The Final Path to Golgotha that We Must Go

Sun Myung Moon
March 13, 1966
Excerpt
The Blessed Land is Calling Us
Selected Speeches of Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Volume 16

What you must know clearly is that your position is not to betray the calling of the Blessed Land and through your daily lifestyle you are not turning your back to the desperate calling for building the Blessed Land. You must engrave this in your heart.

Where is the final path to Golgotha that you must go? You cannot find it in your workplace or home. You are destined to live life centered on the standard set by the history of restoration. However, at this time, you must not perish like the high priests or the people of Israel in the past. Then, you will not go over this world. You should not look at anything else. You must know that the main reason why you are born and are living is for this highest purpose, alone. If you see a person who is defeated and wanders around without purpose, you would shout, "if you waste your life going to and fro, you should perish quickly," and "if I were facing defeat in my life, I will prepare myself to win over it day and night." You should move forward, by urging on and inspiring yourself.

Where are you standing right now? You must not just remain within the confines of the Unification Church. If so, you are not real Unification Church members. You must contemplate and determine where you must go and what you must do, now.

A while ago, I spoke about "building walls to separate the waters of the Pacific Ocean, so as to walk across." I shared such a talk with you because of my single minded desire to fulfill the one purpose to bring everything in this world into one. You should understand my motive.

You have followed the Unification church despite facing tests and trials up until now. How can you end up miserable at the end of your life if you put in all your efforts? If you fail, God will suffer more seeing you and your children weep in misery.

Regardless of the fact that God desires you to reach the Blessed Land, if you are wallowing in self pity, you will have no choice but to perish. If you don't perish then, I will make sure you do, even by beating you myself. With determination and preparedness in your hearts, you will be a part of the heavenly army for unification. You should know this.

The Blessed Land is calling you. God has chosen many central figures to build the Blessed Land that Adam failed to build, during the past 6,000 years. Yet, the Blessed Land has never been built. Our ancestors could not succeed, while walking the path of restoration. So many saints and sages could not establish it, even though they have struggled for this purpose.

Jesus came to the earth and wanted to build the world of the new culture, but he could not accomplish it. However, the new world will have to be built on earth. Unless it is built on earth, this fallen world will continue in perpetuity, and the new world that God desires to build will never be established on earth.

Therefore, you must live your life with the aspiration that you will establish this new world. Then, with holding such desire, how can you rest comfortably? You must go over the mountain pass of death over and over again. The valley that you must pass through first is a Golgotha. You must go there to battle and gain a victory. After the victory, you can go over the next mountain pass. However, your internal attitude is to create something new while going over the mountain pass. It is not important to gain a victory at the battle, but how you can bring all pieces together after the battle to build God's world.

In order to do so, first, you must search and find the truth. This is because fallen man lost the truth -- everything spiritual, and heart. The ideology that you understand now cannot be taken away by any force of this world. This ideology must not be forsaken even if you are tempted, abused, and entrapped by Satan. This is why Jesus stood firmly against Satan and the evil world. 

A Man Must Live for Something Greater than Himself

Sun Myung Moon
February 21, 1966
Excerpt
A Trunk, Bud and Spring
Selected Speeches of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, Volume 156
Unofficial Translation

Sun Myung Moon, 1960

If you insist that your family exists for you, the society exists for your sake, your nation exists for your benefit, and the world exists for you, your own direction will be destroyed.

You should put out a feeler to your conscience quietly. Then, you should listen to what it would say. When you see a poor person while walking the street, you should hear what your conscience would tell you. What kind of connection should I have with this person? Suppose, you met someone that you would never imagine meeting, nor would your ancestors in the last several thousands of years have ever thought of meeting. When you see the poor person who is hungry, your conscience tells you, "Give all your money in your wallet to this man." Even if you have only three hundred won in your wallet, your conscience tells you to share some of it with him.

Then, you would give one hundred won to this person with the result that you now only have two hundred won in your pocket. Then, you continue to walk the street; you encounter someone even more miserable than the person you just saw. Immediately, your conscience shouts, "Help this man." You follow the voice of the conscience and give this man one hundred won. After that, you meet another person who is more miserable than the previous two. Then, your conscience orders you, "give all you have left." Following the conscience, you give the rest of the money in your wallet. You are now penniless. Again, you face another miserable person. Your conscience orders you saying, "at least, you should clothe the man with the clothing that you wear. So, you should take off your clothing and give them to him." This is the nature of the conscience.

One day, you may be proud that you did something good once. However, your conscience would grumble to you. Your conscience would never praise you for that by saying, "You succeeded by doing good deeds and reached your goals. So, you don't need to do any more. Just enjoy, and cheer 'Mansei' for yourself or sing a song of a hero's welcome." On the contrary, it would not let you be idle. Your heart continues prodding you, saying, "Do something. Do it now. Act now." It reminds you to continue doing good deeds. There is no end for the conscience in doing good deeds. This is the world of the heart.

Then, does your conscience push you to do good just for your friends that you love? It does not. Your heart commands that you love your family and environment, live for the sake of your country, and live for the world. By engaging in give and take, you will create a reciprocal basis. Based on the public principle of Heaven and earth, if you engage in the good give and take action, whatever you give out at this time will remain even after billions of years. This is why people always speak about charity. People everywhere and throughout history have been teaching the principles of such cause and effect. Christianity teaches love and charity. Buddhism edifies benevolence and mercy.

