People have always wondered about the fundamental questions of the universe, and whether or not God exists. In addition, when people recognize that there must be a Creator of all things, this always brings up the problem of who created the Creator. This is a great historical question that no thinker or philosopher has been able to answer.
God's existence is an eternal truth. Then what has God been doing? We must assume that He is a living God and therefore is constantly in action. When we think about movement, we wonder what kind of movement God makes. There are fundamental pulling and pushing motions in the universe, centrifugal and centripetal forces. When these two coexist, how do they harmonize? Do they neutralize each other, or contradict each other? We come to the conclusion that these dual forces exist for give and take action; rather than clashing head-on and shattering each other, they turn and harmonize.
To recognize this natural truth of the universe helps us understand God's movement. In order for something to move, it must have two aspects engaged in give and take. Inside the person of God there are also two complementary forces of give and take action. In other words, God's give and take action does not shatter anything but works instead towards complementing and making oneness.
Plus and minus energies, such as centrifugal and centripetal forces, have different effects on movement. When something is thrown it always moves in a curved line. Why doesn't it just shoot out straight? Because a curved line represents the natural, turning action of the universe.
When the Apollo 11 spaceship went into orbit, its flight path was curved. We must realize that everything in the universe is involved in some sort of revolving, circular motion. Every form of creation turns in some fashion. No individual stands still; each person makes a circular motion in relation to the rest of the universe. You are independent beings, yet you must harmonize with the universe.
From this universal principle we can derive God's essence. God is the core of the universe that initiates action, the first cause of all the movement of the universe. From that core, movement spreads out. Rotation needs two elements, a subject and an object. The universal turning action begins from the core, from a small circle, and spreads to larger and larger circles, creating a gigantic plus and minus.
For plus and minus to be created horizontally, both must exist in the vertical plane. As you know, plus repels plus and minus repels minus, but plus and minus attract each other; this is the basic principle of a motor. In a motor the motion of plus and minus initiates the turning. Everything that is created from the core's essence should complement or duplicate the characteristics or action of the core. God being the center of the combined forces of subject and object, He is like the generator of the universal give and take of plus and minus.
Let men represent plus and women minus. There is a core motivation of men, and everything men possess reflects that core or essence. Likewise for women. So even when a man moves his eyeball, it does not act on its own but rather in conjunction with the rest of his body, which reflects his essence. So the movement of a man's eyeball is distinct from that of a woman; it differs because the essence is different.
Have you ever compared how laughter and weeping are expressed? They are extremely different emotional responses and may seem totally unrelated. Laughter and weeping represent two opposite emotional poles, one plus and the other minus, so how could they harmonize? The most dramatic kind of emotional change is intense weeping that suddenly turns into laughter. Crying and laughter are two opposite poles, so the more rapid the movement circling between them the more dramatic the effect. Swift transformations produce more striking results than slow changes. Thus, the faster the shift, the more dramatic its results.
In the Unification Church we are taught that God exists in dual essentialities. To make it short, God is subject and object, two extremes harmonized into one. This is the basic explanation of God's dual essentialities.
Many difficult questions have been raised about the origin and essence of the universe. A classic question is which came first, the chicken or the egg. Scientists say that the universe is an assemblage of energy, that it is nothing more than energy in motion. Is that correct? In a universal sense, which came first, energy or motion? Or, from another perspective, which came first, energy or mind and spirit?
Let's consider the source of energy. Do you think that energy suddenly popped out somewhere, coming down from heaven? In order for energy to be created, there is a prerequisite: the relationship between the poles of subject and object, or plus and minus; energy depends on subject and object, or plus and minus. Thus we can conclude that before action there must be energy, and before energy there must be subject and object, or plus and minus.
Let's look at the reasons why people do things. Generally speaking, when you sing, you do so for the sake of others, not just for yourself. When you talk, it is to someone else. Your nose generally functions not to smell yourself but something else. Your ears listen to sounds from outside yourself Your hands exist to serve someone or something else. None of these organs or capabilities exists for its own sake; every action you make has an objective related to somebody else. Isn't that true?
If you are laughing very hard with nobody or nothing nearby, people will look your way and think you must be crazy. However, to laugh at a little piece of chalk is justified because that laughter has an object. This is an extreme example of the principle that no action occurs without purpose or objective; there must be an object to justify every action. To wander around with no goal or purpose is just a waste of energy; each of your actions should have some objective or goal.
