Sun Myung Moon
July 4, 1982
Belvedere
Translator: Sang Kil Han
How many of you here this morning are blessed? Do you understand clearly your purpose for getting married? It is very clear that until you have a true husband or wife you can never meet God. You may be able to contact God occasionally, but when that happens what would you do with Him? What would you say to Him? The purpose of meeting God and experiencing His presence is to have Him fill our mind and heart. When you are saturated with love you want to keep giving, and you are able to do so without diminishing your love or exhausting your supply. True love is like a spring of water, the deeper you dig, the more abundantly it springs up. It is true that the more you give the more you will receive. Even money is no exception to this principle; if you give money generously the universe will keep replenishing your supply.
My whole point is this: do you realize how precious your spouse is? Would you trade your dear husband for me? Would you men feel happy if your wife says she loves me more than she loves you? No, you're right. Before you get married, you love True Parents more than anybody in the world, more than even your own parents. I love you more than anybody else, too. But from now on, if you continue to love me that way I will say, "Bad girl! You should love your husband more." You have already established your center-, you know how to love True Parents.
How much do you love your husband? If your husband is dying, as a true-wife you- should wish you could die in his stead. As a true husband, you should love your wife so much that when she is about to die, you would wish you could die in her place, or perhaps die together. When your children are in danger or their life is in peril, as parents you will try to save your children at the cost of your own life. This is the heart of true parents. This is truelove.
Now you know the nature of a true husband, a true wife, and true parents. Anything that does not fit this criterion is bad and has nothing to do with truth. It belongs to the realm of Satan, or hell.
Everything that has to do with God is heavenly. Heaven is the opposite of hell. True Parents, true husband and wife, true children all belong to the same realm, heaven. That is where the Unification Church is going, and we will help everyone throughout the world reach it as well. Any family that adheres absolutely to this principle is a true family and the beginning of heaven. Always remember that God is the true center.
The center of true love does not come into being all at once -- not even after 2,000 couples get married! It expands from a small beginning. According to the Principle, nothing comes about all of a sudden; everything grows. A tiny speck could be the center of the universe. The center of the smallest circle can be the center of the largest circle at the same time. Two lines can meet to form a small 90-degree angle or a large one. Two 90-degree angles can be superimposed to fit precisely. Once we ascertain that an angle is aligned with the model right angle, then we can forget about the model. We know that the angle is properly formed and that each successive angle based on that model will also be a right angle.
Is man above woman or woman above man? Men may answer one way and women another, but there should be a valid basis for the answer. Isn't it true that a receptacle or container is positioned below what it is to receive?
Something that goes up is bound to come down, and whatever is down always wants to go up. There is a plus/minus relationship between the sexes, with man constantly seeking woman and woman constantly seeking man and their interaction forms a big circle.
Ownership is determined through interaction. All people want to own something, don't they? If you have nothing, you are only a flat line, but nobody wants to be just a flat line. Your domain is determined by the extent of your interaction.
What differentiates men from women? Is it the nose? No, men and women have similar none, mouths and eyes. However, in one area there is a significant difference: one is protruding and the other hidden, one is plus and the other minus. No matter how many years you may study at Harvard you cannot change this law. On this point, simpleminded people have really misunderstood me and accused me of being anti-feminine, someone who devalues women. Not at all. I cannot change this difference because it's not something I made. I won't live more than a hundred years on this earth, but during my life span I will teach what is right and what is principled. That which endures forever is closest to the Principle.
So is woman in a higher position or lower position relative to man? If you are not satisfied with my answer I can elaborate on it. If you say my reasoning is inadequate, lees take a further look. Men have broad shoulders and a thick chest, and their body tapers in, while women have a larger mass at their hips. The typical masculine physique is almost the reverse of a typical feminine physique. This relationship reveals a lot of truth; it is an unalterable fact. Well, do you remain unconvinced that men should be in the upper position?
Conscience is something which sets human beings apart from animals. It is a common Korean expression to say that someone has a straight conscience, while in the Western culture, people talk about a clear conscience. There is a difference between a straight conscience and a clear con. science. To say that a person has a straight conscience means that it is exact and maintains a 90 degree angle with the vertical line.
