Sun Myung Moon
November 27, 1976
Hilton Hotel, Washington, DC, USA
Fifth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences
Photo date and location unknown
Honorable chairman, distinguished scholars and scientists:
I would like to extend my sincere welcome to all of you on this occasion of the fifth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences. I would especially like to welcome those of you who have participated in these conferences regularly. For the past several years, participants at these conferences have been discussing the subject of "absolute values," and this year you will deal with the specific theme of "The Search for Absolute Values."
The origin of humankind and all creation
To discover absolute values, one needs to clarify the origin of the existence of human beings and the universe. Here we run across the question of whether the universe originated from something in existence or from nothingness. As you well know, natural science, social science, philosophy and religion have not been searching for truth in the world of nonexistence. Instead, they have been trying to locate a causal being in the world of existence, and to discover the principles that have led to the existence and operation of the universe, including human beings, all proceeding from the origin itself. Ultimately, they have wanted to discover the reason for and value of any existing entity by clarifying its content or nature and by understanding the relationships between different existing entities.
If we consider the smallest unit necessary to constitute matter with a chemical identity, we may call it an "atom" and describe it as something in existence. If so, it would be logical to say that the atom definitely originated from something in existence, not from nothingness.
Modern science provides the view that the origin of the atom is a certain type of energy, which again must have had an origin. We can then draw the conclusion that this energy is also derived from some ultimate existence.
If we consider the vast universe as an amplification of the infinitesimal atom, and therefore also a result derived from an ultimate cause, we can clearly come to the realization that a human being is a resultant being and not the causal existence. Then there also needs to be a causal existence for human beings.
It is reasonable to set up a system of logic whereby all things were generated from an absolute causal existence and developed into more complex and higher beings. This system would need to refute the systems of scholars who insist that existence was generated from nonexistence. Thus, we can say that a certain Absolute Being that has existed from the beginning is the cause of the universe, resulting in all things from the smallest to the largest, connecting them and causing them to interrelate organically and initiating a variety of actions.
From this viewpoint, the established theory of evolution needs to be reexamined. In order for anything to progress to a higher level of being, some activity has to occur; and activity always requires energy. Can extra energy be created in the process of this activity? No, because during this activity, energy is being consumed. Therefore, it would be absolutely impossible for more energy to be generated, which could be used to give birth to a being on a higher level. If, theoretically, energy is consumed in the process of activity, then why have living things evolved, instead of deteriorating? And why has the general tendency of evolution been directed toward the development of things of greater value and higher dimension? This is the question.
The development of the universe through interaction and counteraction
The theory of evolution seems logical, but the process of the stage-by-stage progression of all living things can never be convincingly explained by the theory of random mutation. Without the addition of energy from outside the system, this progression toward beings of greater value and higher dimension is absolutely impossible. The evolution of animals has culminated in human beings, and we can say that human beings are the ultimate purpose of creation by the first causal Being. Here again we can establish the logic that the first causal Being existed from the beginning.
Next comes the question of which was first, existence or energy? No being maintains its existence or activities without energy. There is energy that operates within an individual being and energy that enables the interaction between different beings.
The question now is how this energy is produced. It is impossible to produce energy without the prior existence of a complementary pair consisting of a subject partner and an object partner. That is to say, the relationship between a pair of subject and object partners is indispensable for energy to be produced. In the case of an atom, for example, both the proton, which is the subject partner, and the electron, which is the object partner, have to be present before they begin to interact. There can be no flow of energy until there is the purpose of uniting the pair of subject and object partners. Therefore, if the question is raised whether energy or the subject-object pair comes first, the answer is clearly the subject-object pair. Energy is the phenomenon resulting from the process of the two becoming one.
According to the variety of relationships between subject and object partners, the energy generated differs in degree, intensity, direction and objective. This results in the variety of beings in the universe. The reason why the particular actions of subject-object pairs have directions and objectives is that the first causal Being includes a fundamental subject-object pair that acts with a certain direction and objective.
Consider a being that has attained perfect unity between the subject and object partners within its individual self. For that being to form a relationship with another being, it needs to take either the subject partner or object partner position to and unite with that other being. Thereby, the two beings progress to produce a greater form of being with a direction and objective of higher dimension. When a being in the subject partner position wants to interact with a being in the object partner position, they have to share a common interest or purpose. Then, by interacting, they can produce the higher form of being.
The universe provides protection against disease
The formation of this vast universe is the common purpose shared by all subject-object pairs. Thus, the universe protects itself and at the same time protects and promotes those beings that have attained unity between subject partner and object partner. Furthermore, it causes repulsion in those beings that lack harmony and repels those that try to invade the beings that have attained unity.
This is how perpetuity becomes possible. One may call the protective force the "correspondence force," and the other, the "repelling force," or action and counteraction, respectively.
