Sun Myung Moon
January 31, 1982
World Mission Center
Translator-Bo Hi Pak
We must realize that an individual's life is not fully under his own control. A person's surroundings and destiny are not something he can regulate, for the environment was there before he ever existed. Of course, each person feels he is important and envisions himself at the center of things. As a rule, people disregard their surroundings in the process of advancing. Without an environment, however, there is no center. Only within an environment can a subject-object relationship exist. This is a universal law of existence.
God created the environment first and within it all things in pair systems of subject and object. This applies to the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms. Finally, God created one person-Adam-in that prepared environment. Adam was a unique creation in that he could harmonize and fit into his surroundings. Since everything around Adam existed in subject-object relationships, Adam also needed an object, Eve.
A person may be proud and boastful as he talks about himself, but upon deeper reflection he will wonder for whom he was created. Each individual exists to harmonize with his environment and create perfect surroundings.
All creation exists in harmonious give and take. Man is meant to be the central point of harmony in creation, but a solitary person would be unable to have the fullest give and take with his environment. Therefore, man alone cannot fulfill his central role as harmonizer. A man and woman together in harmonious give and take can be the center of all creation. Now you can explain clearly why men need women and why women need men: if all of your surroundings exist in subject-object relationships, then you also need an object in order to fit in.
Men and women clearly belong to their environment first of all. In order for your presence to have value, however, you must make a relationship with your surroundings. You lose value if you try to remain isolated. The environment must recognize your worth and affirm that you are needed. Next, you must be recognized by your object. Before you can claim to be the subject, your object must want you to be subject; that is only natural. You should not be subject because you need to be one, but because your surroundings feel that they need you. This should be a key element in your thinking. When this value system is lacking, people find themselves constantly embroiled in struggle. Strictly speaking, you cannot say that God gave you everything for your own sake. Actually, what you were given is also for the sake of your environment. Particularly here in America, people have fundamentally mistaken attitudes about this.
Suppose you asked your eye why it exists. It could not reply that it exists for itself. Certainly the eye serves to provide vision for the body, not just for itself. It exists to fulfill a larger purpose. For your ear to proclaim that it hears for itself makes no sense. Ears listen for a higher purpose.
If your nose wanted to exist only for itself, you would have the right to cut it off. Why would it be needed? It has a purpose to fulfill for the rest of the body. Does your mouth receive food for its own sake? Suppose one day it refused to open up! The mouth clearly functions for the sake of the whole body. Your sense of touch also exists to benefit the entire body.
Obviously, all five senses exist for the whole. Expanding this pattern, we can visualize one person having the position of an eye, another the position of a nose, existing for a greater whole.
It wouldn't make sense, then, for a man to say that he exists only for himself. A man's masculinity was not created to be appreciated by other men but by someone different-women. Likewise, women are not shaped for other women, but for someone different-men. Men and women were both shaped by a creative mind that envisioned them relating to a counterpart. Do any of you women feel you were created for the sake of other women?
In creation we find positive and negative, convex and concave fitting together harmoniously. It is not natural for positive to join with positive, or convex with convex. Upon analysis, this appears to be a simple principle, but it expresses a profound truth. A man is a man in order to fulfill something for the sake of others; women also have a purpose connected with others. The individual exists to satisfy someone other than himself. Everyone is involved in daily activities; you carry on your daily life to satisfy some universal purpose in your environment.
Do you engaged brothers regard your fiancée as your personal possession? Do you sisters feel that you can forget about the church now and depend on your fiancée to take care of you? Do you want to simplify your existence by forgetting the complications of church life?
All of you are anxious to know when I will announce the Blessing. Why do you want me to be involved in your life this way? Am I a good person or a bad person? You have a family environment, a social environment, a national, worldwide and cosmic environment, as well as God's environment. Before the Creator began His work, He already had certain ideals in mind such as a desire for a love-centered environment.
God created mankind to fulfill a central role in the universal environment, so mankind has a unique quality not found anywhere else in the animal kingdom: the ability to think. We function the same as animals, but we are set apart since we can conceive of moral and spiritual values.
For what values do we live: animal or human? Are people today really living according to human values, or are they closer to animal values? What about you? If an engaged member is annoyed that the time of Blessing hasn't yet been announced and gripes every day about how complicated Unification Church life is, can we say he is living closer to the human level or the animal level?
When a husband and wife hold hands and rejoice together, they are representatives of the universe. Our whole environment will find satisfaction in our unity as couples and families. You should realize that your unity is fulfilling a cosmic purpose. All your deeds, including your engagement, are meant to satisfy the rest of creation. You can feel that God, mankind, and all creation take delight in your engagement.
