Reverend Sun Myung Moon
July 1, 1984
Belvedere
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
Today I want to speak about the true way of life for every human being. Let's think for a moment about the word "true" and what it means. Does "true" have a particular shape, such as round or square? What is the definition of "true"? What is the standard from which we can draw that definition?
Let's take the example of a true man. What is a true man? He must have eyes, a nose, a mouth and so forth - so he is not different from ordinary men in that respect. What makes a man a true man? Do you think that quality is a limited capacity or is it universal? That which is true must be measured against everything in the universe; without any limitation, it must be true.
The mathematician always searches for a formula, a small thing which can be universally applied. But if the formula becomes distorted, it cannot be used to measure other things. Without that formula as the scale, there can be no way to measure the true value of other things. There are different systems of measurement, such as the metric system which is based upon the number ten. There is also the system of time measurement, which is divided into twelves-twelve hours of the morning and night; twelve months of the year, and so forth. Within those systems, the basic measurements must be correct or the rest of the system will be incorrect. Unless that basic unit or formula is correct, then nothing else can be quantified or measured properly.
Human society is no exception to this rule. We must have a unit of measurement, that of the true man, by which we can measure all people. The physical life of human beings requires being born through a certain biological process from the mother's womb, and that cannot be violated. It is the law of existence. By the same token, there are certain spiritual laws or formulas that must be followed in order to live properly and avoid catastrophe.
All of human life comes under law. In the earliest, embryonic stages of life, we are guided by certain natural laws. While we live on the earth, we are under certain laws and when we go to the spiritual world, we are under certain laws. These natural laws are not limited by any person's language, culture, or nationality; every person must follow them. For example, every unborn child must be guided by natural laws in order to develop and be born; otherwise, it will be stillborn.
These are the kinds of laws that all mankind has in common. Westerners and Orientals are just the same in respect to these laws. But there are certain areas of differences among people and an example is our eating habits. In the Western world, you have the custom of using a lot of utensils to eat with-you must have your fork, your spoon, and your knife. In fact, you have several different forks and spoons of various sizes. But consider the
Japanese, all they need are two wooden sticks. The specific methods by which people eat may be different, but the fact remains that all human beings have to gain nourishment by taking in food through the mouth. Everyone has that in common.
Furthermore, all people need to be able to use their arms and hands to lift their food to their mouth, then swallow it and have it go down into their stomach. That is universal. So it doesn't really make any difference whether one uses chopsticks or a fork or even two fingers. You must get that nourishment into your mouth; that is the important thing. It doesn't really matter if you are fed by your mother or whether you lift the food to your mouth with your foot. The important principle is that you have to take the food in your mouth-not in your ears or your eyes-and then it must go down to your stomach.
Imagine if your hand did its work to bring the food to your mouth but your mouth refused to work and went on strike! Because it is universal that the mouth must take in food, whenever food gets near the mouth, it naturally and automatically opens up to welcome it. Once food goes into the mouth, you don't have to think about it or issue a special order; the mouth just automatically starts to work.
Everything in the universe cooperates with the common, universal truth. There are many different ways in which people dress, but we all have one thing in common-we all wear clothes for the protection of our bodies. Clothing helps us to maintain our body temperature. It doesn't matter whether we are wearing beautiful, expensive clothing or cheap and unattractive clothing, since all clothing serves that one common purpose. Many people like to dress up and be boastful about their beautiful fine clothing, but that is actually a very trivial thing. As long as one's clothes fulfill their basic purpose of protecting the body, there is not much real difference between people's clothing.
What is the common truth of the eye? The eye is supposed to perceive the world; its purpose is to provide you with vision. The human eye is prepared to provide a certain kind of vision. It cannot see things that are microscopic, such as viruses and germs. It sees things in our environment such as the things of nature.
There are doctors who specialize in the treatment of specific parts of the body, such as eye, ear, nose and throat doctors. They work to help those organs of the body to function and fulfill their common purpose. The doctor tries to restore the function of those organs to the level which the organ was created to provide. That organ is supposed to provide a certain quality of vision, hearing, or sense of smell, and so forth.
The creation of the universe started from the smallest level. At that level, the common law and purpose were fulfilled. Things came together and fulfilled a greater purpose, then they came together and fulfilled a greater purpose according to a greater formula. Ultimately the universe itself was created.
This morning all of you look healthy and your bodies seem to be functioning normally. Even though you are sitting here quietly and just listening, there are more than four trillion cells inside your body working very hard at this moment in order to maintain your peaceful, healthy situation. There are all sorts of things going on inside of you at this very minute-certain actions of repulsion, actions of taking in and giving out, and many others. Your cells are working very hard to keep you in balance, but sometimes that balance is lost. At that point, you will start to feel some pain; suddenly you won't feel normal.
In order to maintain your good health, universal laws are in action within your body at all times. This is true today; tomorrow, ten years from now, and so forth. If we expanded the distance between each cell to kilometers, the human body would be incredibly gigantic. The body is a small universe, but if it were expanded, it would become a giant universe. Maintaining your normal functions of walking, laughing, eating, and so forth requires an enormous amount of effort on the part of your body. To maintain the proper law and order, your body must maintain the strictest discipline. It can never operate randomly or by accident.
Each cell is like an independent entity, with the ability to perceive its surroundings. As an independent entity, where does a cell want to go and what does it want to do? It naturally seeks to go to the place where it is comfortable and can feel good. Imagine that a cell had the opportunity to choose between two paths. The first path is to climb a big hill, while the second path is to go across a flat plain, which is an easy and comfortable way. Your cells function just as you do. You would not voluntarily go the difficult, painful way unless it was absolutely necessary. You don't willingly walk into a stone wall and neither would a cell.
