Tag: death

Man’s Real Nature is Primarily Spiritual Life

Ezekiel 45

15 Finally, they must bring one sheep out of every two hundred from their flocks.

These offerings will be used as grain sacrifices, as well as sacrifices to please me and those to ask my blessing. I, the Lord, will be pleased with these sacrifices and will forgive the sins of my people.

Job 5

26 You will live a long life,
and your body will be strong
    until the day you die.

The Immortal Soul

2. Death: Transition to a New Life

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go
our ways—I to die, and you to live. Which is
better God only knows.
It is We who give life, and make to die, and to
Us is the homecoming.
Qur’an 50.43

Socrates, in Plato, Apology 42 (Hellenism)
The dust returns to the earth as it was, and the
spirit returns to God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12.7

Now my breath and spirit goes to the Immortal,
and this body ends in ashes;
OM. O Mind! Remember. Remember the
deeds.
Remember the actions.
Isha Upanishad 17 (Hinduism)

Man’s real nature is primarily spiritual life,
which weaves its threads of mind to build a
cocoon of flesh,
encloses its own soul in the cocoon,
and, for the first time, the spirit becomes flesh.
Understand this clearly: The cocoon is not the
silkworm;
in the same way, the physical body is not man
but merely man’s cocoon.
Just as the silkworm will break out of its cocoon
and fly free,
so, too, will man break out of his body-cocoon
and ascend to the spirit world when his time
is come.
Never think that the death of the physical
body is the death of man.
Since man is life, he will never know death.
Nectarean Shower of Holy Doctrines (Seicho-no-Ie)

One man believes he is the slayer, another
believes he is the slain. Both are ignorant; there
is neither slayer nor slain. You were never born;
you will never die. You have never changed; you
can never change. Unborn, eternal, immutable,
immemorial, you do not die when the body dies.
Realizing that which is indestructible, eternal,
unborn, and unchanging, how can you slay or
cause another to be slain?

As a man abandons his worn-out clothes and
acquires new ones, so when the body is worn
out a new one is acquired by the Self, who lives
within.
The Self cannot be pierced with weapons or
burned with fire; water cannot wet it, nor can
the wind dry it. The Self cannot be pierced or
burned, made wet or dry. It is everlasting and
infinite, standing on the motionless foundation
of eternity. The Self is unmanifest, beyond all
thought, beyond all change. Knowing this, you
should not grieve. 7
Bhagavad-Gita 2.19-25 (Hinduism)

You prefer this life, although the life to come
is better and more enduring. All this is written
in earlier scriptures; the scriptures of Abraham
and Moses.
Qur’an 87.16-19

I inquired of Africanus whether he himself, my
father Paulus, and others whom we look upon as
dead, were really living. “Yes, truly,” replied he,
“they all enjoy life who have escaped from the
chains of the body as from a prison. But as to
what you call life on earth, that is no more than
a form of death. But see, here comes your father
Paulus towards you!”
Cicero, On the Republic 6.14 (Hellenism)

Onyame does not die; I will therefore not die.
Akan Proverb (African Traditional Religions)

Meet the Fathers, meet Yama, and meet with
the
fulfillment of wishes in the highest heaven;
casting off imperfections, find anew thy
dwelling,
and be united with a lustrous body.
Rig Veda 10.14.8 (Hinduism)

Though our outer nature is wasting away, our
inner nature is being renewed every day. For this
slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an
eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
because we look not to the things that are seen
but to the things that are unseen; for the things
that are seen are transient, but the things that
are unseen are eternal.
For we know that if the earthly tent we live
in is destroyed, we have a building from God,
a house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens. Here indeed we groan, and long to put
on our heavenly dwelling, so that by putting it
on we may not be found naked. For while we are
still in this tent, we sigh with anxiety; not that
we would be unclothed, but that we would be
further clothed, so that what is mortal may be
swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us
for this very thing is God, who has given us the
Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage; we know
that while we are at home in the body we are
away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not
by sight. We are of good courage, and we would
rather be away from the body and at home with
the Lord. For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may
receive good or evil, according to what he has
done in the body.
2 Corinthians 4.16-5.10

Are the Battles Being Fought or Not?

Cheon Seong Gyeong 586

What is the meaning of death? Earth-
ly life, the time of living in air, parallels
the time of swimming in the womb. We
are living in a wrapping cloth of air.
Death itself is not unique, but only our
rebirth into the third life. That moment
of transition is what we call death. (49-
286, 1971.10.17)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1526

Pledge number two signifies that
our family pledges to represent and
become central to heaven and earth by
serving God and the True Parents, to
fulfill the way of filial piety in our fam-
ily, patriotism in our nation, saints in
the world, and a family of divine sons
and daughters in heaven and earth. This
means that we will complete everything
desired by God in our family. Through
it, we are making a vow that as parents,
we will educate the children in our fam-
ily, the citizens in our nation, and the
people living in the world, and in heav-
en and earth, so that they may become
eligible to become the family members
of God’s Kingdom. (260-190, 1994.5.8)

Let Us Fathom the Heart of Heaven
Rev. Sun Myung Moon
September 13, 1959

Matthew 10:24-39

God came to us and taught us in the following way: He said that He was the father of individuals, families, people and the world. As long as a people possessed a father, they all had the same father. As long as the world had a father, the world had the same father. This is what God wants.