Human beings are considered to be the supreme animal and that is because other animals walk on all fours while we stand on two legs. We walk upright because our conscience is meant to be straight. There is a correlation between a straight mind and a straight body-, to stand erect is the true human posture. We should maintain a 90-degree angle; nothing should be ambiguous or deviated. Some people's conscience may be at an angle of 50 or 60 degrees. Furthermore, some people have a straight mind but a bent or twisted body, and they experience pain as a result. Do you understand such a mind-body struggle? A straight person is someone with a straight conscience as well as an upright body.
We have five physical senses and five spiritual senses as well. Our spiritual sight should intersect at a right angle with our physical sight. Then our eyes can see straight into both this world and the spirit world. This should be very natural, since we were born to see this way. Also our spiritual hearing should be vertical. We should listen to the sounds of not only the horizontal world but also the vertical world. In general, when our mind and body are truly healthy and straight, everything is aligned at a right angle and our physical and spiritual senses both operate. The five spiritual senses overlap with the five physical senses. If men and women can lead such a straight life and receive true to the original love, isn't it logical to think that God will come and dwell with them?
We know that people should not tell lies, but why not? Some people say it isn't good to tell lies, others say it isn't ethical. To he means to abandon the right angle. When you he, not only does your conscience stray from the right angle but also your actions deviate from it and you feel ashamed. Our purpose on earth is to correct deviations and live according to the proper standard; otherwise we will not pass the universal grade. Do you follow me?
Just as we have mind and body, we have a spiritual mind and a physical mind. When our physical mind and spiritual mind are aligned according to that right angle, that intersection forms the center of our being. From that center we can extend lines above and below, left and right, front and back. The right side is plus and the left side minus.
All levels of society are connected through the family center. We are reforming love through families -- man, woman and children centered on true love. Such a family center is God's dwelling. Can the center of the family be different from the center of the clan or tribe? No. It is easy to understand that both tribe and family must have a common center that treats family and tribe on an equal, lawful basis. The center of the family should treat the clan with at least as much concern as his family. The center of the tribe must love the tribe more than his own family. The center of the nation should do the same. The love for ones nation should be the same quality as the love for one's family. Should you love your nation more or less than your family? What if your parents tell you not to love your country more than your family? They may try to discourage you or even kidnap you to prevent you from doing that. Then what would you do?
Does the family encompass the nation, or does the nation encompass the family? The family fits within the nation, doesn't it? For the sake of the' world, it is inevitable that we should love the nation more than our own family. You must remember that this is the ideal way.
What if your parents insist that you pay more attention to them or other things and forget about your nation? What if they ask you to be faithful just to your family? A home based on such values may exist for a time, but without the nation it can never be permanent, because it is open to invasion at any time. Sooner or later, a family that is focused only on itself is bound to be overrun by Satan.
If you extend this principle a little further, it is obvious that you should love the world more than your own family, in order to be the at the ideal family center of the world. People feel that a nation should love the world more than itself, so other nations have been highly critical of Americans, crying out, "Yankee, go home." Of course, communism has played a role in provoking this response, but Americans tend to feel that since the United States is a great nation, rather than serving the world, the world should serve it. The United States is just one country -- one component of a larger entity, the world -- but the American people want to away the world.
God's will on this point is obvious. He says that the world encompasses the United States and not the other way around. In other words, the world is more precious in God's eyes than the United States. There is a similar relationship between the mind and body. Which do you think is more correct. for the mind to be subordinate to the body, or for the body to be subordinate to the mind?
You must clearly understand that there are two greatly differing systems of thought, one materialistic and the other spiritual. Each challenges the other, one claims that matter is subject and the other states that spirit is subject. This conflict has created so much turmoil, and the people perpetrating this struggle are not peaceful. The clash of these two opposing systems of thought creates uncontrollable confusion, and people don't know where to find a solution.
We certainly need both mind and body; there is no question about our need for a body. We don't say that we need only a spirit, because both matter and spirit, body and mind, are necessary. Communists mislead people when they call the conflict between mind and body a natural phenomenon and part of an inevitable process of evolution. That is not true at all. According to the law of nature, when things fight they diminish. A lot of intelligent people are attracted to the concept that to fight is natural and that only by struggle can people develop and evolve, but that is not correct.
