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 |
Deference attendance describes the heart, the attitude, the understanding, and the behaviors of the object partner toward the subject partner. Deference essentially means to have the character to submit or courteously yield to the will, wishes, preference, judgment or opinion of the subject partner. The character of deference is the character of submission, of compliance, of yielding, of meekness, of humility, of obedience, and of self denial which the object partner needs to display to the subject partner. The character of deference is the opposite of the arrogant, self assertive, selfish, self centered and egoistic nature human beings acquired from Satan at the Fall. We humble ourselves; we submit, yield and comply with the subject partner, thus putting aside our self centered, egoistic and selfish nature in favor of the concerns of the subject partner. Deference involves obedience to the subject partner. We defer our will to the will, judgment, wishes and preferences of the subject partner. Deference involves yielding our point of view in favor of the point of view of the subject partner. Through deference we submit, obey, and defer our ideas, heart, and will to that of the subject partner.
Deference attendance is a most important virtue and character trait. It's education and development is central to establishing the Shim Jung Culture of the Kingdom of God. It is necessary in eastern cultures and especially in the western cultures where self-assertion and the attitude of "express yourself" are the dominant standards. In the western democratic nations where freedom is so highly valued one has to deny, that is limit their personal freedom, in order to develop the heart and actions of deference. Deference is absolutely necessary for one to live a true life as an object partner and in order to form proper relationships in accordance with laws of the universe regarding subject partner and object partner relationships.
There is an interaction paradigm, a cosmic ceremony, by all subject partners and object partners in the universe. If we were to look inside of an atom we could see this cosmic ceremony between protons and electrons. If we look into the heavens we cans see this cosmic ceremony between the planets and their moons, between the sun and the planets and between galaxies and their stars. This interaction paradigm is composed of the correct standards of interaction between subject partners and object partners and is in perfect accord with the laws of creation. This interaction paradigm between subject and object partners is set in motion and maintained by God's universal laws. This interaction paradigm or cosmic ceremony is initiated by the subject partner offering to the object partner its subject elements which then engages the object partner in a cosmic interaction. The object partner seeks to attract the subject elements from the subject partner. The role that the object partner fulfills in the interaction paradigm of love is called attendance. In human beings this interaction paradigm results in love and its multiplication. It is through this interaction paradigm, this cosmic ceremony that the love of God and His blessings are set in motion and multiplied throughout the cosmos and by which the existence, maintenance, multiplication and development of all entities come about.
By establishing the way of deference attendance, the love of God and of the subject partner flows to the object partner along with the blessings from God and from the subject partner. When we practice deference, our love, our thoughts, our actions and our motivation are all centered on living for the sake of the subject partner. The more internal elements of love found in the heart of deference develop in the object partner as a result of the subject partner loving and living for the sake of the object partner. The subject partner needs to instill a thankful heart in the object partner. It is on the foundation of the love received from the subject partner that the object the partner can respect and obey the authority of the subject partner. Love precedes authority.
Deference attendance is the way an object partner lives a true life centered on true love toward the subject partner. Filial sons and daughters of God give absolute deference to God. They carry out God's wishes with absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. The heart of the true object partner is the heart of deference. Due to the fall the heart of deference was lost between God and human beings, between husbands and wives, between parents and children, and between siblings. God has been seeking to restore the heart of deference attendance in all human beings. Until such a heart of deference is developed in human beings a perfect system of attendance can never be established. Hence the Culture of True Love of the Kingdom of God can never be established until a perfect hierarchical order of attendance is practiced. Deference attendance unlocks the doors of blessings to human beings and removes the barriers which prevent a unified family, tribe, society, nation, world, and cosmos, which enables the Culture of True love.
A central element missing in fallen human beings is the heart of attendance. Human beings can never become perfected, which is fully to develop and mature their character, without developing their hearts of deference attendance. The heart, attitude, understanding and behaviors of filial sons and daughters of God are to live absolutely for the sake of attending God. Having acquired the heart of attendance to God they have the necessary foundational character development for further development as they learn to attend their spouse, their parents, their siblings, their seniors, and all authority figures in society.
In the process of the Fall, Satan (Lucifer) asserted his point of view and his will, centered on the dissatisfaction of his own heart, putting aside God's view and will. Asserting oneself centered on one's selfish and egoistic concerns is the very opposite of deference attendance. Human beings have inherited Satan's fallen nature. Fallen nature is the impulse to assert oneself in place where the heart of deference should be expressed. Human beings have inherited Satan's insistent self centered concerns and his fallen assertive nature. This has resulted in satanic relationships of conflict and war and results in the suffering of God, human beings and all creation. This is a tremendously big problem and is a major obstacle towards the development of the deferential character and for the establishment of the Culture of True Love.
