Sun Myung Moon
May 1, 1989
Foundation Day
Belvedere
Translator: Sang Kil Han
Today we greet the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Unification Church. What is our situation? Is the Unification Church or is Reverend Sun Myung Moon better known to the world. (Father!) But my fame is mixed. Some say, "Oh Rev. Moon is the greatest," while others say, "No, he is bad." However, from now on, the number of those who have a positive view of me will begin to increase very quickly. The more people get interested, the more people will study about me -- what I stand for, whit I have done, what I am teaching. When you study, you deepen your understanding; so naturally it becomes obvious that those who study and understand the deep will and purpose behind the founding of the Unification Church will support me more. In the future, more influential people, especially those who are experienced in world affairs and are the heads of the organizations, will be paying greater attention to me.
So far you've been following me and my guidance. But when I go to the spirit world eventually, where will you look for your guidance? How many more years will the Unification Church continue? Have you stopped to think about that? What will we and what will the world become one thousand years from now? For the next 1,000 years we may do very well, but at the 1,000-year point, we should stop again and evaluate where we should go. The whole direction may have to be changed.
For example, Christianity was founded 2,000 years ago and continued very strongly through the past 2,000 years. But today we see that it is declining, losing its spirit; people are no longer believing the way they used to, and are confused. Looking even thousands of years ahead, what about the Unification Church? How long will it prosper? What if it does not continue?
God Must Be the Originator
All religions started out with a strong founding spirit and influenced many people; but thousands of years later, the spirit may decline and confusion increase. A religion founded centering on a human originator will develop -- or lose power -- along with him. But if the originator is God Himself, then that religion must go on, transcending and digesting all changing situations, to prosper and reach its goal. If this religion begins from God, it must be necessary not only to God but to everyone who desires to live with God. What is it that God seeks for eternity, not just for 1,000 or 2,000 years, but continuously because He cannot do without it? True love.
We see that the natural world has been perpetuating itself generation after generation. What is that law or principle that enables nature to continue? As long as there are a male and female that come together to unite, a generation might perish, but a new generation takes its place, continuing throughout history. Even though the degree or dimension of the uniting force, or love, may be different -- human love may be high whereas the love expressed by plants may be less -- one common denominator of all things is this attracting force between male and female. Through this love all things continue and multiply, leaving a new generation year after year without stopping.
Can man be an exception to this law? No. Humans too, in fact more clearly centering on love, reproduce offspring to be left behind when they go to spirit world. Many things can be revolutionized or improved very drastically, but this law cannot be revolutionized -- it is constant. Animals perfectly conform to this pattern with its concert of love and reproduction of offspring. In the animal kingdom the offspring have only one set of parents. But for humans the order is greatly confused now. In one home there can be 2, 3, 4 different parents because of divorce and remarriage. This can be devastating for a child. It is the original lawful family pattern that God loves and wants to propagate.
Create the Vertical Dimension
Love is the only thing that God desires. What God wants and man wants cannot be two different things -- they have to be the same. The love expressed in nature is a type of horizontal love, and it has continued lawfully year after year for millions of years. But human beings as the children of God must choose to make the vertical dimension of love consistent with God's desire and the ideal with which He founded the human race. We can never go against that; it is the only way to prosper. For God, it is very, very clear that this correct vertical tradition is absolutely good and necessary. But how many humans, who now number in the billions, understand and live according to God's original concept and desire? That is a significant question.
Since they are relative, horizontal existence is possible only if there is also vertical existence. Similarly, without the right, the left doesn't exist. When we say man, automatically we have woman in mind as well. Many people may have thought they loved their spouse, but has any man or woman ever loved their spouse with the idea that they must also maintain a perfect horizontal relationship? And yet we do have to be perfectly horizontal relative to our vertical relationship with God. This is a law! But nobody knew it because they did not have a concept of being vertical.
Everyone wants to live a righteous, good life. There may be a wonderful relationship between husband and wife, but it may not necessarily be absolutely horizontal. Maybe they are very harmonious but they diverge 30 degrees from the horizontal. If you want to make an ideal horizontal husband-wife relationship, then you must have this vertical relationship with God in mind before you can start thinking about being ideal. So either man or woman has to think about the perfect vertical relationship first; then he or she will start thinking about the perfect horizontal relationship. Before subject and object can become one horizontally, we have to first maintain a perfect relationship vertically.
Is Your Vision Aligned With God's Ideal?
