Deuteronomy 26
26 The Lord is giving you the land, and soon you will conquer it, settle down, 2 and plant crops. And when you begin harvesting each of your crops, the very first things you pick must be put in a basket. Take them to the place where the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped, 3 and tell the priest, “Long ago the Lord our God promised our ancestors that he would give us this land. And today, I thank him for keeping his promise and giving me a share of the land.”
Ecclesiastes 11
7 Nothing on earth is more beautiful than the morning sun. 8 Even if you live to a ripe old age, you should try to enjoy each day, because darkness will come and will last a long time. Nothing makes sense.[c]
9 Be cheerful and enjoy life while you are young! Do what you want and find pleasure in what you see. But don’t forget that God will judge you for everything you do.
10 Rid yourself of all worry and pain, because the wonderful moments of youth quickly disappear.
World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon
Chapter 2
Truth and Universal Law
Duality
Duality is a consistent theme throughout the cosmos. All existing beings display duality or polarity: male and female, light and dark, heaven and earth, mind and body, subject and object, the self and the whole, being and non-being. The dynamic interactions between these poles are a source of generative and creative power. This is seen in the regular cycles of nature, the alternation of day and night, and the changing seasons. Duality is portrayed mythically by the cosmic union of god and goddess, and recognized by science in the electromagnetic interactions that construct atoms and molecules. Some religions, notably Confucianism and Taoism, regard the polarity of yang (masculine) and yin (feminine) as a governing principle of nature, one that can instruct human beings on the proper way of life. Father Moon devotes considerable attention to duality, which he develops into a systematic relational ontology. He observes the interactions in nature and sees in them the basis for the principle of altruism; as giving precedes receiving in all successful relationships. Even the forces of repulsion in nature have the effect of reducing threesomes to twosomes, thus protecting the realm of creative and loving relationships that duality provides. On that basis, he also critiques the Marxist dialectic for teaching a flawed conception of reality, rooted in conflict.
- The Duality of Masculine and Feminine
And all things We have created by pairs, that
you may receive instruction.
Qur’an 51.49
All things are twofold, one opposite the other,
and He has made nothing incomplete.
One confirms the good things of the other,
and who can have enough of beholding His glory?
Ecclesiasticus 42.24-25 (Christianity)
The Originator of the heavens and the earth;
He has appointed for you of yourselves spouses,
and pairs also of the cattle, by means of which
He multiplies you.
Qur’an 42.11
The Great Primal Beginning generates the two pri-
mary forces [yang and yin]. The two primary forces
generate the four images. The four images generate
the eight trigrams. The eight trigrams determine
good fortune and misfortune. Good fortune and
misfortune create the great field of action.
I Ching, Great Commentary 1.11.5-6 (Confucianism)
The Creator, out of desire to procreate, devoted
Himself to concentrated ardor (tapas). Whilst thus
devoted to concentrated ardor, He produced a
couple, Matter and Life (prana), saying to Himself,
“these two will produce all manner of creatures for
me.” Now Life is the Sun; Matter is the Moon.
Prasna Upanishad 1.4-5 (Hinduism)
By the transformation of Yang and its union
with Yin, the five agents arise: water, fire, wood,
metal and earth. When these five forces are dis-
tributed in harmonious order, the four seasons
run their course. The five agents constitute the
system of Yin and Yang, and Yin and Yang con-
stitute one Great Ultimate.
Chou Tun-i, Explanation of the Diagram of the
Great Ultimate (Confucianism)
Mujahid said, “God has created all things in
pairs: He created man and woman, heaven and
earth, sun and moon, night and day, light and
dark, mankind and jinn, good and evil, morning
and evening, also all different kinds of foods and
winds and sounds. God has made all these as
signs of His greatness.”
Al-Qurtubi, Al-Thuriat Surat 17 (Islam)
So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God he created him; male and female
he created them.
Genesis 1.27
“Male and female He created them.” From this
we learn that every figure that does not com-
prise male and female elements is not a true
and proper figure… Observe this: God does not
place His abode in any place where male and
female are not found together, nor are blessings
found save in such a place.
Zohar 1.55b (Judaism)
All life, all pulsation in creation throbs with the
mighty declaration of the truth of Shiva-Shakti,
the eternal He and the eternal She at play in
manifestation. 11
Kularnava Tantra 3 (Hinduism)
When the upper world was filled and became
pregnant, it brought forth two children together,
a male and a female, these being heaven and
earth after the supernal pattern. The earth is
fed from the waters of heaven which are poured
into it. These upper waters, however, are male,
whereas the lower are female, and the lower are
fed from the male and the lower waters call to
the upper, like a female that receives the male,
and pour out water to meet the water of the
male to produce seed.
Zohar 1.29b (Judaism)
The Innate is twofold, for Wisdom is the woman
and Means is the man. Thereafter these both
become twofold, distinguished as relative and
absolute. In man there is this twofold nature:
the thought of enlightenment [relative] and the
bliss arising from it [absolute]; in woman too it
is the same, the thought of enlightenment and
the bliss arising from it.
Hevajra Tantra 8.26-29 (Buddhism)