Abide In Me, and I In You

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2288

We need to know that human liberation is God’s liberation. The liberation of your families, clans and nations consoles God who sorrowed over the loss of His family, clan and nation. In my life, I will recover the lost cosmos and dissolve God’s anguish. I have no wishes or thoughts for myself, except to practice absolute faith, absolute love and absolute obedience. If asked to die, I will head straight for death. Even at the risk of my life I will not turn back.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 702

After that, all kings will stand in the realm of Abel. You do not know this since you are on earth, but in the spirit world, unity is achieved instantly. Thus, with all kings centering on Korea, 120 nations can be completely united. Since those who can become Abel before that king – those who believed in Judaism or Christianity and died, all established those kingships in preparation to serve the Messiah, and all Abel peoples within the sphere of religion who in turn revere him – will become completely united.

Spiritual Union

Spiritual union is the final goal of the religious mystic. the experience of this unity is profound; it can hardly be described in words. a person in this state is united with God and united with all existence, all distinctions dissolve between subject and object, knower and known.
Mystical union is less common in conventional religion, particularly in the Abrahamic faiths whose uncompromising monotheism requires an absolute distinction between the infinite God and even the most saintly of his creatures. yet the scriptures of Judaism and Christianity speak of a beatific vision, an encounter with God’s presence that transforms the viewer. in Islam, traditions attributed to Muhammad himself undergird the unitive experiences of Sufi mystics.
Father Moon affirms all these varieties of unitive experiences. by learning to live in love, he teaches, we can draw close to God’s mind and heart, share God’s experiences, and move as appendages of God’s body. We dwell in God, God dwells in us, and we experience mystic oneness with all his creations.

1. Becoming One with God

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?  
    John 14.10

Heaven and earth contain me not, but the heart of my faithful servant contains me.
    Hadith of Suhrawardi (Islam)
 
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
    John 15.4-5
 
As rivers flow into the sea and in so doing lose name and form, so even the wise man, freed from name and form, attains the Supreme Being, the Self-luminous, the Infinite. He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman.
    Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.8-9 (Hinduism)
 
Meditate upon Him and transcend physical consciousness. Thus will you reach union with the Lord of the universe. Thus will you become identified with Him who is One without a second. In Him all your desires will find fulfillment.
 
    The truth is that you are always united with the Lord. But you must know this.
    Svetasvatara Upanishad 1.11-12 (Hinduism)
 
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
 
    2 Corinthians 3.18
 
Bright but hidden, the Self dwells in the heart. 
Everything that moves, breathes, opens, and closes
Lives in the Self. He is the source of love
And may be known through love but not through thought.
He is the goal of life. Attain this goal!
    Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.1 (Hinduism)
 
Every Buddha Tathagata is one whose body is the Principle of Nature (Dharmadhatu-kaya), so that he may enter into the mind of any being. Consequently, when you have perceived Buddha, it is indeed that mind of yours that possesses those thirty-two signs of perfection and eighty minor marks of excellence [which you see in Buddha]. In fine, it is your mind that becomes Buddha, nay, it is your mind that is indeed Buddha.
    Meditation on Buddha Amitayus 17 (Buddhism)
 
In spontaneous joy is rising the mystic melody;
In the holy Word my heart feels joy and perpetually disports.
In the cave of spontaneous realization is it in trance,
Stationed on a splendid high cushion.

After wandering to my home [true self] have I returned,
And all of my desires have obtained.
Devotees of God! completely fulfilled is my self,
As the Master has granted a vision of the Supreme Being,
Realized by mystic illumination.
Himself is He King, Himself the multitude;
Himself the supremely liberated, Himself of joys the Relisher;
With Him seated on the throne of eternal justice,
Ended is all wailing and crying.

As I have seen, such vision of Him have I conveyed—
Only those who are initiated into this mystery have its joy.
As light is merged into Divine Light, has joy come:
Nanak, servant of God, has beheld the sole, all-pervading Supreme Being.
    Adi Granth, Majh, M.5, p. 97 (Sikhism)
 
 
 
 
 

Nirvana Is a State Without Self

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2106

We inherit in the name of heaven and by heaven’s command. We do not inherit democratically. This would lead to ruin. Seats in the national assembly and the ruling party are not decided by the power and influence of political parties alone. The tradition of the country should be established. It works based on commands, so we should be able to receive commands. This is the way society should be. (178-38, 1988.5.27)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 742

If you possess true love, you can join God’s party anytime. You will see thousands of ancestors and spirits because of being able to transcend time and space. Only those who have the heart of true love can manage and transcend all this. The only way to obtain the privilege of receiving the rights of inheritance from God is through love. If people of true love were to push past me, I would be very happy and would not react against them. Everyone would welcome them. Since the other world is like that, you must be trained here.

