ORDER NUMBER
85-11-12
REVEREND SUN MYUNG MOON
SPEAKS ON
THE WAY OF
THE CHILDREN
November 12, 1985 - Children's Day
World Mission Center-Grand Ballroom
Translator - Bo Hi Pak
Those who are seeing me for the first time, please raise your
hands. Are you the new crop of the Unification Church? Can anybody read
- the title I wrote on the blackboard?
When you look at all the people in the world, are they just the
same or all different kinds? Let's consider the sparrows. Is there only
one kind of sparrow, or are there many different kinds? What about the
language of sparrows in different countries? Do you think they use the
same language? What about cows? There are obviously many types of cows
and many different colors and shades of cows. When they "moo,' do
they do that in different languages?
What about this man standing here beside me, Bo Hi Pak? Why does he
have to interpret my words to you? In the original world, is it natural
to have an interpreter beside you or to speak directly? Therefore, do
I have Dr. Pak standing beside me because I like it or because I have
to?
As you can see, there is obviously a problem in our world today.
Imagine if all people spoke the same language. There would have been
fewer world problems, such as war and crime.
In the beginning of human history, do you think there were many
pairs of human ancestors in many parts of the world? God created all
things but He created one being supreme, with the most sophisticated
development. Would He have started with many duplications of that being
or one set, one prototype? If the Supreme Being desired to have a
perfect, absolute, supreme form of creation, He would begin with just
one.
What is the one thing which the Supreme Being would like to own?
What one thing is the finest, the best, the ultimate thing for God? God
longs to have true love. When you talk about true love, it always
denotes two parties. No one can dwell in love all by himself; you
cannot just speak the word "love" over and over again and
experience it. Likewise, for God to engender love, He must have an
object.
What kind of object has God been yearning for? Mt. McKinley is the
highest mountain in the United States. Has God been yearning for that
tall mountain as the object of His love? Do you think God has been
thinking about a beautiful bird as an object because it can sing and
fly so well? No, He has been yearning for true man and true woman. What
is the definition of a true man? Is he special because he has an eye on
top of his nose? Does a true man have two extra shoulders so that he
can have four arms instead of two? That would certainly be a powerful
man, wouldn't it? No, rather than all these things, we know that a true
man is the man whom God loves and in order to be loved by God, he must
resemble God. He must be that ideal object for God.
Whether you are a man or a woman, you must resemble God Himself.
When we speak of humanity, we speak of both men and women. What do you
think-is God more like a man or more like a woman? God bears a
resemblance to both men and women. So there are two objects of God: men
and women. Are the two objects the same or different? Do they have the
same or different features?
Are these two different beings, men and women, always trying to
pull away from each other, or do they always try to come together from
their opposite positions? What do you think? Are they supposed to come
together or go away from each other? When are they supposed to be
perfectly united-when they are just crawling babies? When they are
little children playing on the playground? No, it is only when their
minds and bodies are perfectly united that they are supposed to come
together as men and women.
Thus when men and women reach a certain age, they start to
experience feelings of love. They want to know and understand love and
they want to be together. Why do men and women want to be united? The
reason is very important and simple. As individuals, a man or a woman
cannot be a total object to God. Men represent one half of God and
women represent the other half. So in order to reflect the total image
of God, men and women have to come together.
Just as we have two eyes that can focus properly only together,
when men and women come together in unity, their focus will also
converge properly. Men and women are supposed to come together in that
kind of unity, which we call love unity. Then God can come in; the
dwelling of God is with them. When men and women come together in such
a manner, God will embrace them saying, "Indeed, you are my image,
my perfect image. I take delight and joy in you"
Then to whom does love belong? Love belongs to God, to man, and to
woman. Love is the uniting factor of all three. When men and women are
horizontally united in love they can be vertically united with God.
That is the fair way. Otherwise, if God just came down to men, the
women would complain; or if He just came down to women, the men would
complain. God doesn't want to be unfair, so it is only when men and
women are rejoicing together in love that God can come down and dwell
with them.
Love is eternal and permanent; it must have a storehouse. Men and
women are meant to be that storehouse; love is meant to be held by
them. So love does not really exist within just a man or just a woman,
but rather between them; both must possess it together. That is the
whole purpose of the differences between men and women, according to
the original ideal.