In the process of restoration a ritual, a restorational ceremony between Cain and Abel must be performed. In this ritualistic dance Cain must defer himself to Abel. Cain must attend Abel by accepting his authority which includes, submitting to him, obeying him, following his directions, accepting his viewpoint, and serving him. By attending Abel, Cain establishes an acceptable substantial offering both as a condition to remove his fallen nature and as a foundation for the elder son's birthright to be transferred to God's side. However this restorational dance must be initiated by Abel who is the subject partner. According to the universal ceremony of love the relationship is initiated by the love of the subject partner. In the restorational ritual between Cain and Abel Abel's responsibility as the subject partner is to love Cain who is the object partner. This Foundation of Substance conditionally restores one's fallen nature, separates one's assertive satanic fallen nature, expresses and develops the heart of deference, establishes the heart of the object partner, restores the elder sons birthright, liberates the transcendent and imprisoned God, and enables God's divine immanence, omnipotence and authority.
The above two paragraphs speak of Lucifer's mistake, its result and its restoration. Adam and Eve's mistake also needs to be restored. The mistake of Adam and Eve was that they failed to maintain absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience to God. Adam and Eve failed to absolutely attend God by following God's directions. God gave them the Commandment of the foundation of the love He was giving them. Instead they obeyed Lucifer's command to eat of the fruit. By becoming objects to Satan's word and Satan's love they inherited Satan's fallen motivation and nature. Eve and then Adam acquired the disposition Lucifer (Satan) entitled to them. Lucifer was asserting his viewpoint and will centering on his heart of dissatisfaction and complaint. Adam and Eve inherited an assertive will and assertive thoughts centered on their selfish and egoistic heart and concerns, and they centered love on themselves, just as Lucifer had done. Satan came to dwell inside of Adam and Eve and all fallen human beings.
Because the heart of filial attendance was not realized by Adam and Eve then greater filial attendance needs to be displayed by humankind in order to restore their failure. Thus human beings need to undergo indemnity conditions of the restorational ritual between Cain and Abel, and the conditions of maintaining absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience before God. These conditions are necessary in order to separate from Satan, to restore one's original nature, to bond with God, and to develop one's character of absolute attendance and reestablish the relationship of Parent and child between God and human beings.
Deference is the opposite of the assertive fallen nature which human beings acquired from Satan. It is one of the most important natures that human beings need to restore and develop in order for perfect attendance to be established in the Culture of Heart of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom of ideal relationships. The first relationship that needs to be established in order for the Shim Jung Culture to be realized is the Parent and child relationship between human beings and God.
Next deference between husband and wife must be established. Children need to defer themselves to their parents. Citizens need to defer themselves to the sovereign of their nation. The younger brother in the family attends the elder brother with brotherly deference. With the development of the heart of deference to God, parents, and elder siblings' one acquires the necessary heart of deference to their neighbors and all superiors and authority figures.
When the Three Great Kinships is established the parents and the children attend their grandparents with deference. This is then transferred to attending with deference all senior people of society and attendance of one's ancestors. Confucius said: "The chun-tzu (gentleman) serves his parents with filial piety; thus his loyalty can be transferred to his sovereign. He serves his elder brother with brotherly deference; thus his respect can be transferred to his superiors. He orders his family well; thus his good order can be transferred to his public administration."1
The character of deference attendance is most important for relating vertically and also horizontally with correctness. It establishes the proper attitude and behaviors of attendance from the object partners to the subject partners. Through the establishment of proper relationships then the circuits of love are organized and the true love and blessings of God can flow vertically and be multiplied horizontally through the establishment of family ethics, tribal ethics, societal ethics, the ethics between nations, and the proper ethical relationships between the spiritual world and the physical world.
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. (God's Will -- 594, 1983.4.3)
Everyone needs and loves parents. Everyone wants to see and be with them. But why? For what reason? There is the age difference that leads to a relationship of superiority and subordination in terms of the orderly stages. Therefore, people should show deference and respect and be dutiful to their parents. Based on all matters of ethics and morality in social life, we should each stand in the position of a subject partner or object partner within a relationship of superiority-subordination. In order to become a filial son in certain aspects you should display obedience and subordination, and long to meet the parents. This is the relationship of parent and child. (112-251, 1981.4.19)
Being parents who are dealing with a true, genuine, filial son or daughter is more difficult than dealing with the ruler of a nation. You must be careful about every word you say and everything you do. What does that mean? In your families, you must show how you would attend the nation's ruler. Once parents attend their children in this way, their children cannot relate with them in a rash manner.
