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 |
The universe is composed of distinct law and order, both vertical and horizontal. The laws and order of the universe establish the "heavenly way". Behind everything visible and all the forces and movement in the universe there are laws and order. These include laws and order in the physical universe, in nature, in human society, the laws and order of relationships, and the laws and order of love.
There is vertical order and there is horizontal order. There are vertical relationships between subject and object partners, and there are horizontal relationships between subject and object partners. The behaviors of the object partners toward the subject partners are called attendance. There are laws of attendance in all relationships between subject partners and object partners.
According to the laws of love the flow of love and the resulting joy can be experienced only in a relationship. In a relationship one being takes the position of the subject partner, and the other being takes the position of the object partner. Relationships exist either vertically or horizontally between subject partners and object partners. The Heavenly Parent and child relationship is a vertical relationship. It is an above and below relationship of love. God, the Vertical Parent, is the Subject Partner of love lives for the sake of His children who are the object partners of love. God's love, life and ideals are expressed vertically and flow towards His sons and daughters. The actions of love of God's sons and daughters towards their Heavenly Parent are called filial attendance of divine sons and daughters of God.
With regard to the natural order, which is formed by the laws of the universe, every being and every thing occupies a particular space in the cosmos. Every being and thing in the cosmos is simultaneously in a give and take relationship with all other beings and things in the cosmos. Nothing exists in complete isolation. Everything exists in relational pairs.
All beings and things are in motion. They are in motion in order to engage in give and take action and form relationships. When engaged in an interaction, each being or thing takes the position of subject partner or object partner. The subject partner exists for the sake of the object partner and the object partner exists for the sake of the subject partner. The object partner living for the sake of the subject partner is called attendance.
An entity occupying a particular place takes the position of subject partner or object partner when in a relationship with another entity. In Unification Thought this is called the "position of existence." These "positions of existence," engaged in a relationship of subject partner and object partner, are established by the laws of the universe which establishes the natural order of the universe. The natural order of the universe is the blueprint of the universe. Since all "positions of existence" are engaged in motion and in a relationship with each other as subject and object partners, then the order of the universe creates a three-dimensional moving blueprint of all things and all beings in relationship in the universe. These relationships are governed by the laws of the universe of give and take action between subject partners and object partners of which the originator is God.
The Creator God is the Originator of the absolute laws of the universe. These absolute laws establish the absolute standard and norms of the relationships between all beings and all things. The absolute laws and absolute standard of the universe establish the natural order of the universe and absolute norms and standard of the moral, ethical and social order of human beings. The same universal laws which establish the order of the universe also establishes the natural order of nature and seeks to establish the natural order of human beings. The natural order consists of two kinds, vertical order and horizontal order. These are described in Unification Thought.
The vertical order of the universe is as follows: The moon (a satellite) and the earth (a planet) engage in give-and-receive action, with the earth as the subject and the moon as the object. Next, the earth engages in give-and-receive action with the sun (a star), forming a part of the solar system. Here the earth is the object, and the sun is the subject.
Next, the sun engages in give-and-receive action with the galactic center, and together with many other stars, forms the galaxy. Here the sun is the object, and the galactic center is the subject. Furthermore, the galaxy, in unity with many other galaxies, engages in give-and-receive action with the center of the universe, forming the universe. In this case, the galaxy is the object, and the center of the universe is the subject. This line, running from satellite to planet, star, and galactic center, all the way to the center of the universe, is the vertical order of the universe.
Let us now consider the horizontal order of the universe. If we look at the nine planets of the solar system, we can see that they form an orderly, horizontal arrangement of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. This planetary system, centering on the Sun, is an example of horizontal order in the universe1.
The vertical order and the horizontal order of the universe are displayed in the illustration below.
In accord with the natural order and the natural laws of the universe established by God, there is a system of social vertical and horizontal traditions which establish the moral and ethical social traditions of mankind. The formation of the social order begins with the establishment of the Father and son vertical relationship. The Father and son vertical relationships form the pillars of the social order of the universe. The completion of the social order of mankind, which is in the image of the natural order and in accord with the natural laws of the universe, is realized in the establishment of the Shimjung Culture (Culture of Heart) of the Kingdom of God.
God as the Original Subject invested everything in the creation of Adam and Eve who were in the position of object partners to God. As object partners they were created to live in attendance to God. Had Adam and Eve attended God by displaying absolute faith, absolute obedience and absolute love through keeping the commandment, they would have become one with God and would have embodied the Heart of God. The origin of the vertical order of the individual, the family, society, the world and the cosmos is initiated by the Heart and love of God. The foundational order of the universe is the Father (Parent) and child relationship. The Heavenly Parent and child relationship establishes the vertical pillars of the cosmos. The vertical traditions are in accord with the absolute laws and absolute standard as determined by the vertical order established by God. Adam and Eve's responsibility was to complete the circuit of love in the vertical relationship by attending God with absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. By attending God they would have embodied the heart and love of God and established the vertical order. Next Adam and Eve would have multiplied that love horizontally as husband and wife, thereby establishing the horizontal order of love.
