Sun Myung Moon
July 18, 1997
Washington Times 15th Anniversary Banquet
President, Family Federation for World Peace
Washington D.C.
Respected guests from Washington D.C. and abroad, dear staff of The Washington Times, eminent world literary leaders, ladies and gentlemen:
I deeply appreciate your taking time from your busy schedules to attend this meeting.
Today, as we celebrate The Washington Times' 15th anniversary, I cannot help but feel deep emotion. Fifteen years ago, when the world was adrift on the stormy waves of the Cold War, I established The Washington Times to fulfill God's desperate desire to save this world. Since that time, I have devoted myself to raising up The Washington Times, hoping that this blessed land of America would fulfill its world-wide mission to build a Heavenly nation. Meanwhile, I waged a lonely struggle, facing enormous obstacles and scorn as I dedicated my whole heart and energy to enable The Washington Times to grow as a righteous and responsible journalistic institution.
Today The Washington Times Corporation can be proud of its development into a world-class global media enterprise. Since the end of the Cold War, the world began to realize that the direction taken by The Washington Times was correct. History will not forget our contribution. The efforts of The Times to revitalize the moral and spiritual values of the United States and the world are being recognized as absolutely urgent and necessary at this time.
I want to convey my warmest appreciation to all The Washington Times staff who have worked so hard together with me to develop The Times. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to the American and world leaders who have offered their unwavering support.
The most precious thing that I can offer from the bottom of my heart as a token of my appreciation on this special day is to introduce you to what I consider to be the two most significant lectures that I gave during my most recent world tour.
I refer to "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation" and "In Search of the Origin of the Universe." Today, we need a complete solution for the problems of sexual immorality, family breakdown and alienation among our young people. These two speeches provide fundamental solutions for these problems. When each one of you goes back to your home, I hope you will take some time for self-reflection. Whenever you want to bring more love into your family, read these speeches together with your family and think deeply I believe this can help you and your family to achieve harmony and real happiness.
I suggest that you read these two speeches as many times as the number of your age.
If your age is over 80, then read them more than 80 times. The more you read these speeches, the more heavenly blessing and fortune will be with you. The more you read them, the more peace will flow in your family naturally and automatically. I invite you to read more!
The title of the first speech is "View of the Principle of the Providential History of Salvation." To summarize: Because of the failure and Fall in the family of the First Adam, Jesus came as the Second Adam to restore the failure of the first family at the national level. The First Adam had become fallen Adam. Thus, the Messiah, Jesus, came as the Second Adam. However, since Jesus was not able to realize a family based on being True Parents, the Messiah needs to come back as the Third Adam and restore the mission of True Parents on the world level. This is the mission of the Second Advent, who is coming as the Third Adam. This speech also introduces the fact that the fundamental issue of salvation is the restoration of the original lineage.
The title of the second speech is "In Search of the Origin of the Universe." Since the human Fall originated in the misuse of love, humankind lost True Love. Thus the problem arises: How can we recover True Love? The loss of True Love means falling through adultery. In other words, True Love became degraded by misusing the sexual organs, and in order to restore it, we need to use these organs in the right way Just as the seed of fallen love was planted in the Garden of Eden during the first ancestors' youth, so in these final days, mankind will harvest the fruit of the Fall among our young people. That is the reason why today we find so much chaos and confusion, centering on the issue of sex. This problem can only be solved with what I call "Absolute Sex." Only the concept and practice of Absolute Sex can prevent the destruction of the family and reverse the corruption of our youth.
Becoming True Parents
This evening, because time is limited, I would like to share a speech with a new title: "True Family and True Universe Centering on True Love."
Everyone here has parents and teachers, and you also have the leader of your nation. Correct? These are things everyone undeniably needs. However, when compared to the true standard, there are many different levels of parents. What do you think? To what extent have you, yourself, become True Parents? In the same way, if a person is a professor at an Ivy League university such as Harvard, Yale or Columbia in the United States, or Oxford or Cambridge in England, does this mean that he or she can be called a True Teacher? Similarly, there are different types of leadership in a nation compared to the true standard of leadership. Even if someone is the president of a superpower such as the United States, does this mean he or she is a True President?
