The Way for Young People

by Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 2 "I" and Way of a True Person

Section 1. "I"

1. Who Is "I"

1) "I" Who Must Be Awakened

What is the "I"? When the mind goes here and there, and the body does the same, does the person "I" stay still? When it moves here and there, it will hopefully go only to good places, but it also goes to bad places.

You should know this. What kind of realization should I have? I have to realize: I am the absolute center. Although the whole universe turns upside down, I am still standing here like a statue. The place of the heart is firm! Although God pushes me out, He cannot really push me out, because He actually wants me to be here at my original place. You should be in a place where your own subjectivity is protected. Securing the place of the heart is absolutely necessary! How do you secure the place of the heart? It is dangerous if you do it in the opposite direction. It should be in the right direction. You should find the place of complete settlement when the right direction is fixed. When you start operating from such a firm base, then your body and posture will start moving. You will start discovering the "I" which conforms to the original concept of the self. This is a serious matter.

(127-198)

Originally, what kind of being is the "I" who can stand in the realm of the ideal? It is not the I who is suffering from the difficulties of daily survival. Had the human ancestors been one within God's love, they would have transcended the self and created an ideal family, tribe, nation, and country based on Gods love. (145-312)

2) My Value

What is the most precious thing in the world? It is not gold or jewelry, honor or power. It is my own self. When asked how to be sure of the value of the self, however, people are unable to answer. People want to establish the most respectable image for themselves before the public even when they do not deserve it. This is the original nature of human beings. The self is very precious, and unless we question how others value this self, we cannot make a new determination and new start.

How much value does your own self possess? Have you ever thought about this? If my own self is a unique treasure in the cosmos, then everyone will long for it, including God, Jesus, all the saints, and all those who have made their name in history. Not only the people of the past, but my contemporaries will long for it. They will admire its value. They will do so not just in the present but also in the future. So far, however, you have not realized that you have such value. If you look back upon yourself from the standpoint of the present, are you a precious being? How precious are you? A man has a wife, children, parents, and relatives. How precious this man is, the one who connected them all and brought them to participate in the world! (17-13)

In your blood, there should be the blood of the vertical God and the blood of the horizontal True Parents. Your life was born as they became one through love. Therefore, your life lies within the area of unified shimjung. You are born through the essential root of unity and by inheriting the origin of life. (181-304)

2. I Am a Fruit of History

1) My Origin Is God

Every human being has four limbs and a face, but this basic structure has a great variety of forms. Among such diversity, who can be the standard for me? None of my ancestors can be the standard. When we take a moment away from all the complications of the world and quietly reflect upon ourselves, we realize that we are relational beings. Thus, every part of the body, hands, eyes, nose, mouth, limbs, and so forth move for the purpose of relationship. When they work together toward a purpose, they require an object partner. Only then can there be an evaluation of good and bad. Where in the universe did I originate from? Human beings do not know their origin. Did I come from an unknown being? Why did I come into being? It must be because of some purpose. It is not enough to say that the purpose is to become a subject or object partner, however. What, then, is the necessary condition? What is needed for me to exist today? There are front and back, right and left, and up and down all around me. Among all that surrounds me, what is the subject and motivation for my existence? It is God. The purpose should be centered on the relationship between God and man rather than just on man. For human beings, there is a substantial image to be achieved in the future beyond the present reality of the self. (12-144)

2) My Root Is Love

Why am "I" most precious? This is the question. You may not know. Why am I most precious? No one takes others as the center of measurement. My self is connected to and formed by countless generations of ancestors. I do not want to treat this self as a secondary being. I want to treat it as the first. Even unconsciously, I affirm my own value and try to establish myself as the absolute measure for everything; my will, my desire, and my appetites become the center. What is the origin of such an attitude? It started from God.

You should know that God established me through a love that unites mind and body. Since this "I" is founded upon love, I should live by love. Since the origin is such, I should expand so and find religion. Why is the self precious? We must make ourselves absolute, because in God's mind the self has dignity as it stands in line with the standard of the tradition. The root that supports the "I" is love. (137-311)

3) I Originate from Three Parents

Where on earth was the self born? I said that you are a microcosm. You are an encapsulation of the earth. Your body contains all the elements of the earth, doesn't it? The universe participates in you. You should know this. First, the universe created you. If the universe says, " I will take back what is mine," then you will have to lose everything. You were formed by things borrowed from the universe. What does this mean? It means that the universe gave birth to you. So who is your parent? First, it is the universe. The first parent of your body is the universe. This is why you are a substantial synthesis of the entire elements of the universe. Are you happy? (Yes.) Now, who is the first parent? (Nature.) Thus, you should love all things as your first parent.

Who is the second parent? It is your own physical parents. (105-106)

Human beings have three parents. They are father and mother, and then all things in the universe. They must receive blood and flesh from them. This is not enough, however. This is the root of life, and its fruit should return to God. It starts that way, turns around several times, and drops off like a fruit. A plant sprouts at the origin of love and life, absorbs all the nutrition from the branches, and produces fruits. The fruits drop in seasons like autumn, and not in the summer. There is a circulation track.

Who is your parent? All things are your parent. Isn't the earth your parent since it supplies elements? It is a parent. The earth is the first parent. Your father and mother are your second parents. Who is the third parent? It is God, who gave you your spirit. You have direct parents and indirect parents. All the parents in the world are your indirect parents. (106-84)

4) My Background is My Ancestors

Whom does a person resemble? His father. Then whom does his father resemble? His grandparents. If we go up this way, we reach the first human ancestors. We look the way we do because the first human beings looked this way. Then whom did they resemble? This is the question. There was a master who made them this way. A work of art is created because of the artist's plan, isnt it? No one would deny this. So whom do human beings resemble? They resemble their own fathers and mothers. If they do not resemble their own parents, there must be some ancestors whose traits are carried through the parents and expressed through their children. No one is born totally unrelated to their lineage.

You may think that you constitute your own self , but you have countless ancestors. Let us respect them and call them bosses. You are the general boss who brings together all the bosses. Are you happy to hear this? This is how wonderful human beings are. For this reason, you are like an exhibition in a museum of all the characters, qualifications, and values of the ancestors of ten thousand generations. We are exhibition items our ancestors have placed before the whole world, saying, "This is how our descendants are." Have you ever thought about this? There are numerous men and women in the world, but each individual is born as a fruit that synthesizes the characters of his or her ancestors. (41-139)

I am an historical fruit, what is the self? I am not just somebody who has such and such a name and is going to such and such a college. I am a synthetic expression of the origin, process, and present reality of the universe. I am a treasure and micro museum of the universe. (145-176)

5) The Individual is the Historical Fruit

Who are you? You are the fruits of history. Is that right? You are the fruits of historical tribes. You have met me because of the merits of your good ancestors. You did not meet me because of your own will or any qualifications you have. (46-152)