To die is bad. Is sacrificing good or bad? (It is good) Then you should not eat, nor breathe. Is it good? Close your nostrils and leave just a very small hole and try to breathe; how difficult it is. (He shows by holding his nose with his fingers. Laughter) It is bad for me, but it is good for him who is in the position of subject to me.
When we compare what a subject likes and what an object likes in the value perspective, if it is what both subject and object can like, it will last, but if it is a thing which only one of them likes, then it is easy to break. From this perspective, let us trace back to the origin of good and evil. Man is created and born for the sake of woman, and woman is born for man. The reason woman is born pretty is for herself. Is this so, or not? (No!) Then for whom is a woman born? It is for a man, because he likes a woman to be pretty.
Likewise why is man, in relation to woman, born with such a big mass, having a rough face, big and ugly, even? It is because woman likes it that way. (Laughter) Thus, when you trace the origin, there is no man who is born for himself. You bad man, bad man. (Laughter) I am calling you names, but why do you laugh? Women, too. (Laughter) Originally when you were born, you were not born for yourselves; everyone is born for the sake of others. Man is born for the sake of woman, and woman, for man. Is it or isn't it so? (Yes, it is so) That is the way it is originally. Therefore, the original value of being born can never be realized by living for the sake of oneself; this is a fair conclusion.
Thus, the original purpose of birth is to pursue value throughout life by living for the sake of man or woman, but some insist that they were born for themselves. Such a person is a straggler in life. He is a failure. Even though he might be a man with a Ph.D., he is a failure and an unhappy man. Among such, even those who try to refuse to be unhappy are still unhappy, certainly. Look at a president of a nation from this perspective. As a president, he is a big man; he may be sturdy and handsome, too. He has lots of power to move the world, but let us say he does not have a wife, son or daughter. Is he happy because of that? (No) Is he happy at all? (No) Why not? He has wealth and power and he can do whatever he wants to do, yet he is not happy, because he does not fit into the principle formula. It is simply because he was born for the sake of woman, but he does not have a woman. Isn't it true? When you think in this manner, Jesus lived alone and died. Is it good or bad? (Bad) How can you say that? Is Jesus a man or of neutral gender? (A man) The reason is the same. If Jesus was a man, he certainly would have wanted marriage to a wonderful woman.
I have officiated marriage for many of you, in the mass wedding, I mean. Though a certain man only graduated from elementary school, he asked to be married to a college graduate, so that they would be balanced as a couple. I asked him, "Can you handle the situation?" He answered, "Yes, well, woman is made to follow man, and they do." Is the reason that a man wants to marry an inferior woman is that such a woman can follow him easily? Thus he knew he had an excessive desire, but still he wanted his spouse to be better than himself, didn't he? Whether his wish will come true is another matter, but it is natural to wish for one's spouse to be better than oneself. So when each meets an excellent person, both will become happy. Isn't it so?
If I speak at this pace... why would I come to Chong-ro Church in this hot weather and sweat? Why couldn't I just talk a short time? (Laughter) I can't take five minutes break for a shower and then continue. (Laughter)
The History of Goodness Begins With Sacrifice
Where does goodness appear? Let us look into the origin of good and evil. If we can trace back the wish to be good, where did it begin? And if there was a wish to not become bad, why was it so? Since we have no clear idea and understanding, we have problems when we try to correct our path. Then where did goodness begin, and what is the history of goodness? Did it begin from human beings? No. Does it begin from man and woman? Of course from man and woman, but human beings are given birth. When we look at men, they are resultant beings, not causal ones.
Where did goodness begin? Where is the starting point? Did it start from the living room where father and mother are? (No) From the pockets of father and mother? (No) Then, where is the starting point of goodness, the source? If God exists, it must have started from God, who is the center of the higher level. Beyond human workings there are heavenly workings, and beyond human heart there is heavenly heart. Therefore the start must be from heavenly workings and heavenly heart. That was the cause (motivation), and human beings are the resultant creation. Therefore, it began when heaven intervened. Then how can God become or be considered a good God? The question is, what position should God's position be? For six days, God created all things including men, and said, "It is good." He did not say, "It is good," when He was alone! All creation harmonizes with Him, and everything keeps pace with God Himself, so He said, "It is good." That it is good means it is beautiful, too.
