Father Speaks at the Meeting for International Couples in Korea

June 23, 2002
Cheong Pyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center,
Republic of Korea

There are more than ten thousand international couples from our church living in Korea. This includes thousands of Korean-Japanese couples and Korean-Filipino couples, hundreds of Korean-Thai and a large number of Korean-Central Asian couples-plus various other nationalities. In most of these cases it is the husband who is Korean. There are also couples living in Korea where neither is Korean but these are a small minority.

These are excerpts and snippets from the fabric of Father's June 23rd speech at an international couples meeting that was held that weekend at Cheong Pyeong Heaven and Earth Training Center. Before Father spoke, he and Mother walked back and forth the length of the hall, stopping here and there to speak to members. Father devoted a portion of the time he spoke to explaining the mission of those blessed with Koreans. This content is taken from the on-site interpretation, with additional translation and editing.

Why did the fall take place? At the end of the world, in the Last Days, there will be confusion. Families live together throughout the world, but there are no true parents yet, no true husbands or wives, or true sons and daughters. God cannot dwell in such a world.

If something is stuck in your mind, you have to resolve that first. When your husband comes back from work, you should ask, "How have you been today?"

Men and women in the world fight a lot, but Unification Church mothers and fathers should live a happy life every day. They should dance and sing, morning, noon and day.... Even cats and rats would come around them and listen to them sing. The birds would come and perch on flowering trees and sing with them. Animals and insects would come together in harmony. If a couple is happy, everything will want to come. Children would want to come and play in that house. Everybody would want to come and greet the family.

Everyone who came to the area would know that that family lived there. Do you think that God would like to visit that family? If it were such a nice family, God would naturally want to come. You have to prepare ourselves to attend God, who, being attracted to your family, comes to see you.

If a couple is living happily together, would they hope that Father would visit them? Do you have a room for me? If I visit you at lunchtime, will you invite me to lunch? Is there any woman who has had the heart to do so for ten or twenty years, throughout her life of faith? If God visited at lunchtime, would He like to visit a house that has been waiting for him for twenty or thirty years? If I were God, and I found a house where the family was living happily, I would drop in.

When you are in the womb, you cannot smell; you cannot eat with your mouth; you cannot hear with your ears; you cannot feel with your hands. But once a baby comes out of the mother, the father and the brothers and sisters are there. Relatives and all kinds of people visit. Don't you like it when a baby smiles a lot? A good baby smiles a lot when he sees people. Everyone comes around a good child. Grandpa, grandma and all the relatives and neighbors come together to see the child; and the child has five senses with which to observe all the people.

Raise your hands, Japanese wives. Filipino wives. Thai wives? There are a few of you here. You are representatives of the Kingdom of Thailand. You have to think that the best-looking women in Thailand have come here. Whether you are good-looking or not, within three generations you will have the best looking children. If you go to your country, you'll be in a position to receive respect from everyone.

Today is the 23rd, isn't it? The day before yesterday was the 21st; what was the meaning of that day? It was the declaration of the Unity and Completed Settlement of the Parents of Heaven and Earth.

Have you met the Parent in Heaven? You have not known the heavenly parent! You did not know that the Parents of Earth came and became one with the Parent of Heaven.That is the reason you have been suffering. Your minds and bodies have been fighting.

[To one sister:] You look like you would never lose a fight. Your husband is probably a kind person. You control him, don't you? Even your daughters might run away! But because you know the Principle, you are able to live happily together.

You all came to Korea and got married. Because I am so busy, I call you and invite you once in ten years, but I've never really greeted you. I've never sent you a gift for your birthday; how can you call me your True Parent?...

To go beyond one's nation-to come to another country and to raise the children of that country, this is very precious. Satan controls the countries of this world, but Satan cannot control those who've gone beyond borders.... You are in a situation where God can govern your life: this is a happy position. If you feel unhappy you must repent. I didn't match you together to lead a miserable life. I want you to know this, that you can live vertically, you can live a happy, wonderful life, and that you can raise such children.