Where do you think a small cell would prefer to be? Would it prefer to establish itself in one spot and just stay there, all alone and stationary? Or wouldn't it want to travel all around the body, back and forth, making relationship with the other parts of the body? Why would it prefer the second way? It is because each cell is like you: a human being naturally wants to move and travel; nobody wants to stay in one small place.
This is the general tendency of the tiny cell as well as each human being; they want to experience the good, rewarding and comfortable way of life. How can we relate to our environment in such a way as to derive more meaning and joy from it? Why do we want to live in such a way? Is it your purpose to diminish yourself or to increase yourself? Everything you do is designed to increase and improve your life.
Do you prefer to take a long time and go slowly toward your goal, or do you want to get there quickly? Certainly, you want to get there quickly. Why is that? Imagine that you were a propeller with a central axis. When you turn fast, the law of acceleration allows you to move ahead faster. When you are turning fast, you can control yourself better and achieve more. Therefore we go after fast movement; we naturally want to go faster and faster because we can cover greater distances in shorter time.
Faster movement eliminates resistance and therefore you can achieve greater results. When you move really fast, you go into the realm of timelessness; eternity begins when you are moving that fast. If one little cell tries to move very fast, it can bump into a lot of different things. Imagine four trillion cells trying to move around at such a speed! If the cells were trying to move like that, you would feel all sorts of commotion inside your body! Your ears would be hearing inner sirens, signals of traffic accidents! Therefore in order to avoid that kind of catastrophe, the cells follow certain laws and procedures.
According to the law, the cells can move in certain ways and not in others. This law guides the whole universe, as well. In the Unification Church we use the terminology "individual truth body." Perhaps that sounds awkward, but it is precise. It is difficult for you Westerners to understand what I am trying to express with such terminology.
All the way down to the smallest entity such as the cell, everything has its own distinct, individual character. It naturally expresses itself in its own unique way. The position of an entity will vary, such as being in an upper or lower position. For example from the point of view of the west, when you are facing the west, you are facing the front; but when you turn around and face the east, you are facing the back. Thus your direction changes but the distinct and unique character of your body doesn't change.
Each cell has a distinctive law to follow. If it doesn't, it will cause destruction. By the same token, someone such as Chun Sook Kwak, the third daughter of Reverend Kwak, has her own position within her family. She can never be the eldest daughter or the youngest; she is always the third. Her position and the love she has received is unique; it cannot be duplicated by any other daughter. She simply has the characteristics of Chun Sook. These include being charming and serene. She cannot try to take other positions as well, such as her eldest sister's, her dad's or her mother's. That would mean that she would lose herself by being so greedy.
If anyone tries to distort his position within his family and tries to be father, mother and siblings, then he will bring destruction and chaos to that family. Anything in the universe which tries to operate with a self-centered motivation will be repelled by everything else. Do you think of yourself as a part of the four-billion-member human race, or do you consider yourself outside of it? What do you think would happen if four billion people determined to live just for themselves? Would it even be possible? Each individual within the human race exists to serve others. That is the only way people can coexist.
Therefore, individuals come together to form families; families come together into societies; societies come together to form nations; nations form the world; and the world is a part of the universe. There are certain differences in our world today. Cultural and environmental backgrounds are different. Therefore, it is only when all people come under a common formula and law that we can survive. Our methodology may be different, but we must all serve one common purpose.
For an individual to survive among all different people, what sort of demeanor should he have? If that person has a belligerent manner, fighting with everyone and knocking them down, would that be successful? Or wouldn't he prefer to find a way to be welcomed by everyone wherever he went? Why is the welcoming way the better way? When you are constantly struggling for your own way, you will lose all your energy. But when you are welcomed and live in harmony with your environment, you can easily make progress and move further. You even gain greater energy.
Therefore, the cardinal rule is this: any movement that is self-centered will always be resisted, while any movement that is selfless and for the sake of others will always be welcomed. We must ask ourselves how we can go everywhere and be welcomed. How can you go to the level of the family and have them open their door to you? How can you have the society open their doors to you? How can you have the nation, world, and universe welcome you? What is the necessary method by which you will be welcomed, all the way up to God? It is the selfless way of life. You must exist for the sake of others. That is why selflessness is the most fundamental teaching of the Unification Church.
As you serve others, you will become the central person, the responsible person. The more you aspire to live for the sake of others, the more central you become to them.
The same principle applies in your school. Suppose you have a very harsh teacher. If you continuously serve others with a kind disposition, when you come to that harsh teacher's door, you will be welcomed inside. Among your brothers and sisters, those who are the most serving and giving will be the ones who are the most liked. Among acquaintances, there may be selfish ones and unselfish ones. When the unselfish one comes in, other people are always glad to see him.
If Reverend Moon had come to America and declared, "I am here to gain things for myself," every door in this country would be closed to him today. But even though the government is now rejecting Reverend Moon, many other doors are opening to him. Why is that? This is happening because I have been following the principle of a selfless way of life. For that reason, although people persecute me out of ignorance, they will eventually come to realize who I am and will appreciate me.
Universal law is not on the side of the government; it is on the side of Reverend Moon. So when Reverend Moon follows that law scrupulously to the end he will be the winner, not the U.S. government. In this crowded world, the only way to live your life successfully is to live it for the sake of others.
Imagine that Jesus, Buddha, Confucius, Mohammed and even God Himself came here to Belvedere to listen to Reverend Moon. When they heard my words, do you think they would shake their heads in disagreement or would they say, "Yes, Reverend Moon, you are absolutely right."? They would agree because I am speaking of universal law. This is the true, universal way of life.