The truth is very logical. We must make it clear to all people who they are and how they should live. Mind and body must take their proper position and be aligned in a right angle before ideal families can be formed. Only such families can sustain a country; without many such families nations cannot endure. Do you understand? This is why it is important to know these things.
The family and the world can have the same center, but the smaller entity is contained within the larger entity and serves it. This principle must be followed in the family, clan, tribe and nation.
The same principle applies even to the relationship between the spirit world and the physical world. Which of the two worlds should we love more? The spirit world. But today many people do not know that God exists and are therefore unaware of the spirit world. All they know is what they see, so they insist that with their physical body they can comprehend the world. By emphasizing the horizontal axis to the exclusion of the vertical axis they are in danger of tipping over!
Religions generally put most of their emphasis on the spirit world and the life hereafter, rather than the physical world. Beyond the spirit world is God. More than all else, we cherish God. This is our conclusion. Somehow, people have known that it is right to love the greater whole, but they didn't understand why. We love the greater whole because that is how we can reach God. For the first time, we can touch God.
Which do you cherish more, true love or God? Which takes priority, true love or God? Even God is willing to sacrifice Himself for the sake of true love. In contrast to the belief of some Christians that God is omnipotent and carefree, God still keeps sacrificing Himself for the sake of true love.
In summary, the Unification Church and I keep teaching you to expand the scope of your love until you eventually occupy God through true love. If you consistently follow this process you will gain true love and, ultimately, God. If you love God more than anybody else in the world you will receive God's love and even more. What is so great about obtaining God and true love? Once you possess true love, it enriches every part of your being and you become the wealthiest person in the world! What more could you want? After that, you can dance. and sing in the spirit world. Do you understand?
Now that I am in the presence of a lot of parents for the first time, I have to say something straightforward. Many people believe that I am making these young people work incredibly long hours for the benefit of the Unification Church. What I am doing here is helping them to align their life properly, expand the scope of their love, and ultimately reach God.
My teaching is very direct. I teach that a wife should love her husband so much that she will willingly make sacrifices for him. Are you agreeable to that? Why? Because it conforms to universal law; it is the most righteous and straightforward way of life according to God's law. Do you women welcome this command? Will you abide by it forever? Amen. Likewise, for the sake of ideal love, each of you men realizes that you should love your wife more than anybody else.
Through true wives and true husbands true love is beginning to be born. Some time in the future this country may reach the point where every wife becomes a true wife and every husband a true husband. Those who fully agree to this and pledge to love your spouse more than anyone else, raise both hands, representing husband and wife. That is great! Now you have a very clear concept of this.
My sermon ventured out in various directions in order to reach this very simple conclusion, and it took three and a half-hours. But you must not forget it; you should keep it in mind throughout your lifetime. You will not always hear such a talk I may leave this country to visit somewhere else. Once you leave this place and return to your mission it is not likely that we will gather like this again for a couple of years. In the meantime, some may lose their fives-it may be God's will and we cannot help it. Or some may go as missionaries to a far country. So bear in mind these fundamental principles.
Once you have become an ideal husband or wife, what is your next task? Forming an ideal family. Does having children make your family ideal? No. You will be a family, but it may not be an ideal family. An ideal family is one that is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the ideal. Such a family is welcome in the ideal world. How can you be sure of this? Because forming an ideal family brings you one step closer to God's true love. God's true love is always our goal.
What is an ideal tribe? It is one that sacrifices itself for the sake of the nation. Do you want such a tribe? What is an ideal nation? It is one that sacrifices itself for the sake of the world. Then what is the ideal world? One that sacrifices itself for the spirit world. What is the ideal of the cosmos and all creation? It is true love.
Returning to ourselves, why was each of us born? We were born for true love, Women were born for true love. Men were born for true love. Families exist for true love. That is the beginning of life.
Even a nation like the United States became great not for its own sake but for the sake of the world. This nation may not have understood the reason; Koreans did not realize why their nation developed as it did; the world has not known where it is going. But something in your mind indicates the correct direction. Somehow people perceive something of the ideal, although they may not clearly understand the reason. For the first time, now we know our destination.
To know is one step of the process, but to practice such a way of life is not easy. Once you sample the taste of love your course is less difficult; you keep wanting to go further so you can experience more of God's love. Without love, such a high ideal is almost unattainable.
