The Words of Hyung Jin Moon
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The Words of Hyung Jin Moon |
Good afternoon brothers and sisters. Outside is little bit hot but we still believe that this is a perfect day to celebrate True Parents and God, don't you think so? Aju (Aju!) We're always happy and honored to have you all here in this sanctuary. And for those who are joining with us via internet, we're also welcoming you as well.
Brothers and sisters welcome for this spring day. I'd like to share with you one quote from Father, this is page 826 of Cheon Seong Gyeong, "Mind and body cannot be achieved without true love. Thus, the mind sacrifices itself for the body and forgets, repeatedly. The mind is in the position representing God and thus is your greatest teacher. The mind is your center that God sent as His manifestation. It is the vertical you."
I really love that. When I think about that, it's so important in our life that we can appreciate our mind, that we can appreciate the creativity that God has given us that we can appreciate the originality He's breathed within us. This so important.
When we see God we can see that He is great and He is very creative etc. We have the same characteristics also alive within us, in our mind, His representation of Him, that manifestation of Him.
Brothers and sisters let us always move forward. Respect your mind. Respect the creativity that you have. Respect your originality. You are a masterpiece. God has made you to be totally unique. When we see ourselves in that light, we see ourselves with a victorious mindset, we see ourselves from the perspective of God, and we can see ourselves with tremendous value. We won't say, "Oh I'm terrible and I can never reach perfection. I try everyday but I am always inadequate."
Yes, everybody has weaknesses but it's important to not only see that side. Always, when we come to service, it's so important that we frame ourselves and start, once again, remembering who we are and whose we are. Its' so important that when we see ourselves that we see that we are valuable. "I am valuable. I have divine value, I have cosmic value, and I’m unique and totally original. I'm a unique creation."
When we start seeing ourselves like that, we can start empowering ourselves, we can start to bring back the eyes of God that are placed within us, we can start seeing our life with more victory, more illumination and more peace in the future.
Brothers and Sisters its wonderful to see you on this spring day and I hope you are all fresh today. Let's really enjoy the service today. It's a great day to praise True Parents and God. Thanks for coming.
Since my husband, Hyung Jin Nim, became the World President of this movement many things have been changed. One of his biggest obstacles he's facing is that, whenever True Parents come to Korea for Ahn Shi Il, he has to pray in front of True Parents and members in Korean. Imagine yourself praying in front of True Parents not with your mother tongue, but in Korean. So it's really a challenge for him.
Today is Ahn Shi Il. So this morning we went to Cheon Jeong Gong at Chung Pyung. My husband had to pray in Korean again. So before the ceremony he kind of asked True Father, "True Father, do I have to pray today?" and True Father said, "Of course, you have to do it!" (Laughter) and he was like, "Ahh, OK". But True Father said, "You know what, actually last time that I heard you praying in Korean you got lot better than long time ago." (Laughter and applause)
At that moment my husband regained confidence to pray in Korean and he did it today. It was successful. Just in case you want to check it, it is at ipeacetv.
When we think about it we're just unworthy to accept and speak with an official title but one thing we keep in our heart is, that we're always grateful to our members. They're encouragement and support. So without it we cannot stand here as who we are. So brothers and sisters, in life let us also give strength to each other and encourage each other. We love you so much brothers and sisters. Thank you so much. Aju!
Every time before we start the words, I would like to start with something little interesting. In Divinity School, we would like to see the funniest side of religion. It is good to be able to laugh about yourselves once in a while. I heard a story about an elderly man. He had a heart problem; he ended having had a heart bypass surgery. So he ended up in the care of the nuns. The nuns asked him, "How will you pay for this hospital bill?" And he said in a very raspy voice, "I have no health insurance." They asked him again, "Well, do you have any money in the bank?" He said, "No money in the bank." They asked him again, "Well, is there anybody who can help you?" And then he said, "I don't have any relatives. The only person I have is a sister and she's alone and lonely. She's a nun." And the nun said to him, "We are not alone and we are not lonely for we are married to Almighty God." And at that he said, "Then send the bill to my brother-in-law." (Laughter and applause)
Alright brothers and sisters, get on up…come on, get on up. Oh, you like that one today (Continuous applause) Oh, my goodness. Alright, come on; let's do our True Parents' declaration. Let's do it. Left hand on our hearts and right hand up.