Love flows from above to below. It is because of the flow of the love of God that vertical traditions are necessary. Vertical order is established by the laws of love. Without vertical relations God's love cannot flow to Adam and Eve, to humankind, and throughout the cosmos. Because of the fall of man, vertical order could not be established. The flow of God's love could not occur and society has not lived in accord with the natural divine order and lives in chaos, confusion, disarray, conflict and suffering resulting in an assortment of atrocities, presently and historically.
Love, life, lineage and ideals were to flow from God to Adam and Eve, then to their offspring and the rest of creation. Love establishes the vertical order of relationships and establishes the proper axis for the "positions of existence" in order that the flow of love, life, lineage and all ideals from God can be bequeathed to human beings. This vertical order and flow of love and the establishment of the vertical standard and vertical traditions are necessary to create the ideal world of love of the universal family of God.
Having established the vertical axis, Adam and Eve would have become centered on true love. They would have returned the love they had received from God by living their lives in filial attendance to God. They would have established the vertical tradition and the vertical standard of attendance. Adam and Eve would have then loved each other horizontally as husband and wife and God's love would have been multiplied through the birth of their children. Adam and Eve would have become the True Parents of mankind. God would have been the invisible vertical True Parents and Adam and Eve would have become the visible horizontal True Parents of mankind. Their children would have lived their lives in filial attendance of God and their parents. The birth of children would have lineally extended the vertical traditions and vertical standard of attendance. This would have established the Three Great Kingships in a lineally vertical order of attendance from children to parents and grandparents.
As Adam and Eve had children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and descendants, then the vertical lineal hierarchy of vertical attendance would have been extended from God and formed His traditions and His culture. The hierarchical lineal organization would have been established throughout all human society as it is throughout the universe.
The vertical hierarchical order of attendance would have been God first, original ancestors (original True Parents), ancestors, grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren. The vertical standard and the vertical traditions would have been established and inherited by all future generations.
A system of attendance to God by filial sons and daughters attending parents, grandparents, elders, ancestors, and the original True Parents needs to be established. Such a hierarchical lineal as well as societal order must correspond to the laws and order of the universe. It begins with the Father and son vertical relationship which is restored through attending True Parents. One will come to realize their true "position of existence" as an object partner to the Creator Subject Partner God and fulfill the vertical standard of filial attendance to their Heavenly Parent. Children will live a life of filial attendance in the family, patriots will attend the sovereign of the nation, saints will attend and teach the heavenly order and divine principles in the world, and holy sons and daughters will attend God in the cosmos. Below is a diagram of the vertical order of attendance.
God O
True Parents and True Children O
Ancestors O
Just as the human being is a substantial being that integrates the universe or a microcosm miniaturizing the universe, so the family is a microcosmic system miniaturizing the system of the universe. The law that interpenetrates the entire universe is called the "Way of Heaven," or "reason-law." The norm for family life, or ethics, is a direct manifestation of the Way of Heaven within the scope of the family. Ethics, so to speak, is the Way of Heaven manifested in the family in miniature form.
Just as in the universe we find vertical order (e.g., the Moon-the Earth-the center of the Galaxy-the center of the universe) and horizontal order (e.g., Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto), so in the family we find vertical order (e.g., grandparents, parents, and children) and horizontal order (e.g., husband and wife, brothers and sisters). The virtues corresponding to such orders are the vertical values, such as benevolence of' grandparents and parents and filial piety of children, and the horizontal values, such as conjugal love between husband and wife, brotherly love between brothers, and sisterly love between sisters…
From the perspective of Unification Thought, human relationships in society are a projection of the relationships among family members at home. For example, in the relationship where people's ages differ by twenty years or more, the seniors should love their juniors as their children, and the juniors should respect their seniors as their parents. If the difference in age is ten years or less, the older person should love the younger as a younger brother or sister, and the younger respect the older as an elder brother or sister.
From this viewpoint, family ethics is the basis of all ethics. If family ethics is applied to society, it becomes social ethics; if applied to corporations, it becomes corporate ethics; if applied to the state, it becomes state ethics.
Accordingly, the following values (virtues) come to be established. In a country, public officials should love the people, and tile people should respect public officials. In a school, teachers should perform their function well, and students should respect their teachers. In a society, seniors should protect juniors, and juniors should respect seniors. In a business organization, superiors should guide subordinates, and subordinates should follow superiors. These are a few examples of the application of the vertical values (virtues) of the family.
When fraternal love among brothers and sisters is applied to society, nation, and world, it becomes love for associates, neighbors, compatriots, and people in general, in which one can actualize such horizontal values (virtues) as reconciliation, tolerance, obligation, fidelity, courtesy, modesty, compassion, cooperation, service, and sympathy.
Society, nation, and world today are all in great chaos. The reason is that family ethics, which is the basis of all ethics, has become weakened. Therefore, the way to save society is to establish a new kind of family ethics, a new perspective on ethics. By doing so, we can save families from collapse, and we can save the world… one must first establish corporate ethics on the basis of family ethics.2
God governs the universe through love. God created the laws and order of the universe centered on love. This is due to the very nature of God. The laws of the universe exist and function according to the laws of love. The laws of the universe are interpenetrated with love. True love permeates and transcends the laws of the universe. True family ethics, which is founded on the laws of love of all relationships in the universe, cannot be established unless filial attendance to God is first realized. In order for the family and society to establish true relationships in accord with the laws and order of the universe the Heavenly Parent and child relationship must first be established. This is the relationship of Heavenly Parental love and filial attendance. This book is about filial attendance which is the way of filial piety of holy sons and daughters of God.
