What Is the Meaning of Reaching Perfection?

Nikolaus Beutl
October 19, 2009

My dear brothers and sisters,

When we studied the Divine Principle, one of the first things most of us learned was that we are to achieve the Three Great Blessings, starting with the first of becoming perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. From this perspective it is an essential question for us to be clear about how to reach the state of individual perfection. What is your answer to the basic question: What does it mean to achieve the level of having perfected one’s personality?

In response to my reflection about standing under the direct dominion of God, one brother shared his thoughts: “We do need to have concrete, direct, personal, visible examples of ‘Living under the direct dominion of God.’ We can see True Parents, we know about Jesus and Heung Jin Nim, and we can be directly with Hyung Jin Nim and In Jin Nim. But we also need to see that this is possible for ourselves. So we need to see examples of people from among us, members, who have successfully attained perfection, the direct dominion of God. Let's look for potential examples or models…”

This brother mentioned then several names. Instead of repeating them, I would like to suggest to you that you put your own name to fill in the blank referring to people who are models of having achieved perfection. How would you feel about having achieved this precious goal yourselves?

This brother continued: “So there are actual people around us, among us, as mature Unification Church members, good leaders, good witnessers, leaders, citizens, men and women of peace, loving people, who may be candidates as ‘perfect people’, and who, each in their own way, manifest some aspect of God's direct dominion.

I suggest that ‘God's Direct Dominion’ is not necessarily such a unitary and all-encompassing quality as we may naturally assume. In other words, we may observe God's direct dominion in different aspects in different people, and especially in the ‘professional’ sphere.

Let us use an example: Is an airline pilot perfect? Yes. He does his job perfectly, by getting you to your destination on time. And he is competent to meet any and all challenges along the way. This is God's direct dominion, substantially manifest in the realm of air transport. Am I right?

… churches and teachings already have a concept and teaching of 'Perfection’, which is quite advanced, deep, rich, multifaceted, effective, and helpful. Of course, we see that no one, no church, organization nor nation, nor even the United Nations, nor even our Unification Movement, is yet perfectly capable of handling, digesting, leading, guiding, transforming and reforming this fallen world as it now is. There is no one who has yet succeeded in this in substance…

The fact that Satan has not yet been obliged to award True Parents openly, publicly and unconditionally shows that we still have something to fulfill, to accomplish. For sure, once we, in substantial number, reach the Heavenly, universal and Eternal standard of Perfection as God originally and absolutely intends it, then we shall certainly observe that Satan and his world will fully and unconditionally and joyfully acquiesce to that standard, to that heart, and to those leaders and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Thus, it remains to us, personally and individually, as well as families and as a Church and Movement -- to fully manifest the fruits and the substance of ‘Perfection’ and ‘God's Direct Dominion’ in all its forms and manifestations.

Thank you for these inspiring contributions and inspirations you have conveyed to us Brother Nikolaus.”

What do you think about these thoughts in regards to perfection and the direct dominion of God? We agree that God made His creation perfect in terms of the quality that He created. From this viewpoint it is clear that we as His masterpiece, about whom He said that it is very good, are to be the ones who act according to our Creator’s desire to have a perfect object -- for His Love.

As members of the Unification Movement we have hundreds of speeches available in which we can read about the value of practicing True Love in our relationships. And we know that our True Parents have asked us countless times to read God’s Words every day -- to study it together with others during our daily Hoon Dok Hae. Why together? Because we are not only supposed to read it, but to speak about it with others, to learn together with our family members and friends, to share our insights with them.

This is also what I am doing in my letters where I reflect about various topics. That these are not just words is affirmed by the responses I get from those who read them with an open heart and mind like one brother who, after reading my recent mail with the reference “Was an old person, now a new person” started his lines with: “Thank you, Brother Nikolaus, I cried reading your letter…”

It is indeed important that we move each others hearts -- and this is only possible if we have an open mind for one another. This applies in all relationships. First of all in our connection with our Heavenly Father: We can only be moved to live according to His desire if we are completely open to Him, allowing Him to touch our innermost souls.

And this applies certainly to our relationships with one another: If there our hearts and minds are sincerely open for one another, then love can flow and we will be move to tears many times. On this basis we will have the strength to walk the difficult path of shedding sweat, tears and blood from our hearts for the sake of restoration as our True Parents do day by day, without being able to enjoy the Sabbath to which they are entitled according to God’s providence at this time.

