Exposition of the Divine Principle Rev. Sun Myung Moon(1996
Translation) Introduction |
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Everyone is struggling to attain happiness and avoid misfortune. From the commonplace affairs of individuals to the great events that shape the course of history, each is at root an expression of the human aspiration for ever greater happiness. How, then, does happiness arise? People feel joy when their desires are fulfilled. The word "desire," however, is often not understood in its original sense, because in the present circumstances our desires tend to pursue evil rather than good. Desires which result in injustice do not emanate from a person's original mind. The original mind is well aware that such desires lead to misfortune. Therefore, it repels evil desires and strives to follow the good. Even at the cost of their lives, people seek for the joy that can enrapture the original mind. This is the human condition: we grope along exhausting paths to cast off the shadow of death and search for the light of life. Has anyone realized the joy in which the
original mind delights by pursuing evil desires? Whenever such desires are
sated, we feel unrest in our conscience and agony in our heart. Would a parent ever instruct his child
to be evil? Would a teacher deliberately instill unrighteousness in his
students? The impulse of the original mind, which everyone possesses, is to
abhor evil and exalt goodness. In the
lives of religious people one can see an intense struggle to realize goodness
by single-mindedly following the desires of the original mind. Yet since the beginning of time, not
even one person has abided strictly by his original mind. As St. Paul noted, "None is righteous, no,
not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God."1(Rom.3:10-11)RS|KJ|NI Confronted with the human condition, he
lamented, "For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see
in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me
captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I
am!" 2(Rom. 7:22-24)RS|KJ|NI We find a
great contradiction in every person. Within the self-same individual are two
opposing inclinations: the original mind that desires goodness and the evil
mind that desires wickedness. They are engaged in a fierce battle, striving
to accomplish two conflicting purposes. Any being possessing such a
contradiction within itself is doomed to perish. Human
beings, having acquired this contradiction, live on the brink of destruction.
Can it be
that human life originated with such a contradiction? How could beings with a
self-contradictory nature come into existence? If burdened by such a
contradiction from its inception, human life would not have been able to arise.
The contradiction, therefore, must have developed after the birth of the
human race. Christianity sees this state of destruction as the
result of the human Fall. Can anyone dispute that the
human condition is fallen? When we realize
the fact that, due to the Fall, we have arrived at the brink of
self-destruction, we make desperate efforts to resolve the contradiction
within. We repel the evil desires coming from our evil mind and embrace the
good desires springing from our original mind. Nevertheless,
we have been unable to find the ultimate answer to the question: What is the
nature of good and evil?
We still do not have an absolute and definitive truth which can enable us to
distinguish, for example, which of the two, theism or atheism, is good and
which is evil. Furthermore, we remain entirely ignorant of the answers to
such questions as: What is the original mind, the wellspring of good desires?
What is the origin of the evil mind that incites evil desires in opposition
to the original mind? What is the root cause of the contradiction that brings
people to ruin? In order to ward off evil desires and follow good desires, we
must overcome this ignorance and gain the ability to distinguish clearly
between good and evil. Then we can take the path to the good life the
original mind seeks. Considered
from the viewpoint of the intellect, the human Fall represents humanity's
descent into ignorance.
People are composed of two aspects: internal and external, or mind and body;
likewise, the intellect consists of two aspects: internal and external. In
the same way, there are two types of
ignorance: internal ignorance and external ignorance. Internal
ignorance, in religious terms, is spiritual ignorance. It is ignorance of such questions as:
What is the origin of human beings? What is the purpose of life? What happens
after death? Do God and the next world exist? What is the nature of good and
evil? External ignorance refers to ignorance
of the natural world, including the human body. It is ignorance of such
issues as: What is the origin of the physical universe? What are the natural
laws governing all phenomena? From the
dawn of history until today, human beings have ceaselessly searched for the
truth with which to overcome both types of ignorance and attain knowledge.
