The Realization of the Ideal of Love Starts in the Family

Sun Myung Moon
August 31, 1971

From where should the ideal of love start being realized? From the Unification Church? The nation? The world? Even if someone unified the world, if he failed to unify his own family, he would be an unhappy person. The ideal of love should first be realized in the family. The family is the nest of happiness. Therefore, God's Kingdom begins from there. When Jesus, who came to the earth to realize God's Kingdom, said, "I am the Bridegroom and you are the brides," he was referring to the family level.

Who makes up the family? First, parents; second, children; third, husband and wife; and next brothers and sisters. Then how are the members of the family intertwined? Through love. Therefore, what can unify the family? Love can unify it. Since love is unchanging, the grandparents' love can become one, the parents' love can become one, and the love of the husband and wife can become one. It is because love contains the quality of unity that they can be one. Also, it is because love contains the motivation of human life that the lives of the grandfather and grandmother can be connected, and also the ideal can be connected to it.

The grandparents bequeath their love to the parents; in other words, they give it to their children. The children of our grandparents are our parents, and we are the children of our parents. The place that is centered on such love is God's Kingdom, which will not be realized if any of these forms of love are denied. Since God is the Subject Partner of love and the one who can integrate past, present and future, you must love your parents more than you love each other as husband and wife, and love your grandparents more than your parents.

Man symbolizes heaven and woman symbolizes earth. Since man is subject, he does not like to be interfered with. Woman likes being loved more than she likes to love. Since man symbolizes heaven and woman symbolizes earth, their union is identical to the universe becoming one. Since the universe can be governed only through love, you can be the subject partner of the universe only through love, and you should think of your partner as being bigger than the universe. The connection between the two worlds of heaven and earth is unchanging love.

Those who have led earthly lives intertwined with love will enter heaven. The spirit world is the world of love. When God and individual people completely unite, man and woman will automatically attain oneness, and when a perfect couple appears, heaven and earth will be unified. Where does God wish to dwell? Since love arises between a man and a woman, He wants to dwell where a true man and a true woman make love. Since God is there, that love can be eternal, achieve eternal unification, and possess eternal life and ideal. Therefore, the one who has grasped that love can occupy everything. The purpose of the family that is formed through true love is not just for itself but for realizing God's Kingdom. Based on the standard that seeks to converge with the purpose of unifying the universe, the family should be expanded to the people, nation, world and cosmos. Then once it has reached the world, it should return.

Prayer: Please Let Us Comfort The Situation Of Heaven Which Has Suffered Unjustly

Sun Myung Moon
August 29, 1971

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Oh Father of great mercy! Oh Heaven, which has experienced losses until now having destined relationships of compassion and sympathy, please bend down and look at our inadequate selves. When we consider your original authority and position, we come to think that you are a holy being whom fallen humankind dare not relate to, and we must think deploringly of the fact that you, our father who is like that, have suffered unjustly going forward taking responsibility alone for the path of suffering. But if there is an opportunity for us to be able to notify heaven and earth about this, we must know that before we notify them about pitiful humankind, we are the people who must notify them first about our pitiful heavenly parents.

Even if we are in a position which is able to reach the Kingdom of Heaven, more than hoping for the authority of heaven, we must feel acutely that before us on our road of life there remain many times when we will have to go the kind of road where we comfort heaven, endure and go through many things. Please let us awaken once more to the fact that we must become dashing sons and daughters you can be proud of who today also of their own volition protect the road to the battle; who, as the pioneers of tomorrow, long for the appearance of victory; who determine to overcome, and who do not know what it means to become exhausted even in a living environment of unfavorable conditions.

Since we feel the fact that unless we move according to your innermost heart, and we become beings who are connected to your situation, and, as fruits of goodness, become stepping stones on this earth, you will not be able to walk, we earnestly request that you will allow us to become sons and daughters who live comforting and attending our father who is going a lonely way even one day more quickly. We have humbly prayed in the name of our True Parents. Amen.

