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 |
Holy sons and daughters attend God and True Parents, their family, clan, tribe, race, nation, world and the cosmos without seeking their own recognition as their underlying motivation. They live their lives centered on attending God and True Parents and centered on true love.
Filial sons and daughters live for the sake of God and True Parents vertically in a life of attendance, and live for the sake of others horizontally by serving and sacrificing for them. As children mature in their attendance of God and True Parents, they begin to take on more of their parents' responsibilities. Filial children in attending God and True Parents become representatives of God and True Parents and begin to take on God and True Parents' responsibilities and work as their own.
On the altar of God filial sons and daughters encounter many difficulties. They receive persecution, ill treatment, abuse from their enemies, and rejection from many sources, even from their family members and friends. At each of the eight vertical stages and the eight horizontal stages they will receive persecution and rejection. On the path towards inheriting the absolute love of God, persecution and rejection is to be expected. On the path toward becoming filial sons and daughters they will even be denied by God.
Since Adam, Eve, and Lucifer (Satan) rejected God then God must place us in a condition of indemnity of being rejected. Recognition will not be found anywhere. Satan's self promotion, self aggrandizement, self recognition and rejection of God must be restored. By living a life of "no recognition," one lives a true life of attendance from one's original heart and mind. Living a life in attendance to God and True Parents while being totally denied serves as an indemnity condition to remove one's fallen nature and to separate from Satan.
There may come a time when many will reject us. Even God Himself may reject us. These are conditions of indemnity for the restoration of Adam, Eve and the archangel rejecting God. Rev. Moon went such a course. The True children went a course of being denied and rejected. Jesus Christ went such a course. In Mathew 27: 46 Jesus cries out "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me." Rejection is the final frontier. These conditions of indemnity must be endured with absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience.
We can come to stand before God with our original hearts with which He created us. This establishes the Parent and child relationship and the original ideal of creation. This is a different state of being and mindset than fallen human beings display. In the providence of restoration, filial sons and daughters and those striving to restore themselves to such positions experience hardship and suffering from many different sources as they restore the eight vertical and eight horizontal stages.
A true person lives his life centered on true love which gives rise to all the virtues of filial piety. True persons live their lives without expecting recognition from anyone, except from God. Filial sons and daughters do not promote themselves. They do not show off for self-aggrandizement. Their source of comfort is that their actions are motivated by true love as they seek to please the Father (Heavenly Parents and True Parents). This is the way of life of attendance of the true object. Such filial children's motivation is not self centered but centered on attending God and True Parents and on serving and sacrificing for the sake of others. Filial sons and daughters seek praise and recognition only from God and True Parents. They attend God and True Parents day and night. That is the joy of a life of filial piety. That is the realization of the Parent and child relationship in the realm of true love. This is the Parent and child relationship where God's vertical love flows to His filial sons and daughters.
Many of God's children, on the road towards becoming filial sons and daughters of God, have lost their lives, many as martyrs, without receiving recognition from anyone, except their Heavenly Parent. In God's eternal Kingdom everything is exposed. They shall be recognized by God and by all. Sang Ik Choi, who in 1958, was the first missionary sent by Reverend Moon to Japan from Korea, and in 1965 became the fourth Korean missionary sent to America, writes in his book Principles of Education Vol. II:
"One who gives, receives gratitude, respect and praise and never fails to receive even though he might not receive something recognizable by others. In any case he will have a deep emotion of the inner joy of giving. Giving and taking is an indestructible principle. However, someone might not be rewarded in his lifetime for what he has given. And people, because of this, are skeptical about the law of giving and taking. But it never fails in the long run.
Jesus despite his total dedication of spirit and body for mankind, died on the cross. Other men in history and saints often took their last breath under persecution and suffering. Yet, as the centuries have passed, their names have radiated and they have received the highest glory from heaven and earth. Likewise, there is no failure or breakdown in the principle of giving and taking in the long providential view of history, although it might seem so in short instances. Actually they have received their rewards, multiplied through the process of time…first of all give with a sincere mind and try to give more. The gratitude and rewards will return without fail. It is as certain as when you throw a rubber ball at a wall. Thus, unless a mind of sincere giving is well cultivated, there won't be much hope for a harmonious society of love."