A new ontology… must explain that the rules human beings have to follow are in accord with the rules of the universe, namely natural law. It must be revealed that there is a system of vertical order, formed by the rules of the creation of the sun, the moon, and the stars of the universe. This natural law is also seen within the family as the vertical order formed by grandparents, parents, and children. The horizontal order formed by brothers and sisters is established and simultaneously corresponding senses of value, namely the rules, are formed. (122-304, 1982.11.25)
The doctrine of ultimate reality for the new religion must reveal … God's attributes and the motivation, purpose, and laws of creation, the doctrine of ultimate reality must explain that this purpose and these laws govern the movement of everything in the universe, and that human norms are, in the end, in accordance with this universal law -- that is, the heavenly way. (122-303, 1982.11.25)
With what does God govern heaven and earth? He governs them through the law, a law of dominion through love. The universal law exists in order to support the way dominion is undertaken. God's reason for creating human beings is that He longs for love. He could have remained by Himself, but for what did He create us? It is because He needs stimulating and impulsively expressed love. (121-103, 1982.10.24)
Despite disorder in the human race, the natural world is constantly trying to maintain equilibrium. (Messages of Peace 14 -- 214, 2007.6.13)
The vast expanse of this universe operates in accordance with laws following an order that cannot be fathomed by human thought or science. (Messages of Peace 2 –36, March, 2006)
There must emerge a new view of history that can revolutionize the heart of humanity to enable the establishment of the standards of heavenly law. Based on this view of history, there has to appear a heart-based principle that can establish a new view of life and worldview. (16-251, 1966.6.19)
There is undeniably a proper order for all forms of existence in the universe. This indicates that God did not create human beings in this state of conflicted disorder. (Messages of Peace 3 -- 49, 2006.4.10)
Following the collapse of the communist world, there are those who speak with self-assurance of the superiority of the West's existing values and institutions. We must examine, however, the societies of the free world and other non-communist countries that until recently stood in opposition to the communist bloc.
Where are these societies going? Does their progress reassure us that the future happiness of the world's peoples is guaranteed? We can see that, even after the collapse of the communist bloc, many problems still remain in our world. To develop the necessary solutions, we need to look to the deeper origins of such problems. Our task should be a fundamental reassessment of all the institutions and life-styles of our contemporary world. Such a reassessment will enable us to identify those aspects of our world that can be considered suitable and fitting by an enlightened and awakened humanity possessing a renewed consciousness.
Fundamentally, the confusion in the value systems of today's societies derives from a break in the original vertical order between God and humanity. The various institutions and values we have today lack clear direction and are inherently unstable and mutually contradictory, because they are man-made orders established horizontally, that is, without an axis connecting them to God.
The universe does not exist merely on the basis of individual material substances that are its component parts. Our world is not a mere sum total of isolated individual substances. Material substances derive their primary existence from the energy that appears through their relationships with other substances. Societies exist, prosper and develop with the context of mutual give and take relationships. Behind such relationships that is, behind each relationship between material substances and behind each give and take relationship between individual beings there is a pre-existing vertical order of a higher dimension that endows these individual substances with a common motivational drive and purpose. For example, human beings have been endowed with freedom in order that we may experience the highest levels of joy and love for God and for our fellow human beings. Thus, if we are to attain the purpose of our existence, we must first inherit the true love of God.
In the ideal human society, true love that always seeks "to give to others" forms the basis for all relationships. Such true love is motivated by the experience of the true love of parents. The true love of parents, which is in turn rooted in God's true love, is the means to nurture a child's character to its full completed state. A man and a woman nurtured in this way, and each possessing completed character, come together as husband and wife to form a family, where they will convey true love to their children. This is the original order of Creation. The ideal world on earth is built when one individual possessing completed character is able to expand true love in ever-widening concentric circles of family, society, nation and world.
Our world today has a different origin from the ideal world I have just described. Today, we have an expansion of the results of the Human Fall, an event in which human beings departed from the most important of the principles of God's creative act, that is, the discipline of love. Having turned against the order of God's Creation, our world today places value in man-made organizations and structures and in the order of law. These are incapable of raising up ideal individuals, families and peoples. They cannot provide a guarantee for a truly brighter tomorrow for the people of the world.
Respected scholars, you are highly educated in fields dealing with the developmental aspects of nature and human society. The natural world around us and our societies are suffering daily violence and injury. With each passing day, the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat become more polluted. Despite advances of science and the increasing convenience of daily life, we find increasing cause for despair. If humanity in the twenty-first century continues to place itself outside the fundamental principles of God, who created the universe, we will no longer be able to exist as master of the planet earth. Closer human relations, even if some may not want them, are necessary for the future of humanity. (Science Twenty -- 162-165, 1991.8.23)
You will not be free to go anywhere in the universe. You will have no place to run to. You cannot run away as you wish. You have to know that you are unable to free yourself from the realm of universal law and order. You have to follow the right path. You should realize that you are living under the rule of the universal law based on the standard of the official constitution. (117-312, 1982.4.11)
What makes you happy? If you become someone who conforms to the universal law, the universal power embraces him. The greater the power, the stronger it comes to embrace him. And the stronger it embraces him, the further he enters the internal center that brings joy. So, where do sorrow and joy separate? They do not separate within you. They separate based on the principle of power, that is, the universal law.
