TRUE LOVE AND FORBIDDEN LOVE

An Investigation into the Cause of
Immorality and Suffering,
its Historical Origin and its Solution

Chapter 2 - THE NECESSITY OF ANSWERS AND SOLUTIONS

As we have just discussed, love should be focused according to the divine plan or principle, in a correct and true direction, producing good results and, without doubt, be the source of happiness and the fulfillment of our ideals.

But unfortunately, as we have already explained, all throughout history people have not known how to find the true direction in relation to love and reach the ideals that we so earnestly desire.

When and how did this tendency of choosing a false and illicit direction in love originate? What is the cause of this deviation? If God is our creator and His eternal and unchanging ideal is the realization of a unified world of love, peace and happiness, why is this world a place of suffering and tragedy so different from the divine ideal?

Up to now nobody has been able to clarify satisfactorily with depth and detail all those questions and offer really effective solutions to end human suffering and tragedy.

From all the investigations ever made, the one we are about to present is the most important one. From all the secrets ever revealed this is also the most transcendental.

The extraordinary discoveries made by Rev. Sun Myung Moon on this topic have an immeasurable value and represent an essential contribution clarifying this problem which was never before resolved satisfactorily.

Sun Myung Moon began a long and arduous pursuit in search of these hidden secrets and mysteries on Easter morning April 17, 1935 on a mountainside in the Northwest of the Korean peninsula, his native country.

At the age of 15, while in deep prayer and extremely distressed by the suffering that he observed around him that, lamentably, was a continuation of the human experience throughout history, Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision and showed him the course of events of his life.

Due to the ignorance and intolerance of his contemporaries, Jesus' life was filled with suffering and pain. In spite of all the preparation of Israel carried out by God, including the sending of prophets and giving signs before the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus was faced with denial and opposition in his time, because the people could neither recognize nor accept his true role and position as the Messiah. This failure of the chosen people to unite with the awaited Messiah led them to consider him an impostor and ultimately crucify him after only three years of Jesus' public ministry. Nevertheless, Jesus always maintained a heart of unconditional love and was victorious in bringing spiritual salvation to humanity through his example and sacrifice on the cross.

However, the immense hope and expectations of God and Jesus to finally eradicate sin from the face of the earth at that time, and physically establish the Kingdom of Heaven, were not completed. This hope still remains unfulfilled.

Jesus explained to the young Moon the necessity that someone should seriously carry on the task of completing this mission and he asked him to accept that responsibility.

In spite of his age, Sun Myung Moon had already felt the tragedy and suffering of humanity, and was determined to dedicate his life to remedy it. But this revelation occurred suddenly and he was very astonished. He was asked to make an extremely difficult and important decision. In the beginning he rejected the mission, but finally he accepted. As he would explain years later to his followers, he did it for two reasons: Firstly, if he had not accepted, Jesus might not have found anyone else. Secondly, if he began such a task by his own determination, he would always have had the option of abandoning it in the future, but if a solemn pledge was made to someone, in this case to Jesus Christ, then he would have to persevere until the end.

After this profound and overwhelming experience, everything completely changed in his life and during the following nine years he undertook an intense search for the truth.

Although outwardly he continued his studies, graduating in electric engineering, all his free time was dedicated to prayer, study of the Bible and other sacred books. He was intense, serious and concerned, preparing for his mission. He wandered in the mountains and along the rivers, meditating, fasting, praying, investigating.

The answers never came in an easy way. He had to fight intense and fierce spiritual battles with evil satanic forces which wanted to block his search for the truth which could liberate humanity from sin and suffering.

Through innumerable nights spent in prayer, he experienced profound spiritual communication with Jesus Christ, Moses, Buddha and other saints, as well as direct communication with God.

He fought desperately in order to solve the huge spiritual enigma of such questions as:

Who is God? What is His nature? What is His intention and purpose? Why did He create man? What is the relationship that must exist between human beings and their Creator? This was one of the answers which God Himself revealed directly to him:

"The basic and central truth of this universe is that God is our Father and we are his children. All people were created as God's children."

Consequently, he asked Heavenly Father: Why do not we enjoy this intimate relationship like Father and son with you now? By which means, process, reason, when and by whom was this relationship destroyed? By Satan? Who is Satan? Who created Satan? Why did Satan become Satan? If You are good and the only Creator, how could evil appear? If nobody created Satan, how did Satan come to exist?

If God is love and taught us to forgive our enemy 70 times 7, why could not this very God forgive Satan? Why? ... What kind of conceivable deed could Satan have done, that is impossible even for God to forgive? What kind of sin was committed in the beginning, that brought so much tragedy to this world? What exactly was the so-called original sin? Why did it affect us and continues to affect us so deeply?

If God is almighty, how could God permit the existence of evil? Why does God seem incapable, impotent? Why?.. Who is responsible to solve the problem of evil? God? Man? The Messiah?

God and Jesus had been waiting for someone who could finally proclaim to the world Satan's identity and his hidden crime, so that he could be accused and judged in front of God.

To be able to clarify and expose the nature of the original sin, was the most complex and formidable task.

Once Sun Myung Moon discovered the unbearable betrayal committed against God and His ideal of love in the beginning of human history, the knowledge of this secret was the best weapon to defend himself and counterattack the forces of evil, and the key that enabled him to discover the path along which mankind has to travel in order to be restored to the originally intended state of goodness and perfection. He discovered not only that part of the path we have already covered for some distance in the past, but also the part we still have to complete in the future.

At that time, Sun Myung Moon began to understand intensely the anguished heart of our Heavenly Father, who constantly suffered and still continues to suffer because of the tribulations and sins of all his children. Although many people abandoned God, He never abandoned anyone. In spite of his loneliness and sorrow, He constantly worked for the salvation of humanity.

Realizing and feeling this tragedy Sun Myung Moon cried endlessly upon discovering Heavenly Father's miserable situation. Sometimes his clothes were completely soaked by his tears and his face so swollen that even his neighbors could not recognize him.

He continued to ask: Through which principles have You been working throughout human history in order to restore humanity? Why was the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus Christ proclaimed, not established when he was here on earth? What were the circumstances and the reasons why Jesus was rejected and crucified two thousand years ago?

When will the end of the world, announced in the Bible, take place? Why does the world have to come to an end? How does the world end? Will it be a catastrophe of the universe, or not? If not, what is the real meaning of the unusual phenomena predicted in the Bible? How and when will evil and sin finally be eradicated from human history?

After many incredible ordeals, Sun Myung Moon was finally victorious and received answers to these and many other questions, which were later systematically written down by his followers in what we know today as the Divine Principle.

Rev. Moon commented in 1972 in London:

"I am revealing a topic of the biggest controversy in the contemporary theological world. Its content is not merely a study or investigation of the Bible. It is a revelation that came after an intense search and exploration in the most remote places of the spiritual world, where I received the answers. Therefore, my most serious desire is that you do not rush in making prejudgments. Please, hold your conclusions until you make your own investigations, particularly in the spiritual world.

I know clearly that God's law is very severe. If I proclaim something which is not true, then I know that I will receive the judgement of history. I have suffered persecution all my life only because I am speaking the truth and for that reason only. There are two ways of checking this. We can verify it here on earth or we can confirm this truth in the spiritual world. I say this to you because I hope that you will meditate deeply about this and consider it seriously."

Next we are going to expose some concepts that will help us to understand much better these revelations about the historical origin of evil and its implications in what is traditionally known as "the fall of man".