Those children whose parents treat them with cautious respect tend to be careful in attending their parents and do not say even one word without thought. They will think things over several times before speaking. (285-16, 1997.4.19)
The path of divine sons and daughters surpasses the path of saints and is the highest position of all. They respect the rules of the heavenly kingdom on earth and in heaven and maintain the balance between the internal and external, the vertical and horizontal relationships. (246-188, 1993.4.16)
Satan cannot comply with and obey God, actualizing the will with meekness and humility. He cannot sacrifice and provide service on behalf of all humanity before the dispensational will like Jesus did. Therefore, you should understand that Jesus is the king of kings in regard to being good, meek, humble, compliant, obedient, sacrificial and performing services.
Many people on the earth do not know how to be meek or obedient…Jesus words, his mind, his daily life, his physical life and even his death were all for the sake of setting conditions Satan was incapable of carrying out…The basic nature of Satan is arrogance and fury. Although Satan dealt with the people of the earth with this kind of personality, Jesus came before the people of the world in meekness and humility…A meek and humble nature like this is the opposite of Satan's original nature of arrogance and fury…You have to understand that only when you stand in a position of meekness and humility can you pioneer the new path heading toward God, who works through the center.
Furthermore, Jesus demonstrated compliance and obedience. Compliance is following directions in an environment where it is possible to do so; obedience is following in an environment where it is not possible to do so. Jesus taught the ways of compliance and obedience to the faithless people. This was also meant to stop Satan's original nature and all his elements of life.
Satan had to surrender because Jesus was meek and humble, compliant and obedient, and he led a life of sacrifice and service. If you measure yourself against the meekness, humility, compliance, obedience, sacrifice and service that Jesus taught and think that you cannot practice these teachings in your sphere of life, then you have to realize that you still belong to the tribe of Satan.
You must adopt his attitude of humility and meekness, compliance and obedience, sacrifice and service, which are the foundation to win victory in the final battle to conquer Satan…Satan is the one who has opposed the will and stands in the position of rebellion against the will. Such has become Satan's lifestyle. The reason that you unconsciously feel the desire to rebel against the will is not because that is your own mind's desire; it is because the satanic forces are manifesting themselves unconsciously through you, since you are bound to that environment.
Jesus came to the earth 2,000 years ago. As a way to subjugate Satan, he taught human beings to be meek and humble, compliant and obedient, to sacrifice and serve. .. Without them being conscious of it, their heart of compliance became one of fury and arrogance, confrontation and rebellion.
If you are not meek and humble, then you cannot experience the heart of Jesus. Moreover, if you do not lead a life of compliance, submission, sacrifice and service, you cannot go before Jesus. You have to understand this. At the present time, it is difficult for us to perfect this kind of life and seek God.
What must be the extent of meekness, humility, sacrifice, service, compliance and obedience? As long as there is the dignity of God and the dignity of Jesus Christ, you must stand in a position to uphold that dignity. You must be meek and humble on behalf of the thirty million people. You must be able to fight the fury and arrogance of Satan. Representing the thirty million people, you must comply and obey to fight against Satan's confrontation and rebellion.
What then should be the ideology of life that Christians must possess today? It is the spirit to comply and submit first, be meek and humble first, and be the first to sacrifice and serve. You have to understand that the will of the Father is realized through this kind of path. Thus, the hearts of God and Jesus are liberated. God is longing for the emergence of great numbers of the faithful believers, who can show resoluteness and sacrifice and serve on behalf of the church and the people. He is looking for those who can comply and obey for the sake of the will of Heaven. These are the ones who can accompany the Lord of glory. (Sermons Vol. 3 -- 134-136, 1957.10.27)
Up to the present day, human ethics have meant that parents should love their children and children should love their parents, and that there should be a distinction between husband and wife. These virtues have been transmitted to the present day as the cornerstone of the three fundamental principles and the five moral disciplines in human relations. However, the situation seems to be changing. Today, traditional customs and norms are changing. Something spiritual is penetrating and undermining our daily and social environment. We call such times the Last Days. If the Messiah appears, he must solve all these problems. (11-19, 1960.12.11)
Your conduct, the way you sit -- everything must conform to heavenly law. Even the manner in which you greet me should be codified. Shouldn't there be a protocol for greeting when you meet me? Shouldn't that be created? There are even such rules in society -- shouldn't we have such rules? (66-267, 1973.5.16)
It must be shown that there is a system of vertical order in accordance with the heavenly way, formed from the principles of creation of the sun, moon and stars in the universe. This system of vertical order appears within the family as the grandparents, parents and children. The horizontal order of brothers and sisters is created, and a corresponding sense of values and norms simultaneously emerges. (122-304, 1982.11.25)
Shouldn't there be new laws to rectify our fallen habits? You must understand that there are numerous legal procedures waiting for us in the future. You must pass through these. (66-299, 1973.5.16)
There is no way you can say all you want to say and stand in such a focal position. There is no way you can say all you want to say and still be a child of filial piety. There is no way you can say all you want to say and do all you want to do and still become a patriot. (51-354, 1971.12.5)
There is an original rule that whenever you assert yourself, God is absent, and whenever you respect others, God is with you. The fact that we walk with two feet itself reflects a thinking that is in accordance with this original rule and the principle. (CSG -- 388)
We must sacrifice our self-centeredness; in proportion to the degree of that sacrifice, our original nature from God is restored. (God's Will -- 114, 1972.9.11)
God could not truly love man up until now because man fell and did not achieve his perfection. Thus God's love could not be returned by a perfect object. (God's Will -- 117, 1972.9.11)