The stronghold of Heaven

Sun Myung Moon
August 29, 1971

Where is the stronghold of God's Kingdom? Many Christians say, "I believe in Jesus so I'm going to heaven." Then where is that stronghold? When Peter asked, "Where is the Kingdom of Heaven?" Jesus answered, "It is not in heaven but in your heart," so where is that stronghold located? Can it be formed by a sad heart, or by a self-aggrandizing mind, or by a mind that denies society? Those are not the strongholds of the content we desire or of the Kingdom that God can endorse.

People seeking the stronghold of God's Kingdom must meet with solitude more than anyone else on earth. Why? As God is solitary, they too must be solitary; and since God has undergone the history of subjugation, they too must undergo subjugation.

Then, if people were to just feel sad, repent and shed tears of lamentation because heaven and earth are filled with sadness, can that become the stronghold of God's Kingdom? Even that cannot. When serving the church, while desiring the time of being blessed anew with joy, we must be able to be determined to solve the problems of sin and evil in this world. Without a single direction of determination to bear that responsibility, the stronghold of heaven cannot exist.

Some people confidently assert that – because they are conscientious and have a respectable social position – the Kingdom of Heaven starts from them. That thinking is based on their understanding that good and evil begin together. Yet good and evil cannot start simultaneously. When evil goes east, good must go west, and when evil moves, good has to stop. Moreover, when evil has a desire, good must not have it. Good and evil are opposites.

The search for the heavenly nation started from the point where God lost all His hope in relation to the world of humankind. Thus, people who are satisfied with their present lives cannot be truly religious people. When confronted by the intersecting fortunes of life and death, which cause you to sink into despair, losing the meaning of your existence, you should not be excessively attached to your habitual lifestyle, but instead proceed to seek new values, denying even your life. By proceeding in this way true goodness can start.

Viewed from this standpoint, are there people who can confidently say that their character is the stronghold of heaven? None. There is also no one who can insist that their family is the stronghold of heaven. There is no one who could claim that God, if He existed, could not say that He did not recognize their family. No tribe can insist that God must recognize it because of their good achievements. There are no races, nations, ideologies or philosophies that can demand God's recognition. When I think about this, I am dumbfounded.

Therefore, while the one who wants to die will live, the one who wants to live will die. Then what does that mean? Those who work to protect themselves from the evil world for more than a millennium can dream such a dream, and only those who gratefully sacrifice themselves for more than ten thousand years can find hope to live for ten thousand years.

Likewise, those who cry out for eternal life, eternal happiness, and the eternal Kingdom of Heaven must overcome the current situation with eternity as their goal, and they must surmount with endurance the present point in time, sacrificing themselves. Only from such a standpoint can the eternal stronghold emerge.

In Hungnam Prison, there were some inmates who followed me

Sun Myung Moon
August 28, 1971
Chambumo Gyeong - Book 7. True Parents' Course of Suffering and Victory - Chapter 1. Suffering and Victory during the Japanese Occupation and in Communist North Korea -Section 4. Victory of Love - Disciples in prison

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25. In prison, there were some inmates who followed me. If I had asked them to escape the prison with me, they would have followed me out at the risk of their lives. I had to have inmates who would follow me in that environment of death in order to restore the 12 disciples that had deserted Jesus when he was hung on the cross. To restore them I had to find inmates who would naturally submit to me. I did not have to speak to them, because the spirit world already was mobilized to witness to them.

My number in prison was 596. This number, in a way, sounds like "wronged." One inmate had a dream in which he saw his ancestor, who commanded him, "Do not eat the powder you received, not even one spoonful. Give it to Mr. Moon." So this inmate plodded over to my cell holding the sack of powder, and asked, "Is number 596 here? Who is he?" In such ways the spirit world mobilized to feed me.

