Filial Attendance: The Way of Filial Piety of Holy Sons and Daughters of God - Elio Roman
|
|
Filial Attendance: The Way of Filial Piety of Holy Sons and Daughters of God - Elio Roman |
Human beings were created to be the Lords of Creation. Human beings dominate the creation. However, they do not dominate the creation in a true sense as originally intended by the Creator God. Human beings abuse the creation. Just as a dictator abuses the citizens of a nation for his own selfish ends, without being sensitive to or aware of the heart and well being of the citizens, fallen mankind similarly abuses the creation. Human beings are estranged from the creation. For this reason Romans 8:19-22 says that the whole creation is groaning and waits in travail and pain for the revealing of the true sons and daughters of God.
Due to the Fall human beings came to dwell in the realm of spiritual death. Their spirits died and lost sensitivity of the heart of God, of other human beings, and of the creation. Today, due to the long course of the history of God's providence, people have gone through various levels of spiritual rebirth and spiritual growth. However, very few have gained complete sensitivity to God and the creation. When human beings come to embody the spirit and heart of God, they will become the owners of creation. Then and only then will they take their positions as true lords of creation. When human beings become the lords of creation through their embodiment of God's love, they become the bridge by which the creation can receive the love of God. The whole creation is groaning in travail until such sons and daughters of God emerge. Such sons and daughters who are now beginning to set foot on the world stage need to be educated to develop their true relationship with nature.
Nature has gone the long course of God's providence for restoration with forbearance, giving everything to humankind. It has given of itself to form our bodies in our mother's womb. Even though we were born fallen and in the realm of sin, nature has continued to give of itself to nourish us, house us, and satisfy us. It has continued giving of itself, serving and sacrificing for human beings. The creation has been waiting for human beings, the lords of creation, to become the owners of true love. Human beings have accumulated a large debt to the creation. Human beings whose spirits grow to maturity, become one with the heart of God and become the lords of creation, are the lords of true love who have gained an awareness of and sensitivity to the life and value of nature. They give nature its due recognition, appreciation and the love of God. Nature has been waiting for its lords to appear.
The Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh was able to express sensitivity towards the creation through his art. In his paintings he portrayed nature as full of life and with rhythmic movement. In his painting "Cypresses," the trees, the grasses, the clouds and the sky are full of life and in rhythmic motion. In "Thatched Cottages at Cordeville" one experiences a landscape full of life and motion. In "The Road Menders" the trees seem to have more life than the people themselves. In his painting "Starry Night" the whole universe is depicted with life and rhythmic movement.
There have been occasions when I have observed similar movement in nature. While at a flower stand in the countryside, during a rain and windstorm, I was listening to Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony. I could see the dark-grey and light-grey storm clouds moving quickly across the sky and the trees swaying and shaking briskly in the wind, all to the rhythm of "Eroica." Another time, when with my fiancé, while at a rest stop, driving from Rhode Island to New York City we were listening to Mozart on the radio while happily talking to each other. In a small pool of water in front of us were two small birds flying and chasing each other playfully to the rhythm of Mozart's music. Later I realized that the two playful birds represented my wife and me. It seems as if all of nature and the universe is moving to a high level of music which the great composers and artists have captured in their works. It also seems as if nature wants to relate with us.
On another occasion I had a chance to observe a tree during a wind and rainstorm. Its leaves and branches were in a high frenzy. It seemed as if the energy from the storm and the tree were in some kind of sexual ecstatic relationship. A few hours later I witnessed the same tree with its leaves and branches completely limp and motionless. While looking at paintings of Van Gogh I found a painting called "Mulberry Tree" which depicts a tree in the same state of frenzy I had observed in the tree during the storm.
While I was driving on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut one day, it seemed as if the trees were leaning over above the road waving hello to the people in the cars driving by. Another time, I had taken a Catholic priest home to his rectory after he had had dinner with my family, and as I was driving back home it seemed that the trees were bowing down to me. It all seemed like a surrealistic dream.
Rev. Moon said, regarding our relationship with nature, that when our spiritual senses open we can perceive that the trees talk, the flowers dance, and the rocks sing, and that love exists even within the mineral kingdom. When Buddha reached enlightenment while sitting under the Bodhi tree, he saw that the birds were singing just for him, the trees and the flowers existed just for him, the sun was shining just for him, and even the stream was flowing just for him. The Persian poet Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi in the 13th century wrote of an experience he had with nature. He says: "Every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing, those which average eyes would see as fixed and still."1
Whether my experiences were fantasy or not is a point in question. However, we are now called to be owners of Cheon Il Guk. In order to become owners we must embody the heart of God. Upon embodying the heart of God we become true filial sons and daughters of God. God bequeaths to us ownership of true love and ownership of the creation. Filial sons and daughters of God as part of their attendance of God take care of the creation and give the creation God's love.
Ownership of true love includes ownership of the creation which is the third blessing. Owners of creation are lords of creation who have both internal dominion and external dominion over the creation. Internal dominion is dominion of love in which a new relationship with the creation develops. Lords of creation have their spiritual sensibility developed to the highest level and gain awareness of the spiritual dimension of the creation. This new relationship with the creation is the original relationship which God intended. As owners of Cheon Il Guk who are the lords of creation, we need to begin to seek, to question, to perceive, to learn the value of, appreciate, and establish our true relationship with the creation as we settle the original homeland of God. The relationship between the creation and the true sons and daughters of God is not a theoretical relationship but a substantial living relationship.
External dominion, on the other hand, refers to the development of the creation through science and technology through which we can have the best living environment as originally envisioned by God. Owners of Cheon Il Guk can build an artistically beautiful and a highly advanced scientific and technological world with economic prosperity for all.
Nature has continued to sacrifice itself and attend human beings, even though they were fallen. We should reward its attendance as originally intended by God through loving and caring for all things as true Lords of Creation. Today there is a growing awareness of the abuses and needs of nature. This is in line with our development towards becoming true sons and daughters of God who are the Lords of Creation.