These are my True Parents, the Eternal King and Queen of Peace and Liberator of God's Heart. They have saved me from my past. They have blessed my future and they give me true love, forgiveness and happiness today and I choose to receive it! My mind is awake, my heart is open wide, and from this moment I will change forever! In my name, Aju! Thank you.
That was quite exciting. Oh, that was one of the most exciting and interesting stories you have had . I would like to talk to you today about Self empowerment for God. In order to live the blessed life, it is so important to be able to empower ourselves, to improve ourselves, to become happier, more mature, more victorious, more successful, etc.
Too many people live their life making excuses about why not to improve, “I don't have the power, maybe not the right connections. I am really nobody. It doesn't make a difference anyway." Some people will even go so far as to say, "I really don't want to focus on myself. That would be selfish. I want to focus on other people, help change other people."
It is so important to really understand that if we want to truly be able to bless other people, if we want to truly be able help others change, we must be more mature and more advanced than them in that area of change. Just like if I want to teach somebody to do art or carpentry, I need to study those arts, I need to practice those arts in order to teach others.
In the same way, if we are to help others to become happier, more mature, etc. then it is important that we ourselves are continually empowering ourselves, improving ourselves, throughout the course of our lives. This is so important, because at times in our lives we may feel very down. At times we may feel that the whole world is against us. We can't even get up, it is just hard to get up. You have neck pain and back pain and all that kind of thing but even in those times we have got to start telling ourselves, "Hey, I'm gonna do this, I have great potential. I have an awesome future waiting for me."
We have to bring that empowerment back into ourselves. One of the greatest, most important areas of practice that we can do is to learn from others who are greater than us. If we do find people who are more mature, who are better than us in a certain area of change, one of the most mature things we can do and one of the greatest ways to receive blessing is to acknowledge that they're maybe more advanced than us in that area of change, and also to accept their advice and their wise counsel. When we look at the Principle, I looked at Chapter One this past week during our Wednesday service, and we talked about the Purpose of Creation.
The purpose of God creating everything was for happiness. God wanted to give happiness and receive happiness. He wanted to give and receive it. In the end God wanted to have happiness, to share happiness, to give and give and receive etc. And so the goal of human beings according to the Principle is to find happiness, to be also able to give and receive it. Notice: To give and receive it.
One of the things the Principle teaches us is that we have two types of bodies. God created us in two different types of bodies. One is the Individual Truth Body and one is the Connected Body. A very fancy word for saying a very simple thing. Individual Truth Body simply says that we are very unique. All of us have individual identity. We have a special personality. We have unique traits that are unique only to us and that represent a very unique aspect of God. That simply is what it means. What connected body means is that each one of us is connected to other people. We are interconnected to other people. We are interconnected with the world. We are interconnected to our nations. We are interconnected with our spouse, our children, etc.
When we look at it more deeply, it essentially means that we ourselves are actually not ours. I hear some people say that in their lives they could do some negative behavior because they thought, "It's my life, it's not hurting anyone else, I can do this, I can do that."
But that does not understand the nature of our reality. We are connected bodies. So in the end, I myself am not only fully mine. I am also my wife's. I am her husband, right? And I am also my children's parent. In some aspect they are connected to me. In some aspect they have ownership over my fatherhood or my husband-hood etc. I myself am not mine alone. And because we are connected bodies, when we do act negatively with anger or violence or greedily, etc. Then we are contributing negatively to those people who we are connected to. And this is the key. Ultimately, we end up harming ourselves. When we treat our wife badly, then we end up hurting that relationship of which we are a major and significant part. In the end, we end up hurting ourselves. If we yell at the children out of anger, in the end we end up hurting that relationship over time. They may feel resentful towards us. They may not want to deal with us. We're gonna be hurt in the end. What does connected body teach us? It teaches us that, if we do things negatively to others it eventually always comes back. If we are connected, it is going to return back to us. That is such an important principle in our life.
I was talking to a sister. She's an elderly woman and she said that when she was young she got blessed and she had a habit of nagging her husband a lot. She thought she wanted attention. She wanted love from him. But she ended up just nagging him so much and so when he was coming back from work, she would say, "Why is your suit wrinkled all over? Why can't you fold your clothes? Didn't your mother teach you how to fold your clothes? Why are you so overworked?" She continued to nag him.