Humanity through religion has followed the path of searching for internal
truth, and through science has followed the path of seeking external truth. Religion
and science, each in their own spheres, have been the methods of searching
for truth in order to conquer ignorance and attain knowledge. Eventually, the
way of religion and the way of science should be integrated and their
problems resolved in one united undertaking; the two aspects of truth,
internal and external, should develop in full consonance. Only then,
completely liberated from ignorance and living solely in goodness in accord
with the desires of the original mind, will we enjoy eternal happiness.
We can
discern two broad courses in the search for solutions to the fundamental questions
of human life. In the first, people have searched within the resultant,
material world. Those
who walk this path, believing it to be the supreme way, kneel before the
glories of highly developed science. They take pride in its omnipotence and
the material comforts it provides. Nevertheless, can we enjoy full happiness
founded only upon external conditions that satisfy the flesh? The
advance of science may create a comfortable social environment in which we
can enjoy abundant wealth and prosperity, but can that alone truly gratify
the spiritual desires of the inner self? The passing joys of those who
delight in the pleasures of the flesh are nothing compared to the bliss
experienced by those on the path of enlightenment, who find joy in the midst
of simple poverty. Gautama Buddha, who abandoned the luxuries of the royal
palace and became enraptured in the pursuit of the Way, was not the only one
who wandered about homeless while searching for his heart's resting place.
Just as a healthy body depends upon a sound mind, so too the joy of the body
is complete only when the mind is content. What of the sailor who
voyages on the sea of the material world under the sail of science in search
of physical comforts? Let him reach the coast for which he longs. He
eventually will come to realize that it is nothing more than the very
graveyard where his body will be buried. Where is science heading?
Until now, scientific research has not embraced the internal world of cause;
it has limited itself to the external world. It has not embraced the world of
essence, but has limited itself to the world of phenomena. However, science
today is entering a new phase. It is compelled to elevate its gaze from the
external and resultant world of phenomena to the internal and causal world of
essence. The scientific world has begun to recognize that science cannot
achieve its ultimate goals without a theoretical explanation of the causal,
spiritual world. When the sailor, who has
completed his voyage in search of external truth under the sail of science,
adds another sail, the sail of religion, and embarks on a new voyage in
search of internal truth, he finally will be headed toward the destination
for which his original mind yearns. The second
course of human endeavor is the attempt to answer the fundamental questions
about human life by transcending the resultant world of phenomena and
searching in the world of essence. Undeniably, philosophies and religions which have pursued this path
have made many contributions. Philosophers, saints and sages set out to pave
the way of goodness for the people of their times. Yet so many of their
accomplishments have become added spiritual burdens for the people of today. Consider this objectively. Has any philosopher ever arrived at the knowledge
that could solve humanity's deepest anguish? Has any sage ever clearly
illuminated the path by resolving all the fundamental questions of human life
and the universe? Have not their teachings and philosophies raised more
unsettled questions, thus giving rise to skepticism? Furthermore, the lights of
revival which religions of every age cast upon the many souls who were
groping in the darkness have faded with the onward flow of history. They have
left only dim, sputtering wicks glimmering in the falling darkness. Examine the history of
Christianity. Professing the salvation of humankind, Christianity has
expanded through a tumultuous history of two thousand years, extending its
influence throughout the world in the present era. Yet what has become of the
Christian spirit that once cast flames of life so brilliant that, despite the
most brutal persecution by the Roman empire, Roman citizens were brought to
their knees before the crucified Jesus? Medieval feudal society buried
Christianity alive. Even though the Reformation raised high the torch of new
life, its flame could not turn back the sweeping tide of darkness. When ecclesiastic love waned,
when waves of capitalistic greed surged across Christian Europe, when
starving masses cried out bitterly in the slums, the promise of their
salvation came not from heaven but from the earth. Its name was communism.