Since Adam and Eve abandoned God, God also had to abandon them, conditionally. Enduring such abandonment, I had to win acceptance, restore God's support for me, recover my heaven, and receive God's seal of approval. During that period, God had to stand against me when someone accused me, but then later, on everything. (282-168, 1997.3.11)
The person who complains, saying, "I am a filial child. I am a patriot. Why do you not recognize me?" is the person who is retreating. You must understand that Heaven's filial child and Heaven's patriot is the person who realizes, as time goes on, how much more of his filial duty remains to be fulfilled. He then renews his commitment and goal to fulfill his filial duty as his life's philosophy. (35-341, 1970.11.1)
Since Adam had betrayed God, in accordance with the laws of restoration through indemnity, the person representing perfected Adam had to face a situation of betrayal, even by God Himself. Only then could the walls that were raised in God's heart be brought down. In this way, everyone was against me, and even God was standing on the other side, leaving me totally alone. (264-50, 1994.10.9)
Giving your life, should you have a consciousness about it, saying, "I died for the sake of God and the Unification Church." Should you have this conscious awareness or not? (We should not.) You must be so. You must sacrifice yourself. Can you say, "I did this much, but the church does not recognize it. I believed in the Unification Church tens of years, but Father does not recognize it." Although I worked so hard and went through hardship all my life, God did not recognize it. However, I do not think of recognition. Just as was God, I was hit and gave, and tried to give again. I did so; then I gave all the way to the end. That way, all I gave did not disappear but instead accumulated. It always was accumulated, so that in the end I naturally came to the top of the mountain. It is mysterious and wonderful, isn't it? Is the logic right? When I gave constantly, I came to the top of the mountain, and from birthright to parental rights and kinship all has been restored. It is a concept that accords with the logic of re-creation. (206-269)
In human society, there has not been any family who could really be recognized by God. There have been no true parents, no true children, from the standpoint of complete sinlessness. (God's Will -124, 1973.1.1)
If there are two types of sons of filial piety, one will die for the sake of his parents without regard for his own recognition or the potential value of his existence, and the other one will serve and die for his parents thinking that he could have been such and such a man and should have become such and such a son, but that he is dying instead. Which son would have the greater filial piety? (The one who does not even think of himself.) You know that. (Public Venue, 1972.7.16)
Unfortunately, you people cannot just do whatever you want, or say whatever you like. At this time, that kind of freedom is not allowed. I, myself, the head of the Unification Church, am not allowed to say anything I want: When I pray I say, "Heavenly Father," and thereafter I cannot say anything. And in that position I stay overnight. I become so sorrowful that I cannot face Heavenly Father, and I cannot pray. This is because I am so sorry for Him, but you all have very independent thinking. Some of you are proud of yourselves, and many of you are trying to promote yourselves, but that is no good. A child of real filial piety would not say anything. He would just be silent, doing his own portion of responsibility and raising his face in front of the True Parents. Otherwise you could not be a child of filial piety. (God's Will -- 61, 1971.12.5)
Members of the Unification Church must go the reverse route in order to accomplish restoration through indemnity. Therefore, their path does not begin from self-recognition and self-affirmation. It starts from complete denial. A perfect religion begins with self-denial, with the complete denial of the fallen world. That is why you must deny the world, deny your nation, tribe, family, wife or husband, deny even being a man and a woman, and deny your own mind and body. You must understand how huge the scope of this denial is. Following your mind, you must even deny your own body. (126-34, 1983.4.10)
Although Jesus came to the earth with a universal mission, he suffered hardships throughout his life. Nonetheless, he did not pray to alleviate that anguish. Instead, he went through a great deal of trouble to console the wounded and anxious heart of the Father. Meanwhile, Jesus took great pains to forgive the ignorance of the people. Because he stepped forward to substitute for the ordeals of God, whether he lived or died, he lived with the singular determination to glorify the will of God. Jesus did not care whether God recognized him, or whether people on earth recognized him. Whatever place and time, he lived for the sake of the will. (Sermons Vol. 1 -- 240, 1956.12.23)
God needs one person of filial piety to attend parents from the position of this physical world. One who can inherit the way of loyalty for the nation, and has the value of one who can inherit the way of saint for the world. For that reason the one with the name of the filial son who stands in front of True Parents and stands in front of God; the filial son who receives official recognition is really a great and wondrous one. If you stand in that position even Jesus will envy you. (78-35)
It is easy to tell who is true and who is false. Someone who speaks only for himself is false; if he speaks for others and the world, he is true. A son of filial piety will serve the whole family. A loyal man will serve the whole nation. A saint will serve all people. Someday the angels and all people in heaven and earth should be able to welcome you as a son or daughter of God, based on your standard of love. (God's Will–583, 1981.5.1)
You must overcome individual or family hardships in order to work for God's unity, and Heaven will recognize your merit when you fall in exhaustion from your effort. (Unification Pt. 1 -- 224)
You should understand that, in the future, your life of faith will lead you only through attendance. Your exemplary life must even be recognized by Satan. (Unification Pt. 2 -- 266)
What does the Unification Church teach? It teaches the way to get official recognition from Satan. Even though you are recognized by Satan, it is not enough to be recognized only spiritually. You must be recognized spiritually and physically in reality. Christian history which has walked a path of terrible suffering while shedding sweat and blood during six thousand years of persecution, today is still in the position of having realized only a spiritual foundation.