Then, what is the universal law? It is a man and a woman from beginning to end in total oneness, and also this is the way of the heavenly fortune.
You aren't supposed to go alone, but as a united man and woman, that is, a husband and wife who are one heart in walking the path. Everyone, have you ever heard words like these? So those who fight, cry and scream, and create a big commotion will be quickly removed. They will be considered a failure and not a success in the realm of the universal law. Then where do they go? They will go to the garbage can. Their mind knows this, and this is why it instantly feels sorrow. (24-223, 1969.8.17)
In contrast, there is undeniably a proper order for all forms of existence in the universe. This indicates that God did not create human beings in this state of conflict and disorder. (Messages of Peace 9 -- 129, 2006.10.22)
Parents should give their children a heavenly education. In teaching their children, parents should first be exemplary. Before teaching their children to practice filial piety, they should first be children of filial piety. You yourselves must be sons and daughters of filial piety according to heavenly law so that the connection of heaven's tradition of filial piety can be established from there. Educate them to practice filial piety just as their parents practiced filial piety in the family, and to be patriots just as their parents struggled for the nation even while being driven into desperate circumstances. (30-112, 1970.3.17)
We must teach people the heavenly ideal centered on the natural law of love. (Blessing Pt. 1 -- 97)
The great universe exists in a certain hierarchy and in accordance with the laws of nature. (Blessed Family -- 302, Korean Edition)
What I agonized over the most in delving into the fundamental truths of the universe was the question of how love moves and settles. By discovering the fact that love travels the shortest distance, everything came to be resolved. If love were to come from above, seeing that heaven is above and the earth is below, what route would true love take to come to earth from heaven? It would take the shortest possible distance. What would that be? It is the perpendicular, isn't it? There is only one perpendicular. It is the shortest distance. Granted that love takes the fastest and shortest route, there can be only one meeting point of the heavenly and earthly worlds. There are not two. There is absolutely only one. (211-77, 1990.12.29)
True love brings about the spiritual order, peace and happiness that serve the common good. True love is love that determines the source, center and owner of the universe. True love is the root, and the symbol of the will and power of God. Therefore, when bound in true love, it is enough to be together eternally; for it is a love that can attract not only the universe, but even God. (Messages of Peace 3 -- 51, 2006.4.10)
There is undeniably a proper order for all forms of existence in the universe. (Messages of Peace 10 -- 153, 2006.11.21)
The heavenly hierarchy is God first, then Adam and Eve, then the angelic world, then all the things of creation. As a result of the fall, this heavenly order was disrupted. (Home Church -- 6, 1982.2.28)
Don't you wonder whether the spirit world has completed itself? The spirit world is still incomplete. Why? The hierarchy system of the spirit world was originally supposed to be centered on God, True Parents, and True Children. Everyone is supposed to be connected with this hierarchy system, but it is not done yet. It is not done on earth yet either. This hierarchy must be established on earth first, then in the spirit world. If the condition on the earth is taken care of, then the spirit world will automatically follow.
In other words, the organization of the spirit world is meant to be the hierarchy system centered on True Parents, which is the ideology of unfallen Adam centered on God, but it has not been accomplished yet…
The centers of the hierarchy in the spirit world are: first, God; second, True Parents; third, True Sons and Daughters; and fourth, the True Nation. True Children are children who have inherited the direct blood lineage of True Parents. Centered on the True Nation, all of you are citizens of the nation.
Who should live in the heavenly palace first? Who will govern the Heavenly Kingdom sitting on the throne of the heavenly palace? God was originally supposed to be one with Adam and Eve, who were substantiations of His dual characteristics. Adam and Eve, if they had become True Parents through their unity with God, were supposed to have secured the right of Kingship in the Heavenly Kingdom. It would have been realized if they had not fallen. Because of the Fall, True Parents have to emerge and mend everything.
The spirit world knows it is supposed to have this kind of hierarchy, so it is frustrated looking at the fallen people on the earth. They know that, centered on God, True Parents have to emerge, then the True Children, and finally a True Nation with True Citizens. (161.223)
A child of filial piety lives on even when his household perishes. This is why there are epitaphs of children of filial piety, epitaphs of patriots, and epitaphs of saints. Divine sons and daughters are different from saints. Divine sons and daughters are people who know how to observe not only national laws in the human world but also the laws of the heavenly royal palace. Thus, that which can connect straight to the path of children of filial piety, the path of patriots, and the path of saints is the path of divine sons and daughters. This path is substantial and has a big circumference, but the flow of its core is vertical. (175-213, 1988.4.17)
Children of filial piety feel ineffable grief when they lose their beloved parents. Parents also feel grief when they lose their children. It is the same with spouses. That also holds true for our descendants. This is eternally immutable. (30-82, 1970.3.17)
In this world there are servants of servants, servants, adopted children and children by concubines. The world is muddied. Order must be made. With what will we find order? It is possible only through love. Religions that inherited and carried on the traditional way of love should have become global religions. Religions that go against the way of love and those who do not follow this love will be judged as the representatives who take responsibility for their age in history.