Why are you the person you are, with the appearance you have? Do you just exist for yourself? No. For whom do you exist? Existence is never just for its own sake but always for somebody else, for a subject or object. Since this holds true throughout the universe how can you ever say you want to do something just for your own sake? Such an attitude is contrary to the universal truth and will surely bring destructive consequences.
So you men acknowledge that you live for others, but for whom? You say you five for God, but He is too far away; you need to five for somebody nearby! Men live for women; somebody has dominion over man, and that happens to be woman.
On the other hand, who has control over women? Men. What is the essence of the control which men and women have over each other? You say love, but are you sure it isn't power? All right, since you insist, I surrender to you! It is love. Love is the only important element in controlling others.
Today is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time, so you lost one hour's sleep this morning, didn't you? Well, even the birds have to get up earlier when the sun starts coming up earlier! The female birds chirp to their mates, and they chirp back. They answer each other immediately. Why? Male and female respond to each other for some reason, and that reason is love.
The East Garden birds are in love, sending out signals to one another saying, "Here I am; come and control me with love." This is the essence of the universe, that all living creatures want to be controlled by the love of their subject or object.
God also exists in dual essentialities; therefore, even within God there is the need to be controlled by love. Love and joy complement each other. When birds search after love, they express the heart of the universe. That means the core essence of the universe, which is God, is motivated by absolute love. Do you agree? Absolute love is the essence of the universe, the essence of God Himself, and the motivation of all creation. In the realm of absolute love there is no destruction or disharmony.
Why do people long for love? Why do we search after love? To be happy. I understand that scientists say that the human body consists of at least 40 billion cells. When do these myriad components of your body reach their peak of action? When you are in love. Love ignites all 40 billion cells into full action.
When a man comes near a woman all his cells wake up and become fully activated. When man and woman touch there is an explosion. That is why our church has a rule that men and women shouldn't get too close, don't shake hands very much, and certainly don't kiss each other. Why? Because such actions can make sparks fly prematurely. Scars caused by premature love have no cure. This is why God gave mankind one strict rule in the beginning: you are absolutely free to do anything except touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was a warning not to misuse love, to wait until the correct time for its expression.
Love fully activates every cell, and without wasting a moment the cells harmonize and seek a higher level. Once your cells are energized by love they want to take off. The power of love is much like the thrust of an Apollo rocket, lifting you off the ground and propelling you into the orbit of God's love. You are meant to find eternal harmony in love with God, but God's love doesn't just stand still. As soon as your love takes off God's love starts to come down toward you, and you meet each other in the middle. So God's love and human love are meant to come together and create a spark, make a dramatic crash. That spark does not cause eternal destruction; it results in a new, harmonized creation. The fusion of human and divine love generates something new.
Once such a love core is created, the entire universe is meant to sing along in its harmony and rhythm. Your every. action is meant to harmonize with the universal core. Every hair, every cell in your body is meant to dance together with the universal core. Once you reach that plateau, you will discover the original ideal world, the absolute and true ideal world. Thus we can conclude that God created the universe, including human beings and all things, in order to consummate love.
Let's imagine that I could ask the grass on the lawn why it was created. Would it answer, "I just like the color green and wanted to see a lot of it"?
I might ask it how it could be tough enough to survive the harsh winter cold and grow anew every spring.
Then the grass would say, "Daddy, you don't know why? We know why! You must know!" The answer of even the little blade of grass is, "I am living in order to consummate love and receive the love of the universal parents. I am waiting for the spirit of love."
If anybody can come up with a better answer, please give it to me. How about Dr. Yoon, the physicist: do you have a better answer? No one can give a better answer.
What is the ultimate reason for doing anything? Why does a person go to school, for example? Scholars ultimately seek the fastest route to the consummation of love. If somebody asks you why you live, you wouldn't say your purpose is to eat three meals a day; that is not the purpose of living. The best and most dramatic answer is that we live to consummate the ideal love of God.
So far, I have spoken about the composition of creation. Action or motion is preceded by energy, which is preceded by subject and object, or the give and take between plus and minus. The motivation behind all this is to consummate love. Therefore, action does not take place unless there is a plus and minus, or subject and object. Is that true?
Think about it a little more. Someone working an a laboratory tries to force certain elements to combine harmoniously, but unless they are meant to come together they won't. When the proper relationship of plus and minus or subject and object is formed, union will happen.
Each element has either a basic plus or a basic minus characteristic and can relate in different combinations and form various subject/object unions. These are the results of different forms of give and take. All relationships must follow universal law; if they go against that law there can be no give and take. For example, men and women naturally relate with each other, but a human being and an animal cannot interact in the same way. Animals must relate within their own realm.