What the religions have been teaching is that you should first sacrifice yourself in order to serve others. For whom should you make such a sacrifice? It is not for your own sake. But, you do it for something greater than yourself.

Let's look at the life of Jesus. He was chased away wherever he went at the time. He was persecuted and hunted down; thus, Jesus was chased to the cross and passed away. However, Jesus did not try to take revenge against the enemies. Instead, he died for the sake of the enemies and the people of the world, while praying for them. Looking at this, he is different from other saints in history. Even though he died alone, he died for the sake of the world. He had his conviction that he would connect with the entire humanity and the world history in order that he could take responsibility for humankind forever. He wanted to give his own blood that he was shedding on the cross for the sake of the people of his age.

With this conviction and attitude, he was able to give his blood that he shed to humanity for thousand and tens of thousands of generations transcending history and distances. He gave it in the public place where God could recognize it. He gave from the position that God could publicly have recognized. From this meaning, he said, "It is finished." (John 19:30) Jesus gave perfectly and was recognized by God perfectly. Since he perfectly gave and perfectly received, he can come again when the age demands his return.

He thought about the world as he was breathing his last breath on the cross. At this moment, because he held on to his connection with history and established the standard through which even God was moved to tears, Jesus was able to start a new history and was resurrected from his tomb even though he died on the cross.

At the moment when he was dying and at the place where his life and death was determined, he was almost gambling with his life, yet never lost his virtue. While looking forward to the hope that his heart aspires, he embraced the world and leaned on God as he went the path to his death. Thus, even though Jesus perished, his thought and will would reappear before tens of thousands of people. Moreover, his thought and will did not just end for the tens and thousands of people of his age. But his thought and his will became the motive that caused countless humanity throughout history to long for him as their bridegroom.

An Ideal Partner -- Part 2

Sun Myung Moon
October 16, 1967
Headquarters Church, Seoul, Korea
To matching candidates

Even a married person might die before his or her time. Don't Unificationists die? Hence, matching people so that they can avoid this misfortune and others (as much as possible) is in reality a serious matter to me. This is a truly serious matter because I have taken charge over matters regarding your life and your eternal life and am about to decide the direction you should take. That is why I am advancing with such deep heart.

A Couple that Can Be Ideal Partners

Then who is a man? It is a person that represents God. From the perspective of the original nature of God's creation, we find an internal nature and external form and find male and female nature there. A man born with these traits is God's other self. A woman is also God's other self. A man is God's right alter ego and a woman God's left alter ego. When both a man and woman appear as substantial selves on earth, the man is set on earth as the embodiment of True Father and the woman is set on earth as the embodiment of True Mother from the point of view of the coming True Parents.

That is why this place is called the kingdom of heaven. A man cannot ignore a woman nor can a woman ignore a man here. Only when the two become one, can they become individuals that advance under one purpose with their own view. No one is higher or lower hem. It is a place that is beyond the male-dominated view.

From this perspective, problems become serious after receiving the blessing because there is no way to forgive mistakes committed after that. I do not talk about details such as how God will resolve this in the future. I do not talk about there being an exhausting and tedious way of resolving it.

I have the biggest headache because of that now. Though it is I that gives the blessing, I do not have any responsibility over anything. What is the first vow? When I ask, "Will you take all responsibility over the mistakes you commit in your life of faith?" Brides and grooms reply, yes. In other words, they take full responsibility. Hence, I do not have any responsibility in regard to whether they live well or not.... Based on a principled standard,

I can be held responsible, but I am not responsible over any problem regarding your resultant lives.

Among all those families that hid such problems, there are a few things.... I have deliberately not held any general meetings for families even though the first seven-year course is almost coming to an end. It could have been different if I had taken care of those families, led them and settled everything to a certain level. I knew this; however, because the Fall occurred within the indirect dominion, they cannot be qualified to stand in front of God if they do not pass through that process. That is why such people automatically end up falling away and getting tangled.

From this perspective, who is a man? He is one who has been raised in utmost zealousness. A woman is one raised in utmost zealousness as a man's partner. No matter how many men and women there are in the world, imagine this man and woman finally become a true man and true woman in history and that they become a re-created man and woman in history. How great that is!

When this happens and God sees it and officially recognizes it by saying, "Yes, you are my son; you are my daughter. What you like is what I like. You and I liking each other is what the universe delights in," then the man and woman can form a family centered on God's love and the couple within that family can be called ideal partners. Do you understand? [Yes]

You, thief-like men, is there anyone among you that came here with such thoughts? The problem is a serious one indeed. It may not seem such a big deal because there are many men and women here. However, imagine that an earthquake takes place on earth or in the universe and everything collapses as a result; the only male survivors are those without an eye or arms, while there is only one female survivor who is the most beautiful among all women on earth, a beauty that you see in posters, a matchless beauty, one that is truly beautiful regardless of what light you look at her in. What will you do? Will the beauty complain, What kind of man is that? She will certainly find her partner and say, You are my husband and I need you.

Will she do that or not? Think about it Should she do that or not? If she doesn't, this woman will become an unpardonable woman in front of humanity and in front of the world made through the principle of creation. Should she be called a wicked spirit or a witch that is worse than the devil? Or should she just be called a wicked spirit?

All the women here, what would you do? Would you still want to marry despite that? Even if your husband rejected you and ran away, you must follow him and hold on to him saying, We started our lives together as a match made by Heaven. We are bound to each other as a match made by Heaven. Hold on to his legs; since he doesn't have arms, hold on to his legs. [Laughter] Shouldn't you be able to live together even if it means locking him up so that he won't go? Yes or no? [Yes!]

