The Words of Rev Sun Myung Moon from 1980
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The Words of Rev Sun Myung Moon from 1980 |
Honorable Chairman, distinguished scientists and scholars, ladies and gentlemen...
I sincerely welcome you to this Ninth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences.
During past years this conference has repeatedly dealt with the theme of science and absolute values and has achieved great results. Furthermore, I feel that the conference has made many contributions to mankind's long and fervent search for peace.
The theme of this year's conference is "Absolute Values and the Search for the Peace of Mankind." In regards to this theme, I would like to share with you my view of "how world peace can be achieved."
As you are no doubt already aware, the more chaotic the world becomes as days go by, the more mankind thirsts for peace.
Then how can peace be achieved? In today's world, orderliness has been destroyed. Therefore, to establish peace means to restore that order. To restore order, subjects and objects must find their positions and establish mutual, unified relations.
Peace is not desired on the world level alone, but also on the level of nations, societies and families as well. Even individuals yearn for peace between their minds and bodies.
Of these various levels of peace, which level should be established first?
It is easy to think that if world peace were established first, then on that basis the peace of nations, societies, families, and eventually individuals would also be established.
But this is a wrong viewpoint. It is actually the reverse of the sequence necessary to establish peace. Individual peace must first be realized. Then family peace can soon follow, and only on that foundation can the peace of societies, nations and the world be expected. This is because individuals are the basic units of families, and families are the basic units of societies and nations.
Frequently leaders believe that through outstanding organization and superior thought they can restore both the order of society and world peace. In reality, however, the peace of mankind can never be realized through these two means alone. International organizations such as the United Nations and thought systems as communism, democracy, etc., have all tried to realize world peace in their own ways, but peace is still far from our grasp, and the world is experiencing more confusion as days go by.
Unless the quest for peace starts from the peace of an individual, it is bound to fail again and again.
Then how can the peace of an individual be achieved? It can be achieved by an individual having absolute love and practicing it. This is true because love is the precondition for all unity. Unity can be established on the basis of love, and peace on the basis of unity
Both relative love and absolute love exist. Relative love changes according to the given time and place, but absolute love is unchanging and eternal. Because the former is self-centered, it changes according to present interests. On the other hand, because the latter always exists for the benefit of others and serves the whole, it is unchanging. Absolute love is none other than the love of the absolute being. Therefore that love must be God's love.
Through relative love, unity can never be achieved; it is only through absolute love that unity becomes possible. The mind and body of an individual can come into unity only by absolute love. Then such emotions as calmness, joy satisfaction, and a sense of worth can be experienced. Only from such an individual can a standard for peace be drawn.
When the parents and children, husband and wife, and brothers and sisters of a family all practice absolute love from their own positions, the unity of that family will be achieved. That family will be full of happiness and harmony, and above all, peace.
Accordingly, the society formed by such families of peace will be a society of peace. If the families within a society become harmonious and help each other, the society will no doubt be bright and peaceful, because order will be established and unity attained.
The nation formed by such societies of peace will also surely become a nation of peace.
Moreover, a nation is not merely an assembly of many societies. It is an organic organization comprised of and based on individuals and families of love. Within it, perfect order and unity must be established, and then the true peace of the nation can be realized.
To express it in other words, even a nation needs God's love in order to realize and maintain peace. Even though the families which are the basis of the nation may be centered around absolute love, the nation as an organic body must be able to practice absolute love as a nation on the national level.
The government and people of the nation should attain unity internally, and externally the nation should unify with neighboring nations, thereby realizing true peace.
Needless to say, the peace of the world comes into being only on the foundation of the peace of all nations. When each nation ceases to place all its emphasis on trade and other ways to secure its so-called national interests; when each nation begins to serve other nations and the world with absolute love; and when each nation maintains such an international atmosphere consistently, the eternal peace of mankind will have been secured.
Thus it becomes apparent that world peace begins with individual peace and expands through families, societies, and nations to ultimately become world peace.
At this point I would like to mention absolute love and absolute values. It is on the foundation of love that the values of truth, goodness and beauty are formed. For example, the practice of love is evaluated as goodness. That is, when love is practiced, it appears as goodness. Therefore, it follows that when practicing absolute love, which is God's love, absolute goodness appears. The actions of an individual practicing absolute love for the sake of peace are goodness (absolute goodness). Likewise the actions of a family practicing love the sake of peace are also goodness. The same is true for societies, nations and the world.
In other words, in order to realize true peace, the individual, family, society, nation and world must all realize the absolute values which are absolute truth, absolute goodness and absolute beauty The practice of absolute goodness is most urgently required because then no element of evil can intervene and destroy order.
Love, absolute truth, absolute goodness, and absolute beauty cannot be realized without knowledge of absolute love-God's love-since the spiritual values of truth, goodness and beauty are formed on the basis of love. And where these absolute values are not realized, there cannot be true peace.
Thus, for the true peace of mankind, absolute love must be practiced. But before it can be practiced, absolute love must first be understood.
I have already stated that absolute love is love which acts for the benefit of others, which serves others, and which is unchanging and eternal. Then, why does absolute love serve the whole and remain unchanging? And why can peace be realized only through love?
These questions require answers. But in order for these questions to be completely answered, the absolute being and his motive and purpose for creating the universe and mankind must first be fully clarified. 'Me motive and purpose for creation particularly serve as indispensable standards for the practice of love and the establishment of peace. Before any plans can be put into action, there must first be a definite purpose. Any action without purpose is meaningless.
If man was created by the absolute being and meant to practice the absolute being's love, then it is certain that there is a motive and purpose for the creation of man. In order for that motive and purpose to be clarified, an explanation of the absolute being, that is, a correct concept of God, must first be established. By establishing the correct concept of God, his motive and purpose of creation will be clarified, and accordingly, the reason why the absolute being's love must be practiced in order to realize peace will also be clarified.
Thus I submit that for the true peace of mankind, it is necessary to understand the absolute being correctly so that we can practice his love and finally realize his absolute values.
These points conclude the ideas I wanted to share with you. In closing, I would like to wish you all great success in this conference, and I hope that you will contribute greatly to the search for the peace of mankind,
Thank you very much.