In this perspective, to become an object of this goodness, to become good, one always has to pay a price of sacrifice. We come to the conclusion that without standing in the position of having paid the price, the objective position cannot be formed. In other words, God alone cannot form it. For God to see the result of goodness, He can do so only by using His creative force, i.e. energy, and create the result by doing so, but this is prior to actual goodness coming into being. Do you understand?
The base of goodness is God, but how can God Himself become good, or become the subject of good? He can do so because He stands in the position of expending His force (energy) for the sake of the object. That is how He can be good. In other words, He now stands as the subject who has sacrificed. This is how He can become the subject of goodness. Do you understand? (Yes) Therefore, before goodness can be formed, first someone has to give, to sacrifice. In giving, you have to give totally. By this starting (like an engine starting) and result coming about, goodness comes to appear. This is why God, who is the subject, cannot help but be forced to sacrifice. This is why the conclusion that the history of goodness begins from sacrificing is inevitable. Do you understand? From the very point of sacrificing Himself, a world, an object world which received the creative energy, i.e. a world of creation, came to be formed.
Today Christians believe in God as being omnipotent. Does that mean that God can just give a command and a Baek Tu Mountain appear out of thin air? In order for this result to come about, there must be the necessary ingredients and action to create a mountain.
What characterizes the way to promote goodness? it is not a way in which the result of your investing is smaller than your input. When you invest something not for yourself but for the sake of someone else, fruit will be borne without fail. You like your brother or sister who resembles you, don't you? Even among brothers, they love the one whom they resemble most. They spend time together, isn't that right, just because they resemble each other. I look at him in the night, he resembles me, in the day time, he looks like me, too, the way he walks. Even in speaking, when one says "Mommy" the other is trying to say "Mommy" too.
Suppose certain parents have a handsome son, and someone comments, "Oh, he has his father's looks and his mother's intelligence." Then the two will start fighting. (Laughter) To like the person or thing one resembles is natural. Likewise, when God invests and creates His object, He does not make someone who does not resemble Him. Let's assume that in creating a work of art it took one twenty years. When the outcome is good, the artist will exclaim, "Good," even though twenty precious years were spent. It is so; it is not untrue. Where did the history of goodness start? It started when one could invest endlessly in his object from the position of subject. Pursuing self- denying value, he invests for the sake of the value of his object, investing endlessly. Here the unending ideal world develops. It may be a bit difficult to understand for the high school students here, but what I say is true. Thus one can exclaim, "Those who are searching and treading the way of goodness! Now you are experiencing and seeing what God's situation is like!" God is the subject of goodness, so He multiplies goodness. Like God, you too will inherit the same tradition and apply that to today's real world. You are certainly sons and daughters of God. When you say he is a good person, there is always a history of sacrifice which has accompanied him. Do you understand? (Yes) Only by sacrificing himself does value appear. If you totally sacrifice one, a crowd of millions can inherit the value of the price of complete sacrifice for that one. Isn't that so? (Yes) Thus, goodness must always pay the price of sacrifice. Then the price you pay does not disappear, but reappears in some other place. What happens after reappearing? It always returns to you. Then your vertical self and horizontal self will have been formed. Then heaven and earth come to join. Subject and object come to settle down as intended.
The life history of the saints is determined by how much they sacrificed themselves for the sake of history and all humankind. When a saint sacrificed himself one hundred percent for the sake of all humankind, and not only in the context of humankind but centering on the wish of God, he stood at the top of the ranks of sainthood. We must understand this, now. To go the way of goodness, we must pay the price of sacrifice. Where he claims himself, failure will result. If God lived only claiming Himself, would the objective, created world have come into being? (No) God will be in isolation. If one continually has a mind demanding that others serve him, that one will continually spend himself out to the point where he finally comes to deny his own self. Do you understand?