Do you have a vision of what you want to be? Today I could have chosen to talk about the highlights of our accomplishments over the past 35 years; so much change has come about on the face of the earth. Yet, I thought, "The Unification Church has to continue forever and ever. To do this, the Principle takes on so much importance that we can never emphasize it enough." We must consider the most fundamental question: "What does God want us to be? What is God's ideal?"
Man wants to maintain a harmonious relationship within himself and also become one with the nation, world, and ultimately the universe so he can elevate his position in that universe. Even within each person there is a masculine part and a feminine part. There is a fleshly man and a man of mind within ourselves. In an ideal person, the mind is subject and the body is the object that always follows the mind harmoniously. However, a man might be very harmonious within himself and very harmonious with his wife, but only as that horizontal relationship becomes harmonized with the vertical relationship and seeks a higher ideal, becoming more and more perfect, does he become an ideal man.
Who is the model or prototype of an ideal person? Modeled after true love, True Parents came into being. Which is first: True Parents or true love? (True love!) God or true love? (True love!) When God began, His ideal was to have an object with whom to have a relationship of true love. Without an object, the ideal of true love cannot actually exist.
Who is the original ideal man? What if we say to God, "God, you are the original man"? Would God say, "What do you mean, I am a man?" Would He feel good or bad? Good! Original man means creator. So the original man is God, the one with whom the vertical relationship must be maintained.
Man wants to respect and adore something that is loftier than he. Since nothing in man originates by itself, God must also have such a desire. Is there something that even God can respect or worship, saying, "That is really, really nice"? This is a very important point. The answer is "Yes, there is!" Even God has to cherish the true love object. God must be really smiling as He looks down on us, hearing this conversation.
People say, "I respect God so much. I really wish I were God. He has been there for millions of years, and no one is more powerful or knowing than He. I envy Him." In fact, we have been understanding God that way, haven't we?
What if God says, "Okay, now we can switch our positions. You come and sit in my place for millions of years, all by yourself as I have been. There is no object with me, so you live all by yourself. There are tons of gold and diamonds here. You can do anything to anyone, so you come and live in my place." Then will you say, "Yes, God, I will"? (No!)
True Parents cut the holiday cake on Foundation Day, May 1, 1989
God Needs a True Love Object
Is God a happy God or a lonely God? (Lonely!) He has many objects, but no true love object. Then we ask, "What is that true love object?" Maybe you think it is a gorilla or monkey since evolutionists say they are our ancestors, and you feel respect for ancestors. Actually, evolution is a concept that will perish very soon.
The conclusion is that it is not a monkey that God wishes to have forever and ever. God's true love object needs a lot of ornaments and accessories: animals, plants, and minerals. These true love objects have a lot of desires; you want to be rich, beautiful, powerful. You want to be everything, don't you? This is just the way it was intended to be -- there is nothing wrong. God created His object with the desire to offer love to him. Before man can offer love to God, he feels he must gain a lot of belongings. He has to hunt a lot of animals, gather a lot of crops, mine a lot of precious stones, and then with love bring them all to God and say, "God I dedicate this to you, and I want to establish a relationship of love with you." But God intended all these "accessories" for His beloved objects. He says, "My perfect object, please love all things like I love them and dedicate them to me."
God intended for all beings to love each other. This is the only solution to the entire universe. Your mind says, "Yes, this is right." Some religions teach that all desires are bad. I am teaching you that you are justified in having many desires, but they should be centered around the goal of being the perfect object to God. This is truly an exciting and profound understanding.
We must love our parents, our children, our friends and neighbors, and all the population of the world. Beyond that, we must love the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms. We bring them together and then go to God. How consistent this is! This is the v, ay God intended man to be. You ask God, "You made everything for me, didn't You?" Then God says, "Yes, I intended that for you."
Do you believe that God wants to laugh? Yes! Any kind of laugh that you imagine, God wants to laugh that kind of laugh. Do you think that God has a mouth, nose, ears, and body? Does He look the way we do? He has everything, doesn't He? When He speaks, He only desires to speak well and lovingly. How lonely it is for God that many Christian churches teach mankind that He is so high, we shouldn't bother Him.
Become One in Love With God
We are here to become a perfect object to God, to really make Him happy by dedicating our love to Him. For just as much as we need love, God needs love. If we give Him love, then everybody will rejoice together. This is the purpose of our life.
Once we get connected with God, we want it to be a lasting, intense relationship. It has to go on forever and ever. Where does that force come from? It doesn't come from God alone, nor from man. This must be the power of true love itself. True love is so powerful that both God and man will be bound by it. True love is so important that you will agree to try to do any impossible thing to attain it. God also will do anything.
