Last night I said that I want to talk to you about how to open yourself up to Me more deeply. So tonight, and also perhaps the next one or two sessions we share, we should talk about this. And this is not just for you but this is for more people, so please listen carefully and make sure that the tape is right and that no mistakes are made as you transcribe this.

There are many things to say and it isn’t easy to say them all in a few minutes. "H" (husband) should have done some homework to do a little bit of thinking back and forth with Me about how to organize this talk. As you know, I am not just speaking through "H" as if he were a dumb kind of loudspeaker. I’m asking him to cooperate with Me and to truly work together; that is the joy of the father-child relationship. So perhaps he still has some concept that all he has to do is open his mouth and then everything will just come out. There is a joy, of course, in feeling that power beyond yourself guide your tongue, but, on the other hand, there is a joy for Me to see when My son or daughter can do some preparation. It’s the same joy you felt when your oldest son thought about your heart and already did some work in the kitchen that you hadn’t even mentioned to him yet. Right? So this is the same in our relationship.

Again and again I must say this is a family style of relationship. This is the Age of the True Family and this means not just Reverend Moon and his family but, ultimately, the entire world and all of the families of the world as they relate to Me.

You remember last year I already told you that this is the time, on the foundation of much historical indemnity, that you can open up to Me and I can come to you very directly in terms of your prayer life and even in your daily active life. So as I share with you tonight, please remember that this kind of sharing was not always possible. Because of the work that has been done by the True Parents and because of the time of the Providence, there is much more cooperation from the high spiritual realms. There is still much confusion in the lower realms of the spiritual world just like there is in this world. But in the higher realms that do relate more directly with Me there is a lot of support for you as you reach out toward Me.

This is one invisible hand that is helping you as you seek to build this relationship, and you should always feel gratitude to really recognize that support. Historically the direct relationship with Me was not always possible. As you know, confession in the Catholic church was done through the priest and oftentimes the church elders in the Catholic or Protestant churches have served as the counselors, the path makers or the guides for the younger members or less experienced members. But, again, this is the time when each of you needs a much more direct relationship with Me. Truly, this can be a source of counsel, encouragement, inspiration, wisdom, strength, courage, and even practical guidance day by day, as you know from our experience this past year.

So it’s a different time right now. Religion in the old kind of form is not attractive to people, and that’s one reason why America, for example, has in many ways lost its hunger for the church. Of course people are always hungry for Me whether they admit it or not, whether they put it in those words or not; but if the church does not keep up with the depth of that hunger, people are not so interested in the church anymore, and they are reaching more deeply. The very confusion and upheaval in America today, if you look at one positive aspect, is that people are sincerely, deeply seeking something more. Their original mind is no longer happy with what, perhaps, used to satisfy them - religious guidance from their minister, and so on - but they are looking for something more.

Now this doesn’t just mean you have a bunch of saints walking around looking for God. On the other hand, if you look, there is so much immorality, so many crazy things going on, and yet I look at the positive aspect of that. You may think that I am terribly unhappy to see all the confusion and the moral chaos in this society, but you know the saying, "It’s always darkest before the dawn," right? Well, that moral confusion and chaos comes when people no longer accept the old answers. They are, in the deepest sense, looking for something new. And, of course, many of those people who practice an immoral or unethical lifestyle can tell you, if they speak honestly, they know they’re not doing right.

But, on the other hand, they’re not satisfied to go back to the old straight line they used to walk. Something in them is very unsatisfied. And so, as you know in your own life, at those times when perhaps you are not satisfied with anything, then you may go through a period of rejection and then rebellion, and then even doing something crazy. But ultimately don’t you come around then and realize finally, "No, I don’t want ultimately to rebel, I don’t want ultimately to do the wrong thing. Ultimately I don’t want to go backward, but I want to go forward and lay aside this rebellion or wrong lifestyle and find something new." So in one sense then, its good news to Me. America is not just happily sitting in the old churches, but is, in one way, rebelling, going through this period. Does this seem strange to listen to? It is very painful, of course, to see so many people hurt by the rebellion in their own lives and within the lives of others; there is much chaos and terrible pain right now. But in the coming ten to fifteen years, especially here in America, you will see some amazing things in terms of humankind really seeking Me out.

Also, these UFO’s that you speak of, yes there is something to that. I don’t want to go into that now and it is not important for our purposes at this moment. But all of those things are forces that are working to bring man and woman through their full circle back to a much more deep kind of religion. Not just external, but a rebinding to Me in a deeper sense. That’s My hope.

