The Way to World Peace
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
President, Federation for World Peace
This address was given on August 28, 1991 at the founding of the Federation for World Peace, Seoul, Korea.
Since the Fall of Man, there has been a constant war going on within each of us. It is an inevitable consequence of the Fall of Man that there is continuous struggle and conflict going on within ourselves between mind and body, and between the desire for good and the desire for evil. Originally, mind and body were to be one. The human mind represents God's mind. The human body is to be a container to accommodate the mind, or a dwelling place for the mind. Separation came between these two when the Fall of Man occurred.
The Fall of Man resulted in the body coming under the domain of Satan or selfishness. Thus, tragically, the human body has become the servant of Satan.
On the other hand, the human conscience is the agent of God in the individual person. One's conscience does not exist for the benefit of oneself. The conscience is planted by God for the sake of righteousness. Yet the body rebels against this conscience. The body only seeks after comforts and tends to act selfishly, going after carnal desires. The conscience in turn is trying to chastise the body and direct it toward the mind. This is why there is always inevitable conflict and struggle within one's self.
This is the reason why the traditional religions of the world unanimously teach the principle of chastisement of the body through fasting, prayer, and other disciplines-doing things the body does not want to do. Religion is the training ground where the desire of the body is suppressed, thus bringing the body to the will of the mind. For this reason religion has been the instrument of God to bring men back into the original ideal.
However, no one is capable of dominating his body without uniting with God within himself. The only power that enables the mind to have dominion over the body is that generated by the unity of the mind with God's truth and love. Mind is subject and body is object. God's love and truth have the power to bring them together into one harmonious person. This is what religion defines as a man of perfection or a holy man.
God-centered men and women in perfection are called men and women of goodness. These good men and women may receive God's blessing of marriage and be united into a couple, husband and wife. This will be the beginning of one ideal family of man on the face of the earth. This model family is what God wanted to have as a building block of the society, nation and world.
The Family Is the Foundation of Peace
There is an old saying in the Orient that "once peace is dwelling in the family, everything goes right." A happy and harmonious family is a family of peace and the foundation of the heavenly kingdom.
The dynamic of the family is true love. You must love God first, then love your husband or wife and your children with truly pure and sacrificial love. This is the manifestation of true love. God created love as the supreme force in the universe. He has created nothing greater in this universe. True love is supreme.
True love, of course, originates from God. God has invested everything, every ounce of His energy, for the creation of all things and mankind. Love is the only thing that when invested fully, returns fully. When you invest true love, no attrition occurs. It will multiply and prosper. Investing 100 percent of true love will yield or return 120 percent. One might think that those who practice true love would become poor and miserable, yet the end result is to the contrary By practicing true love you will acquire prosperity and eternal life.
This kind of family of true love becomes the foundation for creating a society, nation and world. That society, nation and world shall be truelove centered, and shall become ideal and peaceful. There you will find understanding instead of misunderstanding. You will find unity instead of division. You will find unselfishness instead of selfishness. This is the society, nation and world where sacrifices and good service become the dominant virtues. The realization of the ideal of God is the way to achieve the ideal of true peace in the world.
The Ideal of True Parents for True World Peace
When the Bible says that God sought to create human beings in "His own image," this means that the invisible God wanted to manifest Himself into a visible form. In other words, men and women would have become the personifications of God.
If the first man and woman had realized the ideal of God, they would have become the first visible form of God and created the first family of man. Then God-centered children and grandchildren would have formed an ideal society, nation and world. In this case the invisible God would become the vertical True Parents of man centering upon true love, and the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, would have become the horizontal True Parents of mankind centering upon that same true love. Centered upon these True Parents of man, humanity would have become one family eternally fulfilling true brotherhood.
However, the fall of Adam and Eve meant that humanity lost True Parents. That day we became orphans. Brothers turned into enemies. As a result, nations came to develop antagonistic relationships rather than friendly ones. Accusations abound on every level.
In the final fulfillment of human history, therefore, God's work of restoration is the restoration of True Parents first, liberating humanity from its orphan status. Today this is the central dispensational work of God-to bestow True Parents upon mankind, to create the original family of man centering on God and true love.
Ladies and gentlemen, today's creation of the Federation for World Peace must be different from that of the League of Nations and the United Nations. Most important is that we must found this organization upon the true ideal and philosophy of lasting peace as well as the ideal of True Parents. In the final analysis, peace in God and with God is the newest level of awakening. This is therefore a refreshing new beginning toward the attainment of peace. The exclusion of God from human efforts for peace is the core reason for their failure. Therefore, we shall make God the center of this movement and the dynamics of this movement will be true love.
Historical Gathering
For men and women who are fervently longing for world peace, today's gathering is an historic gathering. There are many presidents and former presidents here today as well as prominent religious leaders and leaders from every walk of life. This is truly a rare and extraordinary assembly Furthermore, there are leaders from the East bloc and the West bloc. Until recently, those leaders were mired in the Cold War and locked in a chilling confrontation. In this auditorium, however, there is no East or West. Everyone is gathered together in one spirit of cooperation and reconciliation.
On November 9, 1989 the Berlin Wall finally came tumbling down. Ever since that event we have been living in a different world. The world is moving quickly toward reformation, change, mutual understanding and friendship. Everyone today feels acutely that the mood of the world is opening up to the blossoming opportunity of peace.
If you agree that the principles I have expounded are the fundamental criteria for peace, then true peace is reachable and achievable. The industrialized North must reach out to help liberate the South from pervasive impoverishment. The developed nations must reach out with a helping hand toward the developing countries and the new democracies. Each nation's attitude must be changed from a selfish one to an unselfish one. That in itself is a revolution. Nations can do this when leaders see from the position of parents. The most unselfish and sacrificial love of all is the love of parents. From that perspective one can see that all nations are brother and sister nations. Then a fresh new vision emerges and new opportunities will open up in front of us.
It has already been announced that in September North Korea and South Korea together will become member nations of the United Nations. This is another significant positive development toward the achievement of world peace. Then the number of member nations of the UN will reach 163. What should be the priority of those 163 countries in the days to come?
The time of colonialism is over, where the powerful nations exploited the weakest ones. The law of the jungle and Herbert Spencer's "survival of the fittest" do not apply in our world. The age of the superpower arms race that drove the world and humanity into fear and uncertainty has also passed; humanity ought to be liberated from the devastating threat of nuclear arms. What time is it in God's timetable? This is the time that the Holy Scriptures refer to as that of "beating our swords into plowshares."
This is the time for developing mutual trust based on a high moral standard. It is a time when all the member nations of the United Nations, in a relationship of mutual respect and love, should jointly declare one final war against our common enemies-the scourges of hunger, ignorance, disease and crime.
This is in God's plan. From this time on, the definition of "my country" will expand. Although everyone has their home country where their family lives, in a larger sense, the world now becomes "my country" because it is where God, my Father, and my brothers and sisters-all the people of the world-live.
From this point of view, advanced nations should seek to share high technology with the developing nations and new democracies. To do otherwise would be a moral crime. Things that are good and beneficial must be shared among all nations. When a new discovery is made, it should benefit all nations. If something is good for humanity and the world, we must fulfill it, transcendent of national boundaries. For a long time, I have been fighting for equal opportunity in the use of high technology by all developing nations.
A Century of Peace
Ladies and gentlemen, your coming to this place is not an accident. Nothing happens by accident. I feel you are ordained to be here. You are chosen by God as champions of peace.
Within our lifetime we shall commemorate the year 2000. That year will be history's new turning point. A new era is unfolding. With the cooperation of God and man together the twenty-first century will be a century of peace. In order to make that happen we shall work tirelessly together for the next nine years. If we do, we shall be able to eliminate all obstacles that might hinder the attainment of peace.
The twenty-first century shall be a righteous century. In the twenty-first century, wealth will not be the dominating factor. Instead, the human spirit and human soul shall be dominant. The twenty-first century shall be the era of unity between God and man. It shall be the era where a new awakening will come to every man-a realization that he shall benefit himself more when he genuinely lives for the sake of others. In the twenty-first century, selfishness will decline. Life, honor and glory based on unselfishness shall be triumphant. These are the characteristics of the coming twenty-first century.
The era for peace is approaching. Even the opportunity for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth is closer. The twenty-first century shall be a hopeful and glorious century. To make this happen, the Federation for World Peace will provide the ideal and philosophy to educate the world's population. The Federation will assist spiritually, mentally and financially in the development of needy nations. The Federation will set a high moral standard and take a dynamic role in building a world of peace.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are the apostles of peace. A bright new hope as well as an exciting new future is awaiting us. Today we should fervently feel the desire to fulfill the great mission that is being bestowed upon us.
In order to achieve this sacred duty and the historic responsibility of building lasting peace, we should dedicate our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor with total commitment. The very first item on our agenda shall be to invite God into our individual hearts, and those of our family, society, nation and world. When God is with us, who shall be against us?
Respected friends, my beloved brothers and sisters, we are called to this sacred mission-the building of world peace. Our noble march shall begin today toward that glorious future. Let us build a true world of peace together with God.
Thank you very much.
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Leaders Building a World of Peace
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
President, Federation for World Peace
This address was given on August 24, 1992, to the assembled leaders attending the World Culture and Sports Festival, Seoul, Korea.
Distinguished chairpersons of the First World Culture and Sports Festival, distinguished guests and participants from Korea and around the world:
As founder of the World Culture and Sports Festival, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to you for having gathered here in such a large number to pray for the success of this festival.
I would like to speak to you this evening on the topic, "Becoming the Leaders in Building a World of Peace." During the mid-1930s, when I was sixteen years old and the Korean peninsula was under the forced occupation of Japan, I received a special mission from Heaven through Jesus. I am seventy-two now, and in the intervening years there has not been even a single second when I did not think of God's will and His commands.
I lived my boyhood and youth under the colonial rule of imperial Japan, so I know only too well the excruciating pain and tragic circumstances suffered by the weaker and smaller nations of the world. Because I possess a certain degree of discernment into God's heart, it was with unspeakable pain and sorrow that I witnessed, first, the cruelty of the more powerful nation as it plundered the weaker nation of Korea and, later, the terrible carnage of the Second World War.
Then immediately following World War II, in a development that compounded our already difficult situation, the Korean peninsula was divided between north and south. In 1950, the Korean War broke out and Koreans found themselves in a fratricidal conflict. Various countries of the world on the left and right chose to support one or the other of the opposing sides. I witnessed this tragic history directly, and I know from my heart of hearts how much pain and sorrow has been brought to God and humanity by the loss of a world of peace.
How do you imagine God has felt since the time of creation as He had to watch while time and time again brothers set themselves against each other, with Cain, the older brother, taking the life of Abel, the younger? All wars since the beginning of human history have been, in their essence, struggles among brothers. The Bible teaches us this through its record of the murder of Abel by Cain in the family of Adam. Why do such conflicts among brothers occur over and over on the levels of family, tribe, society, nation and world?
Original Sin
The reason lies in the sin committed by Adam and Eve, the parents of Cain and Abel. Adam and Eve were the original ancestors of humankind, placed in a position to represent all the men and women who would come after them. As such, they should have brought God's ideal of creation into reality By breaking God's commandment, however, they forfeited their position as the true parents of goodness for all of humanity who would be born after them. Instead, they became fallen parents of evil. It is this evil that is the original sin, the fundamental root of all crime and unhappiness in human society.
The original sin of the first human ancestors was that Adam and Eve broke God's commandment and engaged in an illicit sexual relationship. In this way, they formed a blood relationship with the devil, and became fallen false parents, passing on false love, false life and a false lineage to the entire human race. There is only one way for humanity to escape this world of evil and struggle, and that is to be reunited with their true parents and be reborn through them. Only when this is accomplished can the true way to cast off original sin be revealed.
After I received my calling at the age of sixteen, I spent the years searching for the answer to precisely this problem of how to bring salvation to humankind. The result of that lonely search for truth is the new expression of God's truth that we refer to today as the Unification Principle, Godism and Headwing philosophy On August 15, 1945, the day Korea was liberated from imperial Japan, I began proclaiming this truth on the earth. Because I have proclaimed these teachings, I have had to undergo tremendous persecution and attack.
Think for a moment about the fact that I have been imprisoned as many as six times in my life. This alone is enough to tell you how harsh the attacks against me have been. The First World Culture and Sports Festival, being held during this forty-seventh year since I began proclaiming the Divine Principle, is a holy celebration. It is an occasion to let the entire world see, and to offer to God, the harvest reaped from the seeds I have sown and nurtured for the liberation of God and humanity and for the realization of a world of peace. Everything I have striven to achieve during my life has been for the purpose of confirming the fact that all people in the world are brothers and sisters before God, our common Parent. Our common ties as members of the global family centered on God transcend our differences based on race, nationality and international boundaries.
Organizations
The primary institution in which my teachings are being practiced is the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, that is, the Unification Church. There is now no country in the world where the Unification Church does not exist. The Unification Church has put its roots down in all races, nationalities and countries. The International Marriage Blessing of 30,000 couples that will be held tomorrow in Seoul's Olympic Main Stadium is certain to be a testimony to the fact that humanity is one great family centered on God.
With the Unification Church as the root organization, I have founded many other organizations for projects in a wide variety of fields. These organizations are for the purpose of building a world of peace in which we, the human family, centered on God, can rejoice in our freedom, ideals and happiness. For the World Culture and Sports Festival, I have gathered the most prominent of these organizations here in Seoul. During the festival, a new unified structure will be founded to facilitate stronger mutual ties and closer cooperation among these organizations.
The International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, the Professors World Peace Academy the World Media Conference, the Summit Council for World Peace, the Assembly of the World's Religions, the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace, the Women's Federation for World Peace, the international performing arts groups and International CARP will meet during this time of the International Marriage Blessing and provide forums for us to enlighten our intellects and reaffirm our determination in devoting ourselves to the cause of building a world of peace.
The International Marriage Blessing of the Unification Church, which I will be conferring during this time, is the blessing of resurrection. Through this ceremony, humanity is able to cut itself clear from original sin and recover true love, true life and true lineage of God. It is within the context of this ceremony that we can give birth to peace that enables us to realize the ideal of the great brotherhood of humanity which transcends race, nationality and international boundaries.
As the founder of these organizations and groups, I wish to reaffirm here this evening that their purpose is to bring about world peace, according to the ideal of God and humanity They are not created for the benefit of any particular group or political faction. They do not serve the narrow interests of any particular nation or state. Rather, they exist to bring happiness, peace and freedom to God, the Creator of the universe, and to all humanity
Family Salvation
Our movement, thus, must bring salvation to all families, all nations, all states and, finally, to the entire world. It must be a family-saving, nation-saving, world-saving movement.
Our families are being destroyed by the debasement of sexual ethics through illicit relationships and decadent lifestyles. Every nation is suffering the agony of the destruction of its moral standards and the accompanying increase in crime. There is no solution in sight to the conflicts between political factions. Poverty and ignorance continue to plague us. There is no sign that we may be nearing solutions to the world's international border disputes, to the attitudes of prejudice between religious groups, or to the conflicts between the various races and ethnic groups. World peace is under constant threat from the selfish actions of the world's countries and peoples.
Environmental pollution also is destroying our planet to the degree that we are approaching a serious crisis for the future of humankind. We may all find ourselves on a common path of destruction, unless we are able to resolve the crisis we face through a love which transcends all national boundaries and ethnic differences and encompasses all the world's people. Let me emphasize again: any successful resolution of this crisis must be based on an effort to build a unified world through a movement of true love rooted in the Divine Principle, or Godism.
In early July I spoke in five cities around Korea at rallies held by the Women's Federation for World Peace. There, I declared that my wife, WFWP President Hak Ja Han Moon, and I are the True Parents of all humanity I declared that we are the Savior, the Lord of the Second Advent, the Messiah.
Why would I stand before women leaders of Korea and make such an astonishing and fearful announcement? The reason is that God has been carrying out His providence to send the Messiah as the second perfected Adam who has subjugated Satan, in order to establish a perfected Eve who will represent all women. God has done this because it was when Satan caused Eve to fall that human history came to be permeated with sin.
Also, women are the central point for the love, peace and spirit of service that protect our families, and it is the healthy family that must be the starting point in our work to build world peace. The establishment of God-centered family ethics and the education of our children lie at the innermost core of my teachings as the person who has declared for himself the responsibilities of the Messiah. The family is the holy sanctuary that must cleanse this defiled world.
House of Unification
That is the reason it was necessary that I, as the Messiah, make my declaration to women leaders gathered around President Hak Ja Han Moon, my wife, who stands in the position of perfected Eve. This declaration is an exhortation and notice to all who follow my teachings to join Mrs. Moon and me in our attendance to God on the path of sacrifice and service for the salvation of this world.
As I conclude my remarks this evening, I would like to propose, so that all of our activities for world salvation can be carried out more effectively, that we establish "The House of Unification for World Peace" as a structure for the peaceful unification of the world.
To avoid any possible misunderstanding, particularly regarding the title of this structure as rendered in the Korean language, let me state clearly that I am not proposing to create a political party. The House of Unification for World Peace that I propose is not a political party it will not have the function commonly associated with political parties, that is, to seek the executive powers of government in a given country. It is, rather, a "house" to reinforce the concerted actions of the world's countries, and foster a unified foundation and common effort for world peace.