In any family, the person who gives the most for the others will become that family's central figure. Generally speaking, the parents are the central figures within a home because they are the ones who unselfishly love the children and work for their sake. The patriot who gives himself for the sake of the country is in the same position. The longer that sort of person lives, the more he is admired for his patriotism. What is a saint? A saint is a person who lives selflessly for the sake of the rest of the world-for humanity as well as for all creation. This is the criterion for sainthood and no one can deny it.
What about the one who created the universe according to this principle? God is the being who wants to live a selfless life for the sake of His creation and for the sake of His children, human beings. What must a person do in order to meet with God? Can you think, "God is the king of knowledge, so I will gain all the knowledge of the world in order to meet with Him."? That won't enable you to meet God. Nor can you garner a lot of power and then meet with Him. Can you gain a lot of money and then go before God? No, the only way you can meet God is by following in His footsteps and living His way of life. God is not looking for people who have a lot of money, knowledge or power. Those are trivial things in His eyes.
Some Unification Church members feel, "I graduated from the seminary and I got my MA and even my Ph.D., so l am entitled to a lot of respect in the Church now." But you will not be respected according to those qualifications. The only way you will gain respect in the Church is by following in my footsteps, living my way of life.
The key phrase is "for the sake of others." Thus whenever you speak of a true friend, that is a person who lives for the sake of others. True parents or a true brother or sister are those who live for the sake of others. A true sovereign is one who lives for the sake of others. On every level of human society, the standard for "trueness" is whether a person lives for the sake of others. Do you agree with this? Are you sure that this is the truth? Are you speaking automatically, or have you thought about this many times in order to say yes?
The truth is an automatic response. For instance, when food is placed in the mouth, the mouth automatically starts to chew. When the food goes down to the stomach, the stomach automatically works to digest it. Even this giant country of America operates according to the same principle. Anybody who strives to serve this country will be automatically welcomed by others. However, as soon as the people of this country see some greedy person trying to take things away from them, they will close their doors. That is the Principle.
Anybody who tries to live solely for his or her own sake will eventually become the child of Satan. A person who lives that way in his home will end up in a hellish situation. But anybody who lives for the sake of others can be labeled a true person. This is a universal principle and there is no exception to it. There is no exception for me or for Mother or for the True Children; there is no exception for anybody in the world.
Let's suppose that you are very hungry and you are passing through a grocery store. You might think, "There is plenty of food here, so why can't I just steal some for myself? I'm so hungry!" Actually, this is the communist way of thinking. Why is this so wrong? It is because the sole motivation is oneself-"I am hungry. I need food. I don't care about anybody else, as long as I am satisfied."
However, there is a better way. If you are very hungry and you have no money, you can go to the owner of the grocery store and with a respectful, considerate attitude ask, "Could you spare a little food for me, because I am very hungry?" When that person gives you his food, that is perfectly all right. You respected the other person and he was able to freely choose to give you his food. Therefore, that person is doing something for someone else. You engendered that kind of action so there is nothing wrong with that. This is the reason we should be law-abiding citizens and respect the laws of our society. Social laws are set up to respect and conform to the universal law.
Suppose there is a man who yearns to go to heaven. He might pray earnestly every day, "God, give me that great blessing of going to heaven. Also, my children are good, so please give them some blessings. Also, please give me some money." His attitude is "God, give me this and that," all the time. When that man's prayer time comes, God will just plug His ears! That kind of prayer is not pleasing to God.
When you pray, pray for the sake of your mission and your work. Ask, "God, I am eager to give everything necessary for the sake of this world and this society, but I am limited and not able to do everything that needs to be done. Can You please help me to do my job to serve this world?" That kind of prayer will bring God to tears.
Put yourself in the position of God. You have to listen to all kinds of prayers all the time. Which kind of prayer would you like to hear? If you have a friend who is always asking you for favors-"Hey, loan me a dime, will you?" "Give me a pencil, will you?" "Can I have some of your food?" You might not mind the first, second, or third time that happens, but finally you will feel like saying, "Get out of my sight! Don't even come near me!" You certainly won't welcome him after a while.
All of you children of blessed couples who are here for the workshop, please listen to my message today. If you ever have the attitude that you are someone special or think, "My mom and dad are a 36-couple so I am in a privileged position:' you will be heading down into the pits of hell! What is a 36-blessed couple? They are the first offering to God so they are the ones who are in the position to give themselves up totally to God, saying, "God, please use us as Your sacrifice."
Before the 36-blessed couples can love their own children, they must go out and love the Cain world, the Cain children. When they go against that principle, regardless whether they are 36-couples or whoever they are, they will crumble. Do you think that is correct? So you blessed children, unless you are going this God centered way of life, don't expect a good blessing.
If anyone thinks, "The Unification Church principle of living for the sake of others is not realistic. I'm not going to bother to do it," then you are very wrong. Do you think I am right for teaching this or are those who disagree right?
The purpose of the workshop for the blessed children is not to treat them in a special way but to give them 21 days in order to practice living for the sake of others. Hyo Jin has been given the responsibility of leading this workshop and I am watching very closely to see how he does. If he is going to succeed, it will only be by serving the group lovingly and sacrificially. If he does, then everybody will love, respect and follow him. But if he behaves in a different way, then he will not be popular and he will not succeed.
This is the principle-when you serve for the sake of others, you automatically become the subject and the responsible person. Do you think that is right? I can bestow all kind of responsibilities on the person who wants to live selflessly for the sake of others because I can trust that he will do the right thing. I evaluate a person under this microscope in order to determine how far a person will go-maybe one day, one year, or for his entire life. The only criterion is this principle.
Anybody who thinks of his own brother as less than himself and his own family cannot pass the test. I recall one instance many years ago in Korea when I asked one person to exchange his house with another blessed couple but he said, "No, I don't want to." I haven't forgotten that answer. From the American way of thinking, that is an absolutely normal response. After all, you think, "How could someone give up his house?" But in the Heavenly way, that is not the normal response. How can the person who cannot love his own brother more than his own house be worthy of God? That is the criterion.
