Cheon Seong Gyeong – Sun Myung Moon

Book Six - Our Life And The Spiritual Realm
Chapter Two - What Kind of Place Is the Spirit World?
Section 4. Our Ancestors and Ourselves

4.1. We are the fruit of our ancestors

All of you are the historic reincarnations of your ancestors, wearing their faces. How long is this history? It is known to be hundreds of thousands of years old. The long course of history was eventually to create one person, yourself. In order to create one such person, for example, from the Kim family, countless ancestors came and went. Therefore, we are the fruits of human history. (46-155, 1971.8.13)

When I see someone's face, I can usually tell if he has good or had ancestors. Some people have good ancestors and receive blessings, whereas others have bad ancestors and suffer all the time. Such people will suffer terribly when they go witnessing in their mission places. (37-144, 1970.12.23)

If you keep pace with the Unification Church by way of the principled standard, good spirits and ancestors in the spirit world who used to cooperate with the national fortune will work for you. Externally, you may appear unlucky with a flat face and small ears but spirit world sees you as a lucky child. Your ancestors within ten generations are especially anxious, because the history of restoration is realized based on ten generations. But when an evil descendant appears, ancestors within ten generations judge him saying, "Hey you! You're going to ruin us!" (11-20, 1964.4.19)

Just as spirits of good ancestors at the time of Jesus could rise from the level of form-spirit to life-spirit in the spirit world, your ancestors have entered the realm which gives them the special privilege to return to earth through you. When you understand this and become part of the victorious foundation, you stand in a position of having created life. For this reason, your ancestors will help you. In this way, you should be the base through which your ancestors of thousands of generations can return. (14-22, 1964.4.19)

When you go to the spirit world, you will meet countless saints and ancestors, and share with them. They will ask you, "Where did you come from? What part of the world? Which country? Where?" and reminisce as they talk with you. Don't friends also share past stories when they meet? When you go to the spirit world you will meet your great-great-grandfather and thousands and tens of thousands of your ancestors. Would you feel offended if they impolitely say to you, "You good-for-nothing! How was your life?" Think about that. (148.321, 1986.10.26)

Now, our ancestors must help us, in order to receive blessings. The more they oppose, the deeper they fall into a pit. Heavenly fortune is changing rapidly. In the future, they will clamor to have a picture of me hanging in each of their houses. They will admonish you from the spirit world. That is why those who raise the church flag, hang my picture and greet it everyday, would bring alive the work of resurrecting their ancestors. (208-154, 1990.11.17)

Until this time, those who communicated with low-level spirits told you not to go to the Unification Church. But now those such as Buddha, Jesus and Confucius must teach people to go to the Unification Church; otherwise, they will be judged by heavenly law. Why? It is because the religion I teach is the religion of the parents. (208-154, 1990.11.17)

You have to be able to say, "Through the True Parents we have become ancestors who can bequeath a new lineage, and become a blessed tribe that brings about liberation! Our tribe will be of God's eternal unchanging household and kin." Then, you will be eternally separated from Satan. That is why the Unification Church allows the honoring of ancestors.

Does Christianity allow you to perform ancestral rites? The Unification Church should carry on and establish this tradition. This is not a secular tradition. By attending the heavenly Parent, the heavenly kingdom and the heavenly ancestors, a royal domain will emerge, one where we can eternally attend the realm of tribal messiahship as part of the mainstream lineage and bequeath the way of attendance to succeeding generations. It will be a nation where we can attend the King, and sing praises for the eternal reign of peace and prosperity. You, your mother, father, family and tribe can go directly to heaven only after having lived in such a nation. (221-221, 1991.10.19)

If you pray and connect with the spirit world, you would know that the spirits are working very hard to bring their descendants closer to heaven. But here on earth, people sometimes speak badly of their ancestors and try to live well-off on their own. (223-38, 1969.5.11)

In order to be liberated from their current position, the spirit persons cannot avoid pain without going through people on earth. Since they cannot be freed from their sins, they always seek their earthly dwelling place. They seek out their kin or those related to them and continue to send signs to them. (293-249, 1998.6.1)

4.2. Ancestral salvation conies from those on earth

When you leave behind a love greater than that of your great-grandparents in the house where you and your ancestors were born and have lived, heaven will see the luster of love shining forth. Hundreds, thousands, and millions of volts of light will shine forth. This light goes up to your ancestors. It goes to the spirit world, the Kingdom of Heaven and God. This Kingdom is our original homeland. Isn't God our original Father? (213-190, 1991.1.20)

All your ancestors in the spirit world are watching the way you live. There is nowhere to hide. They are watching everything. When you go to the spirit world, you are able to see through walls and even the entire earth. We are to go and live in such a world eternally.