Christianity, though it professed the love of God, had degenerated into a
dead body of clergy trailing empty slogans. It was then only natural that a
banner of rebellion would be raised, arguing that a merciless God who would
allow such suffering could not exist. Hence, modern materialism was born.
Western society became a hotbed of materialism; it was the fertile soil in
which communism flourished. Christianity lost the ability
to equal the successes of either communism or materialism and failed to
present the truth that could conquer their theories. Christians watched
helplessly as these ideologies budded and thrived in their midst and expanded
their influence all over the world. What a pity this is! What is more,
although Christian doctrine teaches that all humanity descended from the same
parents, many citizens of Christian nations who profess this doctrine will
not even sit together with their brothers and sisters of different skin
colors. This illustrates the actual situation of today's Christianity, which
has lost much of the power to put the words of Jesus into practice. It has
become a house of lifeless rituals, a whitewashed tomb. There may come a day when
human efforts bring an end to such social evils, but there is one social vice that human efforts alone can never
eradicate. That is sexual immorality. Christian doctrine regards this as a
cardinal sin. What a tragedy that today's Christian society cannot block this
path of ruin down which so many people are rushing blindly!
Christianity today has fallen victim to confusion and division, and it can
only watch helplessly while countless lives are sucked into the maelstrom of
immorality. This is evidence that
conventional Christianity stands powerless to carry on God's providence to
save humanity in this present age. What is the reason that
religious people, though earnestly searching for internal truth, have been
unable to accomplish their God-given mission? The relationship between the
world of essence and the world of phenomena can be compared to that between
mind and body. It is a relationship of cause and result, internal and
external, subject partner and object partner.3(cf. Creation 1.1) Just as people attain
perfection of character only when the mind and body are fully united, the two
worlds of essence and phenomena must join in perfect harmony before the ideal
world can be realized. As with the relationship between mind and body, so too
the world of phenomena cannot exist apart from the world of essence, and the
world of essence cannot exist apart from the world of phenomena. Accordingly,
life after death is inseparably linked to life in this world. Spiritual joy
is incomplete without genuine physical happiness. Religions have made strenuous
efforts to deny life in this world in their quest for the life eternal. They
have despised the pleasures of the body for the sake of spiritual bliss. Yet
however hard they may try, people cannot cut themselves off from the reality
of this world or annihilate the desire for physical pleasures, which follows
them like a shadow and cannot be shaken off. This
world and its desires tenaciously grab hold of religious people, driving them
into the depths of agony. Such is the contradiction which plagues their
devotional lives. Even many enlightened spiritual leaders, still torn
by this contradiction, have met a sad end. Herein is a principal cause for
the inactivity and weakness of today's religions: they have not overcome this
self-contradiction. Another
factor has fated religions to decline. In step with the progress of science,
the human intellect has become highly sophisticated, requiring a scientific
approach to understanding reality. The traditional doctrines of religions, on
the other hand, are largely devoid of scientific explanations. That is to say, the current
interpretations of internal truth and external truth do not agree. The ultimate purpose of
religion can be attained only when one first believes it in one's heart and
then puts it into practice. However, without first understanding, beliefs do
not take hold. For example, it is in order to understand the truth and
thereby solidify our beliefs that we study holy scriptures. Likewise, it was
to help the people understand that he was the Messiah, and thereby lead them
to believe in him, that Jesus performed miracles. Understanding is the
starting point for knowledge. Today,
however, people will not accept what is not demonstrable by the logic of
science. Accordingly, since religions are now unable to guide people even to
the level of understanding, much less to belief, they are unable to fulfill
their purpose. Even internal truth demands logical and convincing
explanations. Indeed, throughout the long course of history, religions have
been moving toward the point when their teachings could be elucidated
scientifically. Religion
and science, setting out with the missions of dispelling the two aspects of
human ignorance, have seemed in the course of their development to take
positions that were contradictory and irreconcilable. However, for humankind
to completely overcome the two aspects of ignorance and fully realize the
goodness which the original mind desires, at some point in history there must
emerge a new truth which can reconcile religion and science and resolve their
problems in an integrated undertaking. It may be
displeasing to religious believers, especially to Christians, to learn that a
new expression of truth must appear. They believe that the scriptures they
have are already perfect and flawless. Certainly, truth itself is unique,
eternal, immutable and absolute. Scriptures, however, are not the truth
itself, but are textbooks teaching the truth. They were given at various
times in history as humankind developed both spiritually and intellectually.