When you ask the whole universe, from the smallest elements to human beings, "What is it that the person who possesses you has to have?" all of them would answer that they would like to belong to a person who has love. This means that all things of creation are seeking an owner of love. (132-158, 1984.5.31)
What is meant by the term lord of all creation? Who is the lord of all creation? Some say human beings, but the fundamental lord of all creation is God. You all know that spirits exist. We all have spirits and, as we are the leaders among the spirits, in the final analysis, we are lords of all creation directly connected to God. Human beings cannot become the lords of all creation on their own. How can they, as created beings, become lords of all creation? Being created makes them reciprocal and resultant beings; as such, they can neither communicate with nor possess the origin, but rather exist to be possessed by it.
Clearly, we are all resultant beings. The lords of all creation I am referring to are those occupying the central position in the spirit world. I am talking about the originally intended relationship of oneness between God and humankind. Those lords of all creation are in the position to communicate with God. Although human beings are called the lords of all creation, not everybody is actually qualified to be one. Those who live individualistically are ineligible to join the club of the lords of all creation. And those who have distinguished themselves by seeking the greater good are eligible. God seeks to fulfill His wishes through such people. When that happens, whose heaven will it be? Not His but theirs. (32-136, 1970.7.5)
The Absolute Being, who is the Lord of Creation, created the entire universe to love and to become one with Him. Human beings, the highest among created beings, are to stand in the position of lord of creation. To do this, we must be able to incarnate God's heart. Becoming one with God's heart does more than establish the parent-child relationship between God and ourselves. It is also the link connecting humanity with the rest of creation. (Public Venue, September 2002)
God created people in order to love, because He needed someone with whom to share His love. You cannot be in love all by yourself; without a relationship with a partner, love cannot be experienced. Because God absolutely needs love, He created all things and then human beings as the lords of creation, representing all things. God gave people the value of His object partners in absolute love because God absolutely needs them. Human beings were created as His object partners so that love would be under joint ownership. Hence, people themselves are God's bodies. When Adam and Eve -- the bodies of God -- become a couple, it means that God becomes a couple. Then, in the heavenly world, God, in the form of Adam and Eve, becomes the ancestor of humankind and rules over the spiritual and physical worlds. (138-212, 1986.1.21)
Love is everywhere, even within the mineral kingdom. When you look from the spiritual point of view, even the rocks sing, the trees talk and the flowers dance. The universe is craving for love; therefore our way of life must be nothing other than that -- singing and craving for love. The universe is like God's museum of love. Every facet of the universe teaches us how love should be expressed. Mankind completes that museum; man is the crowning piece within that museum.
The entire universe is waiting for the consummation of love. The minerals, the plants, and the animal kingdom are waiting for the consummation of love. The master who consummates the love of the universe is man. Human beings must bind together into oneness with God. That is the role of people in this universe. At the moment of the consummation of the love of human beings, God consummates His love as well.
The insects exist in pairs and they make noises of love. Those noises are made for the sake of their mate. The birds sing love songs to their mates every morning: and likewise all the animals make sounds of love. How about human beings? If there are no partners in love, there is no art, music, or dancing. You have nothing to dance about.
All things are craving a mediator to convey their love to a higher level of accomplishment. This is even true of fish. Therefore, people can relate to all the different aspects of creation, including the fish, the birds, plants, animals and minerals. This is because man is their ultimate mediator or bridge to God.
However, the channel of love for the universe has been shattered; man has never become the bridge for their love. For that reason it is very logical to say that the Creation is groaning in travail and grief -- no true love has been conveyed between them and their Creator. Look at the tiny insects; even between them, there is the communication of love. Lower animals are sacrificed and eaten by the higher animals -- for example, cows are eaten by human beings. But cows are glad of this because in that way they become part of the human body and the human body relates in love to God, which is the ultimate purpose of the universe.
Love goes beyond physical death and thus all the creatures of nature are willing to sacrifice themselves to become part of a higher love. The only reason why humans have the right to eat all the different forms of nature is that we are the higher beings who are capable of relating the love of God to the rest of the universe. For that reason, human beings should also be able to sacrifice themselves for the sake of love. Furthermore a person without love has no real right to eat the creation. Such a person is not-a true mediator. The universe knows what entitles someone to eat. It is not because someone can pay for the groceries, but only because someone is sensing the love of God.
The universe is "auditing" your love. They can see whether you are a person of love or not. They know whether someone is a thief, having consumed the universe without ever relaying God's love back to them. What is the difference between animals, for example the birds, and human beings? Birds only know how to love one another, but human beings know how to harmonize with and love all the forms of creation. Therefore, human beings are the ultimate mediators between God and creation. That is the difference. That is the special dignity and privilege of human beings.
What is the love of the True Parents? It is the love that links together all the generations of love of the entire creation. The whole creation is harmonized through the True Parents. True Parents' love here on earth is like a formula or tradition; anybody who follows that formula or tradition is bound to succeed. Not only will you succeed here on earth, but you will also succeed in spirit world, which is the eternal and most important world. This kind of love will be welcomed anywhere, anytime, because this is the love of God. (True Love -- 181-183, 1984.4.22)
We find even the sound of the wind to be wonderful music. (14-101)
People like butterflies rather than bees. It is because butterflies dance as they fly. Everything that flies does so in rhythm with a beat and with a melody. Fast-flying creatures fly in time with a beat; so do slow-flying ones. There are various styles of flight, but, anyway, everything flies according to a certain rhythm. Also, the way deer run and rabbits play in the mountains is musical. The way they hop around has a certain rhythm, and the way they eat also has a musical quality. It is the same with people; there is a certain rhythm when we eat. These all express something musically. If we think in this way -- that someone made this universe for me to last for eternity and put it in place for me -- we should feel grateful to Him.
We should not think as an onlooker, as if this were something to do with someone in a neighboring village. There are high mountains and low mountains. Do you like there being high mountains with low-lying land, or do you like only plain and flat land? Having high and low is better. Why is this so? It is because these shapes assume a certain form that looks as if it would dance. It is good when these are in forms of all kinds and colors, going up and going down, forming all kinds of curves. Then, this creation is like a dance. In nature, there are splendid dances and beautiful music; there is wonderful artwork. So many such things exist in nature. (87-321, 1976.6.27)
Things of nature, no matter how insignificant, cannot be compared with anything else. No painting drawn by some famous painter can compare with even a worthless tree standing by the side of the road. No matter how a famous painter may have painted flowers and created a great masterpiece, the flowers on the canvas do not bloom no matter how hard you look at them, nor is there any fragrance; nor can they produce seeds. Yet the insignificant tree standing by the roadside blossoms with flowers, bears fruit, and produces seeds. And if the seeds are planted, trees better than the mother tree can spring up in abundance. Even the paintings of a famous painter cannot compare with this. (9-176, 1960.5.8)
Ladies and gentlemen, flowers and butterflies form relationships as subject and object partners. They depend on one another and prosper through their give-and-take action. In the same way, the Principle of Creation defines and predicts the course of relationships between humankind and nature, between people, and between God and human beings.