You've had a lot of children. If you look at these children, they are all more outstanding than their parents. The characters of the two races come together so that you have outstanding children, better and smarter than your ancestors. From now on, there will be more geniuses. The children from these international families will rule the world. Some of the women have master's degrees and may be married to men who only graduated from primary school, but the seed is different. There are bitter persimmons and sweet persimmons. With the bitter persimmon, no matter how nice the tree looks, the result is bitter. You need to have the lineage of the sweet persimmon. The tree may look deformed, but the seed is what is important. A good-looking man is not the point. You shouldn't inherit the seed of the bitter persimmon.

You all came to the Unification Church; maybe your husband just lives on a farm and knows nothing about the world. If you look at his parents, they survived natural disasters and historical events. And then you finally met. Or perhaps thousands of years ago the ancestors may have traversed the land and passed each other, seeking a new country, trying to build a new world. This is us. We are all brothers and sisters. We have a bright future ahead of us. So, you shouldn't be struggling and fighting....

You may not want to see your spouse's face; you may feel bad toward your spouse. But if you had that kind of feeling in your heart, I would be a sinner. I would have to repent. For it was I that transcended borders in bringing together single women and men.

[To one sister:] You fluctuate a lot, don't you? Your feelings go up and down, right? Do you like your husband? Does your husband like you more, or do you like your husband more? [We both like each other.] What country are you from? [Japan.] Your character is that you go up, but then you come down very easily. Your husband is a good person; he has a good heart. Your husband is a quiet person, right? But you are very moody. [Someone offers Father a handkerchief] Well thank you very much, I have one. I don't want to take it from you. Haven't you blown your nose on it?...

So, in this great universe, in God's breath, in God's joy, how much can you feel happiness? Can you always be one in heart with God? Do you have the confidence to do so? From this point on, can you have confidence? Those of you who have confidence to match God's heart, raise your hands. Only a third, the rest are not listening! You have to have confidence that God loves you....

We have women here from eight countries, if we wanted to celebrate by roasting a cow, we could. All of those who came to marry into Korea, you have to live better than those in the country that you came from....Members of the Unification family must become great. You have to be proud of the Unification movement....

When was the last time you saw me? I have so many sons and daughters, but have I had an opportunity to visit all of you? If I wanted to give a gift to each of your children, I would have to work all my life. So, once a year, or once every ten years, if I call you together...The Unification Church has many holy days, so if you come to the holy days, we can meet. I have asked those of you who have dedicated yourselves a lot to come to the holy days.

We have to be able to align with the universal laws. This is what is valuable. If your mind and body are struggling, and you are unable to stop the struggle-if you cannot master this one point-you cannot go to heaven. This is a very important point. In the Unification Church, we teach this logically and scientifically. Those who cannot do this cannot follow me into heaven. If you are my sons and daughters, you have to resemble me-what I eat and how I sleep and how I get up-you have to resemble me. When will you be like me? You are still on the way....

What school you went to-things like that-are not important. The light and weight of your love determine your value-how bright you are. That is the standard.

If you are born as a woman, you must bear a child. Must you have a good child or can you have any old child? You have to have a good child. [Father speaks to a crying baby:] You are better looking than your mother. [Father puts the microphone near the child so everyone can hear the baby's crying] You should nurse the baby.

Everybody likes to hear children crying! That's something I learned today....You are alive to bear children, to raise children even if you are more than thirty or forty years old. You have to live to raise children. If you can't have children, you should even adopt. If you don't raise children, your heart will stay narrow; you have to have horizontal development-both vertical and horizontal. If you grow in this way, you can become a balanced person.... A woman must be gentle and humble and raise the children to be great. If the mother is not humble, the fortune of the child will decrease....It is God's desire that you have children....

We are not afraid of dying. We have gone beyond death. So, who can be so happy? I fought with the satans of the world so that you could take a direct path.

To become true men and true women is the ultimate goal. This is a person who lives not for him- or herself but for the whole. This is simple. If you marry into a family, you become a queen of the village that family lives in; and you try to be one in heart with everyone in that village. You live for the sake of everyone in that village.

So, I'm talking to you, and I still haven't had breakfast. Will you buy me lunch? Or do I have to buy my own lunch? Do I have to go and eat by myself? Should I continue or should I go have lunch? [To a very young child who is crying:] Don't cry; let's eat together. [Father shares his juice with the child.]...