In the world today, particularly in America, love has become a
"fun" thing, and people go hopping around from one bed to
another. One night, one person, another night, another person. Many
young people think that is the way they can fulfill their happiness.
What do you think? Is that God's definition of a human being? Such a
person doesn't really deserve to be a part of humanity.
The world has gone far away from God's basic principles of love;
people have let themselves fall below the animalistic realm of love.
But the Unification Church has reestablished the moral principle of
human love. If this were merely a theory, still we would have to accept
it because of its logic; however, knowing that it is truth, how glad we
are to accept it and live by it!
The love of God is absolute. In order to engender such love, God
needs an absolute man and an absolute woman. He needs to bring them
together in love into absolute unity. This is the total principle of
original love. This is the nucleus of unity. To obtain this nucleus we
need these three components-God, man and woman. How absolute they are
in unity!
Where did you come from? How were you born? The important thing is
whether you are the fruit of just fun love or the fruit of serious,
true love. That is the key question. It is a tragedy if one is born as
the byproduct of promiscuous love. Men and women pursue their fun love
and suddenly someone says, "Oh, I made a mistake" That
mistake means a baby will be born. If we were born in that way, then it
is most tragic. This is very fundamental.
What are the most important and precious words we can think of? A
scholar might say, "The most important words are my scholarly
works, my dissertation on economic theory" Many people believe
that economics are most basic and therefore most important to everyone.
Let's say that you wanted to become a university student, but you
wanted to pursue a special major. If there were something like the
Department of True Love Studies, wouldn't you apply? Is there any
university with a department of true love?
However, you Moonies are enrolled in a university with a Department
of True Love. You experience many ups and downs and some people get
tired and trunk out, but those who are trying to succeed in the True
Love Department are called the Moonies. You are attending True Love
University, right? True Love University and the True Love Department
offer probably the most difficult courses you can ever imagine, but
then they are the most worthwhile. Even if you lost an arm and a leg,
you would still want to pursue these studies, wouldn't you? Even if you
were nothing more than just a stump of a person, you would still want
to graduate from the True Love Department. Today you are listening to
the college president who has come to preach to you on the true love
theory. Do you like it or not?
We are talking about an absolute standard in which there is no room
for compromise or discussion. The true love principle is
uncompromising. The opinions of different scholars and experts simply
do not have any bearing on the absolute true love principle. Those who
want to receive their diploma from True Love University, raise your
hands, please.
I know that many times you have thought, "Why does Reverend
Moon lead us this way, which is so alien to our country?" This has
happened many times. Is it good or not? We are pursuing the absolute
standard of true love; therefore, there is no room for compromise. True
love cannot be negotiated. Imagine a loving husband and wife enjoying
their relationship-would they want a third party to come in and discuss
their love with them? No, they want to maintain that love just between
the two of them. They do not want to decide matters of true love in a
democratic forum.
I have always been seeking for one thing: true love. The way of
true love must be established for the individual, the family, society,
nation and world. True love is meant to be practiced within the
framework of the family. Through the family, all other important levels
of love can be achieved, such as the love of one's neighbor, altruism
for one's country and the world, as well as saintly love. We have
talked about all kinds of love, but family true love is connected to
every one of them.
This tree I am drawing here represents true love. It has many
branches, some of which go all across the world. But all those branches
are connected to the same tree and have the same roots; therefore their
quality is the same. The energy flowing from the roots goes to every
leaf and every branch in the tree and vice versa; they have give and
take that way. True love has many, many flowers, many branches, many
leaves. All people were supposed to be born into this true love family
tree but they were not. That is the great tragedy of all tragedies.
Springing from the true love root, a branch goes toward the west,
where it becomes white people; when it goes to the east, it becomes
yellow people; to the south, it becomes black people; to the north, it
becomes Eskimos. The human family is supposed to be connected to the
same, universal root. All people were supposed to be attached to the
one most important institution which God created: the family. That is
the essential building block.
The elements of family love-love between husband and wife, parents
and children, brothers and sisters-were supposed to be exactly the
same, regardless of where those families were located, or whether they
were white families, black families, yellow or Eskimo families. True
love is the common denominator that brings all people together into
that family unity. True love is the common denominator for east, west,
north or south.