After I left the prison, I traveled to Pyongyang and then journeyed to the South. At that time four people followed me. This was the restoration of the four-position foundation. Those four people whom I came out with were my church. In this way, providential history cannot deviate from the fundamental rule of restoration. (047-192, 1971/08/28)

Jesus and the Spirit World

Sun Myung Moon
August 28, 1971

Jesus died bearing the cross during the course of performing the mission of John the Baptist. Thus he was unable to completely fulfill his mission as the son. From his death until now, he has been working to restore the archangel. After restoring the archangel, he must go the way of the son. In this way he has been seeking to go the way of the servant and that of the adopted child. Jesus could not fulfill his mission as the legitimate Son. He went the way of the archangel, the way of the servant and the way of the adopted son.

Consequently, even those who believe in Jesus Christ can only become adopted children. They are in the same position as Cain who is of a different lineage. A relationship that is not linked by blood remains in the archangel's position. Providential history until now has been that of a struggle to link the lineages.

Jesus did not die on the cross as the son. If he had been in the position of the son having spirit and body unity, becoming a victorious offering to God, there would be no need for him to come again. He could not offer his total self. He could offer only half of himself. He lost his body and could offer only his spirit. This represents a level equivalent to the angelic realm in the spirit world.

Therefore, Christians cannot enter Heaven but go instead to a spiritual realm lower than paradise and wait there. That spiritual realm is under the dominion of the archangel.

In order to secure a victorious realm in the spirit world, that victorious realm must first be established on earth. This was the purpose of Jesus' coming and this is why Christianity must restore and establish the victorious realms in both the spirit world and on earth and inherit the realm of the archangel. That is the mission of Christianity. Because there has been no substantial perfection in Christianity, only spiritual perfection, Christianity emerged placing prime importance on the spirit world.

The returning Lord must have the authority to subjugate the archangelic realm in the spirit world. If he does not, he cannot begin his mission on earth. He must come in the position to inherit all the spiritual realms under Jesus, who attained victory in the spirit world, in the same way that Jesus inherited the accomplishments of John the Baptist. Although John the Baptist had spiritually bequeathed everything to Jesus, John did not carry out his promise and these realms became separated. Consequently, Christianity was established to rebuild that.

Prayer: Please Allow Us to Become True

Sun Myung Moon
August 19, 1971

Photo date and location unknown

Beloved Father! Young boys and girls have gathered in this place. Their longing for this place was not in order to stay here like this today, but in order to find their true selves for tomorrow. They have come here in order to go on the holy path where they can fulfill their duties of filial piety and loyalty to you in their three ages, the age of true youth, the age of true maturity, and the age of true elderliness.

We know the truth that there was sorrow of heaven was filled with tears for the long period of 6,000 years in order to restore one person. In order to connect to the beginning point of the victory of the greatest goodness, we quietly offer our entire lives to you, Father, and we will have to be able to sacrifice ourselves fighting today and tomorrow. We earnestly hope and pray that you will allow the young people gathered here to become those who are able to volunteer and go forward on this kind of path.

In the world, the older generation and the younger generation are arguing, but we know that in the younger generation there are true young people and false young people. We know that today the false young people are recklessly violating the most precious thing, but the true young people are saving to the utmost and protecting to the utmost this most precious thing in the world. We earnestly hope and desire that you will allow them to realize at this time that that thing is chastity centered on obedience.

Through hearts which are rising up in young minds overturning together with you, Father, each one will have to be able to determine deep in his mind to become a person who will fight and remain until that point where we can have a relationship of victory. Therefore we earnestly hope that you will cause each one to make that kind of determination

When we think that all the things yearned for in the evil world are not things which lead us to the gates of happiness, rather they drive us into the snares of death and the traps of death, it will not do unless the young individuals gathered here become true young people who determine to be true individuals who will not change and no matter where they go in society will not be stained or influenced. When we realize that if they do not become true young people, they will not be able to become true youth or true middle-aged people, we earnestly hope and desire that you will not allow us to be inadequate in offering and returning ourselves nicely to you receiving gratefully the blessed gift of this age and this season. We have humbly prayed in the name of the True Parents. Amen.