Thus, Mother Nature is the combined body of all the individual embodiments of truth in creation, harmoniously bound together. Mother Nature stands as an absolute object partner before human beings, her subject partners. Her ordained role is to enable human beings to realize their absolute value. (Messages of Peace 11 -- 166, 2006.12.8)
God created us as beings with dual characteristics. He created our physical bodies as miniatures of the corporeal, tangible world and our spiritual bodies as representatives of and lords of the incorporeal world. (Messages of Peace 3 -- 46, 2006.4.10)
What was the single word, the one and only commandment God gave to Adam and Eve, the first ancestors, upon their creation? It was the commandment and blessing to maintain an absolute standard of sexual purity until God's approval of their marriage. We find the basis for this in the Bible passage that indicates that Adam and Eve would surely die on the day they ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. If they had refrained from eating and observed Heaven's commandment, they would have perfected their character and, as co-creators, stood with God, the Creator, as His equals. Furthermore, they would have taken dominion over the creation and become the lords of the universe enjoying eternal and ideal happiness. (Messages of Peace 10 -- 144-145, 2006.11.21)
God's creation is indeed profound. Everything He created was to prepare an environment for the perfection and happiness of human beings, whom He created as His children and partners in love.
Consider a flower; it is one of the masterpieces of God's creation. Hidden within a flower -- even in a nameless wildflower blooming in a field -- we can easily discover the Creator's will and purpose. To see a flower alive and growing to perfection is truly to witness a miracle. Flowers display beautiful colors and the harmony of yin and yang. Even human beings, the lords of creation, cannot fully replicate their beauty. Flowers continuously give off fragrances that captivate the hearts of the bees and butterflies attracted to their dazzling colors. Flowers can absorb the powerful, brilliant rays of the sun that humans cannot bear to look at. They diffuse their light into natural rays of harmony and peace and utilize them to create and preserve life. Flowers also do not neglect their duty to provide honey nectar to the bees and butterflies that busily fly to and fro helping them reproduce.
Ladies and gentlemen, the miracle of God's creation is infinite, transcending and defying any human description. Even a picture drawn by the greatest artist in the world cannot compare to a cluster of living wildflowers. Even in creating a single insignificant flower, God the Creator opens the way for it to realize harmony in itself and contribute to the interdependence and mutual prosperity of the whole of creation. Given that this is so, how much greater is the stature of human beings, whom God created as His children, His eternal partners of love, and His heirs? (Messages of Peace 11 -- 164, 2006. 12.8)
In this complex and varied world, the principle of becoming a true owner naturally applies to the relationships between people; but it also applies to the relationship between human beings and the creation. The question is what kind of person can be called a true owner. Someone who lives for others, caring for and sacrificing to serve others -- in other words, a person who practices true love in daily life -- can be called a true owner. Only someone who cares for all things in the creation with true love, protecting and nurturing them, can become a true owner of all creation. (Messages of Peace 15 -- 231-232, 2007.7.4)
I have come this way while saying, "The precious things of creation, which God made and which have forged an eternal connection with God, are not cherished as much as national treasures or the valuables in some palaces today. I will understand that sorrow; I alone must understand." If you have a heart that says, "Though all those living on this earth may be ignorant of it, I will understand," then you will be a new people that can govern humankind in the future. This is not a concept but a fact. Who values all things of creation more than the family treasure handed down over the generations? Diamonds are said to be the most valuable, precious stones in the world and people cling to them and refuse to let them go. Who values creation more than diamonds? Where are such people? On seeing those who understand in their hearts what He has created, and who shed tears when they hold the things of creation, God will say "My dear children!" (9-176, 1960.5.8)
What kind of people are the enlightened masters? They are those with a heart so deep that they recognize even the value of one stem of grass as equal to their own and can cry out "God!" These would be enlightened masters of the highest level. Those who can sing its value this way would be the artists of the highest caliber. If there were a people with hearts that could allow them to discover the charms of God's love and heart in every variety of creation, in all their forms and colors, and befriend them and find enjoyment together, they would be the people who could represent the entire universe. If there are people whose cells move one by one with this type of feeling, they are the lords of creation. Conversely, if there is a person who knows about nothing but eating, can he become a lord of creation? (9-166, 1960.5.8)
As citizens of Cheon Il Guk, please have the wisdom to protect and love nature. Return to nature and enjoy a life of liberation and complete inner freedom. To love nature is to love God and humanity. When human life resonates with nature, human character can blossom in perfection. The flowers of a true culture of heart, a true artistic world, will bloom. It will be the Garden of Eden, the original ideal where God, human beings and all creation live in complete harmony and express their original nature. If you practice such true love in your daily life, how can God do anything but bestow great blessings upon you? You will live for all eternity in blessing and happiness. (Messages of Peace 5 -- 76, 2006.6.13)
When you look at the sun, you should be able to ask, "Oh my dear sun, how many of those Israelites' faces have you seen? How many suffering faces? No one could understand your sorrow looking at those people, but I can and I will comfort you." When the winter comes, the sun goes far away. Have you really been waiting for it to come back closer, counting the days on your fingers? The sun is going south, but what about you? Have you been longing for the sun? Even though the trees and grass are longing, are you as a human being? They are not owners, but they are longing.
You are owner, aren't you? Whose sun is it? Does it belong to Adam and Eve? Through restoration, God wants you to be better than Adam and Eve, so can't you claim those things? When you look at a mountain, if you have a heart of ownership, the mountain will open its arms and welcome you. Have you loved the millions of insects? God created them because He knew Adam and Eve needed them. Even to the poisonous snakes, love them, feed them frogs. Even poisonous rattlesnakes may prepare to attack when they don't know you, but after many times, they relax when I approach. If I bring a frog; will it bite my hand or just take the frog? If someone wants to kill it, the snake will strike. In that sense, the snake is smarter than we are.
