Category: Declarations

We Marry to Resemble God

Strengthening Families and Communities Forum:
#111-Jamal Johnson; Having Sex Outside of Marriage Is Bad for Society

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1187

The Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages signifies that the historical course of vertical indemnity and the course of horizontal indemnity that went through the stages of individual, family, people, nation, and the world. That is the vertical and horizontal courses consisting of eight stages are completed. Due to this, the right of eldest son has been restored, and the course of indemnity for all humanity is abolished. That is what I have done by holding this ceremony. The right of the eldest son is restored; the Parents are embracing all humankind. Thus, an end is brought to the history of war and struggle that was necessary in order for the right of the eldest son to be restored in the realm of parental love. The time has come when indemnity is not needed and we can reach harmony in love. In order to achieve this, I had to hold the Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages. By holding this ceremony, the Parents forgave both the elder and the younger son, so that next we can enter the age of the realm of forgiveness for the fallen parents. (193-173, 1989.10.3)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2761

Where are we ultimately destined to go? We will go to the spirit world. What does that mean? Usually it is taken to mean the world after death, but this is not accurate. Why should it not be regarded as the world after death? It is because the spirit world is directly related with love. Since that world is related with love, it is not actually the world after death. The spirit world begins based on true love. Thus, when we stand within the realm of true love, that very place is the spirit world. The spiritual and physical worlds – these two worlds – become one in love. That’s why love is so magnificent. (144-199, 1986.4.24)

FAMILY

THE BASIC FORM OF LIFE

Conjugal Love

4. Marriage Is a Sacred Partnership, Aligning Two Human Beings with the Divine Image

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

We can solve the fundamental problems of family life by strengthening marriage. Although some religious people regard marriage as sinful, we proclaim it the holiest of states.
    God instituted marriage as the only proper way for a man and a woman to love each other. Furthermore, when a man and a woman become one in marriage, whom do they come to resemble? They resemble God. Indeed, it is only when a man and woman unite in matrimony that they can fully resemble God, who created us in His image male and female. Only then can God dwell with us. (70:76, February 8, 1974)

If you only love as a single person, and do not embark on the path of loving as a husband and wife, your life will end in ruin. Love among single people inevitably breaks apart. It is a lifestyle that damages society and even the world. (111:257, February 22, 1981)

Commonly people think that love is what a man and a woman enjoy together. Yet that kind of love has no root in the past or outlook toward the future; it is merely a phenomenon with no direction. It is selfish love. Selfish love cannot be the source of peace, the basis of unity or the basis for freedom. How can there be peace, unity or freedom where people love each other one day and separate the next? There is no happiness there, only regret; no freedom there, only more obstacles; no unity there, only loneliness. That kind of love leads only to destruction.
    I want you to understand that Satan employs such love as a weapon to destroy the ideals of human life. Using this kind of love as a weapon, Satan is robbing us of true freedom, true peace and true unity. From this perspective, the satanic expression of love is truly God’s adversary. It is a most dreadful sin, a most hated enemy. (104:141, April 29, 1979)

Why do we marry? It is to resemble God. God is the harmonious being of dual characteristics. Man and woman are the divided manifestations of God’s dual characteristics. They have to unite as one body, becoming like a seed, in order to enter God’s original dwelling place.
    To yield good seed, you have to go the way of love. This means that you must be born in love, set love as your goal while growing, make love your aim in life, and walk the path of love. Then you will return to love. (138:99, January 19, 1986)

Why do you have to marry? It is because God exists with dual characteristics. A man and a woman each reflect one of these aspects of divinity. Therefore, they must come together and unite to manifest the fullness of God’s image. That is why marriage is the essential condition for your complete growth in the ideal of human love.

First Be Reconciled to Your Brother

Strengthening Families and Communities Forum-August 28, 2022
#110-Andy Wells-Fighting Transgender Indoctrination and the Sexualization of Children

Study the Exposition of the Divine Principle, the New Truth that all mankind must study.
Make a log in at the Daily Inspiration website to study all of the videos and slides presented at the August 27, 2022 workshop.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1181

