Filial Attendance: The Way of Filial Piety of Holy Sons and Daughters of God - Elio Roman
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Filial Attendance: The Way of Filial Piety of Holy Sons and Daughters of God - Elio Roman |
When Adam and Eve fell, they became the temples of Satan. They came to embody fallen nature and sin. Satan's spirit came to dwell inside of them. Satan dwelled in sinful families and through them settled the earth. Instead of becoming the temples of God human beings became the haunts of Satan and evil spirits. All humankind has inherited Satan's fallen nature and his sin. All have become the object partners of Satan. All have fallen under Satan's dominion. All are under the bondage of sin. In the process of restoration God has sought to restore mankind to their original position. He has sought to separate Satan from human beings, and for human beings to become aware of and separate from their fallen natures. God is seeking to establish His all-immanence, all-omnipotence, and all-authority by re-creating mankind as the temples of God -- His filial sons and daughters who are His object partners.
The difficult course of self denial became necessary because of Adam and Eve's failure to have absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience centering on God's Commandment. The original condition of self denial placed on human beings occurred prior to the Fall, when God directed Adam and Eve to deny their sexual desires. God gave them the Commandment not to engage in a sexual relationship until they matured sufficiently in order to be married. Adam and Eve were to attend God by maintaining absolute faith and absolute obedience in God's Word.
In the process they would have come to embody the love of God. Their heart of attendance would have matured as God's perfect object partners. This is very important. During their growing period, while keeping the Commandment, their heart of attendance, which is the heart of the object partner, was developing. Had they matured their heart of attendance, which is the heart of the object partner, they would have inherited from God true love, true life, true lineage, true ownership, and the true ideals of God. In essence during their growing period Adam and Eve were downloading God. Their heart was undergoing the development and maturation of the heart of the object partner, which is the heart of filial attendance of divine sons and daughters of God.
In order to restore the vertical heart of filial attendance which was lost at the Garden of Eden, human beings in the long history of God's Providence of restoration have had to undergo the eight vertical stages of restoration. Historically, human beings had to restore attendance as a servant of servants, then attend as a servant, then as an adopted son, as an illegitimate son, and as a true son before we could attend God from the positions of a true mother, then as a true father and attend God as an ideal family in the Kingdom of God, His original ideal of creation.
Due to the Fall, Adam and Eve failed to develop their vertical heart of attendance to God. Their children were unable to vertically attend Adam and Eve. Their grandchildren were unable to vertically attend them as grandparents. As a husband and a wife were they unable to attend each other horizontally. Their children also could not learn and develop the heart and tradition of horizontal attendance where younger siblings attend their elder siblings. Thus, the three object purpose which fulfills the four position foundation could not be established. This means that the Four Great Realms of Heart could not be realized. Similarly, the lack of vertical attendance in the three lineal generations failed to establish the Three Great Kinships of grandparents, parents and children.
Adam's family failed to develop the vertical heart of attendance to God by keeping His Word with absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience. Adam's family failed also in horizontally establishing the harmonious relationship between Cain and Abel. It is absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience, which is the way of self denial.
In Noah's family, Noah was able to attend God with absolute faith, love and obedience. However, his sons we not able to attend their father Noah with absolute faith, love, and obedience. Noah, through his vertical attendance of God with absolute faith, love, and obedience in God's Word received blessing from God with which to help indemnify the curse that human beings had fallen under due to the Fall of Adam and Eve. His sons however, due to their failure to vertically attend their father Noah with absolute faith, love and obedience were not able to inherit those blessings Noah had acquired, and instead became cursed.
Although Abraham failed to attend God with absolute faith, love and obedience during his first offering, he was successful in his second offering in which God asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Isaac, maintained absolute faith, love, and obedience and successfully vertically attended his father. Together they made an offering of the ram and successfully attended God vertically with absolute faith, love, and obedience.
The children of Isaac, who were the grandchildren of Abraham, were born as twins. Their names were Jacob and Esau. Jacob, the second born received the blessings from his father Isaac which he had inherited in his vertical attendance to God and Abraham. Jacob went into Haran and successfully vertically attended his uncle Laban. In order to do so Jacob had to continually undergo self denial as he was cheated by his uncle Laban ten times as his uncle continually went back on his word and cheated Jacob. Because of his vertical attendance to Uncle Laban as a servant, he was able to restore the servant's position from the servant of servant's position.
He was also able to acquire blessings in his relationship with his uncle Laban. Jacob then offered the blessings he had acquired while in Haran, to his elder brother Esau, with a heart of love and reconciliation. Esau, feeling the heart of love from his younger brother Jacob, and seeing the blessings that Jacob was offering him, was heartistically moved and embraced his brother. This was the restoration of the elder son's birthright, and restored the failures of Cain and Abel.
Joseph, Jacob's youngest son, successfully attended his father vertically. His older brothers, in the Cain position, attempted to have him killed and finally sold him off as a slave in the desert. Joseph, by receiving the injustices from his brothers, with absolute faith, love, and obedience received the conditions he was placed under, and thereby successfully attended God. With the heart of true love, he held no resentment and forgave and loved his brothers. Joseph was then able to establish the conditions by which his tribe as well as all 12 tribes of Israel, were able to expand the lineage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the tribal level to the level of a people, the race of the Israelites.
Moses also successfully attended God vertically and fulfilled the conditions that God had requested, with absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience. While in Egypt the tribes of the Israelites grew sufficient in number to establish the people known as the Israelites. Having fulfilled the indemnity condition of 430 years of slavery in Egypt God could now bring them to establish a nation. Through Moses absolute faith, love and obedience to God's Word he could now receive the written Word from God by which Israel could develop their culture and traditions and settle in Canaan. In order to establish the nation of the Israelites God revealed to them to 613 Commandments with which they were to establish their traditions within their nation.