Everything is attached to the line of true love. We can conclude that all things, including animals, can be dominated through true love. All you need is true love, and everything is connected to that. When man and woman are perfectly united, are they or are they not encompassed by love? Completely drowned in love -- yes or no?
The same concept of relationship between man and woman exists between God and humans. God has dual characteristics, doesn't He? So the entire universe, if someone could see all of it, must have the shape of man and woman overlapped. When viewed from the right side the universe looks like a man, and when seen from the left side, it looks like a woman. When you view it from the top, it looks like a man; while from the bottom it looks like a woman. So all existence is divided into plus and minus. What is their destiny? To become one. Plus and minus energies are to unite with a thunderous explosion, then dissipate, then gather and unite again. All things exist for the sake of love. When love is consummated, they return to nothing, but then form again to resume the cycle. There never was any other teaching or religion on earth that could explain everything in this organized, consistent manner.
You must understand that this sermon is possible because we are at the moment of the culmination of human history. Never before was there a time like this. A shortcoming of religion has been that it always dealt with conceptual things and stopped there. But here in the Unification Church, we know that we are now at that historical crossing point when the ideal must become reality.
True Parents Are Your Root
Once a person joins the Unification Church, they graft onto and develop a relationship with True Parents and their shallow root starts growing. Then there is no other place for that person to live. Even if they leave the Unification Church, they cannot forget it because it's their root. Their minds can wander around, but they have a lot of remorse because they know this is where they have to be.
I am talking to you now on the foundation of having discovered this eternal truth. You may think that after I go to the spirit world, some other person might come with a different or greater conclusion. No! This is super-historical. Even 10,000 years from now, someone may come only to confirm the statement that I made today, May 1, 1989. Even before God created the whole universe, this concept existed.
So at this end of days, we return to the same concept as God had millions of years ago before He began creating the universe. Now, at last, God can return to the original, native land along with True Parents, rejoicing with laughter and happiness. At this time of the fulfillment of creation, finally God is happy because He has an object of love.
How do I look at a person? First I notice that his eyes are very horizontal. Then I go to the nose, which is, vertical. The heels of one's shoes are a good indicator for the conscience. If a man walks straight, his conscience is more straight. We should walk straight, perpendicular to the ground. This indicates a healthy person. After a while you can start noticing all things harmonizing at 90 degree angles.
Observation of many fine points enable me to do matchmaking. There are so many things I look at so I can tell the character of a person very quickly. Looking at the many different places where laughter originates from -- the diaphragm, mouth, etc. -- also helps me to see the person's character.
Women do a lot of shopping: "We need this, we need that...." The man would say, "No, we don't need any of this." He is more seeking the right ideal -- thinking about the future of their family -- and couldn't care less about shopping. Obviously we need both qualities. But first we have to pay attention to the ideal; therefore the conclusion is that women have to submit to the men who are thinking about the ideal.
Within 35 years, from a really humble place, almost from nothing, we have risen up to where we are today, with much influence in all different areas. We had a typical Korean hut, a small house, but our signboard that said "Unification Church," was huge. So a person who came to visit would read the signboard, like what it said, then look at the small house and not know what to think. But God saw this and said, "Well, that is a real nice signboard, but the house is too small." So we got Belvedere and the New Yorker after that! But even the New Yorker is not good enough. My remaining task is to find the building with the world's largest billboard.
Seoul Unification Church, used from May 1, 1954 to January 17, 1955
The Final Liberation Point
There is no way an intelligent person can dismiss the Unification Church. We all need a good religion and ideology, especially the third world countries. Everybody knows that communism is not working. The USSR saw how the free world came against me, a single man. I was hit from everywhere, but I didn't fall down. Instead, I strongly stood up. Now the hope of this world is on Rev. Moon. The only hope in the spiritual world is Rev. Moon. God sees me and says, "That Rev. Moon is turning the cart upside down. How wonderful!" That means that God has hope that the world will become different.
Today we celebrate our founding anniversary -- that part has been fulfilled. But no matter how well you are doing, your destiny is more important than anything else. Now the only thing remaining is the final liberation. The only power that can liberate God, True Parents, and the Unification Church members is true love. Our goal must be very, very clear to you: The only thing we want is to own and practice true love. This is the only concern we have; everything else will come. Isn't this the great, real purpose of the Unification Church? Final liberation will be realized only through true love.
Compare God's situation with your own; how tedious is it for God to stay in the highest place for such a long, long time? God must feel, "I have been here so Ion•., I want to exchange places with someone." Since I knew that He was so lonely that He almost wanted to jump out of there, I wanted to liberate God.
