The Words of the Beutl Family
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The Words of the Beutl Family |
My dear brothers and sisters,
In his report about True Parents’ visit to Europe President Yong Cheol Song wrote in respect to the biography about the life of Sun Myung Moon:
“Father would like each family in the world to have this book and to read it. Until 2012 this Providence should be carried out. People have to get the book and read it all over the world. “
Having become familiar already with this precious publication I can understand why our True Parents want that all mankind has a chance to read this book with some 360 pages of meaningful sharing from the heart of the one who came to reveal the deepest secrets of Heaven. Father speaks about some of his experiences during his ever so rich life filled with deep emotions, sufferings and joys, which can touch the open heart profoundly.
When I started to read this autobiography of True Father I felt from the beginning a very special spirit behind this precious book in which Father shares about his life in a very personal way. He is not just speaking about experiences but most of all about attitudes in life -- offering the lessons he learned in life as a truly wise grandfather who lived his life totally dedicated to Gods will after going through the internal changes which brought him to have such a heart and mindset that is completely centered on living in communion and oneness of heart with God, our Divine Father / Mother.
I feel it is so precious to read this book because it contains many timeless truths which are not presented as a teaching or sermon but through a mature True Parent speaking about what he understands to be important in order to be able to find lasting happiness in life. Personally I perceive this biography most of all as a textbook to teach peace loving people about what kind of attitude is needed to get there where we all want to be as children of God -- to live in happiness while experiencing a living relationship with our Creator.
What moved me also is the natural authority that can be felt when listening to True Father speaking about his life based having learned many lessons the hard way with the readiness to pay the price which was required in order to get there where he stands today as victor of True Love united with True Mother.
After having become familiar with the 7 chapters of this book one naturally wants to read more, to listen longer to the True Parent of Mankind sharing from his heart. This is certainly true in my case. I first got to know the Divine Principle through reading the “black book” in the course of a few days as I have been fascinated by the answers I could receive through what I learned during that time of studying this precious truth, mostly in the night hours because I had been busy with other tasks during the day. At that time I felt a unique spirit behind what I was reading and such a similar experience I had now when taking the content of Father’s biography to my heart in the course of three days studying attentively in order not to miss anything of what is expressed in the publication which all people are to read one day.
On August 1, 2009 True Father said in Seville that he had read this book already many times and he encouraged the audience: “Please open the eyes of your heart.” Such an attitude is needed in every respect, especially when becoming familiar with the biography of Sun Myung Moon in order to benefit from it the most from the standpoint of heart.
In the foreword Father mentions that he was unjustly imprisoned six times in his life and that at times he was beaten so hard that flesh was torn from his body, adding: “Today, though, not even the slightest wound remains in my heart. Wounds easily disappear in the presence of true love.” I was moved when reading these words as I am convinced that it is ever so important we all get to this point that we do not harbor any negative emotions inside of us based on bad experiences we may have had with people but succeed in digesting any pain on the basis of manifesting true love as the center of our being.
Through the first chapter entitled Food Is Love the reader of this book learns about experiences of True Father in his childhood with a core emphasis on the relationship with nature. Under the theme “Loving nature to learn from it” Father tells us: “Gradually, I learned how to be friends with everything in nature in a way that we could share our hearts with each other.”
The sub-chapter with the title “Talking about the Universe with the Insects” starts with the statement: “Spending time in the forest cleans the mind.” Father tells us in the lines that follow: “If you empty your mind and receive nature into you with your whole body, there is no separation between you and nature... Nature comes into you and you become completely one with nature. In the moment that the boundary between you and nature disappears, you feel a profound sense of joy. The nature becomes you and you become nature. I have always treasured such experiences in my life. Even now, I close my eyes and I enter a state where I am one with nature.”
Having grown up in an area of Europe where the largest connected forest area is situated and living there again now with my family, spending many hours in the forest -- collecting wood, mushrooms, berries or just enjoying a peaceful walk -- I am well familiar with the purifying effect of being in nature, especially in forests where each tree symbolically points to heaven. In this respect I am indeed blessed to have the chance to experience pure nature so close to my family’s home.