Thus if you serve others you will develop, and if you serve yourself you will perish. In other words, if you serve others you will find yourself in the center position. However, if you act and live for the sake of yourself, you will have destroyed everything, and you yourself, in the vertical position, must also falter, perishing. Thus, those who demand that others serve them; since they lose the object world, will they have fewer and fewer friends, or more and more friends? (Fewer) For those who live for the sake of others, will there be more and more, or fewer or fewer friends? (More) His friends will fear lest they should be disowned, and his friends too will never leave him, and they will come to like him more and more, so in the end one of them will desire to give his sister to marry him. Their parents will try hard to marry their daughters to him. This is how a normal man's heart works. Isn't it so? So the more time passes, the more he will develop. On the contrary, if he claims himself, he is reduced as time passes. Do you understand?
What is evil? It is what is antagonistic to goodness. Thus when goodness prospers, evil perishes. To warn against following the road to evil is goodness, and to prevent one from going the way of evil is goodness, so in order to stay on the way of goodness, we must protect ourselves from going the way of destruction.
What is the way to perish? It is the way of pulling people to your side for your own sake. So we must destroy this way. If you live centering on yourself, you will have to retreat. If you live centering on your family and try to bring other families under your subjugation, your family will become a dictator family and in the end will be expelled by other families. Centering on a nation, this is the fate of dictators. Take Hitler for example. He claimed, "All European nations should exist for Germany, centering on the German race." If, on the contrary, Hitler had sacrificially invested all of that power and money into other countries in Europe, Germany would have conquered Europe without even fighting. By the same token, if today America confronts other nations asking them to serve America, America will face difficulties.
Communist countries, too, although they are pursuing a high ideal of one world, if they do not overcome their nationalistic racial idea, and stop asking other countries to sacrifice for the sake of the Slavs centering on Russia, they too will perish. It will certainly come to pass. Do you understand? If Russia, with the communist ideal, pro- claimed that Russia exists for the sake of world, and sacrificed itself and delegated liberty and authority to all countries, and regarded such action as happiness and hope, today's communism would not have divided into communist China and Russia. How could they divide?
Today, America faces a challenge. If America forgets the right of many nations to become liberated, and instead protects only its own interests, America surely will decline. But although the country of America may perish, if America maintains the ideal of serving other countries, even as a country without sovereignty, America will survive beyond the 20th century and through the 30th century, becoming a nation that can influence the whole world. This is the absolute way of goodness which the heavenly way teaches, you must understand. (Yes)
I exist for the sake of my subject (or object); I do not exist for myself, but for the objective world. Men are not born for the sake of men, but for the sake of women. Women are not born for the sake of woman, but for the sake of men. From there, the ideal family will emerge. One prototype man showing the eternal example of living with one woman, centering on eternal goodness, will emerge. Here we can find the standard. We cannot find a standard when one is covetous, centering on himself. If a husband says to his wife, "Since you are my wife, do as I say," no matter how good a wife she might be, they cannot last more than three years. (Laughter)
Then what is the fall? It began when the archangel became aware of himself and stressed his self-establishment. The archangel came to think about connecting God's love only to himself. Eve, too, thought, "I will do that," at a premature time. They both thought of themselves more than of God and more than for the whole. Therefore, to look at woman is strange. But woman has another side through becoming a hopeful mother, so she can have hope.
In this perspective, what becomes of a person who lives for the sake of others? That person will not perish. If he or she lives for the sake of others, he or she will become the center person. Even with in a family, if a person serves the parents well and sacrifices him or herself for the sake of his brother and sister, as time goes by, he will certainly become the center of that family. Isn't that so? Then father and mother both will bring their problems to him, and the brothers and sisters will, too.
