Our Hope

Everyone has some kind of hope for the future. We want this hope to be fulfilled on the national and worldwide level. When you study as a young person, it is to fulfill your hope. Your hope is to distinguish yourself to the world. Everything you do is to fulfill your inner hope. Your hope is to climb up the ladder higher and higher until you reach a worldwide scale.

Suppose you could become president of a nation. You would plan the number of years you would have to work to become president. You would realize, in a democratic society like America, "I have to set up a foundation to win many votes from the public. " It is not so easy, is it? Many men may have ambition to be the president of a nation, and even some women may have the same ambition. However, very few women have become a president or head of state up to this point. In India and in Brazil, the prime ministers have been women; but they are among the very few. When you consider this, where do women fit in? Even though you women have been inferior in certain areas to men, your hope is not to be inferior, not to be behind men in accomplishment.

Imagine that you have become the president of a democratic nation. You will serve in the presidency only four years. In a democratic society like America, at the most you will serve eight years. During the eight years in office you would have a great voice; but after eight years you would suddenly become a citizen with no power to exercise. Once in a high position, nobody wants to come down, but this is a reality in this system. When you are on top, do you not want to stay there? After being president of a great nation, a man then has nothing to do but wait for his death. There is no value in that.

Suppose you are a great scholar in the world, having won several Nobel Prizes. What would it mean to you? What is lacking? After receiving the prize, what is left? You have to continue research in your field. Then, even if you win 100 Nobel Prizes, what does it mean? You are waiting for death. Even if you continue your work, teaching in a big, renowned university, what does it mean? Where is the value? You are breathing chalk dust and working hard, but what does it mean, really? What does it mean?

Then even when this kind of hope is realized, you have nothing, and no place to go. You are still not satisfied. At the most, the renowned Nobel Prize winner ends up as a teacher or professor at a university before his death. Even a great achiever in the academic circle does not necessarily have a happy family. Some surveys show that women do not necessarily want to marry great professors. They have no time to love their wives, but are slaves to their own study. Women would not like this. So what is the happiness there?

Also, another fact is that the majority of the sons and daughters of renowned professors do not measure up to the academic standing their parents have. Why is that? Many children don't like to repeat their parents' accomplishments. Sons of great people do not always recognize their parents' accomplishments. They don't follow them. This is an ironical situation. In that situation, no happiness can be found.

Then the question is, what is our true hope? Even if our hope in the secular world is realized, after that, we only decrease instead of increasing. Our Father thought this through at a young age. He is very smart, so that if he wanted to distinguish himself in academic circles he would have done quite well. He determined once to receive three doctorate degrees. Then he thought, "After that, what am I going to do? What am IT' Then he came to the conclusion, as he explained to you, the big degrees have no real meaning or value. Then what is the most valuable thing for man? That is the crucial point we have to discuss.

It is not the political power. It is not knowledge. What is it? (Love.) You answered very well. It is love. We have to admit this unanimously, absolutely. What is the origin of love? (God.) Yes, in one sense you are right, but that is a little vague or ambiguous. Is love to be given or is it to be received? (Both.) Which is the starting point, to give and or receive? (Give.) The starting point should be either one of them, but not both at the same time. Here we have a fundamental question to answer.

Is it love to give, or is it love to receive? You have to decide. Does love belong to me, or to others? If love belongs to you eternally, you don't have to strive to possess it. Then the question arises, to whom does love belong? Do you think love belongs to you individually? Then if it is not mine, why do I need this love? Even though it does not belong to me, why must I risk my life or even die for this love?

After risking your lives, if you found love, what are you going to do with it. (Give.) This is widely unknown. Most people do not understand. There is no clear direction on the concept of love. We can see no clear trunk, no branches, no leaves of the tree. Historically we have to find out the source of love. Is it from me? From others? The cause of love can not be me. Love must come from another source. When you narrow down this concept, doing research upon research, what conclusion do we reach? If we trace the cause of love back to its origin, we will end up at the time of creation, with our ancestors Adam and Eve.

We could ask our grandparents, even Adam and Eve, where does love come from? Adam and Eve will not say, "This love is from us. " They cannot say that. Love comes from somewhere other than from within Adam and Eve. Can this source be flexible, sometimes coming from the South, North, East or West? No, it should come from one direction. We don't want multi-directional love. We desire one directional love -- never changing, persistent, everlasting love. That should be the characteristic of love.

