We have a physical body that relates to this tangible world; we also have a mind that cannot be seen but can be expressed. The behavior of our mind can be recognized in our physical appearance and countenance. Our five physical senses allow us to see, smell, touch, taste, and hear. We can taste delicious food that comes from the earth or the animal kingdom. Through our ears we can hear such a variety of sounds -- from the roaring of a lion to the roaring of the wind. The aromas of bread baking in the oven or the sweetness of newly mowed grass can also delight us. And the touch we administer to velvet or silk may send certain vibrations to our heart.

There is much beauty to behold in the panoramas of the landscapes, and in the person living next to us. Our five physical senses acknowledge the presence of God in all the magnificent things He has created for us. They are the vehicles through which we are able to communicate with all things.

We also have five spiritual senses which are similar and correspond to the five physical senses. With them we are able to sense another person's emotions; we can feel by intuition whether someone is sad or happy even if he may not be able to express it openly through his facial expressions. These five senses exist to permit us to communicate in the world of spirit even as we live on earth.

We are the caretakers and custodians of our bodies. Since we have committed our lives to working for God, we are responsible to take care of them; they actually belong to Him, not us.

If Adam and Eve had fulfilled their purpose, the next generation would have become "gods" in the sense that they would have been true sons and daughters of God. If that had happened, we would not only be created in the image of God, we would physically and spiritually be His children.

Even after physical death, the composite of our life experiences -- our cognition -- will remain with us. God created our unique personality to live in the spirit world eternally whereas our physical body -- designed to be only a vehicle to relate to the physical universe, and at the same time a good companion will be put into the ground. Slowly but surely it will disintegrate. But it has a very high purpose, and therefore its value should be honored. The natural process is that we will someday enter the spirit world with the accumulation of what we acquired both physically and spiritually during our earthly life.

During this lifetime our fleshly body acts in conjunction with our spiritual body. One spark of the spirit of God has been transmitted from Him and incarnated into each human being. Each of us is a unique and individual spirit, but since He endowed a part of Himself into billions of people, God can be considered part of all humanity. When perfected, each of the billions of entities will represent one cell in the gigantic body of God.

So far our reality has basically revolved around our physical existence. But from the Principle, we know that spiritual existence is also reality. In fact, our spirit should govern our physical body and at the same time, be directed by God and True Parents. Yet we do not often consider things in this way. We center around our physical being and permit our intellectual capacity to steer us through each day. of course it is important to use the intellect, but it should never completely dominate the spirit mind. Instead, we should be guided by our spirit. It is there that God dwells within each of us.

The spirit occupies the plus position, the body, the minus position. When they unite, the result is a complete human being. A person tends to be more horizontal if he ignores his spiritual growth and concentrates only on satisfying the desires of his physical body. But if the spirit is able to govern the body, the person will grow spiritually. God finds it difficult to work through an individual who manifests no spirituality.

We have lived on this earth for a number of years and become quite familiar with our surroundings. We know the machines that move along the roads. we call the small ones cars or bicycles, and the larger ones we refer to as buses, trains, or trucks. But if we look into spirit world, we may be confronted with things we have never before encountered. We must know what we are up against. Our first impression may be frightening, but as we become familiar with that environment and can identify what happens, any problem with it will vanish.

Make sure that when your body is at rest, your spirit stays in the highest possible level in the spirit world. So much can be accomplished when you do. The power of your physical body will decrease. Your spirit will be liberated and can experience and explore so many vistas. Center your last feeling and thought before sleeping upon God and True Parents. When you do, you almost guarantee that your spirit will remain with them through the night. And when you awake from your sleep, let your first thought be of them.

As your spirit cooperates with your physical body, you become healthier. If someone becomes physically sick, his spirit suffers. Therefore, it is important to keep your body fit and strong.

After you are dead and buried, your physical body will decompose and its elements will return to the earth. It faithfully houses your spirit during your entire physical life. Therefore, it should be afforded respect and honor now. Investigate what your body does for you. For one thing, it enables you to relate totally to the universe. Without a physical body what would you be able to understand about physical existence? As your physical senses are activated, your spiritual self digests your experiences and returns the beautiful spiritual elements back to your physical self. There is a camaraderie, a friendship or oneness between your spirit and body. They are able to have a relationship like that of bridegroom and bride, almost like the relationship you can develop with God.