Men, do you have to marry or not? Do you have to or not? Please answer. Do you have to marry or not? Yes? [We must marry.] What is there to question here? Of course you all have to marry. Please try to consider that. Restoration. I also often think, If only there were a woman that could relate to God's will...

Father in Japan in the 1960s. The calligraphic message in the background reads, "Let's do everything with joy

Absolute Obedience, Serve the Nation

Wait and see what becomes of the Unification Church. Rumors regarding all the persecution I received to this point and everything I have done have started around the world. This time, a rumor about me started circulating in Japan but returned to Korea. Do you think I did not anticipate all these problems? My plan is well set up, both inside and outside, but needs to be pushed ahead; however, because of the mistakes of women, in the end....

Eve's mistake in the Garden of Eden disgraced Adam; not only did she disgrace Adam, she also handcuffed him and made all their posterity into slaves of the enemy for eternity. The nature of that woman left a huge thorny path in front of Unification Church members in this age. Women did that.

As long as women desire to, they can chat many times a day.... If three women meet, only fights will occur. That is why in the era of restoration women must be able to have the mind-set, Please catch and eat me.

Didn't Jesus do that? Jesus said to God, I am a young sheep. If you tell me to die, I will. In other words, he said, please catch and eat me. Did Jesus do that or not?

He probably said, "I, with disheveled hair, failed; I am a sinner for causing eternal embarrassment to God by failing to fulfill my responsibility. Please catch and have me; realize the liberation of your sorrowful and bitter heart. Just as a young sheep that cannot protest against being sheared," Jesus probably said, "Please catch and have me."

In order to save face for Adam, before Jesus died on the cross, Jesus said, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." How miserable is that? It is like saying, Please catch and have me; I cannot raise my head.

Why is that? He could not raise his head because he did not fulfill the central cosmic responsibility as a man. Even if he were to die thousands or tens of thousands of times, there was no way to apologize for this circumstance. Even though blood was flowing from his hands and feet, he said, May God's compassion be here in greater depths. May God's abiding love dwell here in accordance with the more blood I shed and the more my life deteriorates. It was as if he prayed in this manner, even though he was shedding blood and following the fateful path of death. Because, before leaving„ Jesus left the following prayer, "The way to God's love, his mercy and his compassion is in me, within all the blood I have shed; even though I leave in this manner, please do not leave behind such an environment for the man coming to future descendants. May you be able to give the love you couldn't give," the day of hope for the Lord at his Second Advent, the way to the day when we can sing about a peaceful kingdom beyond any suffering became connected.

Hence, Jesus is a young sheep. Right? Is the young sheep a big sheep or a small one? [A small one] How can a small sheep.... Whether you hit it or tie it upside down, the young sheep has no way to protest. However, a big sheep can make use of its horns. Right?

Let us say that this man inherits heavenly authority and appears on earth. How should a woman react in front of such a man? What should a woman do? Women, should you do that or not? [We should] You must absolutely obey and submit to this man, who is like a young sheep. When a man that can represent and fulfill the duty of the Messiah, who came on earth with victorious authority, appears on earth, how should a woman react in front of this man? You must become young sheep in front of this man. You must become like him. Only by becoming such people can you be restored. Without going through this process and completing it, indemnity won't take place.

Why do you think I have sent you all to provinces? What kind of son or daughter is God looking for? God is looking for sons and daughters that are obedient but that can also proclaim him to the world. Do you understand what that means? In other words, he wants us to look for sons and daughters that are obedient but have the caliber through which they can receive official approval in front of the people and world for having obeyed.

That is why the Unification Church's method of teaching is that of serving and sacrificing for the people. When genuine sons and daughters are found, let us bless those who sympathize with these sons and daughters, let us share our blessings with those that are compassionate toward these sons and daughters with a happy heart.

What, then, is that place where one can have compassion to a degree that is great and deep? The more an environment weighs on the lives of those sons and daughters, the greater compassion they can receive. That is why when one risks one's life for the people, if there is a person that shows compassion; in other words even if the people are against you, but there is still one person amidst them that shows sympathy, the sin committed by the entire people can be forgiven through this one person that showed sympathy. Do you understand?

Even though this people and other churches have opposed the Unification Church, if there are those among this people that show sympathy and express support for our fight, the people will receive blessings thanks to them. Since they're part of this people and have loved us from this people's standpoint, let us love and show sympathy to this people. This is restoration. I'm saying that when we are established, let us bless those that showed us sympathy. That is why you are going down to the provinces and working so hard.

Father speaking to Japanese members in Tokyo in 1967

Desiring a Partner

What is an ideal partner? Satan cannot make false charges against you if you advance after having surrendered to the people and received sympathy and official approval from them. When you come forward representing the people, saying, "Ah, the path these people are taking is the truth; they am amazing indeed," with flags and banners, you can truly become qualified to be in a world-level position of glory as sons and daughters. I am asking you to go out and welcome suffering in order to set up such an environment and condition. I am saying that we raise people as qualified people. Do you understand what I am trying to say? Concerning most of you leading more than three years of public life for the

Such a man and woman will finally represent history, settle everything until now, and finally appear in front of a new heaven and earth in history in a state that God likes, one saying, "I will love the man God likes as much as God does," and the other saying, "I will love the woman God likes as much as God does." Thus, they will be matched, out of their desire to do so through engagement and living together in married life. Do you understand?