If you have an international marriage, your children will be wonderful. Your lineage improves. If those who are similar to each other get married, their lineage doesn't improve, but with international marriage it does.

You abandoned your homes to come to a foreign land and bear children. Is that correct or not? You all live that way, right? You may not understand the Unification Church well, but you believed in what I said and so you came. Those who are in a higher place flow into a lower place, just like water. Water evaporates with the sun and becomes clouds and then falls back as rain, completing the cycle. The principles of heaven and earth are like this: giving and receiving.

You want to embrace your husband. You want to pull on your husband so that you can embrace him to the marrow of his bones. This is when man and woman come together; the sperm and the egg come together. Your flesh and your bones, even the marrow of your bones come together and unite when a couple loves each other. You cannot do this haphazardly. Your eyes have to meet, and your noses have to meet.

Do you understand these things when you love each other? You have to know the natural laws and live according to them. The man and woman have to be satisfied; you have to feel happy. When you love each other you begin to resemble each other. How about the children? The children are like the combination of both of you. They resemble you and so you love them more.

Even if your child passes away, he or she is in the spirit world; in this age, children in the spirit world can be blessed. How blessed this age is. You can meet see each other in the spirit world.

Is it better to have more children or just one? How many should you have? How about thirty-three?! If you had twins, it would be difficult, but it would be a blessing.

Sometimes you want to see your spouse so much that you cry, don't you? Why do we feel that way? You go and live with your spouse... There's a power that brings men and women together. No matter how many thousands of years pass, you have an original mind within you that wants you to live with your eternal love. No matter how much a very handsome man or beautiful woman attracts you, you want to be with your eternal spouse.

In the animal world there are animals from some species that, once they mate, keep the same mate for life. Once eagles find a mate they do not breed with other eagles. You know about salmon. They return to their original home to have children and are even eaten by their children. They sacrifice themselves for their children.

I have tried to break down all barriers so that everything can be made even-so that God and True Parents and everyone can live together on earth. That ceremony was the Rally for the Unity and Completed Settlement of the Parents of Heaven and Earth.

Was it good that you married into Korea? Was it really good? Then, you can do everything that I ask you, right? Do you have to do everything that I ask you, or not? Until now, you've left everything to your husbands and you've lived as you've pleased. If I invited you all to my house, would you come or not? Would you follow my instructions?...

[To one woman:] When you married into Korea, did you look down on your husband or did you respect him? [I respected him.] Really? When I look at your eyes, it doesn't seem that way. When, as a woman, you love your husband, can you feel that you have to stay with his family? You have to love your husband and his fragrance more than Japan. Have you done that? Why don't you look into my eyes? Why do you look down? Before being a strong woman you have to be a filial daughter....

Do you do hoondokhae everyday? If you don't do hoondokhae everyday, you should pack up and leave. Those of you who do not do hoondokhae, raise your hands. Why don't you do hoondokhae? I don't like to miss hoondokhae or be late by even one second. You have to follow the Parents' tradition.

I am doing hoondokhae most religiously. Without keeping this, you could not call me teacher. So, will you do it? Those of you who have not been doing hoondokhae until now...This person is repenting, so I will forgive all of you. If you don't do hoondokhae, you will not get into heaven. Those of you who are blessed, you have to become one, but if you don't do hoondokhae just because you don't have time...if you have time to eat, you must do hoondokhae. You have to give this top priority.

You have to raise your children well; it's important they be raised by parents. Who can raise someone better than parents? And through settlement we have to enter the age of unification. The mind and the body must not be in conflict. You cannot enter Cheon Il Guk unless you are united in mind and body. How about people from other countries? No matter how famous you are, you have to unite your mind and body. Without that foundation, you cannot go into the Kingdom of Heaven. You have to know that. You must wake up!

You have to learn how to endure. If you don't endure, you cannot accomplish anything-no matter how good you think you are....

What about your sisters-in-law and your brothers-in-law, don't you want to go to heaven with them? Or will you just go there alone? You have to ask them and talk to them and convince them, or you will be blocked on the way to heaven. Your mind will find the way for you. If you follow your mind, you will be okay....