In fact, today in the family, children do not trust parents. Between spouses, there is no complete trust. Brothers and sisters also don't trust each other fully Furthermore, students do not trust the teachers in the schools, and the people do not trust the leaders of their nation.
So the problem is, how can we attain the true standard of even one of these three most important positions of parents, teacher and leader?
When I say you should become True Parents, True Teacher or True Leader, what do you think is the highest standard or central model for those three positions? That is God. God is the True Parent among parents, True Teacher among teachers, and True King among kings. God is the Eternal True Parent, Eternal True Teacher, Eternal True Leader and King.
If we are children of God, we need to become True Parents first, just like God. We should also follow the way of the True Teacher, just like God. And we need to follow the way of the True Leader, just like God. This is the idea of the three primary positions. The ultimate model is God.
The Messianic Concept
Who is the Messiah sent to the people of Israel, as promised in the Old Testament? The Messiah is the one who comes as True Parents, True Teacher and True King. However, because Jesus was prevented from establishing the True Family and uniting his people, he needs to come again. In other words, because he did not accomplish the national-level foundation, the Messiah of the Second Coming will come as the Third Adam and teach the way of the True Parents, True Teacher and True King at the world level. This is the messianic concept. Wherever the family, nation, world and Heaven exist, the idea of the three primary positions of parents, teacher and leader should always be established.
To exist in the spatial dimension, human beings need to stand in relation to what is above and below, right and left, front and back. In this way, one's position is determined. One's shape and situation depend upon where one stands relative to above and below, right and left, and front and back.
This same formula that applies in the relation of above and below, right and left, and front and back also applies to the family, the nation and the world. Just as there are above and below, right and left, and front and back centering on the individual, in the family there are parents and children, husband and wife, and brothers and sisters. Similarly, in the nation, centering on the leader, families should embrace all the civilizations of East and West and all the civilizations of North and South. Then they can embrace all people of the world as brothers and sisters. Ultimately every level will form a family pattern. All these models have the same pattern and the individual self is the central model. In the same manner, one's existence expands to the level of the family, nation, world, Heaven and Earth, and eventually reaches God. Each person has the desire to live as the center of the cosmos and the potential to make this a reality.
Thus, the core concept of the universe is the concept of the family Heaven represents parents. Earth represents children. In the concept of East and West, East symbolizes man, West symbolizes woman. When a woman gets married, she usually follows wherever the husband goes, but they have equal value. When the West side reflects the sunlight, it has the same value as the East side. The relationship of brothers is the same. When the older brother works, the younger brothers naturally help him.
Therefore, people should exist in the relation of parents and children, husband and wife, and elder and younger siblings. And these three relations meet at one central point. There can be only one center. Above and below, right and left, and front and back should not have different centers. If the central point is different, then the balance of the relationships between above and below, right and left, and front and back will be broken. Eventually above, below, right, left, front, back and the central point all together comprise seven positions. Thus, the number seven represents all elements uniting to become one centering on God, with perfect True Love. Together, these seven elements form a complete sphere and eventually a family structure of harmony and unification. So, as you can see, seven is truly a lucky number.
When this sphere completes itself and revolves, it becomes a new entity based on the number eight. As long as True Love remains unchanging, the central point can revolve without change. But because of the human Fall, God was expelled from the central position. Since God's True Love was expelled, the True Family ideal collapsed.
There are many differences in lifestyle between East and West. In many ways, they are totally opposite. For example, when Koreans call someone to come to them, we motion with the palm down, like this. But if we do this in the West, people go the other way. We often misunderstand and wonder if people don't like us, because they go away from us when we are actually asking them to come closer. Also Western writing has a horizontal structure, proceeding from left to right. Oriental writing originally is vertically structured, starting from top to bottom and proceeding from right to left. So Western books open from left to right. But in the Orient we open a book from right to left. Thus Western civilization is more horizontally-based, while Oriental civilization is more vertical. As another example, shaking hands is a horizontal greeting, while bowing is vertical. In the Orient, there is a tradition that the ancestors are the core of the family system. But in the West there is no strong concept that considers the ancestors as the core. There is mostly a concept centered on the self.