Sickness is usually the result of an improper give and take process within the physical self or between the spiritual and physical selves. Once you reconnect the two points and unblock the flow of life, you will regain your health. The human body is so delicate, but our spirit is much more fragile. Yet it functions in the same manner as our physical self does. This give and take process is absolutely necessary for life. How could I motion with my right and left hands if I couldn't control them from colliding? They must communicate about which one will do what. This reciprocal action also takes place throughout the universe. It happens through the give and take of love.

The physical self is definitely tangible. We either have pain or feel no pain; we are either tired or awake, hungry or full. We can feel sensations or aches throughout our body. These are things we are forced to cope with daily. What about our spirit body? If we were aware that just as much as our physical body needs to be cared for, our spiritual body is in need of many of the same essentialities, we would be much more attentive in caring for our spirit.

If we do not feed ourselves, we will eventually die. If you are not active, you can develop a disease and die. Our spirit body also needs food and air; it needs to be exercised to keep it fit. We need to be intellectually active to keep our mind sharp and alert. And the spiritual activity vital to peak performance is praising God. By doing so, we are flooded with waves of beautiful feelings and love, and we are also replenished with energy from Him.

The first step to spiritual health is to recognize that we need God. We need to be alive spiritually just as we need vegetation, animals, and minerals in order to continue our physical life. Because we do not see our spirit, we often tend to ignore it and therefore neglect to attend to it properly.

Most people don't recognize that they have a spirit because they shelved even the concept long ago. They grumble that they are depressed and cannot trust anyone. They cry because they are lonely. These feelings stem from the constant exertion of the intellect or are the result of spiritual influence. Because people tend to blame these hurts on the physical self, those wounds never fully heal. If they understood this is a spiritual phenomenon, they would deal with it in a proper way.

We cannot measure emotions and feelings by the standard of the physical world. What is faith? Just because we cannot see love and hatred doesn't mean those emotions don't exist. We cannot put our finger on the forces of energy or gravity, but nevertheless they are real.

Where does a television picture come from? Switching from one station to another, we can see that a lot of people live in that box. They fight each other. They love each other. And isn't it amazing how they fit tanks, cars, and airplanes into that little container? Of course most people have seen hundreds of programs and know that there are no "little people" who live within a television set. But someone watching television for the first time might run away for fear he would be shot if a gun was pointed at the front of the screen. We acknowledge that what we see is a picture, not the real thing. But most of us don't analyze the components or speculate on how a television works; we just enjoy being entertained or informed.

Someone had to invent the television; he must have explored many avenues and angles before he came up with the right combination of transistors and tubes to make it work. Years later, another person developed the color television; that too must have taken research and hard work.

Human beings are generally interested in developing a great deal of technology to make life more pleasurable and exciting. Even at this point, we should research how to develop the technology of our hearts and the love that flows from them in order to discover which components will make our life in spirit world stimulating and pleasant. We will be amazed at what we uncover!

Spiritual beings are in the position of servant to us. The Principle explains the importance of having a physical body in order to grow. What we may do in a normal day here on earth may take many years to accomplish in the spirit world. While we are here on earth, we can use our physical bodies to reach perfection. Since spirits no longer have physical bodies, they very much envy our position. As a result, they have no choice but to absolutely depend upon us to reach perfection.

If you travel to India where the major religion is Hinduism, you will see and experience the result of a strong belief in reincarnation. The spiritual atmosphere is so heavy, the spirits live only a few feet above the ground. When they lived in the physical world, they clung to the belief that they would reincarnate into another life form -- either another human being, animal, or even an inanimate object. Those spirits stay close to the earth plane waiting to enter it again as something or someone else.

But this creates such a depressing environment. People seem to give up living even before they physically die. They feel that since it is only a matter of time before their karma dictates that they will come back again, what's the use of putting so much effort in the life they have to live now? Those people think it is the will of God that they are as they are. If they are beggars in this life, they live with fervent hope that in the next life they will be royalty. Therefore, they do not help each other. They basically believe the Christian idea of helping their fellow man goes against the will of God.

Many yogis sit along the roads. They merely exist, their skin draped upon their bones. They call themselves holy men, but they actually do very little. They sit there, waiting to reincarnate. But because they grossly misunderstand the Principle of Resurrection, they just waste away.