You can delight in truly living on the human level in this way, for this is where human dignity begins. Why do we need such human dignity? It is so we can be welcomed by the environment. When you have satisfied the needs of the environment, God can rejoice and welcome you personally, dwelling in love with you.
Evaluate yourself and ask whether your actions truly represent the nobility of human life. If your five senses did not exist for the whole but only for themselves, why would you need them? A man does not exist for himself, nor a woman for herself. We exist for a universal purpose, and we must harmonize with our surroundings, uniting everything. When you live this way, the universe can help compensate for any shortcomings you may have. Therefore, you don't need to feel discouraged or worry about being inadequate. You don't need to be concerned about your fiancée being less than perfect.
In Unification Church life we have certain rules and traditions, but what is their purpose? I am trying to show you how to harmonize with the universe, not isolate yourself from it. We need to shape ourselves in a certain direction in order to create perfect harmony. The path of this universal principle seems difficult, but by following it, you will ultimately be victorious. If you ignore universal destiny and just try to make things serve your own purpose, nothing will work out; obstacles will block you in every direction.
Should someone who tries to do things his own way be accommodated or rejected? If you make wrong decisions, history will judge you. I want you to make the right decisions and harmonize with the universe. Through this teaching we are rejecting the animalistic way of life, and striving to create heartistic relationships with one another and also with God.
By practicing divine love you can have an eternal relationship with the Creator. Let's use the term "divine humanity" to represent true human dignity. We don't want to bring God into our lives except in the dignity of divine love.
When you join the Unification Church you cannot avoid confronting the rule of subject and object. In order to find fulfillment in the Unification Church, you have to be able to harmonize with Reverend Moon as its subject. If you don't want to harmonize with this subject, the environment will kick you out. There is no way you could remain.
Perhaps after several years you may think, "I have gone along with Reverend Moon for some time now; why doesn't he do things my way for a change?" I have no objection to doing things differently-as long as it produces greater achievement of that divine element. In such a case I will become your follower!
I am definitely developing my leadership and traditions according to the universal destiny, never in accordance with my own desire or whim. I feel that eventually the United States will follow this way of life, not because I insist upon it but because it is the only way this country can elevate itself to the level of the divine human life. Whoever opposes that universal goal is only opposing his own well-being.
Universal power supports these principles, not America's present way of life. As long as I live within these principles, I cannot help but prosper, and my opponents will dwindle away. This principle is like a rock and my commitment to it is unshakable. God is in a position to sustain and strengthen this way of life. If God supports it, then judgment has already been passed. Anyone who thinks I am merely trying to justify myself should step forward with a better alternative. This is not just a theory.
We begin in the small environment of the family and then move on to successively greater levels of environment, finally reaching the spirit world and the Creator. You have to harmonize with what the Creator wants you to be. Otherwise, you are simply destroying yourself.
Because I keep moving from one level of the environment to another, people discover new aspects of me as they relate to me. Twenty years ago, the Korean members felt that I would always be with them, talking often until midnight. But now they recognize that I am not just a Korean teacher; I have a universal mission. When Korean members come to the United States, they don't receive all my attention. They miss those times in Korea. Some day you too will talk about the "good old days" when you sat here listening to me.
There are different methods of education for each level of a child's development, each presenting him with varying challenges. But no matter at which level I am teaching you, the central principle will always be that of universal harmony. I want to move with God's destiny, not my own, and receive all the protection of the universe.
Those who examine my life at a given point may feel that I am zigzagging, but if they look at the whole picture it will be clear that I am always following a certain vertical line. Since I have to deal with the reality of this world, I may have to make certain turns, but I never lose sight of the central line. In order to reach people on the right or on the left, I have to move back and forth. When I came to America, for instance, I had to reach out to you where you were. If I had been rigid and unyielding, we would never have made contact. But once my course crosses a certain boundary, the path will lead only straight forward.
The directions I give you may sound too steep, and you might prefer that I demand less of you. But you should know that your present activities are at an elementary school level. The high school and university levels are much tougher. When you finish the Unification Church Ph.D. course you will be truly universal men and women, able to overcome any obstacle.
After your education in the Unification Church is finished, you have another course to undertake: dealing with society and the rest of the world. The Unification Church is not only a place for spiritual training; you also receive social and economic training here.
Many people evaluate themselves from a very pragmatic, materialistic standpoint. "I joined the Unification Church five years ago," someone might say, "and all this time I have really done my best. As far as I'm concerned, I have given everything, but what have I gained? All I can see is that I've gotten five years older. I had several suits when I joined, but now I have only one. I had lots of shoes, but now I have only one pair-and even they have holes in them. I have a fiancée, but she doesn't seem to be anybody special. What's good about this life?" He might even think about the girl he dated five years ago and remember her as being so much better than his fiancée.
