We know that the peninsular nations surrounded by sea are where the important civilizations in history blossomed. Many religious beliefs and ideologies emerged from peninsular nations and guided the spiritual realm of humanity. These include the Greek philosophy that began on the Balkan peninsula; the Christian culture that blossomed in the Italian peninsula; the Hindu culture and philosophy of India; the Islamic culture from the Arabian peninsula; the Buddhist culture that bore fruit in the peninsulas of southeast Asia; the art of navigation from the Iberian peninsula; and the Nordic culture from the Scandinavian peninsula. In this way, we can see that the peninsular nations exerted the greatest influence on the cultural history of the world. (279-208, 1996.8.20
Richard: Florida is a peninsula. Governor Ron DeSantis would be a good presidential candidate for 2024. President Trump would be a great vice presidential candidate.
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1084
Did Jesus go through adolescence or not? Did Jesus not also go through adolescence? What kind of adolescence did he have? The one of “thinking of spring” or the one of “the death of spring”? He did not have the kind in which he whistled at girls. He went through adolescence with the character meaning “thinking of spring.” (57-159, 1972.5.31)
Good and Evil
2. Good or Evil Is Determined by the Intention of the Heart
Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man. Matthew 15.19-20
How can activity be good or wicked? That which is performed with good intention is good; and that which is performed with evil intention is wicked… That which purifies the soul or by which the soul is purified, is merit—producing a happy feeling. That which keeps the soul away from good is demerit—producing an unhappy feeling. Pujyapada, Sarvarthasiddhi 6.3 (Jainism)
If a person has no wound in his hand, he may carry poison in it. Poison does not affect him, for he has no wound. There is no ill for him who acts without intent to do wrong. Dhammapada 124 (Buddhism)
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
Originally good and evil started from one point; that one point is love. (26:282, November 10, 1969)
Analyze yourself: you have a dual structure. The conscience is in the position of good, while the body is in the position of evil. (227:46, February 10, 1992)
Good or evil can come to existence depending on the direction and the way of your mind. The direction and way of your mind will make the distinction between good and evil. (37:116, December 23, 1970)
A nation’s constitution, which is inspired by its highest ideals, is the basis for determining right and wrong, good and evil within a nation. Likewise, as regards our own behavior, we need some basis or standard for distinguishing right from wrong. Think about it. How can someone who is always drunk determine whether his drinking is good or bad? He cannot be his own standard. This is the case for all of us. We find all kinds of justifications for everything we do, whether good or bad. How can we judge rightly? Today throughout the world people do many evil things and justify them based on their own way of thinking. Hence, the world is in chaos. This state of affairs will continue as long as there is not a clear and accepted standard of good and evil. There should be one standard, and it should be absolute, unique, eternal and unchanging. (March 1, 1981)
You should be able to look at nature with a mind similar to that of God’s. Such should be your mindset. If there is a flood or streaks of lightning, you should not say things like, “Oh, how I hate that!” God is thinking, “Ha ha, heaven and earth are kissing and mak-ing love!” He tells those who say they do not like it, “Ha ha, you good-for-nothing rascals!” (133-28, 1984.7.1)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1744
Great is the love of the first night of marriage. That is first love. This is the moment a woman offers her body, which she has safeguarded all her life, to her man. This is also the case for the man. On that night, a man offers his chaste body one hundred percent to his wom-an. The lives they led before marriage were all in preparation for that night. (250-97, 1993.10.12)
Good and Evil
HOW CAN ONE DISTINGUISH GOOD FROM EVIL? Are there universal indicators behind, within, or consequent upon an action by which one can determine whether it was a good or an evil act? What is the difference between a good person and an evil person? Good and evil may be distinguished outwardly or inwardly. Some passages distinguish good and evil by their root in the self: good deeds are motivated by the conscience while evil deeds satisfy the body’s desires. Other passages distinguish good and evil by the mind’s purpose and intention. Discerning good and evil may be difficult, however, if we cannot fathom the mind’s intention and there is no clear outward indication to go by. The end of an affair may take time to develop. Here there are passages calling for patience until the matter bears fruit, at which time good and evil will be evident. Father Moon discusses these ways of distinguishing good and evil, but he mainly fixes on an objective standard: goodness is altruistic and seeks to benefit others, while evil is self-centered.
1. Goodness Is Selfless and Altruistic, while Evil Is to Gratify Selfish Desires
Every selfless act, Arjuna, is born from the eternal, infinite Godhead. God is present in every act of service. All life turns on this law, O Arjuna. Whoever violates it, indulging his senses for his own pleasure and ignoring the needs of others, has wasted his life.
