The science based on the new paradigm will be what I call New Age science. Contemporary science deals only with the material universe. Science in the future, however, must be ch'on ju science (science that embraces both the science of matter as well as the science of the spiritual world). This is what I mean by New Age science.

Such a paradigm shift will not be the first to take place in the world of science. A similar paradigm shift took place when the scientific focus shifted from the geocentric theory (which believed that the heavens moved) to the heliocentric or Copernican theory (where the earth is considered to move). Another paradigm shift occurred with the move from Newtonian mechanics to quantum mechanics. So there have already been at least two dramatic and epoch-making paradigm shifts in the history of science.

This next shift, however, will lead to an integrated science that combines material science with science of the spiritual world, and will have far greater impact than either of those past paradigm shifts. The repercussions of this coming shift will be incredible.

The two previous paradigm shifts I mentioned were simply theoretical changes within the material system. In that sense, they had little or no impact on the way people lived their lives. None of the fundamentals changed.

In contrast, the changes brought about by the coming shift will be colossal, because the changes will, in nature, transcend the world of matter and embrace recognition of the world of essence.

Clearly the shifts will bring huge changes not only in the way we live their lives but also in the way people think. In addition to the patterns of our daily life, the structure of our awareness will he transformed. For that reason, we can expect the new paradigm shift to bring a revolution to our social, our economic, even our political, systems.

Here I would like to testify to one example of Reverend Moon's keen insight and vision in the field of science. In 1971, when Reverend Moon moved to the United States, the first academic conference he founded was ICUS, the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences.

When the first ICUS conference was convened in New York in 1972, no more than fifteen scientists agreed with its aims and objectives. Reverend Moon's concept was simply too unexpected, too fantastic.

He quickly established "Science and Absolute Values" as the central theme of these conferences. At the words "absolute values," many of the participating scientists and academics simply shook their heads in condescending exasperation. "Where in science do you ever find absolute values?" "Do you think he's crazy?" That was the kind of response Reverend Moon got. However, he would not budge. Year after year, "Absolute Values" was the uncompromising theme of each ICUS conference.

In this way, Reverend Moon was able to make the scientists think about absolute values and the Creator, the core of absolute values. His insistence on the theme of absolute values implied that all the myriad forms of nature -- the objects of scientific research -- found their origin in the Creator, and also that those forms move and exist within the framework of the Creator's purpose. Indirectly, he was teaching the scientists. He also taught the ICUS scientists that behind the created universe there exists an unchanging and eternal principle and a purpose of creation. It was this that he actually meant by the expression absolute values.

In addition to establishing this unorthodox approach, Reverend Moon also went against the mainstream trend in twentieth-century science, namely the trend to subdivide areas of study and specialize. In creating ICUS, he created a conference that actively stimulated scientists to think about the entire creation of God from a composite perspective, in other words, to think about unified science.

Historically speaking, the natural sciences have often been at loggerheads with the social sciences. With ICUS, Reverend Moon brought together scientists and scholars from these two branches of science and had them discuss the purpose of science and the contributions that science makes to humanity. It was this kind of vision that eventually led many scientists to admire Reverend Moon for his foresight and lofty vision.

As ICUS continued, Reverend Moon added parapsychologists, philosophers, and religious scholars to the list of participants. This move was a direct expression of his goal of bringing unity between the sciences of the physical, visible world and the sciences of the spiritual, invisible world. Finally, he made a public call for "unity and accord between science and religion." It was a truly epoch-making concept and signified a dramatic step forward on the path of science.

What this really shows, however, is that, in a very real sense, Reverend Moon is one of the main advocates and proponents of New Age science, a fact that not many people know but which should be given greater recognition.

So what is this "unified science" that Reverend Moon is advocating? To start with the conclusion, he urges the natural sciences to find common ground with religion to generate a science that can research the world created by God in its entirety. Thus, unified science is also the science of the New Age, or New Science.