The Base for Peace
There will come a base for peace established upon this foundation of thought. Jesus taught this; God, too, took this as the originating point of victory, and as the point deciding victory or failure. Those who tread the way of selfishness will perish. Do you understand? (Yes) Those who tread in search of a bigger cause are going the way to prosperity. So an individual must sacrifice for the sake of the family. You to must tread the typical way of goodness. A family must sacrifice for the sake of the clan, all the clan of Kim should sacrifice for the sake of the nation. Now the Han race of Korea is divided into two, and both must become able to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the unified nation and sovereignty.
Today, Kim Il Sung and the Park regime in the July 4th Communique sought for a plan of unification, but each should not insist upon his own view. Both will lose. In this situation, how can you find the means to bring about the attitude of "I exist for you and you for me"? If this principle hits the mark, unification will be accomplished in Korea without fighting.
Instead of pursuing his own value for himself, he seeks rather to find his value through his object (or subject). Such a person is not an unhappy person. At any time and any place, his foundation of heart has a reciprocal relationship, so he is never lonely, but happy. You must understand that. Among you students, you should think about it. The degree to which a person thinks about his own interest, he is that much inclined to evil, and the degree to which he thinks about someone else, he is that much a better person. Even by the secular standard, parents encourage children to become good persons. Parents never teach their children to just do whatever they want to do.
Thus the way of religion teaches sacrifice. The realm of natural liberation now becomes possible. To fight and subjugate others centering on oneself and thus to broaden one's territory, and to repeat this, will eventually lead to death. Therefore the era of such a history should come to an end. If God exists, the end of the days is inevitable. Then what kind of people can inherit history and begin anew bearing the banner of the new age? It is those who take sacrificing for the sake of others as an iron-clad rule. There should be a religion which practices self-sacrifice for the nation as such a rule. In this way, the Unification Church is to follow that thought. Do you understand? We are here to love the nation, even though Unification Church members may suffer. Even though the Unification Church may perish, this country must be saved. Unification Church members may go hungry, but the people of this nation must prosper. When people come to understand that righteous ideal, they will cry hundreds of times for every ten times we cried. If I was in the servant position ten times, hundreds of times they will come and ask us to lead them. This is the way it is.
What Jesus has shown us is not to strike and plunder but rather to be struck first and then to inherit. This rule was first practiced in Christianity, and continued throughout its history. Thus the more blood Christianity shed, the more it developed. As persecution increases, it will bring more development for those who are persecuted. Therefore we must desire that persecution toward the Unification Church should never cease. Those religions which evade persecution will deteriorate. Heaven comes to work instead with a religion digesting all persecution and continuing with the goal of the highest ideal, which the nation and world covet. This is why the Unification Church received persecution but never perished.
The strategy of goodness is different from the strategy of evil. Evil strikes and plunders; goodness loses first and recovers. When goodness recovers, it claims an added penalty from evil's side. This is the strategy which goodness employs. Thus if we are to build a world of peace, instead of holding continually to the habitual thinking that first an individual must become well off, and then his family and then his nation and finally the world, we must have a new set of values, based upon which we can sacrifice the individual, his family, even his nation, in order to strive for the prosperity of the world. It should not come to pass that this world perishes because it is a world of sin and crime, but rather, there should be a means to bring this world out of that wrongfulness and despair and into the victorious heaven.
In this perspective, there is a way for us to tread. There is a way for us to tread as individuals, as families, as a nation and as a world. No matter how successful one might have become in terms of his individual perfection, unless he finds a way for his family to tread, the perfection of the individual cannot be connected to the perfection of the family. Likewise, no matter how successfully the perfection of a family might be achieved, that family cannot automatically partake in the perfection of the clan. Such a clan cannot participate in the rank of perfection for a nation, nor can a perfect nation automatically connect to the perfection of the world.