It’s so easy to judge people who are going through the rebellion; it’s so easy to condemn them and say "Our nation is in terrible condition." Sometimes those people who are holding the light actually forget they are holding the light and become too involved in critiquing, but they need to hold that light up high and realize that after the darkness will come a dawn. And, in a sense, their light is part of that dawn and they should recognize it and not be caught in self-righteous judgment. So the Unification movement should not be caught by that. It’s not good to dwell on how bad things are, but really, in light of that, to see hope from that chaos.

So what we want to work on tonight is how to open up to Me. We’re going to speak on an individual level first. I want you to recognize that this is not like a recipe - how to bake a cake, how to open up with God - but I want to give you a series of insights and suggestions because this can help you as you go through your daily life. The two of you are caught by many different responsibilities, and you must remain clear about how to stay in touch.

"H" wants to express one thing that I think is relevant here, and I think it’s a good thing to do, and that is he remembered this evening how many times he gets the ideas for his sermons, some of the best sermons he has given, when he was laying in bed in the early morning, just drifting, not fully awake and not fully asleep, but the mind was free and drifting. And it’s interesting because even in that moment sometimes he would feel guilty - he should be up with his tie and white shirt on, with the Divine Principle book in front of him and praying very intensely for a message. I understand. But there is something to that lying down and drifting, because in that state the mind is free to roam, and when one’s fundamental purpose is to find something of value, to find Me, so to speak, then that guides that traveling in the mind, and you can catch something this way. The problem, oftentimes, of just going through the book or trying to think what you want to talk about is that you are still maintaining the role of your mind and you’re still very much in the logical realm, perhaps in the emotional realm where maybe you are afraid that you’re not going to have the right message. But the key point here is that you are still holding on to your own mind and ego and not letting it go.

Now in the oriental religions, they have truly mastered the letting go of the mind. In various Buddhist traditions particularly, there is the practice of meditation where one, in a sense, travels, gets out of the ego. And this is very healthy because you are breathing from a truly spiritual atmosphere and you’re going outside of your self-containment as a separate entity; you are blending with a higher power, a more universal force.

The problem in the West, especially with Judeo-Christianity has been that there is so much in the theology in terms of different ideas that the Christian can go to the Bible, or in your case the Divine Principle book, and get all kinds of ideas to share. The problem, oftentimes, is that you don’t know how to let your mind go and to really listen to a higher power, to blend with that higher power. And so if you want to share a brilliant sermon, and you have many brilliant ideas, an excellent vocabulary and a very good ability to express yourself, fine, you can give a brilliant sermon and you can help people that way. But you may not be able to bring them that vibration that comes from Me. If you think of certain speakers - I don’t want to mention them on this tape, it’s not important - but can you think of two or three speakers in your movement who have impressed you with their English or their expression or whatever, but you couldn’t get the vibration? These are people who are very experienced in speaking but who rely too much on themselves. On the other hand, you may hear a speaker who is not so articulate, but this person may have really had a profound experience with Me; then there is a vibration that is totally different.

So to come back, truly to reach Me in prayer is to give up all your concepts and to be able to simply open your mind’s eye, the ear of your mind, the heart of your mind - your inner self - to just receive Me. When "H" goes through this experience whereby I can work through him, he knows by now that he has to give up all his anxiety, all the fear that maybe it’s not going to work tonight, and what will he say, and will it be right or what if some strange thing comes out? It’s just "H." Still, you know, he struggles sometimes with this.

All of that is that he’s still holding onto himself. So the only way that I can work - and sometimes he’s holding on a little bit and I struggle to get through - the only way I can work is when he lets it go. It’s good when he’s a little tired because he can easily let it go. But then because he’s so tired, I can’t be clear. It’s a struggle. We have to meet somewhere halfway. And so letting go of that mind is so important. You remember we spoke some time ago about people who pray about what they want Me to do about their agenda, but they never listen to Me and they never allow Me to come back to them. Well this is the same communication problem that people have with one another oftentimes.

We talk at one another but we seldom listen, even to the person who physically is sitting two feet across the table from us. Then how much more of a problem do people have with listening to their Heavenly Father, their Heavenly Parent? There is a fear of listening. Satan has implanted very deep in the heart of many people, and as well as many in the Unification church, the fear that they may not be worthy of receiving direct communication with Me, the fear that they may not believe, doubts as to whether I really exist, feelings of inferiority. All of these things are there, so it’s much easier to just pray to Me and, in a sense, put the deposit in the bank and walk out and then say, "Well it’s in the bank and the bank keeps a record; they know what I prayed, so everything’s okay." But this is not a bank.