So I will ask women, Can you love a man that God likes as much as God does? Will you love the man as much or not? [We will] This is principled. Will you love him as much as God loves him or not? [We will love him.] If you won't, you are on Satan's side. Now, what about you men? Will you love the woman as much as God does? [Yes] Your answers were vibrant. You were tempted by Eve because you can so easily answer. [Laughter]

If you loved a woman that God can love more than you loved God, God would not be jealous. This would be something novel to those in the world. Isn't that correct? If you are sons that God loves, you won't say to your wife, who loves God, Hmm, you love God more than me? Stop loving God and love me more.

Men that say so are thieves. You must be able to say, I am truly happy that you love God more than you love me.

We start from that point. We came all the way here starting from this circumstance of the heart. The two of you should be able to hang on to God to the point that you cannot let go of him and God tells you, That's enough.

Isn't that right? Shouldn't God bless you? God likes that. Children coming from such a couple would receive incredible blessings. They would be endowed with blessings in the future.

Even though you are in a position desiring the decision of such an ideal partner, the male candidates here have been sitting, holding up their heads like bulls and looking around to find someone like quails, not being aware of how God sees it. [Father imitates the men and the audience laughs.]

You are seeing everything that is there to see. You see everything that is there to see at any time. However, I do not desire that. When it comes to the principle.... From now on, you will have to prepare under this determination. Do you understand?

You still have some time left until that moment, so please offer conditions. You should be able to pray, "What kind of man would True Father connect me to? What I want is a family. I want to live for the family." You should be able to pray, "I want to live for the world. Where is that person who can sympathize with my wish to live for the world? Father, as you well know, I want to live for the people. Where is the partner that can feel compassion and easily follow this path?"

You should be able to pray, "Even if I follow this path, I will not go alone. I have to follow this path representing this people, representing this religious order. When it comes to a devoted son, I desire to advance as a representative of devoted sons; when it comes to a patriot, I desire to advance as a representative of patriots; when it comes to virtuous women, I desire to advance as a representative of virtuous women; when it comes to devoted daughters, I desire to advance as a representative of devoted daughters. Hence, Father, please give me a partner in following this path. I want to follow this path to raise your glory, to raise the status of the people, to make our way clean for future descendants and to overcome the taints of history. I am ready to render true gratitude to Father for eternity for allowing me this woman, whether ugly or pretty, to sing in joy and to follow this path praising you. So, please do not worry."

Pledge to Resolve Resentment

Then, where have all the families that received the blessing headed to? Those focusing on the family end up flowing away. The purpose I married wasn't to save the family. Even now, I am still educating Mother; I am not following this path for the family. I am doing it for the nation and in order to complete the mission of restoring the cosmos. We should be able to pledge ourselves to this task whenever we open our eyes. We should be able to shed tears for it. When it comes to the indemnity course, I believe this is the gift that I can leave to history as a parent. This is the life philosophy that is held within Teacher's family. We need such a tradition.

An Ideal Partner -- Part 1

Sun Myung Moon
October 16, 1967
Headquarters Church, Seoul, Korea
To matching candidates

No matter how hard human beings pursue the ideal, they cannot find it without God. Hence, the term "ideal" is one that begins from God. When you refer to an ideal partner, what do you mean by that? You would probably say, "If you and I like each other, we are ideal partners." Wouldn't you say that? That is not an ideal partner. God must be present. God would tell man A and woman B, I cannot live without you. I desire that you love and like each other. I hope that you can like each other more than I like you.

Only when this happens, does one become an ideal partner to God. Simply put, a person that can set this standard is an ideal partner. Do you understand? Being good-looking is not ideal; nor is succeeding in society after getting a master's or doctorate degree ideal. People that love each other, from a position that God can like, are ideal partners.

What, then, should you do to become a partner that is in a position God likes? What are the things that should take place for God to like you? How can one become a partner that God likes?

God has been relating to the fallen world until now. In other words, God has been enduring the historical progress of the fallen world while holding on to his hope of an ideal world.

August 10, 1967, at the welcome home celebration after True Parents returned from the second world tour

However, God cannot realize this ideal by himself. Simply put, God cannot restore the ideal world without passing through the gateway of human beings, which are in the position of his ideal partners. God must pass through the gate of his ideal partners. God must be able to pass through the gate of an ideal partner that he can like.

For God to pass through the door of the ideal partner, the subjective, internal nature and the objective, external form must all exist within that ideal. The subjective, internal nature is male while the objective, external form of the male is female. However, when passing through the door of the ideal partner, one cannot pass through it all at once. The logic of heaven and earth does not come out all at once. Even when giving birth, the baby does not come out all at once. Even if you give birth to twins, they are different from one another. The directions are different. That is why the history of restoration until now has been about first looking for a man that is an ideal subject. Hence, we can say that the pursuit of the six-thousand-year history, what was being sought, was Adam, one person, alone.

History tried to look for Adam alone but could not find such a being until now. Heaven has been looking for a man whom he could like the most, a man whom he could entrust everything to, a man that can understand the entire circumstance of God Almighty, a man that can make the heart of God, which is hidden inside, overflow by more than 100 percent, a man that can become his substantial son. Not being able to set up such a man has been the source of God's deepest sorrow.

Therefore, the history of restoration has pursued such a man; a man with all the aspects of the ideal man God had internally constructed and a man that God can like. Until that ideal man is found, the ideal woman cannot be found. Hence, what has history been looking for throughout these six thousand years? This one man.