The history of six thousand years has unfolded beginning from the individual level to the levels of family, tribe, people, nation and world. The Unification Church goes through eight stages to restore the individual, family, tribe, people, nation, world, universe and finally God’s love. When we pray, we do so focusing on the eight levels, don’t we? “O Heavenly Father, I have fulfilled the restoration of the individual, and fulfilled the restoration of the family…” What that means is that the completion of the restoration of an individual lies within a family, and the completion of the restoration of a family lies within a tribe, the completion of the restoration of a tribe lies within a people, completion of the restoration of a people lies within a nation, the completion of the restoration of a nation lies within the world, the completion of the restoration of the world lies within heaven and earth, and the completion of the restoration of heaven and earth lies within the love of God. It means that everything in heaven and earth should become one, centered on God’s love. (61-75, 1972.8.27)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1566

There are eight stages in indemnity, namely on the levels of the individual, family, tribe, people, nation, world, cosmos and God’s heart. These in turn lead to restoration in those same eight stages. This means that, through the vertical and horizontal courses of indemnity centered on love, everything can safely proceed in any direction. Once this connection with love is made, the sphere that is created is possessed by the domain of love. When this happens, nothing on earth can remain Satan’s possession and he will be banished at once. It will be the end for him. (199-188, 1990.2.16)

FAMILY

THE BASIC FORM OF LIFE

Sibling Love

LOVE AND HARMONY AMONG SIBLINGS is essential for peace in the family. Few matters cause parents more anxiety than quarrels among their children. Yet with the common propensity for sibling rivalry, harmony is not easily kept.
Sibling relations are grounded in parental love. Siblings mirror their parents; hence when parents set a good example in caring for their children, the siblings can readily follow in caring for one another. Furthermore, sibling relations are a young person’s first step to relations in the wider world, with friends and peers. In God’s family, all people are brothers and sisters. Therefore, sibling love should extend to love for all people. Hence scripture’s words about forgiving and reconciling with one’s “brother” apply not only to siblings in the same family, but to brothers and sisters in the family of faith, and ultimately to all men and women in the world.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is
when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
running down upon the beard,
upon the beard of Aaron,
running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life for evermore.
    Psalm 133 Continue reading “First Be Reconciled to Your Brother”

When the Family Declines, Ancient Traditions Are Destroyed

Listen to Dr. Kelly Kohls, founder of the National School Boards Leadership Council, speaking at the Strengthening Families and Communities Forum:
#109-Dr. Kelly Kohls: How to Fix Boards of Education

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1231

In the course of the restoration of Canaan, you must follow me. When wild geese fly across the ocean, they absolutely follow their leader. There are no objections. When he says, “Fly!” all the geese fly. They must follow the leader, no matter how difficult it is, even to the point of death. Until now, you have been doing something similar. However, now that you have arrived at our destination and started giving birth to children, you must care for each other and love each other; you must create one tribe and be proud of it. Such a time must come. I have said that is what we must do now. Until now, it has been a time to move toward the blessed land of Canaan, and now we have come to a settlement age. (115-107, 1981.11.4)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1186

What happened due to the Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages? The right of Right of the parent can be liberated and achieved. Because this time is coming, then, from the position of Parents, I am raising all of you into a position where you can be tribal messiahs. This is to liberate Jesus and Adam’s family from their grief. Through your tribes, you can obliterate the foundation created by the mistake of false parents; in this way, for the first time, hometowns where people were born can be transformed into the hometowns of the heavenly kingdom. (193-214, 1989.10.4)

Family

The Basic Form of Life

2. The Family as the School of Love and Virtue

Lord, give us joy in our wives and children, and make us models for the God-fearing.
    Qur’an 25.74

The moral life of man may be likened to traveling to a distant place: one must start from the s stage. It may also be likened to ascending a height [of public responsibility]: one must begin from the lowest step [one’s family].
    Doctrine of the Mean 15.2 (Confucianism)

If a man does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for God’s church? 1 Timothy 3.5 Continue reading “When the Family Declines, Ancient Traditions Are Destroyed”

Should Young Men and Women Go on Dates?

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2250

What should blessed couples do if they fight? They should call their physical children and then their spiritual children to ask their forgiveness because the former represent Abel and the latter represent Cain. Having gone against the tradition that Cain and Abel should follow, they did not make Cain and Abel unite but did the opposite instead, and therefore must repent before them. Such a time will come. We share a common destiny. When the children do something wrong, they must obtain their parents’ forgiveness. If the husband, their father, does something wrong, he must beg them, and his wife, for forgiveness. This is the true family with true love at the center. (135-38, 1985.8.20)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1186

On August 31, 1989, in Alaska I declared the Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages that allowed humankind to shift into the age when indemnity is no longer needed. This means that wherever I or the believers of the Unification Church go, the age of persecution is over. From now on, if we build the Kingdom of Heaven or do anything we want, no one can accuse us. That kind of foundation was laid by the Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages.

