Sun Myung Moon
October 14, 2006
Excerpt
The True Owners in Establishing the Kingdom of Peace and Unity in Heaven and on Earth – II (Peace Message 8)
However, in the relationship between the spirit and the physical body of a human being, the spirit is the more important of the two. The physical body lasts for about one hundred years before it ceases to function, but the spirit lasts eternally, transcending time and space. Isn't even a person who does well in the physical world bound to die? Because this is so, before you pass on to the next world you should achieve harmony between your physical and spiritual bodies by living your earthly life in such a way that you meet the standards of both the physical and spiritual worlds.
In other words, you have the responsibility to perfect your spirit within your physical body on the basis of the finite life you live in the tangible, physical world. This does not mean, however, that the perfection of your spirit self happens automatically. Only on the basis of your having achieved complete unity between your mind and body during your earthly life, by expressing true love through action, can your spirit self fully mature.
Ladies and gentlemen, in order for fruit to ripen and be put into storage in autumn, it must first pass through the growing process of spring and summer and be provided with the nutrients supplied by nature and the tender loving care of its owner. Fruit grown in an orchard by a lazy and ignorant farmer will be afflicted with all kinds of diseases and be affected by foul weather. Eventually it will fall from the tree before it is ripe, or be classified as worm-infested. Though it will still be fruit, it will be different from other fruit since it will never be good enough to sell in the market.
Fruit that has fully matured on the tree will automatically go into the owner's storehouse. Similarly, only when the spirit of a person has reached perfection during his life in the physical world, which can be likened to the tree, can it automatically enter the incorporeal spirit world of the kingdom of heaven. In other words, a person will enter the kingdom of God in heaven automatically only when he has qualified for and enjoyed the kingdom of heaven on earth by living as a fully mature person in his physical body.
While living on earth, your every action and movement is recorded on your spirit self, without exception, with the public laws of heaven as the standard. Accordingly, you will enter the spirit world in the form of your spirit self, which has recorded your life on earth with 100 percent accuracy. Your spirit will show plainly whether you have led a ripe life of goodness, or a wormy, rotten life of sinfulness. What this means is that God will not judge you; you will be your own judge. If you are aware of this astonishing rule from Heaven, will you spend the remaining days of your life on earth in selfishness and immorality, succumbing to all the temptations of Satan and in pursuit of nothing but pleasure? No, rather you will abstain from injuring and scarring your spirit bodies, even at the risk of your earthly life. Please bear this truth in mind: whether you are bound for heaven or for hell is determined by your thoughts, words and deeds in each moment.
This does not imply, though, that the spirit leads its own life or that it can express true love through actions on its own. Your spirit self grows, matures and is finally perfected only within your physical body, through an earthly lifetime of having actualized true love, bringing your mind and body into a smooth relationship of give and take.
Nevertheless, undeniably, your outer self and inner self are in a constant relationship of conflict and struggle. How much longer will you allow this fighting to continue? Ten years? A hundred years? In contrast, there is undeniably a proper order for all forms of existence in the universe. This indicates that God did not create human beings in this state of antagonistic disorder. You need to know that it is your duty and responsibility as a human being to dispel all temptations directed at your outer self -- your physical body -- and achieve victory in life by following the way of your inner self -- your conscience. Heavenly fortune will be with those who lead their lives in such a way. They will attain the perfection of their spiritual selves.