This is a parent-child sharing. And truly, again, if you know your son who comes to you and says this and that and then just walks away, you feel very unsatisfied, right? It’s the same way I feel when people come to Me and just say this and that and then walk away. The key point here is to go into your prayer with the understanding of two-way communication and listening, to let your mind go, to throw it out just like a fishing line almost, but infinitely out - here’s no end - and to give up your concept. As Divine Principle members it’s so easy to have so many concepts about Me, but you have to give it all up. This is not conceptual. When you really meet your Divine Parent you don’t need to have a concept because the reality is right in front of you. Sometimes people are so caught by their concepts, even in prayer directly to Me, that they only see their concept and they don’t see Who’s sitting right in front of them.

The concept is like a blindfold. Like a blindfold. So, it’s a lucky person who can find the secret of giving up those concepts and just being open. I told you last year that your husband is best after he is doing his art work. Why? Because it’s not conceptual. He opens up the original mind, the creative process is taking place, and it’s very much a freeing of the mind. And so prayer is very much that way too. Each drawing is different. Each prayer is a different experience. This is all very important. Can you follow Me so far? Do you have any questions? Another key here, a second point I want to make, is how you think of yourself, not just how you think of Me. And, again, I think we’ve spoken of this in the past but it never hurts to review, that according to how you regard yourself, you have a greater or lesser relationship with Me.

So if you yourself struggle with thinking that you aren’t very spiritual or you don’t have that much real connection with God in your experience, or whatever, those very thoughts themselves are what block you. The only thing that blocks you is thinking those kind of thoughts. If you can just lay them aside, let them pass by - as Father once said, "All those thoughts that come in prayer, let them go by" - like a parade in some way. Let them go. Let them go. Don’t hold on to them because then, again, your ego is stopping you.

Let them go. Let them go. Let them go, because there is another self far deeper than any of those concepts to be born in the relationship with Me. It’s so important for you to liberate yourselves from those opinions of who you are. Nobody in this world really knows their identity until they truly come to know Me. I am your origin and I am the one who gave you your life and your identity. And it’s only as you see yourself through My eye and through that real relationship that you’ll ever come to know yourself. This is the point. Learning how to love yourself is learning how to accept My love for you and not just trying to do it all by yourself. This is crucial.

 "W" (wife) says, "I was reflecting on what one sister once told me, about what some people call "self-talk," and how each person carries this so-called self-talk since very early childhood either from being told by their own parents or friends or teachers, or from something inside of themselves. Especially they carry negative thoughts like: ‘I can never sing well,’ or ‘I can never stand up in front of people and express myself,’ or ‘I can never be good in language,’ or ‘I’m not lovable.’ All of these self-talk thoughts speaking inside the person are repeated and repeated constantly. And the person lives with those words, and it’s very hard to shut it off because it just becomes part of them; it’s like ‘word incarnate in flesh.’ And so I was just thinking, even as I am opening up to You, that I always felt inferior or I’m not that type or I can never do that, you know? My husband can do this but maybe God doesn’t speak that way through me.

So when you said, ‘Just let go, let go’ I was really thinking that yes, I must let those thoughts go. Because that itself blocks. Yes I understand." Yes, it’s very hard to express the importance of letting go, but you’re coming into a much larger world when you’re able to let go. Many people are afraid to let go for fear there will be nothing there, nothing. Well, it is true in one sense that there will be nothing, nothing of an earthly variety; however, something of a very much higher variety is there when you learn how to let go.

There is a fear. It’s like having training wheels on your bicycle when you were a child, the little wheels that go on the back like the two on either side of the back tire - do you know? So the little child is very happy to have those wheels there because even if he loses his balance the bicycle cannot fall down. But the first day that the daddy says, "Okay, we’re going to remove those training wheels and let you ride by your own balance," it’s very frightening; and the child immediately thinks, "What if I fall down? What if I hurt my leg? Maybe tomorrow, how about tomorrow?" Well, it’s the same thing, many people are praying with training wheels. They use the same phrases, the same kind of words for everything. That enforces the fact of the same level of prayer with Me, and there isn’t a developing relationship.

Your truest friend is someone who every time you meet him/her something is new, you’re traveling together. Well, our real relationship is that kind of relationship because every day is different. Every challenge that each day brings is a new challenge. So we have an unending rainbow kind of relationship; every color is involved, every mood; everything is involved in that. That’s what makes it interesting for Me, and that’s what can make it totally stimulating for you, but it’s a matter of learning how to take off the training wheels and just let yourself be free. When a person can do that he/she becomes a new person, a very new person. That’s what faith is all about. Faith is life without training wheels. Do you understand? It’s still, perhaps, a concept, but if you can even lay in the early morning when you’re half asleep and just let your mind go out like a kite, let it be free and kind of drift. That itself is a good practice so that when you pray it’s not your words, you just throw your mind out toward Me. You know how close I am. And the key is that you know I’m not next to you like "H," next to you on the bed, I’m in your own heart. I want to express through your prayer and that’s why I started talking to you.