If we say that heaven is a symbol of man, then earth is a symbol of woman. The house is the stage on which a woman's life is played out. The mother is the center of a nest filled with love for all the members of the family. The family, with the mother at its center, is the basic unit making up the nation and the world. I use the word "House" in the title of the structure I am proposing, because this word contains the meaning of "exalting the earth, centering on the mother." It also signifies "to teach." The word "House" in this title, therefore, signifies a center for the education of women.
Through this structure, we can provide new impetus to the work of giving opportunities for meaningful exchanges and education on a God- centered vision for world peace to people of all countries and all walks of life, including political leaders, scholars, religious leaders, journalists and educators, as well as leaders of women and youth. This vision of world peace will be centered on families in which mothers, representing all women of the world, accomplish mind-body unity through love.
If you will embrace my proposal and join me in this task, then our efforts are certain to bring the world of peace which is the object of God's desire to all of humanity within the remaining eight years of the twentieth century. We who are gathered here this evening will be the leaders in opening the gates to a world of peace in the coming twenty-first century.
I pray you may have a pleasant visit during the time of the festival and that God will bestow His boundless blessings and protection upon your work.
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Peace and the 21st Century --The Fundamental Principle of True Peace
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
President, Federation for World Peace
Founder's Address, March 27, 1994, at the Second Federation for World Peace Conference
My dear President Mikhail Gorbachev, distinguished Co-Chairmen, honored heads of state and government, respected ladies and gentlemen:
To all of you I express my deep gratitude that you have been able to come here in such large numbers to take part in the Second World Peace Conference. As we enter the age of internationalization and globalization of the 21st century, we are confronted with the urgent task of overcoming a large number of difficult obstacles to world peace. I have an absolute conviction about our global problems, and it presents a solution that addresses the fundamental root of all these problems. I have dedicated my entire life to the pursuit of the Will of Heaven based on this persuasion. Please allow me to share with you a few elements of my conviction. Our world today has become evil, filled with conflict, confusion and hatred. This is true of individuals, families, societies and countries. The root cause of so much wickedness is a conflict between the mind and body of individual human beings, a conflict that started at the beginning of human history and has dragged on throughout the ages. As embodiments of discord, such individuals naturally produce families fraught with conflict, which compose countries torn by strife and a world divided by struggle. What is the result? An evil world of hell. For Heaven, it is the most abominable of all possible worlds.
The origin of this ongoing conflict lies in the relationship between two individuals, man and woman, who are themselves torn by conflict within. Therefore, the solution to our complex global difficulties lies in creating unity between mind and body and in harmonizing the relationship between man and woman. If we accomplish these two goals, we will have found the solution to the problems of the entire world. Why have mind and body come into conflict with each other? Why have man and woman not been able to establish harmony and unity? The reason is that something in our history went wrong. It is my firm conviction that the original fall took place at the dawn of human history. It was then that the mind and body of individual people became divided, and strife emerged between man and woman. The human world became evil, centered upon Satan.
The Solution to the World's Problems
The first step in solving the world's problems, then, is to find God. The second, expel the evil Satan from this world. The third would be to establish men and women who have accomplished the unity of mind and body God expelled fallen Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. They had become husband and wife centering on Satan instead of God, and because they bore children while in that state, all the ancestors of humankind came to inherit the lineage of Satan. Their blood lineage was corrupted. Through adultery, the archangel who became Satan stole the intended bride of Heaven. It is a principle of Heaven that whenever a relationship of love is established (whether false love or true love), ownership becomes established from that point. According to this principle, the human ancestors came under the ownership of Satan. Originally, the mind and body were to become one, centering on God's true love. As it turned out, however, before God's true love had a chance to be perfected within the human mind, the mind became bound by false love from Satan. That enabled Satan to take root in the body. Originally the mind was to exert a positive polarity over the body, but due to the Fall the body formed another positive pole, repelling the original mind and finally coming to dominate it. For that reason, God has been working to project the power of true love into the human mind in order to bring about the absolute subjugation of the body now engulfed in false love. Only when unified through true love can mind and body return to the state where God dwells within them.
The fallen ancestors became false ancestors. This is what created the need for religion and for a Messiah. The tasks of religion and the purpose of the coming of the Messiah are to break down the hell of false love, false life and false lineage, which have given rise to false individuals, false families, false societies, false states and a false world. Religion and the Messiah must guide us back to the original world of true love, true life and true lineage. It is the world of the true parents centering on God. God, too, feels loneliness when He is alone. He created the heavens and the earth centering on a relational ideal, and his reason was to find true love. Look at the created world. You will see that it is structured in pairs: The mineral world, the plant world and the animal world are all arranged in subject-object relationships as a way of providing ideal models for true love between human beings. True love is the reason why women are born for the sake of men, and men for the sake of women. Solutions to global problems become possible only when our minds and bodies-and when men and women-come to live for the very purpose of becoming one centering upon true love. True love can be found only in a situation where a person exists for the sake of his or her relational complement. Satan's love is centered on the self, whereas God's love is centered on others. These two kinds of love are diametrically opposite. For our fallen bodies to be free from the world of Satan, we need to know absolutely that we have achieved the position of a second, visible God, that the invisible God is our ideal subject of true love and we are in the position of His absolute objects. Our minds and bodies must be united by means of the invisible God and by means of true love, and we must honor and respect our heart and conscience just as we honor and respect God Himself.
Three-Subject Thought
We can recover our "original selves" only when we submit absolutely to the commands of our conscience. God is the Parent of parents, the Teacher of teachers, and the Master of masters. This forms the basis for the "Three-Subject Thought" encompassing heaven and earth. It is only through the conscience that these three can form an absolute unity and to fulfill the Three-Subject Thought. Thus, the conscience is more important to us than our parents who gave us birth, more important than any teacher, and more important than the king of any country. Only when elevated to such a position can the conscience become an object of God's love. The conscience needs no education about right and wrong. We must give it absolute honor and obedience, just as we would honor and obey God.
There is nothing I do that my conscience does not know about; it sees everything. The conscience objects whenever the body schemes to do something wrong. Yet, because the power of fallen love was stronger than the power of the conscience at the time of the fall, the body is able to drag the mind around wherever it chooses. This kind of problem would not exist if the human conscience had achieved perfection and had formed a relationship of true love with God in the Garden of Eden.
Adam's family in the Garden of Eden was to be a family of true love, in accordance with God's ideal. God created them so they would give visible expression to every kind of invisible existence. God and man were in a subject-object relationship centering on true love. He created the two ancestral human beings, Adam and Eve, with the expectation that they would become the substantial perfection of the invisible children, invisible brother and sister, invisible husband and wife, and invisible parents that exists within God's heart. God wanted the true love of children to be perfected in substantial form; he wanted to see His objects of true love perfected as actual brothers and sisters in a family, as actual husband and wife, and then as actual parents.
True love in a father-son relationship is vertical; in a husband-wife relationship it is horizontal; in a brother-sister relationship it is on the front-and-back axis. God wanted such a spherical ideal of true love.
Unification, then, is accomplished at one central point, where there is a convergence of the upper and lower hemispheres on the vertical axis, the right and left hemispheres on the horizontal axis, and the front and back hemispheres on the third axis. This point becomes the focus of centripetal force. The Four Great Realms of the Heart--that is, the realms of love of the child, brother-sister, husband-and-wife, and parents--reach their perfection when human beings who are centered on God are married and enter their first relationships of love. This is the central place where all perfection bears fruit.
Marriage thus represents the synthesis of the virtues of heaven, earth, and humankind and the perfection of all things vertical and horizontal, left and right, and front and back. Accordingly, Adam and Eve as husband and wife, as God's most beloved substantial objects, were meant to be the second ancestors. From that position they would stand as the second creators and would inherit all of God's feelings. They would feel the joy of God in the positions of children, brother and sister, husband and wife, and parents. Their joy as the second creators would be in the experience of bearing children, by which they could experience the position of the First Creator.
From this perspective, God was the first Creator; Adam and Eve were to be the second creators; and the children of Adam and Eve were to be the third creators. The first, second, and third creators-that is, God, Adam and Eve, and the children of Adam and Eve would have established a formal pattern, a pattern that would have been the fundamental principle that all humanity would have to follow.
From the perspective of Adam and Eve, there would be connection between upper and lower (the parent-child relationship), left and right (the husband-wife relationship), and front and back (the brother-sister relationship). It would have led them to the perfection of their family. It would have been the unified foundation of God, Adam and Eve, and their children. As people approached God, they would accomplish the unification of mind and body and the unification of man and woman, and they would form a stable foundation where peace, freedom, happiness, and hope would converge to form the basis of fundamental peace.
The Family is the Base of True Love
Through Adam and Eve's having children, God would have enabled Adam and Eve, who were the second creators and who were visible and substantial, to take part in the creation of the third creators.
Through this process, the family becomes the foundation on which the Four Great Realms of Heart can be experienced generation after generation. The family is the base where each form of true love can be brought to perfection. In this way, the family achieves the unity of God and man through love, and it serves as the starting point toward the perfection that enables us to establish true ownership in heaven and earth. This is another way of saying that the family is the origin from which we come to have children, brothers and sisters, husband or wife, and parents.
Only in such families can we find men and women who have accomplished mind-body unity. Only in such families can we find husbands and wives who have achieved the ideal unity between man and woman. Such families are the starting point for ideal parents. Here, too, we can see the creation of a model, centering upon true love, for the perfection of children, brothers and sisters, husband and wife, and parents.
It was God's ideal of creation that this model be expanded not just to the level of country and world but to the entire cosmos. Thus, it is possible for a country to become a family-patterned unit that is larger than the family; the world can become a family-patterned unit that is larger than a country; and the cosmos can become a family-patterned unit larger than the world.
Accordingly; the models for children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and parents-which represent the Four Great Realms of Heart-can be found in the family, in the nation, in the world and in the cosmos. Since a country contains many families and is larger than a family, families should exist for the sake of the country. Since the world contains many countries, countries should exist for the sake of other countries in the world. In similar fashion, the world must exist for the sake of the larger cosmos. Finally, the cosmos must exist for the sake of God, who is the greatest and most central existence.
Thus, when the standard of the perfected Four Great Realms of Heart within the family is projected onto higher and higher levels, the ideal of unity becomes a reality. On that basis, we can enter a cosmos of peace, happiness, and freedom. This is why we need, and need vitally, the unity of mind and body and family harmony centering on man and woman.
God Is Also Growing
God, too, you see, has been growing. He created Adam and Eve as the substantiation of the inner son and daughter, brother and sister, husband and wife, and father and mother, who are all within His invisible heart. With Adam and Eve, God becomes a growing child, a brother and a sister, a husband and a wife, and finally a parent. By experiencing His second self, God establishes children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, and parents. He unites them in true love, and that brings to Him boundless joy
As well as to God, humans are designed to give joy to other humans. We are all in the position of someone else's child, sibling, spouse, or parent. All human beings are members of families centering on the Four Great Realms of Heart, which make the family an underpinning to experience the ideal realm of heart. We all have a longing to form families, and the reason is that only those persons embodying the Four Great Realms of Heart can become ideal human beings, capable of making heartistic oneness with anyone in the Kingdom of Heaven, on earth or in the spiritual realm.
This explains the consummate human desire to achieve mind-body unity and husband-wife unity. Unless we achieve this all-important mind-body unity, we are unqualified in all other aspects and can develop no unity in the family either. We will fall away from our families, from our nation, from the world, from the universe, and from God Himself. Only through an utmost effort to accomplish mind-body unity and family unity can we achieve perfection.
We need to know that we ourselves are God's representatives. We are in the position of a second God. All people, need to be working together to restore the family to a position of goodness and happiness.
We must become aware that the position of husband and wife is the union between a son of God and a daughter of God, the union of a brother and a sister within God's family, and the union of a father and a mother. From the perspective of the Four Great Realms of Heart, the position of husband and wife is the absolute goal of human life, through which we can actually achieve the perfection of our individual selves.
The husband, therefore, stands in the position that enables the wife to receive an ideal son of God, to receive an older brother of heaven, to receive a husband of heaven, and to receive a father of heaven. The corresponding case is true of the wife in relation to her husband. Such husbands and wives bear children in a manner analogous to God's creative act. They feel joy through experiencing their own growth in a substantial manner, through their children.
Achieving a World of Peace
God's love is absolute. Accordingly, it is a principle of heaven that the relationship of husband and wife cannot be broken. Fallen human society has lost sight of this principle and must be restored so that we may return to the original homeland. When such a restoration is accomplished, the Federation for World Peace will have fulfilled its purpose. At that point, the family-level heaven will become a country-level heaven; the country-level heaven will become a world-level heaven; and the world-level heaven will become the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world. This will be the point at which, at last, we will have achieved a world of peace.
The position at which a husband and wife marry and love each other with true love is the heavenly palace, which is the origin of the love, life, and lineage of God and humankind. It is the starting point for the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in the spirit world. When children who are the fruit of such true love achieve perfect unity as husbands and wives, they form families living in attendance to God. They constitute the base upon which peace and all ideals can be established. Then men and women, each representing one side, will perfect
Centering on true love, God perfects humankind as an existence of unlimited value. When that is done, God, too, will see the perfection of true love, the fulfillment of the family ideal, the fulfillment of His own ideal for the creation, and the cradle of eternal, ideal love. From the perspective of Adam and Eve's family God is the first ancestor; Adam and Eve, the second ancestors; and their children, the third ancestors. A royalty centering on God. Adam and Eve's family forms a royalty centering on God. God is in the position of grandparents; Adam and Eve, in the position of parents; and Adam and Eve's offspring, in the position of children. In this manner, the original pattern of three generations within the family comes to be established. According to this original pattern, the grandparents are in the position of king and queen of the spirit world, representing God and the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world. They should be honored and respected just as we would respect God.
The parents are in the central position of king and queen of the family, representing the Kingdom of Heaven in the present world. They should be honored and respected just as we would the king and queen of the present world. The children are in the position of princes and princesses within the family. They should be loved as the ones standing to inherit the future Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in the spirit world. In this way, the members of Adam and Eve's family were to form a royalty centering on God and were to live peacefully on earth until they moved into the heavenly, eternal world. Only in that heavenly world can human desire, freedom, aspiration, peace, and happiness attain complete fulfillment. This is the purpose which humankind must fulfill.
A Philosophy and Conviction of Peace
As respected representatives from countries around the world, each of you has devoted an important period in your life to tireless efforts for the sake of your individual country and the world as a whole. As a result of your sacrificial efforts, humankind today enjoys conditions much improved over what existed in the past. Still, the ideal world of freedom and peace, which is the fervent desire of all the people of the world, has not yet been achieved. Even at this hour, countless people in many places around the world are dying from hunger and pain as a result of conflicts and struggles among peoples, races, and religions.
I have responded as a religious leader to God's calling. I have lived my life for the purpose of saving humankind from war and sin, and of establishing a world of peace. Out of this calling, I have acquired a conviction and daily philosophy regarding peace, which is the Headwing Philosophy. In my address to you today, I have expressed a few elements of that conviction. The perspective of Godism and Headwing Philosophy is that world peace will be achieved neither by means of political ideologies oriented toward power nor by any argument based on physical force. Peace will only be accomplished when all men and women share in God's love and truth and put these into practice-starting with the individual and expanding to the family, to the society, to the country, and to the world, thus forming one global, extended family.
From this perspective, the founding purpose of the Federation for World Peace is to promote education and practices related to true peace as a means to realize peace in various societies, nations, and the world. May all of us here perfect the family-level heaven and go on to play major roles in the accomplishment of world peace.
I pray that God's blessing be upon each and every one of you.
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Realization of a Peaceful World by the Ideal of True Family
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
President, Federation for World Peace
Founder's Address at the Fourth World Peace Conference, November 27, 1997, Washington, DC.
I welcome you and extend my heartfelt thanks for your participation in this Fourth World Peace Conference of the Federation for World Peace to address the theme "A World Vision for the 21st Century." I would like to personally invite you to a very special event at RFK Stadium on Saturday morning. Along with representative leaders of the world's religions, my wife and I will officiate at the blessing of 39.6 million couples in 185 countries around the world. The goal for this ceremony was 3.6 million couples, but we went far beyond that to more than 36 million couples. Many couples from your countries will be participating. More than 30,000 couples will be at the stadium, and ceremonies worldwide will be connected via satellite and video. These couples are dedicating their marriages to God, promising to remain eternally faithful to their spouses and to raise their children with commitment, fidelity and strong moral values. These couples are of different religious backgrounds, languages, races and national origins, but what draws all of them together is a love of God and a belief that world peace begins with stable, healthy and God-centered families. I would like you all to observe this history-making ceremony but, more than that, I strongly encourage all of you gathered here to also participate and renew your own wedding vows before God.
For Mankind's Common Vision
Today I would like to share with you about the course that I have gone over the past 50 years in search of a common vision for humankind. After the devastating experience of World War II, all nations were searching for peace. God gave me the direction to build a global movement and help establish God's Kingdom on the foundation of 2,000 years of Christianity. The central message of this revelation is to find the formula course for "True Parents" and "True Family," which means those who live for the sake of others. But the failure of Korean Christian leaders to receive this message brought great disappointment to God, and I had to go a suffering course of rejection and humiliation, which led to my being imprisoned many times even though I was innocent. This providential mistake by the established religions provided the spiritual foundation for evil to run rampant in Korea, beginning with the division of that nation, and for the other calamities that have plagued the world this past half-century.
