The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1965
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1965 |
These questions and answers have been transcribed from tapes made during our Leader's sessions with members and guests at Centers throughout the United States during his trip in March and April 1965.
Question: What makes Mr. Moon think he is the Messiah?
Answer: Study the Principle and you will know.
Question: Was there some specific point in your life when you realized that you were the one God had been seeking to fulfill the restoration?
Answer: From childhood, I was clairvoyant and clairaudient. I could see through people, see their spirits. I had a very strong desire to live a high life, a life of high dimension. When I was 12 years old, I started praying for extraordinary things. I asked for wisdom greater than Solomon's, for faith greater than the Apostle Paul's, and for love greater than the love Jesus had. This is not a usual thing for one 12 years old. When I was 16, I knew definitely what my mission was to be. My thinking and feeling have always been very different from others.
[Miss Young Oon Kim: When a child is born in Korea, he is considered a year old at birth. His birthday is January 6, 1920, according to the lunar calendar. My book was wrong. I said he was 17 years old when Jesus appeared to him, but I was depending upon my memory. He says he was 16. That is 15 by your method of counting age.]
I have also had numerous witnesses to my life. Many people told me who I was.
Question: Where do the qualifications for the Messiah come from? Many people have asked this question, and I don't know the answer.
Answer: You should not let them ask questions before they study the whole Principle thoroughly. In their understanding of the truth, you must build logically to the conclusion. If this Principle is Truth, then the conclusion must be true. You must convince them with the Truth first. They should be convinced to follow this truth, even without our Master. The Truth is so real and true, that it can be followed even without or apart from him. The qualifications alone will not persuade them to accept him. They have to accept the Truth, the Divine Principle, first. That is why Jesus did not reveal his identity. He told the disciples not to tell people who he was.
Leader's Question: What kind of Messiah are they expecting? What are the qualifications they expect?
Question: Did I understand you correctly? Did you say that if they believe in Principle they don't have to believe in the Messiah?
Answer: No, I meant you should teach them the truth thoroughly, and they should follow the Principle by all means, even though there was no person behind it. They should find the conclusion, the being of the Messiah, by themselves through the Principle. They should find his mission or his personality through their understanding of the truth.
The mission of the Messiah is not healing or performing miracles. A medium in Korea said this, "The mission of the Lord of the Second Advent is to bring the Truth, the words of God." So if this Principle is Truth and from God, then the one who brought this message is to be the one. The most important thing God wants me to do is to resurrect, re-create or reform the hearts of the people, and make them heavenly people. I came to bring about reformation of the heart. With the Principle or by the Principle, my mission is to make new hearts, new persons. Then to make them free from the accusation of Satan. Satan constantly accuses people before God. My mission is to change the hearts of the people so that Satan has no one whom he can accuse before God. Although Moses and Jesus performed miracles, they could not change the hearts of the people and make them free from Satan's accusation.
Question: All great religious leaders have represented different aspects of God, such as wisdom, or love, or a combination of these, like faith and love, or power and truth Jesus seemed to represent to his followers and to Christians today, love and truth. Jesus failed in his mission. The method he used to open God's dispensation was not successful. Therefore, will the Second Advent be more related to, say wisdom and power?
Answer: Yes, the Lord of the Second Advent is different in many ways. When Christians speak of love and truth in the New Testament, what they mean is very abstract. In the Lord of the Second Advent, these words are no longer abstract. How love and truth are related is important. It must become a reality, a substantial reality. In the Lord of the Second Advent, this is fulfilled. Therefore, he is more powerful and wiser. In him, those things are no longer abstract. They are reality. Therefore, it is very different from Jesus. When you read the Bible, it appears as if Jesus knew everything. But he didn't. He did not know how the fall of man took place as clearly as we do. He did not comprehend the history of restoration. The Lord to Come is the King of Wisdom and the Prince of Love.
Question: Does Jesus understand now?
Answer: Of course, Jesus stands in the position of a son to the Lord of the Second Advent, and calls him 'Father'. Jesus ranks among us as our elder brother. Those who receive revelations in prayer call him 'Brother'. Until the Lord of the Second Advent discovered the secret identity of Satan, those in Paradise did not know. That is why they called him 'thief' when he revealed the crime before the throne of God. They felt he was stealing the field.
Question: Was there a physical lineage in the Second Advent?
Miss Young Oon Kim: He hints that there is some link between the Jewish people and the Korean people, but he will not say more. We have many customs and traditions which are very like Jewish customs. There is a saying that Korea is the Israel of the East.
Question: What are the ramifications or implications of the lineage in the Second Advent?
Answer: Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. In so doing, he received the entire inheritance from John who was the representative of the Old Testament dispensation. John didn't realize this, but Jesus had to come under John and be baptized by him. In that way, he received the inheritance of Christianity. The world doesn't know this. To have this inheritance, you must win out over the old. The Lord of the Second Advent subjected himself to one who represented Christianity, and served him, thus taking the blessing away. This person represented the entire New Testament dispensation. The Master served him, but the man wasn't aware of it.
Question: As I understand it, our Leader discovered the secret crime of Satan, and stood before God accusing Satan. Would he elaborate on this?