After offering love, we should take the ownership position. I love the ocean, fishing, and mountains. Do I catch the animals and fish just for food? No. In that sense, I am the best scholar studying nature, because of the amount of love I have invested. Without loving nature, you cannot truly love human beings. It takes steps. (1999.10.24, Unofficial)
"Lord of creation" in Chinese characters means "central spiritual existence." You should understand that this phrase refers in one sense to the originally intended relationship of oneness between God and human beings. Therefore, the lord connects to God. However, not all human beings are lords, even though we say man is the lord of creation. People who are qualified to become the lord exist in a special realm. Those people who are qualified to join the Club of the Lord must at least not live for the sake of the individual. They are the people who live for the sake of the whole. God works to fulfill His desire centered on this kind of people. (32-136)
How should people live? Eternally. Living some eighty years in this evil world, some people may see no difference between the death of an ant and that of a human being; yet there is a difference. We are different because we are spiritual beings. How is it that we can become the lords of all creation? It is because our mind does not age; it is immutable and therefore carries the highest authority. All other things undergo change; even pure gold weathers away. (159-277, 1968.5.19)
Based on what premises can we be called the lords of all creation? It is neither money, nor knowledge, nor power, but rather God's sublime love. (210-308, 1990.12.27)
What are human beings? We are God's love object partners. God is a subject partner who has dual characteristics of positivity and negativity. Therefore, to be object partners before this subject partner, we need to have a form consisting of positive and negative dual characteristics. This form is not contradictory to the characteristics of the subject partner; rather, it is a form that relates with all His characteristics -- a form that fits exactly into the essence of love. It is a corresponding existence that harmonizes with other things only in love.
God has no need for the likes of knowledge or other things; He needs love. The reason we say that human beings are the center of this universe is that the world was created to manifest the ideal of love. The saying "Human beings are the lords of all creation" makes sense then because human beings, as the representatives of the loving God, have the privilege to receive love first in the central place before the Lord. (132-244, 1984.6.20)
We human beings, as creative masterpieces produced by God, were born resembling God. Because God is eternal, we also must have an eternal character, and this is why our mind does not age. People should live eternally, and only when they live eternally can they have the value of being a masterpiece. This is why people become lords of all creation. (159-279, 1968.5.19)
We do not know how much the things of creation have contributed to restoring humankind. Yet, if the things of creation and humankind fail to become one, they cannot go to the Father. (23-326, 1969.6.15)
What is nature? It is an exhibit that God has given us as a gift, something He prepared for the birth of His beloved sons and daughters. Even the song of a bird and a plant growing are decorations prepared to bring beauty into the lives of His beloved sons and daughters. Even the rocks rolling on the road were created as decorations for a nation, since God knew that His sons and daughters would be the owners who would rule over that nation. It is the same with flowing water. God did not want things to be dry and monotonous, so He created things for a prince of dreams and of hope who could look at this infinitely colorful and harmonious garden -- this world of love -- and inherit it. Hence, we learn from all things of creation. When the male and female birds sing, the lady who owns them should learn from that. You should be able to sing praises for the beauty of the original world of creation, where everything devotes its entire life to establish a world where each lives for the sake of the other. Then, even baby birds will want to come and live in your home. Birds will want to have their young there. (175-186, 1988.4.16)
The gleaming sunlight and the blowing wind, we must build a relationship with all these creations, which represent the pulse of the eternal life of God. Although we have not been able to feel anything until now, we can feel new things and build a new relationship of heart with all things. Moreover, we can build a relationship centering on God's principles of possession.
After that, you can rejoice with the creation and simultaneously be dragged into the realm of God's love. You will lead a life in which you can attract that kind of love to you at will. When you enter the realm of such profound grace and stand before Heaven, you can whisper with any part of the creation.
There will not be any existing created being, such as the sound of the wind that does not have a relationship with men. Therefore, we can conclude that all things of the creation, created for the sake of men, exist to manifest their true value through the relationship with and by being recognized before men.
Nonetheless, because we dwell in the fallen realm today, we do not know how to recognize the value of all things. Therefore, you must realize that when you feel new love coming from God, all things can also feel new life. You should lead a life in which you can brag and set the highest standard of love. Even if you are alone, you must be able to sing of the boundless love of God. If you become this kind of person, your heart will never feel confined.
When this happens, then all things can be in harmony because of us, so we can feel at peace no matter where we are. This cannot be blocked by any force. God set this one standard as the purpose of creation and chose men as His representatives who would fulfill the purpose. He sanctioned men to have dominion over all things, but humankind today cannot command dignity before all things. Rather, today we stand in a position of unspeakable grief before all things.
Therefore, just like the words written in the eighth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, what all things wish for is the appearance of the sons of God. The reason is that all things should have become connected to God through the mediator, men, who represent the love of God, but due to the corruption and the fall of men, the essence of their ideal has been demolished. Consequently, even today, 2,000 years after the coming of Jesus, the creation longs for the fulfillment of that one purpose through us.