Therefore, the true measure of your happiness is whether you are
close to the central standard of true love. Happiness or unhappiness
cannot be determined by how much money you have but only by the purity
with which you exercise true love. If a third party is trying to invade
a marriage, those spouses cannot be happy people. When the purity
between husband and wife is preserved, love is preserved and that is
the happy couple. This is how happiness can be measured. This standard
applies equally, whether you are black, yellow or white.
"Absolute" in love means only one. Therefore, a couple
cannot be involved with other people. In the Unification Church, the
marriage principle is absolute. Once you are blessed, that goes on for
eternity. Your couple shall be preserved as a true family coming out of
this root. I know it is not easy in many cases, but no matter how
difficult it may be, would you like to pursue my teaching and way of
life? Or would you like to be like a butterfly, flitting from one love
to another? You are following this way because that is how you can be
connected to God and possess God's absolute love. Once we possess the
love of God, we possess everything in the universe. With true love, we
can even control God. How much happiness that can bring!
Reverend Moon is a smart man; if there were some easy or convenient
way, I would have found it and gone that route a long time ago, but
there is no such thing. Therefore, I have been investing my entire life
to live and propagate this way of love. In that case, do you think
Mother is a happy woman? What about me, am 1 happy? Why are we happy
people? It is because we are united centered upon God's love, which is
absolute.
This is how we understand the concept of True Parents. Centering
upon the absolute love of God, the first man and woman, Adam and Eve,
were supposed to unite absolutely in love and become husband and wife.
Then they were to become parents. That is the way humanity was supposed
to have begun-from such true parents. If you do not know the definition
of true parents, you have no way to know the definition of true
children.
We have come to the Unification Church in order to become true
children. All of mankind was born into the fallen lineage. In order to
transfer our lineage to become true children, we must be engrafted into
the true tree which is the True Parents' tree. There is no other way
to change your lineage.
Let's look at the engrafting process. First you've got to find the
true olive tree; that is the tree of the Messiah. Unless the Messiah
comes, there can be no true olive tree and no engrafting process. What
is the end of the world? It is the time of the coming of the Messiah.
That is when the engrafting process becomes possible. Then, throughout
the whole wild olive tree farm, trunks will be cut everywhere. As you
know, God does things according to His timetable. Unless the
preparation of the true olive tree is ready, He will not cut the wild
olive trees because the timing would be wrong. But at the end of the
world, we will see both phenomena: the preparation of the true olive
tree and the cutting of the wild olive trees.
What is the Unification Church, then? The Unification Church is a
branch of the true olive tree. Therefore, when the Unification Church
is blooming and spreading around the world under the parenthood of God,
that means the grafting process is ready on every level: the social
level, the national level, the worldwide level.
God is moving through all the levels of society today, shaking them
up. Many people are saying pessimistically that the world is dying.
There are cries from the communist world as well as the democratic
world and even the religious world. That means there is another outcry
for life-people are ready for the engrafting process. The Unification
Church represents the true olive tree and, therefore, it is our
responsibility to go out as soon as God cuts the wild olive trees and
get to those places, engrafting health into those roots. Do you
follow?
My sermon today is on the way of true children, or the children's
road and responsibility. As I said, your responsibility is engrafting
the true olive branch into the world. The wild olive trees have been
cut, and now our responsibility is to go out into the world and engraft
the true olive tree into those roots. If at least two-thirds of a tree
is preserved, it can survive; it can get enough nourishment from its
roots. But if 50 percent is cut away, that tree will die. So before the
trees die, true branches must be engrafted into them.
This is why I am busy sending out branches to South America,
Central America, Africa, Europe, Asia, all over the world. The
missionaries may complain, "Oh, Father, we are helpless, yet you
send us into a remote country all by ourselves?" But the branch
has to be, in a sense, autonomous. You must go out and find the root
and engraft the branch yourself Throughout the world, cries are ringing
out for the true olive tree branches. We are the only ones who have
those branches, so we have to get out there. Before they die, we have
to engraft ourselves into their roots firmly and give them life.
Therefore, I have declared this an emergency time period in the
Unification movement. This is the time for the wife to go out to the
world with more love than that which she has for her husband, and to
love other people and give them life. The husband will do the same.