Bhagavad-Gita 3.16 (Hinduism)
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (Christianity)
There are among them some who wrong their own souls; some who follow a middle course; and some who are, by Allah’s leave, foremost in good deeds. That is the highest Grace.
Qur’an 35.32
Whosoever seeks, by whatever means, merely the happiness of cyclic existence for personal ends, he is to be understood as a mean person.
Whosoever reverses deeds done from base motives and turns back the happiness of worldly pleasures for the sake of his own liberation, that person is called middling.
Whosoever wishes to eliminate completely the sufferings of others through his own sufferings, that is the excellent person.
Bodhipathapradipa (Buddhism)
Four characters of men: He who says, “What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours”—that is the average type: some say it is the character of Sodom. He who says, “What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine” is undisciplined. He who says, “What is mine is yours and what is yours is yours” is a saint. He who says, “What is yours is mine and what is mine is mine” is wicked. Mishnah, Avot 5.13 (Judaism)
If you, Rahula, are desirous of doing a deed with the body, you should reflect on that deed of your body, thus: “That deed that I am desirous of doing with the body is a deed of my body that might conduce to the harm of self and that might conduce to the harm of others and that might conduce to the harm of both; this deed of body is unskilled, its yield is anguish, its result is anguish.” If you, Rahula, reflecting thus, should find it so, a deed of body like this, Rahula, is certainly not to be done by you.
Majjhima Nikaya 1.415 (Buddhism)
If, for my own sake, I cause harm to others, I shall be tormented in hellish realms; But if for the sake of others I cause harm to myself, I shall acquire all that is magnificent. By holding myself in high esteem I shall find myself in unpleasant realms, ugly and stupid; But should this [attitude] be shifted to others I shall acquire honors in a joyful realm. If I employ others for my own purposes I myself shall experience servitude, But if I use myself for the sake of others I shall experience only lordliness. Shantideva, Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life 8.126-128 (Buddhism)
The gods and the demons, both having the Creator as their origin, were rivals of each other. So the demons, swollen with pride, said, “In what, pray, should we place the oblation?” And they proceeded to place the oblation in their own mouths. The gods then proceeded to place their oblations each in the mouth of one of his fellows. And the Creator gave Himself over to them.
Satapatha Brahmana 5.1.1.1-2 (Hinduism)
It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.
It is not God who gives birth to children but the True Parents, and the couple standing in the position of the parents of horizontal true love is the Unification Church’s True Parents. They are the parents with horizontal love standing at a right angle before God, the True Parent with vertical love. Hence, the love of both sets of parents is necessary. On one hand is the Parent, the Creator, and on the other hand are the physical parents created as the objects of God in pursuit of the ideal. With God in the position of the spiritual Parent and the True Parents in the position of the physical parents, human beings were supposed to be born at the center of both vertical and horizontal loves to allow for the fulfillment of this essential aspect of humanity
Cheon Seon Gyeong 446
Parents should be the head of the family and teachers should be the head of the educational institutions which represent society. Parents raise you by giving you milk thereby assisting your physical development as well as helping you emotionally. Then what is school for? It trains you for your future life in society. If the family is the training ground of the emotions, then school is the experimental training ground of society. But society is not where training ends. Where does it end? It ends with the nation. The nation has a president. Why is it that people miss the president and want to be near him? When they have experienced everything, from the family to the society, they go on to the next lev-el. The president is the fruit of the third stage after the formation and growth stages. A seed divides, sends roots down and a shoot up, and then, through circulatory action, growth begins. After such division comes a synthesis when flowers and fruit are produced
Decision
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
“I” am the crossing point of good and evil. (109:268, November 2, 1980)
We live in a world where good and evil confront each other. Good and evil each pulls our divided mind and body. Evil pulls us toward evil, and good pulls us toward good. Human beings stand midway between these two opposing forces; they become good or evil depending on which way they travel from the center line. You are wandering back and forth across this line. (36:55, November 15, 1970)
If the first human ancestors had not fallen but had reached perfection and become one in heart with God, then they would have lived relating only with God. However, due to their Fall, they joined in a kinship of blood with Satan, which compelled them to deal with him as well… they found themselves in the midway position—a position between God and Satan where they were relating with both. As a consequence, all their descendants are also in the midway position…