Because Moses failed to strike the rock only once as God had commanded, in this situation he failed to attend God with absolute obedience to His Word. Thus Moses was not able to enter Canaan. He was however allowed to see their promised land from a mountain in the distance. Joshua and Caleb, because of their absolute faith, love and obedience to God's promises, were able inherit Moses mission and continue to bring the Israelites into Canaan.
Jesus Christ became perfected through his obedience to God's word. Because he attended God with absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience he was able to bequeath salvation, to all those that attend him with absolute faith, love, and obedience.
Each one of the central figures and families discussed above had to go the way of complete denial, with absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience in order to fulfill the task of restoration towards the establishment of God's kingdom.
Absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience, is the way of self denial and needs to be accomplished on the individual level (sexual purity), the family level, tribal, people, national, global, comic levels, and the completion of the Kingdom of God. True Parents having attended God with absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience have totally denied themselves and have been able to fulfill the necessary vertical conditions to restore the eight horizontal stages. True Parents have also horizontally restored all the necessary conditions to establish the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. They have restored the elder son's birthright and the positions of True Parents, which has expanded to the tribal level, and to the level of the people of the true lineage of God. The next stage which needs to be substantially accomplished is the level of the nation.
While Cheon Il Guk has been spiritually accomplished it has not yet been made manifest substantially as a nation on earth. In order to establish Cheon Il Guk there needs to be a sovereign, a people, the land which comprises, and an ideology consisting of the education of Heaven. Just as the Israelites received the 613 Commandments from God in order to establish the culture and traditions of Canaan, similarly blessed families need to receive the Family Pledge which establishes the traditions of the Shim Jung Culture and Cheon Il Guk. However, the value and significance of the Family Pledge still remains relatively unrecognized. It is the Family Pledge which teaches the way of daily life in accord with the laws of creation. These establish the traditions of the culture of love in Cheon Il Guk.
Every blessed family and every lineage needs to be completely restored in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. It is by each family living a life of absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience that they completely restore their families and lineages and enter the realm of liberation and complete freedom, which is the ideal of creation, the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven is established when all lineages are restored.
Jesus said, "Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it." (Luke 17:33) "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." (John 12:25) Sometimes these passages are used to signify sacrificing one's life (martyrdom); other times, however, these passages are used to signify self denial. This is clarified in Mark 8:34-35 when Jesus says: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it." We have now gone beyond the course of spiritual salvation that Jesus was referring to. We have now been bequeathed complete individual salvation and family level salvation. In the Completed Testament Age of attendance of God and True Parents, absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience is the way of self denial.
The course that every individual and every blessed family needs to undergo is the course of absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience. Blessed children no longer need to go the way of Cain and Abel to receive True Parents and the blessing of holy matrimony. However, they now need to go the way of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience based on the original Commandment of self denial given to sinless Adam and Eve. Blessed children, in compliance to the original commandment, need to deny their sexual desires until they sufficiently mature in order to receive the blessing of holy matrimony. They then need to establish and ideal family, tribe and become part of the Realm of the Royal Family in order to grow a people who settle in the original homeland and live their lives as citizens and owners of Cheon Il Guk.
This way of life of absolute faith, love, and obedience is discussed in Chapter 14 of this book, and is called "Absolute Faith, Absolute Love, and Absolute Obedience". Chapter 14 discusses the conditions of self-denial that every blessed child and every blessed family needs to undergo in order that their families, tribes and lineages are completely restored and expand the realm of liberation and complete freedom in the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven.
From where does heaven begin? Heaven begins from the point of having absolute faith. This means not being able to assert oneself. It is the place of absolute self-denial, without which absolute faith cannot emerge. In connection with life's fundamental problems, most people today go about their daily routine. They wake up in the morning, go through life eating and say, "I am okay with God." Many people believe that, but such people cannot own heaven. They cannot be okay with God. Without a relationship that can be officially recognized, you cannot even have an absolute standard of faith. Without having obtained this prerequisite standard, which must be surpassed in order to realize the Kingdom of Heaven, how can that Kingdom be achieved? There is not a chance. Why not? It is because Satan remains in that place. (46-79, 1971.7.25)
Since human beings got out of order due to the Fall, in order to repair the damage we must follow the basic rules and principles that existed before the disorder occurred. In order to comply with the laws of creation, we must go through the course of the history of re-creation. The Fall began with making one's partner invest for one's sake instead of investing for the sake of the partner. Therefore, we need to go through a reverse process of investing ourselves. That is why religion teaches self-sacrifice. (69-84, 1973.10.20)
If you do not deny yourself completely, restoration through indemnity is impossible. Indemnity conditions can be realized only by completely denying yourself. The standard of absolute denial should be established toward the individual, the family, the race, the world, the cosmos, and God. (1983.4.3, found in World Scripture -- 639)
We must sacrifice our self-centeredness; in proportion to the degree of that sacrifice, our original nature from God is restored. As the result of the fall, we must go this way of recreation; accordingly, religious people must go through the way of hardships. This is the fundamental point of recreation. (God's Will -- 114, 1972.9.11)
In order to accomplish your portion of responsibility, what should you do? What should you do to become people who can fulfill their portion of responsibility? You should stand in a position to deny everything that was born from the emotional connection to and lineage of Satan. (139-249, 1986.1.31)
Absolute obedience means that there is no awareness of "self." It is a state of absolute zero -- complete nothingness. When God empties Himself and returns to nothingness, a natural and reciprocal circular motion begins. Because you give everything out and have nothing more to give, everything will come back to you. This is the origin of interaction in the universe, and the principle that everything comes back to you after you invest completely.