This is the time. We must become the most loving and great parents so
our expression of love must be nobler and deeper than anyone. Instead
of embracing our own children at this time, we should be going out to
prepare for the generations to come. This is the time for this kind of
historical activity.
Even if you are engrafted onto the true root, you need to have
three branches; otherwise, that engrafted tree will die. As Unification
families, you must reach out to families of all different skin
colors-to the people of the whole world- and give them life by
connecting them to the same root of True Parents.
The nourishment of the tree will be distributed fairly. Thus where
there are more limbs and more leaves, there will be more activity and
that area will receive the most nourishment. Where there is little
activity and little growth, nourishment will not be attracted. The
love of God is always flowing to the place where there is more
activity. That's most natural. Therefore, the active places will
flourish while the inactive places will flounder. God wants to give
more energy to the people who are doing the most, bringing the most
results. This is a law of nature. The root will provide more strength
where there is more pulling power.
The branches go up toward the clear blue sky and the beautiful
sunshine, while the roots go down deeper into the dirty soil in order
to gain more nourishment. In that way the roots and branches coexist.
When you move the roots from one place to another, the branches will
also be moved; they will go together and flourish together. In order to
survive, a branch must be united with the roots; it cannot exist by
itself. The branches and the roots cooperate with one another in order
to create a healthy tree.
By the same token, the people who shall eventually govern the world
are the ones who have the highest ideals, like the branches reaching up
into the blue sky, and at the same time who are willing to dig down
deeper into the dark, difficult places. When both characteristics are
found in a group of people, they will truly flourish.
When we analyze the world today, Western civilization is something
like the branches, striving to go up higher and higher towards more
sunshine and blue sky. The Oriental culture, on the other hand, is like
the roots, digging down deeper and deeper, trying to gain deeper
meaning and therefore more nourishment. These are the opposite
characteristics of Western and Eastern civilizations.
So far, Western civilization has been rather boastful, looking down
on the Oriental cultures and saying, "They are dirty people and
look at how clumsy and backward they are" But Western civilization
must recognize that Oriental cultures have a great depth and quality of
energy. That sort of energy will go on and on and will flourish no
matter what happens. But branches can break off easily when the tree
experiences turbulence.
Western civilization, like the branches, cannot create its own
roots. But in the Oriental civilization, like the roots, there is
always the power to make new branches and to continue to grow.
Therefore, Western civilization is looking eastward for hope and to
learn how to survive. Look at how the hippie movement spurned
cleanliness and expressed their disgust with modern Western culture.
We can see that they were emulating many Oriental values.
Many people in the West today have a tremendous interest in Japan;
they are watching what Japan does, seeking to learn how they have been
so successful. This is. in a
way, a survival tactic of Western civilization. Therefore, my
direction to you Japanese members is this: do not become Americanized
Japanese. The American people must themselves become Orientalized.
I am not saying this out of any sort of prejudice. I am speaking
from the point of view of providential destiny. East and West are
supposed to work together in harmony, like branches and roots, and when
they come together, both must flourish. In the Unification Church there
are certain Oriental traditions that you have learned to follow. For
example, you are sitting on the floor now. Some people may think that
Reverend Moon is primitive and a destroyer of Western civilization.
However, do you think that I am harmonizing East and West, allowing
each to learn from the other? What do you think? Doesn't Reverend Moon
want to see Westerners align themselves more with the providential
destiny? I am teaching you the universal way.
What I am preaching right now has a prophetic quality. As time goes
by, what I am saying will be recognized as truth by more and more
people.
Today I am speaking with a special purpose and meaning because this
celebration of Children's Day is the first Unification Church
celebration since my victory in Danbury. Therefore, we must renew
ourselves, beginning with the president of the church and extending to
all the members of America. We must make a new commitment today to
grasp a new understanding of God and develop a new unity with the True
Parents. Amen?
We are all privileged to belong to the True Parents. True Parents
are our root, the root of love. Therefore, with this privilege we can
go forward limitlessly, truly fulfilling our purpose of connecting the
whole world with the true root and creating a new, moral, God-centered
world. That is our responsibility.
The Unification Church, therefore, is pursuing the absolute
standard in everything-absolute men and women, absolute family,
absolute culture, one absolute language. The Korean language and
culture has become very important within our movement and it will soon
become important on a global level.