The right view of Heaven

Sun Myung Moon
July 25, 1971 - Cheon Seong Gyeong, Book 5, Chapter 4, Section 1.8

No matter how strong a storm and wind may come, even if you are destroyed and dying, you should have a firm and resolute conviction, saying, "At least this conviction is absolute. If there is anything wrong, the fault lies with me, but God's will is absolutely right." It would be exceedingly foolish of you to dream of heaven while maintaining a faith wherein your belief in the morning is different from that in the evening.

What kind of path is the path by which you can approach heaven? It does not appear in a self-centered position. When you find that you are far away from heaven, you have to smash that which is called the self to pieces. Only when you denounce the self, will the path that can open up to heaven – or an indirect heaven – be opened.

However, those who try to make others adapt to themselves while asserting themselves, or place themselves in a proactive position and force others to follow them, will be unable to relate to heaven.

It is obvious that the realization of the Kingdom of Heaven starts with us. Even if the relational Kingdom were established, if we could not become people who are responsive to that Kingdom's call, we would have nothing to do with that Kingdom.

What kind of place is heaven? It is the place we go after subjugating Satan. It is not where we go by overcoming ourselves, or just the self. Heaven cannot countenance the realm of the fallen world or our habits or the habitual circumstances of the fallen world. As Satan chronically controls our habits and resides here, heaven can come only after we overcome those circumstances. Heaven will be realized at the place that mutually contradicts the contents of Satan's world. If any remnant remained, it could not be heaven. If such a place bore the name heaven, it would be nothing but a deception.

The concept of heaven can be established from the position of subjugating Satan, of denying and, further, eliminating everything to which he can relate. Heaven is affirmed on the basis of having denied and removed the negative historic relics of Satan and all the contents of a satanic lifestyle. Without removing those, we cannot present the contents of heaven.

Heaven is such a valuable thing. Although described as being aligned to the absolute standard, there is too much confusion over our concept of it. People are longing for heaven from an extremely self-centered standpoint. There is no doubt about that. Only when we overcome these circumstances with absolute faith, can the Kingdom of Heaven emerge; yet that alone will not settle the Kingdom. It will be realized only when we subjugate Satan, who brought God hardships for millennia and deceived humanity.

There can be no two ways about it. God's Kingdom cannot be realized through just submissively going along by faith. It can never be realized by having only a believing heart. Since Satan always challenges us to battle, the Kingdom is realized through overcoming that course of struggle. Here, we need sovereignty and numerous citizens. A large number of families should create a state system and overcome this battle for the sake of one purpose. In God's position, they must be able to be in harmony and unison anytime, anywhere, with their subject partner without any conflict. We may be able to feel in our mind the Kingdom of Heaven at the place where we are prepared to die and where we have faith, but that is not the substantial Kingdom. Even though a great price of martyrdom and suffering has been paid through the past two millennia, the Kingdom has not been accomplished in the sphere of reality. Thus, the Kingdom is not something that simply comes into being.

In the biblical phrase, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," the Lord refers to one who is unforgettable and eternal. He is a being of absolute content. The Kingdom does not come through our believing in the Lord God, but through our loving Him. The Father's will is fulfilled not only by faith, but by love.

We need to realize how much our faith falls short and how far it has deviated from the Principle up to this time. Some of you may be here for the first time. With regard to the individual, you cannot go to a place where you can receive consolation. Although the Kingdom might exist in your minds and although God may have felt joy from you, that would not mean it has been established on earth. It might be an individual Kingdom of Heaven, but it would not be the Kingdom of Heaven in its entirety.

What God desires is not the individual Kingdom of Heaven. He does not rejoice over seeing its realization. Can we say that the Kingdom of Heaven is established just by seeing one person's joy? God sent Jesus Christ – the one person over whom He could rejoice – to the earth, to be the center for all nations to connect horizontally in seeking the Kingdom in its entirety. He thus sent the Messiah to the earth and sacrificed him. (46-74, 1971.7.25)

The Starting Point Toward Heaven

Sun Myung Moon
July 19, 1971
Excerpt

Photo date and location unknown

As you can see, the world today is far from having reached the final goal; we can neither find a really good person nor a life full of joy; but at the same time, it is easy to find certain people who have been searching for a new world.

