Sun Myung Moon
March 20, 1988
Belvedere
Translator: Peter Kim
At East Garden on True Parents' homecoming day, March 17, 1988, Father and Mother get acquainted with their new grandson Shin Gil Nim. Left to right: Father, Mother holding Shin Gil Nim, Nan Sook Nim, Hyo Jin Nim, and Shin Jeung Nim.
Do you feel happy to see me again? Since I left this country the last time, which was on December 2, it has been a little more than three months. I understand that you have been waiting eagerly for my return, but the brothers and sisters in Korea have also been waiting to see me for many years now. Therefore, I have come to the realization again that I can't stay in one place all the time because I am awaited by people everywhere. I have only one physical body, but still people everywhere want to see me -- it's as if they want to carry my body away.
As you know, we are all from different racial backgrounds -- some people have blue eyes, some are short, some have big noses, some have large mouths. Yet all kinds of people are waiting and longing for me. Why is this happening? If you are serious about boxing, you will naturally long to meet the world champion boxer. If you are a sumo wrestler, you will want to encounter the champion sumo wrestler. I am not really popular in a secular sense, yet people are yearning to meet me. Why? People have many different desires, but there are two things that everyone on earth longs for -- truth and love. That is why people want to meet me.
The problem in this world is that we can't find true love or a true man who brings true love. Then what is the truth, and what kind of person is the true man? Truth is unchanging; truth always has self-contained authority. No matter what happens or what kind of difficulty or persecution truth may encounter, it can never be destroyed or changed.
Then what is true love? True love is one thing that everybody wants to touch, to live with, to cling to -- eternally. Everybody longs for it. True love does not change, no matter what situation develops. It is eternally unchanging. We may have lived 30, 40, 50 years or more, but we can never forget our parents' love. Now it is springtime and we can observe the birds laying their eggs and bringing their new babies into the world. We can find love there, too. If any force from the outside came to destroy the love relationship existing among you, you would even be willing to sacrifice your life to protect your love, wouldn't you? We can conclude from this that the power of love is universally recognized and has authority in itself.
What do I have that causes people to love me? The answer is simple: I have always been trying to love the truth and to love everyone and everything. Look around and you will see many Americans who are more handsome than I am, who are more knowledgeable, more popular, and more famous than I. In the worldly sense, I am not very popular. So then why did you drop all the pleasures of the outside world and come to the Unification Church and go through this difficult life? Why do you always want to come and see me?
When you look at me from a horizontal point of view, there is not much to differentiate me from the average person. I have a physical body and everything that everyone else has. But why are people crazy about me? That's a real mystery. But that phenomenon is reality, so it cannot be denied. Americans think, "Rev. Moon is a strange one. He has some strange power."
When a man and woman are in love with each other, there is a power that causes them to cling together, regardless of how they may look. One or the other or both may be tremendously fat or unattractive, but no matter how huge that woman may be, or no matter how unattractive that man may be, there is some strange and mysterious power keeping them together. That is love power.
It's the same in the relationship between me and the Unification Church members. Regardless of where I go around the world, all Unification Church members follow m, footsteps everywhere. Other people may not be able to figure it out, but there is a mysterious power there. What is it? It is the power of love and truth, which can penetrate all the way to the universal level.
Father, Mother and the True Children just before Father begins speaking at Belvedere on March 20.
Satan's Roadblock
But what is the source of this power? Did Rev. Moon bring this power to the world, or did it exist from the beginning? It has existed from the beginning. So since that power has existed from the beginning, why hasn't everybody already been using it? In electricity we can clearly observe that as soon as a minus charge comes into proximity with a plus charge, they are naturally and automatically pulled together. They don't have to be told. There is no need for explanation. According to the same principle, man and woman are originally supposed to be united together centered on truth and love. But why isn't this happening in the world today? That is the problem.
The title of my sermon today is based on this phenomenon. There is definitely isolation and separation in the world. Our original mind is always heading toward the direction of unity, but there is a roadblock preventing us from reaching it. In the field of electricity, the plus and minus charges can be prevented from coming together by what is called resistance. How can we get rid of the resistance in our world? If we don't have enough power to get rid of the resistance, we have to find some other way around. Either we have to jump over the roadblock, or make a hole in the middle and climb through, or we have to just attack it, thereby destroying it.