The major problem in America today could be called the distortion of the universal rule governing the action of love. There are many kinds of perversions in the realm of love, such as homosexuality, which are destructive because they go against the universal principle.
People think of men and women co together in merely physical terms. Many couples live together for a while and then split up, but to do so is to deny the four directions of a relationship: north, south, east and west. You cannot shake off those four directions, because your position is always related to these axes. For example, in order to determine the location of an airplane or boat, you cannot refer only to the east and disregard the west; furthermore, there is always a due north, no matter what. Unless you take into account all four directions you won't be able to determine your own position.
The sun rises from the east and goes down in the west. If you refuse to recognize the west, what will you do when the sun sets? After sunset it gets dark; when night comes you have to adjust to it. In other words, you cannot deny the process of the universe. Ask your eyes whether they like only north and south, or east and west. Your eyes recognize all four directions; you wouldn't want it to be otherwise.
In spring everything looks beautiful and green, with lots of flowers blooming. In winter, however, you can experience another kind of beauty; to ski down the snow-covered mountains is another kind of dramatic activity. Can you say you love summer but hate autumn? You cannot skip autumn. If you like only the springtime, how will you manage to survive during the other three seasons? You cannot avoid them. The person who appreciates only the spring will eventually alienate all the other seasons; summer, autumn and winter will want nothing to do with such a limited person. In order to harmonize with the whole universe you have to experience and love all four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter. Do you follow? Death means the loss of one's subject of give and take.
When I match you, it is important to bring together complementary elements. For example, if a very small, cute woman were matched with a small, cute man it would not produce harmony; the man should be opposite to the woman - bigger and more masculine, with lots of muscles. Also, a spring-type person should be joined with an autumn-type person, because in order to make unity the spring-type person must travel through the summer and the autumn-type person travel through the winter; thus between them they encompass all four seasons. Don't you agree that this is ideal? A very dramatic combination is a tall man and a very short woman, or a fat woman and a man who looks as thin as a chopstick. Do you think I am just explaining my own concepts, or is this universal truth? The important thing is to harmonize the extremes. That kind of harmony is the ideal.
Most of you have a fiancee, but some of you have your own preferences and think that your fiancee does not match your ideal. A woman with large eyes might prefer a man with eyes like hers. To think like that is to forget the most important element in the universe: harmony. Parents with big eyes might produce children with monstrous eyes! Would that be the ideal? Sometimes a person with small, narrow eyes is able to penetrate issues and see things very deeply, while a person with big, wide eyes notices only the surface of things. So I always try to bring together differing elements. The key word is universal harmony.
Wherever you travel, you encounter subject/ object relationships and the four directions. Because you are always in an environment where these principles operate, you can never deny the subject object relationship or the four directions.
The Unification Church also operates according to these principles at all times. Subject and object generate energy, which creates motion and action. Who is the subject of the Unification Church? It is the very controversial Reverend Moon. Perhaps you consider me so controversial that you don't want to have give and take with me, but to do so is to reject your environment, and it will eventually drive you out; you will be unable to remain. In the Unification Church, I set the policy and spiritual direction for certain activities, such as witnessing and fund raising. You might say you like the Unification Church but not those activities. If you hate to do fund raising, the activity of the Unification Church will eventually expel you. Someone with such an attitude is like a stranger or foreigner in the church.
In school, you experienced a certain environment with which you had to harmonize. Schools have a principal, teachers and students, and the various relationships among them. You can be comfortable in that academic atmosphere as long as you follow the rules. Schools exist to provide for learning. Therefore, if a girl says she goes to school not to learn but to look at the boys, her attitude is contrary to the school's purpose and eventually she will be driven away. These processes are a product of universal law.
We are living in the gigantic environment called the universe, and those who want to be comfortable within the universe must follow the rules of the game, the laws of the universe. If not, they will be rejected by the universe. The universal law is the law of love, and violators of that law will be expelled by the universe. The most important thing to know and understand is the nature of the law of love and why and how we practice it. Why should we be good people and do good deeds instead of evil? Essentially, because by doing good we harmonize with the universal essence; thus the universe will recognize that we are not strangers and will protect us.
I am teaching you universal principles because I want you to become a comfortable member of this universe by following the law of love. I have always taught you to live for the sake of others and not just for yourself, because selfishness is your own worst enemy. When you are living for others you will be embraced and accepted by the universe; thus the unselfish way of life is the most dramatic and most inspiring.