How hard has God worked to find this one man? His work did not only last for one or two days. Nor did he work for only a year or for a hundred years. It took him thousands of years. How desperately did God long for this one man as the thousands of years passed by? How anxiously did he wait for this one man? How often would he have called this one man? Internally, he probably called this man dozens of millions of times. How strong was his desire to love this man? Imagine how much God has longed to live with this one man and share love with this person.

The Internal Mission of God's Son

Think about this please. If we are to talk in terms of quantity, it must be of a quantity some of which will remain even after completely filling the world and the universe. Under these internal circumstances God has been longing for this one man, thinking about him and wanting to love him. Wouldn't God do that? Think about whether God would do that or not. Would he or not? What do you think?

Let us say that a man is born on earth as a son with these qualities. What should this man do from God's perspective? This man should be able to long for God to the same extent that God has yearned for him. The man must be able to be joyful and to yearn for God to the extent that had God longed for him. In addition, he should be able to fight with a strong desire to love God back to the extent to which God had wanted to love this man.

From God's perspective, the past was supposed to be ideal; however because of the Fall.... Hence, one must be able to connect with the deep heart of God, who has been looking for a son to whom he can say, Throughout fallen history, there was no one that was like you at any time nor was there someone who had the aspects I have been looking for.... You are the partner I have been without for six thousand years. I can set you in front of Adam's family and boast of you in front of Adam. I can set you up in front of Noah's family and boast of you in front of Noah. I can set you up in front of Abraham's family and boast of you in front of Abraham. I can boast of you in front of Jesus. You have no shortcomings. You are fully qualified to be boasted of in front of all people during the historic Last Days of humanity. My son!

True Father with his ideal partner in 1967, the year he gave this speech.

Has the Son Been Found?

Now, has such a son been on earth until now? You have not thought of this. As the subject, such an ideal man should be able to completely clear away the sorrow and bitterness within God's heart; centered on God's hopeful circumstances and deep heart, the son and the father should be able to embrace each other 100 percent, become one and love each other. Who is the person in whom dwells God's hope to find this ideal and in whom such love can remain? It is the Messiah, whom humanity longs for, isn't it? Isn't that true?

There is a story that is thousands of years old, tangled within the period until the Messiah appeared; a story and a resentment that is tells of thousands of years old. Tangled within the eternal sorrow of God's heart, our Heavenly Father's heart has been a longing to see the ideal son appear as a stimulant of new hope, which clears away all sorrow and resentment and makes walking with great hopeful strides toward a new heaven and earth possible. God, therefore, sent the Messiah to take on this responsibility.

To Meet the Messiah that God Sent

Then what does humanity need to do to welcome the Messiah? It is important to understand God's deep heart. It is an unavoidable, absolute necessity to understand these three aspects -- God's deep heart, God's circumstances and God's hope. That is why our Unification Church teaches about them.

Not only does God love him but this person has also been able to establish relationships with all God's relative circumstances. Hence, were God to actually see this person, God would boast that there are no elements of accusation, none. He would boast that the son is focus of his deepest love, the source of his deepest hope, the most crucial condition to his happiness. If God were to lose the universe for having him, he would still be grateful. The joyful garden of love begins only from this kind of heart.

Then when the Messiah emerges on earth... Being among those believers that have kept their faith to welcome the Messiah, is there anyone here that has longed for the Messiah or offered conditions for him equipped with these aspects, from this standpoint? There has been no one.

Our young brothers and sisters of the Unification Church who work in the provinces will have experienced this when they go to work. As blessing candidates, they probably faced a lot of commotion as they tried to witness to people. If people were to ask them, Why are you doing this? They would reply, Our teacher told us to do this as conditions to receive the blessing. We are doing this to set conditions for the blessing. Most people think in this way.

The blessing is precious. It is precious indeed. We should be able to offer this precious blessing to God; a promise that we will live for the sake of God and advance because God dwells within this blessing. A divine base of restoration through which the grieving historical heart of God can be liberated can be formed through the blessing.

As I just mentioned, when you come out from a place of hope in such a position and with a deep heart, you must be able to feel the need for preparation.

What We Must Do

The creation and humanity were lost as a result of Adam's Fall. Heaven and earth were lost. Since the path we are following cannot unfold without indemnifying all these conditions, we naturally have to shoulder these conditions. We must overcome these circumstances. You must push yourselves, respond to God's orders on the Korean Peninsula and be able to do anything for it. If you were born a woman, you must have the determination to do everything including what women cannot do. In the same way, if you were born a man, you must he determined to do everything including the things men cannot do. With that determination, you should be grateful saying, I sincerely offer my gratitude to God for setting me up through these conditions even though I am inadequate. You must then prepare for this path as you sing on the base of a thousand-year-old deep heart. If you do not become such people today....

In the summer of 1967, True Mother reading to Hyo Jin nim while on a fishing boat

The Necessary Woman

Let us set this aside and talk about the ideal partner. A man, like the one I described before, must become one with God. This man must then be able to find a relative being that can represent God's deep heart, the earth and be a partner with whom the man can discuss Heaven's circumstances. In other words, Jesus had to find his bride on earth.