Today, most laws in this world find their basis in Roman law. However, morality is based on conscience rather than law. The foundation of conscience is goodness. The standard of conscience is the standard of goodness. When you move away from goodness and do wrong, your conscience tries to correct your error. If people tried to create a universal social system in accordance with the conscience, they would still need laws. Where is morality rooted? It is rooted in the heavenly law. (33-44, 1970.8.2)
Ethics are formed on the basis of the emotions of love, aren't they? In the relationships between family members, the idea of morality, order, the social system and so forth are based upon deep emotional factors. People express their respect to the one who can show the deep emotion of a long-lasting or consistent love. You should know that. The motivation for the establishment of ethics lies in the emotion of love. Ethics begin from the point of parents loving their children. True human relationships are established when children love their parents. (64-124, 1972.10.29)
People are valuable because of human morals and ethics. Morality forms the basis of relationships among people. Human morality has no use in relation to just one person; it applies when there are two or more people. Social ethics derive from the family formed through the marriage of a man and a woman. Ethics provide the way and laws of human relationships. (136-208, 1985.12.29)
We must establish a new tradition that transcends races and nations. We must establish the foundation for that tradition in accordance with God's desire rather than our own. It means you should not hold yourself to your habits, previous customs, or current trends. You should know that this is totally different. When you observe the world of nature, you will see that everything exists in harmony. Everything is natural, in harmony and has no sign of awkwardness. Everything is made to become attractive and to be a stimulating force. If something is disliked, it will not draw any attention. (66-299, 1973.5.16)
What do you have to do to be a child of filial piety? You must always align yourself with the direction of your parents' heart. The one who walks the path of filial piety does not do things separately from his parents. When his parents go east, he should also go east, and when they go west, he should also go west. There should be no question about it. Even if you are told to go a certain way and then to turn back ten times, you should again turn back and follow your parents. (62-32, 1972.9.10)
It is only possible to form a reciprocal relationship with the universe when you have love. Without love, such reciprocity can never take place. The reason love is said to be gentle and humble is that with those qualities it can be abundantly and fully put in motion without resistance. When something is gentle, humble and sacrificial, it can relate with anyone. It can go anywhere without resistance. (122-329, 1982.12.1)
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. (128-206, 1983.6.26)
Be absolutely obedient! Absolute obedience does not lead you to death. What happens when you obey? You become one with the person you obey. What happens, once you become one? You repel evil. Since you become completely one, evil is repelled. Therefore, evil can be removed. This is the principle. (57-114, 1972.5.29)
Their first responsibility is to become the master of true love, truly free and thanking God for the freedom of love and knowing how to cultivate and control oneself. This responsibility for a love relationship should not be taken merely because of law or social convention. Instead, a person should establish responsibility through one's own self-control and self-determination within the life-committing vertical relationship with God. (277-200, 1996.4.16)
We need a device to measure the time period, the moment, and the time for calibrating ourselves. We should set these in accordance with the standard clock. Scales also have an absolute standard measurement, of which there is only one in the world. There is only one standard measurement for one meter, not two standards. Then, do you think there was originally a standard for the calibration of humankind or not? Are you a person whose current arbitrary standard naturally fits in with the absolute human standard through a zero calibration, or are you a person that it does not fit, even by force? You do not fit even by force. But you are still asking to be recognized as people meeting the original standard or standard meter measure. (127-202, 1983.5.8)
You should not be greedy for yourselves. You should become completely and absolutely united with me. I am the root, and when the root is pulled, the rest of the plant should automatically follow. The stems or branches cannot want to exist for themselves. They cannot insist on their own way. The whole cannot move in two different directions. They are part of one unit. Only after the whole unit establishes a foundation in victory can each part enjoy freedom in all directions. Otherwise they cannot act freely. (169-199, 1987.10.31)
Until now, who has completed the payment of indemnity for the portion of responsibility? Can you pay that indemnity with money? Can you pay it by selling your house and your country? Then what should you do? There is nothing you can do. You can only be absolutely obedient. You must be absolutely obedient until you are in your twenties. Adam and Eve insisted on their own way. They had a sexual encounter, thus falling before they reached the age of twenty. Until you reach your twenties, you must be absolutely obedient. Before you reach twenty, you must obey. Therefore children are absolutely obedient. They are, even if you do not teach them to be like that. They know that if they do not become one with their parents, they will go to ruin. You will go to ruin if you do not become one with God. (133-136, 1984.7.10)
When you insist on yourself, you destroy yourself, your reciprocal partner, and God; in fact, you completely alienate yourself. From such a place, a theory of unity cannot be discovered. These words may sound simple, but their simplicity does not make them any less important. At the very end of our search for the ideal, at the ultimate end, what is required is to be vertically united with God's love, and in order to have that vertical standard pull you faster towards the goal, you need to live for the sake of others. Complete unity can be achieved only at the place where you live for the sake of others. (187-89, 1989.1.6)
You should understand that you cannot be self-centered, individualistic or insist on your own way. Before asserting yourselves, you need to realize that your father and mother existed before you, and from their lives emerged their lineage. On top of that, love was created. The relationship through which you can learn to respect lineage, history and your ancestors, and which will help you serve them, is the one between you and your parents. You need to respect your parents and then God. What would then be even higher than Him? It would be love.