The depth and extent of teaching and the method of expressing the truth
naturally varied according to each age. Consequently, we must never regard
such textbooks as absolute in every detail. 4(cf. Eschatology 5) People need religion in order
to seek the Ultimate Reality and realize goodness in accordance with the
inclination of the original mind. Thus, the purpose of every religion is
identical. However, religions have appeared in different forms according to
their various missions, the cultures in which they took root, and their
particular historical period. Their scriptures have taken different forms for
similar reasons. All scriptures have the same purpose: to illuminate their
surroundings with the light of truth. Yet when a brighter lamp is lit, the
old lamp is outshone and its mission fades. Because religions lack the power
to guide modern people out of the dark valley of death into the full radiance
of life, there must emerge a new expression of truth that can radiate a new
and brighter light. Jesus indicated that God
would someday reveal a new truth: "I have said this to you in figures;
the hour is coming when I shall no longer speak to you in figures but tell
you plainly of the Father." 5(John 16:25)RS|KJ|NI What
missions must the new truth fulfill? The new truth should be able to
unify knowledge by reconciling the internal truth pursued by religion and the
external truth pursued by science. Consequently, it will enable all people to
overcome the two types of ignorance, internal and external, and fully comprehend
the two types of knowledge. Next, the
new truth should lead fallen people to block the ways of the evil mind and to
pursue the goals of the original mind, enabling them to attain goodness. It
should guide people to remove the double-mindedness that sometimes seeks good
and sometimes evil. It should empower religious people to overcome the
contradiction which they face in their struggle to live according to the Way. For fallen people, knowledge is the
light of life holding the power of revival, while ignorance is the shadow of
death and the cause of ruin. Ignorance cannot beget true sentiments, and in
the absence of knowledge and emotion the will to act cannot arise. Without
the proper functioning of emotion, intellect and will, one cannot live the life
of a true human being. If we are created in such a
way that we cannot live apart from God, then surely our ignorance of God
consigns us to walk miserable paths. Though we may diligently study the
Bible, can we really say that we know clearly the reality of God? Can we ever
grasp the Heart of God? The new
expression of truth should be able to reveal the Heart of God: His heart of
joy at the time of creation; the broken heart He felt when humankind, His
children whom He could not abandon, rebelled against Him; and His heart of
striving to save them throughout the long course of history. Human history, woven of the
lives of people who are inclined toward both good and evil, is filled with
struggle. Today, external conflicts-battles over property, people and territory-are
gradually diminishing. People are coming together transcending the
differences between races. The victors of World War II liberated their
colonies, gave them equal rights with the great powers and included them as
members of the United Nations. Together, they are working toward a world
order. Hostility and discord in international relations have been mitigated
as economic concerns come to the forefront and nations are cooperating to
construct common markets. Culture is freely circulating, the traditional
isolation of nations is being overcome and the cultural distance between East
and West is being bridged. Nonetheless,
one final and inescapable conflict remains before us, the war between
democracy and communism. Although each side has equipped itself with fearsome
weapons and is pitted against the other in readiness for battle, the core of
their conflict is internal and ideological. Which side
will triumph in this final ideological conflict? Anyone who believes in the
reality of God will surely answer that democracy will win. However, democracy
does not possess any doctrine which can win over communism, nor does it have
the power to do so. Therefore, in order for God's providence of salvation to
be completely fulfilled, this new truth should first elevate the idealism
of the democratic world to a new level, then use it to assimilate
materialism, and finally bring humanity into a new world. This truth must be
able to embrace all historical religions, ideologies and philosophies and bring
complete unity among them. Some
people do, indeed, refuse to believe in religion. They disbelieve because
they do not know the reality of God and life after death. Yet, however
strongly they would like to deny these realities, it is human nature to accept
and believe in them if they can be proven scientifically. Moreover, Heaven
has implanted in human beings a nature such that those who place their
ultimate purpose of life in the material world will eventually come to feel a
great void and emptiness in their hearts. When people come to know God
through the new truth and encounter the reality of the spirit world, they