Have you met God? Do you see Him in dreams or visions? Someone once asked me whether I could make a drawing of God, since He doesn't have a body. No, it is impossible to draw God. In the original purpose of creation, since God did not have a body He created one with which He could unite: that of Adam and Eve, especially Adam. God wanted to dwell in Adam like a mind dwells in a body. God Himself was to be the spiritual focal point of existence and Adam the physical focal point. These two focal points, God and Adam, were to intersect at a 90 degree angle. This was God's purpose of creation.
Mankind longs to follow the principle of love, the principle of creation. Had it not been for the fall, all people would be able to recognize God in the spirit world through their parents; but since the original parents fell away God has never manifested Himself in the spirit world. Had it not been for the fall, we would all have been good offspring of parents without original sin -and we would cherish our parents like God. Even now, we should try to live that way.
Unification Church members call Mother and me True Parents. What are True Parents? You have seen us exemplify the nature and function of True Parents. True Parents, for instance, don't expect others to come and serve them One function of True Parents is to carry out the work which God Himself cannot do because He doesn't have a physical body. When I asked you whether you see God in dreams or visions you said yes, but actually when my image appears in your dreams, God is present, isn't He? Those who have had such experiences raise your hands please. Other people cannot understand this phenomenon unless they have experienced it. One hundred percent of all Unification Church members have such experiences.
Your original mind teaches your body everything. Likewise, my function is to appear to you and teach you. The world is unaware of this relationship. You may know this very deeply, but there is no way you can convince your father and mother about it unless they too experience it. They probably want to rid you of what they consider undesirable elements, but as long as they exist in you, you cannot help being a Moonie. As long as you remain in God's love, nobody can snatch you away.
Now that you are joined in marriage as husband and wife and are resolved to form an ideal family, complete with children, you must work for three and a half years to fulfill the three steps of love -- parental, fraternal and conjugal. Will you welcome this course? How can you say yes with such confidence? There is a very obvious reason for answering yes, which I will describe to you.
The road to heaven is the road which all individuals must inevitably take. It takes time -- your whole life long, and even afterwards in the spirit world. Every single person must travel this way. Beggars must go this way; everyone must go. But accompanied by a spouse, it is easier, therefore, now that you are married you are about to set out together. Your husband goes out to do the will of God, working hard day and night, sometimes returning very late in the evening. At home waiting for his return, will you make a face at him when he comes in?
In the beginning many husbands are not very considerate of their wife because marriage is a new kind of relationship. If that is your situation, you need to become like a mother to your husband. If you cannot do that-perhaps, because your mother did not show the example-at least try to be a good elder sister. Wives usually don't consider their mate "my dear husband" in the beginning. More often than not, you begin by considering him a good brother or a good father, and after a long time he will begin to be a good husband.
The other day I explained how conjugal love is the third important type of love. How fantastic it is when you wives can regard your husband as your real father and he can regard you as his real mother! In the next stage, you will regard him as a good elder brother and he will regard you as a good elder or younger sister. Afterwards, you will become true husband and wife.
Look at couples in America today. When one gets angry with the other, he or she goes out and gives affection to someone else. The husband comes home, kisses his wife and the next moment they are fighting each other-, the following day they are still arguing. That cannot be. If you ever want to kiss, you must not make war on each other!
In the early days of your marriage, you women should serve your husband as if he were your own father -- not as a husband or as an equal, but as a father Then he win treat you like a revered mother. Later, as an elder sister your position is to take care of him as if he were your younger brother. Finally, in the third stage, you can say you are ready to be a wife and consider him your husband. This is part of the tradition you should practice.
It would be nice if there were a partition here so I could tell you women something in secret: when you baby a man, he melts and becomes like a child. It doesn't make any difference how old the man is -- he may be a grandfather 70 or 80 years old -- if you treat him like a baby he is happy! That is how men are. Who do men resemble? God. So even God is like that. God is like the King of babies! You have to know how to treat a baby. For American women, the best analogy for this kind of tender care is to treat your husband "like your fine china," but of course it encompasses more than that.
You must know dearly what the future holds. What is our fatherland, and where is it? It is our beautiful original home. When we arrive at our fatherland, we will find the original God. Are we able yet to relate to God as the original God? No. We have seen God trying desperately to save us, but that was not God's original intent. God is a desperate God; He passionately longs to save us.