When we think about this, we can understand that while we are not aware of it, we have incurred a debt to the creation. We owe a debt for the hope it holds in us. We ourselves must obliterate the debt. While we must become qualified to attain oneness with the creation, we must also become the children of God whom all things can love and to whom all things can give. Furthermore, we must become the children of God and receive the love of God. (Sermons Vol. 1 -- 79-80, 1956.6.10)
God created all things according to His absolute needs. He created humans as lords of the creation. (13-212)
Whom do human beings resemble? God. Therefore, it follows that He also desires love just as they do. In the world of the ideal of creation based on love, human beings embody God as His image and the rest of creation embodies God symbolically, according to the Unification Church's teaching. Based on what? Love. When God rejoices, people will automatically rejoice, and when they rejoice, the creation will automatically rejoice as well. What would bring this about? Only love, nothing else can achieve this. (166-48, 1987.5.28)
Now we have to understand this. When we look at nature, which is endowed with the love of God, we have to feel in our mind that neither the wonderful things belonging to kings of this world and famous people, nor antique treasures, nor the splendid clothes worn by famous women can compare to nature. If we cannot do that, we are committing a crime in front of nature, even though we do not realize it. (9-175)
We are the lords of all things. We can have a relationship with the universe and can dream of the kingdom of peace. (39-334, 1971.1.16)
No matter how precious a work of art in a museum may be, can it have more value than a living work of art? I am asking who has loved this earth, the museum of all things and the work of God, more than God has. I am asking if anyone has loved it more than the museums in his own country. Can you compare a gold crown from the Shilla Dynasty in a museum with a dandelion lying on the road, which has been made directly by God? If there is a king, who understands God's heart and who takes care of the creation with such a heart that says to the creation "I fell sorry and shameful because I cannot love you from the position of an unfallen king whom God can love and had loved," the tufts of grass would want to follow that king and be with him eternally. This is how people should live. (175-186, 1988.4.16)
You should know how to love nature and love people. You should know that those who cannot love people or love nature cannot love God. Because all things of creation are symbols of God and because people are beings of His substance, those who know how to love all things of creation and people will come to love God. (70-181, 1974.2.9)
We human beings with a physical body, centering on what do we call ourselves lords? The title "lord of creation" is not centered on money, knowledge, or power but on God's highest love. (Spirit World 1 -- 22)
What is the purpose of the universe? What is its center? The answer to both questions is none other than human beings. This is why God, after creating human beings, commanded them to have dominion over the universe. If there were no people to appreciate the universe, then it could be likened to a museum without any visitors. The articles on display in a museum attain their true value and are cherished as historical relics only when there are people who appreciate, love and take delight in them. Their relationship with human beings gives value to their existence. If there were no one to appreciate them, then what meaning would their existence have? The same holds true for the universe, whose lords are human beings.
The diverse things in creation enter into mutual relationships with a common purpose when human beings discover the source and nature of matter, and when they identify and classify plants and animals of the water, land and air, and all the stars in the sky. Their common purpose is realized when they are assimilated into the human body as elements essential for people to maintain their physiological functions, and when they participate in the construction of a comfortable living environment for people. In these and other ways, human beings stand as the center of the created universe in terms of its external form.
In addition, people relate to the universe from their position as the internal center. While the relationships discussed above are physical relationships, here we consider mental or spiritual relationships. The human body, though consisting of matter, fully responds physiologically to the emotion, intellect and will of the human mind. This demonstrates that matter has within itself elements which resonate with emotion, intellect and will -- elements which constitute the internal nature of matter. This is the reason all things in the universe respond to human emotion, intellect and will, albeit to different degrees. We become intoxicated with the beauty of the natural world and experience the rapture of mystical union. We experience this because we are the center of the internal natures of all things in the natural world. Human beings are thus created as the center of the universe, and the place where God and human beings become completely one is the center of the cosmos.
Let us discuss from another viewpoint how human beings are the center of the cosmos, which is composed of both the spirit world and the physical world. Every human being embodies all the elements in the cosmos. Yet, as we discussed earlier, everything in the cosmos can be divided broadly into subject partners and object partners. Had Adam, the first human ancestor, reached perfection, he would have embodied all the subject elements in the things of creation. Had Eve attained perfection, she would have embodied all the object elements in the things of creation. God created Adam and Eve to have dominion over the natural world. Growing together toward perfection, Adam was to become the king of all the subject elements in creation and Eve was to become the queen of all the object elements. If they had then become one as husband and wife, they would have become the center that could rule the entire universe consisting of subject partners and object partners.
Human beings are created to be the center of harmony of the whole cosmos. If Adam and Eve had attained perfection and united as husband and wife, it would have meant the joining into oneness of the two centers of the dual characteristics of all beings. Had Adam and Eve moved together in harmony and attained oneness, the whole cosmos with its dual characteristics would have danced in harmony. The place where Adam and Eve become perfectly one in heart and body as husband and wife is also the place where God, the subject partner giving love, and human beings, the object partners returning beauty, become united. This is the center of goodness where the purpose of creation is fulfilled. Here God, our Parent, draws near and abides within His perfected children and rests peacefully for eternity. This center of goodness is the object partner to God's eternal love, where God can be stimulated with joy for eternity. This is the place where the Word of God is incarnated and brought to fulfillment. It is the center of truth and the center of the original mind which guides us to pursue the purpose of creation.
Consequently, the entire universe will perform a spherical movement with a unified purpose when it is founded on the four position foundation established by a perfected man and woman who join as husband and wife centered on God. Tragically, the universe lost its center when human beings fell. This is why St. Paul wrote that the creation has been groaning in travail while longing for the children of God. Creation awaits the people who have restored their original nature to appear and become its center. (Exposition -- 30-31)
In Revelation 21:1 we also read that at the close of the age a new heaven and a new earth will appear, signifying that the old heaven and earth which have been under Satanic dominion are to be restored as the new heaven and earth under the dominion of Christ, centered on God. Also, Romans 8:19-22 says that the whole creation groaning under Satanic dominion waits in travail for the revealing of the sons of God with the original nature of creation. They will be well qualified to dominate all creation, in order that it be made new (Rev. 21:5) by being restored to the original position of creation. (DP 1973 -- 111)
The meaning of God's third blessing is the perfection of a human being's dominion over the natural world. To fulfill this blessing, the four position foundation of dominion must be established centered on God. Human beings and the natural world, which are the substantial object partners of God at the level of image and symbol respectively, must share love and beauty to become completely one. (Exposition -- 35)
Once Adam and Eve had attained perfection, they were to fulfill God's third blessing by gaining dominion over the natural world. Dominion over the natural world has two aspects: internal and external. Both these aspects of dominion were lost to humankind at the Fall, but we witness their restoration in the present era.
Internal dominion denotes dominion of the heart. A person who reaches perfection and comes fully to resonate with God in heart will experience God's Heart as his own reality. Hence, he will be able to love the creation with the same love as that which emanates from God's Heart and appreciate its beauty with the same delight as God. This is the meaning of dominion of the heart. However, when human beings fell and could no longer experience God's Heart as a reality, they also could no longer relate to the creation with the same love as that which flows from God's Heart. In the modern world, there is evidence that people are regaining the worthiness to govern the creation through heart.
External dominion denotes proper mastery of the creation through science and technology. Had our first ancestors reached perfection and attained internal dominion over the creation, able to love it with the same heart as God, then their sensibility to the spiritual dimension of creation would have developed to the highest degree. This would have stimulated the rapid advancement of science, giving them external dominion over everything in the natural world. Humankind would have reached the stars long ago and harnessed the full potential of the universe. Economic progress would have accompanied the development of science and technology, creating a comfortable and pleasant living environment.
