Category: Cheon Seong Gyeong

Know God and Live Together With Him

Cheon Seong Gyeong 750

Why do people not wish to die, even
when they are living a mediocre life?
Why live? What is the origin of life? I
am sure that you have many questions
like this. However, your questions can-
not be answered through the philosophy
books written by men. Philosophy until
now has only, in effect, been seeking a
path toward God. What is religion then?
A religious life begins when you know
God and live together with Him. (186-12,
1989.1.24

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1120

The five billion people in the world
are all bound by the portion of respon-
sibility left unfulfilled by Adam and
Eve and the ocean of resentment that
has given God continuous anguish. The
innumerable ancestors who passed on to
the spirit world are also all caught there.
How can God, who has to watch all this,
restore the original standard before the
Fall? This is the reason why God is a God
to be pitied.
Thus, I very swiftlyvolunteered to go
the way of indemnity and walked the
path along which I fulfilled my portion
of responsibility in order to open the
way through which all of humankind
could be liberated, saying, “Time, go by
quickly! Months and years, go by quick-
ly! Day of liberation, come quickly!” (197-104, 1990.1.7)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Reverence for Life

3. Vegetarianism

This is the quintessence of wisdom: not to kill
anything. Know this to be the legitimate con-
clusion from the principle of reciprocity with
regard to non-killing. He should cease to injure
living beings whether they move or not, on high,
below, and on earth. For this has been called the
Nirvana, which consists in peace…
A true monk should not accept such food
and drink as has been especially prepared for
him involving the slaughter of living beings. He
should not partake of a meal which contains
but a particle of forbidden food: this is the Law
of him who is rich in control. Whatever he
suspects, he may not eat. A man who guards his
soul and subdues his senses, should never assent
to anybody killing living beings.
Sutrakritanga 1.11.10-16 (Jainism)

Without doing injury to living beings, meat can-
not be had anywhere; and the killing of living

beings is not conducive to heaven; hence eating
of meat should be avoided.
Laws of Manu 5.48 (Hinduism)

If one is trying to practice meditation and is still
eating meat, he would be like a man closing his
ears and shouting loudly and then asserting that
he heard nothing… Pure and earnest monks,
when walking a narrow path, never so much as
tread on the growing grass beside the path. How
can a monk, who hopes to become a deliverer
of others, himself be living on the flesh of other
sentient beings? Pure and earnest monks never
wear clothing made of silk, nor boots made of
leather, for it involves the taking of life. Neither
do they indulge in eating milk or cheese, because
thereby they are depriving the young animals of
what rightfully belongs to them.
Surangama Sutra (Buddhism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Animals and vegetables are like an orchestra of love, feeding the universe. When human beings eat them, they are eating the fruits of love. If at mealtime you eat them with tearful eyes and a loving heart, they will say, “Thank you. Because you eat me and assimilate me into your flesh and blood, I am being transformed into elements with which to love God. Please eat me. It is my honor.” When you are eating beef, you should think, “This piece of meat has come to me as the fruit of love, from a cow that was raised from a calf by a loving, caring mother.” Eat it with gratitude, making sure that you are aligned with God’s essential love. Then, you will not get sick. (217:307-08,
June 12, 1991)

Where do the animals and plants come from that comprise your meals? Someone had to ruthlessly cut down various plants. Then you chew them up with your teeth and swallow them. The vegetables in your salad bowl will not protest, however, because they know the universal law and think that they are there to serve a greater purpose. With that attitude, they can thank you for eating them so that you can serve the public purpose.
There is a harmony of purpose here. The food on your plate has a certain appreciation of what you live for and is willing to serve your body. That is the only way there can be harmony between you and your food. Otherwise, your food would hate you for eating it and resent it when you laugh in enjoyment. The key point is that your food accepts you only because it knows you are living for
the public purpose. Food will resent the laughter of a greedy person who wants to eat it.
If you are not living for a public purpose, then sometimes your food will stage a demonstration against you inside your stomach. Then you get sick, and in some cases even die. (105:94-95, September 30, 1979)