Now, what is the origin of love? When we experience love, we don't want that love to come from a source inferior to ourselves. No, everyone wants to receive love from a superior source. Is it true? Why? Even though a girl is not beautiful, she wants to have a husband far more handsome, far greater than herself. We want to develop our love on an increasingly higher level. Is it true? You would like your partner to be better than yourself. This would mean that the love you receive comes from a higher source than yourself.

Then the source of love for Adam and Eve should be superior, higher than those two beings. It should come from the highest source. How great the love must be-eternal, unchanging. Then we realize that there must be an absolute being, from which love originated. If we do not understand this absolute source of love, our love would always be changing, unstable, insecure.

So men have to reach the conclusion: even if there is no God, we have to set up an absolute being from which love originated. Otherwise, we cannot set up the theory. We cannot set up the direction. Even if there is no such a being, we must set up a hypothetical situation. Then we have to find the truth. Peace and security, assurance, all wonderful elements, will come from that absolute source. Even if we just assume God is wonderful but, if we found that there really is an absolute source of love, how much more wonderful it is. How amazing it would be if we actually found the source from which love comes.

If you have such conviction, what a wonderful thing. If you have found the origin of all love, then everything else will come to you. We will be the happiest person when we find such a being. You cannot even comprehend the value of finding such an invaluable being. We cannot trade this finding for the American continent. We cannot exchange it for the whole universe. If you see the sun, the sun becomes itself a source of love. Don't you think so? We have to think of the love from God, the absolute being. Have you ever thought about these things? You have not been serious.

You have been experiencing animalized love, not necessarily love from God. You have been looking for instinctive love, male and female. chasing each other to love. There is a vast difference between instinctive love, and love originating from God. Everybody wants the latter. This is human thinking and beyond. You searched for love from the absolute being. Then you concluded: this is it; this must be it. After you found it you might grow into higher and higher levels of love until you dwell in the highest realm. Would you like to marry with God's blessing in heavenly love? (Yes.) You have been engaging in instinctive, animal-like love up to the present, before the Unification Church. You never thought about God and His love.

Have you ever thought about that pure traditional love, unspoiled love from God? In this world impure instinctual love., and God's love are rather mixed up. When they consider the confusion and complexity of love, really good-thinking people want to escape this kind of love. They have to even stop thinking of this kind of love. Have you ever thought about this? So Father is saying that in this complex and confused situation, sometimes you must have fought to get away from love affairs.

The man or woman who ever thought, "I want to live a pure life and get away from this impure world," can be a great person. Saint Paul was one of these. He had logical ground on which he set up his attitude of celibacy. He is great in that sense. If he had no strong grounds for this concept, nobody could understand him.

The next thought we have is that, if Adam and Eve had shared ideal love from God and had become the ideal husband and wife, what would have happened? Suppose you yourself are within the scope of ideal love. Then to whom does this love belong? It neither belongs to me, nor to my partner. Then does that love belong to God? Even God cannot have love without an object. So without man, God cannot consummate His love. Even God, the cause of love, without man as His object, cannot possess love. Even God cannot claim that the love belongs to Him.

Love causes a subject and object to be united into one. That is the heavenly definition of love. Love is eternal and unchanging. Why? Because cause and effect can be united into one through love. The power of love make the two, subject and object, one so that love is even greater than God. Can you understand? The absolute God has to search for love. He has to come here. Absolutely, God with all His love, needs man on earth. Are you that kind of object to God's love? You will be.

When we realize this, we feel the happiness within ourselves. Without this understanding, happiness is impossible. Imagine, God is happy because of love. Adam and Eve are happy together; Adam and Eve with God are happy. This is the happiest occasion we could imagine when love operates. Then God and Adam and Eve in love would be dancing all day, eternally turning around. The ideal world is a world intoxicated with love, dancing, and singing-all joy. That's the ideal earth.

Now Father has explained the real meaning of love. You are happy to listen and you are responding, you are clapping now. Is it true? Love is the greatest thing in the universe. Love makes God weep sometimes, and lets Him laugh; love makes Adam and Eve weep or laugh together also. Love makes all kinds of things possible. It is the same with you. If you have love, you are happy. If love is gone, you are sad; you are miserable; you are sorrowful. Then heavenly joy is what we seek.