However, due to the Fall, people's spirituality declined, and they lost internal dominion over the natural world. Their spiritual sensibility became as dull as those of animals, and they descended to the level of primitive man. Consequently, they also lost external dominion over the natural world. Through God's providence of restoration, people's spirituality is being elevated and their internal dominion over the creation is being restored. As a result, their external dominion is also being renewed, leading to today's highly advanced science. Modern people have built an extremely comfortable and pleasant living environment through the economic progress that has accompanied scientific development. Fallen people have thus been restoring their dominion over the universe, advancing toward the re-establishment of God's third blessing. (Exposition -- 101-102)
What kind of person is a sage? The greatest sage is the one whose heart is such that he can take hold of a single blade of grass and say "God!" and perceive that its value is equal to his own value. The person who can sing about that value in such a way will be the greatest artist. If there is someone who discovers the exquisite beauty of the variety of God's heart and love by seeing the variety of all the things of creation, and if that person has the feeling that he can become friends with those things and rejoice together with them, and if that feeling moves every single cell in that person, that person will become someone who can represent the whole universe. That kind of person is the lord of all things. But can somebody who does not know about anything except eating become a lord of creation?
When God created the world there was joy there. After he had created everything and seen it, he said that it was good. There was joy. What is joy? It is what is felt when one's purpose is accomplished. Because God's conscious purpose is inherent in the things of creation, after God had created all things, He felt joy. In that case what kind of world is the world of restoration? In a word, it is the world in which people live who substantially possess the heartistic affinity that enables them to praise God as they behold every individual being in all creation. The value of character that Heaven sees is there. In the past, therefore, stories about persons such as Saint Francis giving sermons when they saw animals or birds are not lies. Such stories are like dreams. Nevertheless, they are not dreams but the truth. (9-168)
Now when you return to your hometown, look at the mountains and fields of your hometown again and think, "This is God's offering that He gave me." Looking at grandfather trees that are older than you, the stones in the river that are older than you, and the gardens, you should be able to say, "How are you?" That is love.
You have to know how to love nature in order to love people. This is restoration. Because Adam did not love all things, you must love all things. When you return to your hometown, you must love the nature of the area. You must love everything from the grasses in your village to the natural landscape around it. When you are finished with that, then love people. You can love people from the position of first loving all of the plants and animals. You are supposed to love people after restoring all things. (Tribal Messiah -- 125-126, 1988.4.6)
All plants, insects, and animals are in the object position. All are part of the museum for Adam and Eve to learn the ideal way of love. They are the natural museum of love. Who is it for? For Adam and Eve. Because of this, the person who cannot love nature cannot love people. (144-93)
There was no flower among those I saw that I didn't directly touch when I was young and going around the mountains. There was no flower I didn't know. There were many times when I stayed out in the creation after the sun had gone down. I would fall asleep and, at midnight, I would be found by my parents who would take me back to the house. I liked nature so much. (203-185, 1990.6.24)
At one point, I wondered about crows laying eggs. I couldn't sleep until I knew for sure. I would go in the evening, and then again in the early morning before the crow would leave its nest. After visiting this one crow everyday, I became familiar with it. At first, it would caw a lot at me, but after I had visited it everyday without doing it any harm, it just stayed calm. So I watched what it would catch and feed its babies, and everything it did. (51-83, 1971.11.1)
Each man is a microcosm of the universe. Your body is made of all the elements of the world. Nature supplied all the ingredients that make your body, which means that the universe made you by donating itself. If nature demanded that you refund everything that nature loaned you, would there be anything left of you? You can feel that the universe gave you birth and made you, so nature is your first parent. Do you feel good that you are a microcosm of the universe? All the universal formats or formulas can be found in you. You could accurately say that you are a small walking universe that can move, whereas the cosmic universe is stationary. Because you can move and act, you can govern the universe. The universe would want you to exercise dominion over it, so your first duty would be to love nature. Then, wherever you are, you can love the creation and appreciate it.
Since you feel such an urge to love the grass, trees, and flowers, the birds and running water, how can you not love your fellow man? When you lie on the beach, you can feel that you are lying in the bosom of your parent, or that when leaning against a tree you are leaning against your own brother. Would nature protest, or feel that you truly love and know it? All things exist for you, so you can appreciate them for that reason. As a man, you are the only begotten son of the universe, and as a woman you are the only begotten daughter of the universe. Then how much love would be possible between the two?
Have you ever had a conversation with the sun, saying that you love it and singing a song of love for it? Many of the people who think of themselves as poets don't even appreciate the depth of this truth, and their poetry is superficial and shallow. Am I telling the truth, or only seeming to? (God's Will -- 505, 1979.9.30)
From the early days, True Parents have taught us that "Unless a person love nature, which was created for mankind, he cannot say that he loves mankind. And unless he loves all people, who are created to be the true children of God, he cannot say that he loves God." It is natural that whoever loves God must love human beings, who were created to be God's children. Furthermore, how can a person say that he loves mankind and God unless he love nature which was created for mankind? (Public Venue, 1995.4.3)
When I was young I was deeply interested when I found a beautiful bird. I was interested in knowing what the bird ate and where it made its nest for hatching its baby birds, etc. So no matter how many days it took I never stopped until I found the answers. Also, I was interested in collecting herbs. I collected hundreds of different kinds of herbs. I wanted to know which were medicinal, which were poisonous, and how they were structured. I studied them very eagerly.
Every time I looked at nature I deeply thought about how God created all those things. Looking at the oak trees and their acorns and various leaves I used to think about how they were created. As I thought about these things it all seemed very mysterious. Can you create even one stone? I also tried to catch an uncountable number of snakes.
We have to take interest in all things. By knowing deeply about them we can take dominion over them for the first time. If we know the value of nature we can receive an indescribably great fortune. Through those experiences we come to understand that nature has been created centering upon "me." People don't know that because they don't know the art of looking at nature.
Nature is truly mysterious. As we come to know these things, we find even the sound of the wind to be wonderful music. We are greatly helped in our life of faith through those experiences.