You may think you have gained nothing, but once you go out into the secular world, you will find that you excel in many ways. Of course you will excel in spiritual matters, but you can surpass people economically and socially too. In other words, no other kind of education can approach the one you received from five years in the Unification Church.
From a pragmatic viewpoint, members might wonder why the Unification Church way of life keeps getting tougher. "I thought I finished the lower levels and things would get easier," some people might say. "Instead, it's getting tougher and tougher." Once you finish elementary school and enter middle school, the standards are higher and the expectations greater. When you go on to high school, more is expected. All the way up to the Ph.D. level, more and more is demanded. The higher you are elevated, the greater the demands upon you. Do any of you think you have graduated from my school, or are you still in the process of learning? There is no university in America where you can hear this kind of lecture. That's for sure.
When you really listen to what we are discussing, you will realize that we are not talking about some specialized ideas but about the very roots of life. When you understand and absorb the Principle and achieve a high standard in your life, although you may not have a college degree, you will have your "Reverend Moon degree." When you go out into the world and discuss things with professors and people with doctorate degrees, you will realize what a deep knowledge you have gained about all aspects of life. Because of the depth and breadth of the understanding you have acquired, you will even feel confident to teach college professors. The secular world will come to respect Moonies because they have such shining inner strength.
When a little child begins kindergarten, her mother dresses her up in the nicest clothes. But as that child goes on to higher and higher levels of education, the less time she will have to spend on external appearances. Especially at the university level, the exams, term papers, dissertations-all the demands on students' time-leave virtually no room for worrying about clothing. Sometimes college students have such a demanding schedule they don't even take time to wash or shave! The university student might look back and envy his easy time in elementary school. Just because a student has no time to shave or keep himself attractive, however, doesn't mean he is miserable. There is something within him that is solid, valuable, and growing.
You are in Reverend Moon's university, and you are being called upon to do many demanding things. Under such pressure, you may look pale or even sloppy. However, although you may not appear so great externally, you are like a dynamo internally. In your true, internal self, you are becoming a life-giving force, like the sun.
What about me? I am well dressed today because I came to give you a sermon. But normally I dress very casually, even carelessly. Does that alter my value? Am I more valuable when I am well dressed than when I am sloppily dressed? Of course not. No matter how I dress, people respect me for my internal qualities.
Yesterday Bo Hi Pak said, "Father, all the leaders would like to give you and Mother a day of rest during your birthday celebration. We feel sorry that you have to work such long hours every holiday, and we would like to take over your speaking responsibilities for you. However, the truth is that nobody else has the ability to inspire the members the way you do!" Why is it that nobody else can duplicate my role? Am I fulfilling this role with external or internal qualities?
You may look at me and feel you know me, but nobody truly comprehends the entire depth of my internal self. If I were to preach for ten years continuously, do you think I would run out of sermon material? No, I wouldn't.
We talk a lot about the spirit world. You realize that it exists, but how much do you really know about it? Once you reach spirit world, all of you will feel lost and will call out for me to guide you! Then I will come and speak to you. Don't you think there are further things I can teach you in the spirit world? Certain things cannot be explained here on earth, but only there. Ten years of sermons in the spirit world would not even scratch the surface of knowledge about it that I have to share with you.
When you look at me, you see a very mysterious person. I am doing unique and extraordinary things. The main reason the United States is troubled about me is that it cannot measure me or figure me out. Even if the greatest computer companies wanted to run all the data about me through their sophisticated equipment, they wouldn't be able to enter everything into their computers. I wouldn't register on the screen, because I just don't compute!
You may have been following this way of life for the past several years and feel that you have achieved a certain degree of understanding. But knowing that the horizons are unlimited and the realms of knowledge infinite, how can you demand that I do things your way? How can you say you have learned enough from me?
The physical world and the spirit world are linked together. The spirit world is already under God's direction. Being the world of truth and order, the spirit world is controlled by the Principle. In this world, however, I have been treated like a swindler and a charlatan.
In the spirit world, do you think there will be a special Dr. Durst-type of heaven, since he has such a high academic degree, or will the Kingdom of Heaven be a Reverend Moon-type heaven? Do you think heaven will adopt my style or Dr. Durst's style? How about a Bo Hi Pak-style heaven? How about a Rev. Kwak-style heaven? You say Reverend Moon-style heaven, but which would you prefer: a Reverend Moon-style heaven or a God-style heaven? I want to live in a God-style heaven and I am sure you do, too.