I can't just do anything I want in the world. I have to control myself. I have to follow the laws, and you have to follow the laws. You cannot just live haphazardly....If you develop bad habits, you will be in a pitiful situation for thousands or tens of thousands of years. So, you have done well to be married here in Korea, but don't get on the wrong track, or you will come to regret it. In the Unification Church the women who have come here to Korea and have had children and shed tears are opening the direct way into the Kingdom of Heaven for everyone. You have to understand how important you are.

During the Japanese occupation there were so many difficulties, but I don't want to talk about those things. You have to live in a very clean and decent way. Everything has to be indemnified. By listening to me, if you really dedicate your lives completely, you will indemnify everything. You should be able to determine yourselves even being willing to give your life. There is something happening that you could not even have dreamed about: here are people who were such bitter enemies marrying each other and having children together. The person advocating this is not a false teacher.

I'm over eighty years old and I don't have a nation-Korea is not yet my nation. You don't have a nation either, do you? Do you have a real hometown?...What we are trying to find is the hometown for God and for all of us.

In my early days I thought that even if the whole nation of Japan were destroyed, it wouldn't be enough. But when I came to know God, then I knew that that was not the way-that I had to love Japan. I had to arrange for Japan to indemnify everything....

God does not have His nation yet. You don't have a hometown yet. He doesn't have a hometown yet. Because of that we have to think of Cheon Il Guk. What nation are you from? Say, "Cheon Il Guk." You have to forget your hometown, your mother and father's name, the place you were raised and the school you went to. Cut off your past.... In some ways, you should thank people for opposing you, because that allows you to more easily reject your past. You have to throw it away. You have to cast it away; you have to go out of your home and give up the nation where you were living and the customs and habits that you have. What are the Japanese like? They habitually like miso soup and rice, but you have to deny everything.

You may be going through difficulties to be here. You may have grumbled a lot! Why did you marry a Korean? If you did not know that this was the way of restoration, you should repent. Filipino, Thai-whatever nationality. Without coming here, could you become part of the direct lineage receiving the blessing from Father? This is equalization.

You have to go to a point where you don't have a shadow. If the sun is at your back, you have a shadow, but if the sun is directly above you, you don't have a shadow; you have to be in that kind of place. Until now, the world has been captive to the shadow, Satan, but you have to reach the point where there is no shadow. You have to get beyond Satan's grasp even if you encounter suffering. You have to do the work of salvation, by going from heaven down to hell.

Until now, I have been suffering to save my descendants, and you have to do the same thing. That is the history that could not be helped, but now we have to go on from there.

You were born as a woman, and now you've met True Father. You have to find the eternal tradition of love. There's no other way than this. You don't know. Many of your husbands are working in the country as farmers. You have to try that work; go and study there with them.

Where is your hometown? [Cheon Il Guk!] So, whether you are from Korea, Japan or America, the dispensational nations, you were all given your mission areas to be responsible for, and you have to go there and learn the customs and language of this nation. You are supposed to take responsibility. That in itself is a blessing, and that is the way you will inherit the blessing of Heaven; and by going beyond the land and sea, you will overcome the wilderness....

What did we lose? We lost the entire universe. The search for the hometown has been going on through thousands and thousands of years' of suffering during which we couldn't find it. People lived a single, celibate life to find the way of God, but now it is the time that you must find a spouse and settle the heavenly hometown. This is the liberation that has to happen. That liberation comes when the Lord comes. This is something that people could not do on their own; it is when the Lord comes. Everything has to be repented for. So once again, you came to find your hometown and your husband....

Now, you've come here to find the nation; and, as a way to be blessed again, you underwent the twenty-one day training. Then, you received the registration blessing as a family and were assigned an area, weren't you? Now, you have to love this, your hometown of hometowns, shedding blood and sweat. You should take responsibility as masters who are not ashamed before the creation.

For thousands and ten thousands of years, how much have your ancestors longed to step on the ground of the your hometown? I'm not talking about the islands of Japan. Your ancestors who were blessed feel pain over the fact that they've never been masters who could walk on the soil and breathe in the air of the hometown you have settled in, and loved the animals and nature there. That is why they want you to find your hometown as much as you do. You must understand that it is the destined, principled path you are to walk. You must follow a life course approved by Heaven, all things, the entire world and the entire cosmos to find your hometown, your true husbands and to attend the Parents.