At this point, if there is a way of morality which would allow both the spirit and body to be perfected together at once, then no matter how difficult it may be, we must go that way. Many people think that if their own little group pushes for its own way, they can go that way. But it doesn't work that way. When I see people like that I feel that they lack the ability to think and observe. No matter how attractive they are or what they have done, they look ridiculous. (17-125)
However, can you make the decision? Can you insist, "God! Ancestors! Angels! Satan! Since I have chosen myself as Abel, you should recognize me." Can you do this yourself? [No] You can stand on the side of Abel. You must clearly understand that you can stand on the Abel side but you cannot become the Abel figure on the side of Abel. You have to be clear about this. Do you understand what I am talking about? [Yes]
In order to be chosen as Abel, you have to be called upon by God. It must be that chosen when God decrees, "You, so and so, you have to fulfill this mission," then you say, "Yes." If God calls upon you like that, then your good ancestors who stand on the side of God will be happy or not? [They will be happy] (89-121)
The sacrificial offering is not supposed to ask for official recognition even at the moment of death. He should lower his head even after he dies. Since this becomes the origin of peace, others cannot see his identity until after the realm of perfection of the offering appears. We shall have to understand that we Unificationists are going this road solemnly day and night. (48-131, 1971.9.5)
Christian churches and institutions have continuously appeared until today not because of famous pastors. Rather, it was because of the blood shed for Heaven by noble prophets who died without recognition. Through the body of weak women who totally committed themselves, and through many women who determined to do their best, Christianity has advanced until today. These women's tears have graced the miserable course of Christianity. More than men, women have desired to indemnify, and to dissolve Heaven's resentment. Today, in the course centering on the Unification Church, by using women we can prepare the foundation for historical blessing. You have to understand how valuable this time is. (37-323)
When you give completely, you can receive completely. What would you do if Satan runs away after receiving that love? Before absolute objective love, absolute subjective love will appear. Therefore, there is no need to worry. There is no need to be happy just because you are recognized by someone or to worry just because you are not recognized and understood. The problem is not being able to emerge with the complete love. This is the cause for concern. (48-34)
And even if my nation or anyone doesn't recognize my efforts, I will never change my heart of loyal love for the country even if I die." That attitude is perfect. Even if the world never recognizes you it's okay. If you go to the spirit world. everything is exposed. (Spiritual Leader Pt. 1 -- 59)
What kind of sons and daughters would receive recognition from God as number one? What would the qualification be? There are many criteria. A person might serve unselfishly, even becoming crippled, for instance. There are many situations that could qualify a person. A person might even lose all his arms and legs, or his face might be mutilated. Imagine that he lost all his limbs, plus his eyes, nose and chin! Even if his neck came off, there are many different ways in which this could happen. But if a person decides ahead of time what recognition he wants to achieve, there is already an element of failure there. For who is he doing it in that case? For himself. You must serve without any concept of what level of achievement might come. (1980.11.23 Unofficial)
You must understand that the person God sent to the earth as the central person for the sake of such ignorant human beings is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ stepped forward representing the internal situation of God. The center of his hope and his life was rooted only in God. To put it another way, Jesus hoped that he could follow the example of the patient heart of God who exerted Himself enormously and persevered for the sake of human beings. He hoped he could follow the example of the public life of God, who never works for the sake of His own glory. (Sermons Vol. 2 -- 134, 1957.4.14)
You should know that a child who does not demonstrate filial piety restricts the parents. To liberate those parents, the child must display a filial piety greater than his impiety and also be officially recognized by the general public. Only then can he cleanse himself of his past sins. This is the heavenly law. By the same principle, I do not need people who say, "I will live only for you, Father." The neighbors, this nation, this people -- they are all a pitiable lot. (85-263, 1976.3.3)
Why has the all-knowing, all-powerful and absolute God been letting Satan infringe upon human beings? Why did He let people be sacrificed, crushed under Satan's foot? Why was He so unable to exercise His power that people could not recognize His existence? This is a serious question. The answer is that God has had no nation, no people, no tribe and no family that He could govern. Furthermore, there has been no individual whose qualification He could officially recognize. If such an individual, family, tribe, people and sovereign nation are established, He will be able to govern the evil nations, peoples, tribes, families and individuals at once. Only this way will lead to goodness, and only then will God have His authority. (56-247, 1972.5.18)
We need a device to measure the time period, the moment, and the time for calibrating ourselves. We should set these in accordance with the standard clock. Scales also have an absolute standard measurement, of which there is only one in the world. There is only one standard measurement for one meter, not two standards. Then, do you think there was originally a standard for the calibration of humankind or not? Are you a person whose current arbitrary standard naturally fits in with the absolute human standard through a zero calibration, or are you a person that it does not fit, even by force? You do not fit even by force. But you are still asking to be recognized as people meeting the original standard or standard meter measure. Then, the person giving that recognition would be a crazy person.
That kind of person should be smacked on the head! God will say, "You fool, he looks that way and you are approving him? He should be rejected and chastised, yet you are going to sympathize with and help him?" Among the Blessed Families today, there are many who respect the word "family" and yet ignore the essential nature of the family. (127-202, 1983.5.8)
From where does heaven begin? Heaven begins from the point of having absolute faith. This means not being able to assert oneself. It is the place of absolute self-denial, without which absolute faith cannot emerge. (46-79, 1971.7.25)
You should offer devotion until God hears your cry and recognizes you (220-349, 1991.10.20)
At the zero point -- that place where there is no love -- you will finally develop the character of a true subject; if you desire love, you must start from nothing. You must ignore your own fundamental existence. This is why in the Bible we find the paradoxical expression that those who seek to die will live and those who seek to live will die (202-278, 1990.5.25)