To understand why all this happened, we must understand the mission that God gave me 50 years ago to bring a special message to Christian leaders. That message is essentially the same today-but today the message is not just for Christians, but for Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and all religions and denominations. The message is that the ideal of the true family, centered on God, is the basis for true relationships and peace among individuals, societies and nations. As a young man, I desperately searched for the answers to the mysteries of human sin and suffering. I shed many tears and spent many years in lonely prayer fighting spiritual battles that most would never comprehend. After many years of searching through the Bible and the vast spiritual world, God revealed the true purpose of human life and the root cause of human suffering that originated in the Garden of Eden with the first human ancestors.
Ideal of True Love and True Family
Esteemed leaders! You need to know that God created all things for the sake of "True Love" and "True People." All creation is structured in pairs. Animals, plants, and minerals are arranged in subject-object relationships, and the harmonious give and take between them forms the base for all existence, for all energy for productivity, and for love and goodness. Humans were also created with this duality between the mind and body within the individual and between man and woman. God's ideal was for an individual's mind and body to be united, centered on His love, and then for perfected men and woman to unite in the family unit. In this way Adam and Eve could become a true reflection of God's divine nature and become an object of God's love. Then they could bequeath to their descendants true love, true life and true blood lineage emanating from God. Adam's family was to be a family of true love, in accordance with God's ideal. The two ancestral human beings, Adam and Eve, were created with the expectation that they would transfer God's will and love to the world and all creation. Adam and Eve and their children were to establish a pattern that would have been the fundamental principle for all humanity to follow. Adam and Eve's descendants should have become one with God, accomplishing the unification of mind and body, and man and woman. They would create a stable foundation for peace, freedom, happiness, and hope to fill the world. It was God's ideal that this model be expanded not just to the level of country and world, but to the entire cosmos. Thus, it would be possible for a country to become patterned after the family unit which would expand God's family-level to the country level, and the country level could expand to the world level centered on God. This would be called the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
The fundamental character and personality of an individual is formed in the family. Family is the starting point and foundation of love, personality and life. The Principle of Creation teaches us that we are born in the cradle of our family through the love of our parents. We come to perfect ourselves as beings of love beginning as children who gradually grow to positions of spouse, parent and grandparent. Ultimately, we pass to the spiritual world in the midst of love from our descendants. Family, therefore, is the most precious hearth of human love and life. It is more important than all value systems and ideologies as well as all policies and social systems. Through the family, history and country come into being and the ideal world starts. If there is no family, then there is no meaning in individual existence and there will be no passing of love through the generations. Therefore, family takes precedence over all value, ideology, system and structure. Family is the most precious and fundamental base for the love and life of men and women.
Origin of Man's Sin and Restoration of the Ideal of True Family
But, tragically, God's ideal of true family was never realized. The serpent tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, and then Eve tempted Adam. Instead of God's true love, selfish false love was planted in the human race. Human history became one of sin and misery because our ancestors, Adam and Eve, entered into an illicit relationship with Satan. Because of the fall, the progenitors of the human race did not become good ancestors but, rather, evil ancestors corrupted by the root of evil life and evil blood lineage. The first family started with false love and did not establish the perfected true love character of a true person, a true couple and true parents. The fruit of false love, fallen mankind's selfishness, destroys the true order, beginning with the discord of mind and body and expanding into division and struggle in the family, nation and world.
The solution and cure for humankind's affliction, therefore, is to return to God through the principle of restoration by indemnity. Through true love for others, you can stop the struggle between your mind and body and be restored into your original character of true love. Humankind needs to receive the blessing and create an ideal family from true parents who are the model of true love character. We need to restore the individual and true family and expand true love and goodness to the world level. Fifty years ago, I tried to bring this revelation to my fellow Christians, believing that this truth could unite the conflicting denominations and bring about the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. I never intended to form a separate church. However, God's message was met with denial and persecution by the established churches, and I was left with no choice but to make another foundation that has taken me 43 years to build! Starting in Korea with the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in 1954, I sent missionaries to Japan, the United States, Europe and all over the world. On that foundation we have built many organizations to expand the principles of the true family in the media, arts, academia, economy and industry, and to create examples and models through which the world could be restored and indemnified.
God's Three Headaches
The strategy of Satan, who originated sin, is always to destroy the ideal of true family and to prevent true family from taking root and becoming substantialized. This led to God's three headaches during the past 50 years. The first headache was communism, which denies God's existence. The second is corruption and immorality. The third is the division and disunity among denominations and world religions. Think about it. How many innocent people died because of communism? Over 100 million were killed as a result of communism, and millions more were enslaved, starved, abused and wounded, and spent their whole life in suffering. But in addition to deaths and physical suffering, the crime of communism is even bigger: spreading false truth to deny God and make men and women unable to find their ultimate value.
Immorality, the second headache of God, is destroying families and countries and taking lives just as surely as an invading army. Moral corruption is one of the main causes of divorce, teenage pregnancies, crime and drug addiction. The decline of morality is not limited to any single nation's borders but is becoming the world's common problem. The worldwide AIDS plague is a direct consequence of sexual promiscuity and moral decay. If AIDS continues to spread, tens of millions of people will die and humankind's existence will be threatened.
How about God's third headache -- the division anal disunity within Christianity and between the world religions? For God, religious people are the conscience of the world. Religious people should have traditions and values and practical power to overcome evil. Instead they are divided. They antagonize and fight with each other. They have became incompetent and have lost the power to overcome evil and educate the world about the true way of life.
Importance of Man's Portion of Responsibility
These three fundamental headaches are the direct result of the failure 50 years ago of those chosen to receive God's message. Distinguished world leaders! From God's point of view, all of that suffering was totally unnecessary. A11 the misery, death and destruction were not inevitable. It could have been avoided. If in the late 1940s, the religious world centering on Christianity had followed God's revelation and become one with the true family ideal, then communism would have naturally declined. Also, through the influential leadership and example of each religion, the degeneration of youth, broken families, and AIDS would never have grown into a worldwide plague.
Confronting God's three headaches, particularly communism, made me unpopular and controversial. I was labeled a fascist and a religious charlatan. I was even jailed in the United States on trumped-up charges of tax evasion. Nevertheless, for 25 years I have been pouring out my soul, heart and energy to make the United States understand its global providential responsibilities. Through my work in the Western hemisphere and around the world, I was able to help the United States overcome communism. Now communism has almost disappeared. But immorality and social decay are systematically attacking the family Modern thinking holds that the traditional family is only one kind of family and that even homosexuals can form a family and have children through adoption or artificial insemination. This is being done without any thought of the dire consequences of undermining and destroying a fundamental biological, social and spiritual unit that has been vital to human survival for tens of thousands of years. It is ironic that scientists warn of the threat to endangered species of plants and animals, but do not study far more seriously the consequences of family destruction.
Today God is asking us these questions: Will it be necessary to lose one-third of humanity before it is saved? Will we destroy the earth's natural resources and environment before we learn to live in harmony with the creation as God originally intended? God will never give up! He will save this world, no matter what, and He will save it through the ideal and structure of the true family The question is, at what price, not only in terms of human lives, but financial and environmental. The social problems brought about by corruption and immorality are leaving a toll of economic collapse and environmental degradation. The leaders of the world need to reflect on these points. God's desire is to end human suffering and build a world of true, peaceful families. God needs for us to take care of our portion of responsibility If humankind receives and acts decisively upon God's message, the achievement of God's Kingdom will be relatively swift and joyful. If not, God's and humanity's suffering will be prolonged, and the misery and needless deaths will continue.
Blessing of Marriage by True Love
Then how can God's headache be solved? How can families become fundamentally healthy? How can divided religions reconcile and cooperate under God? That answer is in the international Marriage Blessing Ceremony My wife and I began officiating blessing of marriage ceremonies starting with three couples in 1960. If I had said at that time that many millions of people will receive God's blessing, who would have believed it? But today, with God's help and going beyond nation, race, and religion, the blessing ceremony of 39.6 million couples, promising purity and fidelity, is being carried out right in front of you.
Respected leaders! I only want to stress once again that, through the Marriage Blessing, the world's families can stabilize and finally fulfill their original role. For true family to be restored, we have to establish true love character, we have to attend God, and we have to seriously pledge to become true couples and true parents. Those harmonious families that are restored to the ideal through the Marriage Blessing Ceremony can create a peaceful society, nations, and world. This Marriage Blessing that encompasses all nations, races, and religions and goes beyond all boundaries is itself the foundation for world peace. Is this not God's desire? That this miraculous number of families - almost 40 million! - can participate in this blessing of marriage is because of the active support of the world's religious leaders. It was also made possible because many national leaders agreed that this true family movement can cure the fundamental teenage problems and the breakdown of families, and they have actively supported it. I would like once again to thank all the volunteers.
The Marriage Blessing Ceremony can awaken people, especially young people, to the value of true love, and it can become the motive and catalyst for them to realize the necessity of absolute purity. All the world's good young men and women who are awakened through this movement should gather together to stand up for a true love revolution, establishing themselves as eternal couples under God's blessing. All these new families can receive support from already married couples who have renewed their vows before God and practice right ethics, and they can all become examples of moral citizens and build an ideal family, society, nation, and world - the fruit of true love.
The Marriage Blessing Ceremony eradicates the connection to false love and brings to life the holy content and value of marriage centered on absoluteness. This ceremony recovers true couples' love, true parents' love, and true children's love. Therefore, those who participate in the Marriage Blessing Ceremony value purity and trust as highly as they do their lives and promise unchanging couple's love. On the foundation of that true love, they can establish a true family, raise true children, and pledge to sacrifice themselves to build a true nation and peaceful world. In the world of the future, God, humankind, and creation are in harmony, living in a new culture of heart, a culture of love centered on true family In the world of the future, true love means living for the sake of others in a world of interdependence, mutual prosperity, universally shared values, and cooperation. In the future, the natural desire of young people to live in a world of true brothers and sisters, one family of mankind, will be realized by centering on true love, true parents, and true family
Esteemed world leaders, the Marriage Blessing is the most precious gift that God is giving to us. My wife and I devoutly hope that you will participate in this historic ceremony to receive God's blessing of marriage. From now on, the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification will expand the true family movement. By the year 2001 we will carry out the 360 million couples blessing in three different events. Because of immorality and the loss of values, our young people are falling into moral decadence, and the family is being utterly destroyed.
Is there anything more important than saving humanity from plunging into ruin? My effort to globalize and universalize the True Family Movement and the Marriage Blessing Ceremony, which are the fundamental solutions to save humanity, needs the active support from respected leaders like you. Those who understand the fundamental problem and the solution God is offering should band together within their country and form a True Family Marriage Blessing support group and create a movement to save your nation. I ask that you put yourselves at the center of this great work to restore humankind to its original ideal. We have to quickly educate all men and women so they can establish true families and enter into the age of God-centered kingship on earth and heaven, centered on true love, and live in the victorious world of freedom, peace, and unity.
May God's love fill you and your family and your country.
Thank you very much.
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True Unification and One World
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
President, Federation for World Peace
This address was given on April 10, 1990 at the Eleventh World Media Conference in Moscow, Russia.
It is a great honor and pleasure to convene with you this historic 11th World Media Conference in the city of Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union. The theme of this conference is "The Advancement of Global Communication and Cooperation," and I feel there is no place more appropriate to gather for these discussions than right here in the Soviet Union.
Furthermore, it is an added pleasure for me to open these proceedings because we are simultaneously conducting the Third Conference of the Summit Council for World Peace, and a gathering of the Association for the Unity of Latin America. Both of these excellent organizations are also committed to the quest for world peace.
For me to come to Moscow is an emotional experience. I would like to express my appreciation to the Soviet government, especially the officials of Novosti Press Agency You have welcomed us to your great capital in a most hospitable manner. My wife and I, and our entire family, are moved by your kindness. I am sure that all of the guests in this room who have come from every corner of the world, including former heads of state and government, will join with me in expressing our deep gratitude to our hosts in this country. Would you join with me in giving them a round of applause?
I was recently asked by members of the Soviet media regarding my views on the importance of a spiritual renaissance as a precondition to social, economic and political progress. I would like to take this opportunity to elaborate on some of those views. I believe that such a spiritual renaissance is vitally important. To achieve it, a deeper understanding of the human situation is necessary. This calls for some reflection on philosophical and religious topics. It may not directly concern either communications or media, but for me it is the fundamental understanding necessary to secure true peace in our world. Furthermore, it is the essence of my lifelong search, discovery and teaching.
God's Original Ideal
When we observe our universe, we recognize that every being exists through the union of paired elements. This is true on all levels, beginning even with the mineral realm. Molecules are made from the union of a positive ion and a negative ion. On the level of plants, existence and reproduction require the union of stamen and pistil, representing the male and female aspects.
The pair system is even more obvious on the level of animals. Fish, birds, mammals and all animals exist as male and female. Finally, the supreme creations of God, human beings, are either men or women. The first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, were the original ancestors of mankind. What is the purpose of the pair system? Why did God create in this way?
The Creator made all things male and female so that they might unite through their give and take of love. Through the action of love, each species multiplies and extends its lineage.
Human ambition is limitless and infinite. Then, what is the true goal of this infinite desire of man? For woman, it is man. For man, it is woman. Man and woman can find true love only through each other. In history, differing views of life, the universe and God have presented unresolved problems. The solution to these problems is to be found when true man and true woman unite with God in true love, creating absolute oneness. This is the source of absolute value.
Man exists for the sake of woman. Woman exists for the sake of man. Each is to be the object of love of the other. God is a being of absolute love. He wanted to create objects of love, human beings, upon which He can pour out his love. In doing so, He would naturally look forward to the return of that love from men and women. In this way, God would feel infinite joy Adam and Eve must be united in love themselves first, in order to become perfect objects of the love of God. Therefore, a period of growth and maturity was necessary before Adam and Eve could stand as the mature human couple resembling God and receiving and returning His love.
The pattern of true love is not that of being served; it is to serve others. When God Himself initially created His object of love, He invested every ounce of His energy-100 percent of His being. This established the pattern of true love. In other words, the tradition of true love as total investment was established by God. At that point, true love became the center of the universe. And even almighty God chooses to be obedient to it.
When God created, He totally spent Himself. He made of Himself a vacuum. In the atmosphere, when a low-pressure area comes into being, high pressure air is automatically attracted. Whenever someone serves others to the absolute degree, energy rushes in to fill that person up. Therefore, all the love that God has given to create His perfect object must ultimately be returned to Him by men and women.
Only love transcends all barriers. When you are united with God in true love, you have dominion over all of God's creation, both physical and spiritual. When you live completely for others, you are reaching the very essence of God's own being. God's vibrations become your vibrations. God's feelings are naturally transmitted to you. Living this way, you become a resonant body of God's heart and love. As much as two tuning forks resonate together, you and God always resonate together.
That is the ultimate, original state of the human being. When you achieve that state, the love of God becomes your love, the life of God becomes your life, and the blood lineage of God becomes your blood lineage. The world that God created becomes your world. We are to share the love of God with all things in heaven and earth. We are to be citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven with the heart of parents.
Man's Separation from God
The law of cause and effect is clearly evident in history. Whatever you have sown, you will surely reap. Adam and Eve, the first human ancestors, engaged in sexual immorality and the abuse of love while they were still growing. This was the fall of man. God wanted them to grow in purity until He blessed them in heavenly matrimony, becoming the foundation of God's true love, true life and true blood lineage. Humanity descending from this perfected and blessed Adam and Eve, would naturally become the sons and daughters of God, enjoying the love of the Creator, and living in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in the spirit world.
However, before Adam and Eve matured and received the blessing from God, while they were still teenagers, the archangel tempted Eve and engaged in fornication with her. In this way, the archangel became Satan. By engaging in relations with fallen Eve, Adam also fell. This is how the beginning of human history was sown. Today, we are reaping the consequences: immorality is rampant. Teenagers, in particular, are the victims of widespread sexual degradation. Modern society in the advanced nations is little different from Sodom and Gomorrah of biblical times. God abhors this immoral behavior. We must fear the wrath of God. His punishment is imminent.
The Struggle of Good and Evil
God is the center of goodness. Satan is the center of evil. The history of humanity has been the history of struggle between good and evil-between God and Satan-working through men and women. But the respective strategies used by God and Satan have been exactly opposite. Satan, being arrogant and greedy always attacks the side of goodness. God's camp is always hit and suffers, but this gives God the opportunity to bring justice. The side of good is vindicated and occupies new territory Satan's side must withdraw and decline.
For example, in World War I, the belligerent nations were ultimately defeated. The same was true in World War II, where the Axis powers, after initially attacking, were finally defeated by the Allies. Every exploiting power will ultimately decline, while whoever suffers persecution for the sake of good will ultimately be raised up by God.
My own life is representative of this. I have been struggling for the sake of good and the cause of God, but the opposition has been relentless. Years ago, I was tortured and beaten, and I have been imprisoned numerous times. One would think that my movement would die out and be forgotten, but the opposite has occurred. I have built a worldwide foundation, and have continuously advanced and prospered.