Where did that roadblock come from? If we say that roadblock or resistance existed from the beginning with God -- that concept is called dualism -- we can't even begin to talk about an ideal world, eternal love, or truth. Nonbelievers will say, "There is some roadblock, but we can't explain it." They just have a vague idea. But religious people understand that the resistance came about because of a human fall. We must conclude that this resistance is a side product of history, and if we really work together, believing in God, we can get rid of it. We can destroy and eliminate it, correct?
Human history has shown that no matter how hard we have tried to eliminate the roadblock, no matter how much we fight against it, it always comes back, sometimes becoming bigger and more powerful than before. There must be some power behind the scenes, something sustaining and controlling that roadblock; that is the only logical conclusion. We may call it the devil, or evil, or sin. Then what is this devil, evil, or sin? It is the power that separates goodness from us. We have to understand that this power of evil has always been working behind human history. Even now, that evil power exists with us and among us here.
Who Understands the Situation?
As we know, God is the absolute essence of goodness and power and authority. If that is true, why does God tolerate the existence of that roadblock or resistance? Why doesn't God destroy it? If there is anybody who clearly understands the real reason why evil exists in the world, that would have to be only God and the devil himself. No human being has ever known clearly. You know from your experience in life that when you deal with a lot of people in various situations from a position of authority, you develop an ability to judge or to discern a person's character when you first meet him. But if you don't clearly have that power or authority or ability, you can't have a clear idea of what he or she is like. For example, when the time comes for you to marry, do you want to pick your own spouse or do you want me to match you? You want me to pick your fiance for you because you know that I have more knowledge and much more ability and power to evaluate people.
Satan is always working hard to stop God, to try to isolate God from man. At the same time, if there is anybody who is trying to get close to God, Satan always comes in and tries to destroy that person. How can we get rid of this Satan who has always been trying to confine God and destroy men's lives? We have to somehow tie up Satan so that he won't be able to move. That's the only thing we have to know how to do.
Let's analyze the difference between God's characteristics and Satan's characteristics. There must be something totally and entirely opposite about them. Everybody knows that God is the owner and master of truth and love. He is never changing, never deviating, forever eternal, unchanging, and unique. Then what are the major characteristics of the devil? We can say that the essence of Satan's character is falsehood, false love, cruelty, and brutality. Another key difference between God and Satan is that God always exists and works for the sake of the whole, for the largest public purpose, whereas Satan is always self-centered and individualistic, existing only for himself. Furthermore, God exists for eternity without changing while Satan is always changing. Satan is always shifting and deviating; he is always temporal and without an eternal base. So we can sum up that God is the master of the whole and Satan is the master of the individual, the self. He is the self-centered master.
Ye Jin Nim sings during a celebration at East Garden.
Are You a Public Person?
When you think about yourselves, can you say that you are a completely public-minded person, completely living for the sake of others? If you are, then no matter how many roadblocks you may encounter, you will still be able to reach God. But if you can't say that you are that kind of person, then Satan is just watching and waiting along the narrow road, ready to catch you. What is a public man? A public man is the one who has public eyes, a public nose, a public mouth, a public mind, and public sense. Think about yourself. Are you a public person or not? You leaders of the Unification Church, what do you think about yourselves? When almighty God looks at you, He sees a man trying to build a path for his life down just one avenue. God can't claim this kind of life because that is Satan's possession.
Of course, a public man has five physical senses; however, each sense is focusing on the public purpose. For example, what his eye is looking at, or what his ear is hearing, is always centered on the public goal. What is the public goal? The public goal is that which works toward creating goodness for the whole. What is a satanic man? He looks just like the public man. He has two eyes, but he sees things differently with each of his two eyes. He has two ears, but he may hear one thing with one ear and another thing with the other ear. He has a mouth, but he speaks the way he wants, without thinking about God. That is a satanic man.
Which way is easier for you -- the public way of life or the private, individualistic way? There is no doubt that living the public way of life is much more difficult. The self-centered way of life is just free and easy. There are no restrictions or regulations; you go as you feel. From that point of view, do you think you belong to Satan or God? I can't believe you when you say "God." You are laughing, so that means you admit that it's true! So which do you choose -- the easy way out, or the difficult way?