What is the purpose of this life? You should reflect on this question once more. Since we are not the cause, it follows that the purpose does not lie with us alone. No one would object to the idea of being happy in life. No one would reject a dazzling life. Yet none of us is free to live as we please. Still, each of us wishes to feel pride in ourselves, live freely with respect to our own will, and be remembered accordingly. These conflicting elements can all be found within our hearts. (7-178, 1959.9.6)
When creating the universe, God did so with absolute faith. He went on to create us to be the absolute partners of His love. Absolute obedience means investing ourselves completely to the extent of total self-denial. Furthermore, we forget about the investment we made and reinvest; such a process continues until reaching the zero point without any concept of self. If our love were rejected, we would continue to love even more; even if we have already invested, we should continue to invest everything that we have, until we can make our enemy surrender voluntarily. God walked such a path, and the Parents of heaven and earth have also walked such a path. The person who invests love continuously without expecting a direct return becomes a central being, the one who inherits everything, and the child of greatest piety. In a family with ten members including the grandparents, the one most exemplifying altruism will be its center. The same principle applies with respect to patriots in the nation. The more we invest without expecting a direct return, the higher we can rise as loyal citizens, saints, and God's holy sons and daughters. (CSG -- 2138-2139)
Jesus told Nicodemus that unless one is reborn, one cannot enter the Kingdom of God. The "I" who has lived until now must be denied. Even if you have excuses, and even if you have many accomplishments to your name, you must deny yourself. Because you are fallen human beings, you cannot escape from this fate. Your whole life should be denied, your daily life should be denied; you are living a spiritually dead life that should be denied. (6-278, 1959.6.7)
The concept of heaven can be established from the position of subjugating Satan, denying everything related to Satan, and furthermore, eliminating him. Heaven is affirmed on the basis of having denied and removed the negative historic relic of Satan and all the contents of a satanic lifestyle. Without removing these things, you cannot exhibit the content of heaven. (46-74, 1971.7.25)
You should not believe that everything you have in your possession truly belongs to you. Of the things you can possess, the greatest of all is God's love, and the greatest thing you can become is a family of His sons and daughters who are eligible to receive His love. This comes first. When that was lost, everything was lost. Conversely, through its recovery, you can recover everything. In order for you to establish such a family centering on God's love, you must create it from a position of possessing absolutely nothing and connect the foundation of absolute faith, love and obedience with the ideal. Having this original standard, you must stand in the position of being denied even by the satanic world. (300-300, 1999.4.11)
Are your bodies separated from the dominion of Satan? Have they become one with God? Unless you completely deny yourself, you cannot overcome Satan. That is why I am teaching you how to go through three and a half years of hardship. We must progress from the beggar and the servant of servants. We must progress vertically, from the servant of servants, through servant, adopted child, child by a concubine, child of the direct lineage, the mother, the father, and then God; eight stages in this way. Also, the individual, family, tribe, people, nation, world, heaven and earth, and God are eight levels as well. Thus, it is vertically eight stages and horizontally eight stages. This is the viewpoint of God's Principle. These are not just my words. (189-141, 1989.4.1)
How do you adjust to the zero point? If you go this way, there will surely be a counter-action. Therefore, you have to adjust to that zero point. In a power plant there are many different types of meters. Each meter has something similar to the zero point from which direction, power and quantity are measured. There has to be such a zero point standard.
What kind of standard is that? It is something that exists and yet does not, or something that does not exist and yet does. There is such a place. Those who practice Zen meditation use the term ecstasy to refer to a state of mind similar to that. You should be able to approach a spiritual level of that kind. Once you reach that standard, you will find something that would surely enable your horizontal standard to respond. (76-125, 1975.2.2)
I have to beat you to make you into pure gold. I have to make pure gold out of you. After that, you have to sacrifice yourself. You have to die until you disappear. Disappear, disappear, sacrifice, sacrifice, and become a zero. (112-19, 1981.3.15)
God started creating all things based on absolute faith. He began to create so that He could have object partners of absolute love. Absolute obedience means that there exists no awareness of "self". It is a state of complete zero -- a complete nothingness. Once God returns to nothingness, a circular movement automatically begins. Since everything is given out, and there is no more to give, God returns to the bottom. This has become the origin of the movement of the universe. Thus, after completely investing everything, things go down preparing to go up once more. (282-68, 1997.3.10)
In what way did God create heaven and earth? Only human beings, and none other, can be His perfect objects. Thus, He committed Himself 100 percent. Then why did He commit Himself so much even though He was the King of wisdom? After investing everything, He reached the position of zero, nothingness, whereas His object attained 120 percent; to explain this in terms of atmospheric pressure: where God eventually comes to stand would be a vacuum, the point of lowest pressure, and His object would be in a high pressure area. This situation would immediately create a renewed circulatory action according to the principles of automatic generation and movement. Thus, if you were to constantly invest yourself in your object, it would eventually be enveloped, wouldn't it? It would be completely surrounded. With what would you surround and envelop it? It would be with love. Since the origin of the universe is love, this is what would take place according to this principle. (196-320, 1990.1.12)
At the time of creation, God created based on absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. This total giving left a complete vacuum, resulting in a deflation in which not even the tiniest particle remained between the two sides, which then attached to each other and became one. This is how oneness, total oneness is achieved. When oneness is created and fullness is produced, like a type of high pressure zone, then a circular motion is created. Likewise, if you totally invest yourself from the position of absolute nothingness, a dynamic type of movement can occur.