So many people say: "Please, love me, stay with me." Nobody says, "Love, get away, depart from me." Everybody knows the simple truth. All mankind wants love to stay eternally, continuously. God is the source of love, and He is eternal, unchanging. Therefore love which comes from God should be unchanging, eternal. We can think of love existing along two intersecting lines. There is vertical love and horizontal love. Similarly there are two kinds of people, in terms of personality: vertical and horizontal, two types.

In the family system, vertical love is represented by parents and children, horizontal love exists between the husband and wife, subject and object. Two kinds of love are necessary in the family. Why do we need, why do we desire children after marriage? Do you really want to have children after being blessed? Why? Because the source of the universe is composed of two loves, horizontal and vertical, so that you are instinctively looking for that. If you don't have offspring, you never experience vertical love. You have to feel this love. However, let's talk now about horizontal love.

Man needs woman; woman needs man. Why? It is a universal principle that we need to experience horizontal love. However, without a vertical element, horizontal love cannot be produced. Which is first, vertical or horizontal? We have to understand this. Vertical love is first love between parents and children. The second stage of love is horizontal. You have to clearly understand these two kinds love.

In America they say, "We don't need parents. We disregard parents. " Parents' have partial responsibility for this because they have failed in providing a true vertical relationship of love. That is why children deny their parents. If they had experienced real love (vertical love) within the family during the years before they married, American young people would not deny their parents. If they experienced true vertical love between parents and children, young people today would realize, "We cannot exchange the value of this love for anything."

Happiness of children cannot come without experiencing parental love. We cannot deny this fact, this principle. This is a fundamental principle in the family. So when you know this, you see that American society, the family system, should be revolutionized. Everyone talks about love on the horizontal plane. Since when has this been so in this country? Especially youth begin to deny their relationship with their parents when they reach the teen years, when they become aware of the opposite sex. Without experience of vertical love from the beginning, they are instinctively turning to horizontal love. But from the beginning there is a condition for the disconnection of one partner from the other because the source was wrong. Always horizontal means in the air, insecure, floating, vulnerable. Vertical is heaven and earth, quite stable.

From beginning to end, vertical love is straight. Parental love toward their children begins before the children were born. Which story of love is greater -horizontal or vertical? Before a baby is born, already love is involved. It has a longer history than any horizontal love. Which is greater? Which is more valuable? (Vertical.) Western civilization, including America, has not understood this concept. Horizontal love, without vertical love as its foundation cannot be maintained. The ideal situation cannot come about.

If we draw two lines, vertical and horizontal, a 90 degree angle will be set up. This creates a strong foundation. The vertical line is the key. Because Western civilization is based on the wrong foundation, it is at a dead end with no place to go. In that sense, Oriental concept and tradition has great value.

In Oriental tradition, even if you abandon your wife or husband, you cannot abandon parents. That is a strong concept. People of Western civilization, including America, say "My parents can die. I would rather have my wife, my husband, first. " That is the wrong idea. God, if He is there, is thinking as we do. He will want to see Western and Eastern tradition united into one. This is absolutely necessary.

Father experimented in Central Park, New York. Some senior citizens were together enjoying the sunshine. To him they looked sad, so he asked, "How do you feel about your children's going away and never even visiting?" they said, "Very sad.

Then he raised the question, "what do you think about the Oriental system in which parents are cared for and respected until their death?" They confessed that they would like to have that system. Even though you are young now, when your time comes you will be old too. Time does not stop for you. Do you want to become old and have no one visit you? To have your children reject you? Something is wrong in the family system in this world.

Misery came into this world, a deviation from God's original plan, at this point. That is why sadness, and unhappiness prevail. Relationships of love are distorted. If, like a spiritual doctor, we have found the cause of an illness we cannot abandon the patient. We have to cure him. Who is going to correct the situation? If we correct the situation, we must do it perfectly. If we do something wrong more trouble will result. From the beginning we have to plan our work closely.

Something has to be done based on the Principle, so that the whole world can be helped by this approach. It must be successful. That is why we need extensive research on the family system and societal system to correct the situation. Eventually we have to reform society anyway. This is one mission of the Unification Church. We must work to bring about reform based on logic, based on correct research.