What will pass judgment on the world? It will be the tradition of love, the tradition of loving heaven and earth, the tradition of loving the world, the tradition of loving the nation, the tradition of loving the people, the tradition of loving one's family, the tradition of loving one's parents and one's wife and brothers, and the tradition of loving oneself. (192-75, 1989.7.2)
With what does God govern heaven and earth? He governs through law, a law of governance through love. The universal law exists in order to support the means or way of governance. God created humankind because He longs for love. He could have gone on alone, without us, but instead, for some purpose, He did create us. What was that purpose? He needed and needs love that is stimulating and impulsively expressed. (121-103, 1982.10.24)
No matter how much you sing joyfully and say this and that, do you like to live alone? When one partner of a married couple dies, the other grieves and weeps. Do you think a person can prepare his own path? Why do we say that a person is miserable if he is without a spouse? It is because he cannot experience the occasion in which heaven and earth can rejoice.
He has deviated from the regulation of the law of heaven and earth. Clearly, only through universal law does the fortune of heaven and earth turn, and are the requirements of happiness and its motivation determined.
He is sad because he has drifted far from the law, and within the law of heaven and earth there is no room for such sorrow. What does it mean if you are happy and joyful? It means that there is a place where you are welcomed by the world. Sorrow indicates a place where you don't belong. This is how joy and sorrow part ways. (19-334, 1968.3.29)
Why does a wife cry when her husband dies? Why do people weep just because they do not have children? They are not crying because they are disappointed. They are crying because the fundamental principle of the universe makes it necessary to have relationships in all directions -- east, west, north and south. In other words, the force of existence in the universe consists of the force to support the ideal of reciprocation. This is why everything is engaged in give-and-take. Just as north and south interrelate with one another, the North Pole and South Pole interrelate with one another. Stars also interrelate with one another. Nothing can exist without a partner. Ideal beings united -- that is, beings that have become completely one with each other -- are supported by this universe. It is a principle that heavenly fortune embraces such entities so that they can continue forever.
Everything cooperates in this give-and-take action. That is why you need sons and daughters. Today, the West has accepted the idea that sons and daughters are unnecessary, but let's wait and see if that is right. You will find out in the spirit world. From where you stand, there is someone both above you and below you. You need the number three. You have to go through three stages. This is why everything comprises three stages. You need to have your parents, your couple and children. Not having children does not agree with the Principle of Heaven. When this is divided into two, there are three stages for men and three corresponding stages for women. By combining the two, an ideal world can be established with the unified number three. In other words, it is an ideal that includes grandfather and grandmother, father and mother, and me. The family ethic of the Unification Church stems from this belief. (70-76, 1974.2.8)
In the spirit world, you do not need explanations or to make excuses. You can sense what is going on immediately at the slightest indication. You can sense whether someone is below, next to or above you; in other words, you know the hierarchy of love. This hierarchy is absolute. Whoever is in a higher position naturally stands in this position according to that hierarchy. It is different from the earthly world. Those who have used deceit and slander to succeed will find their situation turned around. They will face failure. This is why I tell you to follow the right way. (194-132, 1989.10.17)
Human perfection starts with creating a vertical relationship with God. (298-308, 1999.1.17)
The Creator is the vertical Father who is centered on vertical true love. (210-139, 1990.12.17)
True love is vertical in a parent-child relationship. (259-42, 1994.3.27)
Who is the vertical subject? There is none other than God who is the vertical subject. The original homeland of your conscience is God. Only after forming a family on the basis of God centering on the conscience of individuals, and then forming a tribe, people, nation, world and universe centering on God, you can be one with the vertical standard which will allow God to freely come down and go up. This vertical standard must also have give and take, right? It must revolve up and down. After making circles, a sphere will be formed.
When you go to a school, who is the vertical representative of the school? The vertical representative is the teacher who comes into the classroom. During that time, students must absolutely obey the words of the teacher. Those who gossip or complain on the side are destructive.
Now that you understand what is said on this signboard, go ahead and analyze it. What kind of qualifications am I able to meet? Can I sway and move back and forth as the family head that has brought the vertical and horizontal principles into one, or as the head of the clan or people, or as a representative of the world? God as the center of the universe will not freely move around. Even a thousand years ago or ten thousand years ago, he did not sway. He is unchanging. (148-25)
The vertical standard is inherited through love. Through love, we also have to engraft our own sons and daughters in order to make them vertical. In this way they can inherit the tradition. (194-41)
We must correctly set this vertical standard. (True Parents -- 159)
God is our Father. God the Father is the vertical father. (225-19, 1992.1.1)
Love determines the overall order and each person's position. So you cannot enter the heavenly kingdom without becoming God's sons and daughters.