Since we were created as God's objects of love, God eternally needs a being that becomes an object partner to His eternal love. Just as God is eternal, we are eternal. Without being a partner of love, there is no eternal life. (213-196, 1991.1.20)

The spirit world is in your hands; your relatives are in your hands - not only your relatives, but even your country is in your hands; even the task of setting the right tradition for your descendants is in your hands. You should always keep this in mind. Whether you, as a single person, accomplish or not, will determine whether your ancestors and relatives will be liberated, and whether your descendants can be the chosen people of liberation. (66-76, 1973.3.17)

You should always he thinking that you are representing three ages. For this reason, you have to realize that the spirit world is in your hands and that your ancestors are at your mercy. If we gather the past, present and future together, and put physical and spiritual realms together, and lead them, they will come running to you. We should accomplish that mission. (66-76, 1971.3.17)

The world is now changing rapidly. Many evil people are dying in accidents. Suddenly they are dead. Now there is no indemnity. An age has come where decisions and punishments are instantly rendered. You have to straighten out your act. Who is doing this? The devil is not bringing our indemnity. Your own ancestors are dealing with it. The standard of the Blessing I have now given you is equal for you all. If you fall away from this standard... When you go to the spirit world the standard should not be lost. Since you have to stand in a certain spiritual position, you should be taken to the spirit world in order to prevent your losing that standard. Such an age will come. Your ancestors will give you both the illness and the medicine. They will say, "Attend True Parents' picture!" (301-164, 1999.4.23)

You should receive your ancestors' cooperation with a fervent heart greater than heaven and earth. Everything goes in this way. Three generations are included. Your ancestors are the first generation, you are the second generation and your children are the third generation. You have to bind them together with a fervent heart so that your descendants, the third generation, on earth, who are born anew, can even reach to your parents and ancestors in heaven. Isn't that so? (302-39, 1999.5.18)

Your ancestors in the spirit world would look down and want to come with the desire to assist their descendants of whom they are proud. That is why many of your ancestors come down to you. This is the realm of religion based on the tribes that transcends denominations. Do you understand? Your ancestors want to follow you while placing their trust and love in you. That is why they want to devote themselves in assisting you. (189-278, 1989.5.1)

In order for my mother to come down to the earth and give assistance, she could come only after attaining the proper position as my mother. That is why she has come now. Resurrection can occur because of you. Even your ancestors are given salvation through you. For that reason, they wish to actively support you. Therefore, in your local area, work hard without rest. (179-25, 1986.6.15)

One iron rule that you must know is that you have to do more than any loyal servant, patriot, filial child or church minister has done, who lived in your area. If you make greater efforts than they did, they will all support you. That is the condition. If you do that, you will be standing in the place which is above the realm that Satan can accuse. Therefore, Satan will not oppose you and, with the support of the spirit world, your ancestors will appear to your family and relatives and spiritually push them to join the Unification Church. What happens is that your grandfather comes to assist you and goes witnessing for you. (179-17, 1986.6.15)

When you are sitting on the toilet, the spirit world tells you, "Hey, you should do these things today!" and teaches you the entire program. Such wonderful things are really occurring. Therefore, when you are on the streets, there are many cases where connected people are spiritually contacted in advance, and end up meeting you. That is why you should enlist support from the spirit world. You must have the support of the spirit world.

Now, your ancestors will cooperate with you. In the world of the unfallen realm, the perfection of Adam was to be achieved by having the angels protect him, raise him, and bring him to the occasion of the Blessing. By having the spirit world fulfill its original mission, the archangelic realm of the spirit world will be restored, and through this the earthly realm will be restored.

The archangel caused the Fall, didn't he? Therefore, your ancestors will come and act as the good archangel. Through this, you stand in the original position of the unfallen Adam and can come within the realm of God's heart. Since you can follow that path within the enclosure of cooperation from your ancestors, this does not belong to the fallen realm. It is standing in the victorious realm of the original heart, and marching towards the realm of deliverance. This way you can directly go to heaven. This all conforms to the principles of restoration through indemnity. There is nothing vague about this. (178-133, 1988.6.1)

The spirit world will support you. They will gather your relatives and all who are near to you and bring them before you. In this way, the spirits in the spirit world centering on God will come down and surround you who are in the position of Adam. Because your good ancestors will be surrounding you, they will create a realm where evil and Satan cannot invade. So, based on that standard, you will inherit the position of the original true ancestor through bonds of heart. Since this has become like a newly-planted foundation, centering on that standard of heart, all the grandfathers and grandmothers among your relatives will bow their heads to you. (177-75, 1988.5.15)

Now, your ancestors will support you. In the past, evil ancestors used their descendants, but now is the time when good ancestors come down and act. Therefore, you have to bear the cross. There has to be someone who is willing to bear the cross and pay indemnity for the tribe, people, nation and world. The hope of the nation and race should be incorporated within the providential age of the worldwide ideal, but up until this time the ancestral spirits could not stand in a high position of influence and were held captive in the lower realms.