The theory that lower beings sacrifice themselves in striving to unite with a higher existence seems to correspond to the law of the jungle that the strong devour the weak. Then, is it a sin for people to slaughter cows and pigs and eat them? It can be, unless they eat those animals in order to live for the sake of God and His love. In that case, it is certainly in accordance with the law of exis-
tence. Everything will condone their actions, even the animals they slaughtered. (124:320, March 1, 1983)
Plants absorb minerals and animals eat plants. When a lower creature is eaten by a higher creature, it is elevated to a higher realm of existence. Then, by providing nourishment to human beings, plants and animals can reach the very nerve cells that can love God. That is the highest ideal for a plant or animal. All things are seeking God’s love.
By the same token, human beings should be willing and able to sacrifice themselves for the sake of God. The power of love strives to sacrifice. If the love continues to grow, it eventually reaches God’s love.
A couple loving each other with such a concept is the universe’s treasure. The entire universe protects them, heaven and earth protect them, and all things protect them. Therefore, we human beings should also learn how to protect the universe. (201:123, March 27, 1990)

Love the Natural Environment to Learn How to Love God

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1300

If you want to become citizens of
the third Israel connected to the Uni-
fication Church, you must receive the
Blessing. In the past, at the time of
Abraham, one had to be circumcised
to become a citizen of Israel; and in the
time of Jesus, one had to be baptized.
It is the same today. In the Unification
Church, one cannot become a citizen
of the third Israel without receiving
the Blessing. However, in receiving the
Blessing one must fulfill certain condi-
tions that are neither simple nor easy. I
continuously exerted myself and devot-
ed my whole life in fulfilling the nec-
essary foundations for these Blessings.
(19-172, 1968.1.1)

Richard: Learn more about the Blessing here.

Chong Seong Gyeong 1419

When a woman is married, she basi-
cally has to move into her husband’s
house, and so it follows that her name
also has to be moved from the old fam-
ily register into that of the new family.
Then her family registration is changed.
What is our registration? It is the cer-
tificate that gives evidence of our rela-
tionship based on the origin of true love.
(178‐207, 1988.6.4)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

Reverence for Life

1, Care and Reverence for All Living Things

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Unless you love nature and human beings, you cannot love God. (70:182, February 9, 1974)

Those who cannot love nature cannot love human beings, the owners of nature. We should love nature and other people more than ourselves. (375:20, April 13, 2002)

You love your wife, but do you love the air, sun, light, water and vegetation from which your wife is benefiting?…Unless you love nature, you cannot love yourself. If you eat the things of nature while mistreating nature, you may get sick. (385:200-01, July 11, 2002)

Nature is the closest thing to our body. We should fulfill the desire of nature, which languishes in lamentation…
If you love the natural environment of your hometown, you can know how to love your body. If you love your body, you can know how to love your own heart and mind. If you love your own heart and mind, you can know how to love God. Do so and you will not perish. (14:102, June 20, 1964)

We should love the ocean. Yet how can we, when dangers abound and so much about the ocean is unknown? By searching it out and learning its secrets, our love for the ocean will grow and grow. Likewise, there are many dangers lurking in the mountains. Yet we want to explore the mountains and brave their challenges. Then our hearts will grow deeper and wider. (391:218, August 26,
2002)

Only those who love the mountains can worship what is high. Confucius, Buddha, Jesus, and all the prophets loved the mountains… Indeed, many people treading the path of God’s providence received comfort from nature. (14:102, June 20, 1964)

New York City and the Washington D.C. metropolitan areas are truly dark, living hells. It is better to live on an island where you have to travel three miles 3 before meeting another soul, and if you walk all day, you might see ten people at most. If you live in such a place, perhaps the eye of your original
mind will open. Even in a rural area where you are with nature for 80 percent of your day and with people only 20 percent of the time, it is not easy to keep a balance.
I recommend that city dwellers spend time in the wilderness. We must resolve the problems of air and water pollution; otherwise, how can humanity survive even 300 more years?
Today we can enjoy a civilized life even in a rural area. With the Internet and the telephone, even if you were to live on top of a 7000-meter-high peak in the Rocky Mountains, you could still reach everywhere in the world. I am going to the jungles of South America. Although there are many mosquitoes, there is clear air, clean water and bright sunshine. Sometimes I go to an island in
the Pacific Ocean, where the air is good and the water is clear. I go where the environment is good and there is no pollution, so I can converse with nature. When I am with nature, I am close to God.
(339:164, December 10, 2000)