In our original fatherland, however, we will know God as our original Father, and through our original Father we will experience original love. Children born from such an original couple, receiving original parental love, will multiply into an original tribe, form an original nation and an original world. After going through all these steps we win finally arrive at the fatherland. We are taking this way of sacrifice and hardship because we want to reach that original land, we long to be restored to the original country from which we actually came. Soon we must find our ideal fatherland on the earth.
The ideal fatherland is different from anything that presently exists. Within God's love there are no racial distinctions, no black or white. This earth is filled with barriers and national boundaries, but the original world which God intended knows no boundaries, no passports, no states or provinces.
What is our role in relation to the fatherland?
We are the founding army, the soldiers of heaven, doing heavenly work -- God's work -- to restore the world which God originally intended before Satan shattered the ideal. Look how horribly Satan has missed up this world! It has deviated so far from the ideal that hardly anything original remains. It is so difficult to connect with God, and our mind keeps wondering whether God feels the way we do. But now we know what God intended and how Satan demolished it. We know what we are supposed to do: transform this world into the original world.
Our ultimate mission is to save and restore that world, but those tasks are not the most urgent ones now. Fighting takes priority. The kind of fighting we are involved in is more intense than physical fighting with guns. Either we win or we will get hurt. We are using ammunition of love; when our arrows or bullets strike people in their heart they are born again in God. Satan's ammunition is jealousy, slander, lying, etc. Satan tries to hurt people, but that is not our aim. We are bombarding people with love. The more the forces of evil shoot at us, the more intensely we have to return volleys of love. Our love must be greater than the enemy's opposition. Their weapons are ineffective against Unification Church members; no matter what kinds of bullets people fire our way, they just bounce back to them. People may slander us but we don't believe their words. In contrast, our bullets are extremely powerful and effective; whoever is struck by our bullets will be melted in love and born anew.
I have been striving to reach this point not only for the sake of God but for all mankind. The more people harass me, the more progress I make. The more people persecute me the higher I rise. Look at this court case: its ridiculousness has become apparent to almost everyone. The American government, versus Reverend Moon, a religious leader. This government, with all its arrogance at being the most powerful nation in the world, makes the competition more dramatic-like Goliath and David. Goliath had such a huge body, like the United States; but David was more righteous than Goliath.
The United States is trying to fight me, but it is a useless effort. Even if I die, millions of people will follow me and dedicate their lives for my cause -- which they will take up as their own. The United States will perish if it carries its wrongdoing to the extreme. When it becomes apparent that I am right and the United States wrong, all the world's condemnation will be directed towards this country. Nobody will sympathize with it. This is why my conscience is always clear, this is why I can always act so boldly; this is why I can persevere in this great cause.
I have never been indebted to the United States. The food I eat and the house in which I live are not the product of the United States; they have not been provided by Americans. I supply my own means, from countries other than the United States. The food I eat, the clothes I wear and the house I live in were not bought with one red cent from America. You, more than anybody else, know that that is true.
Each of you should remember that you and your spouse are heavenly soldiers on active duty. That is your first qualification. You should remember that no one can embody the ideal as an individual; no individual can reach the ideal without a spouse. Once our fatherland exists ideal families can emerge within it, but the proper order is give the fatherland priority. Each of our families needs the environment of our original fatherland, and we are the soldiers to create and recover that fatherland. We are soldiers not as individuals but as families. The family is the soldier. Without fighting as soldier-families we can never hope to reach the fatherland.
These are not merely words. I have been demonstrating this truth to the world. I began in the family, but I never allow the family to stand in my way. My attitude has never been, "Let's be happy and let others worry about the world." Until now, my family has been like Gypsies. Gypsies don't have a fatherland; they traipse around from one place to another. I don't have a fatherland.
Each of us must recognize that the central purpose of our family is to dwell in this original fatherland, together with the original God and our parents and everyone we can save. That is not only our purpose but also the purpose of the many millions of people who will follow us. Unfortunately, communism is impeding the fulfillment of this purpose. If we don't accomplish the work of reaching the original fatherland, the communists will destroy all of us and everyone else, and nothing will remain. Do you understand? You must realize this clearly.