Conscience: Teacher and Parent
Every human being, throughout his life, has a most precious teacher within himself. Nevertheless, that teacher has been mistreated, trampled upon, and abused. That teacher is the human conscience. Your conscience always speaks out for your own benefit, trying to connect you to true love. Like a parent, your conscience urges you to be a good, unselfish individual, and guides you to do the will of God. But within each person there is also a rebel who always goes against the conscience. That rebel is the physical body
The body has trampled and abused the conscience miserably When one becomes aware of this, can he take the side of the body which has been the enemy of his own conscience, and which has greatly damaged his own life and personality?
Your conscience should be your constant internal teacher and parent, leading you to complete unity with the ultimate parent of mankind, God. The conscience, then, is the agent of God within you, and may even be called a "second God." Do you think you should be sympathetic and protective of your body; the enemy of the conscience? Or do you think you should control and confine your body and vindicate your conscience? Your body only goes after carnal desire. When it is hungry, it steals and satisfies itself. It always seeks for comfort, and wants to take advantage of others. The body has its own realm. To conquer the realm of the body is an awesome responsibility which every person must undertake.
When this is achieved, the mind as the vertical self and the body as the horizontal self are completely harmonized into oneness, and a person reaches perfection, united in love with God for eternity.
The Role of Religion
God is the source of true love, true life and true blood lineage. Since we human beings originate from this source, we must also have true love, true life and true blood lineage. However, because of the tall of man, tragically, man never achieved the position of being the child of God. Instead, men and women have received love, life and lineage from Satan.
Due to the fall of man, love today is basically self-centered. That self-centered love does not originate from the mind, but is centered upon the body. The body is where Satan's activities are conducted. The body is Satan's dancing place, the mooring post of Satan. The mind represents God's position, the plus position. But the body, which should assume the object or minus position, tries to make itself another plus, and continuously teases or fools the mind. In human life, it is crucial to correct this relationship.
Therefore, God established religion to rehabilitate fallen man. Through religion, God is teaching people how to strengthen their God-centered mind, and reverse the body's domination of their life and personality That is why religion oftentimes demands fasting, sacrificial service and a meek and humble attitude. These are methods for reducing the power of the body and causing the body to submit to the mind. Normally, in religious life, it takes about 3 to 5 years to change from the habit of a body-centered life, and create a new spirit-centered way of life.
Furthermore, the Bible says, you must pray without ceasing. This is vitally important because Satan controls the environment of the fallen world. Satan tempts and distracts fallen man from all directions 24 hours a day, while God is only able to work from one direction, the vertical direction of the mind.
The Restoration of God's Ideal
In the eyes of God, the fallen world is the world of spiritual death. His will is the restoration of that world of death into the world of life. Restoration is another way of saying salvation. When the original ideal state has been lost, it must be restored. When a healthy man becomes sick, a physician must come and bring him back to his original health. By the same token, the God-intended original ideal was lost. Therefore, the work of God is to restore this fallen world to the original sinless state.
In order to accomplish that task, God sends the Messiah. But before the Messiah comes, God prepares a certain chosen group of people to be ready for the Messiah. This is what the Bible calls the orchard of wild olive trees.
The orchard of wild olive trees represents a certain sphere in the fallen realm that God can still direct and control. After this has been prepared, the Messiah comes. The Messiah then cuts all the wild olive trees in the orchard of God, and grafts into them the true branch of life. In this way the wild olive trees all become true olive trees. They are returned to the original state of man.
The religious people of today are these wild olive trees in God's orchard, but even the most devout religious person must still seek the Messiah because he has not yet received the true lineage of God. The Messiah comes as the True Parents of mankind, restoring the position of Adam and Eve. Therefore, in order to be connected to the true lineage of God, each person must unite with the True Parents, and become a recipient of true love. By doing so, each person can become a true son or daughter of God. In this way, the Messiah brings salvation to humankind.
The Messiah, in the position of True Parents, must root out the trees that have grown from false seeds, subjugate Satan and connect mankind into oneness with God in true love, making all people true sons and daughters of God. In this way, the Kingdom of Heaven on earth can be created, where men and women will finally be able to enjoy true freedom.
What is the way of unification? Let us consider the first human family. First of all, there is God. Second, there is Adam and Eve. Adam is masculine, and Eve is feminine. They compete with one another to secure the love of God first. If they are selfishly motivated, there will be no unity. However, if they are unselfishly motivated, Adam will say, "I want to reach God first solely for you, Eve." The woman will be overjoyed. She, in turn, will say, "I only want to reach God for your sake, Adam." Then the husband will be fully satisfied. There is no struggle; there is unity even in their competition.
This is not only the way husband and wife can be happily united; it is more than that. It is the very key to the unification of all people.
God-Centered World View
Throughout history, God has been working through the human conscience. In spite of God's efforts, however, every attempt made thus far to restore man into the original starting point-the heart of God-has failed. It still remains for someone to liberate humankind from this satanic environment and lead a successful search for truth and true love. That is the mission of the Unification movement.
Godism is a God-centered world view, whose essence is the ideal of true love. Godism has two distinct missions: Bring unity between God and man, and bring unity between mind and body.
Since I have discovered the solution to these two fundamental problems -- the unity of mind and body, and the unity of man and God -- I must proclaim this truth as clearly and effectively as possible without any hesitation.
When you follow this teaching, I assure you that you can definitely conquer the carnal desires of your body. You can become 100 percent united with your mind. Then you are eligible to become the true object of God and establish a true love partnership with God.
Whenever two people are bound together by true love, they are entitled to three important rights: First, the right of inheritance. Second, the right of dwelling together. Third, the right of participation.
Take for example the relationship of husband and wife. The husband might be the president of a great nation, while his wife might be a woman of very humble origin and very little education. II they truly love each other, however, they are equals. They own all things in common, live together, and participate on an equal level.
In the same way, when man and woman are connected to God through true love, they will also enjoy the rights of inheritance, participation and living together eternally with God. When you reach this depth of heart, you will constantly experience the presence of God, and God will truly dwell among men.
True Parents
True love always travels the shortest distance at the greatest speed. Therefore, true love coming from God to the earth travels the shortest distance-a vertical line. The love between man and woman also travels the shortest distance, forming a horizontal line. When the vertical true love meets with the horizontal true love, the crossing point must absolutely be 90 degrees. There is no other way these love lines can intersect.
Who is God? God is the vertical True Parents centered on true love. He is intimately close to each of us because He is our vertical parents. When we welcome the perfected human ancestors-perfected Adam and Eve-as True Parents, we create a 90-degree crossing point between the vertical true love of God and the horizontal true love of True Parents. We have two sets of True Parents. From them we receive true love, true life and true blood lineage. This creates one world totally resonating with true love.
The Soviet Union
Ladies and gentlemen, I am very grateful to have the opportunity to share with you these reflections on the nature of God and humanity. I am also very happy to be here in the Soviet Union. My heart truly goes out to the people of the Soviet Union. Many of you have gone through unbearable suffering, and that saddens me. I love your country and your people very much. I clearly envision a moral and economic renaissance for the Soviet Union that will dramatically affect the entire world. I will do all I can to encourage and support that renaissance.
You are undertaking a new Soviet revolution, but this should be a revolution without blood or bullets-a revolution of the heart and soul.
I have been speaking about the importance of the family. But I want to tell you that in the depths of my heart, I feel that the Soviet people are a part of my family. I assure you that my wife and children feel the same. Also, I assure you that members of the Unification movement worldwide will do their utmost to work together with you for the future prosperity and well being of all humanity.
I believe the Soviet Union will play a key role in God's plan to build a world of lasting true peace. This vast union of nations, which stretches from the Far East, with its border on my country of Korea, to the very heart of Europe birthplace of Western civilization, has a natural destiny to be a bridge between Europe and Asia. We must regard ourselves as being members of one global family living in one global house. May God bless the Soviet Union and all its people.
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World Unification and North-South Unification Will Be Accomplished by True Love
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
President, Family Federation for World Peace
This is the text of the speech given at the Opening Banquet of the WCSF Convocation on Feb. 10, 2000.
Distinguished guests whose fervent desire is for North-South unification, ladies and gentlemen.
The new millennium that just began is a time to clean away the divisions and conflicts of the past century and to manifest the ideal of a one world family of harmony and unification. I would like to begin by thanking you for congratulating me on my eightieth birthday Most of all, I would like to return to God all the honor and glory given to me, because it is He who has watched over me until this day.
As I look back, I am reminded that my life has never been easy. My life has been intertwined with the suffering history of our people and the numerous difficulties that our people have undergone in the midst of the great powers. As a boy of 16, I came into contact with the will of Heaven through prayer, and throughout my life after that I have devoted all my spirit and energy to accomplishing God's Will. I came to understand that the fundamental cause of human unhappiness is that the relationship with God was severed by the fall. As a result of the fall, human beings fell into a state of spiritual ignorance. In an effort to resolve the fundamental problems this has caused among humans and in the universe, I have spoken publicly on more than 10,000 occasions in many places around the world and set forth a true view of humanity, a true view of the world, and a true view of history based on Godism.
These speeches have been translated into twelve languages and published in three hundred volumes. The contents of these speeches are not the result of a comprehensive study of historical documents. My conclusions are not the result of scholarly research. Instead, I arrived at these answers to basic and fundamental questions through my communications with both the visible and invisible worlds.
The issue of unifying the Korean Peninsula is the solemn desire of our people and the final act of bringing the global Cold War to a conclusion. So today, as I express my gratitude for your having prepared this meaningful forum, I would like to share with you on the topic, "North-South Unification and World Unification Will Be Accomplished by True Love," and lay out the basic answer for how to bring about unification. The unification of our country involves more than the mere unification of national territory. It begins with the unification of the human mind and body which were divided against one another as a result of the fall, and it is the model for the unification of the world that has been divided in two. Thus, this issue must be understood from the perspective of God's salvation providence. It must be resolved on a providential level.
Satan's Target
What is Satan's ultimate target behind the history of struggle between good and evil ever since this conflict was brought into being as a result of the fall of the first human ancestors? Satan has his sights set precisely on God Himself. God is eternal, unchanging, absolute and unique, and the standard of the ideal that He held at the beginning of creation must also have these qualities.
If you were to ask God directly, I think He will confirm what I am saying. How can God reply when Satan says to God, "God, when you made me an archangel in the beginning, were you acting out of a love for me that was temporary or eternal?"
I think God will say that He made him, the archangel, out of a love that was eternal. If he were to say that His love was temporary, that would make Him an ephemeral God. Unless He maintains a standard of loving Satan eternally, there will eventually come a time when He will no longer be able to exercise His authority as God with respect to Satan. Thus, no matter how much Satan may oppose Him, God has no choice other than to establish the condition of loving Satan.
Satan says to God, "I became an evil scoundrel as a result of the fall, but you and good people can't use methods that are similar to mine, can you? I may like to fight, but you're not supposed to enjoy fighting. Even when you take a blow, you have to endure, don't you?" Thus, God's philosophy is one of non-resistance. Why is that? It is because, until the world of the heavenly ideal is manifested on this Earth, God must love the archangel who has become Satan, regardless of the circumstances.
No matter how much trouble Satan may cause, God cannot punish him or cut him off. He must establish the condition of having loved Satan regardless of where he found Satan. God can only have complete victory when Satan confesses to Him, saying, "Oh, God really is God. I surrender to You." This is the problem. Because of this, God is in the position of being tied up by Satan. Since the principle path of the providence of restoration is for God to bring about Satan's surrender by loving him, we who are His children must walk this same path. It doesn't matter if a person is persecuted around the world and is considered a worldwide enemy. This person must establish the condition of having loved those who oppose him. From this aspect, there is amazing truth in God's words to "love your enemies." In fact, this is one of God's battle strategies.
These words sound simple. No one realized, though, that they have marked the boundary line between victory and defeat in the battle between God and Satan. If God were to adopt a philosophy of looking on Satan as His enemy and seek revenge against him, then God would never be able to stand on the pinnacle of victory Thus, God has said, "love your enemy" and has carried out a strategy of love. The words "love your enemy" also represent the culmination of Jesus' teaching.
It is remarkable that Jesus, the only begotten son of God, stood before Satan and prayed for him despite the fact that Satan was trying to kill him. If Jesus, as he hung dying on the cross, had held any feelings of malice toward his enemy God's Providence would have been turned completely around. It is because Jesus overcame death with a heart of praying that his enemies might be blessed and of loving his enemies that Satan surrendered in that instance.
This is where the qualification to be God's eternal child comes about. Even Satan recognizes this qualification, and gives his signature. You, too, will be able to stand before God and say, "Hey, Satan, am I not unmistakably the son of God?" and Satan will reply, "Yes, that is correct." We must conduct ourselves in such a way that if we say to Satan, "You have no problem, then, if people who live like me expand God's reciprocal realm, starting from the individual and moving to the family, clan, people, nation and world," Satan's answer will be, "That is the Principle, so I can't do anything about it."
It is under these conditions that God has pursued the providence, with the Christian cultural sphere at the center. Whether we find ourselves on the path of sacrifice, in the position of martyrdom, or in the midst of bloody battle, we must carry out a movement of loving God and loving even our enemies. We must carry out this movement in our families, in our societies, and in our nations.
The Roman Empire severely persecuted Christianity, but it was forced to surrender in the face of the love by which Christianity loved even the country that was its enemy. This is how Christianity came to be a worldwide religion. The starting point for the path to heaven was within the country that was Christianity's enemy Until now Christians have only thought about loving their own personal enemies, but this is not correct. We must love the country that is our enemy, and even the world that is our enemy.
Where Do We Start
The starting point on the path to Heaven is within the country that is our enemy. Unless we create the foundation of the tradition of true love and set out on the basis of this foundation, we cannot bring about the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. When the tradition is established in this way, there can never be a philosophy or ideology greater than this.
When Korea was under Japanese imperial rule, the four providential countries -- Korea, Japan, Germany and the United States -- were enemies of one another. Given the circumstances of that time, Japanese and Koreans were enemies. Japanese and Americans were enemies. Americans and Germans were enemies. Yet, I practiced the way of true love of Heaven by taking Japanese and Germans to America, their enemy country, and telling them that America was falling into ruin and their help was needed to revive it. I emphasized to the Japanese and Germans that they could not establish a new thinking capable of leading humanity into a new world that Heaven desires unless they set the condition of having loved their past enemy, America, even more than their own fatherland. I set forth this tradition of true love, and created a new beginning.
Unless people erect a base and tradition by which they are able to love the countries that are enemies of their own, the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be realized on Earth. It is only within the true love of God that such a historic tradition can be constructed.
When I was humiliated by the U.S. federal government and unjustly brought before a court of law, my response was actually to work harder to give life to America by founding the conservative newspaper The Washington Times and a broadcasting station.
Recently I am pursuing an effort to gather prominent strategic planners from around the world in order to assist China. This is one example of how all the organizations that I have founded are ready to involve themselves in any effort of Heaven that requires love. In the future, even those with superior ability will find themselves ruled by others if they have not accumulated accomplishments in true love. Everyone here needs to bear this in mind. I was involved in the anti-Japanese resistance movement under the Japanese imperial rule, and from that perspective the Japanese people were my enemy This was true for the Korean people as a whole and for me individually Yet, after Japan's defeat in World War II, I gave love to Japan. After the war, I could have reported the police who had taken me into custody for my activities in the underground independence movement and tortured me severely Had I done this, they would all have been executed. When I came across a Japanese policeman who was running for his life, however, I packed some things for him and helped him escape to safety under the cover of darkness.
Planting the Foundation
Do you know why so many young people in Japan place their eternal lives at stake and pledge their loyalty to me? This is because there is a principle of cause and effect which dictates that they must return what has been given them. It is because I planted the seeds of true love in the world, transcending national boundaries and in accordance with God's heart. It is because I planted the heartistic foundation that leads people to a life of loving the countries that were the enemies of their own country. Thus, Japan today is my prisoner. Without even realizing it, Japan is fulfilling its heavenly calling.
Under Japanese rule, I had reason to harbor resentment even toward the Emperor of Japan. But he has already been defeated. Heaven does not strike a person who is defeated. In fact, Heaven shows mercy toward those who understand their sin and apologize. Because this is Heaven's way, a person who raises a sword and strikes a defeated person will find his own descendants driven to ruin.
The United States is also a country that considered me their enemy. However I left my family behind and diverted my attention from my Korean fatherland to bring salvation to that country. I threw away everything that belonged to me in order to bring salvation to the world under Satan.
Think, too, of how much hatred the established Christian denominations have directed toward the Unification Church. It might be said that we are enemies. We must not fight each other as enemies, however. We must come together in love. What happens when we come together in love? The two come together in love and lead the Republic of Korea into fulfilling the will of Heaven so as to digest North Korea. If the established denominations and the Unification Church had become one immediately after Korea's liberation from Japan, everything would have been solved. Because that did not happen, we have had to make extraordinary sacrifices to fight enemies of the individual, enemies of the family, enemies of the clan, and enemies of the people in order to attain the position that we would have reached in the first place had there been no conflict. We have worked to overcome the path of suffering where we were not able to strike at enemies.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, all the people in North Korea have armed themselves with Juche Thought. We must arm ourselves with the philosophy of true love that is capable of digesting them. North Korea is a part of the Northern Culture that has been influenced by the cold winds of the Soviet Culture. We must work to naturally melt them with our warm region civilization. Otherwise, both countries will go to ruin. Thus, we must thoroughly arm ourselves philosophically.