For this reason, you must not insist on your own way. If you do, you will come to belong to the devil. You must not let Satan use anything that comes through your five physical senses. Make it so that your eyes, nose, mouth, feet and hands are used as if they were God's. And try to live your life based on this standard of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience! God always has compassion for and assists such people. When you let go of yourself, God can be with you. (Messages of Peace 14 -- 220, 2007.6.13)
At the time of creation, God created based on absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. This total giving left a complete vacuum, resulting in a deflation in which not even the tiniest particle remained between the two sides, which then attached to each other and became one. This is how oneness, total oneness is achieved. When oneness is created and fullness is produced, like a type of high pressure zone, then a circular motion is created. Likewise, if you totally invest yourself from the position of absolute nothingness, a dynamic type of movement can occur.
When I apply such a principle and invest myself for the universe based on absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, there will come a time when the world naturally unites, and the high pressure zone will be completely filled. Here it is logical that the unification of the world will naturally appear without conflict. (273-297, 1995.10.29)
When God created the universe, He acted with absolute faith. God created us to he His absolute partners of love. Absolute obedience means that we invest ourselves completely, to the extent that we give up all self-centeredness. Furthermore, one totally forgets about the investment that one makes and invests all over again. Such a process continues until one reaches a zero point without any concept of one's own self. Since God poured out all of His faith, what is left is zero; since He poured out all of His love, what is left is zero; since He poured out all of His obedience, what is left is zero. Nevertheless, Heaven's true love is such that the more it is invested, the more it grows. We must come to resemble God in this way.
In order to restore this through indemnity, you must do the opposite things. That is where the term "absolute faith" came from. Since the first ancestors of humankind fell due to their disbelief, we must overcome this and move up. We must move above the line where our ancestors fell. We must have absolute faith. Absolute faith goes forward until we die, or even beyond death. It wants to go forward even when a person is dying.
You do not understand absolute faith, do you? Where is the limit of absolute faith? If I were to compare it with the living person, it is a person who is willing to go forward even if he is dying. And even when this person dies, he falls not sideways, but straight forward. In this sense, if I deny my faith, I choose the way of death. (126-34, 1983.4.10)
Second is self-denial. You must deny yourself 100 percent. It is self-denial. You must deny everything: your eyes wanting to see, your mouth wanting to eat. There was not a single day that I was not hungry until I reached the age of thirty. This was to deny my own self. (126-39, 1983.4.10)
Third is absolute love. Absolute love means digesting one's enemy…. Revenge does not mean forgiveness. The enemy should willingly hand over to you his nation, all his rights, and even his right of a first son. You must receive these things from him. (126-46, 1983.4.10)
Even if our love is rejected, we should continue to love even more. Even if we invested everything that we have, we should continue to invest until we can make our enemy voluntarily surrender. Our Heavenly Father walked such a path, and the Parents of Heaven and Earth walked such a path.
The person who invests love continuously without expecting a direct return becomes a central being, the one who inherits everything, and the person of greatest filial piety. In a family of ten people, including a grandmother and grandfather, the one who lives most for the sake of others will be the central person. The same principle applies with respect to patriots in the nation or to saints in the world. The more one invests without expecting a direct return, the higher one can ascend as a patriot, a saint, and a divine son or daughter of God. Since the beginning of human history, God has surpassed all other beings in living for the sake of others. He has continuously invested Himself without expecting direct return. And because He will continue to do so for eternity He can be the king and ancestor of all those who live for the sake of others. (Public Venue, 2000.2.2
The champions of God have one characteristic in common: They begin their missions by denial of themselves and their surroundings. Isaac's son, Jacob, was no exception. Jacob was a man with strong willpower in service to God. He wanted to open an exemplary path, accomplishing something nobody else could duplicate. (God's Will -183, 1973.10.21)
Perfect recreation becomes possible through perfect denial. Therefore, don't complain in the life of faith. You may say, "I can't give anymore." But, you should conclude whether or not you can give more only after you have done your very best until death…
So, erase every bit of self-centeredness. When you completely deny yourself centering upon God, you can be completely vindicated by God as a result. Complete liquidation will result in complete indemnity; complete indemnity opens the way to recreation. (God's Will -- 121, 1972.9.11)
Abraham's decision then was a lonely one, based upon his faith and his reliance upon God. By faith alone he made his decision and departed, with nothing on his mind except following the command of God. I know he stole away in the middle of the night. Suddenly he found himself wandering like a gypsy. He lived in self-denial; he had given up everything.
The champions of God have one characteristic in common. They begin their missions by denial of themselves and their surroundings. Isaac's son, Jacob, was no exception. Jacob was a man with strong willpower in service to God. He wanted to open an exemplary path, accomplishing something nobody else could duplicate. (God's Will -- 183, 1973.10.21)
Because Adam fell, though he was the parent of humankind, his family was destroyed. Thus the broken family is to be recreated by the establishment of religion. The original family must be restored. Why did Adam fall? It was because of his disbelief. Disbelief was the first cause of the Fall. What was the next cause? He fell because of too much self, assertion. He was a self-centered person. He was centered on himself and he fell.