On the other hand, there is the way of sacrificing an individual, and even ignoring the perfection of an individual in order to accomplish the perfection of the family. In this case, even without preparing beforehand the perfection of the individual, you will have achieved both the perfection of the family and the perfection of the individual. Do you understand? Even if you have not accomplished perfection of the family, if you and your wife toil and sacrifice yourselves to accomplish the perfection of the clan, your family can inherit the foundation of the perfection of the clan. Likewise, even though you couldn't win the victory over your clan, if you stand in the position of sacrificing yourselves for the perfection of a nation, you can inherit the foundation of the perfection of the nation and world.
In this perspective, what is the nature of the wise person? The wise one is he or she who reaches out one level higher. So, it is good to jump. It is the wisest person who aims at the highest goal, whereby he can achieve everything. All at once, thus, religion is a movement in which we keep on investing for one opportune moment. While others build up from the individual, family, clan, and so on, you are to reach to the goal directly. How can you do that? All we have to do is hang on to God. After completing the restoration of the individual, the restoration of the family, the restoration of the clan, the restoration of the race, the restoration of the nation, the restoration of the world, and the restoration of the universe, then we restore the love of God. Thus we need to be connected to God.
This is why Christianity inculcates a high ambition. A man of religion usually has something unique in his mind. You feel good, don't you? This is why the Bible teaches, "Don't follow me with your wife or children or family or nation. They get in my way." If you bring them with you when you try to follow God, you will only have more unresolved questions. Therefore God does not like you to do that. God does like to spare love, sympathy, human concern, compassion and so forth, even a bit.
God Who is the Absolute Subject of Love
For unwed, virgin men, do you feel good if you meet a virgin girl who has gone out on the street and been proposed to by men many times? (No) No young men like such a girl. Therefore, even if the girl is a Seoul University graduate, you will have second thoughts, because it is a co-ed university. To find a real virgin, it is better to look in an all women's university, like Ehwa University, where you can find girls who never even dream of studying side-by-side with boys. (Laughter)
Well, let's change the subject. Let's say that there is a husband and wife who have been married for thirty happy years. They both loved each other, and the husband thought there could be no other woman like his wife, and the wife thought the same about her husband. Then someone said to her, "When you were meeting your husband the first time, he had another woman who was very, very close to him." Then what would she do? Thirty years is a long time to live together, and they surely know each other very well, and experienced everything together, but still she will become very upset. The more she thinks about it, the more angry she will become.
In this perspective, God is the same as man. He is the one and only God of the entire universe, who desires to be the King of love. Then the object of love to God is unfaithful, and then repents and comes back to God. Would God feel good or bad? (Bad) If bad, how bad? It is hard to forgive.
Since God is like that, He is very jealous, too. Is jealousy bad? If one is predestined only to love God and no one else, such jealousy is good. To demand much, so that he or she is called to love God with all his might is good, isn't it? (Yes) First it may sound bad, but one can be bound in a good way.
God gets angry too. When such a God sees a man loving a woman and their children, and just enjoying everything, and then becoming ragged, and saying, "I love God after all; you must become my husband, you must become my father," would He feel good? (Bad) When God sees the situation of men for several thousands of years, the longer that period of unrequited love is, and the longer the period during which He had to hide His feelings, the more angry and betrayed He feels.
Therefore, in the Bible it was written that we must love God, "With all our mind, will, and character, love the Lord thy God." It teaches one should not divert ones attention away from God even a bit. The Bible teaches, "Love with everything you have." This is the first commandment. This is the reason a man or woman of religion is encouraged to live a celibate life. Are you going to live in celibacy? (No) Why not? (Laughter)
Those who get a grade of A differ in rank from those who receive an F. If you can get an A, you can do whatever you want to do, but until you get the A you have to study very, very hard. You cannot play at all. Have you made your foundation yet? If not, you should live alone. Thus, the very reason that religion encourages celibacy is because of the existence of God. To see that serves as a proof that God exists.