The world today is in turmoil, being pulled by both God and Satan. Therefore, if we want to save or restore this world, the entire population has to choose this difficult way and be united and work together. Then we can eliminate the power of Satan and make this world beautiful world of harmony.
The hope for mankind is for some person or group to appear in history that can block Satan's influence. Satan is the one who creates the roadblock between man and God; but if a group of people can begin to create a roadblock between Satan and man, that is the world's hope. That is why we see two distinctly different groups in this world. One group will go after self-centered goals, and one group will even be willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the public goal.
Man has to find this public-minded way of life. But it is a very thorny path. Who is going to show mankind that this thorny way is the right way? Only the religions have been doing this. That is why religions teach, "Don't live for yourself; sacrifice yourself for others." In Satan's dictionary, there are no such words as "love," "sacrifice," or "service for others." He knows nothing about those things. However, in God's dictionary, those are the key words. Those are the words that fill up all of God's books. They are like kings of words. When you read the Bible without understanding the essence of the words "love," "sacrifice," and "service for others," you may get tired or bored. However, if you fully understand those terms, you will really enjoy reading the Bible and will be completely inspired.
Which aspect of you likes those words -- your mind or your body? Of course, your mind likes them because your mind is connected to God and shares in His unchanging and eternal character. However, the body belongs to the realm of change and therefore is connected to Satan and the secular world. We can say that the mind is the stage for the public w y of life and the body is the base for the individualistic way. The mind is the base for God and the body can be the base for Satan.
If we see some delicious food, the body may say, "Hey, go over there and grab some before anybody else comes in." But your mind will say, "No, wait for the others to take some and then take from whatever is left." In this particular example, we can clearly see God's side and Satan's side. If we just follow the body's desire, the evil mind will continue to grow. But if we follow the mind's direction, would the evil mind continue to grow? If our body completely unites with and follows our mind, this kind of evil inclination will gradually disappear.
A Simple Conclusion
When we look at this fallen world, we can draw a simple conclusion that whatever the body likes most is the thing the mind likes least. Shall we just follow our physical desires wherever they lead, or shall the mind be our leader? Should we be a mind-centered or a body-centered person? You know the answer. But you don't really understand. You may understand this in the morning, but in the evening you forget. Then when nighttime comes, since its dark, you totally forget! This is a serious point.
No matter how evil, confused, or fallen the world is that surrounds you, the very key to solving this evil is within you. Even the liberation of God, or whatever other problem there is to solve, is up to you. Do you understand?
You are separated between your mind and body, aren't you? Then what is separating you? It is Satan. You may not be able to see Satan directly, but when your eyes want to look at something bad or your ears want to hear about somebody doing terrible things, then you must immediately realize, "This is Satan." When you recognize that kind of evil situation, your original mind will cause your heart to pound and you will tell yourself, "Don't go anywhere near that." However, if your original mind gives up and becomes sick and weak, this can lead to your destruction.
If you don't know that God exists right behind you, you may be swayed easily by satanic desires or action. But as long as you understand that God exists in reality, then even though it's difficult, your original mind can give you the strength to fight against that evil direction. You can do this because you have the confidence that God is supporting you in the struggle. God is an absolute being and He can control everything, whereas no matter how strong the power of your body may be, you cannot make it continue to live forever. The greatest thing in this world is knowing God's existence. You have discovered that, haven't you? Do you know that absolutely?
As Moonies, we may have walked a very thorny and difficult path up to this point -- so much persecution, so many roadblocks in our life. However, we know that God is with us, and because of that power we can always march forward and survive, even though the satanic world tries to isolate us. We have been fighting against that power, following the True Parents, and we are still here. When we feel our body being pulled by evil desire, at the same time we can feel our original mind centered upon God, and our heart starts beating fast. Then we feel afraid of that evil, and we start doing everything we can to avoid it. Because of this very phenomenon, we can find God's existence within ourselves. That is the power of God. He is working through you, and through each person. You can find God not just through Rev. Moon, but also through yourself. Of course, I am teaching you and bringing you the truth; but you have to practice it and make this truth substantial in your life. Then you can find God's existence and power within yourself, not just through my words.