How does God separate Satan from fallen people who stand in the midway position? Satan relates with them on the basis of his connection with them through lineage. Therefore, until people make a condition through which God can claim them as His own, there is no way God can restore them to the heavenly side. On the other hand, Satan acknowledges that God is the Creator of human beings. Unless Satan finds some condition through which he can attack a fallen person, he also cannot arbitrarily claim him for his side. Therefore, a fallen person will go to God’s side if he makes good conditions and to Satan’s side if he makes evil conditions. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Restoration 1.1)
How do we cross over the dividing line between good and evil? Good abides where we live for others and evil abides where we live centered on ourselves. If we look within, our [original] mind always tries to lead us towards good thought and a good direction. It says, “Serve others. Have an affectionate heart for others. Sacrifice for others. Live for others.” Such is the path of goodness. (65:14, November 13, 1972)
If you act as your body desires, you are connected to hell. On the other hand, if you act as your mind wishes, you are connected to the Kingdom of Heaven. You alone are the dividing line between the Kingdom of Heaven and hell. (214:283, February 3, 1991)
Do you know what spiritual food is? Even when you are hungry, if you have to choose between spiritual food and physical food, you should feel that spiritual food is tastier than physical food. Then you can survive and stand on the side of God. Living your life based on spiritual power should be much more appetizing than the taste of life lived with physical power. (131:211, May 4, 1984)
Looking back at my youth, I remember how serious I was. I was at the point of deciding what to do with the rest of my life. At that crossroad, I knew that I should not let humanistic concerns determine my decision. Instead I concluded that I had to make my decision in accordance with God’s Will. (211:134, December 30, 1990)
If I had not taken this path, surely I would be a powerful and respected man in some secular field. I would be recognized for my intelligence. I have the ability; I could have risen to leadership in my nation. Yet, instead, I chose a life filled with tears and sorrows. Ever since I came to know God, I have shed tears for Him.
Do you think I am not capable of avoiding persecution? Yet I endure and tolerate the persecution because I know God’s situation—He has gone through far greater tribulations than mine. Do you think that when I was a young man I did not have any personal dreams and ambitions? I certainly had great ambition and dreams. But once I decided to go this way I cut them off, and ever since I have never nursed any personal ambition. That is how I could become who I am today. (God’s Will and the World, May 1, 1977)
When you go to the spirit world, you arrive at the Kingdom of Heaven centering on God. This kingdom is our original homeland. Is not God our original Father? Adam and Eve are God’s incarnations. Since they are horizontal parents with God as the vertical Parent, when people discard their horizontal bodies and vertically return to their hometowns, they live attending God, the eternal king. Who is the king? Had Adam and Eve not fallen, they would have become monarchs of love who, by perfecting themselves as God’s incarnations would fulfill their portions of responsibility, connecting the realms of direct and indirect dominion on earth through God’s love. Then God would live in the hearts of Adam and Eve, and the spirits of Adam and Eve would become God’s body. They would become one body. Together, they would share and breathe divine and human love eternally.
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1137
Fallen people became false beings; therefore they need to receive grafts. From the standpoint of lineage, your ancestor is someone other than God. Why could you become only His adopted children? It is because you have a different father and mother. Hence, it is logical to conclude that the Fall has to do with lineage. What is the Fall? It means inheriting the wrong lineage. It is correct to say that human beings fell due to false love. That is why the assertion made by the Unification Church that human beings fell due to love, cannot be denied. It is written in the Bible that Adam and Eve fell by eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and fell, isn’t it? Do you know what that fruit was? Was it a fruit at all? Was it a fruit that can be blown down by the wind and roll on the ground? It was not. Satan entered minds of Adam and Eve and became one with them, so they inherited Satan’s lineage. Why can God, who has so much love, not forgive Satan? Jesus said that everybody, even murderers and robbers can be forgiven, once they believe in him. Then why can Satan not be forgiven? It is because he defiled the lineage of humankind. What does that mean? From God’s point of view, Satan is the adulterer, the one who violated His love. (156-226, 1966.5.25
Decision
THE MORAL LIFE IS A PURPOSEFUL LIFE; it requires a Decision. People do not become good automatically; those who just drift through life are liable to drown in its evil currents. At every turn we encounter two paths, the better and the worse, and it is our responsibility to choose between them. The scriptures describe it as a decision between life and death, between the narrow gate and the broad road, or between two masters. Father Moon teaches that each person stands in the midway position, pulled in two directions by the opposing powers of good and evil. It is a contest between God, who speaks to us through the conscience, and Satan, who prompts us to satisfy our self-centered desires. Under these difficult circumstances, it is up to each of us to choose our path and keep to it.