If God ordered Reverend Moon, "Give up East Garden for someone else," I would do it. I am not attached to the building or land there. If God felt that someone else would serve a better purpose by living at East Garden, then I would say, "All right. I'm all for it."
This is the principle that will prevail for eternity. It will never change. If I were living for my own sake, the smartest thing for me to do at the time of the court indictment would have been to stay in Korea. However, I came back to America knowing that God could use this kind of tribulation to awaken America, particularly American Christianity. Therefore, I put that purpose above my own comfort. What is happening now? The American religious community is uniting around my cause and the American people are uniting with me as well. Now the truth is coming out and there are rallies being held all around the country.
On June 26, I went to the hearing before the Senate subcommittee on the Constitution and the truth was spoken clearly there. Now the world can know who Reverend Moon is, why he came, and what his aspirations are. People there were flabbergasted to realize that the image they had of Reverend Moon was completely wrong. Instead of coming here to take money away, Reverend Moon has been pouring his heart, sweat, tears, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars into this country in order to redeem it. Finally people are learning this fact.
When the American people finally come to realize the truth, they will have to repent for their misunderstanding. Furthermore, in that Senate hearing I stated that a certain memo was circulated within the Justice Department directing the prosecution of Reverend Moon. I asked the subcommittee chairman to find that document and allow the world to see it because they have a right to know the truth.
There are a lot of long-time Unification Church members here from Korea. There was never a single instance in which I became indebted to them and for that reason I indeed became their central figure. Nowadays, my own children have come to a new realization about me. They have been somewhat empty-hearted in the past, thinking, "My Dad and Mom are always taking care of the world and pay all their attention to Church members. Why don't they care about me?" But lately they have come to tell me, "Now we can understand better why you did what you did. We see that you truly loved the world's children first, before you loved us. We love you for that and you are great in our eyes."
In order to become a true father and mother, Mother and I have been living according to the Principle. Before we loved each other or before we loved our own children, we had to love the world and be willing to give up our very lives. This is now being understood by the East Garden children. Ultimately, the Cain world will say, "Father and Mother, you gave too much to us. Now we want to give something to the True Children. We want you to be with them and do things for them."
If my way of life had not followed this principle and if the Unification Church had not been guided by it, then we would have diminished and would not have survived up till now. It is only because of this principle that I have been able to prosper and continue this far.
I have been well-protected because of this principle. Even though there has been so much opposition and negativity, the universe has protected me. If I go to prison, the same law will protect me. One amazing fact is that those individuals who have tried to exterminate Reverend Moon have been the ones destroyed instead. Reverend Moon, who has constantly been the target, has been moving further and further along the road of prosperity.
How could this be? What is my secret? My secret is my way of life, this principle. Because of the way I live, I am protected by the universe itself. Even if I go into prison, as long as you members know that you must live for the sake of the nation and the world, our movement will never diminish but will grow and prosper.
Can you love the world more than I have? Even if Reverend Moon tells you, "No, you must not love the world," will you continue to do it? You must say, "Father, no matter how many times you say no, we say yes and we are going to live up to the Principle." That is because the principle is the absolute truth, and that way is the absolutely true way of life.
Do you want to become a central figure and subject? Be a big person, like a giant tree whose branches extend far out. The huge tree has to be able to accommodate everything, such as the insects and birds coming to dwell within it. There are many worms among its roots. The tree must let all those things live there, even though they may sometimes have little fights among themselves. The big tree must embrace all these things.
I am a mysterious person-even though I haven't gone to all the 120 missions around the world, I can close my eyes and pray and know what is going on in specific countries in Africa, South America, Europe and so forth. This is due to my spiritual perception, my special vision. For that reason, I can handle the most important matter of your lives, and that is your marriages.
You look at other people from a purely external viewpoint when you are at the matching, but I can see the whole person. When I look at a person's hands and feet, I can see a lot. A truly handsome man must look good from the back as well as the front. I can see something significant in the way a person walks. I rely upon my intuition that enables me to see everything about each man and woman, like special "X-ray eyes."
You believe that I have that ability, don't you, and you have confidence that I am a champion at matching people? Is it easy to get the autograph of a champion or a celebrity? No, it isn't. You know, I could start a big business pretty soon! My reputation as an excellent match-maker will grow and grow, and then everybody will want to come to me and ask me to pick their spouse for them, whether they are a member of the Unification Church or not.
Truthfully, if my goal were money-making, I would be able to find a thousand different ways. I would never have to worry about money. But I want each of you to learn how to be a giver, not a debtor, to others. This is the true way of life-living for the sake of others.
When you live for the sake of others, you will become a person of responsibility and a central figure to others. But that is not all there is to it. The most important thing is that when you live for the sake of others, you will find the fundamental energy of life within you. Life and love come from that way of living.
Between husband and wife, true love comes only when each of you is trying to serve the other. It can never come if you are trying to get the other to serve you. This is very basic. When you are serving others for their sake, you will find true love. Parents will have true parental love when they are serving their children; brothers and sisters will find true love when they are serving each other. It is only within this way of life that eternity can be spoken about. That is because you will receive more power of life and love and then you will increase each day, becoming greater and greater.
This is why the universal teaching of all the major religions throughout history has been to live for the sake of others, sacrificially giving oneself. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? It is the place where those people who lived their lives on earth for the sake of others will go. The Unification Church is a powerful place, not in any political sense, but because we practice this way of life and gain tremendous life energy. Of course, the members of the Church are not perfect but one thing is true: between the members and myself there is a relationship based upon this principle. I want to love and serve the members and the members want to love and serve the True Parents.