Actually, in the heart of heart, she truly missed him. She really missed being with him that day. And so it was a way she wanted to get attention. But when she reflected on herself, when she reflected on that first marriage, she realized that she was hurting that man. He has been hurt, he felt that he was unappreciated, that he was being judged for petty things and that he worked all day for his family, but he was being unacknowledged…unappreciated. He came home later, later and later, after work, 6 O'clock, 7 O'clock, 9, 10, 2 am in the morning. Somehow, their relationship, of course, became worse and worse and they ended up having to move on past that relationship.
When she reflected on that she could remember how many times he would say to her, "I can't stand this constant commentary. I can't stand this constant commentary on what I am doing. I am working so hard for you, why can't you acknowledge the work that I am doing?" And he felt so rejected, unaccepted, he felt unloved. But she continued to blame him saying, "You are avoiding me. You don't want to communicate with me, etc." The marriage did fall apart.
20 years later she looks back and she says, "I should have appreciated him more. I should have said nicer things. I shouldn't have nagged him so much. They actually have 3 children. I shouldn't have said nagging things." Now she realized that when she hurt him, she in the end hurt herself. You see, in the end, since we are interconnected bodies, when we do harm other people that are around us, even if it is small thing, over time we end up hurting ourselves.
When I think about the whole story and notion of the connected body -- we can also call it interconnected body -- when I think about interconnected body, or connected body, I think of the story of Joseph. He was sold into slavery by his brothers and for many, many years, as you all recall the story, 10 years he was going through so many things in his life. He was in prison for three years, for a crime he didn't even commit. He was in the palace and then in the dungeon. All of a sudden he gained favor from the king and he was made the second most powerful man in all of Egypt, basically that means the second king. He was basically put right under Pharaoh.
And you remember the story when there was a huge famine and all his brothers and sisters ended up coming for food and grain to Egypt. They're from Canaan. They are coming and they are begging for food. "Please help us, we're starving in Canaan." And you remember the story when he sees them. What does he do? As soon as he sees them, he doesn't tell them that he is Joseph. The first thing that he does is ask them about his family, "Who was lost in your family? Do you have a younger brother? What happened to that brother who died?" -- They had said their younger brother died. They were referring to Joseph that they had sold into slavery -- “And what about your father, is he alive and well?" And he put them into prison, as you recall.
Once again: 10 years ago, Joseph's brothers, when they sold him into slavery, never thought he would come back. They never realized that we are connected bodies. Eventually we see that this came back to them. They ended in prison in Egypt.
But Joseph knew that he was a connected body. He had that knowledge, "Wait a minute… I'm interconnected with my brothers. I know if I harm them it's gonna come back to me." And he did the wiser thing. He didn't get revenge on his brothers. He could have done so but he didn't. Remember the story where he says, "Bring your brother Benjamin!" And Benjamin comes. And Joseph says, "Now bring your father." Right before the father comes, he weeps and he breaks down and he tells all his brothers, "Hey, actually I'm Joseph."
And as you recall they had a huge feast. At that time Egyptians and Hebrews didn't sit together but Joseph as the second king sat down with them and he fed them, he served them at the table. They were so surprised! What did he do? He went out of his way. He was the bigger person. He understood the knowledge, the wisdom of being a connected body. He forgave them. He helped them. He gave them food, shelter and, as you recall, big parts of land in Egypt. He gave to them, he blessed them, and by being that better person, by being that more mature person, not seeking revenge, he did help his family. He helped them materially. He helped them emotionally. He helped them spiritually. He ended up having received much more than he gave.
All he wanted was an apology. He got that apology, of course. But he also got something much greater than the apology. He got from his brothers and sisters gratitude, admiration, he got respect. He got love and something even more powerful. By forgiving his brothers, he was able to forgive himself. And that was really an important thing because for 10 years Joseph lived in anger towards his brothers. He was waiting for the day, "When can I get revenge?" I am sure those thoughts passed through his mind a lot. "When can I ever see them again? Now that I am under the Pharaoh, now I can go chase after my brothers and attack them" He could have thought those kinds of things.