Already I have explained everything in detail. We must give this truth to the world -- we must reach them before the communists do and influence them first, teaching them the truth and leading them back to the original way. If we don't do that, the communists will overrun the world and ravage it; they will lead the world in a godless, materialistic way and cause its eventual destruction. We must realize that we have been entrusted with a heavenly mission to reach out to the world before the communists get their hands on it and mesa it up even further. We must reach all mankind and bring them back to God. This is our mission.
I could go on and on all day, giving you more detailed explanations, but time is limited. For this cause I am risking everything to stand on the front line to fight communism. President Reagan would very much like to contain communism and overcome it, but he can't. Only Reverend Moon can. The government wavers back and forth; political leaders have no effective means of accomplishing the goal. But I can demonstrate the proper course and show the solution. I know the path. You must understand that this is why we need CARP, ocean church and home church. As soldier-families, we are going to fight this war.
If you go on a honeymoon now, even your best destination is still in the satanic world, for you have no true place to go. I have never entertained the idea of a honeymoon; that is somebody else's invention. You newlyweds will indeed enjoy a honeymoon someday -- a fantastic one such as no one has ever enjoyed before -- but only after we get to this fatherland. This is the course of the ideal couple.
Each of us is supposed to do our portion of responsibility. As an individual I have fulfilled more than my share. I have taught you everything about the world. I have explained what communism is and why we have to fight it; I have explained the position it occupies in relation to God's overall ideal. I have guided you in each activity, such as fundraising. All these details I have taught and demonstrated. The most precious and important things I have given to you without price.
People in South America are approaching me and saying, "Reverend Moon, why do you put up with those North Americans? We knew they were not so good. Why don't you come and live with us?" People are making such an offer. If I were a satanic person I could go to South America and start an anti-United States movement. But I cannot do that. Even if I go there I would still have to work for the sake of the United States, and the South Americans might still protest that I am unduly concerned about this nation.
If I do go to South America, even from there I would drive you more intensely to save the United States. Do you understand that? Is someone with such an attitude a bad person or a good person?
We should protest against those parents and those nations that have been opposing our missionaries. Your children will suffer if this generation doesn't do its job.
I have great confidence that we will achieve our goal, but it is based on meticulous planning and accomplishing each step along the way. I know that there is no room for mistakes. Therefore, I have no fears about this court case. I will be brave as I face the judicial system. You too should never be intimidated. Do you understand? Do you really understand?
This is doubtless a major transition in your life. You have been single, and now you are united in matrimony and your goal is clearer than ever: our fatherland. You must do your very best to reach it.
I have given you all the reasons and explained the purpose for reaching this objective, so will you pursue the goal on your own, whether asleep or awake-or will you need someone to keep encouraging and supervising you to make sure you get there? Will you do it voluntarily, even if nobody keeps reminding you? Do you really mean it?
I will not remain in this country much longer; I have already spent ten years here. You will be left here all by yourself. When I leave, will you voluntarily remain and pledge to take responsibility for the United States -- or will you follow me?
Will you work more intensely than I, or will you slow down and complain that you cannot keep up with my pace on your own? Your numbers are many, and I am only one individual, so you have that advantage.
Actually, saving America is not the final goal. Our next objective is Moscow. We have to liberate those people too. Do you have that confidence? You men might say yes, but how about you women?
You are embarked on this course together as husband and wife, but it is unlikely that you will die at the same time. When one dies and goes to the spirit world, haw will the survivor respond? If the husband remains on earth, will you hold your family together single-handedly until you join your wife in spirit world -- or will you remarry?
You must live at least for the sake of your country. This is not my country, the scope of my mission is far more than one country. I have done enough for the United States. I have worked for the sake of this nation, but it treats me like an enemy. Still, I never tried to retaliate but continue to embrace it with love.
You know how difficult it is to reach out with my heart through an interpreter because much of the meaning and impact is diluted. You, in contrast, don't have to use an interpreter to reach out to your fellow Americans. You speak the same language and you are from the same culture. Americans won't persecute you no matter how intensely you work-even if it is ten times harder than I have. Therefore, you should work harder than I for your own country. Can you do that?
Are you determined as a couple to reach our fatherland? Are you resolved to work harder than I have for your country? If you lack confidence, you don't have to pledge. Those who can voluntarily make this pledge, raise both hands to God. God bless you.