Let's test whether this principle is correct. Good deeds are always welcomed wherever you go. You good deeds will be appreciated here in the United States and even in Moscow. Those who practice true love will be welcomed in Washington, DC, and also in Moscow. Those who live for others will be appreciated in Washington, DC, and also in Alaska. Since good deeds are so highly regarded here on this earth, how are they received in the spirit world? The same. They play by the same rules in the spirit world.
The teaching of the Unification Church is simple: five for the sake of others and practice love. Devote yourself to a sacrificial way of life because it is the one way of life which is totally acceptable, anywhere in the universe. When you practice this way of life, you will be universally welcomed here on earth and ultimately in the spirit world as well.
In the American way of life you have been accustomed to eating bread and butter, but imagine that you were elevated to the spirit world and could only eat rice 'and hot pepper paste. How would you feel? You would feel you were living in a foreign place. In a similar way, if you lived on earth according to a set of rules which did not apply in the spirit world, you would not be able to enjoy life in the spirit world. My endeavor here on earth is to transmit to you the reality of the spiritual atmosphere so that you can learn to live with it comfortably. Then when you enter the spirit world you will feel totally at home. Instead of getting a stomach ache because the food is strange, you can have your usual bread and butter to eat all the time! Since you have already been accustomed to the spiritual way of life, you will have lots of energy in the spirit world and feel like doing all sorts of things.
You see what a simple truth the Unification Church is teaching. I am guiding you how to live according to the spiritual rhythms while we are here on earth. Having become thoroughly accustomed here to the environment of the spirit world, you will feel very much at home there. I can teach you these things because I know the spirit world very well.
Mastering the spiritual environment can be compared to mastering other disciplines. Let's say you are studying law, working toward a bachelor's degree, then a master's degree, and finally a doctorate degree in order to master your field. By the same token I know about the environment where we will dwell for eternity and I am teaching it to you. When I transmit that environment to you and you become accustomed to it through self discipline, you are ready for eternity.
Let's suppose this young man has been pursuing a strange and wild way of life. If he were to enter spirit world in such a condition he would find himself completely isolated, without any object for give and take. The spiritual environment would be completely foreign to him since he did not live that way while on earth. Do you follow? Then do you welcome my discipline?
Fund raising is one important aspect of our training. Through it you learn how to handle persecution and how to care for material things.
I have learned how to adapt to whatever environment I enter. For example, if I go someplace where everybody is drinking and having fun, I can harmonize with them even without drinking just by showing lively interest in the people. I can even speak about God to them. With just a glass of Coca Cola, I can feel more intoxicated than the others, and they will comment, "How strange! You are only drinking Coke, but you are enjoying it more than we are enjoying our wine. What is your secret?" I could tell them, "Your taste buds get numbed by wine so you can't appreciate how good Coca Cola tastes. But I really enjoy the taste, so it has made me intoxicated."
If I go to a construction site, I know exactly how to deal with the laborers and how to do the things that they do. When you go into the laborers' environment, you must play by their rules. Do you understand? In other words, wherever you are you can always represent good. The universe protects a harmonizing person; it is even responsible to protect such a person.
Many religious people feel bound by innumerable laws and restrictions, but the fact is that once we come to the core truth of the universe and follow it we can be free. Therefore, in a way, the Unification Church offers a freer way of life than any other religion.
Consider how free we are to examine other ideas. Established Christian churches often view us as heretics, and they are even afraid to deal with us. However, each of you feels comfortable to enter any church and pray and fellowship with its members. You can be absolutely natural and unafraid wherever you go, because you are in touch with the core truth of the universe.
When I came to the United States I behaved in a very natural manner and never got upset by any hostile atmosphere. When I go to Japan I never consider the past enemy relationship between Korea and Japan; instead, I transcend those feelings and make myself completely at home in Japan and love the Japanese people. When I go to Germany, it is the same. Any new place I visit I always think, "I am coming into a different season, like going from spring to autumn. I must adapt myself to the changes. No problem." In other words, I do not feel like a stranger anywhere in this universe. Everybody everywhere is a part of God's family and creation, and I can always embrace people wherever I go because I know the universe is protecting me. My distinguishing characteristic the ability to adjust immediately to any circumstance.
One extreme example of this adaptability was my response to being imprisoned in North and South Korea. I didn't tell myself I shouldn't be in such a place; instead, I became a leader of people no matter where I was. There are always people to talk to and teach about God, even in jail.
This harmonizing way of life doesn't spring from a shallow perspective; this ability to make myself at home wherever I go is anchored to the core truth of the universe. I have walked through life as an absolute subject, so wherever I have gone, an object has automatically appeared. Don't you think this is a wonderful way of life?