All Are One In the Family
Because everything is connected through the core, without the movement of the core, the whole entity does not move. Therefore, all the positions of one, two, three, four, five, six and seven, the central core, have equal value. Once they are divided, they comprise twelve segments. These twelve will fit wherever they are placed. Whatever the grandfather wants, the grandchild is not against. The children of the grandfather also want whatever their parents want. Ultimately all three generations become united in one desire. All of the elements -- grandfather and grandmother, father and mother, husband and wife, son and daughter -- resonate with the center. Let us look at the family, centering on love. Since the relationship between parents and children is one of unity, they are said to be one body. The relation between husband and wife is also said to be one body, as is the relation between brother and sister. In the family, all are one body. Centered on what are these relations called one body? They are one body centered on God's True Love, which is the center of all love. Centered on True Love, parents and children become one, husband and wife become one, and brothers and sisters become one. Through this process, the value of each element becomes equal.
Then what did God want for His children? To become billionaires? To have more power than anyone else? What God wanted for His children, Adam and Eve, was for them to grow to become children of filial piety, loyal citizens, saints, and a Holy Son and Daughter. Did you ever consider that, in accordance with God's desire, we should become children of filial piety in the family, loyal citizens of the nation, saints in the world, and Holy Sons and Daughters before Heaven and Earth? In history the saints and sages have taught that we should become children of filial piety, loyal citizens, saints, and Holy Sons and Daughters.
This evening do you think you have mastered the way of filial piety, loyalty, sainthood, and Holy Sonship which is needed to become an ideal human being and to complete the human personality? Without knowing this, you cannot perform the function of True Parents in the family. True Parents need to teach their children progressively to complete the way of the filial child, loyal citizen, saint, Holy Son or Daughter, and eventually even to reach God.
If there is someone who truly teaches and exemplifies these things, then God will see that person as the ultimate True Parent, True Teacher and True Leader.
Following the True Way
When you are qualified as True Parents and True Teacher, you also will be qualified as a True Leader; and furthermore you will be qualified to become a True King or Queen. Fallen man lacks this concept of filial piety, loyal citizenship, sainthood, and of becoming Holy Sons and Daughters. That is why this world is perishing. Who wants Holy Sons? God does. Who wants saints? The world does. Who wants loyal citizens? The nation does. Who wants children of filial piety? The family does. This is the way of truth.
The truth centering on love continues eternally in one direction. We did not know this, and that is why we could not be True Parents, True Citizens, True Saints, and Holy Sons and Daughters. When Jesus came to this world, there were no True Parents in the family, no True Leader in the nation and the world, and ultimately there was no True King in all of Heaven and Earth. People did not know how to follow the True Way. However, now you should know.
True Parents do not tell their children, "Once you become children of true filial piety, do not become loyal citizens." True Parents should teach children of filial piety to sacrifice their family by following the way of a loyal citizen in service to the nation, and to sacrifice the nation to fulfill the way of saints in service to the world. And then parents should teach their children to sacrifice the world in service to Heaven and Earth, and to sacrifice Heaven and Earth to come to God.
To achieve this, individuals should sacrifice for the sake of the family By sacrificing for the family, a person becomes a child of filial piety To become a patriot, a person will sacrifice even their entire family to save the nation. That is the way to become patriots. To be a saint, you will sacrifice even the nation in service to the world. The Holy Son should establish the Heavenly Kingdom on Earth and in Heaven, even sacrificing the world. Therefore, among all parents, those who live more for the sake of their children are True Parents. Teachers who do more for the sake of their students are True Teachers, and the president who sacrifices more for the nation will be the True President. We did not know this concept of investing and sacrifice. But without it, we will never have one eternally peaceful and unified world.
