The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1986
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The Words of Sun Myung Moon from 1986 |
Honorable chairman, committee chairmen, distinguished professors, ladies and gentlemen:
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to you for coming to this, the 15th International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences. I know you have busy schedules.
My topic on this occasion is "True Love and the Unified World': The fundamental cause of confusion in the world today is the conflict between materialism and idealism (spiritualism), which is the conflict between the side of good- ness and the side of evil, which in turn can be expressed as the confrontation between good God and evil god.
The hope of humankind is peace, and peace can only be realized through unification. This means not only the unification of the world but many other levels of unification: unification within each nation, unification within each family, and unification within each individual. Of these, the most important is the unification within the individual. In considering all current unification movements of the world at any of these levels, the name of Reverend Moon cannot be dismissed.
In order to realize the world of peace which God desires, the following must be accomplished:
First, the unification movement must achieve preeminence in the realm of human thought. It must challenge and surpass all narrower philosophical and religious views.
Second, the unification movement must rise to the summit of scientific technology, and then distribute that technology evenly throughout the world. Up to the present day, technologically-advanced America has subordinated South America, while Europe has done the same to Africa. In order to correct this, the level of scientific technology needs to be equalized among all countries.
Third, this movement must deal with global economic problems. Today the world is confronting an international monetary crisis. This can be controlled if numerous conglomerates buy stock in and establish a supra-national bank.
Fourth, it has to take preeminence in the realm of media. With the Washington Times as the core, we are establishing preeminence in the American print media, a field of more than 1,750 American newspapers. By doing so we can include all fields of intelligence. Today we have in this area surpassed the liberal New York Times and Washington Post, and are continually gaining important confidential information not only from America but also from other governments all over the world.
However, even if we stand on the summit in all the realms of thought, scientific technology, economy, and media, there remains yet another problem. The problem is how to create a person to go beyond nation and race. When someone takes responsibility for a project, if he is American, he tends to employ all Americans for the task; if he is English, he tends to employ only English; the French employs French; etc.
Therefore, before the peace and unification of the world can be contemplated, one must know how to educate a person so that they can completely overcome their own sense of nationality in favor of the world. Even communism, which has transformed half of the globe, cannot rid itself of its own nationalist and racial inclinations, and is reduced to "racial communism:'
Turning to the question of God, in the latter half of the 20th century the majority of the world's population has inclined toward a humanistic outlook that denies God and has turned toward a form of mammonism, while half the population has fallen under communism, which is mere materialism. Philosophy, whose task it is to find God (absolute truth), has failed, and religion, which is supposed to live with God, has now lost God and become spiritless.
In the unification of the world, the crucial problem is man. Before the unification of the world is possible, we must achieve the unification of the nation and the unification of the family, and the unification of the family must be preceded by the unification of the individual man. Unification of man means unity between the mind and body. When the individual suffers, the family suffers also. When the family suffers, the nation cannot help but suffer with it; and the same with the nation and the world.
After all, a true man must be found, a true man whom humankind and the universe cherish, and whom God can trust. Men like things which do not change. Hence they like jewelry. People value the hardness of diamonds, the luster of gold, and the delicate color of pearls, all because of their unchangeableness. This is also true in men. Precious is the unchanging man. He is the true man. Therefore, all people want unchanging parents, unchanging teachers, unchanging leaders, and unchangeable nations.
Today, the majority of people do not recognize God. This is because as individuals their minds and bodies are in conflict. On the other hand, even those who initially do not recognize God, if they begin to think that "something must be wrong in men',' will come to have a different outlook and see that there may be a God. Then, coming across such religious concepts as the fall and salvation, they could discover God.
Dr.
and Mrs. Kenneth Mellanby with Father and Mother at ICUS XV in
Washington DC.
When we discover God, it becomes clear to us what is "public" and what is "private': That which is public means that which is for the whole, and private, that which is for the self. When you reflect on yourselves calmly, you find yourselves in a quandary between what is public and what is private. Because of this, religion teaches us restraints such as fasting, suffering, modesty, and humility in order that the body, which is very much inclined toward the "private" way of behaving, may be restrained in favor of the mind, which is more "public:'
God certainly exists. True man is he who resembles God. To realize the world in which true men abound, not a human revolution but a "revolution of character" in man must take place. This character revolution is to transform men into true men who will come to resemble God. This character revolution is to uplift men's character and bring it closer to God's own character. God, who is already omniscient and omnipotent, does not need any more knowledge, nor more power, but even He needs His objects (of love), man and woman.
