Category: Cheon Seong Gyeong

He Who Has Laid Aside the Cudgel, Him I Call A Brahmin

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1746

After getting married, the place where husband and wife share true love is the origin of the love, life and lineage of God and humankind. This palace is the start-ing point of God’s Ideal, His kingdom on earth and in heaven. The children born of this true love then achieve conjugal oneness by focusing on true love, form a family that attends God, and become the starting point of peace and the ideal. Man and woman, who are only halves by themselves, unite and complete the ideal love of God as His object partners. (259-45, 1994.3.27)

Richard: The Messiah, Lord of the Second Advent, or returning Lord is the very person, and couple, who teach about absolute sexual ethics; the true role of absolute, unchanging husband-wife love.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1254

Do you like flowers that have no fragrance? People are not so inspired by flowers that do not have any fragrance. Would you claim, “If I were ever to become a flower, I would become a green one”? Have you ever seen a green flower? I have visited many botanical gardens, and I have never seen a green flower. A flower the same color as the leaves would be completely useless. From this you can see that the laws of nature go beyond our comprehension. The example of the green flower is enough to convince you that there is a God. All the leaves in the world are green, so would there be a need for green flowers as well? I have seen only one flower that is sort of green-ish. It is the pepper blossom, but when you look at it more closely, it is actually not green. From the contextual point of view, there are many colors, including red. The color of the flower is differ-ent from the color of the leaves so that they stand out, and when they stand out, they become a part of the harmony in the world of creation. They must stand out to comply with the laws of creation in the harmony of the universe. Our understanding of marriage is so much more magnificent. You cannot help but wonder at the greatness of the Unification Church’s views on marriage. (113-33, 1981.4.26)

Buddhism

Father Moon has the highest respect For Buddhism, a religion that has deeply influenced the culture of his native Korea. he regards the Buddhist teaching and practice of self-denial is at the summit of world religious teachings for recovering our true original self from the mire of our fallen condition. to reach that state of emptiness, what Father Moon calls the “zero point,” is true enlightenment.
In Father Moon’s view Buddhism is lacking two essential points: knowledge of a personal God and full comprehension of the ideal of true love. nevertheless, it was God who taught the buddha and set up Buddhism to give light to the orient. people of all faiths can learn much from Buddhism, particularly about the way of self-denial to overcome false ego and uncover the true self.

1. The Values of Buddhism

The best of paths is the Eightfold Path. The best of truths are the Four Noble Truths. Non-attachment is the best of mental states. The best of human beings is the Seeing One.

This is the only Way. There is no other that leads to the purity of insight. You should follow this path, for this is what bewilders Mara.

Embarking upon that path, you will make an end of pain. I have declared this path after having learned the way for the removal of thorns.
    Dhammapada 273-75

Not by matted hair, nor by family, nor by birth does one become a Brahmin. But in whom there exist both truth and righteousness, pure is he, a Brahmin is he.

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.

He who realizes here in this world the destruction of his sorrow, who has laid the burden aside and is emancipated—him I call a Brahmin.

He who has laid aside the cudgel in his dealings with beings, whether feeble or strong, who neither harms nor kills—him I call a Brahmin.
 
He who is friendly among the hostile, who is peaceful among the violent, who is unattached among the attached—him I call a Brahmin.
 
In whom lust, hatred, pride, and detraction are fallen off like a mustard seed from the point of a needle—him I call a Brahmin.
    Dhammapada 393, 396, 402, 405-07
 
Even ornamented royal chariots wear out. So too the body reaches old age. But the Dhamma of the Good grows not old. Thus do the Good reveal it among the Good.
    Dhammapada 151
 
What, brethren, is causal happening?
    “Conditioned by rebirth is decay and death.”
    Whether, brethren, there be an arising of Tathagatas or whether there be no such arising, this nature of things just stands, this causal status, this causal orderliness, the relatedness of this to that.
    Samyutta Nikaya 2.25
 
