Cheon Seong Gyeong 2249
If parents, motivated by true love, invest in and sacrifice themselves infinitely for their children, those children will feel infinite gratitude for having received this true love and their parents will experience great joy in place of their sacrifice. In this way, the power of sacrificial true love initiates a give and take action that establishes an eternal relationship of joy and peace in the true family and world. It is here that the ideal world of eternal life is manifested.
On the other hand, the family, nation and world that lack such true love are nothing more than an empty shell, and will become the breeding grounds of all manner of distrust, animosity, and immorality.
It is in the true family that our pure, true love grows and is perfected. The true family is the initial stage on which true parental love, true conjugal love, true filial love and true fraternal love are put into practice, and jointly grow to fruition. The true family is the fundamental nucleus of a peaceful world, for it is here that we learn about God’s true love through true parental love; it is here that we are trained by means of true fraternal love to acquire true universal love for the true nation and for all people of the true world. Not only that, but the true family is the basic unit of historical connection, for it is through true love being handed down from parent to child that the generations of past, present, and future are connected together in a consistent value system of true love. (288-199, 1997.11.28)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 766
Our life is too short. Ten years can pass and we are barely aware of it. Everything will be decided within thirty years after your marriage. In this way, the path of life does not wait for you. It is busy going on its own way. We all have to die some day. Do you think you won’t die? Can you be sure that you won’t die? You have to die. Where do you go after death? Do you know that there is a spirit world? I am staking my entire life on this work because of the spirit world – because I know the spirit world – even as I manage the entire world. Life on this earth is but an instant. It is like the ten months you spend in your mother’s womb. (143-333, 1986.3.21)
Society
Exemplary Leadership
2. A Leader Strives to Be a True Parent, a True Teacher and a True Owner
Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher, no drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, and no lover of money. He must manage his own household well, keeping his children submissive and respectful in every way; for if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God’s church?
1 Timothy 3.2-5
Heaven and Earth are the father and mother of all things. Men are the sensibility of all things. It is telling the truth, thinking well, and seeing things clearly that make the principal ruler. The principal ruler is father and mother to the common people.
Book of History 5.1.1: The Great Declaration (Confucianism)
What is meant by saying that “in order to establish moral order in his state, one must first guide his family properly” is this: One cannot convince others of what he cannot convince the members of his own family. Therefore the wise governor does not need to go beyond his family in order to find the principles needed for governing his state. Here he finds his own son’s respectful obedience to his father, with which a governor should be served; affection for one’s relatives, with which higher officials should be treated; and paternal kindness, with which all people should be regarded.
Great Learning 9.1 (Confucianism)
Heaven, earth and man are the basis of all creatures. Heaven gives them birth, earth nourishes them, and man brings them to completion… The enlightened and worthy ruler, being of good faith, is strictly attentive to the three bases.
His sacrifices are conducted with utmost reverence; he makes offerings to and serves his ancestors; he advances brotherly affection and encourages filial conduct. In this way he serves the basis of Heaven.
He personally grasps the plough handle and ploughs a furrow, plucks the mulberry himself and feeds the silkworms, breaks new ground to increase the grain supply and opens the way for a sufficiency of clothing and food. In this way he serves the basis of earth.
He sets up schools for the nobles and in the towns and villages to teach filial piety and brotherly affection, reverence and humility. He enlightens the people with education and moves them with rites and music. Thus he serves the basis of man.
Tung Chung-shu, Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals (Confucianism)
Those who in ancient times invented writing drew three lines and connected them through the middle, calling the character “king” (王). The three lines are Heaven, earth and man, and that which passes through the middle joins the principles of all three. Occupying the center of Heaven, earth and man, passing through and joining all three— if he is not a king, who can do this?
Thus the king is but the executor of Heaven… He patterns his actions on its commands and causes the people to follow them… The highest humanity rests with Heaven, for Heaven is humaneness itself. It shelters and sustains all creatures, transforms them and brings them to birth, nourishes them and completes them…
Since man receives his life from Heaven, he must also take from Heaven its humaneness and himself be humane. Therefore he reveres Heaven and knows the affections of father and son, brother and brother; he has a heart of trust and faithfulness, compassion and mercy; he is capable of acts of decorum and righteousness, modesty and humility; he can judge between right and wrong, between what accords with and what violates duty. His sense of moral order is brilliant and deep, his understanding is great, encompassing all things.
Only the way of man can form a triad with Heaven. Heaven’s will is constantly to love and benefit, its business to nourish and bring to age, and spring and autumn, winter and summer are the instruments of its will. The will of the king is likewise to love and benefit the world, and his business to bring peace and joy to his time; and his love and hate, his joy and anger, are his instruments… Therefore the great concern of the ruler lies in diligently watching over and guarding his heart, that his loves and hates, his angers and joys may be displayed in accordance with right, as the mild and cool, the cold and hot weather come forth in proper season.
Tung Chung-shu, Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals (Confucianism)