Emptiness–Nirvana

Emptiness, Nirvana–the ultimate state of inner peace in Buddhism—is a state without self, without passions, without desires. it is a state beyond thought, beyond words, beyond any intellectual attempt to grasp what it is. yet paradoxically, in this emptiness there is fullness, fearlessness and enlightenment. it is a marvelous, mystical state, almost impossible to describe.
Father Moon calls the state of emptiness the ‘zero point.’ he explains its mystical feeling as a resonant connection with God, who also dwells in emptiness when he creates the world. Father Moon also teaches an active way of self-emptying in the service of others. self-giving, living for others, giving even when it is difficult to give: these practices can lead to the zero point just as surely as meditation.

“All states are without self.” When one sees this in wisdom, then he becomes dispassionate towards the painful. This is the path to purity.
Dhammapada 279

The Man of the Way wins no fame,
The highest virtue wins no gain,
The Great Man has no self.
    Chuang Tzu 17 (Taoism)

Where egoism exists, Thou art not experienced,
Where Thou art, is not egoism.
    Adi Granth, Maru-ki-Var, M.1, p. 1092 (Sikhism)

Torah abides only with him who regards himself as nothing.
    Talmud, Sota 21b (Judaism)
 
The Plain of High Heaven is not a specific place localized here or there, but refers rather to a pure state without any anomaly or excess. In terms of the human body, it is a state within the human breast without thought, contemplation, or passions.
    Masamichi Imbe, Secret Oral Tradition of the Book of        the Divine Age(Shinto)
 
This is Peace, this is the excellent, namely the calm of all the impulses, the casting out of all ‘basis,’ the extinction of craving, dispassion, stopping, Nirvana.
    Anguttara Nikaya 5.322 (Buddhism)
 
When a man is free from all sense pleasures and depends on nothingness he is free in the supreme freedom from perception. He will stay there and not return again.
 
It is like a flame struck by a sudden gust of wind. In a flash it has gone out and nothing more can be known about it. It is the same with a wise man freed from mental existence: in a flash he has gone out and nothing more can be known about him.
 
When a person has gone out, then there is nothing by which you can measure him. That by which he can be talked about is no longer there for him; you cannot say that he does not exist. When all ways of being, all phenomena are removed, then all ways of description have also been removed.
    Sutta Nipata 1072-76 (Buddhism)
 
For him who has completed the journey, for him who is sorrowless, for him who from everything is wholly free, for him who has destroyed all ties, the fever of passion exists not.
 
He whose senses are subdued, like steeds well-trained by a charioteer, he whose pride is destroyed and is free from the corruptions—such a steadfast one even the gods hold dear.
 
Like the earth, a balanced and well-disciplined person resents not… He is like a pool, unsullied by mud; to such a balanced one, life’s wanderings do not arise.
 
Calm is his mind, calm is his speech, calm is his action, who, rightly knowing, is wholly freed [from defilements], perfectly peaceful and equipoised.
 
The man who is not credulous but truly understands the Uncreated (Nibbana), who has cut off the links, who has put an end to occasion [of good and evil], who has eschewed all desires, he indeed is a supreme man.
    Dhammapada 90, 94-97 (Buddhism)
 
Here, O Shariputra, form is emptiness, and the very emptiness is form; emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness; whatever is form, that is emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form. The same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness.
 
    Here, O Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete.Therefore, O Shariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness…
    There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path. There is no cognition, no attainment, and no non-attainment.
    Therefore, O Shariputra, it is because of his indifference to any kind of personal attainment that a bodhisattva, through having relied on the perfection of wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the absence of thought coverings he has not been made to tremble, he has overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.
    Heart Sutra (Buddhism)
 