What kind of bride should this bride be? She needs to be a partner that has embraced such circumstances. She needs to be a partner that knows how to answer when called, how to discuss any topic in diverse ways when her opinions are sought, how to comply to a request while providing her support; with all these qualities she becomes the bride. Even though Jesus came on the foundation that Israel had prepared for four thousand years, he could not find a bride with these qualities. A bride of this type could not be found amidst the nation of Israel, amidst Judaism, among his relatives, or in any other place. As a result, not finding a bride and not being able to achieve God's will became Jesus' fate. This is what happened.

What This Means for You

What should we reflect on here? Jesus came to earth, left a red heart and passed away. He was unable to undo God's circumstances; instead, they became further entangled. God's deep heart of hope was deeply hurt again. Jesus' death aggravated his already sorrowful heart. When we consider this, we cannot avoid the conclusion that we must liberate all of God's heart.

Then what about the man? The man must become such a man. What about the woman? The woman must become such a bride. If you are born a man, you must be able to say, I am confident that I am absolutely that sort of man. If you are born a woman, you must be able to become a bride who can take the initiative to fight and come forward saying, Going beyond the people and beyond denominations, I am the substantial embodiment of the hope that Jesus longed for and wanted to look for; I am qualified and have no shortcomings. I will follow any path he desires me to, even if it is filled with all manner of suffering or is a path of death tilled with millions of hills that I must overcome.

We should clearly understand how Jesus lost on the cross. When we think about it, women should have such hearts and men should also have the same heart. Our Unification Church should have such a heart. I also have such a heart. Regarding the path of restoration through indemnity, I have to follow a thorny path as a pioneer to the door of the ideal partner. Until I surpass the standard of the people, I cannot pass through the door of liberation. This is a resulting fact, from the point of view of the Divine Principle.

What I Required In My Bride

That is why I have fought until now. This year is the last one of the twenty-one-year indemnity course that I have carefully followed. Within this process, I did not look for the most beautiful girl in the world as my ideal partner. Since the path ahead is difficult, I needed a person that could follow this thorny path with perseverance and patience. Instead of a wife that regarded the husband's position and the wife's position as equal, I needed a wife that could say, "It is right for me to absolutely obey millions of times over and be dragged millions of times."

I will follow my one and only husband everywhere he goes. I needed a wife that possessed the determination to go through everything, whether it be loo percent good or bad with a heart of gratitude.

What kind of person is this woman? She is not a person that possesses everything or one that is as learned as everyone else. The bride had to be chosen from a type that is lacking. This is the very first condition that must be set in order to travel on this path safely.

You will probably experience many hardships on your path for God's will. There will be many hardships. Even if we have gone through all storms related to our church, you still need to settle everything left behind by your ancestors once more; hence, your tribal affiliation will decide the destined path that you will take.

I Cannot Retreat Even One Step

Sun Myung Moon
July 6, 1967
Excerpt
Speech at the Second Workshop in Japan
Unofficial Translation

One of the highest peaks of Korea is Baekdu Mountain. On the top of this mountain, there is a lake called Cheonji. This is a big lake -- its perimeter is 16 kilometers. The lake is always full of water. The water that comes out of this lake will become two major rivers in Korea -- Dumangang river the east and the Amnokgang river to the west.

I was hunted down and chased, and at last escaped to the top of this highest mountain, Baekdu. I cultivated and planted near Cheonji Lake and fed my followers. I cultivated sandy ocher, and planted peach trees. In such a miserable atmosphere of doom, there was one female follower who pledged to be absolutely loyal to me to the end, no matter what -- telling me she would never leave me. I thought that she had the faith and determination that backed up her pledge.

Then, one day, while we were on a boat, we experienced a heavy storm. The boat was damaged by the winds and started sinking. The captain of the boat told us, "This is the end. Let's make the final effort. But, be ready for the last moment." He said this as his last warning. At that moment this young lady thought of only her own situation, saving her own life. When a larger boat came near our boat, she begged to be saved, totally ignoring me. She was saved, but, I had to remain in the boat all by myself, desperately keeping the boat float. This was how she left me. However, compared to her, your determination to follow me seems weak and shallow. Can you make an even stronger commitment than her? Even with such a great commitment, she left me at this critical moment. I have witnessed similar events with my own eyes over and over again. I heard such grandiose promises to never leave me with my own ears, countless times. Yet, so many wonderful men and women walked away from me.

Imagine a wife waiting for her husband to come home, after several years have passed since he left to go to his mission. Can you imagine how desperate is her longing for her husband? When it rains, her heart will long for her husband who may be in the rain. You should experience such a heart of longing for God at least two or three times in every three days. In other words, you must experience such a yearning every day. When you are walking a city street, you are overwhelmed and overcome by your emotion, longing for God. Then you have to stop walking, but are unable to stand by your own power so you embrace a telephone pole and cry out to God. Have you ever experienced such a longing and loving heart? Even if there are many lovers in this world, none has ever experienced such a compelling and over-powering feeling towards their lover. Have you ever experienced such an intense hunger for God? Have you longed for Jesus, the Lord? You must have this kind of faith -- not faith that can be exchanged for a piece of bread.

I wept and cried continuously for over one week. My eyes were so soaked with tears, that I felt that my eyes had turned into the inside of a ripened pumpkin. I could no longer look at the sun for it was too bright. So, I spent hours without being able to open my eyes. Through such an extreme experience, I pioneered the way to discover the Divine Principle. You cannot even imagine what I went through. Yearning to recover the true life value that is hidden deep inside of human beings, I pioneered this path. This, after I had wandered the vast spirit world, trod a bloody path of suffering and passed through indescribable tribulations.

