The Course of Life for the Princes and Princesses of God [Part 1]

This speech was delivered on March 12, 2000 at the Olympic Main Stadium, Seoul. It was first given on March 9 in Taegu, as part of a speaking tour of Korea.

Distinguished international guests, fellow compatriots, ladies and gentlemen -- you who are gathered here for the sake of the unification of North and South! The new millennium we have just begun is the time for us to wipe away the residue of division and struggle left over from the previous century, and realize the ideal of one family, one global village of peace and unity. I pray that the blessings of the new millennium will be with each and every one of your families represented here today.

First, allow me to thank you for coming from around the world to congratulate me on my 80th birthday. However, more than anything, I would like to offer this glory to God; He has been my constant companion and protector, and it is He who has made this day possible.

Looking back on my life, at no time have things ever been calm and quiet. I have walked a path of suffering side by side with the people of this nation, a nation whose history has seen much strife and tribulation, nestled as it is, here, in the midst of the world's great powers. Ever since I suddenly came into contact with the will of Heaven while in prayer at the age of fifteen, I have devoted my life and given all my thought and all my effort to bringing about the fulfillment of the will of God. I have found that the root cause of human suffering is that the ancestors of humankind fell into a state of spiritual ignorance due to corruption, and that this resulted in the relationship between them and God being cut off.

The result of this fall is that humankind became ignorant of such basic issues as the facts relating to God, life and the universe. Throughout my life, I have spoken in public more than 10,000 times, and presented a true world-view, life-view and history-view based on the principles of Godism. This content in its entirety has been translated into twelve different languages and published in a series of some 300 volumes. It was not brought to light as a result of some kind of comprehensive literary research or academic study, but is comprised of the fundamental and essential answers I found while freely traversing both the visible and the invisible worlds.

Today I would like to gratefully take this opportunity and talk about a fundamental solution to the problem of the unification of the Korean peninsula-the unification that is our nation's most cherished desire as well as the last issue in the Cold War that awaits settlement. I would like to entitle this talk "The Course of Life for the Princes and Princesses of God."

Distinguished guests! What nation are you citizens of? Many of you are citizens of Korea. For you, Korea is your fatherland, your homeland, isn't it? Then where is God's homeland? At present, God has no homeland. Where is it that all the nations of the world have their origin? Do they have their origin in God, or is their origin somewhere else? The historical origin of the world's nations is a big question.

All the nations of this world were cut up or formed as the results of conflicts. In many instances, where two nations are divided by a border, that border is one of intensely painful resentment. We all know the historical reality that the fiercest fights and the most blood has been shed over adjacent borders, rather than, for example, the borders of a third or fourth nation. This shows us that the walls between two nations, and the walls between two ethnic groups, are the highest kinds of walls. Conflicts are not always fought by traveling thousands of miles. From ancient times, wars have been fought over the borders between two neighboring countries. This is the reason why even you yourselves will find that you get into fights with those neighbors and people closest to you. Why? Because humankind has fallen. It is a result of the human fall that fights tend to start with one's neighbors.

What is the fall? It is the discordance between God and humankind. It is the eruption of conflict between God and Satan, and eruption of conflict between humankind and Satan. We can therefore conclude that the fact that there have been numerous nations in the history of this small planet is evidence that there have also been numerous conflicts.

Where will the nations that were formed from this go? All nations seek a world of peace, but are they capable of getting there? This question points to the one common task that remains before all humankind today. Looking at things this way we can understand that if we continue to harbor enmity towards a neighboring nation under the justification that it is our historical enemy, we can never achieve a world of peace. No matter how much we long for our ideal, and say how much we are marching towards our ideal, it is impossible to reach that goal. In order to negate the motives that give impetus to these conflicts, and wipe away our malformed dysfunctional history, we need a movement that will lead the way and embody the substantial content of the opposite direction.

Distinguished guests! You yourselves are exactly the same as a people without a nation. Did you have a nation in the past? Has there ever, in history been the kind of nation we could call "our nation"? We have never had that kind of nation. Is that because nobody ever tried to build such a nation? No. The reason we have never had such a nation is that the people who desired it in history were never in a position to build it. They couldn't build such a nation because the ages in which they lived didn't allow a fully developed and complete standard by which that nation could be built. The homeland that we need to build is not a nation with a certain history and tradition that exists in the world today. Rather, it is of a dimension essentially different from the nations that exist in today's world.