We have said that love cannot exist without God, the Heavenly Father. Without God, we do not want love. Are you that way? Up to the present, you have not been. Since you came to the Unification Church, you have become this way. Does anyone object to. this? If we become intoxicated with divine love, what would happen? If you touched 250 volts of electricity, what would happen? You must almost be shocked to death. Then in terms of love what kind of voltage do you need-100 volts? a thousand? a million? How much do you need? One million, one billion volts more than strong power, we need love. The God of such great love is absolute and almighty, omniscient and omnipresent. Think of it, how wonderful He is. He is almighty. If we compare His power of love to electricity, billions of billions of volts of love will come from Him to us. If you touch this kind of love, comparable to such electrical power, you are more than dead.

The degree of happiness you feel when you receive this love, you cannot express in words. Do you understand? There is no death when you touch this kind of love. If this kind of love exists in the universe, don't you want to be a part of it? Then if you are, you are the happiest person in the universe. So man should live touched, intoxicated with love. Then you would be crazy about your job. Spiritually you would be intoxicated with your work, very much enthused. In this happy state, because you can experience such happiness, you would never use drugs or alcohol.

Think of it, two kinds of intoxication. One is the intoxication with eternity in the power of divine love. The other one is intoxication with wine and drugs. Which do you want? (Divine love.) Even taking heroin, opium, marijuana, all these things-you are intoxicated only temporally. After that, you have more problems. If you are drunken with the love of God, however, what would happen? With this JOY, filled with divine love, you would dance, even your eyes would dance, all your cells would dance, your whole body, everything. What is our hope? To receive divine love.

When you analyze more deeply, you understand that when we obtain God's love we are the happiest person in the universe. This is the ideal world, the ideal pattern God created in the beginning. If we share such a divine love when persecution comes, instead of being destroyed we will be more strongly united. In this way persecution makes unity more effective. In that light all problems will vanish.

If a wife sacrifices herself for her husband, then love will be deepened and strengthened and more joy results. Love will flourish when we love and serve others. That way the eternal maintenance of love is possible. Why? If you sacrifice yourself for others, you receive in turn more love. You are losing nothing. Do you understand?

It is true, that if we are going to create the ideal situation, we have to serve others. We have to sacrifice ourselves for the other person's sake. Love is for others, not for me. God exists for love of man; man exists for others, for God. So if you live this way, you are living according to God's principle. This is where love begins. Do you understand so far?

What is the Unification Church doing? Our church members are dashing into God's original realm. Where is God's love? This is the individual, family, nation, world and cosmos. God's vertical love will come down through all levels. So we should clearly understand what kind of love is God's vertical love. This love, vertical love, should appear on earth among men. It should be realized on the individual, family, tribal, state, national and world level.

By establishing this, the door is open, that four directions can meet in one central point. Four people from four directions can meet. When they meet what will happen? They will be united into one, with divine love, with love from God. When we are united through the divine love of God, nobody can separate us. When you reach that stage, you want it to continue. Right? Then if you are involved this way, you want to be involved more and more deeply.

Love, genuine love, is complete unity. Then when this exists, there will be no such thing as the fall. The fall of man took place before love, divine love, was fulfilled. When you reach the stage of divine love you are psychically and spiritually open. You don't need to receive any instruction. When this occurs, the love flows in four directions. When you are open spiritually, without going to the university, you know everything that is going on in the universe. You don't have to worry about gaining that knowledge.

What is the hope of the Unification Church for the individual? When we reach the stage of divine love we want to be united with the central point of that love. When you reach that point, God dwells with you. Our True Parents will be there. There, true brothers and sisters will be. There will exist a true family. The true tribes will exist. The true nation and the true world will exist at that point. That is the place where heaven and earth can be united. This can be called the ideal kingdom of heaven on earth. This is the hope of Unification Church members.

In the world, no such theory or principle was ever taught. Only the Unification Church has this truth. So even using common sense, when people ask the question, "What is love?" they don't know the definition of love. But you can study the principle and know 100 percent what love is. You have the power of love to lead even the Heavenly Father to come to you. Even the Heavenly Father, if you become His object, will come to you. God and everyone will come to you.