This philosophy must not be one that seeks the fulfillment of individual desires. Rather, it must seek the salvation of all humanity. It must not be centered on the self. Communists have the idea that everyone should work for the sake of a few top Party leaders. This is why they eliminate any person who stands out as a potential rival. We are not that way Our idea is to unite with the reciprocal environment in order to establish a reciprocal standard of a higher level. That is, for Cain and Abel to become one so as to receive their parents on a higher level. I do not believe South Korea should attempt to overcome North Korea militarily Instead, we must love our nation more than they love theirs. We must have the philosophical strength to love Heaven even more than they love communism. We must become capable men and women of character who can bring about their natural surrender. There is no other way for us to absorb North Korea. In other words, we must become able to impress them with how we live. We must be able to amaze those people armed with communist ideology in terms of our outlook on life and our standard of character.
We cannot restore the Cain-type nation unless we maintain an environment by which we are able to exert influence over them. If we cannot restore the Cain-type nation, we cannot establish the restored country capable of entering into a worldwide nation centered on the Kingdom of Heaven. Although North and South Korea are divided against one another, we must liberate North Korea without fighting them.
The Korean people in both North and South Korea fervently desire to see the country unified, but how can this be accomplished? Unification can only be accomplished when a sophisticated method for unification is put forward that will allow both sides to live together. When the South goes to the North, or the North to the South, and says, "Let's do it our way" unification will not succeed. Thus, we must find a love that will benefit both sides.
A Greater Love
Ladies and gentlemen, at the moment North and South are going in different directions. One is trying to go south and the other trying to go north, and they are on two divergent paths. Their purposes are at odds with each other. If both sides insist on their own position, it is certain that the situation will again result in breakdown.
The question is what is to be done about this. There must be a South Korean person who loves North Korea with a greater love than any South Korean person has for his own country.
Also, there must be a North Korean person who loves South Korea with a greater love than any North Korean has for his own country. There is no option or solution other than this.
If there is one person whose patriotism is greater than any South Korean's and greater than any North Korean's, then this is where the path to unification can come about. Can there be another way? No matter how hard you may think, there is no other way.
What are the Korean people to do, then? Our country straddles the boundary line between left and right centering on the 38th Parallel. We are the ones who have been placed on that line, so what are we to do? This is the question. The issue is how to resolve this problem. The answer is that we must suffer even more than North Koreans, and even more than South Koreans. How are we to uphold such a standard of patriotism, established through suffering and transcending nationality? This is the way to give this country life and to solve its problems. The same principle applies to uniting the world of goodness and the world of evil. Someone must appear in the world of goodness that is a greater patriot to the world of evil than anyone in that world. A person must appear who can set a higher standard of loyalty to his nation than anyone among our ancestors who pursued goodness. This is the only way for a divided history to be resolved.
Jesus was particularly remarkable in this regard. He realized it would do no good for both sides to fight. The only way for him to live for the sake of God and for the sake of the people of Israel was for him to die for God and for his people. This was the reasoning behind the crucifixion. Jesus' love for humanity was greater than anyone else's since the beginning of history, and his love for God was greater than anyone else's in history. Because of this, his death caused a history destined for destruction to take a new direction toward a world of purpose. This was the Christian cultural sphere. This is historical fact.
Thus, the only way to unite North and South is to become a people who can die for the North and the South. There is no other path to achieve unification. There has to be a heart of truly wanting to live together in harmony with the other side.
When a person considers how to lead his life, the most basic fundamentals can be expressed as the path of a filial child, the path of a loyal patriot, the path of a saint, and the path of a son or daughter of God. Isn't it the heart of wanting to live in harmony with others eternally and of wanting to be with others without regard to whether they are higher or lower, and transcending front and back and left and right? This is the logical conclusion.
What is the common denominator among those who say, "I want to live in harmony with others"? It is not power. Power cannot transcend history. Power is limited to a specific period in time. The same is true with knowledge. The world of knowledge has an innate tendency to develop. Does knowledge give us the heart to say, "I want to live with this particular piece of knowledge forever"? Clearly, we cannot keep either knowledge or wealth with us forever.
What then is the common denominator that transcends above and below, front and back, left and right, and the time differences between past, present and future? This cannot be anything other than true love centering on God. Thus, a filial child is one who lives in his family giving profound love to his or her parents. Also, a patriot is one who lives a life of profound love for his or her country A saint is one who lives a life of profound love for the people of the world. A son or daughter of God is one who lives a life of profound love for all humanity and God. Thus, the problem is to develop a true foundation of heart by which a person can want to have the heart of a patriot. Such a person would want his or her life to be in concert with the fortunes of the people. Such a person would look upon any difficulties faced by the people as his or her own personal difficulties. This person would look upon any joys experienced by his people as more than temporary joys but eternal joys to be shared with everyone.
The person who possesses relationships of true love and true heart is given special authority to participate in the realm of unification.
Ladies and gentlemen, even if a woman lacks any formal education, she can marry a man with a doctoral degree and suddenly become the wife of a scholar. Isn't that true? Anyone who possesses a great deal of the relationships of heart desiring to live with others in harmony has the right to participate today in the realm of unification.
God himself is such a being. Thus, if a person attains the life content enabling him to form a unity, this person is automatically given the qualification to participate.
What is the First Step?
Where should we begin the process of unification? Where should we start in order to achieve North-South unification? What is the first step? Do we begin by using our fists or physical force? If we subjugate the other side with force, then eventually they will develop a force stronger than ours and the conflict will begin all over again. We cannot achieve unification by this method. The way to unification will open when each of us has the heart to say, "Even though I live in the South, I truly want to live in harmony with those people in the North. I truly want to become one with them."
Suppose people in the South were to look upon our compatriots in the North and shed tears to see the miserable conditions in which they live. Suppose we were to tell them, "I am living my life in a way that I can share in your difficulties." Suppose we were to promise them, "Some day soon, I will appear before you having completed the preparations for your day of liberation." Suppose, then, we were to carry out a practical movement for unification based on such a heart. If we did these things, I believe the day of unification would not be far off.
Ladies and gentlemen, we must think how we can live in harmony with our compatriots. No one can be a patriot if they do not want to live with their parents or with their compatriots. Any claim such a person might make to being patriotic would be a lie. A person must first be able to live in harmony with his own country before he or she can live in harmony with the world. Further, a person must first live in harmony with the world before he or she can live in harmony with God. Thus, a person cannot be a patriot unless he first loves his compatriots and gives love to that particular regional society.
How much do our political leaders love their country? Any politician who lacks a heart of truly wanting to share in the life of common citizens will soon disappear. It doesn't matter how well bred or educated this person may be. He will disappear like an air bubble formed on a surface of water. Any leader who does not love the citizens will not be able to escape judgment by the citizens of his country and by history
Healing the division between North and South is not a simple process. As fellow patriots struggle to bring this about, they will need a determination of heart to work through many sleepless nights, transcending time, and overcoming all manner of difficulties.
"I truly want to live with them. I don't want to die unless I can die with them. I don't want to live unless I can live with them." The movement for North-South unification begins when both sides have such a heart toward the other.
When North-South unification is accomplished, this will be the beginning point in the effort to unite the democratic and communist worlds. Each of us must consider the future of our people and of the world as a representative of the world, a representative of the six billion humankind, a representative of the three billion people of Asia, a representative of your school, and a representative of all the students you have ever taught. We must determine ourselves to carry out a movement that will truly enable us to share in the lives of our compatriots.
When such an effort connects you to the way of the saint, then you will come to resemble a saint. If you practice this with respect to God with the loyalty of a son or daughter of God, then you will become "God's heir," and "successor to God's will." I tell you these things today because I have already confirmed their truth in my own life.
Once North-South unification is accomplished in Korea, the unification of the world will follow automatically. Do you think that political power, military force or economic wealth can bring about unification? There isn't even the slightest chance of this. That is the reason I am speaking to you in this way Can weapons, wealth or knowledge do away with rotten philosophies? No, they cannot. Only true love can do this. This love is love that comes from God.
When a person enters into a relationship of true love with God, he or she is absolutely given special authority to have dominion, ownership and the right of inheritance. In the world of mechanics, the energy produced is less than the energy put into a system. However, in the world of true love, greater energy is produced than is put in.
What is true love? It is love that lives for the sake of others. It is love of unlimited giving and forgetting. No memory is kept of how much was given. It is a love that never tires of giving. A 90-year-old mother can turn to her 70-year-old son and say, "Be careful when you cross the street," and there is nothing strange about that. Even if the mother has repeated those same words countless times over several decades, she will always say them one more time. If this is true with parents in the fallen world, how can we ever grow tired of giving and receiving God's love in the essential world? When we establish God's true reciprocal realm in our own lives, we will understand the unchanging glory of true love for the first time. Then we will be able to justify the ethics of eternal life centering on the true love of human beings. Who in the world is aware of such things?
In 1984, I was lying in bed in an American prison where I had been unjustly incarcerated, when God came to me. He said, "You are the only person I can trust. I want you to resolve the situation in Nicaragua." Am I really the only person God can come to with such a command? America is said to be a great country standing at the forefront of all developed countries. It has a population of 240 million people and a large number of religious leaders. How helpless God must be that he could not go to any of those people but had to come to me. At least it is fortunate that God knows how to find a person by his love. If I had not worked for the sake of the world at that time, South America would have been completely ravaged by war by now.
North-South unification is the fervent desire of the Korean people, but it is also the earnest desire of God in this age. It is Heaven's desire that North Korea and South Korea can be united and that God's resting place will be established in your homes, in our churches, and in our worldwide church centered on God.
How, then, are we to attend God? How can we wipe everything clean? What can we use to wipe everything off so that God will say it is completely clean? This is the problem.
The answer is simple. We must clean the surroundings centering on a true love that is greater than our love for our parents, greater than our love for our spouses, and greater than our love for our children. It is only when our offerings our placed on the altar centering on such love that the ideal North-South unification will be manifested. This is where the ideal blending of Eastern and Western cultures can occur. This is where the ideal unification of the divided physical and heavenly realms can occur.
This is where the realm of liberation of Hell and Heaven will come about. We cannot unlock this without true love. We need the key of true love.
Unification brought about by the love between a persons mind and body can always be manifested as the unification of love in the family A Loving husband and wife with a harmonious family will always see their love manifested within their clan.
If a loving husband and wife unite as one, who will dare try to tear them apart and defile their relationship? A world made of the harmonious family, harmonious people, harmonious government, harmonious world, harmonious Heaven and Earth, harmonious true human love and God united as one-isn't this world the utopia of true love? In such a world, there will he no possibility of discord. Love will be the life element for all people, in the same way that plants receive life elements by absorbing the rays of the sun. Our fervent desire is to build a Kingdom of Heaven on Earth and in Heaven where we can resonate with true love eternally How many people are there in this world, though, who are the subject partners or object partners of true love, who can stand as people of character qualified to the be master of all things, and who possess both the value of a remarkable life and the special authority that comes with such a life?
Solving Everything Through God's True Love
I sincerely hope that each person participating today will remember what I have said, and will work to unite your mind and body. I hope that you will start by becoming a person who lives for the sake of your spouse, and go on to become a true person who lives for the sake of your family, people, nation and world. If you do that, then North-South unification will be as good as done. Even communist ideology is easily absorbed and disappears when it is placed in the midst of God's love. The problem until now was that we did not know this. Once we develop our hearts of love, North-South unification will be no problem at all. That is not all. Problems between East and West and the worldwide North-South problem involving differences among rich and poor nations can also be completely resolved through the true love of God.
We must digest the ideal for the world centering on God's ideal that I have described, and go on to digest the ideal of the nation. Then we must move on to the boundless realm of peace of the ideal world that links the ideal of the nation to the ideals of clan, family and individual. This is, without a doubt, the way that the utopia of true love that God has desired can be built on this Earth.
Distinguished guests: We cannot fight the communist world with guns and swords or any other means of physical force. We must fight them with love. Communists seek to destroy the democratic world in order to build a communist world. By contrast, we must build a structure that will bring salvation not only to the democratic world but to the communist world as well.
The 38th Parallel is the deepest point and final resting place where North and South can be united by means of God's true love. When it comes to doing away with this demarcation line between North and South, the North says, "There's nothing we can do about it." Russia says the same thing. China, too, says the same thing. The government and opposition parties in Seoul say, "There's nothing we can do about it." Even the United States and Japan say there is nothing they can do about this. If this is the case, then it will be the end of everything. If that happens, will we prosper or will we be ruined? It will be the end of everything evil and a new beginning for everything good. This is the reason we must unite the citizens of our country
Millions of people in Korea, Japan and the United States have worked through the International Federation for Victory Over Communism and CAUSA to lay non-governmental foundations in each of these countries.
I declared the fundamental principle for unification more than 40 years ago. Since then, I have carried out a movement of ideas, centered on Godism, both domestically and around the world. I have worked in the four major countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula to lay the international groundwork for unification.
Over the years, leaders of many countries and the philosophical world have recognized Godism as the only philosophy capable not only of uniting with materialism and atheism, which are its diametrical opposites, but also as the only philosophy capable of liberating secular humanism.
My patriotic compatriots filled with passionate hope for North-South unification: let us together establish our value systems on the basis of Godism, and join forces in arming the people of this country with this new philosophy. Let us make North-South unification a matter of faith for the sake of ourselves, for the sake of the Korean people and for sake of world peace. Let us stand and answer the calling of historic age and of Heaven. Let us be leaders and people of righteousness standing at the forefront of the movement for North-South unification.
In particular, history took a mistaken course as a result of Eve's error at the beginning, so in the Last Days women need to take the lead in overcoming conflict and strife in the age of division with their motherly love and create a new history of reconciliation and unity. The mission of women is to educate and restore young men and women, who are in the position of being their children, and even their husbands in order to realize the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven.
I pray God's blessing may be with your families.
Thank you.
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The Path for America and Humanity in the Last Days
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
President, Family Federation for World Peace
The Washington Hilton and Towers, Washington, D.C. January 22, 2000
Distinguished and honorable guests, ladies and gentlemen:
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you, as world leaders representing many walks of life, for gathering to congratulate and celebrate my 80th birthday In particular, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to God who has been my constant companion throughout my life. To Him I offer all the glory and honor given me.
During the course of my life, I have totally committed myself to the salvation of humankind centered on God's Will. As a result, I came to realize that God is not sitting in the throne of glory and honor, but is a God of suffering, grief and lamentation, endeavoring to save His children suffering in hell as a result of the fall.
Ever since I understood the Will of God and His heart, I have lived my life with a single-minded goal to accomplish God's Will, transcending time and space and forgetting everything else.
When I reflect upon the 80 years of my life, filled with misunderstandings and persecution, it is just amazing that I can be with you today I believe that it is entirely thanks to God. On this day of such great significance, in order to understand human history and the world from the perspective of God's providence, I would like to speak on the topic, "The Path for America and Humanity in the Last Days."
Search for a True Nation
When viewing human history as God's providence of salvation, the "last days" is a turning point when the evil history of Satan concludes and God's good sovereignty begins. Accordingly, the last days are the time when everything is brought to fulfillment.
Thus in the last days, individual perfection is to be realized, family perfection is to be realized, the perfection of a people, of a nation, of the world and finally, the complete fulfillment of the cosmos is to be realized.
Whenever the time of the last days was heralded in God's providence, God led humankind to a God-centered ideology, but we failed to fulfill our responsibility to stand in the position of goodness and eradicate evil history. However, God is eternal, unchanging, absolute and unique, and God's Will is also eternal, unchanging and absolute. Therefore, through the true individual, true family, true society, true nation, true world and true sovereignty God will surely build the world in which He can live, freely traveling and acting both in Heaven and on Earth.
Then, what is the original world for which God is seeking? It is a world that is centered on the True Parents. However, due to the fall, we lost the True Parents of humanity and the true world from the very beginning. Therefore, nothing in the world, not the land where we are living, human ideology or anything else, can connect us directly to the True Parents. Therefore, we ourselves should first be restored to trueness. By so doing, when true parents, true husband and wife, true children, true people, the true creation, the true sovereignty and the true cosmos are born and can communicate with God in heart, the evil world will eventually come to an end.
The last days is the time when such an ideal will be realized. It is the time when the Second Advent will occur. Accordingly, in the last days, there will be no external catastrophic phenomena such as judgment by fire, the destruction of the earth or people levitating into the air. Instead, it is a time when the history of evil entangled with countless tragedies will be sorted out.
This is established through sacrificial conditions offered on every level, those of the individual, family, society, people, nation, world and ultimately, cosmos. Thus, it is the time when all of these levels that lost their vertical connection with God will be restored. We have been longing for such a day, and that is the final destination at which we all should arrive.
However, the individual, the family and the nation have been estranged. Moreover, all kinds of problems such as air pollution, food shortage, religious struggles and racial conflicts are constantly arising throughout the world, causing disputes and even wars. Who, then, is going to take responsibility for this world? This is a serious question. Communist countries in the past could not transcend their own nationalism. Nor can today's super-power nation, America, transcend the idea of Americanizing the world. When a nation places its self-interest first, it will not be able to lead the world. Therefore, we need a people or a nation who are willing to sacrifice for a higher purpose and strive to build or become an ideal nation that embraces the entire world.
My Message to Youth
With this view, in response to the call of God, I came to this country, the United States of America. I have been making my utmost effort to revive America, by educating the youth in a country that is faced with a moral crisis and declining Christianity
You might be curious about what I am teaching them. It is actually simple. First, it is "to live for the sake of others." More specifically, my teaching is that the individual lives for the family, the family for the society, the society for a people, a people for the nation, the nation for the world and the world for God. Then, God will come to us.