Spirits are eager to help you so that they too will advance. Because their world is not bound by time or space, their perspective is much greater than yours. You are usually bound by your physical body -- sleepiness, hunger, and so forth -- yet spiritual beings don't have to cope with that. They see clearly what goes on. They view you as a luminous being. Yet spiritual growth is stagnated when you don't see any illumination in either yourself or your brothers and sisters.

You will always draw the same spirits if you don't work on changing yourself. It is inevitable that you will go down again unless you chase evil spirits away for good. If you have a problem with instability you should find out what prompts it and then chase the spirits away. You must realize that there are low and evil spirits. And they succeed in depressing you because you unite with them. You can boldly confront them. Tell them that you can see what tricks they are up to, and that you just won't stand for it any longer.

You will go into the spirit world with the same attitude you have on earth. If a person was depressed enough to commit suicide, he will also be despondent in spirit world.

Never underestimate the influence of the spirit world. Father says that forty percent of the results of our activities come from the help of spirit world.

Build up your spiritual capacity. You will find yourself in trouble if you reach the point where your spirit becomes weaker than your physical self; that represents the reverse process of re-creation. If that happens, you are no longer told what to do by God, you are directed by Satan.

Father has often talked about the importance of training and disciplining ourselves in this life. If we miss no opportunity to teach and test ourselves, we cannot help but grow spiritually. If we are willing to go beyond conveying the word and heart of God no matter how we feel, and also desire to stand in His stead, we will become experts in mastering life. In order to build up enough strength to accomplish this, we must never shy away from anything and feel we are inadequate. God does not look at us in that way. He views us as His children and like any parent, He wants to see us grow and mature.

I have observed that as Unificationists become older in the Principle, many of them have a tendency to become super cautious. This is a misunderstanding of spiritual growth. Actually the older you are spiritually, the more open and dynamic you have to become. Rather than blocking your heart, become more child-like in your humility before God.

You have already received so many revelations from God. They should help you to become more industrious, more outgoing, and more involved, not withdrawn. You constrict your spiritual growth by the complications you place in your mind when you believe that you cannot approach people or ever overcome your fallen nature. If you remain stagnant, you will decline. Look around nature; you will notice that most plants and trees firmly plant their roots in the ground before they grow upward.

In my understanding, a person becomes spiritually active if the spirit of God moves within him. It does not matter if he is intelligent or uneducated, wise or impractical. Such a person would be focused on growing spiritually and would question God how to do it, begging Him for answers. This kind of person would always ask God how he could do His will.

Some people may have joined the movement years ago but after all this time, never been infused with the heat and dynamism of the Holy Spirit. Analyze yourself and your experience. If you see someone has grown spiritually, ask him how he broke through. Then taking that person as an example, adopt some of his methods. Consciously try to overcome your obstacles.

It is essential to train yourself spiritually. You have to exercise and train yourself in prayer. If you exercise your physical muscles enough, eventually you will be able to control every muscle in your body. The more you practice, the easier it will become. If you would attempt to lift one hundred pounds the first day, you may nearly break your neck. But after you do it twenty times or more, it will be much easier.

I remember the story of a farmer's boy who lifted up a calf all the time and grew so accustomed to it, he forgot it had become a cow. His muscles grew along with the calf. The same kind of exercise is needed for spiritual growth.

Make sure that others can recognize your spiritual beauty. Some people in this world may be physically beautiful, but upon closer examination, you will notice they are spiritually deformed. Their spirits must be incredibly twisted and gnarled; they regressed rather than progressed. Such retrogression does not happen overnight but is the accumulation of daily contributions formed by negative emotions such as disbelief, rebellion, anger, or resentment.

It is what you do daily that determines your beauty. Reflect on the way you were when you first became a member of the Unification movement. How much have you changed over the years? Your whole life must have changed. Your entire disposition should be different now. You have lived through numerous circumstances, and in varied environments, undergone a multitude of experiences. Yet after ten more years you will be different from the way you are today.

Untie any knots in your spirit and allow it to breathe freely and become spiritually beautiful. Even one year of positive thinking, discovering internal peace and calm, and loving others will make a big difference in your spiritual countenance as well as your physical appearance. People might notice that you have changed and could even ask you where your fountain of youth is. You can smile knowing that you are simply manifesting the radiance of your spirit as it continues to grow tall and straight.

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