When I apply such a principle and invest myself for the universe based on absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience, there will come a time when the world naturally unites, and the high pressure zone will be completely filled. Here it is logical that the unification of the world will naturally appear without conflict. (273-297, 1995.10.29)
When you see me in your dreams, I appear to you through the waves of God's love. For that to happen, your ego should not be there. You have to sacrifice yourselves and create a vacuum. After creating a vacuum, you have to become like pure gold. Gold does not contain any other elements. It is pure in itself. (112-16, 1981.3.15)
How can you get rid of the love and the lineage belonging to the satanic realm? If you love yourself and think only of yourself, Satan will drag you along at any time. On the contrary, if you deny yourself and put God in the center of your thinking and your life, Satan will no longer control you; instead God will come to you and take charge of you. By doing so, you can be liberated from the archangelic realm of the satanic world. You will rise from the position of the fallen archangel to the position of the archangel who is not fallen. Therefore, you must die! Act as if you are dead. You have to be trampled under foot constantly. (92-264, 1977.4.18)
Satan does not exist in the realm where such love is achieved. Therefore, everyone in the satanic world loves centering on themselves. In this world, heaven is not number one, but rather the self. (140-201, 1986.2.9)
Restoration through indemnity will not be accomplished if there is even one element of self-affirmation remaining. Indemnity conditions are set from a position of absolute denial. That kind of standard of absolute denial must be established from the individual level to the family, tribe, people, nation, world, and heaven and earth level until we reach God. Then, if the eight stages are fulfilled, this will be connected to the utopia of human history. Unless a course of absolute denial is undergone at each stage, we cannot connect to the utopia where we can relate directly with God. (God's Will -- 697, Korean Edition)
You will not be able to find the path of salvation in following your present habitual lifestyles. You need to walk a completely new path of atonement. The providence of salvation is that of restoration, and the providence of restoration is that of re-creation. In accordance with this, in order to be recreated, you need to be restored to the original position before the Fall, the state of complete self-denial. In such a state, there would be no self-awareness, no habits, and no surnames like Kim or Lee, as at present. You need to attain such a state of emptiness. Taking into consideration God's original standard of creation, you can see that every being created by Him was initiated from a state of non-being. (213-98, 1991.1.16)
What is true love? It is the love that causes you to invest yourself eternally and forget about it, and then invest again. Why should we do this? It is a principle that we wish our love partner to be better than ourselves, and our children to be better than we are. In order to achieve this, even God has to invest more than Himself. Since there is no other way of investing more then oneself than by investing and forgetting, we can go the way of true love, where we give and forget.
The unification of the heaven and earth begins from there. After investing your life, you should not think, "I died because of God and because of the Unification Church." We must sacrifice ourselves. You cannot say, "I did this much but the church does not recognize me" or "I have followed the Unification Church for dozens of years, but Father does not recognize me."
As for me, although I have suffered my whole life, God has not recognized me. But I do not think of it as God not recognizing me. Just like God, I allow myself to be hit and then invest and invest again. Since I continue investing up until the end, nothing is lost; it just accumulates more and more, and I naturally rise to the mountain top. This is strange, isn't it? While investing myself again and again, I find myself on top of the mountain and on top of the world; then, the right of the first son, the right of parents, and true kingship will be automatically restored. This is the line of reasoning that explains the logic of re-creation. (206-268, 1990.10.14)
Since we are born of love, it follows that we must walk the path of love, and ultimately die for love. The purpose of life is to find love that is welcomed not by the microcosm but rather, by the great universe; it is to be born, to live, and to die surrounded by the universal love that is recognized by God, the angelic world, all things of creation, and our parents. (83-164, 1976.2.8)
From where does heaven begin? Heaven begins from the point of having absolute faith. This means not being able to assert oneself. It is the place of absolute self-denial, without which absolute faith cannot emerge. In connection with life's fundamental problems, most people today go about their daily routine. They wake up in the morning, go through life eating and say, "I am okay with God." Many people believe that, but such people cannot own heaven. They cannot be okay with God. Without a relationship that can be officially recognized, you cannot even have an absolute standard of faith. Without having obtained this prerequisite standard, which must be surpassed in order to realize the Kingdom of Heaven, how can that Kingdom be achieved? There is not a chance. Why not? It is because Satan remains in that place. (46-79, 1971.7.25)
In the spirit world, when you visit someone who is on a level of love lower than yours, you can possess that person's house if you like it. When you quietly enter such a house, the owner of it becomes aware of this possibility as soon as he sees you. He will know as soon as he sees your forehead and face. If he recognizes you as someone higher than him in spiritual stature, he will happily welcome you into his living room and say, "Welcome to my house!" (207-95, 1990.11.1)
If we want to meet God, we should not ask for His recognition but instead pledge our lives to Him even more, even after thrice passing through death and resurrection. When such people populate the world, it will be the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the way that I am teaching and the kind of world that I am building. (CSG -- 2146)
If you compare yourself to me, then I am probably a more filial child of God than you are. The reason is that I have lived my whole life in the way that God wants. Yet, I would not even dream of assuming that I have fully carried out my filial obligations. In fact, I feel ever more inadequate with the passage of time. When people think they have fully discharged their duties of filial piety and loyalty, they actually cease to become filial children and patriots.
The person who complains, saying, "I am a filial child. I am a patriot. Why do you not recognize me?" is the person who is retreating. You must understand that Heaven's filial child and Heaven's patriot is the person who realizes, as time goes on, how much more of his filial duty remains to be fulfilled. He then renews his commitment and goal to fulfill his filial duty as his life's philosophy. (35-341, 1970.11.1)
Loving minds always try to sacrifice, to concede, and to give, and give again. For instance, if I had ten billion dollars in my possession and went out into the street to give it all to others, I would still not have helped every person in the world, and so my mind would not rest easy in its desire to give out more. There is no end to it. God's heart is too great to be fathomed. Therefore, you cannot boast of yourselves. Even if you performed the most generous act of all, and then checked with your loving mind, it would answer, "You need to do more!" (133-180, 1984.7.10)
Your loyalty will be immortalized by your descendants, and when you go to the spirit world, you will be commended for your merits of your efforts. The age of indemnity has now passed, and from now, you will be able to establish a bright tradition commensurate with the level and extent of your activities. This will become your estate. Let us devote ourselves to our task with utmost sincerity, knowing that we are placed in such a point in time. (38-126, 1971.1.3)
Where is the stronghold of God's Kingdom? Many Christians say, "I believe in Jesus so I'm going to heaven." Then where is that stronghold? When Peter asked, "Where is the Kingdom of Heaven?" Jesus answered, "It is not in heaven but in your heart," so where is that stronghold located? Can it be formed by a sad heart, or by a self-aggrandizing mind, or by a mind that denies society? Those are not the strongholds of the content we desire or of the Kingdom that God can endorse.