There are many leaders in our church: state leaders, national leaders, and directors of various activities. Some of them think, "I want to create my own way of reaching heaven; I want to compromise just a bit on the Principle." But that is crazy. In this respect, I am absolutely logical and scientific.
Some people, without any scientific reasoning or logic, decide they want to go a certain way just because they feel like it. That is superstitious and wrong. We must base our actions on logic and deep philosophical understanding. If someone decides he wants to go off in his own direction, do you think the rest of the world will follow him? Perhaps people in this world will, but what about the spirit world? Will God go along with him?
Many people complain about the way I am going and fight against it. I have created a great deal of controversy and endured much persecution here on earth. But the amazing thing is that whenever someone tries to follow this way, he receives help from the spirit world and from God as well.
The Japanese leaders have followed my direction and have received showers of blessing from the spirit world. But they know that if they begin to be skeptical about what I say, all such assistance will cease.
Many people have their own logic and method of doing things. If you listen to their various ways, you might get confused. Why not just disregard all the other ways and follow this one? And if you don't like to do things this way, then I recommend you try to find another way to do God's will. Since you probably don't have a method of finding God's direction, you will have to rely on someone's expert guidance.
If you want to place an overseas telephone call, could you just dial numbers at random and expect to be connected? Of course not. You must go through certain channels; you must call an operator, who rings another operator and ultimately connects you to your goal. If you said, "I'm going to discover my own, unique way of placing an overseas call; I'm just going to dial the number my way," you could dial all day long and never reach your goal. It wouldn't work. Even though you may not like the voice of the particular operator you have to use to place your call, still you must call her first.
Likewise, in order to go to heaven, you must go through a certain channel. You may say, "I don't like Reverend Moon's way of talking or the things he teaches," but you have to talk to the right operator in order to connect with God.
If you should call the wrong operator, she might plug you into a totally wrong place; you might end up talking to Moscow instead of Norway, for instance. Likewise, the wrong spiritual leader might plug you into Satan instead of God and the good spirit world.
The members of the Unification Church are smart people. You are clever and know where the truth lies. You pay attention to me because you know where the greatest value lies. You are interested in what I have to say. You are curious about what I look like when I laugh; you wonder what makes me angry! Whole new horizons have appeared; an entire new spectrum is visible to you.
When I came to America, I never disregarded the reality of this environment. Each nation has its own head of state and government. When I came, Nixon was President, followed by Ford, Carter, and Reagan. I realize that they faced many serious challenges. My viewpoint is to solve problems on a worldwide level, but the highest consideration of national leaders is usually their own nation. I can offer answers that will resolve not only national problems but the problems of the world as well. Whoever brings universal solutions will become the universal subject.
The three major problems in the world are the spread of communism, the decline of Christianity, and the moral corruption of the young people. Once someone can bring a solution to these three challenges, he will definitely be in a subject position. Heads of state, the world's external leaders, are suffering from an inability to deal with the onslaught of communism. The world's internal leaders the religious leaders-agonize over the global decline of religion, especially Christianity. Young people are the hope for the future. If the youth are corrupted, there can be no hope for tomorrow.
We are tackling all three problems and offering solutions. We are bringing hope for the future by assembling renowned scholars from all over the world to give the world intellectual direction. They have concluded that there is only one power strong enough to deal with communism: Reverend Moon's ideology. The major foundation has been laid. These unique assemblies of scholars and intellectuals have agreed that the hope for the future lies with Reverend Moon's new ideology.
In December 1981, a truly unique conference was convened: a conference on God. Leaders of all major religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam, assembled for the first time in history. The discussion focused on the Creator, God.
A long time ago, I initiated a World Religious Congress, aiming at the unity of all the world's religions. I announced very plainly that wherever a movement for unity among religions occurred, I would give funds to support it. There are tremendous divisions within all religions, not only Christianity. There are religious leaders who long to find some bond of unity, and I was the only one volunteering to help. So they used the assistance I offered and called this conference. In dealing with the unity of religions, their discussion first focused on their shame that they could assemble only with the help of Reverend Moon.
I want to stimulate unity among all the religions of the world. During this conference, the religious leaders could evaluate themselves and begin to realize how trivial are the things which separate them and cause them to fight each other.
Out of this conference a great movement -- World Youth for God -- has begun. Beginning this summer, an evangelical team of young people, accompanied by famous scholars, will go from nation to nation and continent to continent trying to create an international movement for unity. When they visit a Muslim country, they will invite all the famous Muslim scholars to discuss the Creator. When they go to Asia, they will examine religious concepts with Buddhist leaders. And when they travel to Christian nations, they will invite Christian scholars to speak to them.