The new form of science is one that researches both the visible and invisible substantial worlds in a unified manner, one that researches universal truth and universal laws, one that extends to research and development of the multidimensional world where God resides. If and when this happens, it will logically mean that the scope of religion and the scope of science would become one and the same. In the end, science and religion would unite as a matter of course. Human society would become a place where the principles taught by religion are reinforced by scientific research. Both science and religion would be directed toward a unified goal of accomplishing the ideal of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Reverend Moon has been the first and foremost advocate of a movement for the unity of religion and science. More than anyone, he has boldly advocated, actively promoted, and concretely pursued a transition to the science of the New Age. He has striven long and hard to bring about the study of God's created universe in all its various aspects (embracing the material and spiritual worlds). In this sense, he has also striven to rescue twentieth-century science.

Of course, the scientists of the twentieth century were never going to accept such a revolutionary concept easily. Nevertheless, at enormous cost, Reverend Moon continued to convene the ICUS conferences every year. With each passing meeting, scientists who had their doubts and misunderstood the vision of Reverend Moon began to open their eyes and see what he was driving at. Slowly but steadily, more and more prominent scientists began to testify to just how far ahead of his time this "pet theory" of Reverend Moon's was.

The ICUS conferences enjoyed greater success every year. Today, ICUS stands as the largest gathering of scientists and philosophers in the world and boasts the participation of numerous world-famous scientists. Nobel laureate scientists hold the posts of chairman and subcommittee directors. The Founder's Address that Reverend Moon delivers at the start of each conference is a highly anticipated event. In reality, this Founder's Address has been a kind of teaching, where Reverend Moon has pronounced the direction in which scientists need to work in the new, unfolding era.

In carrying out His program to restore the environment of heaven and realize an ideal society, God has (1) prepared a source of unlimited clean energy, (2) given us the potential to feed all humanity bountifully, (3) opened the path to health and medicine that will allow all humans to live out the full length of their lives, and (4) pointed us toward the new science that will rectify the flaws in twentieth-century science, by means of a paradigm shift heralding the new age.

If all the reforms within God's program are implemented, the twenty-first century will be an incredible era of great hope. Nevertheless, all these epoch-making changes belong to the external portion of God's "re-creation" program. These alone will not create the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. God's internal re-creation program also needs to he completed. I am referring to the re-creation of fallen human beings. Because the root of evil in this world lies with human beings, there can be no ideal society and, of course, no Kingdom of Heaven, unless humankind undergoes reformation. The external environment will not suffice.

The Fall occurred when human beings sinned in the Garden of Eden and abandoned God. Thus, the Kingdom of Heaven cannot come before human beings wash away their sins, become true human beings, and return to God's bosom.

In the end, then, humans play the decisive role in creating the ideal society and the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Last Days, the greatest change to take place must be a human revolution. People need to go from being fallen to having original nature. We need to rise above this fallen world and become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

This revolution is the key to everything. It is vital at the time of the Last Days. But it can only come about by a revolution in consciousness, and that will only he accomplished by the power of truth. Our great good fortune is that Heaven has already sent this truth to the world. The words are those of the returning Messiah, the Lord of the Second Advent and True Parent of humankind. Those words of truth are found in the teaching of Reverend Moon, known as the Unification Principle (also Godism or headwing thought).

That truth liberates human beings from darkness and reveals a world not seen before. Its effect is like the rising of the sun, and in that light, the path that humankind must walk becomes clear.

God sends one person, the Messiah, to accomplish the great task of this human revolution. By the Messiah's return to the earth, hope comes into the world and humankind can avoid death and judgment. This is the meaning of the history of humankind's re-creation; God originally created humans through the Word. In the same way, He also re-creates humans through His words, given through the returning Messiah.

To re-emphasize, those words are here on earth already, and the work of human re-creation is already under way.

Let's discuss this revolution of consciousness that will complete God's work of re-creation. The greatest problem today is that we still live in darkness. We still do not grasp the nature of the universe or the cosmos that God created. We even deny the existence of the Creator. We have fallen into secular (and atheistic) humanistic patterns that prevent us from seeing noble ideals. Like frogs living inside a well, we live by the laws of selfishness, grasping our material values. If things continue on like this, no one will be able to avoid the Last Judgment spoken of in the Bible or the great cataclysm that the prophets warn us about.