This is true in both the nonhuman and human worlds. When our mind and body are united in oneness, we receive the protective power of the universe and consequently experience happiness. However, when our mind and body are not united, the repulsion leads to suffering.
The suffering experienced in illness is produced in a similar manner. When the subject and object components in our body fail to attain unity and harmony, they lose the protective force of the universe, and the repelling force causes suffering. The medicine administered after a doctor's diagnosis is a way to restore the harmonious relationship between the subject and object components. The same principle governs the individual and the family.
For instance, before marriage, a man and a woman enjoy being with friends of their own gender. After marriage, as subject and object partners, they eventually attain perfect unity and form a family, and thus receive the protective or helping power of the universe and become happy. At this point, as soon as a third party, another man or woman comes, potentially interfering with their marital relationship, some repelling force starts to act, lest the perfection of the relationship be hindered.
The repelling power is not necessarily harmful to the third parties because it serves to indicate that they too can act constructively to find subject or object partners, attain unity with their partners, and thereby receive the protective power of the universe and become happy. In other words, the repelling power also serves as a stimulant for the third parties to attain perfection.
All existing beings resemble the First Cause and multiply
For an electric current to flow and complete its circuit, a harmonious interaction between positively charged and negatively charged entities is needed, corresponding to pairs of subject (plus) and object (minus) partners. However, if two entities have the same type of electrical charge, namely, a plus and another plus or a minus and another minus, they will repel each other. When all beings find their counterpart and form a proper relationship, they experience stability and happiness under the same law.
When a pair of subject and object partners become one as a result of give-and-receive action, according to the theory mentioned above, they come under the protection of the universe. Since all the actions we observe in this universe are resultant actions derived from the first causal Being, we can state that there exists a central Being that is both causal and active. Just as children take after their parents, results take after the cause.
Let's look now into the seed of a plant. We find that there are two complementary parts in perfect unity within one coat. They interact with each other by their give-and-receive action, and by doing this alone can they produce another living organism. The development of a chicken egg is based on the same principle. Each egg has a yolk and a white, with the embryo between deriving nutrition from them; and they are all united in one shell. The human fetus develops in a similar manner.
When the subject and object partners of any species of living things, whether human, plant or animal, become one through give-and-receive action, they multiply beings that take after the form of their cause and eventually achieve that original form.
If we acknowledge that all these beings take after the ultimate First Cause, we come to the conclusion that the first causal Being is the basic model for all of them, having the perfectly united subject-object pair within itself. Then the first causal Being takes the subject partner position to all other beings.
The purpose for creating all beings of creation on different levels
The objective of the progressive creation of all things in the universe is the human being. A human is the fruit, microcosm and model of the existing world. A human is the highest being and contains elements from the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms. Yet since humans are also resultant beings, one must conclude that they were made to take after the image of the first causal Being.
In other words, there has to be an absolute subject Being that takes the human being as an object partner. Since humans are beings of personality, with intellect, emotion and will, that absolute subject partner also must be a Being of personality in order to relate with them. That Absolute Being is called "existence" in philosophy and "God" in religion.
Today the world is filled with confusion and contradiction in regard to evolution, dialectical materialism, epistemologies, idealism, materialism and so on. Our immediate historical task is to reexamine all of these and to find and establish absolute truth. Only then will we be able to form a world of absolute value. The Being of absolute value is eternal, unchanging and unique. Then, what principle in the universe is eternal, unchanging and absolute? It is the cause-and-effect relationship, which involves the relationship between subject partner and object partner.
When you apply these principles to human society, the heart of the matter is the parent-child relationship and the husband-wife relationship. The former may be termed a vertical relationship, and the latter, a horizontal one. The unity of the subject and object partners on the vertical plane plays the role of a greater subject partner to the object partner that consists of the unity of the subject and object partners on the horizontal plane. They conduct perfect give-and-receive action to create harmonious spherical movement.
This action is centered on love, forming the model of an ideal family, which is the basic unit of human society. In this sense, one can recognize love as the most valuable thing.
The world of eternal happiness under absolute values
Since the ultimate source of love comes from an absolute, unchanging and causal subject Being, and not from human beings, the family of love that maintains the causal Being at its center is the basic unit for realizing the ideal in human society.
To realize an ideal of absolute value, we need to begin with this family of love and expand in scope to the nation and the world, thereby reaching the ideal world of unity where eternal happiness rooted in absolute value is promised.
I sincerely hope that this conference will contribute to providing solutions for the various problems present in human society and to straightening the path to the future. I urge all of you to bring the results of your research freely and fully to these meetings and discussions, so that the general welfare of humankind might be better served. May your efforts become a decisive, contributing factor toward the realization of an ideal world of peace, happiness and love.
Thank you.