Chastity

3. Is Touching or Even Looking Permitted?

You shall not eat of the fruit… neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
    Genesis 3.3

Offering presents to a woman, romping with her, touching her ornaments and dress, sitting with her on a bed, all these are considered adulterous acts.
    Laws of Manu 8.357 (Hinduism)

You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
    Matthew 5.27-28

The adultery of the eye is the lustful look, and the adultery of the tongue is the licentious speech, and the heart desires and yearns, which the parts may or may not put into effect.
    Hadith of Muslim (Islam)

It is true that you commit no actual crimes; but when you meet a beautiful woman in another’s home and cannot banish her from your thoughts, you have committed adultery with her in your heart. Consider a moment! Would you have sufficient control over yourself to imitate the sage Lu Nantze if you were placed in a similar position? When he once found himself obliged to pass the night in a house whose only other occupant was a woman, he lighted a lamp and read aloud until morning to avoid exposing her to unjust suspicions.
    Treatise on Response and Retribution, Appended Tales (Taoism)

The Buddha said, “Be careful not to look at women and do not talk with them. If you must speak with them, be properly mindful and think, ‘I am a shramana living in a turbid world.25I should be like the lotus flower and not be defiled by the mud.’ Regard old women the way you regard your mother. Regard those who are older than you the way you regard your elder sisters; regard those who are younger than you as your younger sisters, and regard children as your own. Bring forth thoughts to rescue them, and put an end to bad thoughts.”
    Sutra of Forty-two Sections 29 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

In the Western world, men and women shake hands, hold hands and hug each other so casually that they do not feel any special sensation. In the East, however, men and women rarely have physical contact with each other. So if they happen to merely brush against each other, they feel an electric spark. 
    Which is better, for men and women to have frequent physical contact or to refrain from touching until they are fully mature? When the electricity sparks, would you rather it be 50 volts or 100 volts? Therefore, you should wait. What do you think? Should young men and women go on dates, hold hands and kiss each other before marriage? You should wait and refrain from touching until you are fully ripe, like an apple that has turned totally red. Then even at the touch of your partner’s hand you will feel an exciting electrical spark. Yet most American women never experience the full sensation of first love, because having dissipated their electricity, the remaining charge is only at 50 volts or even 30 volts. Now what do you think of American style love?
    Satan uses this and many other methods to invade the realm of high-intensity love. To a pure teenage boy, a girl is like a palace of mysteries. Likewise, to a pure teenage girl, a boy is like a palace of mysteries. But these days, where is the mystery? Boys and girls behave like animals. They love each other like cats and dogs, without any vertical love. (125:103, March 13, 1983)
 
The religious life is one in which your conscience tortures your body until it surrenders. Once the flesh is completely dead, your conscience should occupy it so it can never come back to life again. Thus, the mind must dominate the flesh.
    Therefore, you should turn your habitual way of seeing inside out and see straight. Your eyes, which have been looking at things 180 degrees opposite the way they ought to, should now turn 180 degrees opposite their former way of seeing. Whereas, before, when you were on the satanic side you looked through the left eye, now you should look through the right eye. In other words, your eyes, which could not see properly because they were 180 degrees off, should be united with your conscience and return to their original place, coming back to the right side after having rotated 360 degrees. From that time on, your eyes are welcome to view anything because you see with the eyes of the original mind. (261:303-04, July 24, 1994)
 
 

We Acquire Virtues by First Actually Practicing Them

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1645

Even the microorganisms, which practice their own forms of love, take pride in the fact that they were also created to play their part within the same realm of the ideal of creation, which is represented by the universal pair system. They are proud of the fact that although you are big and they are small, if they can unite with you and give you a part of themselves, they are more than willing to share themselves with you for eterni-ty. They are different from fallen human beings. The creation of one chemical substance signifies that the plus and the minus elements have found and become one with each other. How silly human beings are by comparison! They are in fact essentially disharmonious, and this is the problem. (209-189, 1990.11.29)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1187

The Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages signifies that the historical course of vertical indemnity and the course of horizontal indemnity that went through the stages of individual, family, people, nation, and the world. That is the vertical and horizontal courses consisting of eight stages are completed. Due to this, the right of eldest son has been restored, and the course of indemnity for all humanity is abolished. That is what I have done by holding this ceremony. The right of the eldest son is restored; the Parents are embracing all humankind. Thus, an end is brought to the history of war and struggle that was necessary in order for the right of the eldest son to be restored in the realm of parental love. The time has come when indemnity is not needed and we can reach harmony in love. In order to achieve this, I had to hold the Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages. By holding this ceremony, the Parents forgave both the elder and the younger son, so that next we can enter the age of the realm of forgiveness for the fallen parents. (193-173, 1989.10.3)

Cultivating the Good

GOODNESS REQUIRES EFFORT. Since evil infests our world and infects our minds and bodies, we mostly find it difficult to do the right thing. Hence, to become a genuinely good person requires sustained effort at self-cultivation. Aristotle writes that cultivating good character is like learning an art or a skill. If a person makes continual efforts to practice good deeds over a long period, he will form good habits. Good habits cultivated over many years leads to the formation of good character. The human spirit is like a field that must be sowed, cultivated and weeded every day if it is to bear a good crop.
If people do not attend to goodness but tolerate small faults, over time they will develop bad habits that become progressively more ingrained. Thus good begets good, while evil begets evil. Father Moon reminds us that because the propensity for evil is highly developed in fallen people, we must be actively engaged in efforts to do well; as even simple neglect can lead to our downfall.

1. Cultivating the Good through a Lifetime of Practice

Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one’s mind—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
    Dhammapada 183 (Buddhism)
 
The virtues we acquire by first having actually practiced them, just as we do the arts. We learn an art or craft by doing the things that we shall have to do when we have learnt it: for instance, men become builders by building houses, harpers by playing on the harp. Similarly we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.
    Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 2.1.4 (Hellenism)
 
Carefully uphold the proper norms of conduct, and imitate them day and night so that there will not be a moment’s neglect or cessation. After a time, we become familiar with them, and then we no longer need to imitate them but can make our own standard.
    Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
 
Gain: The superior man, seeing what is good, imitates it;
Seeing what is bad, he corrects it in himself.
    I Ching 42 (Confucianism
 
Whatever you would make habitual, practice it; and if you would not make a thing habitual, do not practice it, but habituate yourself to something else.
    Epictetus (Hellenism)
 
Engage in Torah and charity even with an ulterior motive, for the habit of right doing will lead also to right motivation.
    Talmud, Pesahim 50b (Judaism)
 
By degrees, little by little, from time to time, a wise person should remove his own impurities as a smith removes the dross from silver.
    Dhammapada 239 (Buddhism)
 
By sustained effort, earnestness, discipline, and self-control, let the wise man make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm.
    Dhammapada 25 (Buddhism)
 
Study of Torah leads to precision, precision to zeal, zeal to cleanliness, cleanliness to restraint, restraint to purity, purity to holiness, holiness to meekness, meekness to fear of sin, fear of sin to saintliness, saintliness to the holy spirit, and the holy spirit to life eternal.
    Talmud, Aboda Zara 20b (Judaism)
 
This Atman, resplendent and pure, whom sinless disciples behold residing within the body, is attained by unceasing practice of truthfulness, austerity, right knowledge and continence.
    Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.5 (Hinduism)
 
Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    2 Peter 1.5-8
 
Maintaining your self-cultivation for a long time will gradually lead to a congenial spirit; a congenial spirit will find one tender, generous, amiable, and agreeable. Anyone who hopes for this must eliminate his ill feelings and break up his anger, and be free of the adversity which invites opposition and attracts indignation. Personal and thorough investigation for a long time will gradually lead to the clarification of principle; perfect understanding will find one able to passively influence others without openly criticizing them. Anyone who heeds this will be well-informed and influential, and free of the worry of rising up in contention and being rejected.
    Even more must we actively observe the principles of things and deeply investigate our basic feelings; personally experience these things through your own faculties, carefully think about them through time—do these things and you will be free of the errors of bias and deceit. It is important that in all matters you always check your power of learning. If there should be any hindrances or irregularities probe deeply until you discover the malady and then root it out.
    Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
 
“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil; and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”…
    And he said to [his disciples], “Do you not understand this parable? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them. And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” \
    Mark 4.3-20