People seeking the stronghold of God's Kingdom must meet with solitude more than anyone else on earth. Why? As God is solitary, they too must be solitary; and since God has undergone the history of subjugation, they too must undergo subjugation.
Then, if people were to just feel sad, repent and shed tears of lamentation because heaven and earth are filled with sadness, can that become the stronghold of God's Kingdom? Even that cannot. When serving the church, while desiring the time of being blessed anew with joy, we must be able to be determined to solve the problems of sin and evil in this world. Without a single direction of determination to bear that responsibility, the stronghold of heaven cannot exist.
Some people confidently assert that -- because they are conscientious and have a respectable social position -- the Kingdom of Heaven starts from them. That thinking is based on their understanding that good and evil begin together. Yet good and evil cannot start simultaneously. When evil goes east, good must go west, and when evil moves, good has to stop. Moreover, when evil has a desire, good must not have it. Good and evil are opposites.
The search for the heavenly nation started from the point where God lost all His hope in relation to the world of humankind. Thus, people who are satisfied with their present lives cannot be truly religious people. When confronted by the intersecting fortunes of life and death, which cause you to sink into despair, losing the meaning of your existence, you should not be excessively attached to your habitual lifestyle, but instead proceed to seek new values, denying even your life. By proceeding in this way true goodness can start.
Viewed from this standpoint, are there people who can confidently say that their character is the stronghold of heaven? None. There is also no one who can insist that their family is the stronghold of heaven. There is no one who could claim that God, if He existed, could not say that He did not recognize their family. No tribe can insist that God must recognize it because of their good achievements. There are no races, nations, ideologies or philosophies that can demand God's recognition. When I think about this, I am dumbfounded.
Therefore, while the one who wants to die will live, the one who wants to live will die. Then what does that mean? Those who work to protect themselves from the evil world for more than a millennium can dream such a dream, and only those who gratefully sacrifice themselves for more than ten thousand years can find hope to live for ten thousand years.
Likewise, those who cry out for eternal life, eternal happiness, and the eternal Kingdom of Heaven must overcome the current situation with eternity as their goal, and they must surmount with endurance the present point in time, sacrificing themselves. Only from such a standpoint can the eternal stronghold emerge. (47-247, 1971.8.29)
You must learn how to generate your own power. You cannot expect that I will always pull you and push you out. You must make yourself self-propelling. In order to do that, prayer must be the diet of your life. Whether people recognize your efforts or not, you must do your duty enthusiastically because you have a covenant with God. Day and night you move on; there is no pause. That is a living testimony. (A Life of Prayer -- 1979.4.15)
What must someone do in order to become the Lord at the Second Advent? You need to go to the spirit world, reveal the principles concerning the relationships of all religions centering on Jesus, clarify everything about heaven and earth and their laws, and receive the approval of the spirit world. You have to proclaim these things on earth. This is something that has not been known even in the spirit world. Only God and Satan knew of this. After I had proclaimed all these things in the spirit world, strong opposition arose there. In that world, a time of chaos came about for forty days. Satan resisted by setting the condition of denying God. As a result, the spirit world was divided in half, with one half against me. In the end, this chaotic situation had to be resolved based on what God decided to be true. That is why the True Parent brings the spirit world into complete submission, receives God's seal of approval and comes down to the earth. (236-323, 1992.11.9)
In order to create a unified heaven and earth, the spirit world must first be unified. The ancestors in the spirit world said, "Rev. Moon, you heretic, you traitor!" Later on, even God said, "Yes, throw him away!" That is how the laws of indemnity are. Since Adam and Eve abandoned God, God also had to abandon them, conditionally. Enduring such abandonment, I had to win acceptance, restore God's support for me, recover my heaven, and receive God's seal of approval. During that period, God had to stand against me when someone accused me, but then later on everything…
I battled against the entire spirit world for forty-three days. On the fortieth day even God said, "Rev. Moon, you good-for-nothing! Why have you come here and brought chaos to this peaceful heavenly world? You son-of-a-thief!" Everyone agreed with God. Still, I did not retreat. (282-168, 1997.3.11)
In order to become the Lord at his Second Advent, I had to go to the spirit world and return with God's seal of approval. By my going to the spirit world, a battle took place there for forty-three days. Everyone, from the bottom of hell to the top of heaven, said, "Rev. Moon is a heretic!" I had to deal with this, beginning from the lowest place, right through to the saints at the very end. I had to argue with them in God's presence and go through a decisive battle that decided who was the Lord of righteousness. What was the issue at that time? It was concerning the stained lineage of all the people in the spirit world and whether they knew that they had to change that.
What was the second consideration? It concerned transferring the rights of ownership of all material things. I stated that, "Those who had rights of ownership during their life on earth are traitors to the Kingdom of Heaven!" No matter how great the founders of the religions were, they had to face this judgment. That is why, when I fought in the spirit world, I stood my ground in battle and challenged them confidently, asking, "Who's the heretic?"
