Listen to the Richard Urban Show #79:
Cheon Seong Gyeong 371
What do you have to do to be a child of filial piety? You must always align yourself with the direction of your parents’ heart. The one who walks the path of filial piety does not do things separately from his parents. When his parents go east, he should also go east, and when they go west, he should also go west. There should be no question about it. Even if you are told to go a certain way and then to turn back ten times, you hould again turn back and follow your parents. (62-32, 1972.9.10
Self-Control
2. Self-Discipline: Training the Unruly Beast Within
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
The human conscience is the faculty of mind that represents God. It does not exist for your sake, but for the righteousness of Heaven. The conscience always strives for goodness. The body rebels against it. The body desires to be comfortable; it is selfish and insatiable to satisfy its instinctive needs. The conscience reproaches such a body and tries to bring it into submission. This is the reason why conflict and struggle arise continually within the self.
The human conscience is the faculty of mind that represents God. It does not exist for your sake, but for the righteousness of Heaven. The conscience always strives for goodness. The body rebels against it. The body desires to be comfortable; it is selfish and insatiable to satisfy its instinctive needs. The conscience reproaches such a body and tries to bring it into submission. This is the reason why conflict and struggle arise continually within the self. World Scripture II V8 013107.ind607 6072/1/2007 3:15:30 PM
Therefore, religions throughout history have taught people methods to strike the body. Religions are training grounds to enable us to control our bodily desires and have the body to surrender to the mind. They train and guide fallen people to become the men and women God intended at the creation. (219:118, August 28, 1991)
“Before you desire to have dominion over the universe, you must first have dominion over yourself”: I regard this as the most important matter. The three requisites for achieving this are to overcome the three enemies: food, sleep and sex. (366:287, January 17, 2002)
Despite every effort at self-cultivation, people are often caught by love. When they respond to the temptation of a handsome man or beautiful woman, they are caught. Human beings cannot claim to have attained self-mastery in matters of love. It is possible for people to control their sexual desire when they become one with God, but as long as they are self-centered they cannot overcome it. Even in movies, when a woman is being raped at first she fights, “No, no!” but once her passion is aroused she embraces the man. The power of love makes people give in to their enemies. (306:196, September 23, 1998)
Due to the Human Fall, love today is basically self-centered. That self-centered love does not originate from the mind, but rather is centered upon the body. The body is where Satan conducts his activities. The body is Satan’s dance hall; it is Satan’s mooring post. The mind represents God’s dwelling place—the subject position. But the body, which should assume the object position, tries to make itself another subject. It continually asserts itself, alluring or deceiving the mind. In human life, it is crucial to correct this relationship.
Therefore, God established religion to restore fallen humans. Through religion God is teaching people how to strengthen their God-centered mind and reverse the body’s dominion over their life and character. That is why religion requires fasting, sacrificial service, and a meek and humble attitude. These are methods to reduce the power of the body and make the body submit to the mind. Normally in religious life it takes about three to five years to overcome the habit of a body-centered life and create a new, spirit-centered way of life. (201:209, April 9, 1990)
When I put myself at the zero point and completely deny myself, at that point my mind and body can achieve perfect unity. (October 21, 2001)
Your goal is for the mind to be in control 100 percent. It is not enough for the mind and body to be 50-50. [After death] such a person will end up in the mid-level spirit world, in a buffer zone. If a person follows the body 60 percent of the time, he will undoubtedly go to hell… Always keep in mind that “I” am the womb that brings forth both good and evil. (37:122, December 23, 1970)
Are God’s mind and body fighting?4 No, they do not fight. How about you? If your mind and body do not become one, you can never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (305:111, April 19, 1999)