If you think I am comfortable living in East Garden, you are wrong. Even from the secular point of view, I am miserable. Every day I am bearing the cross within my heart. Whenever it is a rainy day, I think about our members and think, "The MFT members must be soaking wet today. God, be with them." When it is cold and miserable, I think about our members living in Soviet satellite countries, some imprisoned and even on the verge of being executed. All of these thoughts are my constant burden.
Since I cannot deal physically with every member around the world, Mother and I try to love and care for those leaders who come to East Garden, as representatives of all the rest of the members. Mother may buy them clothing or I may give them some gift. We want to serve the members by serving their visiting leaders. Mother and I discuss this often and we always have the criterion that we want to buy nicer things for the Church members than for our own children.
Therefore, those who have been martyred in the Eastern satellite countries have ended their lives shouting "Mansei" and facing East Garden. They have not felt complaint or bitterness about losing their lives. They have been victorious and grateful, even in dying. Such people are a great pride to their ancestors and all their future descendants.
Whenever you practice the way of life of serving others, you gain greater life and love, enjoying growth and prosperity. Women were born for the sake of men; men were born for the sake of women. There is no such thing as just "me." Even when someone marries, he cannot say it is just himself marrying-the universe itself is marrying.
The emotional feelings of teenagers are a universal reaction-it is the universe feeling, rather than just yourself. For that reason, it is most crucial that a young man and woman in their teens preserve the purity of their minds and bodies. You women will be presented one day to your God-given man and you men will be presented to your God-given woman.
Within the most common home, in order to be loved by the parents, you have to be able to appreciate what they are doing. When you can appreciate them, you are in the position to receive their inheritance and their love. Think of children throwing away things that the parents cherish. Such children don't value the things that their parents value.
The time of the teen years is the time in which a person can grow into a common understanding of the parents' tradition and can inherit that tradition. Your parents love your grandparents, so you love them too. Your parents love their children and that is why you love your brothers and sisters. Your parents love their relatives, such as your uncles and aunts and so forth, so you love them too. Thus you are like a mirror of your parents; you reflect what they do. What about the love of God? Do you think this principle applies in that realm as well? Yes, although the love of God is of a different quality and height, it is still conveyed in this manner.
Within a kingdom, the subjects should inherit the tradition of their king; whatever he loves, they should love too. When a woman becomes the empress, she must be able to love whatever the emperor loves. The same is true between husband and wife. If a man truly loves his wife, he will love her tradition-the things she does, the things she owns, the art and literature she appreciates and so forth. With such love, the wife can trust her husband. On the other hand, if a husband says, "I don't care about your interests and your hobbies, but I love you," that kind of relationship won't work.
There is a pragmatic way of thinking among some Unification Church members who are not yet married and are awaiting their matching. They think, "When I see the suffering of the state leaders and the missionaries and so on, I don't want to be married to one of them. I would rather be the spouse of someone in business, someone who brings home a salary!" However, that is a most external and materialistic way of evaluating someone. The real question is, who is the one who is really living for the sake of others? What is more valuable to you, in the ultimate sense?
My thinking is very different from that pragmatic way. I think you young women, particularly the children of blessed couples, ought to be married to the front-line Church leaders. Some of the male blessed children have been thinking about studying business or something that can enable them to make money. But if you are thinking in that way, I can tell you that you will be assigned to the exactly opposite mission from what you have studied.
I want you to understand that Reverend Moon is not going to be indebted to you or to anybody. Already I have established so many things. Already there are many highly esteemed professional people who are seeking out my guidance and trying to establish a relationship with me.
I do not want to be in a position to be indebted to the blessed children. I would like to train them and raise them up to a position where they can be respected, productive, and honored by the tradition. The person who just wants to be comfortable and take the easy way is just one step away from hell. But the person who is willingly suffering for the sake of his mission, for the sake of others, is moving right into the Kingdom of Heaven.
There is a mysterious quality about the way I see people. The person who is very close to God always seems to be very close to me, even though he might be physically at a distance. But those people who are really distant from God seem not to be in my presence, and I often forget their names. Sometimes I will see someone whose name has been familiar to me, perhaps on a daily basis, but all of a sudden I draw a blank and can't think of his name. And when I look at his face, it seems to be fuzzy, as if it were an unfocused image.
I am making effort more and more to cut down on my sensitivity, because the more sensitive I am, the more clearly I can see someone and therefore the more judgmental I can be. I do not want that, so I am deliberately trying to cut back on my sensitivity: however, my nature has that special quality.
You can recognize that I must have some sort of extraordinary quality because without it I could never have survived the arduous path I have gone through. In comparison to my path, becoming president of the United States is very easy. Many American leaders think, "Father, your way is not the right way here in America. If you are going to succeed, you have to do things according to the American way." You may think that my way is impossible here in America, but the amazing thing is that God is making that "impossible" way work.
At least one change has occurred among the American leadership. In the beginning when I gave some direction, they would always offer their critiques and their opinions about it. But they don't do that any more; they know better. They don't have total acceptance yet, but at least they think, "Let's wait and see." But still I am frustrated because of that. Certainly, our way is not easy. It is like the North and South poles trying to come together. It is an arduous, virtually impossible task to bring together such incredibly opposite people but I must do it.
It is only because of the Principle that we can do it. If you go the way of the Principle, God will be opening up doors for you. But if you just try to go your own way, although everything seems possible at first, you will soon find every door blocked. You know that God exists, don't you? What is it that belongs to Cod? The entire universe, including all mankind. Nature is God's creation, so everything within it has its own purpose; it is not up to mankind to determine whether or not something is valuable. By the same token, every human being has a purpose.