Why should we learn Korean? Heavenly Father installed the True
Parents on the earth in a specific land and it happened to be Korea.
God has planted true love on the earth through the True Parents;
therefore, their language was meant for everybody. We can say that God
first spoke the language of true love in Korea, through the True
Parents. For that reason, that language has become our mother tongue.
Thus the Korean language is the language of the motherland of love.
When all people are pursuing true love, that language must become the
mother tongue of everyone. Besides knowing how to speak that language,
you also need to know how to write it. Many members around the world
desire to be blessed with Korean men and women. Why is that? Korean
men and women speak the language in which the true love of God was
first spoken. That is a most precious reason, because with this
language, you can get down to the deepest corner of your roots, all the
way to the central root. You can ultimately reach the deepest place in
the heart of God. Our original mind knows this.
You must be proud that you are participating in the Unification
movement, which is going after only the absolute standard. There is no
halfway standard, but everything is absolute-absolute words, absolute
love, absolute actions. This is the way you are committed to go, so you
must be very proud of this.
We are on a treasure hunt, looking through a labyrinth for the
passage to true love. That is the romantic life of the Unification
Church. More than anything else, the most important undertaking is
going through the labyrinth and finding true love. Each step is so
precious, so vital. Even if it took one thousand years to take one more
step, still you cannot avoid this path. You must go and find the way to
true love. I am the forerunner along this way and you are following. Do
you think you can go your own way or the way that you like in order to
find the treasure?
Do you think it is necessary to make a great amount of noise or put
on a great show for other people? What do you think? No, you don't need
any cheerleaders around you. This is a path which you have to go all by
yourself. It is an internal path which is very lonely at times. But
knowing that you are moving toward the greatest treasure, you can have
the greatest satisfaction going this way.
Western members sometimes speak too much, while Eastern members
many times are too silent. But Unificationists must become the balanced
point. We know the East and we know the West, so we must balance
between them. Know the advantages of both worlds and strive for the
best of both of them.
The journey for blessed couples doesn't end with this life here on
earth; it continues and improves throughout eternity. We are not
talking about material gain but rather gaining the personification of
true love. You will become living monuments of true love. That is the
single, absolute goal.
When men and women have come together and united with God, no power
under the sun can break them apart. God and men and women, if they are
united and if they act with absolute conviction, have enough power to
move the universe. The one absolute element is true love. Only love can
move the entire cosmos. I do not want anything else other than true
love and my mission is to create a true love highway for everyone so
all can reach the goal of true love. Eventually we will create the
Kingdom of God on earth. Such a highway will resemble the true love
tree. There is a main highway, the branch highways, and little roads,
each ending in some cul-de-sac, resembling the leaves. The true love
highway network is not just empty talk or theory-it is attainable.
particularly after my victory in Danbury, this can be accomplished here
on earth right now.
If someone starts out at the top, at one of the cul-de-sacs or
leaves, then he can travel toward the bigger roads, the bigger
branches, and ultimately join the superhighway, going all the way to
the heart of God. Leading into the super true love highway, Dr. Durst
represents U.S. Route 1, so he must guide a lot of true love into that
highway. Then there are the regional directors and the fifty state
leaders, all interconnecting.
But suppose the person in charge of U.S. Route I decided, "I'm
an American highway. I don't want to worry about following the
superhighway" That would be a crazy idea and it would not work.
The ideal is always to bring the branch highways into perfect
connection with the superhighway of true love. For someone to reach all
the way to God, U.S. Route I alone is not sufficient. You've got to
pass through the toll gate that takes you onto the superhighway.
This is like the roots of a tree which dig down deeply but still
remain connected with the highest pans that reach to heaven. As each
root develops, it relates with the other roots. We could liken this to
our national movements in the United States, Japan, England, Germany,
South America, or Africa. Only through true love can all these roots be
joined together to reach the heavenly throne. All the nations and
national characters must be harmonized in the center so that every
national movement and characteristic can touch the trunk line. There
must be one uniting point.
Any country which tries to follow only its own characteristics and
tries to bend the trunk line in its own direction will simply fail.
Such a thing cannot happen. The trunk line begins from the True Parents
and moves straight up all the way to Heaven's throne in one straight
line.