Nothing is Alone in Nature
What is the basis of individualism? One cannot claim anything as "mine alone." When the child, through the love of its parents, grows from an egg in the mother's womb and is born, 99.999 percent of its existence is from the mother's bone, blood and flesh, which was combined with the 0.001 percentage from the father's sperm. There is no concept of "myself alone" in nature. Nobody had a concept of "myself' when they were born.
Anyone who considers that they are the best cannot say they became so by themselves, including Reverend Moon. Bone, blood and flesh are all received in the mother's womb. We should recognize that the important parts of our body are the extension of our mother's body All the essential elements of our body were included in the egg and sperm. There is no exception. Therefore, there is no basis for self-centered individualism.
When we say the word "above," that word automatically recognizes "below" Can individualism stand only with the concept of "above" by itself? There is no way that a being can be only individual. Talking about the "right" side presupposes the existence of "left." In the relation between front and back, "front" presupposes "back." The word "man" also cannot exist by itself. It presupposes "woman." This is not just the claim of any one person, but a cosmic fact.
Why was man created? Usually, men say that they can live by themselves alone, so they don't care why they were created. But man was born for the sake of woman. Without woman, there is absolutely no need for man. Actually, nothing was created for man by himself or for woman by herself alone.
Look at our five senses. Were my eyes created to look at my eyes? Nose, ears, mouth, hands -- all of them were created for the sake of the object. The force that mobilizes and focuses all five senses is True Love. Eyes, nose, ears, mouth and hands were created for True Love as a tool for the use of True Love.
Nothing is created only for myself. On the contrary, a person who says that what belongs to others is "mine" is called a thief. When someone takes the things of others and uses them as his own, isn't he a thief? Therefore, any man who uses his five senses and his body as he wants for himself alone is a thief, since these exist for the sake of woman.
What is the difference between man and woman? Their bodies, including the sexual organs. Then to whom is man's sexual organ absolutely necessary? Man's sexual organ exists for the sake of woman. The human sexual organs are shaped as concave and convex. Why are they shaped that way? Both of them could be pointed or both could be flat. Why are they shaped differently? Each is for the sake of the other. Woman absolutely wants what is man's. And man absolutely wants what is woman's. Until now, we did not know the fact that, absolutely, woman's sexual organ is man's and man's sexual organ is woman's. By owning each other's sexual organs, man and woman come to know True Love.
Only through the experience of two becoming one can we know the highest level of love. No one can absolutely deny these facts. Everyone should recognize this. At the place where husband and wife become completely one, the ideal couple will be created. In that very place, absolute love exists. That place of love, which is absolutely unchanging, is the dwelling place of God.
Absolute Sex and True Love
Absolute Sex is centered on God, and free sex is centered on Satan. Historically, world literature and the media have often stimulated free sex. But from now on, you literary figures and journalists should lead the way to prevent free sex. Free sex should completely disappear.
Now that you have heard Reverend Moon's speech, you can change your current position 180 degrees and become a new person, new nation and new world. Definitely you are being changed. It is an absolute necessity to change this evil world. This world must be transformed.
People in the evil world, including Satan, don't like people on God's side. Therefore, everyone in the world has opposed Reverend Moon; even at the level of the nation and the world they opposed me. But because Reverend Moon belongs to God, God has protected me. Satan doesn't like Reverend Moon; but God likes me. No matter how many times the world pushed Reverend Moon down or ignored me, I did not care. Reverend Moon never went down. Rather, he came up to the highest position. Therefore, now nobody can oppose me.
How could I establish this worldwide foundation even under all kinds of persecution? With what kind of power could Reverend Moon create these foundations to teach eminent world scholars and leaders? That was possible because God gave Reverend Moon a special kind of power. God has protected me and directed me, and even now God continuously protects and teaches me, so I am moving toward the way of success all the time.