The True Parents are the king and queen of the family, of the nation and of Heaven and Earth. The Unity and the Completed Settlement of the Parents of Heaven and Earth signifies that there is a nation. Don't you want to live in the nation? Do you want to go back to Japan? You should leave Japan. No matter how strongly people oppose me and the Unification Church, you must be willing to return to your true hometown, to follow the heavenly way, and to even be willing to give your life, to offer all of yourselves before Heaven even if you have to separate from your loved ones in this world until you meet them in the spirit world. You must be willing to be the offerings God can accept.

Because Adam lost everything because of the fall, you should be able to offer the all of Japan to Heaven and the world Parents have been through. And then you should have God and True Parents bequeath the offerings back to you. That is how you can have your own ownership. Anything you own before that is not rightly owned according to heavenly law. You will see. When you go to the spirit world, you will be caught by the heavenly law. I am telling you the truth. Do you understand or not? [We do.]

If a married woman leaves her homeland that woman is worthy of pity, isn't she? You have to give her a gift. No gift is more valuable than the one I am giving you. That is, this teaching for your tribes who have lost their homeland, nation and heavenly parent. Now is such a time.

I've blessed all four great saints. Have I or haven't I? They are now coming down and living with their wives on earth. Did you know that? Can you imagine someone who lived thousands of years ago coming now to the earth and living with his wife? Is there anything like that in the world? I'm not telling you a lie. I know that this is a reality.

They are very happy to be with their wives. In the past, people would even kill themselves rather than lose their purity. That is the kind of mindset we need to have. Do you understand? Why did you come here to be married? To find your hometown, to find your husband; and once you're here, you also have to have sons and daughters. That is something that God is proud of. It is God's children that you are working to get. Where is there a more important hometown than this? It is God's kingdom; it is God's will.

I'm forgiving everyone, and I'm blessing everyone: the father-nation, the mother-nation and the elder-son-nation. That is complete forgiveness. There has never been forgiveness like that. Satan should pay with his blood. He will be apologizing for tens of thousands of years. Over tens of thousands of years he will want to serve to establish the origin of peace in the world.

The day before yesterday, what was it? The unity of the Parents of Heaven and Earth. Ask for the speech from the rally. You must practice that content. But you do not realize what kind of rally that was. This morning (for hoondokhae) we read the speech from the Coronation of the Kingship of God. Would I say things that I could not take responsibility for? I would only say things I can take responsibility for. As this was a historic declaration, I am teaching you clearly. It is natural law. This is not just some doctrine, but the law of Heaven. This is the law of Creation, not just some doctrine of the Unification Church; this is the constitution, the laws of heaven on earth and in heaven.

You should not be capricious women. You should not raise capricious children. They must be very strong and exemplary, active and outgoing. You must fully establish your purity, go forth in strength and be one with Heaven as you go along. Do you understand?

Don't you know you have come to find your hometown? The world cannot attend the True Parents directly. You must be grateful for the few times in your life that you can see me. You have to want to be with me. How many times can you meet me in heaven and on earth? There are many people in Africa who have not seen my face in ten, twenty years. There are nations I haven't gone to in ten or twenty years, but you're so lucky. There are places I want to go, but I can't because I don't have time.

What time is it? It's been almost three hours, and my legs are getting stiff. These grandfather's legs get swollen if I stand for a long time. You don't know about that, do you? When you are over eighty years old, you probably won't want to do anything. What grandfather of eighty stands for hours and talks and then has his followers say, "No, you can't stop. You can't stop"?

So, once again, why did you come to be married here? To find the soil of your hometown, to find your husband, to have children, to become filial sons and daughters to your parents and to establish the kingdom. To do this you have to have your husband, you have to have your children. You have to live together in one home with your husband and with your parents. You have to live together and walk on the soil together. You shouldn't resist living in your husband's home or your parents-in-law's home. You have to be drinking the same water, breathing the same air. By living in that way, you are able to inherit the tradition. So even though Japan is important in the world, if you concentrate on Korea, we will make the dispensation move forward. You do understand, don't you?