Answer: Although I will explain this to you, you may not understand fully unless you yourself have had a spiritual experience. To find the highest truth, you must have the most even conscience. This is an oriental expression. You would say 'clear' conscience, but our term is 'even' conscience, meaning not biased or prejudiced. This is a horizontal level. Then the heart of God or the Spirit of God will work in a vertical way, and a 90 degree angle is made. If the conscience is not even, the angle formed is not 90 degrees, and you will receive the wrong message or revelation. If the 90 degree angle is maintained, when you face a problem you immediately know whether it is good or bad. The reflection is very accurate.
When you meet people and hear them talk, you know immediately which is wrong and which is right. This is very important to receive anything. Then suppose you want to know about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What is it? Up to a certain level, spirits can tell you what it is. But for the highest truth, spirits cannot help you. They will not tell you because they don't know. And God will not tell you outright. Therefore you have to search, to find out by yourself. So, from this 90 degree position, you may ask God, "Is this tree of the knowledge of good and evil a real tree?" You immediately know that is not right. It is something else. You continuously inquire and eventually find out what it is. Then, quite naturally, you will know that the tree has something to do with staining our blood. In other words, when you become one with God, you can know the answers. You will guess answers to your questions and bring them to God, saying, "Is it this?" When it is correct, you will know.
In that way, I discovered the crime of Satan. As you studied in the Principle, Adam and Eve fell at the top of the Growth Stage. In this stage, man lost the world of God. Man was created by the Word of God and, by the fall of man, the Word was lost. Truth was lost in the Growth Stage. So in this stage the Word must be recovered. Truth must be discovered. When Adam and Eve fell, God could not interfere with their fall because they were still imperfect, still in the stage of the Indirect Dominion. In finding the truth, I could not be told because I was still in the Indirect Dominion. I had to discover the Word by myself.
God could not reveal or teach me. Until you reach the top of the Growth Stage, the point where Adam fell, spirits can teach you. Since Adam had already reached that point by himself, spirits can help you with any problem. But after you reach this stage, you are left alone. God will not teach you. You must find by yourself. If Adam had reached the top of the Perfection Stage, God or spirits would be free to teach you, because man has already reached that point by himself. The way is open. After I discovered the Divine Principle, the Truth, I had to work all alone without God's help and with no help from the spirit world. To become perfect as God is, to become one with Him, we have to become one with Him in words (in the truth), in personality, and finally in heart. In this, God cannot help. From the top of the Growth Stage on up, then, is the responsibility and mission of the Lord of the Second Advent. This is his history, as well as the history of our church in terms of world restoration. This is the course our church has been following, and this is the course the Lord of the Second Advent has been pioneering.
Many religions find it very easy to communicate with the spirit world, but they can only reach to the top of the Growth Stage. Christians find it very hard to communicate with this high level in the Perfection Stage. You must develop this center to form the 90 degree angle in order to truly communicate. Other religions know that this is the time of the Last Days. But their angles are not accurate. If you make a little mistake of even 1 degree at first, you will soon be off in the wrong direction. Spiritual gifts are many and varied. You can communicate with any low spirit. But that is not important. Truth is important.
Question: Did you have to work out all the details of the Principle yourself, or did you receive it?
Answer: If you know the Principle, you know these things in your heart.
[Mrs. Won Pok Choi: He knew it by his wisdom, and then asked God if it was right. He has done the most difficult part. It is easier for you to follow him.]
Question: In reading the Introduction to the Principle, we often in our first reading fail to recognize our Master's struggle. What was it he kept constantly before him during this struggle?
Answer: Faith in God, and conviction. I knew that God was living. I knew that God had chosen me for this mission. Therefore, I believed that this was the only way for man to go, including myself. I couldn't quit.
Question: How long did it take our Leader to go from the top of the Growth Stage to the top of the Perfection Stage?
Answer: Seven years.
Question: How do you manage to get along on three and four hours of sleep a night?
Answer: If you knew you were going to die in three hours would you sleep?
Question: What is your attitude about people knowing of your visit? For the time being, would you prefer that we not mention that you have been here?
Answer: It is always best to teach the truth first. If the truth is acceptable to them as the revelation from God, then they will be led to the conclusion, and will be guided by the spirit world to know me. That is more natural. One should not be forced to accept the conclusion, because he will be repulsed. Teach the Principle first, intellectually, and guide the student to the spiritual experience by having him read books on the spirit world or taking him to a medium. Help him to have a spiritual experience if possible. In this way, we lead the student to find the conclusion by himself.
It is most thrilling for them. When you discover the most precious thing by yourself, you will not lose it, and you really know its value. But if you are told, you cannot see the value. We often lecture without giving the final conclusion. Once they accept the truth without doubt, then they will also accept the conclusion. But if they are not sure about the content of the truth, then it is no use. Because it is so precious, we are very slow to present it. Another thing, once they reject the conclusion, they will not be open-minded. We don't want people to stumble. Often people will want to know not only the conclusion, but the person we mean as well. We must be very careful. It is all right to say Sun Myung Moon has been here, but don't say who he is.