Sun Myung Moon
February 17, 2002
Commemoration of True Parents’ Birthday
Olympic Fencing Gymnasium, Seoul, Korea
Photo date and location unknown
Distinguished leaders from around the world and honored guests from Korea:
So many have come here to congratulate my wife and I on our birthday, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you for coming. On this meaningful day, I shall speak on the topic, “The True King.” I will convey to you an image of how God originally intended that we live our lives, based on the ideal by which God created all beings in the universe and from the standpoint of God’s Will.
“Living for the sake of others” is the root of how all beings in the universe are organized. God, who is the king of wisdom, created all beings to exist by the principle of living for the sake of a partner. God established this as the basis of the heavenly principle and the key to creation. The world of true ideals, true love, true happiness and true peace is not just God’s ideal for His creation. It is also the fervent desire of humankind.
The path that leads to the realization of this ideal is none other than living for the sake of others. True love emanates from people who live their lives for the sake of others, and it is only among such people that true happiness, true ideals, and true peace are brought to reality. So the source of ideals, the source of peace and the source of happiness and love can be found only in the place where life is lived for the sake of others.
People cannot become one with each other when they say, “I exist for my own sake.” Without achieving oneness with others, there can be no peace, happiness, ideals, or love. When members of a family each live with an attitude that they exist for the sake of the other family members, peace and happiness will live with that family.
Let us examine first the relationship between husband and wife. What characterizes a true husband? If there is a husband who was born for the sake of his wife, lives for the sake of his wife, and dies for the sake of his wife, then that husband would be a true husband. A true wife, likewise, would be a wife who lives for the sake of her husband according to the same principle. If a true man and true woman who seek to live for the sake of the other come together as husband and wife, then that couple would be an ideal husband and wife. Such a husband and wife would be the first truly happy couple. Such a couple would be capable of becoming the subject partners of eternal and unchanging true love. In addition, such a couple would be able to receive God’s love directly, to live with each other as partners in the peace of God, and to be God’s ideal substantial object partner.
What about the life of parents? The heavenly principle is that parents rear and educate their children with a spirit of sacrifice and service. They live for the sake of their children and die for the sake of their children. It is only natural that such parents would become true parents. The children, then, would take after such parents and follow the path of true children, that is, the path of truly dutiful children. What kind of a child is the truly dutiful child? He or she is the child who is born for the sake of their parents, lives for their sake of the parents, and is ready to sacrifice his or her life for the sake of their parents.
When people live their lives believing in and practicing the principle of living for the sake of others, families will become families of peace, families of freedom, families of happiness and families of love. Societies will become societies of peace, freedom, happiness and love, societies that accord with the original ideal. The same is true with the nation and world. It is God’s principle that freedom, peace, happiness and love will come to us naturally and spontaneously if we are unwavering in our practice of this standard all the time, everywhere, and in every action.
Even in the context of a life lived for the sake of others we need to consider the priority in the relationship between subject and object partners. If we examine God’s creation, we see that God stood in the position of the first subject partner and invested everything. In order to carry out the creation God took the position where He lived for the sake of others. God, who is the King of wisdom, applied this great principle even from the beginning in order to establish the original standards of peace, happiness, ideal and love, which are based on investing and existing for the sake of others. When the subject partner gives everything to the object partner and presents the model of a life lived for others, the object partner will automatically be willing to offer even his or her life for the sake of the subject partner.
Love comes from the object partner. Without an object partner, there can be no happiness or peace. These categorically come to us through our object partner. The love and the ideal that a person receives from his or her object partner is more precious than their own life. He or she prepares in humility in order to receive this precious love. In other words, when living for the sake of others we need to be humble. Then there will be eternal life and prosperity. By thus living for the sake of others, the heavenly principle will be operating in their lives.