If we want to inherit this different kind of nation, we must become a people who possess the ideological consciousness that makes it possible. If an absolute creator exists, that ideology and thought would need to be one with the Creator's ideology and thought. If the absolute being wanted a nation, he would want a nation where the citizens can be completely united centering on the national sovereignty. We need to have that kind of national character, and we need to have that kind of national pattern.

In order to form a nation, there needs to be sovereignty, a people, and a national soil. God's nation is the same. The parents represent the sovereignty; the sons and daughters represent the people, and the country represents the national soil. This is an unbreakable rule; none of these elements can be omitted. What, then, is the most precious thing? It is living for the sake of the nation and the world. As long as you live like that, you cannot fall into ruin. That place where ruin cannot occur is the ultimate point.

A person who dies while working for the sake of that nation will become a citizen of that nation even though he or she dies. He or she will remain as long as that nation exists. For a nation to be formed, you need a national soil, a people and sovereignty.

What, then, is sovereignty? It is a connection and link with God, the root and origin. The people who govern the nation must create their connection with God and then govern. In this way, the rulers need to be one with the people. They need to become one with the people, and think that everything that they possess exists not for their own sake, but for the sake of the nation. If they can do this, then that nation will prosper.

From this point of view, when you consider the issue of realizing the kingdom of heaven on earth, who is the owner of heaven? Who is the ruler? Without a doubt, God is the ruler. Then who are the people? The people are all the people of the world. And where is the national soil? The national soil is the planet Earth. Who, then, does the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth resemble? It resembles "me." If you look at any one nation, what does it consist of? Sovereignty, people and national soil. This is the same as a single human being.

Who did you say that the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth resembles? "Me." It resembles "me." Individuals such as myself are gathered together, and that forms the nation. Just as I have my own mind, the nation has to have sovereignty. Just as I have a personal identity, there must be a national people. And just as humans interact with the created universe, so a nation must have the national soil.

Within this basic principle, the people control the national soil, and the sovereignty governs the people. That is how things are. This national soil, people and sovereignty are the three essential elements that form a nation. If you look at humans, the basic principle is that our mind controls our body, and our body controls nature. Because of this principle, if you look at the entire world, the definitive conclusion is Ch'eon Ji In (Heaven, earth, humankind-Translator's Note: a concept also found in Neo-Confucianism that says these are the three essential elements of the cosmos). What did you say that Heaven is? It is the same as the human mind, so it is also the same as the sovereignty Humankind is the nation's citizenry, and the earth is the created world. In the end, whom does the nation resemble? It all resembles my individual self.

No matter how big the society, no matter how great the nation, they need to resemble a human being. That is because God likes those things that resemble His image. Then what is the thing that humans like the most? Things that resemble their own image. So what does an ideal nation need to resemble? It has to resemble a human being, and it has to resembles Ch'eon Ji In (heaven, earth, humankind).

In Unification Church terminology, the homeland doesn't refer to a single nation like the Republic of Korea, but to a global nation. Actually, the word "global" is a word used in this corrupted, fallen world, and I really don't like it. The ism or teaching that seeks for this homeland is called Ch'eonju jui ("Cosmos-ism").