If you are able to connect to the spirit world, you will realize that the value of Father is immeasurable. God will order you to give your utmost sincere devotion to me tens of thousands of times over. Do you know all spiritual mediums throughout the world are now my disciples? Why is this possible? I realize that in order to walk this path I found, through shedding countless tears, you must go forward even risking your own life. You should be ready to risk your life over and over again, thousands and tens of thousands of times. I will never retreat from walking this path.

My Determination and Heart

Sun Myung Moon
June 16, 1967
Excerpt
Speech at Special Gathering of Tokyo District
Shibuya, Tokyo
Unofficial Translation

Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han bless the 3 Couples, 1960

No matter how many times I am imprisoned, it cannot be compared to God's suffering. Although I have experienced misery and agony, I did not pass over the borderline of death. I prayed in front of God by offering my pledge, "I will go this path regardless of the suffering and pain awaiting me. I will go over hills of death many times over." However, I have never faced the situation even once. I have a long way to go. Knowing the long road to travel, how can I even think of resting? I feel sorry to God and I cannot allow myself to do so. That is my honest feeling.

So, if you share the same feeling towards God with me, go out to the four corners of Japan, I am convinced that Japan will be saved very quickly. Sharing my determination and heart, uniting as one and investing all of your spirit, energy and loyalty to save 100 million people in Japan, the restoration of Japan will not take long.

Those who need to be restored all share a desire to be saved by someone who has the heart. Centered on such a heart, all people long for a leader who can lead them to Heaven. Even though they are fallen, it is the natural desire of human beings.

There is no class difference. The heart of unification goes beyond classes. The Communist party advocates class struggle. But, it is different somewhat. This is the way that everyone can be praised regardless of upper class, middle class or lower class. I am convicted that this world of the heart and the way of the heart of the Unification Principle will offer a path to save all mankind. Without this method and path, humanity will not be saved.

Therefore, even if you are imprisoned, there is a long road remaining. So, you get to be more serious. The more serious you become, the firmer and stronger you become. You get more determined. You will never forget this experience. Facing the situation, you hold your hands tight and clench your teeth to endure the pain. Then trying to comfort God, you say, "I will stand up and move forward again. Please do not worry about me." If there is a man who endures the unendurable and pierces through all difficulties -- or if such a woman exists -- God will depend upon, and be comforted by watching him or her. God will have to sympathize with such a person.

In my prison experiences, I found the most challenging was that under extreme hunger and starvation, did I love God and long to fulfill God's Will more than my desire for food. When facing death, was I able to be grateful to God. Such were the greatest challenges.

The Most Miserable Event in Hungnam Prison

Sun Myung Moon
June 16, 1967
Excerpt
Address at Special Gathering at Tokyo District

Sun Myung Moon teaching, 1960

The place that I was sent was the Hungnam prison. It was a Nitrogen Fertilizer factory. There I underwent hard compulsory labor. All prisoners must meet a daily quota. For 8 hours a day, we must fill 40 kilograms of Nitrogen fertilizer into bags and tie around them with strings. You tie inside the bag one time and tie around outside of the bag twice. Sometimes, you have to tie the bag four times. After we prepared the fertilizer bags, they were shipped out of the factory.

The job could not be done by one person. We were organized in teams of ten. Our responsibility was to fill 1,300 bags in 8 hours. We filled each bag with the fertilizer, lifted it on the scale for weighing, brought it down and pulled it over to load on the train. We worked in a very small area for filling the bag. So, we must pull it for 15, 20 or sometimes 30 meters in order to tie it and finish bagging. Then, we carried the bags over to the freight train cars. We must do this continuously. Otherwise, we would never have made the daily quota. As you push to work so hard, you get unbearably hot. You had to take off your shirts even in the middle of cold winter. This was the labor I had to undertake.

It was so hard, normal person could not survive more than 6 months. By the seventh month, they lost all their weight and looked like bones and skins. As you can see, the fatality rate is about 30% per year. So, within 3 years, most all prisoners will perish. You must have seen a picture or movie about the shocking images of Jewish prisoners in Hitler's death camp, right? It was the same as that.

I think about this time often. If you will become a Heavenly soldiers who can determine to overcome such situations and endure until the end for building God's Kingdom, the unification of the world is no problem. I wonder if you, young people will be such people.

In the Hungnam prison, I received a special award each year as a model prisoner. Under the harsh conditions of this prison, I followed the Heavenly regulations. It was very difficult. Every morning, I must keep the Heavenly orders.

If people in the general public do this job that the prisoners were forced to do, they work by their own volition, eating healthy meals and wearing proper clothing. In their case, no one would work more than 6 hours a day. Under such conditions, they can fill 65 to 70 bags per person a day. But, a prisoner must fill almost twice more -- 130 bags per person a day. Prisoners must meet this quota without eating food. In order to eat rationed food, they work desperately at the risk of their life.

How miserable were the incidents I observed occurring under such conditions? What people longed for the most was food. There is nothing more precious in the world than food. You cannot understand this since you have never experienced it. You know, how precious food is -- how precious a handful of rice is. At the moment of your death, you still desperately want food. Even if you are seriously ill, your desire for one piece of bread is so strong that you forget you are sick. Your only desire is for a bowl of rice.