The members applaud Father after his speech.
Your Original Mind
So, do you just think God exists, or have you discovered God? When you say, "I know God exists," that may just mean, "I've heard about God's existence from somebody else." But when you say, "I've discovered God's existence and power myself," that means you have put all of yourself -- your effort, your heart, your mind and thoughts, everything -- into discovering God, and you have finally come to the conclusion that God and His power are real. Where do you find God's power and God's existence? Within your original mind. Right there is where you should start developing yourself. That is the very place from which the family, the nation, the world, and the universe will develop.
When Jesus Christ said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is within your mind," he meant the original mind. Do you think that once you possess the Kingdom of Heaven in your original mind someone else will be able to come and steal it from you? If you become the eternal owner and possessor of such an original mind, who can ever take it from you? If somebody comes and kicks you because he wants to steal this treasure from you, you may be thrown against the wall, but then you will bounce and land in a place too far away for Satan to kick you again. Then you will gain the momentum to run back and force Satan back even stronger than Satan kicked you!
When I was sent to Danbury prison, instead of becoming weaker by being there, I became even stronger. Did America make me great, or did I do it myself? I do not embrace America because it is great, but I embrace America because you Unification Church members are here and you are following me. This is a great thing. This is eternal.
Judge Yourself First
When you see people doing bad things, before you criticize and judge them, you have to look at yourself as if you were a mirror of that person and judge yourself. No matter where you may go or what situation you may face, if you feel that a situation or a person is more public-minded than you, you should be able to humble yourself and respect that situation or that person. That's the public way of life. If you do that, you will become greater than that particular situation or person because of your humility.
Why do you love me? You know I am more public-minded and am living a more public life than anyone else, so you realize, "As long as I follow in Father's footsteps, I will be adopted by him, so I will go the way he goes." In a way, you've got your mental calculator going, adding up all the spiritual profits, right? There's nothing wrong with that. It's heavenly business!
There is so much talk today about liberation. The Soviet Union claims, "We are going to liberate America." Americans say, "We want to go and liberate the Soviets." All of this talk, however, is fruitless; nothing will take place unless and until you solve the basic problem within yourself. What is the position of Moonies then? Are you going to be liberated by democracy? Are you going to be isolated and separated by communism? We have the keys and answers within ourselves. So the Moonies' claim should be this: "Neither Russia nor the United States can isolate me or liberate me. I will achieve liberation for myself because it is within me."
Think about how much separation and isolation has been brought to bear against me. Satan has tried every possible avenue, working through individuals, through your nation, your society, and the world. But Satan always failed. When I came to the United States and started my public life here, this country tried to separate and isolate me, but that failed. Now I am the winner and I am able to isolate and separate the influence of individualism from America.
If there were a collision between my head and America's head of individualistic, secular humanism, which head would get cracked first? What is my secret enabling me to win over this entire country? As I have already told you, I have the secret within myself. I can contain and embrace the entire world within my original mind. The United States government has given up opposing me. The British government sued the Unification Church, but in the middle of the court litigation, they dropped the charges. The same thing happened in France and Germany. That means they recognize their failure.
But there is only one country which is still trying: the Soviet Union. The Soviet Politburo gets daily, up-to-date information on my activities and whereabouts. They are trying to stop me and destroy me. But their problem is that they don't know how to deal with the spirit world, while I do. If you don't know about something, you can't bring victory out of it. The Moscow government may say, "We have wealth and power, so we will be able to destroy Rev. Moon." But they don't know that the spirit world is powerfully working on our side, so there is no way for them to catch up with me.
Father and Mother with their new grandson Shin Gil Nim.
Have Confidence in Yourself
In order to bring success, there has to be a cause or motive. Where is that motive? You must say, "It is within myself, so nobody can take it away. Isolation will disappear in my life and liberation will come automatically. Satan will be destroyed and eliminated." We will find and follow God. Who will do that? Every individual must do that. You can't say, "The Unification Church will do that." You must say, "I will do that" I can trust myself, but you always change and sway from nighttime to daytime. I just have a small hand, a small fist, but it has great power. No matter how powerful the force of evil pitted against me may be, just one punch from my small fist will destroy it. Do you want to have that kind of confidence and power, too? After this course of isolation and then liberation, only victory will remain. Do you want to become a victorious person?