God Made the Universe for Me

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Cheong Seong Gyeong 1132

If we read the Bible, it tells us that
Adam and Eve fell by eating of the fruit
of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, but then what does it mean that
they covered their sexual parts? If the
Christian churches had a mind to inter-
pret the Bible a little more intellectu-
ally, they would immediately be able to
understand the origin of the Fall. Why
were Adam and Eve ashamed of their
sexual parts? Why did they cover them?
They should have covered their mouths
and hands. There is nothing wrong with
sexual organs. However, since people fell
through them, these parts of the human
body became a palace of shame where
heavenly love was violated. A spring of
true love should have welled forth from
there, but a fountain of false, devil-
ish love gushed out instead. That place
therefore became the stronghold of
worst kind of love. (202-199, 1990.5.24)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1239

1.1. What is the Blessing?
1.1.1. The meaning of the Blessing

The Blessing signifies the True Par-
ents and true children coming together
to fulfill the purpose of creation.

God exists with dual characteris-
tics. These dual characteristics are posi-
tive and negative, the former represent-
ed by the man, Adam, and the latter by
the woman, Eve. The children are thus
a combination of the two of them. In
this way, according to God’s ideal, the
first, second and third generations are
formed. Out of the three generations,
it was the generation of Adam and Eve,
the second generation, where the prob-
lem occurred.
Adam and Eve did not become
one in God’s love. If they had, they
would have formed a love relationship
in which God could dwell. They also
would have established the standard
of love through which God could have
naturally formed a relationship with
Adam and Eve’s children. This would
have been the Blessing. (32-239, 1970.7.19)

The Blessing Ceremony of the Unifi-
cation Church is not simply a wedding
through which a man and a woman come
together and form a family. Until now,
all weddings were solely for the sake of
the people getting married. But our wed-
ding ceremony is significant and neces-
sary to set a condition to indemnify the
past and return joy to God. Therefore,
we conduct our ceremonies in a sacred
and splendid manner. Divine Principle
clearly explains to us that our wedding
ceremony alleviates God’s bitter grief
that was caused by the Fall of Adam and
Eve. It goes beyond the standard of hus-
band and wife, which Jesus was unable
to attain. (22-212, 1969.2.4)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

The Sanctity of Nature

3. Mother Earth and Her Children

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

When we were created, the universe lent us its elements to constitute our bodies. This means the universe gave birth to us. It is our first parent. Our fathers and mothers are our second parents, the parents who brought us into the world. God, who gave each of us a spirit, is our third parent. Thus, human beings have three sets of parents. (106:84, December 9, 1979)

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)

When we look at the creation, we feel a religious emotion welling up from deep in our hearts and naturally bow down before it. Gazing up at the constellations of the night sky or exploring nature around us, we experience awesome and mysterious feelings surging up from deep in our hearts. This state is the starting point of religion. While gazing at living things and the phenomena of nature, we
can sing songs that arise from the precious world of the heart within.
Playing nature’s music, displaying nature’s art and reciting nature’s poetry, all living things resonate in our hearts. Then we can relate with God, who rules the heavenly bodies. Experience the feeling that you are intimately connected to everything; then you can enter a state of the heart to rightly appreciate them. You enter a mystical state in which you can feel everything in its reality.
God created human beings to connect with all His creation, which He had made inseparably interrelated with Himself. Externally we appear to be extremely small and insignificant, but when we behold nature from this understanding, we can feel a human being’s true dignity and value. (5:344-45, March 8, 1959)

I once asked God, “For whom didst Thou create this universe?” God replied, “Sun Myung Moon, I created it for you.” As God is my God, so the universe is my universe. These are not only words; I feel it to my bones.
In springtime, I behold the beauty of the universe in the beautiful flowers and fragrances, and in the butterflies and bees flying about. These creatures show us God’s love and God’s precious value; they display the harmony of His angels. I feel connected to everything. A bird chirps; it is asking me to feed it. It wants me to help it find a mate.
I am very sensitive to the world of nature. When butterflies are fluttering together in pairs, or when a male and female bird sing together for joy, I see it as a lesson that men and women should live together with even greater beauty… and happiness than these.
When the birds and flowers stimulate me with their joy and love, I would in turn stimulate God in heaven with my songs of joy and love. I may be penniless and my clothes may be rags, yet I never feel poor. I think, “The sky is my blanket, the flowing brook is my water faucet, and the plants
growing nearby are my food.” When you feel that the house of God is your house, how can you feel poor?
When I see a small stream, I feel behind it the dignity of the great ocean. When I see a blade of grass, I think its beauty is greater than the greatest masterpieces in the world’s museums. A painting may cost millions of dollars, but it is merely man-made. It cannot compare with this small creation of God. Once I caught a bird and kissed it, saying, “You are more precious than anything in the world.”
(106:137, December 23, 1979)