Next, he required the realm of love to be centered on himself. These were the three elements of the Fall. Disbelief and what was next? Self-assertion, centering on himself, and expecting the realm of love be centered on himself. These became the stepping stones for Satan. That is how the fallen angel emerged. For restoration through indemnity, we must deny these fallen natures. Then, how can we deny them? By going the opposite way. It must be completely reversed…For this reason, we must investigate why the ascetic way is needed. Today, do you want this Reverend Moon to investigate the secret world of religions? If you ask the clergy only these three questions: "Why should you go the ascetic way, why should you sacrifice, and why should you believe absolutely?" they will be unable to respond with anything except "Well, all salvation is through belief." Don't be deceived by Satan's dramatic smoke screen strategy. (126-35)
The first part of God's history stressed denying the material, because the material the things of the creation were sacrificed at that time. Therefore, in the first years of our movement, we emphasized the denial of material things. Later, in the second stage, we emphasize the sacrifice of man and the son, or denial of self. The final stage is the time for the Parents to pay the indemnity. Therefore, the True Parents are in a position to go through untold tribulation in that final period. The history of restoration can be consummated only by having the True Parents pay the entire debt. So I have to be in a position to negate, to deny everything. When I am in the sight of God, I am in the position of plus or subject, and my family is in the position of minus or object. So my family has to suffer, as the object to me. The object has to pay indemnity too. (God's Will -- 139, 1973.7.1)
What you have is surely gold dust, but it is gold dust in the sand, contained in ore or in the earth; hence, it needs to be placed in a furnace and melted down. It must be smelted. This is the standard procedure. As the granules of gold melt and become liquid, would they say, "This is good!" or make a big fuss, saying, "Oh no, I am dying, I am dying?" Although they may say they will die, granules of gold do not actually die. If you want to be pure, you have to deny up to 98 percent of yourself. That which is truly you is only 2 percent. So then, what do you think you need to do? How miserable this is!
Think whether the life of a Unificationist is miserable or happy. Then would Rev. Moon, the center of the Unificationists, be happy or miserable? I have a hope that although I was miserable at the beginning, I will be happy later. When there is persecution, you should think, "I am going into the furnace. This is coming because I am still not perfect." If persecution comes, let it come. If people want to persecute us, let them persecute us! You should want to be inside the furnace until you become pure gold. This is how you can become pure gold quickly. As for those who are walking the path of abandoning their 98 percent and becoming 100 percent pure gold, how much endurance do you think they have to have? How much pain do you think they will endure? But you should still have the conviction to go forward.
Even if the people of the world evaluate you as 100 percent pure gold, the question is whether you will be a 100 percent when God picks you up with a tweezers and evaluates you. This is my worry. God has His view of 100 percent pure gold and I have my suggestion for 100 percent pure gold. Between the two, I want my 100 percent to be greater. How about that? I want my claim to be greater. Then, there should be no impurity, no insisting upon your own way. Does not God insist on His own way? Yes, God insists on His own way. God also has a nature to insist on His own way. In order to be purer, we should not insist on having our own way. Then, we will be 100 percent pure gold and be at a standard higher than the pure gold evaluated by God. We can think this way. If we are totally and eternally free from a mind of self-insistence, which thinks of the self as the center, we can be something that is more than 100 percent pure.
What is pure gold? It refers to its original form, without any impurity whatsoever. To meet the standard of pure gold, a nation must be a place where the people live enraptured in love, without any self-centeredness for hundreds and thousands of years. Those who possess such love are like a great queen or king. I am telling you to be such a wife or husband. When you become pure gold this way, do you need God? God is already contained within you. You will not need Him. So you should be such people. (128-206, 1983.6.26)
When the love of husband and wife is consummated to this most holy degree, God is dwelling with them all the time. In that condition, self-denial is not necessary; one's body and mind are the most holy places. By loving oneself, one loves God. Self-denial became a necessity in religious life because the most holy temple came to be occupied by Satan. Thus, when one loved himself he was also loving Satan. That is why men had to deny themselves to remove Satan from themselves, for the ultimate purpose of putting God within. That is the whole religious process. From the point of view of the ideal of creation, however, every person's body and mind were supposed to be the dwelling places of God…
You must get rid of whatever self-concept you have now in order to become a new self. A new "I am..." must be given room to be born.
This is the reason religion has always taught self-denial. Regardless of what great work you might do, if you cannot succeed in this requirement you will end up in hell. This is why Jesus said, "If you love your parents or your spouse or your children more than you love me, you are not worthy of me." That is because everyone besides Jesus sprang from the satanic lineage; if people loved them more than they loved the son of God, they could not be worthy to be with him. (God's Warning II -- 60)
Self-denial became a necessity in religious life because the most holy temple came to be occupied by Satan. Thus, when one loved himself he was also loving Satan. That is why men had to deny themselves to remove Satan from themselves, for the ultimate purpose of putting God within. That is the whole religious process. From the point of view of the ideal of creation, however, every person's body and mind were supposed to be the dwelling places of God…
Behind every single person on earth today is a long lineage, tracing all the way back to his roots. You have the concept, "I am a white person in America," or whatever, but God is saying that you must eliminate from your mentality the "I am" attitude. You must get rid of whatever self-concept you have now in order to become a new self. A new "I am..." must be given room to be born.
This is the reason religion has always taught self-denial. Regardless of what great work you might do, if you cannot succeed in this requirement you will end up in hell. This is why Jesus said, "If you love your parents or your spouse or your children more than you love me, you are not worthy of me. " That is because everyone besides Jesus sprang from the satanic lineage; if people loved them more than they loved the son of God, they could not be worthy to be with him. (God's Warning -- 60, 69)
Jesus not only said that he was God's only begotten son, he also denied the world. No matter how beautiful or wonderful the world seemed, it was nothing in the sight of God, so Jesus' ministry had to begin with a denial of the world. (God's Warning -- 39)
Then you must assimilate your enemy. You must love your enemy. That path is not easy. Not only must you deny yourself hundreds of times, but you must move up to a position where you are able to love your enemy. Unless you do that, you cannot stand on God's side. (126-44, 1983.4.10)
God's ideal of creation is to bring out in people of the present age all the stimulating emotions which lie within Him, and rejoice as He appreciates their value. Those who live centering on themselves will lose themselves and perish. Those who praised their own value will fade away in death. Sons of filial piety, women of chastity, patriots in a country composed of tribes will disappear when the country is swept away by the worldwide trend of thought and is destroyed. (Sermons Vol.7-145, 1959.9.6)
God originally created us with the ideal of perfection as His goal. Satan knows this and he does not deny it. To establish the complete condition that will enable us to reach the ideal of perfection is not easy. It requires the state of absolute self denial. We cannot do this if we insist on our own viewpoint.