In the Old Testament, Abraham, aware of the judgment about to fall on Sodom and Gomorrah, got on his knees before God and pleaded for forgiveness: "Then Abraham drew near, and said, `Wilt thou indeed destroy the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou then destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from thee to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from thee! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Gen. 18:23 - 25)

Again he implored God. "He said, `Behold, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." Abraham then pleaded before God a final time. "Then he said, `Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there."

In the end, Abraham could not find even ten righteous ones there, and so Sodom and Gomorrah suffered a judgment of fire and brimstone. The only ones who survived were Lot, Lot's wife, and their two daughters. While escaping, however, Lot's wife disobeyed God's command and looked back, at which moment she was transformed into a pillar of salt.

Today, judgment is imminent. If, to save the world, we had to find righteous people, how many would actually be found? Our hope, then, is the returning Messiah. Through his message, humans can undergo a revolution in consciousness to find true universal consciousness and a clear understanding of God's Will. Finally, we will come into contact with God's heart of true love. When this happens, there will he a speedy increase in the number of righteous people in the world. One by one, a new humankind capable of passing through judgment will be reborn.

What do I mean when I say "a human revolution"? It involves recognizing and accomplishing the following four items:

An absolute awareness that God exists.

An absolute awareness that the spiritual world exists (an accurate understanding of the dual nature of the world God created).

An absolute awareness that human beings live for eternity.

An absolute understanding that the path of true love is the right way to live on earth.

Until the present, the main problem has been that humanity has not been able to recognize clearly the existence of God. All problems and confusion begin from denying the existence of God. Humankind lost God as a result of the Fall.

Throughout history many religions have believed in God. However, awareness that takes the form of belief in God is simply not enough to restore heaven. God has to be grasped as a reality that cannot be denied. In other words, if God is simply an object of belief, that is insufficient; belief can always change to disbelief. By contrast, reality cannot be denied. For example, I cannot deny that I am sitting here breathing as I write this book. It is simply reality.

Originally, the Creator was not an object of belief or faith. God was a "real" God, living together with humankind. To understand this, we need look no further than the Bible: God spoke to Adam in the garden, "Adam, where are you?" He was not the object of prayers, for the relationship between humans and God was a real and tangible one, one in which they could speak together freely. When I say "an absolute awareness" of God, I mean awareness of God as a substantial living God, one who is present within the sphere of our ordinary, everyday lives, not merely a conceptual God.

Indeed, if the first human ancestors had not fallen and humankind had achieved perfection (completion), religion would have been quite unnecessary. Would there be any need to "believe" in a God who was right there with you? If your father is part of your daily life, you can simply face him directly and discuss things with him. This is the meaning of complete restoration (in other words, salvation): The relationship between God and man is returned to the original condition. This is also the reason it says in the Bible that humans were created as the "temple of God" (the dwelling where God resides). (1 Con. 3:16)

When the True Parent accomplishes the complete salvation of humankind, the purpose of the world's four great religions (and the purpose of all religions, for that matter) will have been achieved. In other words, the work that religion is supposed to do in human history will be completed when the world is restored to the original state of creation. When the transformation into the Kingdom of Heaven is complete, religion will no longer be necessary, just as when a patient is completely cured and restored to good health, he no longer has any need of a hospital.

This complete restoration is the fundamental essence of the revolution of consciousness. Without that revolution, there can he no true state of peace between humankind and the Creator. In a sense, that is what the Kingdom of Heaven is: a state of true peace and harmony between humankind and God.

Value systems are in confusion in today's world because humankind still has not recognized the absolute reality of God's existence. The one who comes to make the reality of God's existence clear and unequivocal is the Messiah.

Love is the essence of God, and the true relationship between God and human beings is a parent-child relationship. God, who is eternal, unchanging, unique and omnipotent, is the parent of humankind, and human beings are God's children. God is the core, the subject, and humanity is His partner, His object. What kind of partner? A partner of love.