I know that the core or essence of the universe is God, and He functions in exactly this fashion. To recognize God is to recognize the spirit world as well. The spirit world is subject realm and we are living in the object realm. I know the rules of that subject world.
Everybody needs a home, so don't you think God does too? Why does God need a home? The answer is simple but true: since we as God's objects need a home, our subject needs a home too. God needs an object just as we do. In the Bible Jesus said that when two or three are gathered together in his name he will be there. Why didn't he say he would be present when one person prays? Why does God come to two or more people? When a man prays by himself he might forget about the needs of women and ask just for his own concerns. God abhors a self-centered prayer, but when a man prays for God to forget about him and give a blessing to a woman instead, such a prayer sparks God's interest.
Suppose a devout man and a devout woman pray continuously, each claiming to need only God. Such a life of faith creates a simple, straight line between a person and God, but it doesn't allow for circular motion and harmony; linear motion without harmony does not produce laughter and joy. Universal truth requires that the ideal always contain at least three points. Therefore, a woman needs another point, in addition to herself and God. When a devout woman reaches God, will she turn back toward herself, or head in man's direction? She is more likely to turn toward the man.
Those who ignore other people will eventually collapse from lack of energy. In contrast, circular movement is like refueling, because in so doing you pick up energy. Husband and wife in interaction with God have increased energy. Joined with your spouse in a circuit of love with God, your batteries are recharged. You are snappy and bounding with enough energy to launch you into orbit! The woman is always moving toward her husband's territory in order to occupy it, and the man is moving toward his wife's territory - all in order to consummate love. Such a couple inscribes a gigantic circle in the universe and draws God into the center. In other words, when a man and woman swap positions in love, God can come down and dwell in their midst. Such a united couple goes up, and God comes down, creating all kinds of circular motion.
After establishing a dynamic relationship as three individuals, God, husband and wife, you are always looking for a fourth point. With such love, you can consummate your ideal and give meaning to everything. But without such love, your life is as dry as an autumn leaf, lacking energy and vitality.
God is the universal plus and universal minus. Plus and minus always seek their complement. The universal minus comes down to earth searching for a physical plus, and the universal plus comes down to earth searching for a physical minus. Since minus repels minus and plus repels plus, the meeting place for give and take between the spirit world and the physical world is always a crossing point. When the universal minus comes down in search of plus energy on earth, it crosses the universal plus coming down in search of minus energy on earth, creating a beautiful cosmic interaction.
Plus and minus keep pulling on each other. There are two basic kinds of give and take movement between them, vertical and horizontal, and both kinds are essential. Vertical and horizontal are brought into focus at the crossing point where heavenly plus and minus meet earthly plus and minus.
From a universal viewpoint, solitary individuals, no matter how great they may be, are like cripples, unable to truly move forward. Men and women must t search for each other, because alone they cannot experience true joy and laughter. A man and woman joined together is the center of the universe.
Your mind is the vertical element and your body the horizontal element. Within your mind you should establish the vertical subject object relationship and within your body the horizontal sub
ject / object relationship. Your mind is always searching after something higher and nobler; that is vertical give and take. To recognize your mind means to recognize your mind's object, since without an object for give and take the mind cannot function. To. recognize your mind is to recognize the existence of subject and object in the invisible world. Then who is the subject of your mind? It is the universal mind, or God, the center or essence of love. Your mind longs for absolute love; it constantly searches for a higher perfection of love. It is amazing the strange internal excitement people feel upon joining the Unification Church! Your mind just wants to pursue the church. School no longer seems appealing; your job no longer is interesting; you just want to go this direction and hear more about the church and see True Parents. Why? It is the magnetic pull of universal love.
However, you cannot experience fulfillment just through a vertical relationship with God. God also created the horizontal world in which you must have loving give and take as men and women, subject and object. Your vertical give and take, combined with the horizontal give and take, forms a universal circle, a gigantic sphere. Why do you want to make a gigantic circle? Because it thrusts you into the realm of eternal life, eternal love, and eternal perfection, in which you are totally embraced by God.
Think of it: if God is truly almighty, surely He has designed some kind of eternal life, eternal love, and eternal perfection. To state it another way, even the almighty God couldn't find a better topic than ours this morning! God is listening to what I am saying and He is responding, "Amen!"
When you live in this manner, inscribing such a gigantic circle, every creature you encounter win respond "Amen!" to you. The grass will say "Amen" when you step on it. You can touch a tree and it will respond, "Amen." You can pick a flower and it will say, "Amen."