In order to connect with God's love, you have to get onto the vertical line. What does the scripture about loving the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind mean? The center of everything is love. So, when you do nothing but concentrate all your functions and consciousness on loving the Lord your God, you will go straight up to the vertical realm taking the elevator. It is a wondrous world. (208-141, 1990.11.17)
In order to become God's son, I must enter a vertical position. (Tribal Messiah -- 80, 1990.2.4)
God too unites His internal character and external form in a relationship of true love, establishing the vertical tradition of true love. (World Peace -- 239, 2000.1.22)
It is right that we should love God as God loves us. It is the law of the Principle. If you respect and attend God as the vertical center, you will receive His love as His sons and daughters. Unless we establish such a vertical of mutual love, we will not establish the starting point for our individual perfection. You all should know that the fulfillment of one's responsibility is the only way to the perfection of one's character.
The reason God cannot fully display His love toward fallen man and woman is that they must first perfect their character. God is the subject partner of true love. Therefore, only when an absolute object partner appears does He engage in the give and take action of love.
What do you think perfection of character means? It means to become a person who can fulfill his or her responsibility. That is to say, one must first be restored to one's original position before the Fall and then reach perfection, finally capable of fulfilling one's responsibility. This process involves a revolutionary change in character.
Individual perfection means the perfection of character. We can say that when a person fulfills his or her responsibility, he or she realizes the perfection of character. As children of God, we must become mature people who can stand before God in a position to praise and love Him. Once you clearly understand that you can obtain true love only after you have perfected your character, you must bear in mind that there is no other way to go besides the way of perfecting your character. ((Blessing Pt. 1 -- 20)
God, as the Father, and humankind, as His children, were to form a vertical axis, and this was the purpose for the creation of human beings. If this axis had been connected perfectly, that is, if a relationship that united humankind and God as one through true love had been established, that relationship would have been an absolutely inseparable one, which no force in the universe could break apart. How could anyone who has been bound to the original love of God, and who has tasted that love, ever be separated from it? (Message of Peace-2, March 2006)
God's overall ideal of absolute true love is realized and perfected through human beings in a vertical relationship between parents and children. (277-198, 1996.4.16)
If God is a personal God, what should be connected to Him? When you say "God," you are talking about something high, aren't you? Then, can your body be connected to Him? No. It is your heart that is connected. Human beings are to live with a vertical heart with the First Cause, the personal God, at the axis. Just as the earth rotates on its angle-adjusted axis and moves in its day by day, 365 day course around the sun, we should live revolving around God. This is how we should see it. (194-154, 1989.10.22)
God is in the position of the Father, the Parent. God made human beings to be the gods of the earth and established Himself as the God of heaven and the vertical God. This was so that heaven and earth can unite harmoniously and live together in love. Even God is lonely when He is all by Himself. (221-113, 1991.10.23)
The connection with the vertical standard comes first. Due to the force of gravity, something that is vertical is pulled down faster than something horizontal. It comes down naturally and the vertical standard becomes the exact center. If these become one and rotate together, then the whole will create a spherical form centering on one center. This becomes the nucleus, and Adam and Eve become secondary beings and perfect one sphere of love. That place is where sons and daughters become the embodiments of perfect love. (262-189, 1994.7.23)
A person whose life rotates around a vertical axis and is never swayed should appear. The age will come when the family will be seriously re-examined. It will be the age of the re-examination of the Unification Church. The church will no longer be needed. It will be the original age where we can live in attendance to God. (271-277, 1995.8.28)
Of special importance is how we make the mind and body into one, centering on the axis with true love at its center and the axis of vertical love. God exists as the center of the vertical axis. (217-316, 1991.06.12)
The organization of the Unification Church is an organization of relationships of parents and children. So doing that is vertical. It's a vertical organization. (The Way Unification Pt. 2 -142)
In a family, the one who inherits the tradition of the family is not an old man but a young man. Those who inherit the tradition of the country are also young people. This was true in the past, and it is true today as well, that those who inherit tradition are young people...It is natural and principled for you to love God in the same way that He loves you. So when you long for God as the vertical center of your life, and when you are loved as His son or daughter, then a tradition of love can begin. You cannot make a start toward individual perfection unless you establish this tradition…You speak about it often, but what is individual perfection? It is to establish the absolute vertical parent and child relationship through faith. You as a child will also come to love God in the same way as God loves you. God and child are inseparable since love is established in such a reciprocal relationship…
You must first of all stand face to face with God and inherit His vertical love. Since God is the God of dual characteristics, He created man because He cannot receive stimulation by being alone. Joy is produced only through reciprocal relationships; therefore, stimulation from outside of God's being is necessary. He needs the stimulating sphere of His objects. And one can receive love from God, who is the highest being, only when he stands in the position to reciprocate. If he does so, he can become a substantiation of God's internal character. When God feels sorrow, man must also feel sorrow. In this way, man and God will be inseparable. These are unchangeable facts, no matter how much you may doubt them. You have been created to be inseparable from God. Therefore, the perfection of the individual means the establishment of the absolute vertical relationship between you and God…