For God's love to become joy, He needs an object, a partner, who can give and receive love. God created human beings as such objects/partners and made us capable of both giving and receiving love. That is the reason why we resemble God; we are His substantial partners in love. We were created to be able to experience immeasurable, infinite joy together with God by achieving the ideal of oneness with God in love. That has been our nature from the very outset. In other words, we were created as God's children.

Nevertheless, due to the Fall, human beings left God, and God became a God of sorrow, bereft of His partner of love. But God, omnipotent and omniscient as He is, could never be a God of failure. He began the history of salvation to seek for His lost partner of love, to restore us back to the position of true men and women: humans of the original character of creation. This has been God's providence (and Will) since the Fall of the human ancestors.

God is an absolute being; He is the standard of absolute value. Thus, the absolute value is God's absolute love. The first step in the revolution of consciousness is for humankind to accurately and clearly recognize the Creator, God.

To repeat, the first aspect of the revolution of human consciousness will be achieved by our accurate understanding of the Creator, God. It means accepting God not as an object of our faith, but as a reality, as an object of unequivocal knowledge. Faith can be denied, but fact never can; solid truth leaves no room for denial.

The second part of the revolution in consciousness will establish an absolute awareness that the spiritual world exists.

I don't mean "the spiritual world might exist." We are talking about a clear and accurate understanding of the cosmos.

A big problem with the established view of life is the mistaken understanding that once you die in the physical world, everything is finished. But this material world is just a small part of God's creation, and a very coarse, rough, and unrefined part at that. The life we live on earth is just a tiny part of our entire existence. We were designed to live on two levels or aspects of life, and our true environment is in fact composed of two distinct worlds.

God created the cosmos with a dual structure composed of the material world and the spiritual world. He also created human beings, as the residents of the cosmos, with a dual structure composed of the physical body and the spirit body. That is why I refer to this dual-structure world as the cosmos. The word "universe" refers only to the material world.

So apart from creating the earthly, material world, God also created a spiritual world. In the Unification Principle, these two worlds are called the visible substantial world and the invisible substantial world. We say invisible, but this second world is clearly visible once the spiritual eyes are open and can be tangibly experienced via one's five spiritual senses. Human beings were created to live in both worlds; after having lived a limited time (a hundred years or so) in the physical world, they are meant to live for eternity in the spiritual world. So the spiritual world is the primary, or subject (core), world, while the physical world is the secondary, or object (supporting), world.

We could even say that God created two heavens. One is on earth and the other is in heaven.

People live in darkness today because they are ignorant of this eternal, dual-structure cosmos, and many recognize only the physical world. Moreover, due to ignorance of the eternal nature of human life (which I will discuss in the following section), blind or misguided selfishness continues to increase.

This doesn't mean human beings might live for eternity. Again, we are talking about a clear and accurate understanding about the nature of the life we live on earth. I have explained that two basic views of life exist. One considers the hundred years or so spent on earth to he all there is to life, and the other sees human beings as living for eternity, beyond their lifetime on earth. The results of choosing one of these or the other are as different as chalk and cheese.

Those who hold the view that earthly life is everything tend to think only of the body. Because such a person lives only to experience a comfortable life and flesh-based happiness, his life naturally tends to be centered on material things. He easily slips into blind, misguided selfishness and often feels little need to take responsibility for his actions.

The view that focuses on eternal life, however, considers how to best invest the years on earth to develop the self that will live forever. A person who adopts this view of life understands that every action and deed influences the shape of that eternal life, so he lives to be a better person, to do more good and contribute more to the public purpose, thus coming to live the principles of true selfishness.

What is life? Life in human terms consists of both the earthly life and spiritual life. While earthly life is limited, spiritual life is eternal. Moreover, the purpose of earthly life is to make the spiritual life pleasant, fulfilling, and comfortable.

God created human beings with a dual structure composed of the flesh-based body and the spirit self. While a person lives on earth, his spirit self dwells within him and grows through the deeds of his body. When the right time comes, the spirit self casts off the physical body, enters the spiritual world, and lives there eternally. The status and position of that spirit body within the spiritual world is determined according to the extent to which the person practiced goodness and true love while on earth. In other words, whether a person ends up in heaven or hell is the result of that person's life on earth.