I pay homage to the Perfection of Wisdom! She is worthy of homage. She is unstained; the entire world cannot stain her. She is a source of light, and from everyone in the triple world she removes darkness, and she leads away from the blinding darkness caused by the defilements and by wrong views. In her we can find shelter. Most excellent are her works. She makes us seek the safety of the wings of Enlightenment. She brings light to the blind; she brings light so that all fear and distress may be forsaken… She is the mother of the Bodhisattvas, on account of the emptiness of her own marks. As the donor of the jewel of all the Buddha-dharmas she brings about the ten powers [of a Buddha]. She cannot be crushed. She protects the unprotected, with the help of the four grounds of self-confidence. She is the antidote to birth-and-death. She has a clear knowledge of the own-being of all dharmas, for she does not stray away from it. The Perfection of Wisdom of the Buddhas, the Lords, sets in motion the Wheel of the Law.  Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines 7.1
 
 
 

Shamans Are Possessed by Servant-Level Spirits

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2220

We believe in God who wants to realize one world, a world of one purpose. Since God is Jehovah and Lord of all nations, and the center of all centers, when we face Him from afar, we want to be His loyal subjects. We were born for this duty and responsibility. Understand that as we draw near to Him, He becomes our Father to whom we owe the duty of filial piety as His sons and daughters. That is our priority. Only when you have lived like that can you say to God, “If you want to send me to hell, send me there. If you want to send me to Heaven, send me there. Do as you please.” Nobody went to hell after living like that. (154-314, 1964.10.5)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1189

Cain represents Satan’s side. It is the position of the elder brother. Abel represents God’s side. This is the battle. Originally, God would have loved the first-born son, and then the younger son. Due to the Fall, the first son, Cain, stands on Satan’s side. He belongs to Satan’s side. In order to save him, God designated Abel. God designates Abel to restore the right of the firstborn son. This cannot be achieved by force; you have to inspire people by love. You have to achieve restoration by melting them with love. If you cannot stand in the position of having loved them, if you cannot win their heart through offering your love, then you will not be in a position to truly love your own son or daughter. As viewed from God’s ideal of creation, the first-born son was originally to be loved first rather than the second child. (140-38, 1986.2.1)

Shamanism, Polytheism and Animism

1. Worship of Nature Deities

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

God instructs all people, from the most primitive to the most advanced, by means appropriate to their level. Thus, in the primitive religions of the past, God taught people to worship the things of creation, such as rocks and trees, as substitutes for God. This was the origin of shamanism. In this way God could teach the people and guide the direction of their lives. (91:271, February 27, 1977)
 
Shamans are possessed by servant-level spirits, confined within the realm of the fall. Yet through their revelations they can sometimes give accurate information from the spirit world to earthly people. There are groups of people on this earth who connect with the spirit world in this way. (76:95, February 1, 1975)
 
The spirit world is the world of angels. Why do the angels of the spirit world want to relate to the human world as gods? You have heard about shamanism, fortunetelling, superstition and such. They are religious forms in which there is not clear discernment of good and evil. As God leads the providence through religions, Satan also prepared religious forms to guard his world.
 
    In general, more than eighty percent of fortunetellers are women. Who do they contact? At the time of the Fall, the archangel led Eve and caused her to bring evil into the world. Likewise, during the course of restoration the same path is repeated: angels in the spirit world come down to the earth to lead and teach women, uniting with them. Hence, a shaman’s or fortuneteller’s work is to follow the direction and teachings of angels—but this time for good. (76:95, February 1, 1975)
 
In the development of history, we see that there was always some sort of faith. The birth of faith lay in ancient beliefs that modern people would call superstition. For example, when people saw a big tree, they revered it. When they saw a magnificent mountain, they revered it. Although most people do not recognize them, guardian deities actually exist in those places. (176:287, May 13, 1988)
 
People in ancient times had a close relationship with nature. Then the natural world and the spirit world were close to human beings—not distant and foreign as they are to people living in modern times. When people entered a grove of giant trees, they looked at them reverently and thought, “For thousands of years these trees have been here; through countless cycles of quickening in spring and dying in autumn they remain unchanged; their shade makes a pleasant environment for all creatures.” Observing them, they recognized that they were deficient in many aspects, and so they worshipped tall trees, great rocks and high mountains.
 
