Tag: character education

People Should Place the Public Good Ahead of Self-Interest

Cheon Seong Gyeong 565

You should think that you might possibly die soon, perhaps within a year. Therefore, you should make all preparations during this short time. You should live with such thoughts. The shorter the time you think you have, the happier you will be, and the less you have to lose. Your sincere preparations during this time become the building blocks of your home for your eternal life. Have you ever loved God with such a short time in mind? You want to become one with Him and love Him, but you can not. God says to you, “Love Me!” If you die after having lived this way, then you will become the master of eternal life.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 570

The path connecting God’s Kingdom on earth with His kingdom in heaven is the path of true love. Consequently, the path an individual takes and the path a family takes should all be connected and their directions consistent with each other.
    Therefore, everything a person does in his lifetime is permanently fastened to his rear end as a record of his performances done for the sake of true love. Thus, when a person goes to the spirit world, he naturally comes to dwell at the level corresponding to the meritorious achievements he left behind in his lifetime. (211-287, 1990.12.30

Wisdom

The Primary Ens of Education

1. The Primary Purpose of Education: to Cultivate Virtue

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Moral education teaches the norm that people should place the public good ahead of self-interest. (24:212, August 17, 1969)
 
All people live with a desire for goodness. Therefore education should teach: “Before you love God, you must love human beings.” “Live for all humankind.” “Love people and live for their sake.” “You were born for the sake of others, not for yourself.” (64:20, October 22, 1972)
 

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To educate a Man in Mind and not in Morals is to Educate a Menace to Society

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2085

Although the Korean Unification Church and the Japanese Unification Church have become one as Cain and Abel, all the women who are united, becoming a plus, must bring together those who are related to the organizations linked to the Unification Church – such as the International Federation for Victory Over Communism, Citizens’ Federation for the Unification of North and South Korea, and so on – and offer them. Where do they sacrifice themselves? In the family. They should start from the family. I have proclaimed the tribal messiahs in order to promote this.
    Men were sent in place of me, and if these men choose four trained women to assist them, they can become the tribal kings of that nation. These women can then be sent out to put all people, even all men, in order. It will all be done through education. (230-287, 1992.5.8)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1188

As viewed from God’s original ideal of creation, the eldest son should come from God’s side and, of course, the second son should also come from God’s side. Due to the Fall, the position of the first son was taken by Satan, and the position of the second son went to God. This has to be made right. Thus, when we consider the story of Esau and Jacob in the Bible, Jacob united with his mother and received her help. He gave Esau the pottage of lentils and bread in exchange for the birthright of the first-born son. Until today, we could not understand why Bible history is the way it is. With the appearance of the Unification Church, its meaning was clarified for the first time. (134-304, 1985.8.16)

Wisdom

The Primary Ends of Education

What are the purposes of education? Classical education in all cultures of the world was concerned primarily with cultivating virtue. Education was about cultivating the soul, developing a civilized character and forming good citizens. However, in today’s schooling the focus is on technical knowledge and the skills needed for the complex modern workplace. Character and values get short shrift. Theodore Roosevelt is said to have warned, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”1 study of the world’s scriptures leads us back to consider education’s primary ends.
Father Moon distinguishes three levels of education: first, education of heart cultivates the emotional basis for unselfish love; second, education of norm deals with the morality of good relationships; third, academic and technical education follow on these two foundations. Much of the first two levels of education is done at home as the responsibility of parents. Yet schools can also play a part, particularly by providing character education and marriage education. Given that deficiencies in character and marital problems can detract from performance in the workplace, educating for these ends need not be seen as in contradiction to the career orientation of modern schooling.

1. The Primary Purpose of Education: to Cultivate Virtue

Knowledge is the food of the soul.
    Plato, Protagoras (Hellenism)

True learning induces in the mind service of mankind.
    Adi Granth, Asa, M.1, p. 356 (Sikhism)

The end and aim of wisdom is repentance and good deeds.
    Talmud, Berakot 17 (Judaism)

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