This morning we have covered a great deal of material. I have spoken about the essence of the universal and the core of existence. There is a gigantic universe, and each human being is a small universe; we are the microcosm of the macrocosm. The microcosm corresponds to the macrocosm; the core of each is love.
Let's say this side of the blackboard represents woman, the minus element, and the other side represents man, the plus element. If the man and woman each have perfect vertical relationships, by what power can the two be united? What will bring the two together, from bottom to top? What kind of glue can you use? Diamonds? Power? Knowledge? You say love, true love, and you are right: the glue is love. But does this love-glue work only in the twentieth century and not in the first or thirtieth century? No, love-glue holds throughout eternity.
Let's consider why men and women need to be united in the first place. Men and women joined together form a gigantic plus and minus. Vertically, they create an enormous spiritual plus and minus, and horizontally, a physical plus and minus, together forming one gigantic revolving circle. Perfected men and women who are united vertically and horizontally create a vast revolving circle, and their perfected plus and minus has give and take with the plus and minus of God.
When you establish your give and take with God's universal love, He comes down to live within you. When God dwells within you, you experience perfection. The man draws the woman towards him and the woman draws the man towards her, each inviting the other to move closer. As plus and minus approach, does each thrust itself forward in a straight line, or move in a circular way? Once men and women or plus and minus meet, do they touch on one side or meet at the center? They join at the center, because that is where the vertical axis is. You and your spouse should link up at the midpoint because that is how you become the center of the ideal.
Considering all this, a woman cannot demand that her husband move over to her position and enter her way of life in order to love her. American woman tend to sit and wait for the man to open the door for them, like a chauffeur. Should the Unification Church do things in reverse and have the women open doors for the men? That would be nice for a change - although not all the time! When a woman goes to the bathroom and sees that it is out of toilet paper, does she call out, "Man, come and bring me some tissue"? For a change, why not have the man sit on the toilet and cry out to the woman, "Bring me the tissue"? If you are concerned only about your dignity, you might tell your spouse, "Come and get your own tissue." But if you are thinking from the perspective of love, you Will be willing to go and say, "Here is a tissue for you, my dear." Love should be the motivation for all your actions; then you will experience no complaints but only joy.
Sometimes you might give your spouse a massage. When the one who asks for the massage does so out of love, and the one who offers it does so out of love, that is give and take in love. In extending yourself to your spouse out of love, the two of you meet in the center. When husband and wife have give and take of such universal love, all the birds will come and want. to listen to the songs of love pouring out if their house, even if there are no trees nearby for them to perch upon. I think there are more birds dwelling in our trees at Belvedere and East Garden than any other place in Tarrytown because they can see true love being shared. This morning the birds are out there singing. When you hear them, you should think, "The birds are calling me; I want to respond to them."
The sun wants to hit Belvedere and East Garden first in the morning because there is so much love here. Even the spring breezes want to blow here because all existence heads for the place of greatest love.
People can go about life in two different ways: one person constantly whistling out of love for God and another living from day to day, just eating, working and sleeping, existing in animalistic darkness. How different the two extremes are! What kind of life would you prefer: the life of divine love or an animalistic existence?
People may say various things about the Moonies, but what do we care, as long as we are living in a God-centered way and the universe recognizes us? Who are truly the happiest people? Moonies, right?
Do you like Moonies? Even if I said I didn't like Moonies, as long as God says He does, you can be proud of your identity, right? You know that is true.
Actually, today's sermon turned out to be a Principle lecture focusing on chapter one, the Principle of the Creation. Until I explain to you these deep truths about the universe, you cannot comprehend them. Would you like me to write a book on Principle myself? If I did, chapter one alone would be too thick for you to carry!
There is a most natural conclusion to this principle. The vertical dimension is the spirit world, and the horizontal dimension is the physical world. On the horizontal level, there is the Oriental world and the Occidental world, which engage in give and take through their crossing point. What power under the sun do you think can unite the Western world and the Eastern world? Knowledge? Culture? Love? You answer love, but what kind of love? True and absolute love. Absolute means always present, never missing for a moment. Absolute means night or morning, any time, any place. Even when you are alone, you are still living in absolute love. Whether at school, at home, or out in society, you dwell in absolute love.