That homeland is not the Republic of Korea. God does not want the Republic of Korea, nor the United States, nor the communist nations. That homeland is the fatherland that God wants, and because this is so, we have to create the culture of that new fatherland, and create the history of that new fatherland. We have to define a new standard so that we are able to establish a new and ideal homeland. So we have to change our way of life, because that world is completely different from the world we have now. The words and language are different. Do the people of the world today understand the meaning of such important phrases as "the realm of dominion of the Principle," "reciprocal base," "common base," and "providence for the foundation of restoration"? This means that the language is different. If and when the nation that the Unification Church desires is established, we will have to take down and dismantle the Unification Church signboard. And when the world that the Unification Church desires is realized, then we will have to dismantle the nation the Unification Church established. We have to be able to discard the kind of religion that exists only for the sake of the culture and character of the people in the Republic of Korea. Only a religion that exists for the sake of the world will be able to continue into the future.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen! What do you suppose a person who seeks to inherit the Will of God must advocate? There is absolutely no way he or she could tell the people of this world to just go the way they enjoy In fact, he or she would have to tell the people of this world to go in the opposite direction. A saying that expresses this fact is the motto "Love your enemies with the heart of true love." "Love your enemies!" These words can turn around our false history; they are the same as an anchor, and an anchor chain for a ship being blown before a howling typhoon. However, throughout the history of the providence of restoration, there has been no one who has actually practiced these words. If there were people who could love their enemies, we would have to raise them up to the world stage using some form of systematic organization. Because this is the logical conclusion, each of you needs to understand that God actually has to present this kind of movement to the world, and that the religious movements that have arisen in history are a reflection of this.

Who is the person God has been able to love the most in history? It is Jesus. Jesus presented a new direction for this conflict-ridden world. High walls are created between oppressor nations and oppressed nations, such as between Rome and Israel, by them viewing each other as enemies. Jesus' philosophy is that these walls need to be demolished. Jesus thought, You in Rome want to conquer me by force, but I will conquer you in the opposite way-with love. That is why he even sought blessing for his enemies when he was hanging on the cross.

We need to recognize that when Jesus said of the Roman soldiers, "Forgive them for they know not what they do," he was expressing this kind of amazing philosophy. Because Jesus made this plea, he became a model and archetype for all nations of the world to transcend the way they see each other as enemies, and also a model for transcending the borders between any two nations.

Jesus knew that individual enemies were not the only enemies. He knew that family enemies, clan enemies, ethnic enemies, national enemies and global enemies surrounded him on all four sides. This means that there are many enemies awaiting those who want to follow his path. It also means that if you go the family path, there are family enemies waiting, and if you go the clan path, there are clan enemies waiting. You can expect fierce battles, but you must love those enemies whenever you encounter them. If you possess this kind of spirit, someday victory can be yours.

From what point will God's ideal nation be realized? Where will the restoration of the fatherland take place? It starts from the individuals who live by the philosophy to love their enemies. Therefore, as long as God exists, there is no way Christianity can avoid becoming a global religion, because Christianity offers a movement to break down national borders with love, to transcend all environments and cultural barriers, and to embrace even one's enemies. If you plant beans, you get beans, because kidney beans come from kidney bean seeds, and red flowers bloom from red flower seeds. In the same way, if you plant a satanic seed, a seed of paying back your enemies, you will get a tree of evil-a tree of paying back enemies. But if you plant the seeds of goodness, the seeds of loving your enemies, you will get a tree of goodness, a tree of love for the enemies. This is just a natural principle.

Where did I say God's fatherland starts from? By what path does it come? It comes by the path of loving one's enemies. It comes by the path of leaving behind a tradition of loving the individual's enemies, loving the family's enemies, loving the clan enemies, loving the national and global enemies. You all need to understand that God's homeland cannot appear except by this path.

Take a look. Because the U.S. opposed me, because the State Department opposed me, because the Congress opposed me, some day I will get a certificate of recognition, saying that I was victorious in the Congress, that I was victorious in the State Department, that I was victorious in the United States. Even in the State Department, which opposes me, I am winning friends. In the Congress I am winning many friends. It has already been determined that the victory will come to me in the end.

And even if I don't have any such friends, I have the conviction that I can overcome any kind of opposition and lead the way to victory. The more anyone opposes me, the greater will become my love for my enemy, so I do not need to be worried about greater opposition.

The laws of nature dictate that if low pressure occurs in one place, high pressure will appear somewhere else. If one area develops high pressure, another area develops low pressure. When a high place like the U.S. State Department opposes me, then it will have to surrender to me if I develop a field of low pressure, just as a high-pressure area is absorbed by a low-pressure area in nature.

Even though I had to take all sorts of abuse in the past, when I didn't fight and instead loved them, they became my friends in the end. Families that became friends appeared, clans that became friends appeared, nations that became friends appeared.