Encompassed in the mother and father are the absolute love, life and lineage attained through the Absolute Parent and Father of absolute love. You should be aware of the fact that you are born from all this. Thus, you are the representative of lineage, maternal and paternal life and love. Having received them all as the representative, you were born to expand them and spread them wide; since such is the purpose of your life, if you don't fulfill this and instead act as you please and put your greed before everything else, you would be ruined and perish.
It is our destined and inevitable task to unite through the parent-child relationship, but what should that unity be centered upon? From the bone marrow, the seed, it should be centered on true love. Only when a baby is born thus can it possess a heart and body big enough to embrace the whole world as well as its father and to become one with its mother. You should follow your parents with absolute faith, love and obedience, as the grandson and father should follow the grandfather with absolute faith, love and obedience. It will be handed down as an eternal tradition. (295 -167, 1998.8.28)
Doing things one's own way does not work. If both sides insist on their own positions, it is certain that the situation will again result in breakdown. (CSG -- 2129),
Nothing is more awesome and precious than the fact that all these dreamlike stories will come true in the spirit world and on earth. Therefore, you should not complain; instead, you should obediently follow the way of Principle and God's will. You must inherit God's and True Parents' way of thinking. If I said to you that you should not inherit it, you should insist that you have to inherit it. (283-92, 1997.4.8)
Love gradually dissipates and disappears when we insist on ourselves. Love, however, continues to grow when we continually live for others. That is why true individuals live for the sake of others… True filial children live for their parents… We should understand this. (268-259, 1995.4.2)
We must be very familiar with the human portion of responsibility. The history of salvation is the history of restoration and the history of restoration is the history of re-creation. Re-creation has to be carried out according to the Principle. We must fulfill our portion of responsibility. Fulfilling our portion of responsibility means to have absolute faith and absolute obedience. That is the only way. You should not insist on your own way. Eve fell because she insisted on her own way. I am saying that after you join the church you should not complain. (143-113, 1986.3.16)
Although religions differ from each other, they have been prepared to follow a path of goodness. They will surely continue. However, religions that insist that only their way is correct are losing power because the connection of heart could not take place in the direct dominion. (136-51, 1985.12.20)
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)
If there is a good-looking man and a good-looking woman, can the man, insisting upon his rights, say that he wants to receive God's blessing alone? Can the woman, insisting upon her rights, say that she wants to receive God's blessing alone? We must think of God's will as absolute and go through all the conditions necessary for the hope of humankind. It is not given unconditionally. The thing that we must do in God's Kingdom on earth in the future is to find the way for couples to be welcomed and respected worldwide. This is the way to live in God's Kingdom on earth. (162-67, 1987.3.2)
From where does the Kingdom of God start? It starts from absolute faith. Absolute faith means to not insist on one's opinion. It is the place to deny oneself absolutely. Without denying oneself absolutely, absolute faith cannot emerge. If you follow the secular environment, and at the same time, try to pursue the life of faith then the life of absolute faith cannot emerge.
