Sun Myung Moon
September 6, 1959
It is a common saying that human beings come and go. This applies even to the most eminent people of history. You need to be aware that the continuing influence of heavenly principles in the flow of history applies to us even at this moment. We shall come and go ourselves. We do not know by what internal affinities or through what relationships we came to be here, but we know that the reality is we came into this world, have struggled with all kinds of phenomena and ideological concepts, and will eventually depart this world.
If that is so, for what did we come here, and for what purpose do we pass on? Numerous philosophers and religious people have devoted their entire lives to the resolution of these issues but have failed. Human history has continued to this day tainted by the grief from such continuing failure, and even now continues on this path.
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Why was I brought into this world? Why do I have to live? Where am I heading? You should never allow yourself to think that you were born by your own will. You were born into this world, yet you do not know the source and purpose behind your birth. You are ignorant of the motivation and purpose of your being. In other words, we were born in spite of our wishes. We live notwithstanding our wishes, and we die notwithstanding our wishes. Then what is there to be proud of? We have no control over our birth; we are merely custodians in this life, and we cannot avoid the path of death. Thus, any attempt to take pride in ourselves is pitiable. Once born, we are destined to live and destined to die.
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What is the purpose of life? We need to think about this issue again. The source of our life does not come from us. Thus, the purpose of life certainly does not belong to us alone. No one would object to the idea of being happy in life. No one would reject a dazzling life. Yet the reality is that none of us is free to live in that way. Still, each of us wishes to have pride in ourselves, to live freely with respect to our own will, and to be remembered accordingly. These intersecting elements all can be found within our hearts.