First of all, we must establish this vertical relationship and become an ideal man through receiving guidance from God. (God's Will -- 231-233, 1974.5.10)
Why does the man have to be on top when making love? It is because only in this way is the vertical line established. Where does the seed come from? It comes from heaven. Through what does it come? It comes through love. This one thing proves everything. Also, the seed comes from the father, through the vertical, convex organ of love. When the convex fits into the concave organ, the whole of heaven and earth shakes. (187-52, 1989.1.6)
In any history, the vertical standard must be erected first in order for the horizontal standard to be established. When you construct a building, you have to arrange the vertical structures first. Unless the horizontal structures are put together after the vertical, this building will fall down. Likewise, the fact that human beings exist already means that they are aligned to the vertical standard. (136-203, 1985.12.29)
This is the hell on earth in which we have been living. In this hell, we cannot properly form cooperative horizontal relationships with one another because our vertical relationships with God have been severed. We perform deeds harmful to others because we cannot feel the pain and suffering of our neighbors as our own. Once people have accustomed themselves to living in hell on earth, when they end their physical life, they naturally enter hell in the spirit world. We have not built the Kingdom of God, but instead established the sovereignty of Satan. For this reason, Satan is called the "ruler of this world" and the "god of this world." (Exposition -- 82)
From the viewpoint of God, the vertical center, all object partners of love are equal. His object partners, who are produced through the horizontal expansion and multiplication of His love, assume equal value regardless of who they are, transcending time and space. Simply put, everyone has equal value in perfected love. (Messages of Peace 3 -- 56, 2006.4.10)
Although there is a strict order in the above and below relationship of parents and children, when you see it centering upon love, it is not difficult even if the vertical order changes to a horizontal order. Isn't it so? The basic rules are that the father should order his son, but when the son calls, "Father, please come here," he cannot but go. Even if a two year-old daughter calls, "Daddy, come here," he has to go. Even if this position is a crossing point where the vertical standards change horizontally, there would be no contradiction or collision. We can praise this precious standard as this standard of happiness is made only by love. (49-54)
Father's desire for you who are working in the church is that you expand all of the main vertical traditional thoughts that have been passed down, horizontally more and more, and connect them to each department and develop them. For this to be done, we need a central figure. The church organization takes a role to erect that central figure. (34.12)
In your family you are asked to offer your filial duty, and this requires that you become a fellow traveler on the path of love your parents walk, centering on your parents. The parents' path of true love follows along with the heavenly principles. It is not just the parents standing by themselves, but there are invisible, vertical heavenly principles that are connected to them and work through them. Thus, exhorting you to be one with your parents is to ask you to go the way which connects the realms of heart of the vertical and horizontal history. This is the reason behind your fulfilling your duty of filial piety toward your parents. (136-203, 1985.12.29)
The most precious thing is words. Words can teach people how to behave spiritually and vertically. We should teach people with words. No matter how many horizontal-level regulations exist, they cannot be our focus. That may work in the fallen world, but this has nothing to do with the heavenly world. (226-281, 1992.02.09)
God is a harmonious union of dual characteristics. At the same time, He is a masculine being. Since it is man who relates with God's fatherly love, a vertical relationship is formed. Women do not form a vertical relationship. Instead, they form a horizontal relationship in partnership with the vertical. Observing the attributes of God's character, man relates vertically in a relationship of "above and below." Woman relates horizontally in a relationship of "left and right."
Which comes first, the vertical or the horizontal? Because the vertical comes first, all the principles of nature pursue and seek the path to draw close to that place. This is why the son comes before the daughter in relation to God's love. Only then will everything be arranged in order. (177-324, 1988.5.22)
God's aim was not only for God and human beings to perfect a vertical love relationship as subject and object partners. He also sought on the basis of the perfection of their vertical love to bring the horizontal love of Adam and Eve to fruition. (135-10, 1985.8.20)
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)
There are two kinds of true love, one that is vertical and the other that is horizontal, and the universe moves according to this principle. You need to understand that the universe was constituted in the same way, and the plant, animal, and mineral worlds are all involved in relationships of subject and object partners. The fact that everything resembles the spherical shape formed by the relationship between a vertical axis and a revolving object shows that no matter what their level of existence, everything originally began with love as the model in accordance with the fundamentals of the universe. (217-96, 1991.5.4)
Which comes first, the vertical or the horizontal? Because the vertical comes first, all the principles of nature pursue and seek the path to draw close to that place. This is why the son comes before the daughter in relation to God's love. Only then will everything be arranged in order. (177-324, 1988.5.22)
God stands in the position of the invisible internal Adam and the invisible internal Eve. In front of humankind, Adam was to stand as the substantial father, attending God, the internal Father, and Eve as the substantial mother, attending God, the internal Mother. Through this, the vertical basis was to be expanded to a horizontal foundation. (138-245, 1986.1.24)
The Kingdom of God begins with love between man and woman. Do you understand? What is the center of the Kingdom of God? The original Kingdom of God is the place where everything that is on the horizontal line is unified centering on the vertical line. God comes into the central point, and man and woman become the core of that point, mind and body revolve around each other.