Most people live their routine daily lives saying, "I am fine in God's eyes." However, regarding the fundamental problem, living a routine life in this fallen world cannot bring us to the Kingdom of God. Such a person cannot be fine before God. Without having a certain objective standard authorizing oneself, one cannot have the absolute standard of faith. Because there is no absolute standard of faith, the Kingdom of God, which would be established after surmounting absolute faith, cannot emerge. Why is this so? Because Satan stays in that place. (46-79)
Father, if there are sons and daughters who can see Your desire to regain humankind and Your disappointments, they cannot wish for their own good fortune and insist upon their opinions before You. Please forgive us, the disloyal children who forgot Your historical sorrow tens of thousands of times. (Sermons Vol. 6 -- 74, 1959.4.12)
You are not to live according to your own wishes but according to my words, and follow the path that I am walking on…You must be obedient while walking this path. (49-214, 1971.10.10)
The origin of love is not yourselves but parents. There is no result without cause. Understand that? One knows he is not the subject, from the light of love. So he shall not do as he pleases. That's why children say, "Yes, mother; yes, father" in front of their parents. So when your parents say, "You may be famous and have authority in the world, but in front of your parents you should be reasonable," then the children can answer like this, "Yes, yes, yes, mother and father." Why? Because there is love between them. While parents are the subject, children are the object. Can you understand this?
It is the principle that the subject should take care of the object and the object should obey the subject. When this order is destroyed, a family will lose its value. However stupid a person may be, since he was born with the original mind, he would know that this is the heavenly principle. Therefore, no matter how powerful he may be, he has to bow toward his parents. Am I wrong? [No] (50-135)
There has to be freedom in the midst of peace. What if there was peace in the midst of freedom? Think about it. Peace in the midst of freedom cannot exist. Peace means two entities harmonizing with each other, and it can only be possible when they yield to each other. Do greedy people feel like giving and yielding? What is to be done with such elements of character? That is why the time has come when we have to understand the rules of freedom. (182-111, 1988.10.16)
When you commonly say "a bad man," what do you mean by that? We call the man who gives the first consideration to only himself and worry about his own interest a bad man. When such man goes into the society he would be branded as a bad man, so also in his family and among his friends. We humans are not destined to think of ourselves only. Most valuable things are not coming out from a self-centered attitude. Even though you have one thousand friends, you cannot make a boast of it. No matter how many friends you have you might soon be left alone unless you can restrain the impulse to assert yourself only. It would however be of no use to perform a sacrificial rite to let them stay with you. All of them would leave if they encountered this insult, "you guy, do this" three more times. You should know that to assert yourself only is the first step to lead to self destruction. (36-181)
From God's perspective, there is God, and then Adam comes. The mind of Adam wherein is God is called the spirit mind. What is the spirit mind? The mind where God, who is the vertical subject, dwells in the mind of horizontal Adam, is a mind to attend God. This mind is the spirit mind. (50-19)
Throughout history, the all-knowing and almighty God wins over His enemy not by utilizing His strength and power, but by bringing him into submission through the principles of love. God's desire is to bring His enemy to voluntarily and completely submit before God and gratefully receive humanity's judgment in the position of the servant. Unless this happens, his sins cannot be indemnified. (42-279, 1971.3.27)
As the Lord of true love, God created human beings as His children based on the standard of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. This is the principle for all created beings. When God created, He completely and absolutely invested Himself, absolutely affirming His creation. This is why we human beings, as God's object partners, should offer our absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience to God, who is our Subject partner.
The same principle applies to the relationship between Cain and Abel, even though they represent the side of evil and good, respectively. It is a heavenly law that Cain, who stands in the position of an object partner, should go before God through Abel. Cain should attend Abel as he would his father, master or teacher. Abel, for his part, should maintain an absolute standard. His position is to represent God. Like God, he should embrace and love Cain as he would his own child, with absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. By having a character worthy of trust and respect, Abel should induce Cain to submit to him naturally. (Public Venue, 2005.2.14)
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)
Absolute obedience and absolute surrender automatically put you in the position of an object. (The Way -- 159)
Everyone can and must be obedient, but not everyone can submit himself. Indemnity can be done only through submission. (The Way -- 163)
Even in the face of death, Jesus cried out, "Father! If it is possible, please let this cup pass from me. But not as I wish, but as the Father wishes." Even as he died, he did not protest to God, but was ready, without questioning, to offer a complete sacrifice for the sake of God's will. Jesus' attitude brought him the closest to God because it enabled him to go deeper. In front of such a person, even God cannot do as He wishes. The one who strikes such a person will be instantly destroyed. God would personally inflict punishment upon that person. (36-85, 1970.11.15)
What until now has been the center of life of religious people? Jesus was an unfortunate person. From a humanistic point of view, Jesus had no personal claims. Night and day, he only served God's will and had no will of his own. He absolutely obeyed God's will. Absolute obedience! Why did he obey absolutely? There is only one absolute original Subject, but Satan formed another realm of the subject, forming a triangular shape; thus Jesus did what he did in order to remove Satan.