    They saw tall persimmon trees, thick with foliage in the summer and bare in the winter. With the arrival of spring their branches sprouted with new life: first buds, then blossoms, and finally delicious and fragrant fruit. They marveled at this, and sensed that those trees were better than they.
    Where is the fragrance in human existence? Do humans give off a fragrance that beautifies their surroundings, attracting birds and insects to nest in their branches? No. Compared to nature, man is humbled and recognizes his inadequacy. (November 4, 1990)
 
History knows that this is the age when the sun rises in the East. All people are turning in the direction of the light and lighting their own lamps. Some are doing it centering on God, but others are centering on low-level spirits. Even shamans are receiving the light based on their spiritual senses and experiences. Between shamans and non-believers, who is better? Believing in even low-level spirits is better than having no faith at all. (194:315, October 30, 1989)
 
 

God Wanted to See One Family Under God

Cheon Seong Gyeong 435

    What on earth are parents? Why can the strongest, most intelligent son in the world not ignore his parents, even if they are a burden? Why can he not control them with just one finger or do whatever he wants? You should know this. Since he is the strongest and most clever, he could say, “Hey, you!” and challenge them with his wits, but he cannot do that. Where is the origin of love? Where does love come from? From yourself? No. Love comes from parents. This is because the origin of love is not you, but your parents. There can be no result without a cause. So you know that when it comes to love, you are not the owner.
    So when you come before your parents, you should say, “Yes, Mother and Father, you are right.” When your parents remind you, “No matter how great your reputation is and how powerful you may be, you cannot do things that deviate from your duty to your mother and father,” you will reply, “Yes, yes, yes, Mother and Father, you are right.” Why? Because of love. It is because parents are the subject partners, and children are the object partners. The subject partner serves the object partner, and the object partner follows the subject partner. This is the Principle of Heaven. When this principle is breached, that house will collapse and end up worth-less. However ignorant or uneducated a person may be, he knows the Principle of Heaven because he is born in accordance with heavenly nature. Therefore, even the strongest champion has to bow his head to his parents. (50-134, 1971.11.6)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1265

    When the Messiah comes to earth, he will come as an individual and yet he is not just an individual. He is the fruition of the faith and devotion of the whole of humanity, the fruition of the desires of the whole of humanity, and the fruition of the love yearned for by the whole world. He is the fruition to which all courses of history are connect-ed. To put it simply, he is connected to the past, present and future. He is connected from the individual to the family, tribe, people, nation, world, and heaven and earth. (13-143, 1964.1.1)

Everyone Has the Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion

3. Community and Solidarity among Religions

As far as I know, God is not sectarian. He is not restricted by minor details of doctrine. We should quickly liberate ourselves from theological conflict which results from blind attachment to doctrines and rituals, and instead focus on living relationships with God.
     In my view, we urgently need to purify the religious atmosphere into one in which believers can have living faith and every soul can communicate with God. In God’s parental heart and His great love, there is no discrimination based on color or nationality. There are no barriers between cultural traditions, between East and West, North and South. Today God is trying to embrace the whole of humankind as His children. Through interreligious dialogue and harmony we should realize one ideal world of peace, which is God’s purpose of creation and the common hope of humankind. (135:221, November 16, 1985)
 
Despite all efforts to the contrary, divisions and animosities among various religious groups continue. Religious wars are still being waged, as they have been for centuries. In spite of various ecumenical movements, religious arrogance, intolerance, and bigotry are still prevalent among devout believers. Thus, although most religions have professed the same God and often even the same views for centuries, their adherents have continually persecuted and warred with one another.
    God is beyond denomination, doctrine or sect. God’s purpose is and always has been to save the entire world, and not merely a certain race, nation, or religious group. As religious people, we cannot help God in the task of salvation as long as we fight among ourselves. Many religious leaders have realized this, but for numerous complex reasons their attempts to solve this problem have been repeatedly frustrated.
    One of my essential teachings is that interreligious harmony is a necessary condition for world peace. Since no single religion has manifested God completely, religious differences have been inevitable. Yet because we are all sons and daughters of the same Heavenly Parent, we are all brothers and sisters in one great family. Therefore, conflict and divisive hatred among religions is unnecessary. (133:274-75, August 13, 1984)
 
Is God alienated from the world? No, God strives to save the world. Nevertheless, each religion cherishes its own believers but does not care so much about other people. Look at Islam: it tries to save the world, but it puts itself first. It is likewise with Buddhism: so far its adherents have not been active in going out to society. (99:17, August 27, 1978)
 
It was not God’s original purpose to establish Hinduism, or Buddhism, or Christianity. God wanted to see from the beginning one family under God. (March 2, 2003)
 