When you peel off the skin of a seed, you find two parts inside. The outer part, or the wrapping, represents God and the universe; inside it you find plus and minus. The potential of life lies in that seed, but that potential is not activated until some vertical power operates from the outside. The horizontal atmosphere also must add some elements for growth. So the seed itself is a small universe. When it is buried inside the soil, with the proper moisture and temperature, its function can begin. A new life commences, and inside the seed give and take action takes place in a circular motion. The essence of life, the embryo, remains dormant and waiting until the right horizontal conditions are added, when that sleeping embryo can wake up and start to emerge. Then people see the bud, the sprout. Thus, in compliance with universal law, harmony is necessary between the vertical and horizontal dimensions for even the seed to grow.
The little sprout becomes a sapling, which grows into a big tree, which will blossom, produce flowers, and create more seeds. Thus the new seeds become another essence of life, completing the cycle of circular motion, and history goes on. The circle of life which starts from the seed moves up, blossoms and produces more seeds. Every seed is formed through such a cycle. This is how life is multiplied. Whoever wants to take a shortcut instead of following that circle cannot become a good seed.
It may take three years for a tree to create a new seed, but after a hundred years there are hundreds of seeds. Two centuries later, there are even more seeds. Are each of these seeds the same or are they totally different? They are identical because they have all been formed through the same disciplined cycle and have not deviated one iota.
There is an analogous process in human beings. A person is born, grows through a certain cycle to maturity, then marries and gives birth to new life. This is the way human life has continued and multiplied. This cycle has a certain length which no one can shorten. Within this cycle men and women meet, unite horizontally as husband and wife, and give birth to children, completing the cycle. So people are supposed to have children. Without children a couple feels lonely and unfulfilled, since they are not completing that cycle. Without completing that cycle you do not feel like you are fully part of the universe.
Even a bird lays eggs, incubates and hatches them, and brings food to the hungry chicks' mouths. It is amazing the way they know how to feed their young. Watching a sparrow feeding its chicks you can feel the close relationship between people and birds. Children are conceived and carried by their mother, who nurses them at her breast.
When a Western couple goes to the Orient they are almost always fascinated by the children. They may not be so interested in the adults they meet, but the little children with black hair and dark eyes are so cute the visitors want to squeeze them. Even a negatively-inclined person looks upon his children with affection. A hungry lion will refrain from killing another animal if it is a mother nursing its young. Until you have a baby of your own you cannot know this kind of feeling.
You women here, would you like to have your own children? What about you men? I thought that Western young people felt they didn't need children; they just seek the fun life between men and women! That's not true?
The ultimate goal of men and women is to have great children. Even people who are far from perfect long to have good children, both physically and spiritually. What are good children? Those who embrace and represent the universal essence, which is absolute love. I have one big ambition: to see such good children coming from all the Unification Church men and women.
To have good children, you need to be able to parent them. To be a capable parent, you have to know how to love nature, the universe, and your fellow man, as well as how to love God. That is the fundamental principle behind our fund raising activities in the Unification Church. The last reason for fund raising is because we need money. The money gained on MIT is not for yourself but for the sake of the world. You try to gain as much money as possible for the purpose of world salvation. Like watering seeds in the soil so they can grow into plants, you earn money and it gets sprinkled all over the world. When you get married, you can go out and harvest the results of those seeds you sprinkled all over the world.
Another key to raising your children is the ability to love unselfishly. For that purpose you go out to the world before marriage, during your three-year engagement period, and practice loving the world and learning how to care for other people. Ultimately, you will love your husband and children more than anybody else, but first you demonstrate your love for your fellow man-including the strangers on the street and even the people who oppose you. When you can taste all the persecution and pour out even more love than before, that is a beautiful thing to behold.
Unification Church members practice loving others not only in preparation for marriage but after marriage as well in order to create the most exemplary families before heaven and earth. Once you have been disciplined through undergoing persecution and still loving your persecutors, you and your spouse and children will be able to endure any adversity. Even though your spouse may be unkind to you at times, there is nothing you cannot endure; compared to the challenges you have overcome in the past, marital problems will be easier to resolve.
Without such training under adversity, you may be too touchy when you get together with your spouse. Your spouse may say something just slightly harsh and you may respond like a firecracker immediately and violently. Without the above foundation you would have no ability to endure.
The core of love binds the universe together. Marriage is very important, but you need preparation. In a way, marriage is the bond between the heavenly kingdom and the earthly kingdom. Marriage is the meeting point between eternal life and physical life. Husband and wife may start out at quite a distance from each other, but as they build a marriage the gap between them gradually narrows until eventually they meet at this one crossing point. Once you create this loving core, you can expand from it, your love spiraling out in one direction and then another, becoming wider and wider, until it covers the entire earth.
According to this principle, you could say that love alone can encompass the entire universe. Any action centered upon this love is welcomed in the universe. Nothing centered on this love can be rejected or expelled. The training ground for this kind of personality is the topic of my message today, "God and My Home."