Today, human beings are under the control of Satan's domain. To escape from this situation in the satanic realm, they must follow the path Satan hates the most. Therefore, a religion commands one to be absolutely obedient to his conscience. Since God is absolute, there is a requirement for people in the religious world to become a minus which aims at making them absolutely one with God. (57-114, 1972.5.29)
We must have absolute faith. When asked if you believe in the Unification Church, you must answer, "I go this way with absolute faith." (46-99, 1971.7.25)
What is absolute faith? If there is a leader of a religion you believe in, there can be a historical gap of a few thousand years between you and him. But through the faith in your heart, you can enter the realm of the same era with him on a horizontal plane. That is why I am telling you to believe absolutely. When you believe absolutely, you come to realize that you are together with that person. Moreover, you come to understand that you are living together with that person. You must know that faith is meant to stimulate people and give them new awareness of this fact. (32-162, 1970.7.12)
A religion cannot start from a concept of affirmation, because our ancestors fell. The first condition necessary in order to deny that is absolute faith. Do you understand? So, do you have absolute faith? That is why we must discover the reason why people are going the way of asceticism. Do you not wish that this Mr. Moon would come today and reveal the entire secret world of religion? Why do we have to go the way of asceticism? Why do we have to sacrifice? Why believe absolutely? If we call pastors and ask them these three questions, they will not be able to answer. They will just say "Well, through faith we gain salvation." Don't be tricked by Satan's deceptive smoke-screen tactics. (126-36, 1983.4.10)
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)
Some people outwardly express that they like something, but inwardly they shake their heads. Seeing this, I wish they had been born with a better character. On the path of faith, fighting and gaining victory over oneself is more difficult than conquering the world. From this point of view, the first cross we must bear is overcoming the self. (46-95, 1971.7.25)
A true filial son is the one who obeys. A true loyal subject even when being chased and put to death by traitors never calls his king incapable. A true loyal subject is a person of integrity and loyalty, who sheds tears with a sorrowful heart, and wishes his king a long life even when persecuted by treacherous courtiers to the point of death. This is absolute obedience. The only way to bring about success through absolute obedience is the way of true love. (164-48, 1987.5.3)
Up to now I have not told you, "Oh, you must absolutely obey my words." We must comply with the historical course. The historical course is a course of providential history trodden for the sake of God. It is for that reason that I have been teaching you about the course of the providence of restoration. I did not teach that for the sake of Rev. Moon of the Unification Church. That is why I, too, am going that way. We are heading toward the purpose of God, the Subject, and toward the purpose of humankind, the object partner. These objectives have not been accomplished. (71-66, 1974.4.28)
Humankind must be grateful to God for giving them the freedom of love. But at the same time, they should take responsibility, by becoming the subject of that freedom through self-discipline and self-control. When a person takes responsibility for love, he does not do so because of laws or what other people think, but because of self-dominion and self-determination in the vertical relationship of life with God.
If you will not be able to find the path of salvation in the ordinary, habitual life-styles you have pursued until now. You must walk the path of complete indemnity. The providence of salvation is the providence of restoration, and the providence of restoration is the providence of re-creation. Therefore, in order to be re-created, you must enter the original position untainted by the Fall, the position of zero. There, consciousness, habits that we have and surnames like Kim or Lee, will not exist. You must enter such a zero position. Viewed from God's original standard of creation, every created being began from the zero point.
Because of the Fall, this world is filled with everything contrary to the way of going to heaven. These must be cut off. This cannot be achieved by words. The world is filled with the varied habits and customs of different races of diverse historical and cultural backgrounds, bound to the life and lineage of Satan, based on his love. These habits are not eradicated by mere words. The Bible states that those who seek to die will live. This establishes the paradoxical logic: you must seek to die in order to live. You must invest your lives.
Because of that, we must launder everything. In other words, we need to restore them through indemnity. Such a process is absolutely necessary. As long as the habits or sinful nature that you used to have in the fallen world remain, you cannot form a relationship with God. (213-97, 1991.1.16)
How long have I suppressed my indignation? How many times have I been overwhelmed to the point that all five of my sensory organs were choked up? It was not for the sake of meeting all of you. It was for the sake of bringing the rulers of humanity into submission, but not through my body, or by guns and swords. Unless I bring them to natural surrender by influencing their hearts through the lineage of love, God's desired garden of peace will not come to heaven and earth. It will be impossible to build the kingdom of peace. (197-348, 1990.1.20)
From this point of view, we can understand that trueness is not something human beings can define in any way they please. In other words, trueness is not subject to the arbitrary management of fallen people. Rather, trueness is to govern fallen people. Therefore, we should always submit to that which is true. We should elevate trueness and meekly follow it. Even looking at your daily reality or at your conscience, there is no way to deny that trueness is owned entirely by heaven. (24-315, 1969.9.14)
The children must show absolute obedience before the Parents who have come in the original name of God. There is no objection to that. This is not something done by force. We are creating an environment where this can be done centering on love. The wife loves her husband and the husband loves his wife. You should become parents centered on love and create an environment where your beloved children can naturally and absolutely submit to you. Only then can the foundation of the Kingdom of Heaven not be destroyed. (101-282, 1978.11.7)
If your grandparents, mother and father, couple, and children, become one based on true love, and inherit God's true love that lives for others, then even God would be absolutely obedient to that. In the world that strives to live for others -- a world that moves according to the love that submits to the tradition of living for others -- the basis for peace would surely emerge even if it resisted being formed. (210-354, 1990.12.27)
The path of religion is that of submission. It transcends the mind-body conflict. Unless you tread the sacrificial path, you will not be able to achieve mind-body unity. (222-333, 1991.11.7)
An elastic band makes a noise like "ping… ping… ping" as it is stretched, and then returns to its original length when released. God understands that true love is similar to this elastic band. He will never want to cut it off. When you have finally reached perfection, He will tell you, "I will follow you forever with true love that is like an elastic band. Even if you are very powerful, you will not be able to cut it off. The least you can do is to protect it, for it is precious!"