When a person lives in ignorance of God and practices evil, immoral, or unrighteous deeds, he goes to a certain part of the spiritual world called hell. Conversely, when a person lives life on earth loving God, attending God as his parent, and living for the sake of his community with an unselfish heart, he goes to a realm in the spiritual world called heaven. When we say `live on earth loving God and attending God," that is the same as saying "live on earth loving and attending the Messiah, the True Parent, the one who comes as the substantial form of God, who is invisible.

Let's make an analogy with a fruit tree: the fleshy body is the tree, while the spirit self is the fruit. The fruit, of course, is the part that is harvested. Once the fruit is harvested, the mission of the tree is complete.

What this refers to is an awakening to how a human being should live to prepare for eternity so he can live a good life in the eternal world. This means knowing and then practicing what I have to do on earth so that my spirit self can enter the highest level in the spiritual world. The nourishment that my spirit self needs for growth are not found in food or special tonics but can only be gained by practicing true love in daily life.

This means

(1) believing in and loving God,
(2) believing in and loving the returned Messiah, and
(3) practicing true love toward fellow humans.

Up until now, one conventional view of the world after death has been that when a person dies and begins the path to the next world, he first goes before the devil, the ruler of hell. This judge puts the person though a stringent interrogation, pointing out all the good and evil deeds the person did during his life on earth. Finally, he delivers a judgment and declares, "You go to heaven," or "You go to hell."

Such a view is little more than a fairy tale. Whether one goes to heaven or hell is decided during one's time on earth. It is not the devil who determines this but rather the life one lives while on earth. My judgment is not in God's hands or the Savior's hands, but in my own hands. In the end, I am the judge.

The factor that determines a person's spiritual status is deeds of true love. When a person attends the Savior here on earth and does acts of true love, his spirit self grows and becomes capable of entering the highest level of the spiritual world, the realm we call heaven. In contrast, when a person betrays God and the savior and fails to experience true love, his spirit self does not grow and becomes like a blade of dry grass. That person's spirit self goes to the spiritual world equivalent of a garbage can.

It is important to recognize, however, that there are both true and false types of love. The first ancestors of humankind fell into corruption by false love, and that lineage was passed on to all their descendants. Now is the time, however, when their descendants on earth can practice true love and become people of heaven. True love is love that seeks to give and give without thought for one's own benefit. False love is love that centers only on oneself and loves only oneself. It is love that seeks one's own benefit to the point of using others for that goal. The nature of one's love is the dividing point between selfishness and altruism.

This is the reason that Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) This is the pinnacle of true love. From the smallest acts of true love to the extreme case of laying down one's life for one's community and neighbors, all are acts of goodness. A life should be lived for the sake of others, namely, in the spirit of altruism. This is the only path that can truly benefit myself and by which I can live well both on earth and in the eternal spiritual world.

Only the acts of goodness and true love I do on earth can provide the nourishment that my spirit self needs to grow. Neither money, reputation, nor scholarly learning has any benefit for that process. A spirit self that has completed its growth on earth emanates bright light like the sun. This is the original form and appearance of human beings who have perfected love, and here we find one of the characteristics of a citizen of heaven: he is a source of spiritual light.

It is not easy to explain the ideas convincingly in only a rough outline of the four aspects of this consciousness revolution. It would certainly be advantageous for the reader to take a look at the Unification Principle itself. Doesn't it say in the Bible, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free"? (John 8:32)

A revolution in consciousness means that we are able to see a new world, one we could not see before. It also means a restructuring of our lives from a completely new angle or perspective. If we describe what takes place in religious terms, we say that we are reborn. When we experience a great spiritual reawakening, so that we abandon the life we lived in the past and begin a totally new life. This is what I mean by the human revolution.

I want to clearly testify to this fact: The truth that can ignite this revolution of consciousness has appeared on the earth in the words of the returning Messiah, the True Parent. That message is the Divine Principle (Unification Principle). It contains the words of Heaven, received in revelation from God by Reverend Moon for the salvation of all people living in this era.