In the family, the parents are to live for the children, the children for the parents, the husband for his wife and the wife for her husband. Anyone who lives for others more than his or her own self will become a central person on the side of goodness.
Second, I am teaching people to "love your enemy" God Himself sacrificed Jesus, His own begotten and beloved son, for the salvation of humankind. Since God did this in order to save the children of His enemy Satan could not exercise his full authority and power before God. Even Satan cannot help but voluntarily surrender before the God who loves Satan's children more than His own. Satan's pattern is always to strike first but he loses in the end, and God's strategy is to win in the end by taking the first blow and initial loss. Living with faith in such a heavenly law is the very secret explaining the foundation that I could lay, dispatching missionaries to 185 nations throughout the world despite fierce persecution and misunderstanding.
Christian Sacrifice
Even when looking into the history of Christian missionary activities, we can discover that theirs was a path of persecution and martyrdom, hindered by enemies. On such a way, during the course of a 2,000-year history, the lives offered on this trail of blood became the fertilizer in the foundation for a powerful democracy to develop. Today, however, Christianity, which once was the source of power and strength for democracy, is facing a crisis. Christian nations have lost the right direction; they deny God, Jesus and God's providence. Now, we even hear voices asserting, "God is dead" or "God does not exist." Looking at them, how does God feel? God's heart has been searching for His children, sacrificing everything that He has, with hope to see a great day like today
Ladies and gentlemen: for whom has God been sacrificing Himself so far? It is not for America, nor is it for Christianity But it is for each of us, in other words, for "you" and "me" as individuals. Likewise, the reason why Jesus was crucified was also not to save the Messiah, himself, but was to save each one of us, "you" and "me." Since the fall began on the individual level, salvation should also begin on the individual level. Accordingly, a representative of humankind should come and proclaim, "I will take full responsibility as a representative of all humankind. I will pay off all the debt that man has incurred during the entire course of history and I will become a person who will make God indebted to me instead." Without such a realization and determination, restoration is impossible.
This should not be only conceptual or theoretical. On behalf of God, unless we are willing to experience miseries more than the one who is undergoing suffering in the world, we cannot reach God's heart. Have you ever prayed in desperation for the 6 billion population of the world, with a feeling that your own children are dying? How much heart have you invested to save a family, a tribe, a people, a nation and the world, with the willingness to sacrifice yourself for them? I believe few people are confident to give a positive answer to that question. The Lord of the Second Advent comes to the world with such an absolute standard as the representative of all humanity.
The Bride of the Messiah
God, who has been leading the providence of salvation, found Abraham 2,000 years after the fall of the first human ancestors. God made his descendants the chosen people, Israel, by multiplying them on every level, as a new family, a new tribe and a new people. Based on the victorious foundation, the Israelites were called as the chosen people to receive the Messiah. They became the central people to receive the substantial Messiah who was to come in the future.
If you go to the central core, you can understand that we need to restore the standard and ideology that the first human ancestors, Adam and Eve, should have reached and fulfilled. This is the thought of the Messiah. In it, the believers stand as the "bride." Therefore, Christianity's ultimate purpose is not to build the Kingdom of Christianity or the world of Christianity. Its most important mission is to prepare to become a bride qualified to receive the bridegroom.
Despite the significance of their mission, the Israelites could not carry it out and pass on this tradition because of the crucifixion of Jesus. Therefore, the Israelites, although called by God as the first Israel, flew away Christianity, called as the second Israel, arose to carry out the mission in their place. God led the 6,000-year providence centered on this one purpose, so Christianity became the bride prepared to receive the bridegroom. We are now in the final stage of that providence.
Then, what is the core of the Messianic thought? It is a thought to save the world. It is the teaching that can unify the world and build an ideal family, and its main purpose is to restore the position of the True Parents that was lost by the fall of the human ancestors.
By looking into the teaching of the Old and New Testaments, one can understand that the Messiah comes with the authority of the father, meets a substantial bride, who represents the power of the Holy Spirit, and restores the position of the True Parents. Therefore, Christianity is in the position of a bride to the coming Messiah. The bride and bridegroom in the "marriage supper of the lamb" prophesied in the Book of Revelation refer to the stage of becoming the True Parents by first becoming a true husband and wife.
Jesus came with this mission. However, when he lost his people and nation, due to their faithlessness, he offered his life for the sake of the world and the Kingdom that God wished to build. The path of Jesus' suffering on the cross was the same as the path of tribulations that God Himself walked. In such a situation of trial and tribulation, Jesus desperately prayed, "Please forgive them for they know not what they do." Even in the place of death, he forgave Rome and the group of people who opposed him, waiting for victory in the future. Therefore, the life of Jesus did not end at the age of 33. With God's help, Christianity inherited his spirit and became one of the four great worldwide religions of human history.
The Flow of Civilization
Ladies and gentlemen: currently America is recognized as the supreme power of the world, but unless it stands straight on the providential line of God, it will not continue to prosper. Let us look at the history of civilization. Ancient civilizations were born mainly in the tropics and subtropics. Examples include the civilizations of the Mayas, Incas, Egypt, Mesopotamia, India and China.
Yet the sphere of civilization moves from place to place. Had we not fallen, civilization would have begun in the warm zone, corresponding to spring, and moved to the cool zone, corresponding to autumn. The civilization centered today on the free world, the western civilization, is in the cool zone. In general, when viewing the equator as the center, nations such as America, England, Germany and so forth, linked around the latitude of 23 degrees north, are the developed countries of the west.
With the end of the cool zone civilization of autumn, the cold zone civilization of winter comes for a short time. This is the appearance of communism. Many intellectuals may think that the cold war system disappeared after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but materialism and atheism still prevail throughout the world. They manifest in two major ideologies, democracy and communism, both of which are gradually losing power.
God's ideal of creation should have begun in the warm zone of spring, but due to the fall of the first human ancestors, the fallen world started as the tropical zone civilization. Now, the civilization of the true spring that we have been seeking from time immemorial will appear, overcoming the crisis of the tropical zone civilization and the threats of the cold zone civilization. Who will be able to melt the block of ice frozen in the heart of God? And how will he do it? It is impossible with power, money, science or knowledge.
We can see from the movement of civilization centering on rivers and coastlines that the center of civilization is not fixed but is always moving to different parts of the globe. Human civilization began to develop around the Tigris and Euphrates and the Nile Rivers. The center of human civilization then shifted to the Mediterranean, especially focusing upon Greece, Rome, Spain and Portugal. The center of human civilization then moved to the Atlantic, focusing upon Britain and the United States. Ultimately it has born fruit in the Pacific Ocean civilization of the United States, Japan and Korea. Thus, as viewed in this way, from the perspective of the history of cultures, the Korean Peninsula occupies a very important position. To the north of Korea lie the ultimate points of the cold region civilization that link Russia and China. To the south lie the ultimate points of the cool region civilization that link the United States and Japan.
Thus, it is consistent with the providential viewpoint that Korea give rise to a warm region civilization representing the spring season of world history and having the capability to digest both the cold and cool region civilizations. In this respect, the fact that Rev. Moon, who has dedicated his life to solving the North-South problem and the East-West problem, comes from Korea can only be described as the summation of God's providence.
My Role in History
In fact, throughout my life I have transcended race, ideology and national boundaries to pursue a movement for one world under God. It is because of God's providence that I have traveled this path. This is the principle of providential history, not a theory that I specially devised. I was enlightened regarding the will of Heaven, and rather than letting it remain as an idea alone, I have worked to bring God's concept into reality. Externally, there is no place in any region of the world where I have not been active. I have inspired evangelical and business activities in Alaska, in Antarctica, in the countries of the former Soviet Union, in the 33 countries of South and Central America and throughout Asia and Africa. We are making preparations to solve problems that humanity will face over the coming millennium, such as environmental pollution, hunger and disease. In recent years, I have worked in the Pantanal and Amazon regions of Brazil to lay a substantive foundation to protect the Earth's environment.
On the other hand as regards the internal aspects, I have worked through the International Holy Blessing and the pure love movement. Some 430 million couples around the world have participated, adding further impetus to the building of the Kingdom of God on Earth that God has longed to see for such a long time.
Ladies and gentlemen: up until now, countries possessing superior power politically, militarily and economically have controlled the world. However, no country can exist eternally unless it is in line with God's providence. The fall of the once glorious Greek and Roman civilizations are good examples of this. The United States, which today stands tall as a super power, is in the same position as Rome was in the past. The fall of Rome occurred more as a result of the internal cause of moral corruption than from any external invasions. Moral corruption caused Rome to lose the support of heavenly fortune.
In recent history, political forces favoring dialectical materialism and the materialistic view of history went as far as to take control of over one third of the world's population and two thirds of its land area, including the former Soviet Union and China. That expansion, however, could not stand forever.
The time will come when religious leaders who speak for the Will of God will rise to prominence. Religious leaders are prophets. They must stand in the place God wills, declare God's will, and point the way that humanity must go. However, the splintering of denominations and the struggles among religious groups that we see today serve no purpose other than to hinder God's providence. That is why I have for years devoted 90 percent of our church's budget to activities that reach out to other denominations and other religions for the purpose of resolving inter-religious conflict.
I also founded the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace for the three purposes: to facilitate harmony and unity among religious groups, to contribute to conflict resolution in many areas of the world, and to help bring about world peace. Most recently, I founded the Inter-religious and International Federation for World Peace, and this body has held seven international Hoon Dok Hae conferences.
Recover God's Heart
All people should go beyond racial and religious differences, understand God's providence to bring His ideal world of creation into reality, and ultimately unite with God's heart. It is heart that will bring faith, hope and love-which humankind have been pursuing-to their ultimate conclusion. We must recover the heartistic relationship with God that we lost as a result of the human fall, and recover the positions of parent and child as God originally envisioned them to be. Thus, the Last Day that God has promised to us is the day when True Parents come. In other words, it is the day when the multitudes of people in the world, who lost their Parent as a result of the fall, will again be able to meet their original Parent. Thus, the True Parents are the final fruit of the desires and hopes of all humankind. They are the final fruit of the victories wrought throughout human history.
The Unification Church has worked to disseminate this tradition throughout the world through the International Holy Blessing Ceremony. The fact that black people, white people and yellow people are able to come together as brothers and sisters beyond the differences of ethnicity, race or skin color to form loving married couples is among the most significant factor in accomplishing God's Will. Today, through beginning to realize the blessed family tradition, humankind is beginning to recover the relationships of brother and sister, husband and wife, and parent and child as originally envisioned by God. Ultimately, we must go as far as to liberate God, who has been in the depths of sorrow ever since He lost His children. It is only then that the path to true happiness will be opened.
Until now, democracy has called for "human freedom" and "human liberation." In contrast, we must call for "God's freedom" and "the liberation of God." When we succeed in relieving God's sorrow, human liberation and the recovery of human freedom will follow automatically. Each of you should realize that you were born to liberate God and to liberate the world.
The Roots of America
Ladies and gentlemen: there is profound significance in the fact that I am discussing God's providence today in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. In many ways, the United States is a country prepared by God's blessing. The forefathers who built this country were the Pilgrim Fathers, who risked their lives for the sake of the freedom of religion and came to America seeking a land of freedom. For the sake of their search for true religious freedom, these people left behind their parents, brothers and sisters and homeland. They were even prepared to cut their ties to their home country as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean at the risk of their lives.
When the Mayflower arrived in New England in November 1620, it was already late autumn. While they endured their first winter, more than half of the 102 people who first arrived died of the cold and hunger. What was particularly remarkable about them was that many died refusing to eat the precious seeds reserved for planting the next spring. The Puritans strongly believed in serving the will of God in every aspect of their lives. After taking in their first harvest, they offered thanks to God. They first built a church and a school, and it was only after that that they set about to build houses where they themselves would live.
In the course of their pioneering, the Pilgrims began every activity with prayer. This was true whether it was plowing a field or fighting a war. When George Washington was at Valley Forge during the War of independence, he must have prayed with great desperation. In a battle fought for the sake of God's will, God sided with America. In England, the king and the people were united in fighting that war, yet in America, it was fought by God and His beloved sons and daughters. Isn't this how the United States came into existence as a country advocating freedom of faith?
Even now, the United States Congress opens with a prayer. When the President is sworn into office, he places his hand on the Bible as he takes the oath of office, and a member of the clergy blesses him. America even prints the words "In God we trust" on its money America is unique in the world in the level of importance it attaches to God. This is how the United States has come to occupy a unique position as a mainly Protestant country with worldwide influence.
Who Really Loves America?
What about America today, though? Prayer in public schools is officially banned. The theory of evolution is given preference to the theory of creation in education. The divorce rate of around SO percent is completely obliterating the sanctity of the family
In 1971, I left my family and homeland to come to America because I heard the voice of God sharing His concern about the current state of affairs here. Upon arriving here, I cried out that I had come as a fireman to a house that was on fire and as a physician to cure America of disease. Even then, I discovered that God was leaving America. It should be possible to find God everywhere in America, but God was departing from the hearts of people, from the families and from the schools. It seems like only yesterday that I stood on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and wept openly as I held on to God to keep Him from leaving America. Unfortunately America has persisted in going the way of moral deterioration, as I predicted.
Ladies and gentlemen: I would like to ask you this. Why do you suppose Rev. Moon continues to cry out to Americans in spite of all the opposition and suffering he endures? It is because I know better than anyone the blood, sweat and tears that God shed in the course of establishing this country. During the past thirty years in America, I have not spent so much as a single day in comfort.
Who is the master of America? It is neither white Americans nor black Americans. The true master of America is the person who loves America as God does. Also, I continue to plead with you because God has chosen America as the first son, the nation representing the elder son realm in building the Kingdom of God on Earth. Even now, Jesus is spiritually present mainly in America, and is offering earnest prayers that his purpose will be accomplished in America.
In 1982, in accordance with the will of God, I founded The Washington Times here in Washington, D.C. Ever since then, this newspaper has led American public opinion as a conservative news medium showing the path for America to follow. Also, I have pursued a strong movement for national and world salvation through the true family values movement and the pure love movement for young people. I have invested in America in expectation that this country would stand upright before God's providence.
When I visited America in 1965, I blessed an area near the White House as a holy ground, and even today many people gather there and pray for America through the night. I hope each of you will open your hearts so that you will be able to hear the earnest desires of the Pilgrim Fathers and the many patriots who have lived in America's history.
America and True Parents
Ladies and gentlemen: the new millennium that has just begun is the time period in which God's six-thousand-year salvation providence is brought to an end and God's ideal of creation is realized throughout the cosmos. This is also the time when the lamentations of creation, which lost its true masters as a result of the fall, are finally brought to an end. This is the time when the Parent and children who have been long-separated meet again. The new Earth and the new Heaven, where there are no tears, are to be established. It is an age when there is free communication between the spirit world and the physical world, and when God's Kingdom is established in Heaven and on Earth.
The transition moment of the start of the new millennium marks the completion of the New Testament Age, the point at which all the promises of the Old Testament and New Testament are fulfilled. The future will be a time when God's realm of direct dominion will become apparent through His omnipresence and omniscience. It is an age when the East and West will come together centering on the Parents of Heaven and Earth as "one universe under God" so that a grand family of humankind is formed on Earth. This means the perfection of the Completed Testament Age, in which the promises of the Old Testament and New Testament will be fulfilled.
The time has come. The time has come for America to awaken once again. It is time for the country as a whole to create a new movement to build true parents, true families, a true country and a true world centered on God. In this way, America will keep God from leaving, and again become a society that attends Him. God worked a thousand years to establish America. If He leaves America, where can He go?
If America attends God properly, all America's problems -- the family problems, moral problems, youth problems and racial problems -- will be solved naturally When America becomes a place where people of all races can live together in harmony, it will be a model for the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. It is time for us to unite together and open the path for humankind to travel. It is time for America, as the elder son nation, to take the lead in attending God and to complete its mission as the helmsman that brings the nations of the world to God. I ask you to stand with me in accomplishing this historic task.
Again, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to you distinguished guests for your presence here. I would like to conclude by expressing my hope for the beginning of a new millennial Kingdom overflowing with peace, freedom and justice in Heaven and on Earth.
May God's blessing be with you and your families.
Thank you.
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Renewing the United Nations to Build Lasting Peace
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
Founder, Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace
August 18, 2000
The United Nations, New York
Distinguished leaders, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen:
Today, in this beautiful and solemn building where the United Nations General Assembly meets, I greet you with deep gratitude for the opportunity to express my passionate concerns and views about the future direction of the world and the United Nations.
The sole purpose of all my undertakings in many areas over the past forty years has been the realization of a peaceful world that is the desire of God and humanity. This longing for a peaceful world has also been the core reason I have dedicated myself to the promotion of interreligious harmony and cooperation.
In the twentieth century, humanity has experienced many severe conflicts and unspeakable acts of violence, especially through the horrors of the two world wars, and through the seventy years of the Cold War and communism. When the Cold War ended, the world had a brief moment of celebration, as if peace had arrived. But, then, very soon humanity realized that the end of the Cold War did not automatically mean the advent of an age of peace. Even at this moment, fierce wars and brutal massacres are going on in numerous places around the globe.