will realize that they should not set the ultimate purpose of life in the
material world, but instead should look to the eternal world. They will walk
the path of faith, and when they reach their final destination, they will
meet as brothers and sisters. If all people are to meet as
brothers and sisters by virtue of this one truth, what will that world be
like? Under the light of the new truth, all
those who have struggled over the long course of history to dispel the
darkness of ignorance will gather. They will form one great family. Since the purpose of truth is to realize goodness,
and since God is the origin of goodness, God will be the center of the world
founded upon this truth. Everyone will adore and serve God as their Parent
and live in harmony with each other in brotherly love. It is human nature that when people wrong their
neighbor for selfish ends, they suffer more from the pangs of conscience than
they benefit from the enjoyment of unrighteous gains. Anyone realizing this
will restrain himself from hurting his neighbor. But were genuine brotherly
love to overflow from the depth of people's hearts, they would no longer wish
to do anything that would cause pain to their neighbor. How much more would
this be true in a society of people who actually feel that God, who
transcends time and space and observes their every act, wants them to love
each other? Therefore, once the sinful history of humanity has come to an
end, a new historical era will begin wherein people simply will not commit
sins. The reason
why people who believe in God continue to commit sins is because their faith
in God has been merely conceptual. It has not touched their innermost
feelings. Who among them would ever dare to commit sin if they experienced
God in the depths of their being? Would they not tremble if they felt the
reality of the heavenly law that those who commit crimes cannot escape the
destiny of hell? The world
without sin which has just been described, this long-sought goal of
humankind, may be called the Kingdom of Heaven. Since this world is to
be established on the earth, it may be called the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
We can
conclude that the ultimate purpose of God's work of salvation is to establish
the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.
It was explained above that human beings fell, and that this fall took place
after the human race originated. If we accept the existence of God, then it
is obvious what kind of world God originally wanted to realize before the
fall of the first human ancestors. It suffices to say that this world was to
be the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, wherein God's purpose of creation would
bear fruit. 6(cf. Creation 3.1) Due to the Fall, human beings
failed to establish this world. Instead, they fell into ignorance and built a
sinful world. Since then, fallen human beings have unceasingly struggled to
restore the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, the world God originally intended to
create. Over the long course of history, they have sought for truth, both
internal and external, and have strived to pursue goodness. Thus, behind
human history is God's providence to restore a world where the purpose of
God's creation is fulfilled. Accordingly, the new truth should guide fallen
human beings to return to their original state. To do this, it must reveal
the purpose for which God created humankind and the universe, and teach about
the process of their restoration and its ultimate goal. Did human beings fall by
eating a fruit called the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, as is written literally in the Bible? If not, then what was the cause
of the Fall? The new truth must answer these and other questions which have
pained and troubled the minds of profound thinkers throughout the ages: Why
did the God of perfection and beauty create human beings with the potential
to fall? Why did the omniscient and omnipotent God not prevent their fall,
even though He was aware that they were falling? Why did God not save sinful
humankind in an instant with His almighty power? As we marvel at the
scientific laws concealed in the natural world, we can deduce that God, its
Creator, truly is the very origin of science. If human history is God's
providence to restore the world wherein His purpose of creation is fulfilled,
it must be that God, the Master of all laws, has led the long providence of restoration
according to an orderly plan. It is our most urgent task to comprehend how
the sinful history of humanity began, what formulas and laws have governed
the course of the providence, how history will be consummated and, finally,
into what kind of world humanity will enter. The new truth must offer answers
to all of these deeper questions of life. When the answers are made clear, it
will not be possible to deny the existence of God, the Ruler who plans and
guides history. We will recognize in every historical event traces of the
Heart of God as He has struggled to save fallen human beings. In addition, the new truth
should be able to elucidate many difficult issues in Christianity, which has
been granted the mission to establish its sphere of culture worldwide.