But Joseph was able to forgive his brothers and to really help and support them. In the end he was able to forgive himself for all those years of anger; he was able to really free himself from his own pain.
You see, when we understand the notion of a connected body, then when we hurt others, we end up hurting ourselves, we're connected to them. At the same time, the other more beautiful part of this connected body notion is that, when we improve ourselves, we improve those relationships, we offer hope into those relationships. When we improve ourselves, when we become happier, when we become more mature, when we become more successful, more victorious, we become more mature spouses. We become happier brothers to deal with. We become happier parents to deal with, happier children to deal with, etc. To become happier, more mature, more loving, more successful, is in the end, if we do it right, not a selfish activity. When you succeed, then you are able to provide to your connected relationships a happier, a more loving, a more mature and victorious resource, to your spouse, to your parents, to your children, to your brothers and sisters. You see, it is all connected. I really love this notion of a connected body.
If there is anything we can learn today, then it is that notion. In the end, yes it is important to understand our value as individual truth incarnations. We are very precious. We are valuable. It is important to see ourselves with God's eyes. Every morning when you get up, you shouldn't say, "Oh, I had a terrible day yesterday!" The first thing you should say as you get up and see yourself in the mirror is this, "I have divine value, I have cosmic value, I have unique value." Then the problem or the mistake you maybe made yesterday is not so great, and today you can do make it better.
Today you can leave the home with hope. It is important to see ourselves in that light. We are precious individual truth incarnations. We uniquely represent God and True Parents. But at the same time we are connected bodies. That means that we don’t live as islands because we are connected. Because I am my wife's husband. Because I am my children's parent. If I improve myself, I can improve those relationships. If I improve myself, if I empower myself to become happier, more successful, more loving, more empathetic, I offer a better, more happy, more empathetic, more forgiving resource to my brothers, to my sisters, to my spouse, to my child, etc.
When we understand this concept, then we understand that investing in ourselves, developing ourselves, improving ourselves, empowering ourselves, is not a selfish activity. If we only do that, of course, it can become self-consuming. But if we understand the notion of a connected body, if we understand that the more mature we become, the more a mature resource we can be to our loved ones, then we can understand that that is not a selfish but a selfless activity.
Brothers and sisters, if you understand this, then everyday, everyday, when you wake up tell yourself those things. See yourselves with the eyes of God. Envision yourself in a new way. See your relationships in a fresh new way. See your future with new hope.
When you do that, you start to change your future. Your start to change your destiny. You start to do your 5%. You start to move in the direction that God wants to bring you to. If you do that, if we become happier in ourselves, if we invest into ourselves, then also we improve our relationships, then we will be able to offer that to our families, to our nations, to our world. We will offer that back to Almighty God. Brothers and sisters, if we do that I do believe we will find more victory, more illumination and more peace everyday in our lives and we will live that blessed life that True Parents have blessed us to live. If you can receive that let’s give a holy applause to God and True Parents. (Applause)
Thank you so much.
Before we end our service, we always like to include everybody in True Parents family. All you brothers and sisters around the world, that also includes you. Let's turn to them, brothers and sisters, let's turn all of them. Can we turn to the camera back there? All of us let's give a big wave. Let's tell them Sarangheyo (we love you)!!! Yes, we love you, brothers and sisters.
Once again, it is always important to return back. Let's say a brief prayer together.
Heavenly Father, thank you for joining us here this day. We are not only here in this sanctuary Father, but we are connected throughout the world. We have brothers and sisters in Russia, in Africa, Father in Lithuania, in the Arab world. We have brothers and sisters in the Americas, in all of the Asian countries and we are connected to them, Father, this day.
We understand that you have blessed us with being a connected body as well. We understand that we are precious individual truth incarnations. Up to this point, Father, we have made some mistakes. Let us repent that from our hearts deeply at this moment, Father. Let us offer that back up to You and receive Your forgiveness Father. Thank you so much for all that You have done. Please make us the palace of Your peace, the palace of Your love and the palace of Your lineage forever and ever.
We pray this in all our names as blessed central families.
Aju!
Brothers and sisters if we always keep True Parents enthroned in our hearts of glory, we will find more victory, more illumination and more peace than we ever, ever possibly thought.