If you bear the cross and fight for the benefit of the world level, everything can be quickly resurrected because of you. Then, from those living on earth, a foundation can be laid to save all the ancestors equally across the generations. That is the only way your tribe can he liberated. Do you understand what I am saying? (172-253, 1958.1.23)

From the earthly perspective, all your ancestors will come and build a bridge. Since your ancestors are in the archangelic position, they cooperate with re-creation and are raised up according to their bond with True Parents' love. Since even the gates of hell are opened to a path that rises to the heavenly world, you should receive education and...

Your parents and ancestors are the archangels, aren't they? But they are no longer the angels who bring ruin to the heavenly side. They take on the mission of the angel who brings ruin to the fallen world. This is the archangel on the heavenly side, who, according to the laws of restoration through indemnity, stands in the opposite position to the past. Consequently they will cooperate with their descendants and Adam-like figures. Such phenomena will occur when the spirits in the spirit world cooperate and can be resurrected along with people on earth. (164-276, 1987.5.17)

Good spirits and all your ancestors will come down and assist you. There will be no more occasions when you have to feel nervous about people who oppose the Unification Church. Now, even if the entire world created a disturbance your minds will be tranquil. Your mind will not tremble. That time has already come. The evil spiritual atmosphere cannot touch us.

When you look carefully at the descendants of good ancestors, their heart is such that they like having you come to their house; and when you do, they want to give you something precious. Though you may not be aware of it, when your ancestors cooperate and make you take action through your feeling to help a needy person, they benefit from that. You also can develop through that. In accordance with the principle of cooperation between the angelic world and the realm of Adam, then, in this age of re-creation, your ancestors from the angelic realm will support you who are the descendants of Adam. By cooperating with the process of re-creation, then, in a certain way, they can grow up in the presence of God's will. (164-308, 1987.5.17)

Even though your grandmother and grandfather passed away, they can come alive because of you. Your mother and father can come alive through you. Because of true love, and based on true love, when you say, "Be alive!" then your grandmother will appear saying, "Yes?", and you can meet your grandparents and parents who have passed away. You should know that such a path is found in true love. Your grandmother and grandfather and all your ancestors are in the spirit world. But when you say, "I have this difficult problem. Help me," they will solve it for you immediately. You are entering such an age. They will instruct you. God is our ancestor and we are His grandchildren. Hence, when you say, "Please let this be so, as I am asking." He will say "Yes." He will not say "No." Everything will come out alright with God. (162-143, 1987.4.5)

The spirits in the spirit world mobilize in many ways in order to receive the help of people on earth and comedown to their descendants. However, since their descendants do not know how to solve the situation, their family circumstances start to go awry, the path becomes difficult, and other problems are repeated. The spirits who are elevated through the help of people on earth move to a better position than their current one. In this way, their life becomes comfortable and the lives of their descendants on earth also become peaceful. (192-287, 1998.4.27)

4.3. Blessed families and honoring one's ancestors

The Unification Church allows for honoring ancestors and should carry on that tradition. In the future, however, this will be done with reference to the True Parents, and will thus differ from the secular tradition in the secular world. By at tending the heavenly Parent, the heavenly kingdom and the heavenly ancestors, a royal domain will emerge, one where we can eternally attend the realm of tribal messiahship as part of the mainstream lineage and bequeath the way of attendance to succeeding generations. It will be a nation where we can attend the King, and sing praises for the eternal reign of peace and prosperity. You, your mother, father, family and tribe can go directly to heaven only after having lived in such a nation. (220-221, 1991.10, 19)

You should value the right of the chosen people and their lineage. The right of the chosen people is the right of the eldest son. Korea is the country of the eldest son. The purpose of Korea becoming a race that loves their genealogy was for the sake of carrying on the lineage. It is not wrong to worship your ancestors and perform services in their memory. In the future, there will be a time when we revere our parents more than those who belong to Confucianism. Do you understand what I am saying? (226-277, 1992.2.9)