Educated people are not fully satisfied with the simple assertion that Jesus
is the Son of God and the Savior of humanity. They have carried on many
theological debates in their efforts to understand the deeper significance of
Christian doctrines. The new truth should elucidate the relationships between
God, Jesus and human beings; they will be explained in light of the Principle
of Creation. Furthermore, it should clarify the difficult mysteries
surrounding the Holy Trinity. It should show why God's salvation of humanity
was possible only through shedding the blood of His only begotten Son on the
cross. Still, difficult issues
remain. Christians believe that salvation is given through the atonement of
the cross. Yet no one has ever given birth to a child who is sinless and in
no need of redemption by the Savior. This demonstrates that, even after their
rebirth in Christ, people continue to pass down the original sin to their
children. This raises a crucial question: What is the extent of redemption by
the cross? How many millions of Christians in the two-thousand-year history
of Christianity have boasted that their sins were completely forgiven by
virtue of the blood of the crucifixion? Yet in reality, a sinless individual,
family or society has never appeared. Furthermore, the Christian spirit has
been in gradual decline. How are we going to reconcile the discrepancy
between the conventional belief in complete redemption through the
crucifixion and the actual reality? These are only some of many dilemmas we
face. The new truth, for which we long, should provide plain answers. Many other difficult riddles
are found in the Bible, couched in symbolism and metaphor, such as: Why must
Jesus come again? When, where and how will his return take place? How will
fallen people be resurrected at his coming? What is the meaning of the
biblical prophecies that heaven and earth will be destroyed by fire and other
calamities? The new truth should explain
these puzzles, not in esoteric language but, as Jesus promised, in plain
language that everyone can understand.7(John 16:25)RS|KJ|NI Divergent interpretations of such symbolic and
metaphorical Bible verses have inevitably led to the division of Christianity
into denominations. Only with the aid of the new truth, with its clear
explanations, can we bring about Christian unity. This
ultimate life-giving truth, however, cannot be discovered through an
exhaustive investigation of scriptures or scholarly texts; nor can it be
invented by any human intellect. As is written in the Book of Revelation,
"You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and tongues and
kings."8(Rev. 10:11)RS|KJ|NI This truth must appear as a revelation from
God. With the fullness of time, God has sent one person to this earth to resolve
the fundamental problems of human life and the universe. His name is Sun
Myung Moon. For several decades he
wandered through the spirit world so vast as to be beyond imagining. He trod
a bloody path of suffering in search of the truth, passing through
tribulations that God alone remembers. Since he understood that no one can
find the ultimate truth to save humanity without first passing through the
bitterest of trials, he fought alone
against millions of devils, both in the spiritual and physical worlds, and
triumphed over them all. Through intimate spiritual communion with God and by
meeting with Jesus and many saints in Paradise, he brought to light all the
secrets of Heaven. The words proclaimed on these
pages are only a portion of this truth. This volume is merely a compilation
of what his disciples have hitherto heard and seen. We believe and hope that
when the time is ripe, more profound portions of the truth will be published.
In every corner of the world,
countless souls who had been groping in the darkness are receiving the light
of this new truth and are being reborn. As we witness this, we cannot stop
shedding tears of deepest inspiration. We desire from the bottom of our
hearts that its light quickly fills the earth.
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