God loves every season-spring, summer, autumn and winter. He doesn't like just one or two of them. Therefore, you have to be able to love every season that God created. Look at the gigantic snowstorms that come in winter and love them as another beautiful aspect of God's creation. Love the special characteristics that God built into summer, autumn and spring as well. Many people are frightened by thunderstorms and hate them. But you should appreciate the fact that God is displaying a dramatic aspect of His love through the thunder and lightning. It is like the explosion of a man and woman coming together in love.
When people are feeling very joyful, they will burst out laughing. Another person might think, "Those people are crazy," because his point of view is different. You must align your point of view with God's point of view. Love nature. Love people. There are five different skin colors because God does not want just one. He created every different color.
Suppose all you white people were forced to wear only white clothing and not allowed to wear different colors. Imagine that your surroundings had to be totally white. You had to have white walls, a white piano, and even your blackboard had to be a white board! It is clear that white people use black. You need black. If God made such a rule that white people had to use nothing but white coloring, they would complain bitterly. "I would rather die than live in nothing but whiteness!" That would mean that white people couldn't ever have a night time, since night is black. This is the logical extension of the "white supremacist" attitude. How long could someone last with such "supremacy"?
When I came to America, I declared, "God is colorblind. Everybody is equal and white supremacy is totally wrong." The established white people in this country didn't like me. That doesn't mean that I am promoting only the minority causes, although many Hispanics, Blacks, Orientals and other minority groups feel that I am their champion. You white-skinned, blue-eyed people have to be very watchful because you are just like anybody else in the sight of God. He does not grant any special favors.
If a racial war ever started on the earth, the white people would be in the minority. Such a prospect would be very threatening because all the white people could be exterminated. If you think that the supremacy of white people and the sovereign, governing nations will continue forever, you are wrong. God will raise up the people who love Him to take power to govern the world. Those who live their lives for the sake of others will eventually have the governing power of the world.
God is the universal God and He loves every color of skin. Furthermore, He not only loves the people of the contemporary world but also the people of the past, as well as those who will come in the future. He loves those people who are in Hell and He is devising a plan of redemption for them.
We should live according to the truth and we should love others. Without the fundamental way of living for the sake of others, we cannot prosper. The person who lives the truth will become the subject, with more power for life. Also, the subject must have the power of love. The responsible leader and central figure must become the embodiment of truth, life and love.
All these things can be summed up in one simple phrase: Live for the sake of others. When you practice this way of life, you create harmony. Without living your life for the sake of others, you will never create circular motion in your life. Only a round circle can continue for eternity. Once you become a ball of this sort, you can harmonize with anything. Unless you love your parents, your grandparents, your neighbor, your country and so forth, you will not be able to relate yourself with God. When you have that kind of roundness, you will fit in and harmonize wherever you go. You won't stick out like a sore thumb.
You know that I give interesting and lively sermons, but I can also listen to others very well. I can listen to anyone, even the eldest grandmother, for hours and hours and never get tired of her. Sometimes Mother can't understand why I do this and wonders what I could gain from listening to someone telling the same story ten times. However, I know that I can learn new things depending upon the feeling that comes out each time. That's why everybody who knows me feels love for me. They cannot find anyone to compare with me.
Growth comes through give and take. In order to breathe, you must inhale and then exhale. You must repeat this same process over and over again in order to maintain your life. This could be considered a tedious thing, but it is necessary. Suppose you decided to stop being tedious and just inhale a big breath and use only that for the rest of the day. It certainly wouldn't work. Likewise, you have to repeat the process of eating, usually three times a day, day after day. That is what allows you to sustain and improve your life.
If you want to express true feelings toward someone, you must have a truly sympathetic ear when you listen to him. One example of this was during the early days of our Church in Korea. After founding the first church in Pusan, I moved to Yongdo and dedicated a new church. All the members of Yongdo were gathered after the dedication ceremony. I spent that entire night in conversation with one of the eldest grandmothers of the church, while other members waited outside. They were all wondering why I was spending so much time with an old woman. But I told them, "I served this old woman because she represents the entire congregation."
In this respect, I am very different from ordinary religious leaders. Normally when they go to some special ceremony, they will seek out conversation with the most important persons there, such as professors or prosperous businessmen who might contribute money. Even if someone has traveled around the world as a distinguished ambassador, meeting important people such as heads of state, I tell him, "Do you want to join the Unification movement? Then you must come down to the bottom." If I treat him the same way everyone else treats him, he will think, "The Unification Church-so what? I'm at the top of the world, so you must pay respect to me." However, that is not the tradition of the Unification Church.
Do you think I am setting the right tradition? When the missionaries and other Unification Church members come, I eagerly invite them to East Garden to visit with me and Mother, feeding them good food. Often Mother and I will take them out to buy clothes for them. Why? From the worldly point of view, I am giving special attention to people who are "nobodies" while virtually ignoring the "somebodies." How do you think God feels about that- is He pleased or displeased? This is exactly what the Bible teaches. The person who tries to go up higher will be brought lower. The one who tries to go lower will be brought up higher.
Our subject today is a very important one-the true way of life. Do you understand what is that true way now? Based upon that truth, you can gain greater life. But without love, there can be no harmony and unity. Without the qualities of love, life and truth, you cannot become a central figure or a responsible person. Where there is truth, there is life and there is love. They all come together and multiply themselves. When you practice living for the sake of others, you will multiply your life energy, love energy and your truth energy.
Why would you want to become a subject? When you become a subject, you are entitled to truth, life, and love. The same can be said of a central figure and responsible person-you become entitled to more truth, life and love energy. There is only one way of life by which everything can be harmonized into action and that is by living for the sake of others. You can only multiply, expand and grow from smaller truth to larger truth, from smaller life to larger life, smaller love to larger love, and so forth, by living for the sake of others. Practice this and find out for yourself.