Conflicts arise for many reasons. But one of the primary factors contributing to their emergence is the deep-rooted disharmony that exists among the world's religions. Therefore, when we witness the many global tragedies occurring around us, we should recognize how critically important it is that the religions come together, dialogue with one another, and learn to embrace one another.
In the modern age, in most nations, religious ideals have come to hold a place wholly separate from the centers of secular political power, and most people have come to accept this reality as the way things ought to be. I believe, however, that it is time that international organizations whose purpose is to support the ideal of world peace reconsider their relationship with the great religious traditions of the world.
On this point, the United Nations, more than any other international organization, can set a good example and lead the way. The world has great expectations for the United Nations as an organization embodying humanity's aspiration for peace. In the United Nations, the representatives of all nations work in concert to promote peace and human prosperity.
Of course, the conscientious efforts to establish peace, undertaken by these national representatives at the United Nations, often meet stubborn resistance. The accomplishments and achievements attained through the United Nations have been significant. However, there is much room for improvement. I believe there is an urgent need today, within the United Nations and through its many activities, to encourage mutual respect and increased cooperation between the world's political and religious leaders.
The original ideal for human beings is that we live with our mind and body united in resonance with God's true love. It is because human beings resemble God as His sons and daughters that the mind and body of each individual can truly unite without struggling against each other. Within God there is no disharmony between internal and external characteristics. This is so because the absolute God has no contradiction or conflict within Himself.
The human ideal to achieve oneness of mind and body can be realized only when people completely possess God's true love. The biblical verse, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God," illustrates this point. Peacemakers are persons whose mind and body are in unity centering on the true love of God.
As a result of the fall, human beings lost the standard by which our minds and bodies could be brought into oneness and harmony, and humanity has lived in internal strife and self-contradiction. The clashes of the mind and body within the individual have expanded and now manifest themselves in the family, society, nation and the world. For example, this unresolved struggle between mind and body is what precipitated the elder brother Cain's murder of his younger brother Abel.
All the conflicts and wars in history have been essentially battles between a Cain camp, relatively tending towards evil, and an Abel camp, relatively tending toward goodness. Humanity must end these struggles between Cain and Abel camps and restore the original state of harmony and love. To do this, each of us must end the conflict between our mind and body, and bring them into harmonious union.
The principle that mind and body must be united should be applied and practiced not only by individuals, but it should be applied on the worldwide level. For this purpose, I founded a number of organizations to achieve world peace. For example, I established a number of interreligious initiatives, such as the Inter-Religious Federation for World Peace, to promote cooperation among religions, which represent the internal world of the mind. Also, to address the external management of human affairs, representing the body, I have worked to promote harmony among nations through the activities of the Federation for World Peace, the Federation of Island Nations for World Peace, the Federation of Peninsula Nations for World Peace, and the Federation of Continental Nations for World Peace. Most recently, signifying the emergence of an era when mind and body, or religion and rational governance, can work together cooperatively I founded the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace.
At their root, human problems are not entirely social or political, and so social and political approaches will always be of limited effectiveness. Although secular authorities rule most human societies, religion lies at the heart of most national and cultural identities. In fact, religious faith and devotion have far greater importance in most peoples' hearts than do political loyalties.
The time has come for religion to renew itself and manifest true leadership in the world. People of faith should feel responsibility for the plight, suffering and injustices experienced by the world's peoples. Religious people have not been good examples in the practice of love and living for the sake of others and for this reason should engage in deep self-reflection. It is time for religious people to repent for their preoccupation with individual salvation and narrow denominational interests. Such practices have prevented religious bodies from giving their utmost to the cause of world salvation. Our age more than any other demands that we go beyond our faiths, and the interests of particular religions, and put our love and ideals into practice for the sake of the world.
In particular, God calls upon us leaders, especially religious leaders, in hope that we will stand against the injustices and evils of the world, and bestow His true love upon the world. Hence, all people of faith must become one in heart in order to give full expression, both in words and actions, to God's passionate desire for humanity's restoration and peace.
World peace can be fully accomplished only when the wisdom and efforts of the world's religious leaders, who represent the internal concerns of the mind and conscience, work cooperatively and respectfully with national leaders who have much practical wisdom and worldly experience about the external reality or "body." In this light, it is time for us to give serious consideration even to the prospect of restructuring the United Nations. For example, perhaps it is possible to envision the United Nations as a bicameral institution.
The existing United Nations structure, composed of national representatives, may be regarded as a congress where the interests of each member nation are represented. However, I submit that serious consideration should be given to forming a religious assembly, or council of religious representatives within the structure of the United Nations. This assembly or council would consist of respected spiritual leaders in fields such as religion, culture and education. Of course, the members of this interreligious assembly will need to have demonstrated an ability to transcend the limited interests of individual nations and to speak for the concerns of the entire world and humanity at large.
The two chambers, working together in mutual respect and cooperation, will be able to make great advances in ushering in a world of peace. The wisdom and vision of great religious leaders will substantially supplement the political insight, experience and skill of the world's political leaders.
Even at this moment, more and more conflicts are breaking out across the world over disputed borders. As a result, the world is sustaining substantial loss of human life. In addition, the money poured into war-making and peacekeeping runs into the billions of dollars. So many resources and efforts are being wasted. Yet, comprehensive solutions have not been fully achieved with respect to any given conflict.
To solve this problem, I would like to make some proposals for your consideration:
Peace Zones
I propose today that the United Nations and religious leaders join their hearts and work to create peace zones in areas of conflict. Whether the disputed borders pass through rivers, mountains, fields or the sea, we can create buffer zones or peace zones along these borders.
These zones would be governed directly by the United Nations. People from around the world dedicated to the establishment of peace would be allowed to settle in these zones. The United Nations would be responsible to provide guidance to those living in these areas so that they come to embody the founding ideals of the United Nations and comply with its declarations for peace. These peace zones would be havens that exist for the sake of peace, prosperity and reconciliation. They would be free of racial and sexual discrimination, human rights violations and war. These areas would also be ecological and environmental havens for the entire natural world.
To create such zones of peace, freedom and ecological harmony, the concerned nations would have to be willing to provide the necessary land. This is not a simple matter, for there will be resistance to the surrender of land, even for a peace zone. I have dedicated much effort toward finding solutions to this problem, particularly as it applies to my native land, Korea.
I have taught that there is a providential significance to Korea's having been a victim of the Cold War. As you know, both the division of Korea and the war that followed are outgrowths of the Cold War. The Korean War, in which the youth of sixteen countries shed their blood under the United Nations flag to protect freedom, was a righteous war unprecedented in history. I remain ever grateful to the United Nations and those sixteen nations. And yet, the peaceful unification of Korea still remains to be accomplished. For this reason I have continually pondered about the United Nations' solemn mission for building a world of peace and how this relates to God's providence.
I sincerely hope that the current mood of reconciliation and cooperation between South and North Korea, which began last June, will continue. I hope the entire demilitarized zone along the 155-mile military demarcation line that crosses the Korean Peninsula can be turned into a peace zone under UN jurisdiction. I believe the United Nations will take the lead in this effort and build exhibition halls, museums, educational sites and peace parks in this zone in order to teach visitors important lessons regarding peace.
I am purchasing almost 1.2 million hectares of fertile land in South America's MERCOSUR countries to help compensate countries for any land they may lose as a result of the establishment of UN peace zones. I have already notified leaders of North and South Korea that I am prepared to turn over to them portions of that land in South America for their use.
As I make this proposal public, it is my fervent hope that world leaders of good will can understand this purpose and join with me. In particular, I hope that they will join me in willingly donating their land and money for use in creating UN supervised peace zones. These zones, under UN leadership, will give rise to ideal moral societies where nature and people live in harmony
Already in December 1998, I proposed the founding of an International Peace Fund in an address I gave to religious leaders gathered for an international conference that had as its theme, "Realizing the Interfaith Ideal: Beyond Dialogue into Practice." All the leaders who participated in that conference resolved to initiate a movement in which the world's religious people would lead the way in making donations for world peace. I proposed that donations be given in amounts related to the number seven. Because various individuals and countries face differing economic realities, one person might find it difficult to give even seven dollars, whereas someone else might be able to give even $7 million. I believe that if all religious people on earth become one in heart, they will actively participate in this fundraising effort. The funds thus created would be used to establish peace zones and to teach the ideals of peace and the methods to achieve it. In addition to religious people, the United Nations too could encourage all nations and their peoples to make annual contributions to this fund. These funds might be donated under the name of the "White Cross Fund."
Wealthy philanthropists, business leaders and industrialists, and leaders in other fields, along with individuals, and organizations, would be encouraged to actively participate in the construction of UN peace zones. In this way, they could lead the way in creating an atmosphere of peace and in raising the necessary funds.
An Interreligious Council at the United Nations
Furthermore, one of the reasons I founded the Interreligious and International Federation of World Peace was to help create an interreligious assembly to serve as a senate or council within the United Nations. To implement this plan, I propose that each nation, in addition to its current ambassador, send a religious ambassador to the United Nations to serve as a member of the religious assembly, or UN senate.
The mission of the representatives to this UN senate would require that they have a genuinely ecumenical or interreligious consciousness and that they have the training and ability to teach a universal, transnational ideal of peace. The nature of their purpose and mission would prohibit their promoting the narrow interests of a particular country. Rather, they would carry out their duties for the ideal of peace in the world and for the sake of all humanity in accordance with God's Will.
The interreligious ambassador appointed as a member of the United Nations senate or council should have a global consciousness and take responsibility to represent the United Nations' global vision and agenda. In this sense, these persons could be thought of as global ambassadors from the United Nations. Wherever they go in the world, these ambassadors would promote movements dedicated to the realization of peace and social welfare. Moreover, in all nations, they would serve as conscientious guardians of lofty ideals such as justice, security and peace.
This will provide hope to the citizens of the world, and especially the youth. People will then have the opportunity to see with their own eyes the emergence of young people around the world seeking true love and lasting peace. Those selected as ecumenical and transnational ambassadors will also be able to help guide and supervise various UN-sponsored projects in health, education, welfare and other fields.
Commemorating Ideals of True Love, True Parents and True Families
I have worked through many groups and organizations to educate people around the world about the meaning and value of true love and true families, transcending religious denominations and nationalities. By use of the term "true," I mean centered on God's original will and purpose. My continuous investment in this area and ongoing efforts for dialogue and reconciliation over the last decades have demonstrated beyond any doubt that the strongest foundation for the unity of humanity is the universal and essential love generated through the ideal of the true family
Based on these considerations, I urge all the organizations connected to the United Nations to uphold and promote the ideals of true love and true families. For this reason, I would like to make another proposal, that the senior decision makers at the United Nations proclaim, in accordance with existing procedures and regulations, a special day to be commemorated worldwide. I understand that the United Nations has made proclamations such as the International Year of the Family, and that it has declared various ten-year objectives such as the "Decade to End Poverty." Along these lines, I propose that the United Nations establish an official commemorative day to uphold the ideal of the family, so that the world can remember and celebrate this day every year.
Specifically, I propose that True Parents' Day be established as a day of global celebration. I have already initiated such a day that has been signed into law by the United States Congress. Each year, in America, model parents and families from throughout the nation are honored. By celebrating such a day each year, transcending barriers of race, religion and cultural differences, and loving and cherishing each other, we will be able to fully experience our true and common human roots, and understand the preciousness of true families. This day will be a special day of truly global commemoration, and a beginning of the celebration of the oneness of the world as one global family, leading us beyond all confrontation and strife.
Respected world leaders, let us join our hands and hearts to improve our institutions and organizations so that the precious wisdom of religion, along with that of scholars, statesmen, and people of insight and knowledge, can be mobilized to solve the serious and urgent crises of the world.
I believe solutions to world problems can come about if we establish the proposed council composed of religious leaders, in cooperation with the political leaders and diplomats of the current United Nations. The Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace will promote this ideal, for religion can offer great service in providing guidance in matters concerning the Absolute Being, the world of transcendence, our eternal life and the spirit world. For this purpose, the IIFWP will make devoted and sacrificial efforts to attain the goal of world peace. It will strive to establish the Kingdom of Heaven of eternal love and harmony, and the fatherland of God, where the United Nations' efforts for peace are honored, and where all humanity forms one universal family as brothers and sisters under God, the Parent.
I believe that the world leaders and officers of the United Nations, who possess knowledge, experience and wisdom, can offer many recommendations for implementing the proposals I've presented to you today If we work together and make continuous efforts, peace and happiness will surely be realized on Earth.
I pray that God's blessing be with your families and your endeavors.
Thank you.
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Breaking Down Boundaries and Practicing True Love
Reverend Dr. Sun Myung Moon
Founder, Interreligious and International Foundation for World Peace
August 18, 2000
The United Nations, New York
Honorable and distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen!
I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for the Universal Peace Award my wife and I have received here at the United Nations, this historical landmark of world peace. Let me use this opportunity to speak briefly on the theme, "Breaking Down Boundaries and Practicing True Love."
Ladies and gentlemen, if we could break down all the boundaries in this world, world peace would come necessarily. But the thing we have to remember is that God is not the lord of boundaries. Satan, the Devil, first made them. Satan and his followers are dwelling wherever there are boundaries. Satan sits on the boundary between Oriental and Western civilizations, for example.
No Concept of Boundaries in God
God did not create boundaries among the various different cultures, traditions, races, etc. God desires one unified world, a world without boundaries.
God does not have even the concept of boundaries. Therefore, He does not tell us to take revenge on our enemies; if He did, it would imply that He had such a concept. By loving our enemies and bringing oneness among us, boundaries will naturally come down.
Thus, God's strategy and tactic is to have us love our enemies. That is a great strategy. It is unfortunate that throughout all human history until the present, people have not understood the value of the words, "Love your enemies." Unification Church members, as representatives of human history, have come to understand this strategy and are practicing it in reality By exemplifying these words, they have become leading lights who can bring peace to the world.
What do you think? When our hearts are not happy, when our bodies are not comfortable, when we are dissatisfied with our actions, when we speak angry words, don't these create boundaries? Therefore, unless we unite our mind and body through the five senses, all kinds of boundaries will come into existence. For this reason, we need to reflect upon how many boundaries we are living with in our daily life.
When we say, "Go beyond having enemies. Stop building boundaries," some might think we should pull out our eyes. Actually, there are two kinds of eyes. If without differentiating evil from goodness, our eyes welcome anything we see simply as good, then enormous boundaries will be built. The same is the case with hearing. If we rejoice over hearing the words of goodness or truth and at the same time listen to all the evil words of this world and support them, then boundaries will be built also in our ears.
Members of the Unification Church are not prohibited from singing popular secular songs, while some Christian denominations have rules against it. The question is not whether we sing popular songs or classical songs, but rather how we can digest the lyrics of those songs. Does singing the song create a boundary, or does it break down a boundary? If by singing a certain song or by speaking rough language a person is able to break down a boundary and thereby create a wider and less restricted world, certainly that will please God.
In sum, wherever we live with boundaries, whether through our senses or in our environment, we belong to Satan's side. On the other hand, if we can live without boundaries anywhere, we stand on God's side. Satan is the champion at building boundaries. On the other hand, God is the master of breaking down boundaries. God, the King of kings, does not like boundaries at all. He hates boundaries the most.
The Task of Removing Boundaries
Ladies and gentlemen, look at Korea. Do you think God appreciates a Korean who says that the 38th parallel that divides the peninsula is a good thing? Of course not! Hence, if someone works hard to remove it, that person will become God's favorite champion. If all seventy million Koreans have the determination to die for the cause of removing the 38th parallel, then the reunification of North and South Korea will come without doubt. That task, however, will never be easy We must understand that those who want the 38th parallel to continue to exist in the Korean peninsula are on the side of Satan, the Devil. Satan is the master of the 38th parallel, and God is the master of whatever efforts are being made to remove it. That is why Unification Church members have been leading the movement to tear down the 38th parallel.
Ladies and gentlemen, when the day comes that people everywhere want their children to marry their enemies, desiring to have sons and daughters-in-law from among their enemies, the entire world will be automatically united. This is the gift that I would like to offer to you tonight. Where boundaries exist, certainly Satan and his followers reside; but God and His people, born of His lineage, dwell where love and harmony abound, without boundaries.
Today, Unification Church members are very much interested in developing the leisure industry, which encourages people to travel all over the world and live anywhere in the world that they desire. This foresees a future international federation based on the United Nations, established someday in whatever location and name. When it is established, we should all come together under the name of this international federation. For this purpose, Rev. Moon suggested to Unification Church members that they gather a special fund, called the Total Living Offering Fund. In the future, we will use this fund to facilitate the development of this international federation of the United Nations.
In the Old Testament, animals representing all of creation were sacrificed on behalf of humans. They were divided into two, which represented two parties struggling against each other, the right side in the position of God and the left side in the position of Satan. However, as a result of the failures of some of the central figures in the Old Testament Age, God and Satan came to struggle over Jesus -- who, as the Son of God, had a value far above that of the creation. As a result, when Jesus, the eldest Son of God, came to earth, he shed his blood, with his body taken by Satan and his spirit belonging to God. Because Jesus must yet recover his physical body, he proclaimed that he would return.