Who was Adam? The visible, horizontal God. God in heaven is the vertical God, but Adam was
the horizontal God. The creating originator is God and the created originator was Adam. How wonderful that is! In other words, human beings are co-creators with God.
Vertically, there is the subject God, but He needs an object God. The horizontal God needs a mate, and Eve is that mate or partner. Another way of expressing this is that God is the Father and Mother of mankind, the dual essentialities, and Eve represents the motherliness of God on the horizontal level while Adam represents the fatherliness of God on the horizontal level. Through marriage men and women are united, linking the horizontal father and mother God with the vertical God, creating a home in which every essence of the universe dwells. This is truly home, sweet home where every creature can be harmonized. Such a family and such a home is the kernel of God's ideal for the universe. Such a home is the love-seed for creating all other creatures. Do you agree with me?
Man is to live with the dignity of God, and woman is to live with the dignity of the wife of God. Such dignity should characterize your married life.
When men and women come together it is like two universes joining. The Western way of life is concerned primarily about the horizontal universe, eliminating the possibility of the vertical universe entering it. However, the vertical and horizontal universes must come together, and it is important to put the proper one first, the vertical. Therefore, you must find the vertical love first.
I am sure that many of you feel you have gone through much hardship in the Unification Church, doing so much fund raising, being engaged for such a long time with no wedding in sight. But such experiences give you the opportunity to mature and perfect your vertical love. I have been telling you almost to ignore your fiancee because once you find your vertical love with God your relationship with your fiancee will automatically develop.
Since the human fall was the failure of human beings to consummate their vertical love, the first priority of restoration is vertical love. Therefore, you must learn first to consummate your vertical love and transform fallen love into something holy. Until you gain that perfected vertical love, you must not engage in horizontal love; the restoration of vertical love is the prerequisite for the expression of horizontal love.
Am I speaking the truth? Raise your hands, those who are engaged. How many of you can say with confidence you have perfected your vertical love? Whoever dares to get married before perfecting vertical love is like a heretic before God.
The key point of this morning's sermon is to develop the attitude that God's house is your house, and your house is God's house. This is the right topic for the right day. Today is a beautiful spring morning. In weather like this, surrounded by beautiful flowers and green plants, your mind tends to be dreamy and your thoughts naturally float toward your fiancee, wondering how many more days you must wait before I give you the real marriage!
We have touched on some very important points this morning. Our goal is to create a world in which God and all the creatures of the universe can smile for the first time. We are like a baseball player hitting a home run into that world. The sensation of love can be compared to hitting the ball is hit with your love bat, hearing it spin through the beautiful sky with the sound of love through the beautiful sky, making a home run. The echoes of our accomplishments reverberate throughout the world.
One final question: are God's home and our home two different dwellings, or one and the same? They must be the same. The ultimate goal is for the seed of divine love to germinate and grow. God's love-seed and human love-seed must be the same; therefore, our home must be the dwelling place of God. The love-seed is the God-centered family, the building block of heaven, and when it is planted it creates the ideal society, nation and world. Once that love-seed germinates and grows to completion and every flower has bloomed, that will be the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and thereafter, in heaven. Amen.
Please concentrate your energies and your thoughts on nurturing the love-seed within you. The preciousness of this love-seed is greater than any diamond or even mountain of diamonds; even the marvels of springtime cannot compare with its beauty. Just to contemplate the prospects of developing this love-seed can bring more happiness than the free expression of fallen love. The ultimate goal is for the embryo within the love-seed to germinate and transform you into a new creature.
Once you consummate this vertical love and once society has been perfected, it will be all right for couples to kiss in public, and God will be able to rejoice in such expression of affection. But people in this fallen world understand nothing about the vertical dimension of love and they just seek to satisfy their physical drives and desires. Animal-type behavior is abhorred by God. Some time ago, I visited Miami Beach, Florida, and observed the young people, those so-called hippies, who live in such a shameless manner. They kiss and embrace with total abandon on the beach. I counted one couple's kisses and how long each kiss lasted; one kiss lasted more than 30 minutes. I almost went and kicked them! To live just for physical sensations is a virtually unforgivable affront to the universe.
In contrast, we are seeking the eternal spiritual sensations. How different is the way of life I am teaching you! We are Moonies, and our pride is the Moonie way of life.
Those of you who can say, "Father, now I understand the truth more deeply. I am proud to be a Moonie, and I am determined to become a love-seed and the center of the universe," raise your hand. God bless you.