If your grandparents are deceased, you should visit their graves. You should visit and pay your respects to them as if God were buried in that grave. As of that day, you are to make amends for the bitter sorrow of not attending your grandparents during your lifetime. (220-349, 1991.10.20)

The firstborn son of the eldest son must drive his roots deep. No one can uproot it. The grandfather cannot do so, nor can the uncle. That is why when you perform ancestral rites, you first have the eldest son stand at the head even before his uncle, cousin, third-cousin and even his great-uncle. Did you know that? The eldest son is set at the front, thus, we can see that the Korean race was one which attached great importance to the first son's position by virtue of its traditional cultural background that reveres its ancestors. Did the lowly people live with the nobility? Did they carelessly mingle with each other? No. It was said that the nobility would not even light a fire made with husks of rice, even if they were to freeze to death. That is amazing. (197-340, 1990.1.20)

There is some element of truth in Christianity's ban on the performance of ancestral rites to this present day. This rite should be offered to God and the True Parent of all humankind. The ancestors ideally should be first served from heaven. However, due to the Fall, this has been prohibited until the present time. In the age of restoration, since you have received the Blessing, you should attend your ancestors from now on. (221-210, 1991.11.10)

When the day for a memorial service comes, the firstborn son of the eldest son decides the time of the service. That is why you can hold the service at five o'clock in the morning, even if previously it was done at one o'clock in the morning. Depending on the circumstances, the time could be changed again from five to seven o'clock in the morning, or even sometime during the day. The person who decides this is not your grandfather or ancestor who has passed away, but the eldest son. The offering table can he served to the grandparents who passed away only when they come at the time designated by the firstborn son of the eldest son. If the grandparents don't like the time, they will not be served. Is not the earth the center? By the same logic: what is released on earth is released in heaven. That is why the two must become one. (231-168, 1992.6.2)

You should love and serve your ancestors. It is not a sin to do so. Even in the satanic world, people serve their ancestors. But in the case of Christianity, don't they tell you not to serve your ancestors? In the future, though, you will have to serve the ancestors of the heavenly world continuously. That is why the Unification Church approves of ancestral rites. Christians make a fuss about it saying, "Oh, that's an idol," don't they? But Blessed families who live in the fallen world have the responsibility to keep this tradition and pass it on to their descendants. (241-127, 1992.12.20)

Korean history is truly amazing. An uncle would take part in the memorial services while attending the eldest son during the services held in his house, wouldn't he? You should know the historical background of Korea in God's providence was for the purpose of establishing it as the eldest son race. Knowing this, you can see how superior the Korean race is, and how great the Korean people are. Therefore, your children would not be timid. You should clearly know these things. (245-156, 1993.2.28)

In regard to the firstborn son of the eldest son, even the grandfather comes under his command when that son performs the ancestral rites. The grandfather has to show his respect. The fact that Koreans place value in the lineage of the firstborn son, and also in their genealogy and lineage, holds record-breaking historical value in God's providence of restoration, which can never be forgotten from the deepest root of His mind. (290-9, 1998.2.2)

No matter how many children Adam has, the nation is centered on his first son. Then, with the first son at the head, his brothers spread out on both sides to become a tribe and nation. The first son succeeds to the throne. In Korea, this pertains to the firstborn son of the eldest son. This is truly amazing. What is great about Korea is that it could receive blessings from God because it has been protecting the tradition of the eldest son.

When the eldest grandson of the grandfather holds a memorial service, then the granduncles -- those who are the younger brothers of the grandfather -- must attend that son as the center when performing the ancestral rites. It is remarkable that they have been attending the eldest son. They must be absolutely obedient. (301-189, 1999.4.26)

In the Korean tradition of the eldest son, even the granduncles had to uphold the position of the firstborn son of the eldest son during ancestral rites. That history is amazing. When this tradition of the first son relates to a higher standard of lineage, life, and love, then God can take it as the highest standard of His desire. Centering on heaven, this standard influences earthly circumstances, which are absorbed into that sphere of influence. Consequently, it is possible for the Kingdom of Heaven on earth to develop in this way. This is all logical. It is not a fanciful idea. tin1.222, 1999.3.5)

What is the path of a divine son? 'Divine son' indicates something vertical. It is talking about the vertical concept of connection to God. 'Saint' is horizontal with regard to the four directions of north, south, east and west. Isn't that how it is in Confucianism? When we say, "Cheon" (heaven), doesn't it give us the impression that only the son of Heaven can relate to it? That is why it is vertical. What is amazing in Korean etiquette is that, even the uncle allows the eldest son of the head family to perform the ancestral rites. Why does he do that? It is vertical. The vertical comes first. (196-320, 1990.1.12) 

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