I came to this conclusion a long time ago and I have been practicing this principle throughout my life. I found out that this is the truth and have been telling the world about it. Everything you do, therefore, should be derived from this principle. You should strive always to take the initiative and do more than others. You should spend your time effectively. Even when you go on a walk, you should have a goal to walk a certain distance before you take a rest. You should always be ahead of others.
When there is good food to eat, everybody wants to enjoy it and eat a lot. In such a situation, I am always the first to lay down my fork. This was true even when I was in prison. I practice this principle wherever I go. When leaders come to East Garden to visit, I never tell them, "Please go away because I need my rest." Instead they are the ones who get tired and finally I pity them and let them go to bed. Then I stay up later than anybody else. Even though I may go to my room, I don't go to sleep.
This is sometimes very painful for Mother. Because my schedule is so arduous, it is impossible for her to keep up with me. Mother spends a lot of time alone, but she never complains because she knows what kind of person I am. She is always proud of me and she always speaks well of me. She has no complaint but rather gratitude and appreciation and support. Mother knows one thing: I do what I do for the sake of others and for the sake of God, not for myself.
Therefore, I do crazy things such as going out on rainy days like this to work. Even in a storm, I will go up to the mountains. I always ask, "Am I the first crazy person to come up to the top of the mountain during such stormy weather?" And the angels tell me, "Yes." I tell all the things of creation, "Today is a very extraordinary day, so I want to bless all the creation-the rocks, the mountain, the insects, trees, flowers." This is my unique relationship with creation.
When a person climbs a mountain, normally he will feel very tired and his feet will hurt. My feet cry out that they are tired, too, but I yell back at them, "Rascals! You have to step forward another step." And the feet and legs respond, "Yes Sir!" Always there is one more step to take, no matter how tired I become. I never quit. Will you also live that way of life? You may say you will do it, but will you only do it for one day? When you say you will live such a way, that means it is for eternity.
According to that principle, I want to ask you a question. Suppose the most beautiful woman was matched to a very ugly man. That is the most ideal way because that is the most serving way. Isn't that true? When that beautiful woman loves her ugly husband as a representative of the universe, you can know that God will give birth to the greatest men and women through that lineage. Such men and women will lead the world.
One example of this principle is Ye Jin's husband, Jin Whi. When I gave the blessing to the 36 couples, Jin Whi's father at that time was a very important Church leader, having been in the Church for several years and having taught the Divine Principle every day. He was a great lecturer. But Jin Whi's mother was very young in the Church-probably only several months. So when I brought them together and introduced them, Mr. Hong thought to himself, "She isn't such a good match. After all, I am a three-year member and she is just like a green onion. What does she know about the Church?" Mr. Hong wasn't so happy.
Then I told them, "if you follow my advice, something good will happen within your family." And they obeyed. They had children and what happened? Not just one but two of their children were joined with the family of the True Parents. That is something that a person would not even imagine happening, so my prediction was correct.
Many times in the past I matched people totally contrary to their tastes. They said, "Father, what are you doing to me? How can I live with that person?" They felt they would grieve to death but they grudgingly obeyed my direction. And what happened? Now they all recognize the wisdom of my choice and they all say, "Thank you, Father. We couldn't be better matched. We couldn't have better children." Several couples were like that in the 36 couples.
You may think you can judge who would be a good husband or wife, but that is only according to your own criterion. What guarantee can you have that your own wishes are going to succeed? However, I can give you a guarantee. In many cases, I matched people knowing that they would have great children. I knew that God's reward would come to that family, perhaps not immediately, perhaps it would be three generations in the future. But the president of the United States, or some great leader will come out of them. However, because of their own disliking, many have departed from their matches and destroyed them. What will happen? You will eventually learn when you go to spirit world what a mistake you made. You will have intense regret at that time.
For whom do you marry? You men marry for the sake of your wives and you women marry for the sake of your husbands. You must think, "Without me, my husband would be a bachelor! He would never have had children. Thus I marry for his sake." And the reverse is true. You must love each other-give your love for the sake of your spouse and for the sake of all your posterity for generations to come. That is the selfless purpose of marriage. You must not marry for the goal of receiving love. That is the wrong attitude. Too often, women seek marriage in order to be taken care of by a man. But you should marry because you want to give your love, not to receive love from others.
All the features of your body are for the purpose of giving love and giving birth to new generations, not for your own sake. You women have beautiful bosoms, not for your own sake but for the sake of others, for the sake of your husband. Your curved hips and figures are not for your own sake but so that you can deliver a healthy baby. The body of a woman is like a container.
You do not truly belong to yourself but rather to your parents. It was they who brought you into this world. But why did your parents produce you? It is because of love and in order to expand the world of love. That is the reason why children are born. You must marry not to receive love but to give love.
When you marry, you are like a foreigner coming into a new family. All kinds of persecution may come to you from your rascally brothers and sisters-in-law, but you must persevere. That will polish you into a shinier diamond, make you a better person. As a child, sometimes you may have been spanked by your own parents or given a hard time by your brothers and sisters. This is good training for the day when you are married and joined to another family.
Perhaps a girl may have a particularly mean brother who always tries to tease her and make her miserable. He might even go into her room and mess everything up, like a hurricane. Instead of screaming and getting upset, the sister ought to think, "I can look on this as training from God. Thank you, my nasty brother. If I have a nasty husband in the future, I will be prepared."
A lot of American husbands are under the tight iron fist of their wives. They have to go to their wives and say, "Darling, can I have five dollars and bus fare, please?" But that's not my way.
There are things within the men's world that the women's world does not have and that creates balance. Thus the family is the training ground for good husbands and wives. The parents have to be stern and in control. Particularly the father has to be stern. If you are not sure that your sons and daughters are ready to serve totally for the sake of a husband or wife, then they are not ready for marriage, so don't let them do it.