Since great chaos would come to the spirit world after this, God had to make a decision as the Judge. But even He stood against me. God said, "Rev. Moon is a heretic, as you all say." Why? Since Adam had betrayed God, in accordance with the laws of restoration through indemnity, the person representing perfected Adam had to face a situation of betrayal, even by God Himself. Only then could the walls that were raised in God's heart be brought down. In this way, everyone was against me, and even God was standing on the other side, leaving me totally alone.
Still, the spirit world could not be left as it was, in a whirlpool of chaos. God had to make the final decision. He proclaimed, "The transition of the lineage, transition of the rights of ownership and transition of the realm of heart that Rev. Moon speaks of, are true." I then had to return here, to this world, after receiving God's seal as a victorious champion. (264-50, 1994.10.9)
Before everything can be resolved in the physical world, the spirit world must first be put in order. After having discovered the words of truth, when I claimed, "This is how the spirit world should be," Satan opposed me and even God opposed me. Since humankind abandoned God, God must abandon humankind. This is the law of restoration through indemnity. For this reason, a forty-day battle occurred in the spirit world. The four great saints all exclaimed, "Rev. Moon is a heretic!"
All the religious leaders in the spirit world came and opposed me. There was a hostile gathering and an offensive and defensive argument in God's presence to find out who was right. For forty days the entire spirit world was in an uproar. They were making complete turmoil and shouting, "Rev. Moon is a heretic!" They all called out in unison, "The spirit world will become very disturbed. We don't want that. Drive him away!" (259-320, 1994.4.24)
After entering the spirit world, I was treated with contempt for forty-three days, even from the lowest realms. They were asking me who I thought I was. They were calling me a slave, the relative of old lady Pak, a fraud, and the ringleader of all heretics. Eventually, I met with the major religious leaders and chosen people. At the very end, I spoke with the four great saints. They were all against me. They all opposed me, saying, "That good-for-nothing, child of a traitor, get him and kill him." Even God supported them. It was an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. For forty days the entire spirit world opposed me. I could not retreat and I fought for forty-three days. Until the very end even God was against me. Could I have retreated? Wouldn't something terrible have happened had I retreated? So in the end, I even brought God to submission. Then, God shouted, "Attention!" to the people in spirit world. He then proclaimed, "I have to come to a decision on this battle in the spirit world. The witness who was correct in every respect is Sun Myung Moon." God told me to turn around and give my defense. Everyone agreed that my words were true. God called out, "Attention!" and testified for me Himself, to the entire spirit world. So, I had finished with the spirit world, hadn't I? I received God's seal, His approval, and came to the earth. (295-293, 1998.9.24)
In order to unite this world, you have to enter the spirit world and make unity there first. How are you going to bring unification? You would not be welcomed. If you go to the spirit world and say, "The way of the heavenly principle should be revealed in this way," Satan and God would understand but they would not give an answer.
It was the first time for all the leaders of religion to hear these things. They asked the meaning of the transition of the lineage, the transition of the rights of ownership and the transition of the realm of love. Even Jesus asked me about this every day. All the saints were opposed to me. Thus, for forty-three days a great time of chaos came about in the spirit world. They were saying, "Drive out that Rev. Moon, the ringleader of all heretics!" What would have happened had they driven me out in this way? The Unification Church would not have emerged. Thus, I had to push forward for forty-three days amid that intense persecution.
In this type of situation, I am an expert. I am an expert in discerning between right and wrong. That is why I know immediately who is for Satan and who is for God. Looking at everything there, I saw that it was wrong. That is why I determined to continue. At the very end, even God became more desperate. The spirit world was in chaos. I, alone, was stirring up the entire spirit world, creating a tumultuous situation. Since God is the Lord of Judgment, He had to take responsibility. The situation was that the entire spirit world had put me at the front and was accusing me before God.
Consequently, God had to bring justice and judgment. To stop this battle, He had to clarify what was right and wrong. There was a complete split of opinion. I was alone and the entire spirit world was against me. Even God had been standing against me. They were saying, "How bad this fellow is! Who is saying such things?" Since Adam fell by going against God, God had to oppose me. (273-67, 1995.10.21)
So far, you have lived your lives too carelessly. You have to be aware of that. I may seem to live without thought but wherever I go and sit, whatever I do in any place, I follow God's law, clean the area and take my seat. I do so by following the heavenly law. (304-50, 1999.9.5)
In order to have truth become reality, we need to go through a tremendous ordeal of suffering and tribulation. In order to find one true man, much suffering is necessary. Truth doesn't come through winning recognition from your fellow man but through being recognized by the ultimate one, the unchanging, Almighty God, His sovereignty and nation. (Let Us Restore Our Homeland and Fatherland, 1979.1.14, Unofficial)
We Moonies can sacrifice ourselves without any recognition except God's; all we must cling to is this truth and this love. Knowing we are heading in the right direction gives us the utmost confidence. Love is patient and long-suffering. Enduring and persevering without giving up are all qualities of love. (Myself -- Part II, 1983.3.6, Unofficial)
Will you go the road of true love? Can you do that by muttering and complaining about everything you encounter? Can you say, "I have been working so hard, yet nobody has given me any recognition. Father has never even said a 'Thank you' to me. He has never told me I did a good job. My central figure doesn't give me any praise, either. Why should I continue?" Instead you must go forward whether anybody praises you or not.