Father concludes: “We need to have a heart that knows how to love nature and love people. Anyone who cannot love nature or love people is not capable of loving God. Everything in creation embodies God at the level of symbol and human beings are substantial being created in the image of God. Only a person who can love nature can love God.”
In chapter two which carries the title “River of Heart Flows with Tears” Father shares about his desire to wipe away the tears of the people, to take away the sorrow that was in their hearts and to bring happiness to them. He tells us that he began spending more and more time in prayer to the point that, eventually, he began praying through the night more and more often. “Finally one day, I had a rare and precious experience in which God answered my prayer. That day will always remain as the most precious memory of my life. A day that I can never forget, even in my drams. It was the night before Easter in the year I turned sixteen, after I had spent the entire night in prayer, Jesus appeared before me…”
As members of the Unification Movement we have all heard about this life changing encounter, but we are maybe not fully aware that Father saw the sorrowful face of Jesus on that day while learning from him about the fact that God is in great sorrow because of the pain of humankind.
What struck me in a special way while reading about this most treasured experience in the life of True Father was the sub-title “The More It Hurts, The More You Should Love”. This statement moved me because I know it is very true while at the same time I am aware of the heartistic suffering connected with having such an attitude which we all need to strive to attain.
At the point where the reader of this biography becomes familiar with the extraordinary poem Father wrote at the age of sixteen one can also read his encouragement: “Now we must cry for the world. From now, rather than shedding tears for ourselves we must shed tears more sincerely and more desperately for the world.”
Another theme Father talks about in this part is called, “From Suffering and Tears to Peace and Love”, a course which each one of us needs to walk while going beyond painful crying to tears of joy which naturally well up in us when we come closer to the realm of true love and peace.
In chapter three topics are covered like “We are trained by our wounds” or “A sincere heart is most important”. While the second theme may be understood easily it may be hard for some of us to recognize that our wounds are a training ground for the growth of our hearts. Still we must have a deeper look at this reality with the readiness to deal with the painful experiences of our lives, making the best out of them for the sake of expanding and purifying our hearts.
When speaking about befriending laborers and sharing their suffering True Father tells us that only when he shared the grief of hunger with beggars he earned his doctorate in the philosophy of suffering, understanding more deeply Gods will as He works to bring salvation to humanity. Such a statement challenges me to reflect about my attitude towards going through pain on the level of heart, which is not easy to deal with for any person.
The last part of the fifth chapter entitled “True Families Create True People” Father emphasizes the importance of taking time to cultivate ones own heart. He tells us: “For a person to polish his heart to where it becomes as clear as crystal, he absolutely must spend time in direct conversation with his heart in an environment where he is away from the world and alone with his heart. It will be a time of intense loneliness but the moment that we become close to our heart is the time of prayer and meditation. It is a time when we can take ownership over our hearts. When we isolate ourselves from the noise around us and allow our thoughts to settle we can see into the deepest parts of our hearts.”
Because we all want to have a crystal clear conscience and heart it is important that we also challenge ourselves to go to deeper realms of heart as our Father is encouraging us to do in these lines. There are indeed many lessons of heart to be learned for which the biography of Father is a timeless precious resource book. I will not go into more detail about its content in this short reflection but I just wanted to mention that in the sixth chapter entitled “Love will bring Unification” Father brings to the readers’ attention that “It is the kingdom of love that will heal the human heart”.
The final themes of this book address especially young people with titles like: “Set your purpose and change your lives” -- “Embrace the world” -- “Everything we have is borrowed from Heaven” -- “Find Happiness in a life lived for others” and “Dreaming of a world without conflict”
There is of course so much that can be said about the biography of True Father and hopefully we will share a lot about its content as the official English translation becomes available for all members. With these lines I just wanted to share some of my impressions upon having been blessed to become acquainted with this book when I stopped in a church center on my way to a peace conference in Assisi, Italy, about which I will tell you more in my next letter.
May we all be able to make the core content of Father’s biography our own and become ourselves truly loving global citizens with a deeply peaceful heart.
Yours sincerely,
Nikolaus