When the character of young men and women is strong, you can be sure that you will have a booming family, society and nation. If this is not the truth, then everything I have said is a lie. For the love of all the things that God created, you can go out and do fundraising. You are restoring material wealth to God. You go out witnessing and show your love for people. These are sacrificial things to do. When you live such a way of life for ten or twenty years, you too will become the kind of person that I am. You can go anywhere and you will be able to see things very clearly.
That is why I could come to this foreign country by myself and take on a subjective role. I have not been passive to anyone but rather have been leading others here. I have been training more young people to be like me. You men and women tell me, are you guided by my teachings? Can you absorb and imitate my way into your own life? Even if you give up and leave the Church, you will not be able to eliminate the truth of the Principle from your mind and heart. You will never be able to forget the things you have learned from me. You may think you will be comfortable in the secular world, but you will find contradiction within you.
It is because I am a tough leader that the Unification Church has moved up in such a short time to the worldwide level. Otherwise, it would have taken a millennium. Within the last six months, I have been able to virtually turn around American public opinion. To grow quickly you have to move quickly and decisively.
In the common way of looking at it, when a person receives a score of 100, he has a perfect mark. But in God's world, we always add one more. The person who gets the mark of 101 is the one who becomes the central figure, the subject, and the responsible person. Thus you must always add one more to everything.
If you are living with ten people, do everything that the other ten do but then add one more. Let's say that the Unification Church had 1,000 members. We all live and follow the same pattern, doing the same sacrificial things. But you should try to do one more thing on top of everything else. Even now I am adding one more, although I am at the top of the worldwide leadership. Mother follows me absolutely as the leader. I have the attitude that I want to do at least one more thing than any president of the United States.
There are many people who are fighting against communism around the world, but I do not follow them. Instead, I am doing one more thing, something they don't do. Looking at the two thousand years of the Christian tradition, I have done all of that, plus one more.
The Lord will come in a different way from what people are expecting. Many say that the Lord will come on the clouds of heaven, but they cannot explain how. I am saying that the Lord will come in the flesh and I am giving logical explanations as to how and why. People cannot fail to be convinced. It is inevitable that I have to become the subject, the central figure, and the responsible leader. Representatives from the entire religious community are uniting with Reverend Moon now and speaking up for me, actively fighting for me.
Reverend Moon does not live for his own sake. I do not seek my own glory. Rather, I want to accomplish my goal of unity of the world and Christianity. In order to achieve this, we must use this principle. You Moonies are welcomed by others because you practice this way of life of service for the sake of others. Even if someone lives with you for ten years, you must serve them and have the heart to continue for eleven years. That is the way Moonies think. You know how you can survive and go on forever. You know how to deal with the world and how to behave. This way will bring you not only survival but also prosperity.
Become harmonious with your surroundings-north, south, east and west, as well as up and down. There is only one way to do that-according to the formula of living for the sake of others. This formula alone will bring about that kind of harmony. Do you understand?
Why do you live? This is a very simple question, yet throughout history nobody has been able to answer it with a simple answer. Now I am giving you the simple answer: you live for the sake of others. The individual must live for the sake of the family; the family for the tribe; the tribe for the society and nation; the nation for the world; and the world for the universe and all ultimately for the sake of God. God Himself is living for the sake of His children. Thus we create a total circle and a balance. There can be no complaints within this circle. God is not a plunderer. He is giving away everything He has. The more He has, the more He gives. Thus nobody has any complaints within that complete circle.
Everything comes to the center, where God is. Does the central figure say, "I'm so glad everything is serving me. I won the world!"? At that point, the center would be destroyed. The center must receive and then give more. It must serve the whole, existing selflessly for the sake of the world. When you are living for the sake of others, you are constantly supplying their needs, giving away more and more. When you do that, energy goes out from you, more energy is created, and then you are automatically supplied with more. This is like a low pressure area which is automatically filled up. You will always be refilled when you empty yourself.
That means ultimately everything will come to you. Now, do you understand this principle clearly? Do you young people understand me clearly? You should be grateful to your parents. Your way of life must be based upon gratitude. Be grateful to your parents, grateful to your spouse, grateful to your children, because they provide you with the opportunity to live this way of life. Have no complaints. After knowing this truth, no one can complain. Complaint is the worst disease, like cancer. Dwell always in gratitude and grace. That is the beautiful way of life. After understanding this truth, no one can escape from this way of life.
Even if I go to prison, you must continue to practice this principle. Seek to love the world and mankind more than I do. If you do more while I am gone than you did while I was present, the Unification Church will never perish. Your parents will eventually pass away-that is according to nature-but do not be consumed with grief. Instead, determine to live more than ever in the tradition of your parents, more than when they were living. The home of such a person will thrive and prosper.
When the Unification Church members work harder in their leaders' absence than in their presence, the Church will prosper. The true leaders of the Unification Church are those who practice the Principle to their bones-to the utmost level. Among several leaders, the one who gives himself more for the sake of his mission, for the sake of the world and for the Church is the truest leader. The most important determination among people is not some external sort of Cain and Abel position. Rather, the important characteristic of a person is if he serves more than anybody else, if he truly wants to live for the sake of others. The one who does that is Abel, regardless of anything else.
A leader is the one who works harder and practices this principle more than others. Leadership does not mean receiving respect or admiration; it means working harder.
You should make up your mind and say, "I know that I have been trying up till now, but I haven't really been giving enough. Now that I have listened to Father this morning, I want to move myself up to a higher level in living for the sake of others." Do you say yes to this? This is the true way of life and that is what will bring prosperity. God bless you and thank you.