As you are busy fulfilling your own goals and responsibilities, you shouldn't care whether others recognize you or not. After all, you are accumulating your own assets and fortune, so why should you need recognition? If you go upward in that way, you will hit the boundary and automatically be turned around, making a circle. Ultimately you will have accumulated great spiritual wealth for yourself. (Victory and Peace, 1982.1.10, Unofficial)
Don't sweat for your own sake. Sometimes members are disgruntled that their central figure doesn't recognize how hard they worked. However, God is sweating every day, yet does He complain that no one recognizes Him? (Core Love and Indemnity, 1981.10.22, Unofficial)
A good performance is not always praised or recognized, and sometimes instead of being rewarded you are chastised. Which is the ideal? Why do you say it is ideal to be rewarded for a good job? I think it is better to be criticized after doing a good job. No one can subtract from what you did, so by receiving criticism you create a situation where the critic has to surrender to you, and those who praise you can defend the values of what you did. In other words, you can conquer both elements by receiving criticism.
The saints did great work, yet were never accepted in their own time. Because they had the capacity to digest the criticism people dumped on them, history recognizes them and they have a higher reward. When you do the right thing yet the entire world comes against you, it will be your asset because you will acquire the capacity to contain all the elements of the world. I am one example. I am working hard to do the right thing, but because America doesn't understand this it has opposed me. 1 will digest that criticism, and by doing so I am creating room for all of America to bow down eventually. (Ideal Home, 1979.11.4, Unofficial)
What if you do certain things just to get a salary or some recognition? Is that the correct motivation? The first commandment of Christ was to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Giving your heart, mind, and soul, means that you are ready to stick your neck out, even ready to die for the love of God. Are you doing that?
Satan is clever and sees your thoughts very quickly. Satan only retreats when he sees that you are determined to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul, even risking your life. But the one who says, "I have a difficult situation. I have my kids to worry about, I have to earn some money to buy a little house somewhere and send them to school. Then I will love God." Satan then knows that God is secondary in your life, and will say, "I am not going to retreat-you are now my servant." (The End of the World and Our Age, 1989.3.19, Unofficial)
Sons and daughters of filial piety are those who want to give more to their parents than their brothers and sisters do. Patriots are those who work more for their country and love it more. Saints are those who willingly serve and sacrifice more for the sake of the world. Such people may not be recognized and honored in their own time but in the future they will be. This is the kind of effort needed here in the United States. Each of you should enter the race to see who can become the center. (The Way To Grow, 1987.8.30, Unofficial)
How we live makes a lot of difference. When we live for the sake of the goal, we can overcome the difficulties that arise, with the help of God. Sometimes we may not be successful. In that case, we have to feel willing to die for the sake of the goal. We should not be defeated by the circumstances. We should not think, "I am surrounded by dreadful problems, and I cannot cope with them successfully. Therefore I am dying." Even though this may look like the reality, it should not be the case. We must be as God is -- living and dying if necessary for nothing less than winning the goal.
The perfect example is a martyr, who gives up his own life to sustain and protect God's will and His foundation. Are all martyrs successful-are they all in Heaven? Think about this. Suppose one person is being severely persecuted to the point of death and he thinks, "I will be faithful to God so I can be lifted up later and recognized by others." If a martyr dies with that kind of self-centered attitude, he is actually a failure. But if someone in the same situation has faith and wants to give his life for the sake of humanity and the ultimate fulfillment of God's will, then he becomes a true martyr. The two situations are identical externally but very different internally.
One's internal posture or attitude makes that much difference. Even though we may be working incredibly hard, if later it turns out that we worked for the sake of everything except the ultimate fulfillment of God's will, then our work becomes almost meaningless. God looks at it this way, make no mistake about that. What about Reverend Moon? I view it that way, too. (Our Posture On The New Year, 1987.1.4, Unofficial)
A good teacher will tell his students that it is good to help others and to love and sacrifice for them, but no one can explain why. We should be able to answer that question, however. Suppose that for the sake of God and humanity you chop one finger off. Spiritually speaking it is absolutely true that you will receive it back again billions of times over. If you sincerely give yourself and truly manifest the love of God then the world and God will return it to you many times fold…
First you must each realize that you are a child of God and then you must practice God's way of life. In selling newspapers you are not just going after a few dollars. Rather, your inward purpose is to disseminate God's way of life and God's love. You are living God's life and whatever you do and wherever you go your entire purpose is to live as God, giving His way of life and His love.
What we are doing here in the Unification Church is making a total investment, without any reservation. Commercially speaking it's a foolish way of doing business, to do so much for God without receiving any honor or recognition for your unselfishness. Yet we know that it is all worthwhile nonetheless; whether someone gives you recognition or not, no one can take away your value. Total commitment and total service will be rewarded many times over because that is the way the universe operates.
What would happen if you gave your whole love for the sake of others and made yourself totally empty? Just like air rushing into a vacuum, the love of God would rush into you like a storm. You have that guarantee and for that reason you don't have to seek for recognition or hear someone else say you are great. God will always reward you. If you send your true heart and love out into the universe, do you think evil or greater good will come back to you?
Why is God like that and why is the universe like that? I want you to know that the universe is made up of horizontal and vertical, and thus if you are giving everything you can horizontally, then automatically the universe will reimburse you in a vertical way. When you only look at the horizontal, however, you are a loser. Electricity reflects the nature of the universe very well. When you create an absolute minus, no matter how much you try to keep the plus away it will automatically come and react with the absolute minus. (The Basic Formula for the Realization of the Kingdom of God on Earth, 1978.1.1, Unofficial)