Some may ask, "Isn't it enough to simply study the Bible diligently?" Others might say, "I have nothing to worry about. I'm already a good Christian and go to church diligently."

But the truth is, two thousand years ago, the chosen people of Israel could only find true life by following Jesus' teaching. Yet they did not do this because they limited themselves to the law of the Old Testament. Jesus said, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matt. 5:17) Jesus was the completion of the Old Testament, the completion of the Law. But the chosen people of Israel were unduly tied to the letter of the Law, and by the Law they judged Jesus, who was in fact the perfection or completion of the Law. In the end, because they had chained themselves to the Law, they declared Jesus as the prince of blasphemers and sent him to the cross. They came to stand in the position of traitors when seen from the viewpoint of the providence of God.

In the same way, the returning Messiah is the completion of the New Testament, and the age we live in now is not the New Testament age, but the Completed Testament age. Accordingly, one has to receive and accept the words of the Completed Testament to receive salvation, because judgment in this age is measured according to the words of the Completed Testament. If one is unduly tied to the words of the New Testament, one could easily come to stand in opposition to the providence of the Messiah's return. This is something we all need to be aware of.

The Unification Principle is the Completed Testament, the completion of the New Testament message. The man who brought these words, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, is the fulfillment of the return of Jesus. As the Lord of Judgment, he stands in the position of True Parent to humankind.

Someone might say that the Unification Principle is simply the doctrine of the Unification Church (formally, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity). This understanding, however, is quite mistaken. We should realize that the returning Messiah does not come for the sake of one particular denomination or group. Thus, the Unification Principle is a message with the goal of accomplishing the purpose of all the world's religions. Its message lies at the root of all religions. In this sense, the Unification Principle is the completion of all the world's sacred religious texts. For that reason, we call it the Principle.

In short, the Unification Principle is a message of truth that can ignite a revolution of consciousness. It is God's truth, His instrument for realizing the salvation of all humanity. Even though God may have wanted to bring about a revolution in humanity's consciousness previously, he had no instrument on earth to do it.

One of the most important purposes of the human revolution is liberation from egotistical selfishness so we can become people of true love. Egotistical selfishness is Satan's weapon and, at the same time, the root cause of the Fall. Therefore, it is also the very attitude responsible for making human society a hell on earth. A society rampant with such selfishness is indeed hell, while a society filled with true love is heaven. True love can defeat ego-based selfishness.

Concretely speaking, how will selfishness be defeated and overthrown? Previously I said that selfishness is a product of ignorance. Logically, if we can overcome ignorance, selfishness will disappear of its own accord. In other words, if human beings escape from darkness, the practice of altruism would become easy. We need only escape from our lives as frogs in the well to see the vast and glorious earth around us.

This ignorance and spiritual darkness can be dispelled by the revolution in consciousness described above. Thus, the building of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth by the Lord of the Second Advent will be accomplished by his igniting a human revolution within the soul of each person. This will bring about the demise of egotistical selfishness and re-create humanity, so that we become people of true love who live for the sake of others.

The first thing Reverend Moon ever taught me was to live for the sake of others. Even now, more than four decades later, this great principle of life has not changed one iota. It means living for the sake of one's community, one's nation, humanity, and the world. This path is the essence of heaven, and living only for one's own benefit is the essence of hell. In one sense, the truth is simple, and yet, practicing it is not easy. Without a revolution in consciousness, the power to live for others is simply not forthcoming.

Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), a Swedish aristocrat and noted scientist, described the appearance of the spiritual world as follows:

"During my experiences in the spiritual world, I saw that hell was completely full of people who lived only for themselves while on earth, while heaven was the place where those who had lived sacrificially and served others while on earth had gone. Hell, moreover, is a place where torment that would he difficult to endure for one moment on earth continues forever. Even though the spirits of people in hell would much rather be destroyed or annihilated than live on in hell, in the end, the spiritual world is a place where one cannot he destroyed."
(Translated summary.)

Whether one lives in heaven or hell, human beings live eternally. Life in hell is so painful that it is worse than death itself, and yet, one cannot die in the spiritual world. One continues to exist forever, and this makes the problem all the more serious.