With such a movement, denominational in fighting will have to stop. Once the various religions begin to communicate with each other, the era of denominational differences and divisions over dogma will cease. What is amazing is that this entire project is sponsored by Reverend Moon. Can they point their fingers at each other, in front of me, and cry heretic? How can they accuse another religion of being inferior or take issue with certain aspects of another belief? They will be unable to accuse and judge each other that way.
Participants at this past conference knew it was funded by Reverend Moon and that Moonies would be there to help them. They came to the conference totally ignorant of my philosophy. They knew only one thing: they were great scholars. They began the conference in a very boastful manner, looking at our members somewhat scornfully. They thought we had nothing to offer them, but within three days, the participants' attitudes had completely changed. They concluded that religious unity in the world was possible. They could feel hopeful.
This was the culmination of many years of hard work and suffering, particularly in the founding of the Unification Theological Seminary, which is the base from which all these things can happen. During 1981 there were at least 30 major academic conferences sponsored by the Unification Church, the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences being only one of them. Many thousands of scholars and professors became exposed to Unification ideology as well. All of them have concluded that it is an advanced philosophy with unique, extraordinary thought behind it.
They are experiencing the dawn of new hope; they feel that a new day is beginning. They see that we are talking not just about a dream but a reality, and this gives them hope for world unity in the future. They thought that the world had come up against a stone wall, but now they realize that there is a way to push that stone wall aside and witness a new era on the horizon.
It is amazing that Christianity had been confronting Judaism for 2,000 years without any genuine dialogue taking place -- only accusation, hatred and killing. But the Unification Church is now fostering dialogue among the religions of the entire world, including Judaism and Christianity.
On February 4, 40 top Korean Christian leaders are coming to New York as my guests. They will be taking a 40-day tour of the United States and other countries. I want them to open their eyes and realize that the world is far bigger than they assumed.
Until now, all kinds of persecution have been mounted against the Unification Church, but people no longer have any excuse to harass us. The decline and degradation of the religious world is obvious; this has been a dark night for religion and spiritual values. But now all of a sudden, religious people can see the coming of the dawn in the philosophy of Reverend Moon. This has been achieved in a very short time.
We will not have to keep climbing as we have been. We are reaching the pinnacle of the mountain. Soon it will be easier; once we go over the peak, we will pick up speed. As I mentioned, the greatest headache for God as well as for all philosophical and religious people has been the problem of communism. And now we are offering a solution, both internally and externally. We are also bringing a solution to the religious decline by starting a new movement for religious unity. Nobody had thought such a thing possible, but it is happening.
Communism is like a cancer spreading freely all over the world, including the United States. It is even more rampant in Latin America. The world is helpless in the face of this cancer. Consider what is happening in Central America. The people in these countries are looking for an answer but weapons are not the solution; an ideology is needed. Before Unificationism, however, there was no ideology capable of combating communism. Young people are finding new life through Unificationism. What is taking place is almost like a resurrection.
I have one worry: leaders may get so inspired by this new ideology that they will organize a home church system. Then the Moonies will be out of a job! If such a situation arises, however, they will seek out experienced leaders to help them do home church. And whom will they call upon? You.
You may think you are repeating the same activities every day; you may find your duties monotonous. "I am doing home church," you think. "I go fundraising, I witness, and on Sundays I go to hear Father speak." You may think your life is repetitious, even perfunctory, and you don't see many results. But I want you to know that while you are fulfilling your responsibility, the world is changing. When America realizes it has to confront the challenge of communism, it will choose our way.
There are many religious leaders, but they don't stimulate much true excitement, so people will have to come and listen to my teachings. What result do my teachings bring? You bright young people are its fruits. You are so young; you look green and fresh, while other churches are filled with gray people almost ready for the cemetery! Religious leaders will have to notice this amazing difference. When smart young people come and stay, when they are filled with fervent, burning zeal, something must be happening. This is the very thing America needs. Therefore, people will come and ask for my advice.
I have been talking about a global evangelical team traveling around the world. They will hear lecturers from Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and the Unification Church. When people hear speakers from all those religions, which one do you think will be the most convincing?
One feature of our religion is that we deal with the reality of the present society and offer a solution for the future. In many cases, religions are concerned only about the next world. Many religious philosophies have almost no bearing on this world or offer any hope or solution for the future. Bright, idealistic young people long for some solution to the present world and some hope for the future. If they choose a religion, would they choose the Unification Church and the Principle, or Islam or Hinduism?