It does not matter how many religious scriptures are extant today. The single phrase, “live for the sake of others,” stands tall above the teachings of all scriptures. The sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, too, are ultimately crystallized into this one phrase, “live for the sake of others.” That is the reason Jesus said, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:12), “Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matt. 19:30) and “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) In these words, Jesus was explaining the value of living for the sake of others. He was saying that through such a life, the kingdom of heaven is manifested, God is manifested, God’s love is manifested, and God’s peace, happiness and ideal are manifested.
If we consider the relationship between a man and a woman, we see that neither man nor woman was born for their own sake. Each was born for the sake of the other. Each was born so as to exist for the sake of the other, live for the sake of the other, and if necessary die for the sake of the other.
Look at this world, in which men and women live only for their own selves! How can we say that a world where men mistreat and look down upon women is a world of freedom or a world of peace? How can we say that a world where women shun men and say they will not bear children is a world of happiness? A husband and wife are meant to share in a life of true love, living for each other’s sake and loving each other no matter the circumstances. This is the ideal and purpose for which God created men and women.
A dictator who imposes on others can never bring about freedom and peace. Think of how many people were sacrificed so that that one person could establish himself as a dictator. The life of a dictator is that of sacrificing others for his or her own sake. In other words, it is the direct opposite of a life of true love, of living for the sake of others. That is the reason that all dictators throughout history begin in unhappiness and ultimately end in unhappiness. This is a fundamental truth of the universe.
Respected ladies and gentlemen, we all need to follow the heavenly principle of living for the sake of others. Please consider this when you look at what is going on around you. In a family, the person who lives for the sake of all the family members and dedicates his or her life for the family to a greater extent than anyone else will naturally become the center of the family, even if he or she is the youngest member or most distant relative of the patriarch. If a difficult situation arises, everyone in the family will want to discuss it with that person and gain his or her support.
This teaches us the heavenly principle that the person who lives for the sake of others to the greatest extent becomes the central figure. He or she becomes the responsible person. This is also true for a society or a country. If there is one person dedicated to the organization or the country, who serves its members or citizens more than anyone else does, then the other members need to show a certain humility that enables them to attend that person as they would attend the Lord and as they would attend God.
When you go to the spirit world, you will see that because God, as the central existence, lives for all beings in heaven and earth, you will willingly submit to Him. Even after tens of millions of years, you will still want to remain under God’s dominion. In fact, the state of submitting to God will be the state of your greatest happiness. You don’t need to take my word for it; when you die you will see for yourself.
Humankind today is ignorant of this. People live without knowing that when they submit to the One who truly looks after them, they enter the realm where they enjoy true happiness and peace. Let yourself feel, “The all-knowing and almighty God is my Parent. He exists for me.” Let yourself believe that the true love of God, the highest form of love, exists for my sake. Then you will find a serenity that you have never experienced before.
When we expand this principled formula beyond locality and nation to the standard of the entire world, without a doubt we will find ourselves in a realm of heavenly love, an ideal world of peace, the world of happiness that humankind has desired. Such a world can be called the kingdom of heaven on earth.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have said that those who live for the sake of others will be under Heaven’s protection and will become central figures. My life is a good testimony to this fact. People around the world refer to my wife and I as the True Parents. The path that led us to this point was not an easy one. I completely dedicated my life to Heaven and humankind. Even though I was opposed by my parents, my relatives, the church, the state and the world, I never lost hope. I never stopped living Heaven’s teaching, living for the sake of others. The path that my wife and I have led as the True Parents has been a lonely path that went from one extreme to the other. Yet, as a result, the “true love movement,” reflecting the image of how I have lived, is spreading like wildfire across the world. Millions of families, by living for the sake of others, are being reborn as true families of peace and happiness. Families that live in attendance to the True Parents are increasing in number around the world.
It is my hope that everyone gathered on this precious occasion will also practice the true love of “a life lived for others,” which is the heavenly principle revealed to this age. In that way, Heaven will bless you as central figures and responsible persons, and you will experience eternal peace, freedom and happiness.
Thank you very much.