Looking at the world, where can we find an attitude of self denial? It is difficult to find it in the Western mentality, which is characterized by the love of freedom. The ultimate result of such freedom is that only the self remains. Husbands and wives live together, but both claim their own ways. In that case, there are two claims for freedom. If there are four people together, they have four individual demands. If there are 10 people, there are the claims of 10 people for their freedom. In the end, they go their own way and become isolated and scattered. There can be no unity within families, or nations. Although a person strives to enjoy his original nature through freedom, in reality he loses everything and falls to the depths of despair. Finding that he cannot satisfy his individual desires and ideals, he gives up on himself. This is the reality for many in the free world today! particularly in America. But despair is not a part of God's will. In such a world, there is no standard of perfection which God desires.
For this reason, Oriental thinking, rather than Western, holds a possibility for God. Within Oriental thinking, there is the principle of absolute attendance to the parents, and at the same time the idea of following one's elder brothers and sisters When this idea of attendance is expanded, it can reach to the clan leader, the society leader, or the representative of the nation. Thus we can gain the foundation based on the perfect system of attendance. Otherwise, we can never have a family, clan, society, nation, or world that God desires. You must understand this clearly.
Then how can God create this kind of environment? He cannot do it by saying, "You religious people must achieve self denial all by yourselves!" No, we can't do it that way The standard of self denial must be created within reciprocal relationships. If you are pushed into the position of being denied by somebody else, it is the same as self denial. Since we cannot create the sphere of denial by ourselves,
God Himself creates it. Therefore, a religious person will be opposed by everybody. This is the deeper meaning of persecution. When one believes in God and in religion, often those who are closest to him, such as his parents or loved ones, will oppose him. In such a case, Satan, as the second subject, is attacking the first subject God. When someone strikes a righteous person unjustly, it sets a condition that must be repaid. Because of this repayment, the development of religion is secured. Do you understand why persecution occurs? (God's Will -- 594, 1983.4.3)
Although fallen, human beings originally have the character to connect with the eternal heavenly nature, and in each person's mind there exist elements of the ideal of creation. Therefore, human beings can become one with God by unshackling themselves from sin, perfecting themselves, and lead an infinitely happy life. The believers today are not aware of this fact.
What is the purpose of our prayer, or the purpose of the believers of Buddhism seeking the state of self-denial through Zen Buddhist meditation? It is an attempt to awaken the elements that can become the nucleus of the mind. If you set that one standard and establish the center of mind of all that you see, hear and feel before the heavenly laws, then you can make a full bow before God and return the glory. But, among the human beings today, there is no one who is penetrating into it with dead seriousness to reach that state in search of one's original nature, even if they desire this state of mind. Moreover, there is no one who is abandoning everything for the sake of causing the rise of this mind. Although people today can abandon everything they have and step forward for the sake of some ideology or thought, they do not abandon everything for the sake of the truth, which is more important and raises up their mind.
Even if there are some people who forsake everything for some doctrine or give up their own assertions for the sake of some ideology, if they are not doing this to find the truth that can raise their mind, then they cannot make any valuable relationship with the heavenly laws. Then, what must you do to enter this nucleus of the mind and cleanse the defiled mind inherited through the ancestors' lineage of sin for 6,000 years? Just as Jesus said, "The first commandment is that you exert all of your heart, will and character to love the Lord God," you must be in the position of doing your utmost.
Moreover, you must become someone who can step forward at the cost of your life, no matter what kind of work you do or what kind of problem you face. You must do this in the place of your dwelling. You must do the same for all things that are unfolding, centering on the hope that you hold. Even in the forked road of life and death, you must exert all of your mind and body. You have to understand that if you do not do this, then you will not spark the nucleus of the heavenly mind, which enters motion based on the purpose of doing the utmost.
Then, to what extent must we try to provoke this kind of mind? In the course of 6,000 years of human history, there came and went countless prophets, loyal subjects, women of fidelity, and filial sons and daughters. However, no matter how much loyalty, fidelity and filial piety they demonstrated, until now, the center of mind that causes one to embark upon the road toward the complete realization of the ideal world of creation has never been raised. From this we can understand that with their loyalty, fidelity and filial piety, the dispensation of restoration cannot be brought to conclusion.
Therefore, you must also exhibit the heart of uttermost sincerity, exert all of your strength and demonstrate the highest loyalty for Heaven, to set a standard higher than the loyal subjects, filial sons and women of fidelity who pursued goodness for the sake of salvation of humanity until now. Furthermore, if these people, we the Korean people, bear the mission to awaken humanity in the future and usher in the new morning, then the Korean people must exert a more sincere heart than any other people for the sake of God's will. If you who are here feel the sense of mission and responsibility on the world level to pioneer the new course of faith, then to manage that mission in your life you must be trying harder and live more diligently than anyone else in the world.
Similarly, can you demonstrate more loyalty and sincere heart than the ancestors who have done their utmost to be loyal and sincere toward Heaven? This is the problem. (Sermons Vol. 2-151, 1957.5.19)
The safest way of life as a Unification Church member is to work on the front line bearing all the crosses on your shoulders. This is the true way of faith in the Unification Church. This course determines whether or not you are a child of filial piety, a loyal subject and chaste woman. (The Way -- 283)
When you wake up, you will realize that not only you, but also your parents exist. The day you wake up this way and shed tears with your parents is the time of the Second Coming. When we open our eyes, we come to see that there are true parents who have mourned for the six thousand years of the sorrow of humankind, and who have wandered for six thousand years in search of us. Heaven grieved even before we did. This way, when everything that has left a deep pain in the historical Shim Jung unfolds one day, I can call Heaven "Father" and He can call me "son." This is the day of the final awakening. This is the time when the historical and providential Shim Jung of hope and everything else come into my bosom. Thus, the joy experienced at this time is the joy experienced when God's entire purpose is fulfilled. The feeling at this time is the feeling experienced when humankind is perfected, without a fall. Feeling the joy in proportion to the enormous sorrow and pain humankind has felt, we can stand against Satan gallantly and proudly.