If a king were compiling a list of historic patriots, and he considered a possible number one patriot, but in the process he found out that this person loved his son more than he loved the king, the king would mind. In the event that he loved his wife more than the king, he would fail to be considered a patriot. If he betrayed the king for his own wishes, he would be a traitor. However, if he sacrificed everything, his wife, children and even his life, and loved and served the king, he would become a loyal subject who would long be worshiped in the history of patriots. This is the principle.
We should serve God as our parents, as our King and as the teacher of saints, thinking we will establish an historical tradition, certain that we should become more than mere sons of filial piety, and more than saints. We cannot be below that level if we are to serve God. This is why it is my wish that I raise up members of the Unification Church to be persons better than the saints. In former times, those great persons such as Confucius, Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed could not love the world. Some could not love even their own nation completely before they died. Thus, if we, under God's will, can stand in the position to love the nation and love the world, we can open a gateway to the ideal world which even Jesus could not accomplish. We can be in a position better than Jesus in this respect. As I pointed out earlier, even if I cannot perfect myself as an individual, if I love God representing the whole, and if I myself become one whom God can present to the whole world and be proud of without shame, then I would become a person who is better than Jesus himself.
Thus, God is an ambitious God. In loving your wife, is being ambitious bad? (Good) You, Um Duk Moon, is it bad to say to your wife, "Love only me. I too will love only you," being ambitious that way? (Good) The problem is that you cannot become such a husband. The problem is that you can never become such a perfect wife, but if you could become such you would own all of love. This God is ambitious; is it good or bad? If you are full of such ambition and pour out love like milk and honey, how happy would your spouse be to drink that? They would laugh thousands of years even if they could not breathe. So being greedy like that is not bad. You must have that kind of greed. If that greed takes the right position, where you can pour out everything that you can, it may be able to melt the whole world. It will be holy. Do you understand?
Thus, in order to pave the road of greed well, Reverend Moon is greedy, too. Look at Reverend Moon's eyes. He does not listen to others easily. No matter how sweetly others talk, he does not listen easily. When it does not stand to reason, he does not listen. When I have a conviction, I will never concede, even if hundreds of nations such as Korea come into confrontation with me. So if you engraft yourself into that greed, you will have a lot to work with. Is it because you love Reverend Moon so much that you believe in the Unification Church? You believe in the Unification Church because if you follow this way, you will never perish.
But the way of the Unification Church is difficult. We do not witness for the sake of the Unification Church. We have a different perspective. We transcend denomination. We are forming a new racial foundation to establish an international ideal based on interracial thought. This is why when told, Japanese say yes, and Americans answer yes, too. Some say that Korea has many chaste persons, but no one can do what Reverend Moon does. Even if this position were given to someone else, he would not be able to carry on. They cannot last three days. If someone else comes and says, "I come to take his place," will you follow him? (No)
Now we must come to the conclusion. The topic of today's speech is "At the Crossroads of Good and Evil." In answer to the question of where you are standing, this is the very point at which you are standing. One right move and you are on the side of goodness, and with one wrong step you are on the side of evil. One right step and there will be a way open which will welcome me and be full of hope. One wrong move there will open a door to the darkness of hell, and a trap to usher me in.
So my eye stands on the crossing point of good and evil and one glance that I cast, or one motion of my hand, has enough weight to tip the fine scale of good and evil, depending upon for whom I am motivated. If I see and speak based on greed, and use you for my purpose, I am a charlatan, but if I see and speak with all my might, with sweat and blood for the sake of you and for the sake of others, I am not a charlatan. Do you understand? This applies every time. On that crossing point it is decided whether that act is going to be good or evil. It's a fearful thing. That which I see one time will decide something good or evil. The things I say, feel or do when I meet someone, even why I eat or lie down, -- every action will lead either to an act of goodness or an act of evil. We must be aware that we always stand at the crossroads of good and evil.