In the Orient, people go in search of the state of Emptiness or No-self. Therefore, they look for quiet places where they can release their attachments to worldly things. In the West, on the other hand, people make efforts seeking for money and material things. Therefore they want quick results, and their eyes become large… Oriental people are small, with small eyes [that look into the distance], noses and everything. Their legs are short, too. From this, we see that the West is external and the East is internal.
    One of Satan’s goals is to permanently separate the internal from the external. God, on the other hand, tries to link the internal and external in a harmonious relationship. Thus we can foresee that when the West tries to unite with the East, God’s day of fulfillment is near. This is gradually coming to pass. (118:46, May 2, 1982)
 
The purpose of religion is to lead us to a united world. Although different religions have different names for God and different ways of worshipping Him, the central Being each religion worships is the one and only God. Therefore, the purposes and directions for human life taught by each religion inevitably converge towards one standard. Ultimately, each religion has to manage its own path in order that all religions may enter the era of reformation at the same time. (140:10, February 1, 1986)
 
With the progress of God’s providence, we witness that already in the spirit world there are no barriers between the four major religions at the level of their founders. Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and Confucius communicate freely with each other and often visit each other’s realms. Because I know these things well, I strongly encouraged all clergy… to transcend their denominations and sects and to unite as one. (May 8, 2001)
 
When all religions are as one family—living in one accord, cooperating as one body and treasuring the same idea—then all will be liberated. In that day, self-cultivation will no longer be necessary. (393:183, October 3, 2002)
 

 
 
 

Everyone Has the Right to Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2094

What kind of people are True Parents? True Parents are the symbol of all hope, the symbol of absolute hope for fallen humankind. They are the fruit of history, the center of time, and the center of all nations of this world, in which six billion people live today. True Parents are the starting point of the future that can connect to the ideal world. (35-237, 1970.10.19)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1261

Because of the complex entanglement of the human lineage, restoration has taken six thousand years; otherwise, almighty God would have restored everything in a day. It’s as if there is a chronic disease in the bloodline; if it were to be pulled out all at once, everyone would die. That is why it has taken six thousand years. Did the first human ancestors fall through eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? How simple things would be if that were so. (155-295, 1965.11.1)

Tolerance, Religious Freedom and Interfaith Solidarity

2. Freedom of Religion

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
     United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, Article 1

There is no compulsion in religion.
     Qur’an 2.256

Will you then compel mankind, against their will, to believe? No soul can believe, except by the Will of God.
    Qur’an 10.99-100

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.
    Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18

Whoever honors his own sect and disparages another man’s, whether from blind loyalty or with the intention of showing his own sect in a favorable light, does his own sect the greatest possible harm. Concord is best, with each hearing and respecting the other’s teachings. It is the wish of the Emperor that members of all sects should be learned and should teach virtue.
    Ashoka, Twelfth Rock Edict (Buddhism)

A Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in honor by all the people, stood up and ordered that [Peter and the apostles] be put outside for a while. And he said to the council, “Men of Israel, take care what you do with these men. For before these days Theudas arose, giving himself out to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was slain and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!”7
    Acts 5.34-39

When the Messenger of Allah arrived in Medina he made a treaty with the Jews there: “The Jews of the Bani Awf tribe are one community with the Muslim faithful. The Jews practice their religion and the Muslims practice theirs. For them shall be their own wealth, property and persons. Except for he who has committed oppression or transgression.”
    Hadith (Islam)

The spirit can only acquiesce to that which seem to it to be true; the heart can only love that which seems to it to be good. Constraint will make a hypocrite of man if he is weak, a martyr if he is courageous. Weak or courageous, he will feel the injustice of persecution, and he will become indignant. Instruction, persuasion, and prayer: these are the only methods for the expansion of religion. Any method that excites hatred, indignation, or contempt is impious.
    Denis Diderot (Humanism

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Democracy is the system that God laboriously prepared over the last two thousand years. Democracy is the system that respects human rights. Democracy is the system in which a minority group can survive in the midst of a [hostile] majority. Democracy is the system that guarantees freedom—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly. America is the representative democratic nation, and in the American Constitution the most absolute among all freedoms is freedom of religion. It states that the Congress and government shall not make any laws that restrict religions. (100:246, October 19, 1978)

God’s spiritual providence of restoration during the two thousand years since Jesus’ day has prepared a democratic social and legal environment that will protect Christ at the Second Advent. Jesus was killed after being branded a heretic by the Jews and a rebel by the Roman Empire. In contrast, even if Christ at the Second Advent is persecuted as a heretic, in the democratic society to which he will come, such accusations will not be sufficient grounds for him to be condemned to death. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Moses and Jesus 3.3.2)