God Gave All Creatures the Sensibility to Love through Their Five Senses

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Cheong Seong Gyeong 1206

Where is the righteous path in life?
From where did human beings origi-
nate? They were born from love; then
what path should they follow in life?
It is that of love. For what should they
die? The logical conclusion is love. What
kind of love is that? It is that which can
be welcomed by the macrocosm, not just
the microcosm. The purpose of life can
be perceived as originating in the heart
of the macrocosm and approved by God,
the angelic world, all creation, all peo-
ple, and our parents. That purpose is to
live in the universe, to love in it, and to
die in it. (83-164, 1976.2.8)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1470

The way of restoration is the way by
which people return to their original
state, and therefore one cannot go this
way without setting indemnity condi-
tions. Indemnity conditions must be
set by a man, not by God. If a person is
sick, he must take medication in order to
recover, even if the medicine tastes bitter
and he does not like it. Good medicine
tastes bitter. Something bitter becomes a
truly good medicine. Setting indemnity
conditions is difficult, like taking bitter
medicine. However, unless indemnity
conditions are set, restoration can never
be accomplished. The way of salvation is
the way of indemnification and restora-
tion. Indemnity means going the route
opposite to that of the Fall. It means
going the reverse way. (92-254, 1977.4.18)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

The Sanctity of Nature

2. Alive with Consciousness, Endowed with Purpose

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Human beings themselves are a part of nature. Perfect nature is sacred. (90:24, December 10, 1976)

When a stamen of a flower kisses its pistil, it exclaims, “Ah, it feels so good!” Do you think it feels such a sensation or not? The sensation of male and female for each other is the best sensation, composed of all five senses linked together.
Insects may be invisibly small, yet they have eyes, ears, noses, mouths and hands, don’t they? Look carefully at the lawn; so many insects are there! With their ears they hear; with their mouths they taste; with their reproductive organs they copulate and produce offspring—in this they are like humans, only the class is different.
When insects reproduce and produce offspring so tiny you cannot see them, will the parents kill them, or protect and love them? [They protect them.] When they make love, do they do it with great pleasure? Or do they say, “I dislike it”? Which? In this they are just like humans!
There is no denying that God gave all creatures the sensibility to love through their five senses. With respect to love, God created male and female to have equal value. Love is the common denominator, equalizing the low-level world of insects with the high-level human world. Whether men and women, or male and female creatures, all share this God-given common denominator.
(217:306, June 13, 1991)

The human body, though consisting of matter, fully responds physiologically to the emotion, intellect and will of the human mind. This demonstrates that matter has within itself elements that resonate with emotion, intellect and will—elements which constitute the internal nature of matter. This is the reason all things in the universe respond to human emotion, intellect and will, albeit to different degrees. We become intoxicated with the beauty of the natural world and experience the
rapture of mystical union. We experience this because we are the center of the internal natures of all things in the natural world. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Creation 2.3.3)

God created every species of animal and insect to be preserved, that none becomes extinct. The food chain is balanced. While larger creatures eat smaller creatures, the larger ones do not reproduce as often. Many beasts of prey bear offspring only once every two years. For lions and tigers it is two years and eight months, almost three years. In contrast, rabbits bring forth their young every three months. By having many offspring, they provide food for the larger beasts as well as continue their own species.
Adam and Eve create on behalf of God, and all things were created for the growth and perfection of Adam and Eve. They may sacrifice their lives, but they are assisting in the perfection of Adam and Eve’s bodies. For this reason, people are permitted to eat anything, whether plant or animal.
Greek philosophy looks at the world as a constant struggle, every creature an enemy to one another. On the contrary, they are not enemies. Such ideas arose only as a result of the Human Fall. The Marxist dialectic as described in Das Kapital states that development comes about through struggle, but that is not true.
Even the vilest germs disappear when faced with their natural enemies. Do you understand what I mean by natural enemy? A tiger is the natural enemy of a dog. When a dog sees a tiger, it freezes and trembles and crawls back into its dwelling to hide. Natural enemies balance each other; thus nature takes care of every circumstance that comes along. (May 10, 2003)