Nan-po Tzu-k’uei said to the woman Nü Yü, “You are old, and yet your complexion is like that of a child. How is this?”
    Nü Yü replied, “I have learned Tao.”
    “Could I get Tao by studying it?” asked the other.
    “I fear not,” said Nü Yü. “You are not the sort of person. There was Pu-liang Yi. He had the qualifications of a sage… so I began teaching him. In three days, all distinctions of high and low, good and bad, had ceased to exist. Seven days more, and the external world had ceased to be. In nine more days, he became unconscious of his own existence. He first became ethereal, next possessed of perfect wisdom, then without past and present, and finally was able to enter where life and death are no more—where killing does not take away life, nor does giving birth add to it. In that state, there is nothing he does not welcome, nothing he does not send off, nothing he does not destroy, nothing he does not construct. This is to be at Peace in Strife. He who can be at peace in strife is on the way to perfection.”
    Chuang Tzu 6 (Taoism)
 
The Perfect Way is only difficult for those who pick and choose;
Do not like, do not dislike; all will then be clear.
Make a hairbreadth difference, and Heaven and Earth are set apart;
If you want the truth to stand clear before you,
never be for or against.
The struggle between ‘for’ and ‘against’ is the mind’s worst disease;
While the deep meaning is misunderstood, it is useless to meditate on Rest.
It [the Original Mind] is blank and featureless as space…
At the ultimate point, beyond which you cango no further,
You get to where there are no rules, no standards,
To where thought can accept Impartiality,
To where effect of action ceases,
Doubt is washed away, belief has no obstacle.
Nothing is left over, nothing remembered;
Space is bright, but self-illumined; no power of
mind is exerted.
Nor indeed could mere thought bring us to such a place.
Nor could sense or feeling comprehend it.
It is the Truly-so, the Transcendent Sphere,
where there is neither He nor I.
For swift converse with this sphere use the concept ‘Not Two’;
In the ‘Not Two’ are no separate things, yet all things are included.
The wise throughout the Ten Quarters have had access to this Primal Truth;
For it is not a thing with extension in Time or Space;
A moment and an aeon for it are one.
Whether we see it or fail to see it, it is manifest always and everywhere.
The very small is as the very large when boundaries are forgotten;
The very large is as the very small when its outlines are not seen.
Being is an aspect of Non-being; Non-being is an aspect of Being.
In climes of thought where it is not so the mind does ill to dwell.
The One is none other than the All, the All none other than the One.
Take your stand on this, and the rest will follow of its own accord;
To trust in the Heart is the Not Two, the Not
Two is to trust in the Heart.
I have spoken, but in vain; for what can words tell
Of things that have no yesterday, tomorrow, or today? 22
    Seng Ts’an, On Trust in the Heart (Buddhism)
 
 

 

The Creation Waits With Eager Longing for the Revealing of the Sons of God

Cheon Seong Gyeong 478

God exists in the dual characteristics of plus and minus. When this is manifested as a plus, it is Adam, and when it is manifested as a minus, it is Eve. (32-238, 1970.7.19)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 788

This universe grew in size from a small point in this way: through partners coming into existence, unceasing motion occurred and the universe came into existence. The universe has been engaged in endless motion by the power of inertia that transpires in the dimension of space.

Liberation

2. Universal Liberation

And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to preach
good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind.
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4.16-21

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8.19-23

The holy sparks that fell when God built and destroyed worlds, man shall raise and purify upward from stone to plant, from plant to animal, from animal to speaking being, purify the holy sparks that are imprisoned in the world of shells (kelippot) That is the basic meaning of the service of each one in Israel.
It is known that each spark that dwells in a stone or plant or another creature has a complete figure with the full number of limbs and sinews and, when it dwells in the stone or plant, it is in prison, cannot stretch out its hands and feet and cannot speak, but its head lies on its knees. And who with the good strength of his spirit is able to raise the holy spark from stone to plant, from plant to animal, from animal to speaking being, he leads it into freedom, and no setting free of captives is greater than this. It is as when a king’s son is rescued from captivity and brought to his father.
All that a man owns, his servant, his animals, his tools, all conceal sparks that belong to the roots of his soul and wish to be raised by him to their origin.
All things of this world that belong to him desire with all their might to draw near him in order that the sparks of holiness that are in them should be raised by him.
Man eats them, man drinks them, man uses them; these are the sparks that dwell in the things. Therefore, one should have mercy on his tools and all his possessions for the sake of the sparks that are in them; one should have mercy on the holy sparks.
Take care that all you do for God’s sake be itself service of God. Thus eating: do not say that the intention of eating shall be that you gain strength for the service of God. That is also a good intention, for course; but the true perfection only exists where the deed itself happens to heaven, that is where the holy sparks are raised.
In all that is in this world dwell holy sparks, no thing is empty of them. In the actions of men also, indeed even in the sins that a man does, dwell holy sparks of the glory of God. And what is it that the sparks await that dwell in the sins? It is the turning [repentance]. In the hour where you turn on account of sins, you raise to the higher world the sparks that were in it.
Israel Baal Shem Tov (Judaism)

Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There Is Freedom

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2045

Is it a difficult thing or an easy thing to digest this centering on the leaders of the tong and ban? If you form a structure, will it be easy or difficult? This is why I am telling you to have confidence. This is something anyone, even a mere child, would not have a problem with. In fact, it’s not a problem. If you can just properly set up the leaders of tong and ban, then it will not take long. (165-323, 1987.5.27)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1257

From the viewpoint of the positions represented, the grandfather and grandmother represent God, and the parents act on behalf of God. From the vertical point of view, God settles down in a family centering on the first, second and third generations. The first generation on the horizontal level is your grandfather, the second generation your father, and the third generation is yourself. Therefore, the blood line of the royal family can be passed on and will continue forever through your sons and daughters. (218-255, 1991.8.19)

Liberation

The spiritual freedom experienced by people who are released from the fetters of desires and attachments to worldly things is called Liberation (moksha). It is an inner experience of freedom that can arise regardless of the person’s external circumstances: the saint is free even in prison, while people living in comfort and affluence may be caught in dire bondage to runaway desires, addictions, and bad relationships. the Christian scriptures speak of a comparable experience of Christian liberty.
Yet liberation goes beyond the individual. Jesus spoke about liberating the prisoners and a Kingdom of freedom. When people live in the spirit of love and self-giving, they can be very free with one another. if everyone in a family or society enjoyed the inner freedom of a God-centered life, they then could live and act in freedom. therefore, Father Moon teaches, liberating others also expands our own realm of liberation. that liberation should expand to encompass societies, nations, the entire world, and beyond to the realm of God. Jewish Kabbalistic doctrine describes the task of liberating of the “divine sparks” residing in each thing, that they may rise up and rejoin the divine unity. God’s liberation is contingent upon human liberation, teaches Father Moon, because human suffering and oppression binds God in fetters of grief and pain. Liberating humanity also liberates God, and when God is liberated, humanity can be truly free.


1. The State of Inner Freedom

That disciplined man with joy and light within,
Becomes one with God and reaches the freedom that is God’s.
    Bhagavad-Gita 5.24 (Hinduism)

Desire is a chain, shackled to the world, and it is a difficult one to break. But once that is done, there is no more grief and no more longing; the stream has been cut off and there are no more chains.
    Sutta Nipata 948 (Buddhism)

The fetters of the heart are broken, all doubts are resolved, and all works cease to bear fruit [of karma], when He is beheld who is both high and low.
    Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8 (Hinduism)

Yea, happily he lives, the brahmin set free,
Whom lusts defile not, who is cooled and loosed from bonds,
Who has all barriers burst, restraining his heart’s pain.
Happy the calm one lives who wins peace of mind.
Anguttara Nikaya 1.137 (Buddhism)

Open yourself, create free space;
release the bound one from his bonds!
Like a newborn child, freed from the womb,
be free to move on every path!
Atharva Veda 6.121.4 (Hinduism)

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3.17

Immediately after attaining release from all karmas, the soul goes up to the end of the universe. Previously driven [by karmas], the soul is free from the bonds of attachment, the chains have been snapped, and it is its nature to dart upwards. The liberated self, in the absence of the karmas which had led it to wander in different directions in different states of existence, darts upwards as its nature is to go up.
Ratnakarandasravakacara 10 (Jainism)

The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.
John 3.8

He whose corruptions are destroyed, he who is not attached to food, he who has Deliverance, which is void and signless, as his object—his path, like that of birds in the air, cannot be traced.
Dhammapada 93 (Buddhism)

One that the Lord’s command in mind cherishes,
Is truly to be called Jivan-mukta (liberated whileliving).
To such a one are joy and sorrow alike;
Ever in joy, never feels he sorrow.
Gold and a clod of earth to him are alike,
As also nectar and foul-tasting poison.
To him are honor and dishonor alike;
Alike also pauper and prince.
One that such a way practices,
Says Nanak, a Jivan-mukta may be called.
Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 9, M.5, p. 275 (Sikhism)