The Israelites all left Israel and God's providence shifted to Christianity. People left their own nation. Christianity left Israel, and Buddhism grew outside of where Buddha was born. So, you don't want to stay in the place where you were born; you want to go somewhere else and bear real fruit for God. Don't regret that you came here, and then weep and complain about it. Learn how to be grateful and really work hard for the dispensation. You have to decide right now.... "If we live well, I'll love you; if we're poor, I'll love you." Say that to your husband or wife and also about your nation. Whether we live well or not, it's still your nation. You have to do things in the right way, having come to this nation. Having come to your hometown, live in the right way.

You have to witness; and you have to go out into the Cain world. You have to bring together your Abel ancestors. You have to witness to all of your tribes; and bring famous people, so that you can save the nation. You can lead the way. How are you able to do this? And who can oppose you when you are doing something like this? Can you do this, work day and night in any season? You have to know this kind of truth and go this way.

So, do you have to do this or not? If everyone establishes this kind of a tradition, you can save the satanic world. You have to go this way. So, raise your children and become filial children before the Parents of Heaven and Earth. You have to restore the foundation for heaven. You are doing this in your name; and to restore this is why you can pray in your holy name. Then the whole cosmos will be restored together. You have to become those princes and princesses who represent the entire cosmos. Your nose and your eyes should be used for that, not for weeping your own personal tears. Don't look down at the ground. You have to spread your shoulders and work for the tradition. What are you going to do? Are you going to do it? Even if you lose your life, you should want to do it.

You have to learn Korean. You'll be lost if you don't learn Korean. [To one sister:] Do you understand? [Yes; I understand almost everything you say.] "Almost" isn't enough; you have to understand everything. What if you miss ten words? You might miss the point. You have to understand everything.

Why did you get married? [To find my hometown.] To find the hometown, your husband. You have longed for your father's embrace. Who is your parent? The Parents of Heaven and Earth. Do you understand? In the bosom of the Parents of Heaven and Earth, you should raise your children to be God's filial children and loyal servants who have nothing to do with the fall. Only then can you register into the realm of the royal family in the heavenly kingdom. Don't you want that? [We want it.] You must never shed tears no matter what happens. Do you understand? [Yes.] You rascals: you haven't fulfilled your responsibilities.

The world has changed from yesterday, from the new Rally for the Unity and the Completed Settlement of the Parents of Heaven and Earth. That's why I gathered you here today. I've told you clearly. You have come here because you longed for your hometown. You longed for your true husbands. No matter how rich and capable men in the fallen world are, they are all sold out to hell. Once you're bound to your husband, no matter how much of a scoundrel he is, you must take him to heaven because his blood lineage has been changed, and he has become your hometown and your husband. You must take him with you to heaven. You must bring him up. You should bring your children up right. If you fall, your whole families will be in trouble in the other world. That's why I am teaching you very clearly through hoondokhae. Do you understand?

Today is a new day. You must clearly understand that today is completely different from past history. It is different from yesterday. As you live together with the Parents of Heaven and Earth who have settled on earth, your mind and body should not be separate. Your mind and body must be united. Don't your mind and body struggle each other? Do they or don't they? You must solve the problem. You must understand. By learning the reality of the spirit world through doing hoondokhae you will know to which level of the spirit world you are going to go. Say, "one heart, one body, one mindset!" [One heart, one body, one mindset!] It is the mainstream ideology of God and the people of the cosmos. You should make a note of this. "One heart, one body, one mindset" is the mainstream ideology of God and the people of the cosmos in the blessed heaven and earth. Do you understand? Say it. [One heart, one body, one mindset is the mainstream ideology of God and the people of the cosmos.] That's it.

At the time of creation, God had His philosophy, which was one heart, one body, one mindset. Actualization of that idea is the ideal family, ideal nation and the ideal Heavenly Kingdom. That's all. There is nothing else. In your mind, you should unite with God's one heart, one body, and one mindset in creating your family, nation and the world. That's the way you can be the hope of all creation. Isn't it simple?

[Originally published in Today's World, July 2002]