My mind is my vertical self and my body is my horizontal self. The vertical mind is God and vertical body is the True Parents. The horizontal body is parents. All these become one. Did you see mind? No! Did you see God? No! The mind is vertical. Even though it cannot he seen, it exists as vertical. The body is horizontal. Do you understand? Yes! 90 degrees! Men like this. (laughter) (True Parents -- 88)
Had Adam and Eve grown up to maturity and connected horizontally centering around true love to fulfill the ideal of creation, they could have established a vertical relation with God…
Who is God? God is invisible and in the position of internal Adam. Being in the invisible internal position and being unified internally and externally. Who is Adam then? As to all mankind Adam is to be situated in the position of the substantial father in whom God abides internally. And who is Eve? She is situated in the position of the substantial mother of all mankind, who bears Mother God internally. Hence, the horizontal base is expanded through the vertical condition. (Students -- 25)
The church is the place enabling the expansion of the vertical foundation horizontally in all directions. The more the better. Why is that? It is because we are crossing from the family level over into the tribal realm, and from there into the national realm. Thus, as you witness to more and more people, the heavenly foundation arises through you and the standard of value of character advances toward God. So what must we do with this vertical standard? I am saying that we should manifest it horizontally. (70-152, 1974.2.9)
What is the purpose of the Messiah? It is to complete the vertical foundation and bring forth the horizontal foundation. (71-79, 1974.04.28)
How do you think misfortune comes about? It begins from the time when the love nest disappears. A happy family is a family where there are parents, who serve as a fence around the house. Vertically, such a family attends the parents who represent heaven, and horizontally this attendance binds the husband and wife together. They obey the law of heaven and pass this on through their descendants. (19-305, 1968.3.10)
What kind of God does the Unification Church speak about? We say that He is the vertical Parent of true love. Then, who are Adam and Eve? The vertical Parent is one. The word "vertical" implies that He is only one. The relationship of love between God and human beings is a vertical one. That vertical love is the center. Then, who are Adam and Eve? In relation to this vertical standard they represent the position of horizontal parents. (189-113, 1989.2.5)
In the future, we will be the center of God's Kingdom in heaven and the center of God's Kingdom on earth. God's Kingdom in heaven is the vertical standard, and God's Kingdom on earth is the horizontal standard. Through the vertical and horizontal standards becoming one, God's Kingdom on earth and in heaven will unite. This sets the pattern for forming a great, unified family centering on God's true love. This is God's ideal of creation. (269-80, 1995.4.8)
The time when you and I have to separate will come. You are to go out among the people, and my path will move upward to a higher place. When I head to the vertical place, can this vertical place go over into the horizontal one? The horizontal should follow the vertical and climb up, right? They should have the same angle. If their angles were to diverge, they would fall apart. That is why you should become absolutely one centering on the vertical standard of absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. (300-163, 1999.3.3)
Where do the vertical and the horizontal merge together? Where does the union of heaven and earth occur? It occurs in front of the vertical standard. The path of love takes the straightest, shortest distance.
In order to answer these questions, I have agonized over the question of where these two, the vertical and the horizontal, and heaven and earth, settle down. I came to understand during my efforts that vertical and horizontal love are situated at the fundamental core of the universe. How do I know this? It is because we cannot go up in a straight way. If so, we would be stuck in the same place. But if we leave the horizontal and love only vertically, we would be stuck like this. The question then is where this goes and how it turns. It cannot turn. These questions -- how they connect, and, if there is love of heaven and earth, how should they unite -- were serious ones. But one thing that I realized was that love travels the straightest, shortest distance. (214-232, 1991.2.2)
God's ideal of absolute love vertically comes down to, and participates in, where Adam and Eve's ideal of conjugal love horizontally bears fruit. God's true love and humankind's true love start at one point, centering on the starting point of the vertical and horizontal, bear fruit, and reach perfection. (277-198, 1996.4.16)
If God's love is the vertical love, the love of a man and a woman is a horizontal love. If a man and a woman are to meet, they must engraft their horizontal love onto the vertical love. It must join at a ninety-degree angle. A love that does not fit this, a love that is not connected to the vertical standard, will end up as a nomadic love and be destroyed. Hence, when you enter the realm of love where the vertical and horizontal are aligned, you will be able to rule the whole universe through love. When you have a relationship with the whole universe, you will not need any knowledge, power, money, or even life. Life also lives eternally within love. (136-203, 1985.12.29)
God is the root of love, the root of life, the root of lineage, and the root of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and Kingdom of Heaven in heaven. When Adam and Eve get married, God enters the hearts of Adam and Eve and realizes the oneness of love. God is the vertical True Parent, and Adam and Eve are the horizontal True Parents. Because we were born with the blood and flesh of these two sets of parents, our mind becomes the vertical self and our body becomes the horizontal self. (254-106, 1994.2.1)
The course of life being a traveler's journey, what do we have to be equipped with here? We must go this path experiencing love. As the Fall meant that we couldn't receive parental love, we must form the vertical family centering on true parental love, true fraternal love, true conjugal love, and true filial love. We are also to create the horizontal environment by establishing many families in the north, south, east, and west. These families should form true families that can link the vertical with the horizontal. (139-212, 1986.1.31)
1 Lee, Sang Hun. Essentials of Unification Thought (Tokyo: Unification Thought Institute, 2002) pp. 81-82.
2 Lee, Sang Hun. Essentials of Unification Thought (Tokyo: Unification Thought Institute, 2002) pp. 207-209.