Everything in the Universe Arose from the Heart of God

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1892

Peter was a fisherman, wasn’t he?
Then aren’t you all the descendants of
a fisherman? So you all should know
about the sea. You came all the way to
Alaska to catch what you did? Halibut
is the fish that lies on its belly in the sea-
bed, acting like a king. It eats and lives
lying on its belly. It looks like a piece of
mossy rock, living on the bottom of the
sea with eyes springing out like anten-
nas. Since it stays lying down and has a
smell, small fish tend to gather around it.
When those small fish gather, the hali-
but twists its body to swallow them up.
A halibut eats and lives lying down on
its belly. It is the same as Satan. It is the
“King” Satan. It thinks, “Who on earth
dares to touch me!” Even when this hali-
but is caught on a fishing line, it keeps on
saying, “Who on earth is touching me!”
But then, after staying calm for awhile, it
starts to think, “Oh, no. I am in trouble!”
The Alaskan halibut has been struck by
the lightning of Rev. Moon. No one else
in Kodiak has caught a halibut heavi-
er than eighty pounds. However, with
my appearance in these waters, halibut
weighing two hundred and three hun-
dred pounds have been caught. (206-274,
1990.10.14)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1189

The big question is whether I have
loved the satanic world more than I love
my wife and children. I cannot love my
family more than I love those who stand
in the Cain position. God has to love the
Cain realm first before loving the Abel
realm. He cannot love Abel before that.
(140-38, 1986.2.1)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 4

God’s Creation and Human Creativity

The Sanctity of Nature

God’s hand has touched every small blade of grass that grows in the field. Every growing tree received the touch of God’s infinite heart. (6:338, June 28, 1959)

Everything in the universe arose from the heart of God. The universe in its entirety is the result of God’s creative idea, whose motivation is divine love. A poet who senses this is a truly great poet. If on seeing a single leaf shaking in the wind, he senses the cosmic Heart and expresses it, then he would be a poet for the entire universe.

When viewed while in a mystical state, a single grain of sand contains within itself the principles of the universe. A single atom contains the boundless harmony of the universe.

All things that exist, though maybe not aware of it, are resultant beings that formed through the action of complex forces. The smallest molecules, atoms, and even subatomic particles do not exist unconsciously, but contain a certain consciousness and purpose. Thus, all things that exist have come into being through God’s loving hand, and necessarily possess a bond of heart with God. (9:168, May 8, 1960)

Did the Absolute Being create all the creatures in heaven and earth with a heart of sorrow? No. He created with a heart of joy. God rejoiced as He watched the creation unfold. How joyful was He? If we knew, we could begin to recognize the supreme value of each one of God’s creatures. Yet, people do not know how much God values His creation. We do not know, because we are still searching for God. (27:223, December 14, 1969)

People love nature; they may prefer nature to other people. Nature, because it still carries its origi-nal God-given nature, is much purer than human beings. Even people who live in great houses and njoy all the conveniences of civilized living want to vacation at the beach or camp in the moun-tains. Why? Their original form is looking for some comparable companion, and nature comes clos-est. (107:311-12, June 8, 1980)

Human civilization is inconceivable apart from nature. People display their power and authority, yet without nature nothing is possible.
Nature makes our life valuable; it is absolutely necessary for our life. Therefore, if we do not feel the heart that flows in nature, we cannot enjoy true happiness. Nor can we be close to God and partake of His glory.
The next time you look at a flower or a patch of grass, see it from God’s point of view, reflecting God’s heart. Whenever you look at an insect, a bird or an animal, a feeling should arise within you that connects you with God. (6:340-41, May 28, 1959)

Father! May all creatures of heaven and earth eternally offer hymns of praise
to Thee, the Lord of the universe.
Every created being is related to Thee.
Owing to Thee, all things of heaven and earth,
molded through Thy heart,
raise up Thy glory,
reveal Thy holiness and profundity,
and display Thine infinite value. (20:243, July 7, 1968)