What kind of power do I have? True love power. Anywhere you go, there is a place that waits for and honors true love. This is the most precious power.
I went to prison when I was 35 years of age. On this 35th anniversary I concluded, "I went to prison so that now, 35 years later after prison and so many difficulties, liberation is being accomplished. I can be happy and rejoice, forgiving all the past, and yet persevering to accomplish my goal of final liberation."
The World Is Welcoming Me
Thirty five years after our founding, the amazing fact is that I am beginning to receive a welcome that no other religious leader in the history of the earth has ever received. During these 35 years, everyone opposed me -- my parents, my children, the Korean people, the American people -- even the spirit world in a way opposed me! They not only opposed by speaking against me, but also tried to stop me through force and violence. But no matter what they did, I was undaunted. I knew what kind of solution God needed. So I digested everything, returning love for violence.
Now through the True Family, true tribe, and true believers surrounding me, I receive a lot of support and many people are going in the same direction as I. After 35 years, I am not alone: There are many powerful people who are beginning to understand and align themselves with me. It's a really amazing point in history.
The Korean people were not so sure about me before, but now when I do something they will all say, "Yes, I support you. That is the only way to fight against Kim Il Sung." In Japan, Indo-China, and in America too, the people and the governments begin to see, "Rev. Moon has the only way to achieve the goal." Now I am in the position to implement things that we have been working for during the past 35 years. That is a great historical accomplishment!
My only weapon is true love. But true love is mighty. Following the path of true love ultimately gives freedom. You are clever people for following that path! Not many in the world truly know this, but true love is the only kind of armament that can win over all the power in Satan's world. Eventually all the world will say: "True love, lovely true love," and everything will be done. Once we cross the bridge between heaven and earth, there is liberation.
This is the end of one enormous historical push. The whole Christian world wanted to see the True Family finally appear on the earth. Did Adam and Eve marry centering on God? (No!) What about Jesus? (No!) What about us? (Yes!) The ability to answer that way didn't come cheaply. You do not know the extent of historical difficulty that was exacted in payment for the Blessing. You have to realize how much martyrs' blood was shed to enable your couple to be saved. Do you understand?
God's True Familyship
Centering on true love, I came into this world and established the restoration system that recreated couples. After your Blessing you are resurrecting yourselves. How proud God is of our blessed families!
Until now, God didn't have that Familyship, that object for loving. But this time is different. True Parents' family is like God's family on the earth. I sent out a message about God's situation through the blessed couples who are to be tribal messiahs, representing God and True Parents. The messiah- ship of true love that Jesus wanted to fulfill, that Adam wanted to achieve, and that God wants to see happen -- now we are on the threshold of making it a success.
With the Fall, true Parentship was lost and also true brotherhood. Up to the year 1988 we were in a restoration course to establish the way of true brotherhood, restoring power between rival brothers, Cain and Abel, elder and younger. Now we must take the false Parentship away from Satan and eliminate Satan's family system completely. From 1989 our course is toward messiahship, which means true Parentship. Satan's push for power began when he planted bad blood. True, real Parentship will plant a new blood lineage in your tribal descendants, generation after generation. It is a completely different time, with a new tradition and providential position. You have moved up a step to the position of Parentship. Until this time brothers everywhere have been fighting. Now you are taking parents' love to the world, and can enable brothers to embrace.
Messiahship is Parentship! Fallen people are your children. You must look at them from the parent position. People will compare their lifestyle, everything, with you and see that yours is best. One by one, please welcome them; if they can find that everything has precious value, automatically they will follow you.
If parents are restored, that means heaven will always be on earth. How much all our ancestors longed to see this day. But no matter how many times they yearned to experience a true parent's heart, they could not. Now, in your age, there is so much happiness. Now your ancestors want to come down to this world to see their famous descendants. They have waited tediously for a long time. Your ancestors believe in you! They love you and want to honor you. They will follow everything. They want to dedicate everything to the fulfillment of your tribal messiahship.
The Foundation for Tribal Messiahship
The tribal messiah has the privilege of ownership of true love. I gave it to you. Tribal messiahship is the absolute central concept now. This is not the time to have a discussion. We just have to do it.
What a great honor to be able to stand next to True Parents as a tribal messiah blessed couple. How precious is it to be able to spend time with True Parents! I am known all over the world and humankind will ultimately be liberated. How wonderful a time we are in! How can anyone living on the earth not follow us in such an important period of history?! How well are you using this precious time, especially now? You have to be working in messiahship activities each day until final liberation is accomplished.