Throughout history, there have been numerous religious leaders who could communicate with the spiritual world. You should know there is only one, Reverend Moon, who fully understood and unified the spiritual world and commenced work in this world. Since unifying the spiritual world, I received the heavenly seal of recognition from God. Otherwise unification on the Earth cannot be done. You should know that in the same way that God has trained me and raised me in the spiritual world, He continuously leads me on the Earth.
For more than 20 years, since I came to the United States, I received enormous persecution. But I knew that God's plan for Christianity has endured through bloody sacrifice for 2,000 years, ultimately settling in the United States. Therefore, I could not give up on this country Please consider, if America had accepted Reverend Moon even 40 years ago, how would this country be today?
Sacrificing and Giving Again
Then from where does True Love begin? This is True Love: After you sacrifice your own life and are resurrected, you try to invest again, more than three times. Since we have inherited fallen lineage, even at the cost of our own lives we have to persevere and overcome. Therefore, "whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it." (Luke 17:33) Jesus followed this way when he came to this world. That is why he could lead the world, not by selfish individualism, but by altruism. Therefore, although I have created great wealth during my life, none of it, not even one penny, is mine. I invested everything for the world and then I forgot what I had done for others, and then I sacrificed and invested again. I repeated this process again and again.
Which do you prefer, "One Nation under God" or "One World under God?" Among Americans, some people do not like the concept of One World under God. Some white people do not like black people. White Anglo-Saxon Protestants occupy dominant positions in the United States. America, led by this group, should have the idea that this country exists for the sake of the world. If America lives only for its own sake, America will ultimately perish.
Now the times are changing. The coming time is the age of One World under God. God is working for this kind of world and will always help those people who also are working for that kind of providence. But there is a problem with many people wanting to lead the world but not wanting to participate in that providence.
In order to make one peaceful world, I have poured myself into various efforts. Let me give a few examples. We need to establish an ideal, worldwide academic institution like a UN University, transcending the barriers of race, religion and language, in order to complete the foundation for the future world. Also, to exchange knowledge globally, we need a university system for distance learning. We also need to develop a unified medical science. We need not only to cure the diseases of the body caused by the Fall, but also to end the conflict between Orient and Occident through harmonizing Eastern and Western culture. By unifying Eastern and Western medicine we can cure formerly incurable diseases, such as AIDS. In Korea, among the people of the countryside who never had formal medical education, there are many gifted healers who can cure serious diseases that are incurable through modern medicine. These healers have received teaching from the spiritual world about special treatments. Without recognizing certain realities of the spiritual world, problems will continue to grow.
Already these projects are being implemented at the University of Bridgeport and Sun Moon University I have also created The Washington Times and other newspapers to cover the entire hemisphere, and I am expanding this media foundation into 185 countries to help all the people of the world learn from each other and cooperate as one. Since I came to America, I never had any debt to the American people. Rather, America should feel indebted to me. 1 shared the blessing I received from Heaven with America. I didn't receive any blessing from America, but my entire blessing was given to her.
Regardless of the degree of opposition, the person who loves the most will become the owner. Those who love more, invest more, who give more and forget what they have given, will become central figures. This is cosmic law.
In the future, please follow the way that in the family you offer filial piety to your parents, become a loyal citizen before the nation, become a saint before the world, and become a Holy Son or Daughter before God. Whoever can stand without shame before the family, nation, world, and Heaven and Earth, will be protected in the center of the cosmos and can then realize a family that receives God's highest love.
Such a person shall transform this world into the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, being registered in the Kingdom of Heaven in the spiritual world and entering into an era of kingship both spiritually and physically centered on God. Such a person shall receive the International Ceremony of Holy Blessing, which is to establish a world of victory, freedom, happiness and unity. I invite each of you to participate in this year's 3.6 million couple Blessing Ceremony, and so become a person welcomed by Heaven and Earth and find the way of eternal life.
Today literary leaders from all over the world are gathered together here. I hope the staff of The Washington Times and all the world literary leaders will become major figures to create a True Family and True World (cosmic) culture centered on God's True Love, ushering in a world of peace and unification in the forthcoming 21st Century.
May God bless you, your family and all your endeavors.
Thank you.