I am grateful to God that He is using me as His instrument to ignite a movement to spiritually awaken America, to call her to protect religious freedom in this most difficult time in human history.8(133:213, July 19, 1984)

Cooperation and Solidarity Among Religions

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1909

The leisure industry can help people feel God’s happiness towards creation, so I am developing this by gathering all that is necessary in preparation of a sup-port system, such as a big research lab and a big testing area for farming, for the ocean industry, and for hunting and fishing. This system should bring together farmers, who live close to nature, with those who live far from nature in order to develop and educate them. The people in urban areas can support them both through the best scientific technology. That is why I am developing the hobby business while enjoying many hobbies. (279-58, 1996.6.9)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 763

The spirit world is our original home-town. During your life on earth you have to maintain a standard in order to return to your original hometown and live there for eternity. You cannot live as you wish on this earth. You cannot live like the worldly people who have been ignorant of these things. You have to know the spirit world and live accordingly. Then, when you leave this world you can go before God and form a connection with heaven. Without knowing the spirit world, it is impossible to make that connection. You need to be clearly aware, therefore, of the reality of the spirit world. (295-120, 1998.8.19)

Tolerance, Religious Freedom and Interfaith Solidarity

Tolerance begins with how we treat people of other faiths. We have gathered passages from the scriptures which urge treating non-believers and believers with equal respect. Religious disputes and doctrinal conflicts are condemnable; they are often motivated by egoism disguised as piety, and by displaying enmity they do not give fitting witness to one’s faith.
By extension, governments are to respect religious freedom and avoid any manner of compulsion in matters of faith. Most people think of religious freedom as a feature of modern democracy, emerging as it did after a long period of religious intolerance marked by wars and cruelty—the crusades, the inquisition and the 30-years’ War. Still, each of the great civilizations has enjoyed periods of religious tolerance: in India under the tolerant Buddhist King Asoka (3rd century B.C.) and the enlightened Mughal emperor Akbar (16th century), in 10th century Al-Andalus (Spain under Muslim rule), and in song dynasty china (10th-13th century). Never the-less, it was with democracy that the ideal of religious freedom became firmly established as a global value. Father Moon regards the establishment of religious freedom one of the hard-won victories of divine providence.

Beyond tolerance and beyond religious freedom is the higher vision of cooperation and solidarity among religions. This largely modern ideal was born out of people’s growing familiarity with the world’s religions and the efforts of religious leaders to dialogue with each other in order to resolve disputes and eliminate ancient prejudices. Religious unity has long been advocated by the Baha’i Faith. Relations between Christians and Jews were transformed after the horrors of the holocaust led to a widespread re-evaluation of Christian doctrines that had overtones of anti-Semitism. Still, until the late 1990s the predominant opinion was that the trend towards secularism would one day make religion—and hence religious intolerance—a relic of the past. Today that view is obsolete. Flare-ups of religious extremism and terrorism have made people realize that interfaith cooperation is a necessary condition for world peace. Yet for more than fifty years, without fanfare, Father Moon has worked for the goal of the unity of religions, regarding it as one of the chief goals of God’s contemporary providence.

1. Tolerance towards Believers of Other Religions

Those who praise their own doctrines and disparage the doctrines of others do not solve any problem.
    Sutrakritanga 1.1.50 (Jainism)
 
Do not dispute with the People of the Book but in the fairest manner.
    Qur’an 29.46
 
Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that in case they speak against you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
    1 Peter 2.12
 
Our rabbis have taught, “We support the poor of the heathen along with the poor of Israel, visit the sick of the heathen along with the sick of Israel, and bury the dead poor of the heathen along with the dead of Israel, in the interests of peace.”
    Talmud, Gittin 61a (Judaism)
 
Kapathika: “How should a wise man maintain truth?”
    Buddha: “A man has a faith. If he says ‘This is my faith,’ so far he maintains truth. But by that he cannot proceed to the absolute conclusion: ‘This alone is Truth, and everything else is false.’ ”
    Majjhima Nikaya 2.176 (Buddhism)
 
Like the bee, gathering honey from different flowers, the wise man accepts the essence of different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions.
    Srimad Bhagavatam 11.3 (Hinduism)
 
The Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ. Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.
    Vatican II, Nostra Aetate (Christianity)