Considering my physical age, you may say, "Father, why don't you just settle down and enjoy your life?" But I am always very busy, traveling between Korea and the United States. The day I left Korea and arrived here in America was the same day that President Reagan decided to send American troops to Honduras. Also it was the day that Lt. Col. Oliver North got indicted. Satan is using this turmoil to separate and isolate the American people from the side of goodness. Who do you think can unite the American people centered on God? Each of you should say strongly, "Me!" When you say "me" in Korean, it means "beauty." So your "me" is precious to the entire world. Then God will say, "I will give myself, my love, and everything in exchange for you."
You may say, "Well, this life in the Unification Church is so difficult that I feel like giving up several times a day." Is this kind of difficult path wonderful or just mediocre? How many times have I gone to prison because of my mission? Think about it. An innocent man has been persecuted and accused and somehow ended up being put in prison six times. Later on, nations will come out and repent and be ashamed for what they did. Think of how wonderful that day will be.
How wonderful "me" is! You really have to think that way, having that kind of pride. Without such confidence, you cannot move. Are you like that? Do you give your promise, your pledge, to have that confidence? If so, accomplishment and success will be with you forever. Let us pray.
Our Standard of Devotion
Home Church and the Battle of Love
1/7/79, Belvedere
Before we can even talk about home church, we need to win the war between good and evil within ourselves. Do you think the person who is defeated in the individual battle will be very successful in home church? The person who is already defeated by his own fallen nature is like a mortally wounded soldier. If he gets up and tries to do home church, he will only become an obstacle there. In order to succeed in home church, you need to have first won your individual battle. You need to be strong, healthy, disciplined, and absolutely determined. That is the only way you can move on to the home church providence and bring results.
The person who can say, "Father, I have disciplined myself. I can control hunger and sleep and sexual desire," is ready to march into home church.
If you cannot say this, you cannot win the battle, because you don't have a weapon with which to fight.
The 360 homes you are going to visit are full of temptations. You may feel, "They are eating good meals while I am hungry, so why should I serve them? They are better off than I am. Why do I always have to go out so early in the morning and come back so late?" There are all kinds of men and women trying to tempt you out there. You are facing a poisonous atmosphere every day. How can you go on like that, suppressing your own desires? It is because you want to win the victory of true love. You must be able to say, "Even though I am hungry and tired, I will accomplish for the sake of true love. I will overcome all sexual temptations in order to be victorious in true love."
In the confrontation between good and evil within yourself, are you confident you can beat Satan? Is it an easy or difficult task? It's almost as painful as dying. Therefore, unless you firmly make up your mind even to die to achieve your victory, you cannot win. Your first battleground is yourself; then you can move on to the second battleground--home church. If your battle within yourself is difficult, how much more difficult do you think the battle in your home church will be? Don't take it lightly. The road to perfection is very difficult.
You must set the highest example. You know what kind of criteria you must establish: Love home church more than you love eating or sleeping, more than you love your parents, your husband or wife, or yourself. Love your home church with all your heart and soul and mind.
God is the root of love, and home church is the fruit and harvest of His love. Therefore, love God more than anything else. When you come to the throne of God, you want to be able to proudly say, "God, as Your representative, I have loved my home church, which is a symbol of the whole world. Now I want to come back to You."
Whether or not you can create your eternal happiness depends on the outcome of this war. Will your intensity in your battles bring better or poorer results? At first, people may not welcome you, thinking, "Oh, that Moonie is always bothering me, sometimes coming even twice in the same day!" But the time will come when they will say to you, "Please come over more often. Teach us more; discipline us." The time will come when people will let you come in any time of the day or night. Three hundred and sixty house keys will be jingling in your pocket as you walk. You must win that much of their trust and love. If you can do this, then there is certainly hope that the Kingdom of Heaven can be created on earth, because trust is the foundation for building the Kingdom of Heaven.