Since we should rise to this level, if we have not stood in this position yet, we should restrain our mind, body and environment to go in the direction of return. We should turn back, perceiving the words and the phenomena, focusing our minds and preparing for death. Otherwise, we will never, never be able to wake. (Sermons Vol. 6-111, 1959.4.19)
For the sake of heaven's will, one has to risk one's life. It means to deny one's life, environment, and everything that has to do with one's privileges. History progresses from that point of self-denial. (Blessing Pt. 1 -- 353)
In the Last Days, before the coming of the ideal world, the judgment will come. Those who can avoid this judgment are those who have deserted this world. If you have cherished your worldly situation and relationships you cannot avoid the judgment. If you follow the normal flow of the world you will not avoid the judgment.
Those who break away and go the opposite way will avoid it. Otherwise you will not be part of the new beginning which is taught by all religions. "Abandon this world!" "Cut off all relationships!" "Leave the world behind!" "Don't compromise!" "Cut yourself off from the world." "Deny the world and seek a new awareness." To attain this kind of awakening, to open the future and restore the past, religions request believers not to compromise with this world.
Religions teach people to beat their bodies, to hang upside down, to be meek and humble, to sacrifice and serve. That's all they can teach you. Is this kind of education right or wrong? It's right. So the way of faith is the way of obedience, not self-reliance. It is not the way of self-assertion. You must know this. What did I say? The way of life is what? The way of obedience, not self-reliance. There is no alternative. There is no debate.
Why is this so? To deny yourself you have to deny all of history. You have to completely deny it. You have to deny it until it's completely denied! Let me ask you some questions. How good are your fingers? How good are your eyes? How good are your ears? How good are your mind and desire? These are fundamental problems that you have to solve.
What is the most serious problem when you go to the heavenly world? I myself, the enemy, am blocking the way. I myself am the enemy. Until now your struggles in your life of faith, your prayer and hard work, are all to gain victory over yourself. That is to win over the victory of Satan's accusation.
I have to deny myself in the name of God. I have to deny myself completely. I need complete denial. If I do so Satan will not follow me, because all the threads he follows will be cut off. All of you must cut these threads with a sharp knife. (Students -- 149)
When you are confronted by the sorrowful fate of life and death, and when you sink into despair and distress, losing the meaning of your existence, you should not be excessively attached to your past. On the contrary, you should seek new value at the place of self-denial. In this process, the foundation of true goodness can start. (47-247)
For years Noah could only think of building the ark, and went to the mountain to work there. Do you think there is a woman who can endure ten years with such a husband? An American wife sues for a divorce if her husband goes away for six months. Noah's work was not an ordinary task. Therefore this event must have been the greatest event after God created man. And if a wife starts to persecute her husband, the children will also do the same with her. How much pain Noah must have felt in his heart when his family could not understand him. Because of this he had great troubles.
When he asked his family to get him something to eat, or something to wear, they treated him as if he were a beggar. Noah could stand the persecutions outside of his family -- from the village or from the nation. But these sufferings and persecutions were coming from inside his own family, the most difficult for him to bear. In spite of that, he had to finish his work. He had great confidence, great faith in God. Noah's life was full of persecution and rejection -- he was entirely alone. But he couldn't cast off God, though he had to forget all others. His wife and children might have felt sometimes that they would have liked to kill him. But the more he received persecution from his environment, the more whole his heart for God became.
He became separated from his circumstances and his community. He became separated from the world, so he came into the position where he could receive God's love. If he had rejected those people who persecuted him, then God's will wouldn't have been fulfilled. But Noah sacrificed himself for those who persecuted him. Instead of causing them to suffer, Noah had a mind to forgive their sins for God. He was standing in the position of the unfallen brother asking God to forgive the fallen brother and sister and willingly bearing all the difficulties. Noah had such a heart. Because of that heart God could proceed in His providence of restoration. The position of complete self-denial centered on God -- that was Noah's position. (New Hope -- 3-4)
After Cain and Abel, God found hope in Noah. For years Noah could only think of building the ark, and went to the mountain to work there. Do you think there is a woman who can endure ten years with such a husband? An American wife sues for divorce if her husband goes away for six months. Noah's work was not an ordinary task. Therefore, this event must have been the greatest event after God created man. And if a wife starts to persecute her husband, the children will also do the same with her. How much pain Noah must have felt in his heart when his family could not understand him!
Because of this he had great troubles. When he asked his family to get him something to eat, or something to wear, they treated him as if he were a beggar. Noah could bear the persecutions from outside of his family, from the village or from the nation. But these sufferings and persecutions were coming from inside his own family, the most difficult for him to bear. In spite of that, he had to finish his work. He had great confidence, great faith in God. We have to admit that Noah's life was full of persecution and rejection, he was entirely alone. But he couldn't throw away God, even if he could throw away all others. His wife and children might have felt they would have liked to kill him. But the more he received persecution from his environment, the more his heart for God became greater. He became separated from his circumstances and his community.