Adam and Eve sprang from God's roots, but since the human fall all
kinds of diverse and perverted cultures have come into being. The True
Father's mission is to bring all these perverted individuals, families
and cultures into one original point, into one straight line back to
God. Therefore, the straight line established by the True Parents must
be joined by the rest of the world. They cannot possibly just go their
own way, because that straight line is the absolute standard.
If the True Father were swayed by someone else's advice or
opinions, whether political or spiritual, then the line would bend and
the whole ideal of the Kingdom of God would eventually break down. But
when the entire world is united around one central line, there is no
room for Satan. Satan has to be automatically expelled from the world.
I went to Danbury in order to expedite this providence. That line
which started from the original root in the Garden of Eden must go in a
straight line all the way to the Kingdom of Heaven. By the suffering of
the modern-day crucifixion, that has been expedited.
Therefore, if you face a barrier, even prison, you cannot dodge it
or shy away from it. You have to penetrate that barrier and break it
down. If I had tried to avoid prison and had run away to Korea or Japan
or South America, I could not have broken that barrier. This is the
same reason that Jesus prayed on the Mount of Gethsemane, "Father,
if it be possible, let this cup be taken from me; nevertheless, not my
will but Thine be done"
If God has a certain plan for you to dramatically break through a
certain barrier or difficulty, you must not avoid it. You must stick
with it and break through it to the other side.
Satan doesn't like the place of sacrifice and suffering. He is very
boastful and arrogant and he likes to live luxuriously. He loves to
complain and he thrives on jealousy, vanity, and greed. You have to
understand the ways in which you attract Satan and the ways you can
repel him. Prison is a collection of people who constantly complain and
blame others for their troubles. Nobody in prison likes to admit his
guilt; he always has someone else to blame for being there. But when I
entered prison, I was silent. I said to myself, "I am not going
to go along with this crowd. I am grateful to God to be here and I'm
not going to utter one word of complaint"
I knew why I was in prison. It was the most important barrier which
God wanted me to penetrate. Throughout history, many martyrs and saints
died for the sake of their religion, for the sake of God's love. True
love is greater than life itself. Therefore, for the sake of the
tradition of true love, you have to go forward and make sacrifices,
even if you might lose your life. The absolute standard is this: if you
have to die for the sake of true love, you must choose that route. That
is my uncompromising principle. Do you understand?
One thing is certain: in the entire history of humanity, no one has
persevered more or suffered more for the sake of true love than I have.
I have truly lived an uncompromising way of life for this purpose. I am
ready even now to give up my life. Ultimately the world is destined to
come under the domain of true love. True love and the power of the
universe
have protected me throughout my life and that is the reason I have
come this far. Now I am ready to guide the world to Join in true love.
I was born for this mission and I have persevered and suffered for
this purpose. Now the couple has been created which is unique in all
history because we won the victory for true love. For that reason, that
couple is called the True Parents. True Parents are the ones who are
victorious with true love.
You are in a position to not only know and serve and love the True
Parents, but also to protect them. You also have a mission to fulfill,
the mission of creating Heaven on earth. This is truly the most
remarkable responsibility.
We are, in a way, swimming in the ocean of true love. We are
swimming across the ocean, going around the world. Ultimately we are
going to go through the golden gate and reach our goal. We are born for
that way of life.
Men and women are supposed to be born in true love, reared in true
love, educated in true love, married and have children in true love,
become the lords of all creation in true love, and then be elevated
into Heaven. That was supposed to be the true way of human life. The
Bible says, "Know the truth and the truth shall set you free"
Now that you know the truth, you are on the way to achieving total
inner, spiritual freedom.
You know that you can go only one way. You must follow the absolute
standard; you cannot adjust it to your own tastes or negotiate with it
or compromise it. But once you achieve this standard within yourself,
you will be able to go everywhere, to enjoy anything in the entire
universe. That is the way life should be.
Today, on Children's Day, we should pledge to follow the True
Parents absolutely. If you are determined not to complain and not to
get tired but to be always full of vibrant determination, then Satan
will be smashed. I am very proud of that kind of determination.
The most important thing is that God has given us True Parents.
Now we have to fulfill our responsibility. Let us raise our hands high
and make our pledge to God. Thank you.
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