Man always stands at the crossroads of good and evil. Precepts 18 (Perfect Liberty Kyodan)
Both the good and the pleasant present themselves to a man. The calm soul examines them well and discriminates. Yea, he prefers the good to the pleasant; but the fool chooses the pleasant out of greed and avarice. Katha Upanishad 1.2.2 (Hinduism)
Surely, the path that leads to worldly gain is one, and the path that leads to Nibbana is another; understanding this, the bhikkhu, the disciple of the Buddha, should not rejoice in worldly favors, but cultivate detachment. Dhammapada 75 (Buddhism)
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6.24
God puts forth a parable: A man belonging to many partners at variance with each other, and a man belonging entirely to one master: are those two equal in comparison? Qur’an 39.29
Behold, I [Moses] set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the lord your God, which I command you this day, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods. Deuteronomy 11.26-28
Hear with your ears that which is the sovereign good; With a clear mind look upon the two sides Between which each man must choose for himself, Watchful beforehand that the great test may be accomplished in our favor.
Now at the beginning the twin spirits have declared their nature, The better and the evil, In thought and word and deed. And between the two The wise ones choose well, not so the foolish. Avesta, Yasna 30.2-3 (Zoroastrianism)
Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matthew 7.13-14
Evil and good are not equal, even though the abundance of evil may amaze you; so heed God, you men of wits, so that you may prosper! Qur’an 5.100
Have We not given him two eyes, and a tongue and two lips, and pointed out to him the two conspicuous ways? Yet he does not attempt the uphill path. What will make you understand what the uphill path is? It is to free a slave, or to feed in a time of hunger an orphan near of kin or a poor man lying in the dust. Then he is of those who believe, who exhort one another to patience, and exhort one another to mercy.
Qur’an 90.8-17
If by giving up a lesser happiness one may behold a greater one, let the wise man give up the lesser happiness in consideration of the greater happiness.
Dhammapada 290 (Buddhism)
The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.
The kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it.
Had Adam and Eve fulfilled their responsibility before God, He would have blessed them. From the place of this blessing, goodness would have started, and unity of truth, substance and heart been attained. Unity of truth means that when God says, “Do this!” we answer “Yes” and follow and fulfill what He commands us to do. From the perspective of God’s will, Adam and Eve are essentially not two separate beings. Lured by Eve, Adam broke heavenly law and thus they separated; originally, they were united. After unity of truth and substance are attained, unity of heart should be attained. When this happens, we can become as one with God, and He has ventured forth hoping for that day. (15-263, 1965.10.17)
Cheon Seong Gyeong 1514
All the creation would appear beauti-ful in your eyes at the time of your mar-riage, just as it was when God created the universe. The whole of creation, includ-ing you, exists through love. When you realize this, then through that love the fundamental feelings God nurtured at the time of Creation can be re-created and shared with your partner and all forms of existence on earth, all united together as one. In other words, it is pos-sible for you to experience the deepest feelings of God at the time of Creation. You are also a part of the creation who inherited every ideal conceived by God when He created the universe. If you were to pull true love towards yourself, heaven and earth would also be drawn towards you. Even the furthest things would be drawn to you if they were pulled by true love, and things nearby could be sent far away by the power of true love. (216-192, 1991.3.31)
Cultivating the Good
2. Good Leads to More Good, while Neglecting the Good Leads to Evil
Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon
We can become good only if our body obediently follows our mind, which directs us towards goodness. All too often, however, our body rebels against the mind’s direction, repeating by analogy Cain’s murder of Abel. This is how evil grows within us. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Foundation 1.2)
People who only go to church on Sunday without making any effort to pursue God’s Will are very dull. They are too numb to know the difference between good and evil, even if others admonish them. They are used to taking each day for granted, just repeating the daily routine. Such people do not make spiritual progress; they remain in the same place. After wasting their lives like this for 10 years or more, the day comes when they look back on their past with shame and regret, realizing, “My position is so far below what it could have been.” (89:231-32, December 1, 1976)
People’s original desire is to avoid evil and pursue goodness. Our [original] mind is always running to promote goodness and eliminate evil from our world; however, through personal experience, we are well aware of our evil mind, which strongly opposes or distorts the good mind. The stronger we uphold our good mind, to that degree we confront our evil mind. Although our good mind prompts us to head toward a certain goal, it is often hard to see it clearly. Then our motivation falters. Feeling distant from the goal, there is nothing to stimulate our good mind to continue on the path. On the other hand, there is never any lack of stimulation for the evil mind. Each step on the road to evil links us to ever more evil. Considering this, people who have a mind to pursue a life of truth and goodness perforce find themselves isolated and beset with sorrows. (36:51-52, November 15, 1970)