He became separated from the world, so he came into the position where he could receive God's love. If he had rejected those people who persecuted him, then God's will wouldn't have been fulfilled. But Noah sacrificed himself for those who persecuted him. Instead of causing them to suffer, Noah had a heart to forgive their sins for God. He was standing in the position of the unfallen brother asking God to forgive the fallen brother and sister and willingly bearing all the difficulties. Noah had such a heart. Because of that heart God could proceed in His providence of restoration. The position of complete self-denial, that was Noah's position. (How God Is Pursuing His Restoration Providence, 1971.12.22, Unofficial)
Throughout history human beings have tried to follow the teachings of religion and to steadily pioneer the path of life centered on the mind. We have learned the path of self-denial, and how to place our hope in the eternal world and not be attached to the present reality. (9.22)
Then how can God create this kind of environment? He cannot do it by saying, "You religious people must achieve self-denial all by yourselves!" No, we can't do it that way The standard of self-denial must be created within reciprocal relationships. If you are pushed into the position of being denied by somebody else, it is the same as self-denial. Since we cannot create the sphere of denial by ourselves,
God Himself creates it. Therefore, a religious person will be opposed by everybody. This is the deeper meaning of persecution. When one believes in God and in religion, often those who are closest to him, such as his parents or loved ones, will oppose him. In such a case, Satan, as the second subject, is attacking the first subject God. When someone strikes a righteous person unjustly, it sets a condition that must be repaid. Because of this repayment, the development of religion is secured. Do you understand why persecution occurs?
Within the sphere of religion, God must enlarge the practice of self-denial from the individual level to the family, clan, society, nation, and world. People cannot do this by themselves. In restoration through indemnity, a person tends to think that the standard of individual self-denial is enough, but that is not true. The standard of individual indemnity must be directed to the indemnity on the world level; that foundation of self-denial must be created. Man himself has not realized. this, but God and Satan know it.
People do not know the full standard of denial; therefore, Satan, who does understand it, attacks man to prevent any denial of the individual that is directed to the world level. Religions developed in the course of history until now precisely because they practiced self-denial and received persecution. This was so, although nobody knew the reason why. Now I am telling you the reason. Since one cannot practice self-denial alone, God allows Satan himself to deny man instead. And if man gains victory in the realm of denial, then he can claim victory over Satan. He can belong to the true subject, namely God. As the result of persecution, or absolute self-denial in front of God, man can enter the sphere of reciprocal relationship with God. Thus God can intervene for him. This is why religion has developed the most through persecution.
For this reason, a person cannot find religious perfection by leaving this world and going up into the mountains to meditate. One can achieve perfection only by standing in the midst of the world and taking on all the persecution from Satan. But in order to achieve oneness with God, a person must overcome Satan's attacks. He cannot be crushed in the persecution.
Accordingly, God has tried to work through many people throughout history yet had to give them up in the end. God may have used some people in His dispensation for decades or even centuries. Yet in the end, they had to stand in the sphere of persecution. If someone gains individual victory over persecution, the individual victory can remain. Yet if he cannot go over the sphere of family persecution, he will be crushed. In that case, God must find another with whom to proceed in His dispensation. If someone is crushed, there is nothing God can do for him. God is forced to find someone else; this was the miserable course of the history of religion until now.
By understanding these general things, you can also understand how to proceed with restoration through indemnity. You cannot deny yourself all alone. Accordingly, you must endure the condition of denial through persecution. Therefore, persecution is absolutely necessary in God's religious dispensation and there is no way to go back to God without passing through that course of persecution. There is no exception to this rule. The world religions, such as Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism have all passed through this kind of course. That is why they are standing on the level of world development. The religions themselves have not understood this reason until now. They could not explain why religious people had to go through suffering or persecution, but now you have understood this point.
It is the logical conclusion that the total perfection of which I am speaking is not achieved without total indemnity. To guide everything into the perfection realm, we must go through the process of total indemnity. This is absolutely necessary in the history of religion. Therefore, it is wrong to think that one will have an easy life by following religion. (God's Will -- 594-596, 1983.4.3)
What should True Parents do? They should correct the false lineage that is the root of the satanic world, reverse the false life, and open the true path away from the path of false love. The Bible says that those who wish to die will live, and those who wish to live will die. Why must this kind of paradox appear? It is because you must die to the satanic world. (169-37, 1987.10.4)
At the zero point -- that place where there is no love -- you will finally develop the character of a true subject; if you desire love, you must start from nothing. You must ignore your own fundamental existence. This is why in the Bible we find the paradoxical expression that those who seek to die will live and those who seek to live will die. (202-278, 1990.5.25)
Through the Fall, everything that should not exist, everything that is contrary to the way of heaven, is overflowing in this world. It all needs to be eradicated. It needs to be separated from God's world. Words alone are not enough to achieve this. The world is filled with the variegated customs and habitual lifestyles of different races, from the various historical and cultural backgrounds which are connected to each other only through the love, life, and lineage of Satan. Therefore, it will not be easy to eliminate all this.
This is the reason why it is written in the Bible, those who seek to die will live. This is how the paradoxical logic is formed. Those who seek to die will live. In other words, you need to invest your life into this. Therefore, everything needs to be bleached and washed, that is, restored through indemnity. Such a process is absolutely necessary. If this is not carried out, and you are still left with the habitual tendencies or criminal nature as remnants of the satanic world, you cannot form a relationship with God. (213-98, 1991.1.16)
Where is the stronghold of God's Kingdom? Many Christians say, "I believe in Jesus so I'm going to heaven." Then where is that stronghold? When Peter asked, "Where is the Kingdom of Heaven?" Jesus answered, "It is not in heaven but in your heart," so where is that stronghold located? Can it be formed by a sad heart, or by a self-aggrandizing mind, or by a mind that denies society? Those are not the strongholds of the content we desire or of the Kingdom that God can endorse.
People seeking the stronghold of God's Kingdom must meet with solitude more than anyone else on earth. Why? As God is solitary, they too must be solitary; and since God has undergone the history of subjugation, they too must undergo subjugation.
Then, if people were to just feel sad, repent and shed tears of lamentation because heaven and earth are filled with sadness, can that become the stronghold of God's Kingdom? Even that cannot. When serving the church, while desiring the time of being blessed anew with joy, we must be able to be determined to solve the problems of sin and evil in this world. Without a single direction of determination to bear that responsibility, the stronghold of heaven cannot exist.