Our True Father and True Mother have perfected their ability to live in resonance with the heart of God and this level is open for each one of us in this new era where this precious realm of high noon may be entered by each human being. In order to reach this standard our total investment is required and nothing less. We will not get there where we should be if we doubt or hesitate but only when we respond wholeheartedly to what we are asked in the Bible: “To love God with all of our heart and soul and strength…”

“…and our neighbor as ourselves” Do we love ourselves? How deeply are we able to love our own self? Because our conscience and original mind know our inner reality without fail we are not able to love ourselves truly unless we are pure inside. Only when we enter the realm of having purified ourselves completely -- for which the recent amnesty in connection with the Cosmic level Blessing was a precious opportunity -- can we freely love ourselves and others.

This means, when we have problems to love our neighbor then we have to look at our own souls and not the splinter in the eye of the one whom we cannot love because of the beam in our own hearts which hinders us to see God in the face of our brother or sister, spouse, parent or child, friend or enemy. This problem is addressed in Matthew 7:5 where Jesus asks the people to stop being hypocrites.

Our True Parents have taught us in great detail about what kind of attitude is necessary in order to become one with our Heavenly Father. An extraordinary speech which I would like to recommend to you to read in this respect is the one entitled: “Perfection is from True Love” in which he said on February 6, 1994:

“We lost the blessing and in this time we receive the blessing. In order to resemble God we have to adopt the attitude that every single person in this world is like God and we have to treat them as if they are God. We need to embrace them and keep them in our hearts, no matter how bad they may be, and totally unite with them and then you become God.

Within True Love there is the completion of children, of brothers and sisters, completion of husband and wife, completion of parents. The extension of these four different levels is that you are able to see all different levels of society expanding to the world and eventually the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. Once we complete the four great realms of heart and expand it to the family level and combine together as a whole then that becomes the entire world and whichever family goes into there you will, without any hesitation whatsoever, mingle with them and become one just like your own family. That is the Kingdom of Heaven.

If we consider the value of one individual then if there are eight individuals then a whole they are eight times greater than you as an individual so you must be able to sacrifice for the greater whole. By the same token if by sacrificing yourself you are able to save your entire family there is a greater purpose involved there. If your family sacrifices for the entire tribe which consists of hundreds of different families then that is a worthwhile thing to do because though that you are able to save the entire tribe.”

Don’t we all want to save not only our own tribe but the whole deeply suffering world? In order to achieve this enormous task, we have to set our priorities right: At the beginning has to stand our determination to live in unity with the desire of our Eternal Parent and our readiness to invest everything necessary to reach this union of hearts with our Creator.

In other words, our hearts must head in the right direction in order for us to get there where we belong -- into a world of truly loving relationships. At this time we have not only our True Parents but also exemplary children like Hyung Jin Nim and In Jin Nim who invest everything in order to raise our hearts up with ever so precious internal guidance and encouragement, as it is expressed e.g. in what In Jin Nim told us in one of her sermons:

“You are hand-picked and hand-prepared. We have to ask ourselves, for what? Hand-picked and hand-prepared to complain? To be nonchalant about what we have here? No. We were hand-picked and hand-prepared to be excited, to be invigorated, to be inspired about walking together with our True Parents, about inviting the Heavenly Parent into everything that we do, and about raising up a new generation of peace, men and women of character and conviction who are going to usher in a beautiful new age of world peace.”

It is up to each person to attain the internal level of dedication which is possible for every one of us as chosen people, chosen to serve and to love, to live for others with a truly caring heart that cannot stop loving because we experience that we are being loved deeply.

In the above quoted speech Father encourages us: “Once you master True Love the relationships between these four different levels, and it becomes your habit then wherever you may go in the world then every person you meet will consider you like a family member. There is always peace and harmony there for you to enjoy. The practice of True Love should be your habit. You should enjoy practicing True Love, that is the level you have to reach.”

May we all become one with such an attitude of absolute obedience to God’s Will for us which is centered on perfectly uniting our heart and mind so that His word becomes flesh in our bodies as we manifest His unconditional loving Heart for each one of His children.

Sincerely yours,
Nikolaus