God Himself is that elastic band of true love. Obey Him, submit to Him completely, respect Him absolutely and ask Him what He needs. He will reply, "I don't need money; within me are mountains and oceans filled with money." If He needed money, then through His creative power He would be able to turn this whole world into diamond and gold mines. He created everything. Nothing would be impossible for Him. (217-255, 1991.6.2)
What is the source of unity? What would allow God, alone as He is, to stand in the joyful position of unity? In terms of the Principle, God is the being with harmonized dual characteristics in the masculine position. We need to discern what this position signifies. The one who stands in the masculine position is the subject partner and the plus, but the plus cannot be without a minus. Considering this view, why would He be in the plus position? It would be because of love. Even the Absolute God desires to obey true love absolutely. If love is not based on the mind to submit and become one absolutely, there can be no unity, harmony, or concord. Instead, all would disperse without such a source. (195-20, 1989.11.1)
Since humankind lost the four great realms of heart and the three great kingships, we must find them. In order to accomplish this, you must submit with absolute obedience, absolute compliance, and absolute sacrifice and be willing to do whatever you are asked to. Only after you do this will parents come out from the satanic world to here. Men of the satanic world are archangels, so you must cut yourselves off from them. Then you can go up from this point. (235-293, 1992.10.25)
If you are to inherit the realm of the victory of the True Parents, you should live in absolute obedience, absolute compliance, and absolute faith. (266-288, 1995.1.1)
Even if a new bride was indescribably beautiful, if she was married into a renowned noble family, she would have to follow the rules of her new family. If she failed to comply with those rules, she would be banished. Can you imagine how hard that would be? It would be all the more difficult if the lifestyle, habits, and customs of the two families were very different. Keeping in time with a life filled with rules and regulations, and maintaining love, would not be easy. It would be very difficult. If you failed to live according to them, you would be banished. (184-243, 1989.1.1)
Love is not meant to be satisfied thoughtlessly. In order to have sons and daughters, the couple needs to reach the inherent standard originally desired by God as the ideal of creation by complying with all such traditions. In this way, the family becomes the foundation for the Kingdom of Heaven. (223-24, 1991.11.7)
What is it that we should ultimately seek? Countless people who have come and gone throughout history have been waiting until now for the earthly appearance of a person who can put aside his own set of beliefs and assertions and all his proactive behavior and come forth claiming to embody God with his mind and body and acting on His behalf. While longing for His representative to appear, God has endured endless hardships in guiding His providence over a long period of time. (3-317, 1958.2.2)
You cannot enter heaven without complying with the requisite standard. You cannot freely enter heaven. There is a formula. The standard for a meter can be found in the Louvre Museum. It does not change with the climate or temperature there. There are a great number of meter measures, and if each were to follow its own standard, to debate whether any particular length is right or wrong is absurd.
The only way is to decide after comparing your measure with the standard meter. You should be aware that there is such a standard in heaven. Not just anyone can go to heaven. (248-299, 1993.10.3)
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)
You need to comply with the laws of the Kingdom of God and learn to respect the laws of the palace of the Kingdom of God. Bearing this in mind, would you say you have passed or failed in following the instructions of True Father for the last 45 years? You will be judged by how much you have done to come up to the standard. This is not a threat. Watch and wait. I issue instructions only after I have put them into practice myself and have accomplished them. They can all be found in writing in the Kingdom of God as the first article of directions, that is, in legal terms. Questions and answers will all come from them. (210-370, 1990.12.27)
1 Chan, Alan Kam-leung, and Tan, Sor-hoon. Filial Piety in Chinese Thought and History. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2004. p.147.