Cheon Seong Gyeong 1296
Since God is the substance of true love, when one is connected to true love, everyone becomes part of the one body. Parents are living gods representing God, the husband and wife represent two halves of God, and the sons and daughters are small gods. A family structure formed of three generations centering on true love in this manner is the basis of the Kingdom of Heaven. Without achieving such a basis, the Kingdom of Heaven cannot be established. The family is the center of the universe. The perfection of the family is the basis for the perfection of the universe. So, if you love the universe as you love your family, you can be welcome wherever you go. In this case, God stands in the central position of multi-faceted love as the parent of the whole universe. (298-306, 1999.1.17)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1738
3.2.3. The root of true lineage: God
Were it not for the Fall, God would have become the internal Father and Mother, and Adam and Eve the external father and mother. As the sons and daughters of the internal Parent, human beings should have been born inheriting the seed of love. However, due to the Fall centering on the love of Satan, they inherited his love, life and lineage. (223-234, 1991.11.10)
Tradition
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Goodness is not realized instantly. If we are to be good people, we have to inherit from the past. This is why we need education. We need to go to a school and learn. What should we learn? Throughout history, those who have sacrificed to pave the way for goodness did not have an easy life. We should inherit the spirit of those who made sacrifices in the past. (50:101, November 6, 1971)
For a nation to prosper, it should preserve the inheritance of history. Young children absorb stories from the elderly and enjoy folktales. Like the new buds that receive sap from the tree, children should inherit all the historical essence of their culture.
Though children may be crying with runny noses, if you say you will tell them a fairy tale, they immediately stop crying and wait for the story to begin. They truly enjoy listening to it. Why? It is because they desire to inherit history. It is a principle of heaven and earth. (28:188, January 11, 1970)
What should each nation’s history textbook contain to properly educate its citizens? It should gather accounts of the lives of those citizens who sacrificed the most for their nation. The people discussed in the textbook should be the rulers and good people who sacrificed and suffered for the sake of the people. Among them should be some who gave their lives. (65:216, November 19, 1972)
There are many traditions that bind together families and nations, but only a tradition based on love can unite them eternally. It can even unite the world. What kind of love? It must be a love that longs for eternity. In the family, this is none other than parental love. Parental love is not the love of the moment. It becomes an eternal inheritance of children, from generation to generation.
Don’t parents want to pass on their tradition completely and see it develop? Hence when parents educate their children, they tell them, “You should be better than me.” They say, “Become a better person! You should be better than me in at least one thing.”
Parents even compel their children to strive in this way, and there is nothing wrong in it. They constantly pay attention to their children and encourage them to fulfill that expectation. They do not let their children do whatever they please. Not at all! They push them to go in directions not of their own choosing, for their benefit. They make sacrifices for them so that children will turn out to be better than they are. (95:49, October 23, 1977)
You are inheriting as a free gift all the foundations I have fought to establish throughout my life. However, that is not enough. You should inherit my tradition of practice. You should inherit my way of dying and living as your tradition.
Not only that, you should also teach this tradition to others. Teach it to your children, your husbands and your wives. For example, it is my tradition that husbands and wives should respect and praise each other, saying, “My husband is a great person; my wife is a great person.” A married couple that practices this tradition will educate their children to do the same. (113:303-04, May 10, 1981)