In Heaven and Earth, I Alone Am the Honored One

Cheon Seong Gyeong 239

If I had known from the beginning that I would be the True Parent, it is reasonable to say that everyone would have known it. Rather, I was digging into the fundamental problem of human life without knowing it, and came all the way here as a result. As I was disentangling these complications, the liberation of True Parents took place and I came to know that God needs liberation. Since God was liberated through me, He cannot help but absolutely love me. What have you done after meeting True Parents? I am asking you, what have you accomplished? Until now, I have gone through the family, tribe, and race, organizing individuals, families, and tribes while being beaten up in the devil’s world. Our Blessed Families have organized a tribe. This is global. Now the satanic world cannot take them away and do as it pleases with them. Why? When they observe closely, our way of life is very good. Today Eastern and Western people fight, and even if they do get together, they divorce after a short time. In contrast, our Blessed Families are living together well after ten years, twenty years, or however long. (211-323, 1991.1.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1240

Even today, you have not formed a complete connection to the True Parents. The Blessing of the Unification Church is held to forge that relationship. (23-333, 1969.6.15)

Enlightenment

2. Inner Enlightenment

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Whatever difficulties you face, do not ask others, but ask your own conscience. When you pray, do not pray vaguely. God gave you an original mind, so you should be united with that precious gift. Once you are united with it, you will know everything about yourself. Once you have cultivated your heart and mind, you can be tuned to God’s heart and mind. (307:216, November 21, 1998)

Even though I am your teacher, my teachings cannot connect you eternally to God. It is your task to find your original heart. You have to hear the calling of Heaven through your mind’s ears. You have to see the divine nature through your mind’s eyes. You have to feel the heart of Heaven through your mind’s senses…
We have thought that God was the only precious existence, but now we should understand that our minds are just as precious. By finding the nucleus of your mind, you can attain the high standard of value by which God can make a relationship with you. Otherwise, how can you be in alignment with Heaven’s principles?…
Today’s believers frequently take comfort from their conceptual beliefs and their world of faith. Yet although we are fallen, our minds contain elements of the ideal of creation by which we can commune with the eternal God. What, after all, is the purpose of prayer? Why do Buddhists seek a state of emptiness through Zen meditation? It is to awaken the elements that lie at the nucleus of the mind. (2:192-93, May 19, 1957)

Shakyamuni Buddha said, “In heaven and earth, I alone am the Honored One.” In what state did he teach this? If you were to enter that state of resonance, you would become one with God. In that state, you would be able to see thousands of years of human history unfold before your eyes. You would experience yourself as having that incredible value.
    How can we humans escape from the painful cycle of suffering, life after life? How can we escape from our miserable life’s destiny that ends in the cemetery? This is the homework given to each of us. In order to solve this, we have to receive training to enter the realm of resonance.
    When mind and body have the same power, they fight. We must establish the mind over the body. There are two ways: The first way is by weakening the body through conditions such as fasting, prayer vigils, etc., and then to drag about the weakened body for several months. After a while, even when the body is comfortable, it will obey the mind out of its newly acquired habit. If you reach that state, you will experience Heaven’s help bringing you success in what you do…
    The second way to establish the mind’s dominion over the body… is to give more energy to the mind. Make continual efforts to give energy to the mind. When these efforts accumulate to a certain point, the door of your mind will open. Once that door opens, you will gain immense power. If you strengthen the mind’s power at least three times over, then you will have no problem with the body.
    People make many conditions in the religious life to focus the mind’s power to lead the body. Once you attain spiritual enlightenment, you gain great power in your mind. Then, if you yield to your body’s desires, you will feel nauseous and want to vomit. A person who has attained spiritual enlightenment has strong mental power; hence his body follows the mind’s desires automatically…
    All religions teach this as the way to reach an advanced stage in the life of a human being. Following this way, and centered on God’s love, you will enter a realm of high dimension—when you realize on your own that you are sons and daughters of God. That is why Buddha said, “In heaven and earth, I alone am the Honored One.” A person who has attained enlightenment is the source of his own authority; that is why he has the right to boast of how precious he is.
    By becoming a son or daughter who receives the unique love of God, you are in a position to inherit everything that is God’s. You realize that you are of yourself an elevated being. The path of every human being ends here, in the realm of God’s love. (38:270-73, January 8, 1971)