In the case of a businessman, whether he speaks to deceive others or to promote mutual interest with good heart, comes to make a difference. If it is truly for mutual benefit, the other person may come to think of you more highly than your own friend as a result of this connection, and he will become a better, cherished friend of yours. Thus, when you earned money, Reverend Moon never "set it aside to send his children to school." He has never done that. Wealthy people, billionaires, and self-made people, try to safeguard their wealth at the cost of their lives, but I do not know where my bank book is, even though I am in the position to sign checks of millions of dollars. If someone can use money for purposes more worthy than mine, I will let him use it. But it had better be consistent with the Principle. If someone departs from the direction we have been going and leaves me, it is next to impossible to mend that relationship.
To be able to do this, I have trekked up and down the pinnacles of the world, avoided precipices, not falling down, and not become a straggler, until I have reached the position at which I now stand. You must understand this. I am very agreeable on the matter of rules and principle. If someone brings me great advice, I will throw in my hat as a teacher and learn from him or her. But when it is against the Principle, no matter how powerful the man trying to move me, it is not going to be easy. I am the one who is ready to fight to distinguish good from evil.
Let us become the Unification Church which gives to others. Thus when we move a step forward, we must always take a moment to judge if it is evil or good. You must know this. When a woman goes shopping in the market, it is an act of choosing good from evil. Every act is like that. When we are about to take a journey, we should pray, "Heavenly Father, as I am about to leave home, when I come back allow me to return not having incurred a loss for heaven." It is a serious matter. The crossing point of goodness and evil, what is the way to avoid that? If you center things on yourself, you will perish, but if you are able to dispose of things for the benefit of the whole, it will benefit both you and the whole. You must understand.
The Unification Church does not fight for the sake of the Unification Church. We are waging a Victory over Communism movement, but it is not fought for Korea alone. In fact, its purpose is to defend the whole world against communism. A huge sum of money is being spent for that purpose. If we diverted that money, we could build excellent local church buildings throughout Korea. When I pass the humble doors of local churches, I take pride in that and think, "Today this misery appears as common misery, but in the future this humiliation and misery will be the historical source of pride to all nations around the world, and will serve as a staff of judgment upon the corrupt men of all religions who helped to bring down the dignity and prosperity of heaven."
To be indebted, yet sleeping soundly, one should never forget that the sword point of the enemy (evil) is awaiting when one wakes up. For those who serve and support others, peace and liberation will be waiting after their sleep. Even the worldly saying is that those who are beaten can sleep with limbs curled up, but those who have beaten can sleep with limbs stretched. Is that so? (No) It is he who is beaten who sleeps with limbs stretched (in peace), or he who has beaten? (They can only sleep with their limbs curled up (in discomfort)). The Unification Church that is beaten up can sleep with limbs stretched without fear, but existing churches that beat up the Unification Church can only sleep with their limbs curling up and in fear. Thus existing churches are gradually perishing, and the Unification Church is gradually expanding. This is a natural process. I have no shame anywhere 1 go. No matter where I go and whom I meet in any existing church, I have nothing that pulls me back.
I have said this before, but what is the tradition of the Unification Church? It is to become a Unification Church that gives to other people. We are here to help. You know the history of Joseph. If there are ministers or elders of existing churches present here, listen well. This Reverend Moon here is not to be branded a heretic by such people. Listen. If we are loving sons of God, the Bible says, "Whosoever does not love me more than anyone else, he is not worthy of me. Those who love mother or sons and daughters or wife more than me, is not worthy of me. He who wants to follow me must bear his own cross and follow, are not worthy of me." The Unification Church is living that exactly. So it is common to give up one's wife and follow the will of God, and even if they must give up their children, they will follow the will of God. Although today, Christians are not able to do that, Reverend Moon himself has done it. He left his parents and his wife, and followed the will of God. Is such a person a heretic, while those who could not live in that manner authentic? There is no such heavenly principle.