Because of this desire, you go out to the factory in the morning even if you are sick. If you don't work, your ration will be reduced to a half. You get only half of the meal ration while others get the regular portion in the prison and cell where you stay. But, you get only a half. There is nothing more painful and sad than this. This is why the prisoner went out for work only desiring to get the same quantity that others get, so as not to lose half of the his food -- even if he dies. Then he worked and worked giving everything he had. After such hard work, he returned to the barracks. While he walked, he forgot everything including his hardships.

How did he forget? He is preoccupied by the thought, "Oh, once I return, my meal is waiting. A bowl full of grains waits for me. I can eat it." He was totally unaware of his weak health -- he is at the brink of death, while coming back to the barrack. Only desiring a bowl of grains, he received the food. Many men passed away while eating their meal, just right after they started eating. I saw a guy eating, and he just dropped his chop sticks. Then he was dead. Such phenomena occurred. As soon as other prisoners realized the man was dead, prisoners who sat near the man started fighting to get the leftover food on his plate. The prison was such a place. It was such a miserable place.

The Standard of Absolute Sincerity toward God

How hungry you become? Your stomach is completely empty. Everything is completely digested in the stomach. Yet, your stomach still functions to digest. Since it works, it generates heat. Then, your tongue gets hot. In the morning, if you hold your spit and pull it, it will extend like chewing gum. When facing death by starvation, your desire for bread and desire for one grain of rice, is the most real feeling of all feelings. What is serious? None is more serious than this feeling.

In such conditions, I meditated. I questioned myself if I could love God more than my physical desire for a piece of bread in this environment. I kept asking this question to myself. As a result, I decided to give a half of my daily ration to others in this environment. For three weeks, I shared a half of my meals with other prisoners. They were in shock. Why did I give a half of my food to them? I needed to teach them the fact that if they can eat even a half of the food ration, they could sustain their life. Therefore, I always felt that half of the food was given to me as a ration, and the other half was a blessing given by Heaven every day. Because it was grace, I ate with gratitude. With my gratitude for this half of the food, I could forget and let go of every hardship and suffering I faced. As proof, I always maintained my weight of 159 pounds in the prison. Man should not be influenced to the left and to the right by food.

On top of this, I volunteered to do the most difficult tasks among all tasks that were assigned to prisoners. I determined, saying to myself, "I will do the task that everyone in this prison hates the most." I thought if I refused and retreated from it, Heaven's suffering would begin. With this stance, I took responsibility for the task without stopping. Since I worked like this, I received the award there. Even today, I think that it was the best time of my life, because I could attend God, and always lived by His principles under the most miserable of situations.

"Please teach me about prayer…"

Sun Myung Moon
June 16, 1967
Excerpt
Question and Answer Session at Special Gathering at Tokyo District Church
Unofficial Translation

Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han at their marriage, 1960

Question: Please, would you teach me about prayer …

Answer by Father Moon:

About prayer? It is very straight forward. It's not necessary to make your prayer "better." Just say you are hurting when you feel pain. Say you are happy, when you feel happy. That is the best prayer. Real prayer should be direct. Meaning that when you are hurting, express you are hurting and when you are happy, you are happy. That is all you need to do. As you grow, the pain you feel will expand from your personal pain to pain of a family, pain of a nation, and pain of the world. There will be no change in how you express that in your prayer.

Regarding how to pray, when you pray, do not put yourself first. You should not pray from the get go, "Please fulfill my wish!" Ask to save the world first. Pray that God's desire for the world be fulfilled. You pray, "Please help me to obey any of God's orders and give me an attitude to fulfill my responsibilities." Not only in your prayer, but practicing it in reality with the same attitude; then, you will stand to become a world leader. Therefore, you don't need to pray, "I want to be blessed, and make me an important person."

Prayer is very simple. Your question is how you offer your entire life for the world's sake. For that purpose, are you going to die in your own home or on the street, or die as an offering? This is a simple matter, once you make up your mind. It is better to die on a street working for God than to die in your home, because of sickness or something. It is even better if you die as an offering than dying on a street. Don't you agree with me? So, pray with this mind set!

If you pray from your sincere heart, God will anticipate for you to succeed. Then you fulfill your responsibility corresponding to what you prayed; and you will be elevated in a position to tackle a world-level mission. If you fulfill the world-level mission, without knowing yourself, you will be recognized as a world leader. To reach the world, whatever you still have attachment to, or attraction to, in your surroundings will block your way to the world. Even if you give up everything so as to be naked and run as fast as you can, there is not enough time. So, if you are attracted to your surroundings, how can you reach your destination? So, you pray as I said.

It is acceptable for you, a member of the Unification Church to pray about your Teacher (Rev. Moon). In other words, instead of praying centered on yourself, if your prayer is centered on the Teacher, you gain power. When you call "God," you may feel distant. You don't feel it's real. God and people are alike. If you only talk about yourself all the time, everyone will lose all interests and hate you, right? No one likes that. It is the same for God. God doesn't like it either. You are God's embodiment. So God and man are exactly the same. So, if you think how God would act and pray, you will naturally realize, "Aha, I should pray like this!"

Also, God will send someone with a specific responsibility who will give you what Heaven wants you to pray about. For example, you will be told you should pray this topic until such and such a day. You will be given a prayer topic. First you have to establish a standard of prayer and then a standard of heart, so that you will set conditions for the restoration.

Why is that? This is because Adam and Eve did not establish the standard of heart for their descendants due to the Fall. In order to restore this, Adam and Eve must possess the standard of heart that is seriously and earnestly appealing to God. Otherwise, no standard for restoration is set. So, pray sincerely from your heart. That is why, you need to pray.