It is nature that is closest to our physical body. Therefore we have to make the wishes of nature which is lamenting come true. Only those who can love the mountains can worship what is high. In that sense Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and all the prophets loved the mountains. When I visit famous places I always look at them from the point of view of how much value they can have centering upon heavenly fortune. Thus I try to connect those places with heavenly fortune. Therefore, in the beginning days of the Unification Church, I climbed a lot of mountains. By looking at the mountains and the land of one nation we can know the characteristics of that nation. The water in Korea is pure. Wherever we drink water in Korea it is pure.
So we have to restore nature first of all, and before we leave our country to visit foreign countries we have to love nature very deeply.
Those who know how to love their hometowns know how to love their physical bodies. Those who know how to love their physical bodies are those who love their own hearts and minds. Those who love their own hearts and minds are those who love God. Therefore those people will not perish. Even heaven cannot strike those people. We must love our hometown more than Niagara Falls. We must know that many people in the process of God's providence were comforted by nature. (14-101)
You should attempt to make contact with God in the sentimental environment of nature, and attend him as your Father. (50-315)
You have to go back to nature. The fall means that human beings could not become the lords of creation. Human beings are supposed to live in nature, and love the fishes, insects, animals etc. And human beings should love each other. You have to be able to live your life without shame before the plants, animals and fishes. To become a lord of Creation, you have to go back to God's original world. In nature people unconsciously can come close to have God's mind. Without training to live with nature, people cannot make an amiable character. Pantanal has a standard of "origin," "root," and "victory" of nature. Human beings are supposed to live with nature. When you eat something, you have to eat deliciously. When you work in nature, you have to do it with interest. God likes the kind of people who are similar to me. You have to love the sea. Snow, trees and flowers in Alaska...how holy are they! Let's live as princes who can be embodiments of God through having a deep relationship with nature. Raise your hand if you have decided to go to Pantanal in South America! You have to go there once every four years.
I want you to be deeply connected with nature, become a friend of God and an embodiment of God, and become a lord of Creation God made. Raise your hand if you have decided to live like this! (2001.10.3, Unofficial)
Human beings are the center of the universe and the creation because God made all creatures and the universe to fulfill the ideal of love. Human beings are called lord of all creation because they have the privilege of being able to receive God's love first in the central position, on behalf of the God of love. Do you follow? One cannot be the lord of creation without being an object in the realm of God's love. A human being without God's love is similar to an animal. The special value of a human being is having the privilege of love so that he or she may have dominion over the universe in the position of first object of God, on behalf of the entire created world. A human being is a lord of creation. Without love, everything will pass away. (132-245)
The old story about Saint Francis preaching to animals and birds is not a lie. It is a dream-like story, but is in fact true. (9-166, 1960.5.8)
The universe is a mysterious world. God did not create the universe as some-thing to fool around with or play with. With the most devoted effort He created it for the sake of His beloved people, and indeed how beautiful it is! So when we look at this universe, we should have an extremely grateful heart, saying that the Father has created it for us. If you walk around the gardens, behold the trees, plants, flowers, and birds, watch the streams flow, and feel the winds blow with this kind of heart, you cannot but be overwhelmed with wonder. (87-319, 1976.6.27)
In the world of the ideal of creation centered on God, that is, among all existence in the great universe, there is none that came into being from outside God's heart. A poet who can feel these kinds of things would be a great poet. If there were a poet who can feel and express a cosmic heart when seeing a leaf shake, he would become a poet for the universe. We have not seen all the phenomena of heaven and earth unfolding around us, but even without our knowing there are things that exist together with God's love. When you enter a spiritual state, you can see that even a small grain of sand contains the principles of the universe, and even one atom contains the bottomless and inexhaustible harmony of the universe. Therefore, we should clearly and fully under-stand the fact that all things in existence have appeared through the loving hands of God and exist in a necessary relationship of heart with God. (9-166, 1960.5.8)
People observe and learn from nature as they grow up. They come to understand, "This is what the insect world is like!" When you listen carefully on an autumn night when the moon is shining and stars are twinkling, the sounds of the insects are like an orchestra. Why do they make such a sound? They are singing of their ideal as they search for their partners. They are whispering love. Birds and all other animals also follow this common denominator of love when they make their sad and happy sounds. They are low on the scale and far away from the axis, and yet they are circling around the axis in parallel. It is the same for all existing beings. (137-59, 1985.12.18)
There are three kinds of birds' songs. First, there is a song expressing hunger; second, a song sung in expressing love for a mate; and third, a song sung in time of danger. These are all different. We ordinary people do not know this, but they know in their own world. When they call out of hunger, all of the other birds already know. But around what does their daily life revolve? Hunger is taken care of simply by eating, and they are not facing danger every day, either. Most of their singing goes back and forth in the give and take relationship with their partner. (137-211, 1986.1.3)
For humankind, and especially for the maturing Adam and Eve, the world of all things was a textbook of love and a museum that infinitely displays the essence of love. (135-10, 1985.8.20)
All birds and animals exist in pairs. They harmonize with each other in love. Flowers and butterflies relate as two opposite poles, yet harmonize with each other. This is the harmonious relationship of heaven and earth. The opposite poles of the universe create harmony through love. It's the same with migratory birds. Birds in the south fly to the north, and birds in the north fly to the south, loving each other back and forth across the regions. In so doing, they revolve eternally around love. People learn about love through the textbooks in the museum God created. When people and God love each other in joy, all the things in heaven and earth follow the rhythm and harmonize around them. If God likes this, and loves this, the angelic world will also like it. The entire created world will like it too, applauding and offering praise. Songbirds will sing praises, and beautiful flowers will offer praises through their fragrances. This created world exists in order to expand the fragrant atmosphere in which the central personages of the highest love can enjoy themselves. Even the ugly-looking toads croak "wook, wook, wook," when they make love. How charming! They kick with their legs and move them up and down while making love. What a delightful scene! This is the highest art. (142-273, 1986.3.13)
When you open your eyes in the morning and look at nature, it stimulates your original nature and causes feelings of a new ideal to sprout forth. As for the human world, on the other hand, you must know well that the more you see it, the more despair and sorrow it arouses in your heart. If the world were populated by original people who had not fallen, the value of human beings would not be such as to stir sorrow in the heart of the beholder (9-97, 1960.4.24)
You should have such a mind that, when observing nature imbued with God's love, you say, "Could the precious items possessed by the kings of this world, or by people of great fame, compare with this? Could any antique artifact compare with this? Could a glamorous dress worn by a famous lady compare with this?" Without that heart, we are committing a sin before the natural world even without knowing it. If there is someone who looks at a living being, saying, "What items produced by human hands could compare with this? No matter how great someone may be, could he ever be greater than God?" and values most highly all things created through God investing His heart, he must surely be a child of God. Such a person does not need to pray; he lives with God and is a person driven by God. (9-174, 1960.5.8)
People will enjoy and take delight in anything that belongs to someone they love. Nevertheless, they do not know how to take delight in all things created by God, whom they should love the most. Can such people become God's sons and daughters? As you have the responsibility to release the sorrow of the creation that is sighing and lamenting, even with one tree or stem of grass you should deeply experience the heart and care God invested into their creation six thousand biblical years ago. You should have such a heart that you are able to shed tears even at the sight of one stem of grass growing along the road. You should be able to weep while holding onto one tree, crying, "How lonely you must be to have lost your master!" I myself have shed many tears. I have wept profusely while clutching a rock; I have wept to see the wind blow. Now, because you have heard my words, you will understand. (9-175, 1960.5.8)
We should feel that all creatures of God are objects of our love. We should be the people who can love even all the minute forms of life and be the people who can receive love from them. The same is true for our fellow human beings, as well as everything visible and invisible in heaven. When a bird calls "chirp, chirp, chirp" in the morning, instead of grumbling, "You pesky sparrow, why are you chirping when I am trying to sleep late?!" say, "Oh, thank you. You came to wake me up. Ha ha! You are telling me that an important guest is coming to see me." The outlook is different. That is a great thing. (112-219, 1981.4.12)
Dragonflies swim in the water during their larval stage at first, then come up to the earth and creep about for a while. Then, by flying around, they prey on bugs that they never would have imagined eating when they were creeping on the surface. They flutter about freely in this universe, thinking that it is their stage.