If a nation composed of people who have this spirit of loving one's enemies appears, that nation can be the ideal that God desires, and it can be the ideal that all humankind can enter. You have to understand this. There is nothing good-looking about me, Reverend Moon. Isn't that true? You people here don't say so, but the people of the world think I am pretty ugly But God loves me the best. Even if the world thinks that I am a terrible fellow, God recognizes me, so I can go at this world from a bold and open position.

There is nothing you can't say if in your heart you love your enemies. Why? If God says the man is a good-looking chap, then he is a good-looking chap. If He says he's a really cool fellow, he's a really cool fellow. If He says that the man is brave and fierce, then he's brave and fierce. So if I think like that .I take it as glory and I can take on the world in confidence. When I get intoxicated like this and work alone, do you know what happens? Young people, young men and women, a family of all races, an entire people appears, a people that God can truly take joy in appears, and the dawning of God's homeland becomes possible.

Because Jesus said we must love our enemies, that means we have to love even the worst person. Even if the most handsome man is matched with the ugliest woman, he has to love her even more than he loves his enemies. When it comes to loving the enemies in this world, that kind of person is a candidate for marching ahead and carrying the flag of the highest prince. Just think how noble that kind of person is. That kind of person can just leap over national and racial boundaries.

You have to understand that on the day you live with nothing but a loving heart, all the walls will be brought down, the history of the providence of restoration will be shortened, and Heaven will come that much closer. My philosophy is simple. There is nothing I haven't done. I've been a farmer, I've been a laborer; I've tried everything that can be done. I've been a fisherman and caught tuna. Living my whole life in this way I thought I was all alone, but when I turned around, I found British people following me, Americans following me; people from all over the world are following me. Even if I tell them to get lost and kick them away with my feet and try to go over there, they still come back and follow me. I go this way I go that way, but they still follow me. That is how it is, so no matter how much you might research the Unification Church, there is always something more to learn.

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen! What is the path we need to go now? No matter what kind of clan you establish, if the sovereignty of Satan's nation continues to exist, all of you are nationless people. Is this your country here? You do not have a country! No matter what kind of clan you have, if the sovereignty is not a sovereignty centered on Heaven, the clan can be killed off just like that. Isn't that so? Therefore, we have to go out in search of the nation that Heaven can welcome with open arms. What it means when we talk about the realm of the first Israel in this world today is that the land needs to become one that all of Heaven can welcome, a land that the individual can welcome, that the family can welcome, that the clan, race and church can welcome. But whether you look at this issue centering on the Unification Church or centering on Christianity or centering on the Republic of Korea, did they ever stand in a position that can be welcomed by the whole? They couldn't. The direction is different. Different. The path that the Republic of Korea is going is external. Isn't that so? It is moving ahead, not centered on God, but centered on the worldly society. This country has no mainstream thought or philosophy.

Thus if we can't connect this nation with God centering on a national mainstream ideology to form a new national concept equipped with new three-dimensional, or two-dimensional content, and take that national concept and stand forth with it as the ideal content centering on the nations of the world today we will be unable to see the dawning of the fatherland.

The liberation that we have today is the first liberation. Now, in the Unification Church, we need a second liberation. The Republic of Korea also needs a second liberation. Here, the people and the nation may achieve their full desire if the Republic of Korea undergoes the second liberation, but the Unification Church also needs a third liberation. That is how things will go. The Republic of Korea obtained its current national pattern by the first liberation, but now the time has come when it requires a second liberation. North and South need to be united.

What kind of country is that nation? That country has to be a nation whose people have passed through a suffering course in its history, whose national character is capable of becoming one with the principles of restoration through indemnity, and which has inherited a historical tradition. What kind of country does it need to be? It needs to be a nation completely unified. So, how does today's Republic of Korea need to act if it wants to become this kind of nation?

To rise to the standard of that nation, it needs to unite the north and the south. Just like the divided northern dynasty of Israel and southern dynasty of Judah, the divided north and south of Korea need to be united into one. Just like Cain and Abel nations, North and South were divided, and if these are not united, a single victorious Israelite nation will not appear.