Then your ideal mate, your husband or wife-to-be, will automatically appear. So you don't have to worry about which one you would like to have. Automatically you will have him or her. You will see even in your dream or vision, the wife or husband God planned for you for your future family. This is the Principle. You will see this if you reach that stage. At the moment you are not that way. Is that true? You have a long way to go, because you are fallen; and you have fallen ancestors. You are the vessel, a container which should be perfect. But there is a crack in the vessel. Instead of pure water, there is foul, polluted water. First the crack must be patched, and then the water, the contents must be purified. Shall we gradually cleanse the dirt or suddenly? You have to work hard, push yourself with discipline to quickly purify the contents.

When you come to the Unification Church, it is sometimes hard to comprehend what is happening. We have a clear goal, a clear hope for the future. You now clearly understand what Father has said about this pyramid of love, based on four directions. Who will teach the real meaning of love to the whole world? Nobody except you can do that. Even though temporarily you are working very hard and not always happy, there is no other place except the Unification Church. You are in the right place. You are in the highest educational institution possible. You cannot trade what you have for Ph.D. degrees.

From his youth, Father knew this truth though he did not go through the processes of getting a Ph.D. He is scientific and logical. From his primary school days, Father raised all kinds of difficult questions to his teachers. So since the teacher could not answer satisfactorily, he had to explore the fundamental questions of the universe by himself. So he decided, I will be responsible. The most difficult problem in the universe, I will solve. I will realize the truth on earth. Then he felt, "If there is God He may need one who is thinking seriously of this kind of subject. " Therefore he appointed himself. You have to know this truth. The Unification Church began during his teenage years.

Wouldn't you like to be in the place where you meet God in divine love? That is the place where we would like to live eternally. It will become a reality if you persist. It is the place we are making right now. In this place fallen men have hope. We want to dwell in that place because the central figure is there, the Messiah.

In that place where the Messiah is living, all our ancestors, all the saints, and all mankind wanted to dwell, to live forever. After meeting him, what will we do? Eternally, we want to hold him and live with him forever. Why? We want to cling to the one from whom love comes.

In the place where you meet the Messiah, God will dance, intoxicated with love. You will meet everything you have wanted. Unification Church means to be united, and without unity we cannot exist. For this you will be trained. White, yellow, and black, Eastern, Western all together will be united into one human race. Is it easy to fulfill this kind of unification, unity among all people and races? It is very hard even for a husband and wife in this world to be united. Even parents and children are fighting one another. How can they be united in this world? A powerful force must be operating behind our attempt to make unification. Otherwise, we cannot accomplish it. Do you think it is possible without our True Parents?

When you have grown in divine love, you long for our True Parents, day and night. Where the central figure is, you want to live. That is the desire of individuals who are developing spiritually. Why? Because he is surrounded by the divine love of God. That is why you are attracted. When you are united in this love, no power can separate this love from us.

The happiest person is the person who has found divine love, even at the risk of death. That kind of a person can overcome death. He wants you to be crazy to reach divine love. This is our hope for the future. So the direction of the Unification Church is clear. You can sacrifice yourself, your family, your tribe, and your nation for divine love. You can sacrifice the whole world for divine love. Then you are the happiest person. Wherever you go, whatever you do, divine love follows. Representatives from 12 nations are here. We are fulfilling this hope right now.

You will be eventually blessed in holy marriage. Your children will be proud of you because of your pioneering work, based on divine love. You will be admired by your next generation. Beyond nationality we will establish a new tradition. We are the most happy people because we can know unchanging eternal love from God, centering on our True Parents.

Be determined to accomplish. For divine love, you would like to work hard, even to death. It is worthwhile for you to work hard to win divine love. This is the only way you can be connected to the eternal realm.

When we know this principle, there will be no room for complaint within ourselves. Knowing this, even when he was crawling in the cell of prison, Father never expressed or felt complaint toward heaven, because he felt divine love. This is a new tradition. He worried about the new tradition of divine love so he never complained. He felt, "My tears for mankind are more valuable than anything else. " He overcame the pain of his physical body through divine love.

Even up to the present, Heavenly Father had never met a person like him. In one sense, Heavenly Father must love him, our True Parent, more than anyone. This is the reason why he gives you this kind of training -- discipline and hard work. He wants you to be like him. So when you have difficulty, and hardships, you have to take them lightly, instead of complaining. If you overcome with great gratitude, you will grow. You can claim "I am centered on divine love. I am the master, the lord of divine love. " He wants you to be like the True Parents. This is our hope for the future.