Some people confidently assert that -- because they are conscientious and have a respectable social position -- the Kingdom of Heaven starts from them. That thinking is based on their understanding that good and evil begin together. Yet good and evil cannot start simultaneously. When evil goes east, good must go west, and when evil moves, good has to stop. Moreover, when evil has a desire, good must not have it. Good and evil are opposites.
The search for the heavenly nation started from the point where God lost all His hope in relation to the world of humankind. Thus, people who are satisfied with their present lives cannot be truly religious people. When confronted by the intersecting fortunes of life and death, which cause you to sink into despair, losing the meaning of your existence, you should not be excessively attached to your habitual lifestyle, but instead proceed to seek new values, denying even your life. By proceeding in this way true goodness can start.
Viewed from this standpoint, are there people who can confidently say that their character is the stronghold of heaven? None. There is also no one who can insist that their family is the stronghold of heaven. There is no one who could claim that God, if He existed, could not say that He did not recognize their family. No tribe can insist that God must recognize it because of their good achievements. There are no races, nations, ideologies or philosophies that can demand God's recognition. When I think about this, I am dumbfounded.
Therefore, while the one who wants to die will live, the one who wants to live will die. Then what does that mean? Those who work to protect themselves from the evil world for more than a millennium can dream such a dream, and only those who gratefully sacrifice themselves for more than ten thousand years can find hope to live for ten thousand years.
Likewise, those who cry out for eternal life, eternal happiness, and the eternal Kingdom of Heaven must overcome the current situation with eternity as their goal, and they must surmount with endurance the present point in time, sacrificing themselves. Only from such a standpoint can the eternal stronghold emerge. (47-247, 1971.8.29)
From where does the Kingdom of Heaven start? It starts from the point where you deny even the basic desires of the heart with which you were born. For this reason those who go the way of truth lead celibate lives. But there are difficult problems leading a celibate life. These problems must be faced individually until the returning Lord comes to solve them.
Because there is no way forward giving primary consideration to individual salvation, we must save the family in order to save humankind. The returning Lord is coming to earth again to open the way for redemption of entire families. Today, Christians say they will go to heaven through their belief in Jesus. However, they are all indulging in individualism. Originally, heaven was not supposed to be entered alone. If Adam and Eve had remained in the realm of God's love without falling, do you think they would have gone to heaven? If they had, hell could not have existed. Heaven is the place to which husbands and wives go, leading their children. It is the place to go, leading one's children, grandchildren and kindred. Further, it is the destination of the entire nation. Hence, it becomes the heavenly nation. Heaven is the place that is to be realized in this way. (41-299, 1971.2.17)
When people educated by their natural parents go to the spirit world, they will all have to go into some corner and stay there, as if to shelter them from the wind. If they turn around, they will only see people who deny themselves and who want to live for others. That sight would be too much for them and they would feel as if they were going to suffocate.
Who made it this way? Satan. That is why people are hoping for true parents to come and liberate them. To liberate them, you cannot just resolve the situation just like that; you have to do so by going the opposite way. (129-99, 1983.10.1)
Since human beings got out of order due to the Fall, in order to repair the damage we must follow the basic rules and principles that existed before the disorder occurred. In order to comply with the laws of creation, we must go through the course of the history of re-creation. The Fall began with making one's partner invest for one's sake instead of investing for the sake of the partner. Therefore, we need to go through a reverse process of investing ourselves. That is why religion teaches self-sacrifice. (69-84, 1973.10.20)
Then you must assimilate your enemy. You must love your enemy. That path is not easy. Not only must you deny yourself hundreds of times, but you must move up to a position where you are able to love your enemy. Unless you do that, you cannot stand on God's side. (126-44, 1983.4.10)
The way of affirmation represents the Fall. Since the Fall occurred in this manner, you have to restore it by going the opposite way. (259-223, 1994.4.10)
Members of the Unification Church must go the reverse route in order to accomplish restoration through indemnity. Therefore, their path does not begin from self-recognition and self-affirmation. It starts from complete denial. A perfect religion begins with self-denial, with the complete denial of the fallen world. That is why you must deny the world, deny your nation, tribe, family, wife or husband, deny even being a man and a woman, and deny your own mind and body. You must understand how huge the scope of this denial is. Following your mind, you must even deny your own body. (126-34, 1983.4.10)
You must understand that God's mission of restoration has been to recover the absolute faith, love and obedience lost in the Garden of Eden by completely denying the satanic world. Through circumcision in the Old Testament Age, and baptism by water in the New Testament Age, everything defiled through disbelief was cleansed.
What is the Completed Testament? It represents the age of true love. It means giving of yourselves through self-sacrifice and then forgetting what you gave. You need to redeem the fallen world by giving yourself completely in the same way God does. To become God's children, you need to invest yourselves in this world and be resurrected quickly. Thus, you need to receive the Blessing of the change of the lineage. Once you have received the Blessing, you need to restore your nation as quickly as possible, even if it means sacrificing your family. Since you need to practice absolute faith, heart and obedience, this course of action must also be absolute. (268-292, 1995.4.3)
We must put together all our devoted effort to focus our thoughts solely on True Parents and God. If something else is mixed in, you will not be able to travel in a straight line. You will not be able to walk the path of love. Just because you have received the Blessing on earth does not mean that everything is finished. You must also pass through a church-level Blessing, a national-level Blessing and ultimately a world-level Blessing. You will need to go through these three stages. Why? So that you can effectively reach the point of total self-denial. Just because you have sons and daughters does not mean that they are your possessions. You must reach the point of total self-denial. These sons and daughters belong to God and True Parents. (208-342, 1990.11.21)