What sort of person do we mean? He is neither a philosopher, an artist, nor a person popular with the masses; He is one who is attracted to and longs for the Sun Myung Moon Heavenly Kingdom; that is, a religious man.

Every person who is trying to get to heaven, regardless of who he is, is forced to conquer the dilemma of contrary directions between his flesh and spirit. Who on earth can boast of having a faith which has completely united his flesh and spirit?

Anyone who makes the pilgrimage to Heaven will easily find that this world will not cooperate with him, but on the contrary try to exploit him, pull him down, accuse him and even try to drive him away from such a pilgrimage.

Not only are there very few who can judge good and evil from the true standard, but there are also very few who can take the lead in trying to be good. You can hardly find a man who intends to lead the way to goodness, because to take the lead in this calls for far more courage than any other hero or warrior.

Then why is it that so few persons are willing to be men of goodness? The main reason must be that the way of goodness is not a quick process, but an everlasting one.

If it is true that goodness is connected with eternity and with the whole of life, then it is sure to take us our whole lifetime to get to the place of goodness, even though we can easily see where it is. Regardless of how long you have lived in error, it is possible for you to find the turning point toward goodness; but on the other hand, no matter how long you've lived a good life, you can easily be pulled down and your goodness lost in an instant. Only if goodness grows higher and broader day by day, month by month, year after year, and finally comes to be connected with the New World; then, if one tries to do good, in time he will be sure to achieve multiplied happiness.

A lot of people have been seeking for a more peaceful world and the Heavenly Kingdom, but how can we get there? From where does the peaceful world begin?

It has been said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within, be what does that mean? This refers to the very point where peace in life is found, standing apart from the environment of the fallen world, and nobody can find it in this material world.

Such a standard is like balancing the beam of a scale. Even though the main purpose of the scale is to maintain a balance, on our way to heaven, the beam should neither make a perfect balance nor decline to the left, but lean to the right; that's the starting point. A balance can establish a reference point, but it can't be the pointer to turn in a new direction.

Likewise, the pilgrimage to heaven starts from the mind, but from what mind? The mind which aims to conquer the environment. Unless your mind deals with reality, you cannot have anything to do with the providence of Heaven in the external world.

That is the reason why the formation of the environment of Heaven must be preceded by its establishment in one's mind. That is, the pilgrimage to the Heavenly Kingdom starts from oneself.

If one cannot discover the way to Heaven, then the way must be shown by some other person, and one must follow him. And who will be that other person? He must be the basic standard for every human being, and to introduce such a person to mankind, the various religions appeared. All the founders of the world's religions have paved the way to realize the final hope of mankind. What has human history been seeking? It can hardly be found in man's present state, which is why all the religious people have sought for that which is beyond the material world; that is, it starts with God Himself rather than any other human brain or organization.

When one's personality is formed centered on a spiritual base and God's Heart then the Heavenly Kingdom comes to develop. In other words, we have to seek for the organization, family, society, nation, and universe based on Divine Nature and Divine Heart.

Our mind acts, and there cannot be any action without an object. What is the subject of our mind, then? That is our conscience. Then why does one become conscience-stricken? Because he is separated from right action.

There is quite a difference between incoming and outgoing forces in give-and-take action. In action, the outgoing force is often less than the incoming force; but in love, it is the opposite; this is why it is possible for us to form the ideal world.

As you can see, the more of a sacrifice one makes of oneself for others, the larger his value grows. Likewise the more you give out what you receive, the more will be added unto you. Then from where does love begin? It begin not from man but from God, because man, created by God, can't be His subject but His object; so the center is God and God is the center of the nation, race, society, family and personality.

This is the reason why we of the Unification Church insist upon the view of history based on God's heart.

Who should be the hero of love? Upon what heart? Heart which is based on Divine Love. Love should not be egocentric. Where egocentricity is not rooted out, there can be no separation from the Satanic history.