Cheon Seong Gyeong 2265
The family that liberates God from His sorrow is His family. God’s abode of rest is in the family formed by people with the qualification of the first son and husband that can love more than all his other brothers. The mission of Blessed Families in the Unification Church is to create the realm of the Sabbath where they, as parents, would want to welcome even beggars as their own children to live with them. Do not forget your destiny as blessed couples to fulfill this mission. (295-245, 1998.8.28)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1245
What would life have been like if woman had not been created to stand before man in the Garden of Eden? It is a universal truth that women exist. It is a miracle of miracles that both men and women exist. If one existed without the other, it would be the same as having no existence at all. That would be the end of humanity. The Blessing of the Unification Church should be understood and appreciated in this context.
Once you meet your spouse, that relationship will last forever. You must be thankful for the original love between husband and wife, which you cannot buy even if you offered the universe or God Himself. You must also be strong and bold. Those who have tasted the true love of the Unification Church will be followed by the light of love wherever they go. You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven if you do not love humanity and the whole universe, centering on true love. (Blessing – 287)
Society
Equality
SCRIPTURES OF ALL FAITHS PROCLAIM THE EQUALITY of all people: rich and poor, black and white, men and women, from the East and from the West. Yet this lofty ideal is rarely matched in practice. Operating from our limited cultural perspectives, we are prone to treat people who seem alien or different with discrimination and prejudice. Even in democratic societies that proclaim equality as a central principle, racial and cultural prejudices are still widespread.
What is the basis of equality? First, the Abrahamic faiths ground equality in our common origin in God the creator and in our common parentage from Adam and Eve. Next, there are ethical and legal provisions to treat all people equally. Third is recognition that all people regardless of their race or class are equally capable of achieving enlightenment and self-realization. In Father Moon’s view, however, none of these are sufficient for the attainment of true equality. True equality must be grounded in divine love and its practice by living for the sake of others. His ultimate prescription for bridging the gulf between races and cultures: interracial and intercultural marriage, where all prejudices are burned up in the fire of love.
- The Basis of Equality in Descent from Common Parents,
Common Humanity, and Potential for Divinity
Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?
Malachi 2.10
O Mankind, fear your Lord, who created you of a single soul,
and from it created its mate,
and from the pair of them scattered abroad many men and women
Qur’an 4.1
But a single man [Adam] was created for the sake of peace among mankind, that none should say to his fellow, “My father was greater than your father.”
Mishnah, Sanhedrin 4.5 (Judaism)
It is beyond the shadow of a doubt that every real man… however unusual to us may be the shape of his body, or the color of his skin, or the way he walks, or the sound of his voice, and whatever the strength, portion or quality of his natural endowments, is descended from the single first-created man.
Saint Augustine, City of God 15.8 (Christianity)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Galatians 3.28
I look upon all creatures equally; none are less dear to me and none more dear.
Bhagavad-Gita 9.29 (Hinduism)
The souls of all people are equal, whether they live on the high mountains or at the bottoms of the valleys.
Ofudesaki 13.45 (Tenrikyo)
Confucius said, “In education there are no class distinctions.”
Analects 15.38 (Confucianism)
All those who take refuge in me, whatever their birth, race, sex, or caste, will attain the supreme goal; this realization can be attained even by those whom society scorns.
Bhagavad-Gita 9.32-33 (Hinduism)
I do not call him a brahmin merely because he is born of a brahmin womb or sprung from a brahmin mother. Being with impediments, he should address others as “sir.” But he who is free from impediments, free from clinging—him I call a brahmin.
Dhammapada 396 (Buddhism)
“You are a native of Kwangtung, a barbarian. How can you expect to be a Buddha?” asked the Patriarch.
Hui Neng replied, “Although there are northern men and southern men, north and south make no difference to their Buddha-nature. A barbarian is different from Your Holiness physically, but there is no difference in our Buddha-nature.”
Sutra of Hui Neng 1 (Buddhism)