Ever since Jesus, the Son of God, was divided into the two realms, problems likewise have continued to plague the spirit world and the physical world. Further, men and women were divided, and the mind and the body were divided, remaining in continual conflict and struggle. Therefore, Jesus, who went to the spirit world to restore God's dominion over that world, must still return to earth in order to restore God's ownership of the physical world and bring oneness between the two worlds. What, then, would he do when he returns to earth? He would marry and establish his own family. Nevertheless, Satan took Jesus' body and the physical world with it, while God could claim the spirit world as His.
In the spirit world, Jesus has been toiling for two thousand years to bring the hearts of people on earth to one direction and lead God's dispensation centered on Christianity. However, Christianity also divided into two: Catholicism and Protestantism. They became enemies to each other and fought each other just as Cain, the elder son, had fought his younger brother Abel. Thus human history has developed, constantly creating more boundaries, multiplying struggles. We, therefore, have to liberate ourselves from this attitude of erecting boundaries and struggles.
Breaking Down Boundaries Through Marriage
And so when the Lord returns, he will unify the heavenly world. Then, to bring oneness between heaven and earth, he will conduct many marriage ceremonies, bringing together men and women from tribes and nations that have been divided for thousands of years. He will conduct this providence centered on the Unification realm, which is in the same position as the chosen people of Israel in Jesus' day This is the very Marriage of the Lamb prophesied in the Bible.
There was a wonderful opportunity immediately after World War II when heaven and earth could have been united centered on Christianity. At that time the Christian cultural sphere was united and leading the world. With Jesus playing the leading role in the spirit world, a united Christian cultural sphere was prevailing all over the earth. That would have been a perfect chance for Jesus and the Holy Spirit to come to the earth and substantially marry as husband and wife. They could have started laying the foundation to resolve all of the existing problems resulting from the separation and division between mind and body and between man and woman, and built the veritable Kingdom of Peace on earth.
I am not talking about something vague and unclear. Who should have married first from the perspective of God's ideal of creation? It was Adam and Eve. But due to their fall, they created the first human boundary-and the source of all subsequent boundaries. Now, in order to break down that barrier, all men and women should be restored to the state prior to the fall and then should marry Then, not only our ancestors, but God also, will rejoice with dancing. When such a world arrives, it will be the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
However, such a day has never existed in human history. Instead, people have been grieving and struggling in pain, entangled by countless boundaries. Accordingly, the starting-point of peace in the world requires that humankind find the way to break down this primary boundary. Yet the people of the world have not understood. This is why Rev. and Mrs. Moon have come into this world in the position of True Parents, giving God's Blessing to the men and women of the world and showing the world, for the first time in human history, the way to resolve the most fundamental human problems.
Knowing God
Even if there are a million boundaries, I am certain I can break them down. How can I do it? True love is what makes it possible. To get rid of these barriers, we have to know true love as God knows true love, otherwise we cannot do it. This means that we must know God one hundred percent.
Ladies and gentlemen, the spirit world consists of heaven and hell: heaven is likened to a world of daylight, and hell can be likened to the nighttime. But someone who is unable to tell the difference between day and night, how can he possibly take control of the boundary between the realms of heaven and hell? It is impossible. Only a person who knows them in reality can have dominion over the two worlds. That person can eliminate the darkness, because he clearly knows the substance of hell.
God, who is omnipotent and omniscient, can eliminate the darkness. But first we must know God. Can you say that you know God? How well do you know Him? Is it your understanding that God is pleased with wealth, power or knowledge? Such a God could never bring liberation to humanity You must fully know God in order to expel Satan completely and resolve the fundamental problems of this world. Moreover, even if you fully know God, do you also know what it is about God that is useful in bringing down all the boundaries erected over thousands of years? This is the important thing.
God is the master of the universe. Then shouldn't there be an environment where God can dwell-a neighborhood and a nation where God can dwell? In order for us to know God, we must restore His nation as a realm that is objective to His governance. Still, the earthly environment remains blocked by numerous boundaries. By taking them down, we should build a world with which God can be happy. Wouldn't all creation like to be governed by God? Indeed, all creation is anxious to be liberated from its groaning-from pain and persecution caused by the control of Satan, and from the many borders that divide it.
Ladies and gentlemen, more than anything else, we need to understand God clearly, and we need to understand clearly the way to build the Kingdom of God. Then, wherever we go, and in whatever situation we are in, we will automatically receive answers about how to deal with difficulties among the world's diverse cultures and traditions.
Surely, God exists in heaven. However, today's world is blocked by countless boundaries. How did this happen? It happened because there are hardly any people who know God, His Kingdom, and the tradition in His Kingdom. Once people clearly know these, liberation will take place in both the spirit world and physical world. We will even be able to call out, "Hey, Satan!" and he will obey. Then we will come to know the way to live in unity with God's heart and with His Kingdom, in a culture with heavenly tradition and values.
Live for the Sake of Others
People who know God are the ones who live with love for the sake of others. Therefore, instead of seeking love for our own sake, we should seek to love others for their sakes, making them masters of love and letting them dance with love. Thus, we can become God's heirs, people who know God and beautify and protect His Kingdom. Satan will have no way to interfere with the heirs of God.
If you love your enemies, transcending anger and hatred even in situations where they kill the ones you love, you will come to have dominion over the world of enemies, and Satan will retreat. Eventually, the world of your enemies will show respect to you. If you live for the sake of others to the extent that you love your neighbors more than your own parents, then Satan will run away. Whatever you have given, God will reward you thousands of times more.
Again, what is the secret of knowing God, His Kingdom and His thought, which will enable us to chase out Satan from everywhere? It is to live for the sake of others, die for the sake of others and practice love for the sake of others. When we do that, Satan will certainly run away. And he will not just run away without doing anything. Before he leaves, he will break down all the boundaries that he had erected around us.
What will happen next? Once Satan is gone, the people who had been headed for hell will all be able to rise up and enter heaven, by practicing these principles of eternal life. Eternal life will finally become a reality People who call on God, the Source of love, as their Father will earnestly desire to practice God's tradition of living for others and will continue to do so for tens of thousands of years. This is how individuals can become the people of eternal life, practicing the tradition of eternal life and endowed with God's eternal lineage.
Eternal life is essentially an attribute of love. Even God, when He created the universe, adhered to the standards of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. God lives this way, always desiring to invest more love for the world, even though everything in the world is transient. For this reason, there is no being that cannot help but attend Him as the absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal Lord.
We humans, created as God's children, should likewise be able to completely invest our own love absolutely and eternally If we do so, then the Kingdom of God will become our kingdom, and God will belong to us.
In short, our life-style should be the same as that of God, the Master of the heavenly tradition. Then we shall surely become God's sons and daughters, and eternal life and immortality will necessarily be ours. That is why the Bible verse, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it," is so true, although it may sound paradoxical.
God's Unrealized Love
Ladies and gentlemen, God is great, but has He ever really become the Lord of love?
True love is something you cannot experience alone. You cannot create love by yourself. For a man to experience love, he absolutely needs a woman. Having a woman whom he can love is the necessary qualification for the man to be the subject partner of love. This is a surprising fact. No matter how great a man he may be, without a woman, his situation is like that of a widower. What does it mean to be a widower? A widower is a father who lives alone. It is a pitiful life. Living alone, a widower cannot accomplish true love, no matter how rich or famous he may be.
God has true love, true life and true lineage. He also has true conscience-a mind that is even, not bumpy. It may seem that God has everything. Yet without a partner of love, how would He express all His values? By Himself He cannot express them, not for eternity.
Why is that so? A man is only half a person. No matter how great he may be-even a prime minister or a president-and no matter how big he may talk, as a man he cannot escape from being only half a person. Likewise, a woman is only half a person.
Why is a man only half a person? He has the convex part, but not the concave. For complete love, both the concave and the convex are necessary. A woman is the other half who supplies the concave, which a man does not have. Thus, a man accomplishes perfect true love only with a woman.
The Fall and Our Loss of God's Lineage
We understand that at the fall of the first human ancestors, their bodies and minds could not unite with the lineage of God, but instead formed a connection with the lineage of Satan. As a result, God could not see His grandchildren, who should have become His third generation. Through the providence of salvation, God has sought after His third generation and tried to connect them with His lineage.
God's sons and daughters who multiplied over the earth were supposed to become, without fail, the good seeds that God and Adam wanted. Wherever they were sown, they were supposed to be the children of original creation who would be breast-fed by their parents and who would follow them instinctively to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. But due to the fall, the lineage of Satan came to slither about within our bodies. Therefore, we should be ready to die, to cut our vein and bleed out our blood ten or twelve times over, if that is what it takes to be reborn.
It is an unalterable fact that our lineage is contaminated. This is a serious matter. Did you ever realize that your body was in such a state? Think about it! It is frightening that the blood of your enemy envelops your bones and courses through your flesh, as it has done for hundreds of millions of generations. It is alarming that you have not recognized how miserable is the condition of your self, in which your body dominates and tramples your mind.
The fall can be likened to connecting with a line running east-west when we should have connected with the line running north-south. Being so, our problem is how to correctly reconnect with the north-south line instead of continuing to mistakenly connect with the east-west line. The way of cure by disconnecting and re-connecting is the Blessing of the Unification Church, namely, the International Marriage Blessing, which reconnects us with the original lineage.
If in the beginning Adam and Eve had not fallen, they definitely would have become our external parents, bequeathing to us the lineage of God's love. United with Heavenly Father as our internal Parent, and sharing God's absolute true love, Adam and Eve would have become the spiritual and physical ancestors of humankind. The moment when they would have stood at the central focal point, able to unite with that love, was to have been their wedding day Experiencing their first love on their first night together, they would have become one body centering on God.
But due to the fall, all that was lost. God wanted to sow conjugal love into humankind from His standpoint, but He could not get hold of a place to do so. Instead, God became a God of failure.
Can God love by Himself? Even a beautiful and talented woman needs a man, and even an ugly man can fulfill her need. A woman has love, life, lineage and conscience in her mind, but until a counterpart in the shape of a man appears they are not set in motion. Love is not activated. A life of loving is not activated. Lineage is not developed. Conscience is not objectified. Likewise for a man, only through the appearance of an object partner, namely, a woman, are his love, life, and lineage all actualized.
If Adam and Eve had waited until age 18, they would have received God's blessing and authorization to become husband and wife and the true ancestors of humankind. But they fell at 16 by playing with love as children play with fire.
Ladies and gentlemen, is anyone born as a woman because she desired to be born that way? Is anyone born as a man because he desired to be so? Many men are arrogant and boastful, disregarding and belittling women. Such men cannot avoid going to hell.
Preparing a Place for the Lord of Love
Ladies and gentlemen, do you know why God became a miserable God? God is the great King of true love, but He lost the position where he could love as he truly wanted to love-by dwelling as one body with the first human ancestors. God can be compared to a widow or a widower, alone by Himself and unable to feel the true love He adores. Having lost the object partner of His heart's true love, God became a sorrowful God.
By becoming object partners in God's family, Adam and Eve were supposed to establish the seat for the Lord of true love, and thus to liberate God. They could not fulfill this responsibility; nevertheless, their lifelong desire was to let God occupy the seat of the Lord of true love.
Therefore, the first condition to receive the Blessing of the Unification Church is to live the tradition of truly loving in the position of God's bride and bridegroom. Although that tradition was lost, the true, unchanging love of God remains. As long as we as husbands and wives never ever deny that love for all eternity, we will definitely be joined to the lineage of God's sons and daughters.
Who will prepare the seat for the Lord of true love, the place where God establishes His lineal relationship and can truly love a man and a woman? Only that man and that woman can do it. In other words, Adam and Eve must restore through indemnity the position of counterparts to the Lord of true love by becoming God's bride and bridegroom.
Out of the divine polarity God gave birth to a son and daughter; they were born from these dual aspects of His nature. We have to know, therefore, that the son and daughter have equal value.
Restoring God's Third Generation
As a husband and wife with equal value, we can restore the true love of husband and wife that God desired. Also, because God could not love babies in the womb, we through our babies born in our family can restore for God the position of the Lord of true love for sons and daughters, which He could not enjoy From this point, we can restore for God the Lordship of siblings, the Lordship of adolescents, the Lordship of husband and wife and the Lordship of parents. In this way, our children can become God's long-sought grandchildren.
God is the first generation, and Adam and Eve constituted the second generation. But God's grandchildren, the third generation, were taken away by the Devil. When we deal with all this through our sons and daughters, we can restore through indemnity the position of the Lord of true love on behalf of God. At that point, God recognizes you as the second original parents, standing in the position to possess the love that was meant for Adam and Eve.
Only after thus passing through three generations can God as the Grandfather and we as parents truly love God's grandchildren and raise them as the perfect seed for tens of thousands of generations of their descendants. When grandchildren receive true love from the first two generations together, the grandfather is the representative of the spirit world and Adam as the second generation is the representative of the kingship in the physical world. The lineage of true love substantiates the two worlds in this way.
Grandchildren who are born into this lineage will have the value of the fruits of the Kingdom of Heaven in the future, representing both the spirit world and earthly kingship. This will be the third generation that is qualified to rule the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. From that generation onward, the fruits of the Kingdom will spread outward. Thenceforth, children will grow to mature character and true love only by their parents' instruction, without the need for religion. They will all become fit for Heaven. All people will realize the original model of the eight stages of true love, fulfilling God's ideal of creation.
When we restore this, we will become a unified tribe transcending the twelve pearly gates of spirit world and all the barriers in the physical world. This will open the gate to the liberated world of heaven and earth, the unified palace of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven.
Eight Stages of True Love
There are eight stages of true love: in the womb, infancy, childhood, adolescence, marriage, parent, grandparent, and king or queen. Until today God could not have a firm foundation of tradition to substantiate these eight stages of love on the earth. God could not become the Lord of true love of these eight stages. They remained entirely vacant. How, then, can we solve God's shame and resentment? The True Parents fill the emptiness of the eight stages and perfect them by uncovering and teaching all the secrets of the satanic world and the Kingdom of Heaven. They reveal this gate of lineage-the only way humankind can go to the Kingdom of Heaven. Every man is supposed to become a perfected Adam; every woman a perfected Eve. If God is her Lord of true love while she is in the womb and as an infant, and if she makes God her Lord of true love as a child, an adolescent, in her marriage, and through the stages of mother, grandmother, and queen as well, she will possess the real partnership of true love and perfect herself.
A family on earth, with its visible relationships, is only half a family. To become whole it must unite with God's invisible partnership. This means establishing unity of spirit and body. Such families will inherit the lineage and the tradition of true love. When our families do this, we will automatically participate in the unified realm of heaven and earth, and we cannot help but become heavenly people and a heavenly family This means that we will enjoy the freedom of God's sons and daughters and become lords in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Becoming Citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven
Every person, man and woman, is the external substantiation of God and God's beloved partner. The invisible internal God and we His visible external substantiations have been waiting for this re-connection of lineage. This work is to be accomplished centered on mothers and wives. Once we are connected to God's lineage, we should live being proud that we are external substantiations of God.
The wife plays a key role in connecting her family to this lineage and tradition. The children also play a role. Ultimately, tribes and nations, even the whole cosmos, should be connected to God's lineage. Lineage is so important.
Why do we marry? It is so that a man who is half a person, and a woman who is the other half, may meet each other to become a couple experiencing perfect true love. God doesn't want to dwell with only a half. When a man and a woman meet each other to become perfectly one, God too unites His internal character and external form in a relationship of true love, establishing the vertical tradition of true love.
We have to respect our ancestors. We have to truly love people. We have to build unity by establishing true leadership. A king who lives well while ignoring his people is a swindler and heir of the Devil. He is making boundaries.
Today, humanity must undergo an internal revolution. We have to receive the heavenly fortune of true love from Heaven, establish it in the family, and let God stand as the absolute Lord of true love. Through this great revolution we, as resultant beings, come to serve and follow God, our cause, with absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. Only this way can we attain a state of perfection, with no boundaries. Whenever a being deviates from this ideal, an opposing subject appears and a destructive barrier is raised.
From now, therefore, you should not gamble by creating boundaries in your path of love. Any woman who thinks, "My husband should love me. My children should love only me and should not love their father," etc., should give up that attitude. A woman has to embrace her children and receive the love of their father. If she raises her children together with her husband and returns her love for his love, she belongs to God.
Because of a woman, the gate of love to God's eight stages was destroyed. Hence, women have to show their utmost devotion to recreate their husbands and sons and daughters, perfecting in front of God the position of the Lord of true love of His eight stages in their blessed families.
Having elevated our families in this way, we can go on to prepare the kingship of true love in which we can love and thrive from the individual level to the family, tribal, national, worldwide and cosmic levels. Then we will be free to travel anywhere, even through the gate of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and the twelve gates of the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world. We have to know clearly that unless we become qualified sons and daughters in the lineage of God, we cannot become the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven in heaven and on earth. I cannot emphasize this too much. It is the key to removing boundaries.
The task of removing boundaries includes the lowering of national boundaries through the work of the United Nations, getting rid of religious boundaries, tearing down ethnic and racial boundaries, and ultimately destroying the boundary between heaven and hell. Yet, since all these boundaries stem ultimately from Adam and Eve, the false parents, no one other than True Parents can break them down. God alone cannot do it, and certainly Satan cannot do it -- he is the one who has been creating them. Who can stop the conflict between God and Satan? Only True Parents can resolve that war, since the false parents started it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will leave this place this evening with determination to go out and destroy every boundary, bringing this message of liberation to all humankind.
Thank you very much.