The sixteenth verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of John in the Bible says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only son, Jesus." This means that God sent Jesus for the sake of all mankind, not just for one particular denomination or church. Therefore God covets sons and daughters who love the world with their very life, as does God Himself. What God loves most is a culture of love. What God wants every man and woman to be is not a rich man or a scholar. He wants every man to be a loving man. In the Bible we come across innumerable teachings concerning love; "Love thy enemy," "Love thy neighbor," "Of faith, hope and love, love is the greatest," to name only a few.
Do wives truly love their husbands? Do students truly love their teachers? Do citizens truly love their countries? Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what is most precious to a man? It is woman. Likewise, what is most precious to a woman is a man. The purpose of life, into which we all are born, for a man is woman, and for a woman is man. Man and woman are born to live for each other. The harmony of their body shapes and of their organs of love are simply made so.
If you truly understand this fact, you have mastered more truth and more precious wisdom than an entire encyclopedia. God, the Great King of wisdom, has placed our organs of love in each other's custody. Thus the true master of the organ of love which a man or woman possesses is not that person at all, but is their loving spouse. Those husbands and wives who are ignorant of this and misuse what they have in an undiscriminating way will surely meet the judgment.
By realizing this truth, husband and wife can attain harmony, and their children will develop filial piety; the son of such a marriage will grow up to be a loyal citizen, and the daughter a chaste wife. They will grow further to become saints and eventually be the holy son and daughter who belong to God.
Without finding mutual love between husband and wife, which is a horizontal relationship, we cannot receive God's love, which is a vertical relationship. If man had not fallen, heaven would have started in the family, and the expansion of that family would be the population of the world. Thus, the family is the training ground of love to qualify men for heaven.
Only those who possess God's love can inherit the right of heaven and earth. As for the question of which is first between life and love, the answer is love. Love is the universe's first existence, and life, which only begins as a result of love, is the second existence. In a family, out of the love of the parents, children are born. Thus a child inherits life from its parents, having been a part of his parents' love.
Once two parties are bound in the relationship of love, they come to stand on an equal level. Since love comes from the other, "live for the sake of others" is the highest philosophical principle. God created man to be His own object; God created him for the sake of the object, man himself. Man, therefore, was likewise made to exist for the sake of God. However, as a result of the fall, men have become self-centered, living for the sake of themselves rather than for the sake of others.
Today's human society is corrupt, and philosophies are becoming self-centered. To sweep away these philosophies, only God's love, true love, can suffice. True love is the love to give and give without expecting any return. Give and forget.
Once we maintain this relationship with God, we are given the privileges of dominion, independence, and inheritance. When we establish God's realm of the object, and realize the glory of unchanging love, we can justify eternal ethics centering on human love.
God, truly in a miserable and pitiful position, is still seeking for His realm of the true object. Out of so many clergy in this country of America, God, recognizing me as an object of love, visited me in prison to tell me to work on Nicaragua's crucial situation.
The unification of the world, including that of divided Korea, can never be accomplished by military power. Unification becomes possible only with God's love, a love which embraces the enemy countries as well.
I have practiced this ideal up to this day. In my ministry in America, I have been teaching people of the mutually hostile countries of World War II to love each other, Japanese and Korean, Japanese and American, and American and German. Without our establishing a firm tradition of being able to love the people of the enemy countries more than one's own, the unification of the world will not be- come a reality. And only God's love will enable one to love the enemy countries more than his own.
To repeat, before the unification of the world can be achieved, the unification of the country, the unification of the family, and the unification of the individual must precede. The unification of the individual, as I mentioned before, means the unity between the mind and body in love. On this foundation husband and wife can achieve unity in love, and unification of the country and the world will follow. Also, this is the only way to realize a world of new civilization.
It is therefore my fervent wish that all the professors gathered here will also strive for the unity of mind and body. Love your wife or husband deeply, and thereby contribute to the unification of the world and the building of a world of new culture.
In closing, I hope that this conference will be a very fruitful one for you.
Thank you.