Human beings go through three ages. The animal world also has the water age, land age, and air age. Everything must go through these three ages.
For human beings to stand as the lords of creation and be qualified to rule over all things, they must be a complete life form, more complete than any other creature, in the water age and live therein. Next, they must exist in the land age and be the highest being among all creatures there. Then there has to be the air age. But human beings have no wings. How can they fly without wings? They should be able to fly higher and farther than any bird or insect. Then what do they have to do? This cannot happen when they are in a physical body. They cannot get far no matter how high they jump. However, because human beings are to be the lords of creation who have dominion and because they stand in the reciprocal position to God, a spiritual being, their stage of operation should be the same as God's. Human beings can travel faster than light that travels 300 thousand kilometers in a second. This is none other than spirit. (112-201, 1981.4.12)
In God's garden of goodness in which He stood in glory, Adam, in the capacity of the lord of creation, could stand before Him amidst creation which was harmonized as one centering on His love saying, "My Father! Please be glorified!" yet due to his fall lost that value. You should understand that God wants to hear the sound of His original son and daughter, who emerged after the Creation, calling Him Father. (3-26, 1957.9.15)
When the era of the Pacific civilization draws near, everybody must become one. Then we can explore outer space. Unless people become one, they would even fight over the ownership of the sun, with everyone claiming that right. They would ask who the master of the starry realm is and they would all claim to be the one. They are bound to fight among each other. Our sun is about 1.3 million times larger than the earth. How could human beings, who don't even amount to a tiny speck, claim to own this vast entity? The universe would roar with laughter. (207-46, 1990.10.28)
Heaven is not somewhere you go through being taught. It is the automatic destination of conscientious people. When the sun rises, the buds of all the trees turn to face it. If even the grass and trees can turn to face the sun, then how much more so can people as the Lords of creation not know the way to go? (75-41, 1975.1.1)
Generally, there are two types of people. The first type consists of so-called intellectuals, who search for truth. They only accept things that stand to reason and reject anything contrary to it. The other type consists of people who grasp things by feeling rather than reason. In the Unification Church they are called the intellectual and the spiritual people respectively. Whereas intellectual people look for external understanding first and then try to apply it to the internal world, spiritual people look for internal feelings first and then try to apply them to the external world. We may call the former the incoming type, and the latter the outgoing type. These are the two types of people.
Since that is the case, intellectuals generally do not like prayer. When they think about it, it looks like superstition, it cannot be trusted, and it makes them feel that their own existence is going to be denied. Those are the intellectuals -- they seek to find truth by forming theories. Spiritual people, on the other hand, are born being fond of calling on the name, God. They just like God for no particular reason and do not require any explanation. They do not mind skipping meals as long as they can call God, Father. Such people exist.
Generally speaking, in spiritual movements, which type of people do you think are successful in creating a revolutionary movement? Intellectuals cannot do it. Those who have accomplished great things in the realm of faith were not intellectuals but were mostly simple and uneducated -- they were spiritual people.
They live true to their feelings and do not care about the world. They do exactly what God tells them. There will arise occasions in which what they are doing turns out to be exactly the right thing to do in that situation. As a result, they turn out to become great figures in history. Saint Paul was originally an intellectual, but since he was struck by spiritual lightning from heaven on the road to Damascus, he changed his mind and went on by faith instead of his head. He felt that by searching internally one found an explosive path rather than by searching externally, which led him to deny everything that was external and to start respecting things that were internal. Through this, he became a standard-bearer of the new Christian revolution.
Such being the case, those emphasizing reason cannot play a role as great leaders of the religious world of the spirit. There are two types of people. You should know which group you belong to. Spiritual people in general are usually not great at reasoning, though they are great spiritually. They may start out strongly, but they become weak later on. Then, since they are not consistent from beginning to end, they do not last forever -- they surely drop out at a certain point. On the other hand, those who are good at reasoning and truth but poor spiritually can also never last long. Therefore you have to make an effort to coordinate these two aspects in your daily life.
It is said that you must worship in prayer and in truth -- in spirit and in truth. This means that you have to create a balance and enter a state of harmony. People should mediate between the spiritual and physical worlds. You should stand in the center of the spiritual world and be the people who can mediate standing at the center of the world of truth. Otherwise you cannot attain the perfected position. (76-125, 1975.2.2)
1 Dyer, Wayne. Change Your Thoughts -- Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao. (Hayhouse, www.Hayhouse.com, 2008) p.67