From now on it will be a different world. Both the free and the communist worlds are beginning to welcome us. That's like the coming of spring time. At Jesus' time all the world was against him, but now I have cleaned up everything so that in starting out, you will be welcomed by 70 percent more of the people of the world. It is like the time before the fall of our human ancestors. The atmosphere of persecution is diminishing, and people are becoming proud to have Unificationists among them.
Until now, persecution made it difficult and forced us to go a very hard way. Was it easy to change the situation in America? You didn't know when I first came to this country 15 years ago that America was in danger of perishing in the near future. A few Americans wondered how I was going to save America when I didn't even know its cultural background. Bad rumors started all over the nation; "Rev. Moon, go back home. You are creating too much disturbance." They did everything to me -- even putting me in jail. But now we see that during those 15 years, I prepared a foundation. I made this foundation by taking this course my entire life. It did not come cheaply. This achievement was very expensive and is the most precious and valuable accomplishment in all of human history. How proud you should be that you can receive the tribal messiahship/true Parentship for the first time! This is an historical declaration!
Through tribal messiahs I am taking the messiahship proudly all over the earth, bringing liberation throughout the world! Satan followed me as I went into every area. Now I have brought the way of Parentship, the time of heaven descending on the earth. Satan cannot prevail against that kind of true Parentship and will have to bow down.
From now on, people will know clearly that this is a precious way. We have awakened, and now we are running. This is my job and your job -- the job of tribal messiah members.
With tribal messiahship, you will find a lot of power. Until now people skeptically wondered: "How can they restore the world by teaching the Principle?" But now we can see the world is becoming entirely different. As you take that parent- ship, then you can stand strongly in front of Satan, and God can bring judgment. I made this foundation for victory and reported it to God. No one can accuse or come against me. From here we are free. This is the last revelation centering on true love. Will you follow this tribal messiahship completely? (Yes!)
Messiahship Means Parentship
I have said this many times so seriously: Go back home and fulfill your messiahship. You might say, "I am working at the New Yorker" or some other job, but that is your second or third job. Your first job is messiahship! Do you want to lose the Parentship? No! If Parentship is lost, there will only be slavery! Without assuming the responsibility of Parentship, you will become a slave to Satan. You will be the tribe and slaves of Satan. You must understand clearly for the sake of your ancestors, relatives, neighborhood, and the future. no you know this viewpoint clearly by heart, especially the blessed families? To know means we have to take action! You can do it? (Yes!)
Please gather your relatives in one place and talk about the Principle with tears. "I once had to against you, but now that you understand Rev. Moon is a great and righteous man, recognized as such in the four corners of the world, you can follow me." "Yes, yes, certainly I will follow you. Teach me the Principle." Then one by one, or all at once, they will come.
If your relative says, "I don't believe in this tribal messiah- ship," then you must convince him completely. Can you enable people to understand the Principle everywhere? With such understanding, the crime problem can be controlled. Now we are teaching the Principle to many American leaders and they are eager to visit with me.
A few days ago, many Korean tribe leaders visited me. They were from tribes representing all of Korea. They represent a very proud people, and they are proud of the fact that I was born in Korea! Forty years ago when they were against me, I knew that the way of tribal messiahship was coming and that persecution would end. During that time, I did everything to overcome their dislike. That is the parent's loving heart.
We should infiltrate like good germs, multiplying our influence everywhere. You should take three or four days of time on a national television network to describe everything completely. If the American people were to hear such a program, how many would totally change their way of life? About 70 percent in one day, no problem!
The day will come when May 1, 1989, will be commemorated throughout the world. This day we received messiahship! Did you ask, "Father, please give messiahship to me?" I didn't hear anyone ask. Though I taught this precisely, you haven't understood. You thought it was just a big chunk of glass, then finally you recognized, "Oh, that is a most precious diamond."
Messiahship! Repeat it. Messiahship! This is the concept that the people in the fallen world desire. Only if we restore Parentship can anyone have hope or freedom! Real freedom is only in Parentship.
Therefore, your mission is very clear. As tribal members, you are to establish the mainstream of God's lineage for your ancestors and generations to come. That means your tribe is to be the savior of the country and culture. No matter how difficult it is, you cannot escape this position. Like me, you must think, "No matter how difficult the situation or how much I am persecuted, I cannot escape. I must continue to stay on the front line. I cannot sleep, play, or lose time." This is no problem once you understand the Principle clearly. Are you going my way? Think, "Father, how can we help you?"
Those who feel, "Yes, I will now go forward from here with this great blessing and privilege," stand up and pledge with both hands raised. Will we do it or not? (Yes!) Thank you, God.