Unification Church members! If Reverend Moon issues a command, will you follow it? (Yes) If a person leaves everything, stands in the front line for the day of the unification of the fatherland, and works for twenty years receiving severe persecution and preparing altars for his offering, do you think anybody can celebrate the great occasion without these contributing members? Why is it that patriot Kim Ku and the late President Rhee are praised by the entire nation? They too could have loved their children and their wives. They knew they should serve their parents and they had hearts to do so, but they overcame that and followed heavenly heart to pursue the way by which everyone in the nation could receive happiness. As a result of that, they remain as objects of tribute. Isn't it so? (Yes)
We young people! Since we all are standing on this crossroad, one step has the crucial meaning. One wrong step and we could tumble down the cliff. Although it may be difficult to tread the right way, with each step that we climb up we are a step closer to the summit of the hope of tomorrow. We look forward to the day when we will be able to look down upon a vast field of hope below and eventually become the princes and princesses of victory. We should not go astray. If you are studying, you should study with an attitude that one page of a book you come to understand, and one vocabulary word you remember, will eventually help you prevent the nation from going in the wrong direction. You must study in such a manner. Then your studying is for the nation. If you read a page of a book confident that one page can lead to the success of the accomplishment of God's will, you will study in such seriousness. Then you are a person who is preparing what God may need in the future. God will select such a person to do His will. If you study with no serious goal, as the wind blows, like a person who dances to the beat of anyone's drum, without any discipline, will never become a center of this nation; you're going in the wrong direction. You must know that the Unification Church has a unique direction.
Since we must tread on the way of goodness, we must realize and be aware of the crossroads of life and death, good and evil. The road which rises and the road which falls separate right in front of you and you must find the rising path and place an anchor to that road. Then we will pull that rope of ascension, passing the individual, family, race and national levels toward the top of heaven. This is our way of life.
Thus, until now, the dispensation of God has been to climb backwards, vertically, until God finds a nation. Until now, we have not been able to reach the horizon, so we had to go up backwards. Christians and all men of religion have been choked by the evil powers that control the nation. Since we are facing that miserable, historical fate within the realm of the fall, we should work toward winning the day of liberation, the day of recovery. Thus we must win the day as an individual, as a family and as a nation and world; the day of liberation where God can rejoice together with us. Then and only then will we have achieved the original objective of the mission which we were born to do. This starts from this very crossroads.
Then where is the unification of the world achieved? It starts from myself. Therefore, those who do not have the standard of a unified mind and body, no matter how big and high their aspiration might be, cannot connect to the work of the unification of the world. Now those of you who stand on the crossroad must use discretion to find the way. If you want to wear clothes, you must earn them. Anyone who goes for a handout will perish.
The Unification Church should give to others and live for the sake of others. Those with this principle will gradually find themselves as the center of the nation. You do not have to try hard to rise in position, for you will be raised up automatically. In this perspective, especially young members must be clearly aware where the standard of good and evil lies. You must become the victor of tomorrow, going over the recovery of the nation to meet the day of happiness when the doors open to the world of heaven. As princes and princesses of victory, do not desire only to receive the love of God but also to win the praise of the world which says, "Follow him!" God bless you.
Father Prays:
Father of love. Please remember these young members who are present here. We gathered here today not because of our will. We are all brought here as the result of a cause which we do not know fully, thus let us remember that we stand in the position of object in front of our subject.
I must understand that I exist for my subject. As I pursue my value, it is his perfection which brings my perfection. When this is realized, we understand that we gain two when we lose one. Thus more value is added, which is the proof of goodness. The resulting happiness becomes the center of Your optimistic beginning of yet higher work. We pray that each and every one of these young members will make a new determination from the depth of their hearts. We are not fighting for the sake of Chong-ro Church, but we are fighting for the sake of Seoul and Korea. Please allow us to stay abreast of all humankind and never be outdone in doing goodness.
We thank You for allowing us to meet here today. Please let all the words spoken become blood and flesh to all the members present. Praying that we become a positive, active group that covets the embrace of Your bosom, worthy of drawing closer to You, I pray in the name of True Parents. Amen.