God came to us. He came to each one of us, prisoners in Satan’s sovereignty. However, even after raising up Abraham as the father of faith, God could not share all that He wanted to tell us. Although He raised up a family, He could not tell them all He wanted. Although he chose Moses to lead the people, He could not reveal all He wanted to. Although He sent Jesus, He could not convey all that He wanted to at that time. He could not. It is written clearly in the Bible that He could not speak all that He wanted to.

Why is this so? Jesus represented the God of the world and of the universe and all of Heaven and earth. He could not accomplish this mission without a foundation. Thus, Jesus said that he will return in the Last Days.

Please reflect upon yourselves. You owe an historical debt.

To instruct you and teach you, Heaven came to your people and sent prophets countless times. Do you understand this?

What did Jesus bring with him? Jesus came with the desire to elevate all people as the children of God and to judge Satan’s world. He came to build a garden of happiness as the King of Kings, centering on the Father. He came with this desire, situation and heart of love. Have you ever had such a desire? Have you ever experienced such a situation? Have you ever felt such a heart? If you have not, then you cannot avoid judgment.

Therefore, we should not call out, “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. God the Father who called Moses and the prophets of the past, Father whom Jesus called upon!” We should pray, “God of Abraham, God of Jacob, God of Moses and God of Jesus! Please be my God.” God should not be the God of someone else. He must be our own God. This is what we must do.

The time that we call out to the historical God has passed. Thus, the God of the past must have a relationship with us and the God of the future must have a relationship with us. You have to build a relationship in which you can say, “God of the past, isn’t this the current situation? God of the present, isn’t this the situation? God of the future, isn’t this the situation? Isn’t this Your desire?” and God will say, “Yes.”

To do this, first we have to understand that we live in Satan’s world. You are the descendants of Satan. You are prisoners of war captured not by God’s side but by Satan’s side. The Savior is the chief communications representative on the world scale who has the responsibility to bring you back. The “Savior” means that he will save you. The Savior is the person with the mission to save all the prisoners of war. He encourages them and goads them to fight. For this reason, it is written that Jesus came not to bring peace to the world but to provide weapons and provoke battles. Yet are the battles being fought or not? Please examine this carefully.

Entertain the Hope that Conquers Death

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1868

I built a boat in Korea named Boat of
Heavenly Victory. What victory? Heav-
enly victory, of course, is where Heaven
has won victory because God’s will has
been fulfilled. I had already begun ful-
filling God’s will from long ago. I made
the Boat of Heavenly Victory and talk-
ed about occupying the oceans of the
world. One member, Eu Hyo-young,
was constantly saying, “Boat, boat!” So I
made him one, but he did not like going
on boats – maybe because he was old.
He said, “Father, I cannot go out to sea
when the waves surge like that.” How
can a fisherman think like that? He must
go out to the sea until his death. (294-175,
1998.6.14)
2.3.2. Ilheung marine
Aren’t you church leaders? In the
future, no exceptions will be made,
even for company workers. Unification
church families share the same fate.
Unification Church means a church
where everything is united. That is why
if you have a company, it should be called
Company Unification Church. Unifi-
cation Industries would mean a Unifi-
cation Industries Church. Yesterday I
came back from Jejudo where I had vis-
ited the company there called Ilheung
Marine Industries. I told the president
of that company, “You must now create
an Ilheung Marine Church. As a church,
you should prepare to serve and attend
the women divers in Jejudo more than
you would your own mother or bride.”
(178-131, 1988.6.1)

Richard:  This captures Rev. Moon’s vision for home church (the second paragraph).  “Church” is not a building.  Church is where you serve your community and work to build the Kingdom centered on Godly families.

Cheon Seong Gyeong 988

You should know that God exists
near you and is concerned about each
of you more than anyone else. People
think that the love of their own fam-
ily is the greatest in this world. How-
ever, you should know that God’s love
is greater and deeper than that love; it is
deeper and greater than any human love
in this world. You should be embraced
in God’s love and be able to call Him,
“Father.” You should become such true
sons and daughters who deeply expe-
rience God’s internal heart in a posi-
tion that says, “I know the Father’s sor-
row.” If you can become such sons and
daughters, and possess the Kingdom of
Heaven in which you attend God, no
one would be able to take that kingdom
away from you. (2-234, 1957.6.2)

The Path of Life We Must Go, Entertaining Hope

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 22, 1959

Romans 8: 18-21

We must understand that this statement is a request for us not to make earth-bound hope our own, but to adopt eternal hope. Jesus walked that path in person himself. We must know that he set up hope on this hopeless earth, opened up the path of life on this lifeless earth, and cultivated the path of resurrection on this unredeemable earth.

Until when must you go forth with that hope? It is until you step forward in front of the Father’s throne and receive the Father’s true love, after going beyond the path of death and the hill of resurrection. The question is whether you can march on holding onto that hope until that time. It is easy to make a resolution while embracing a hope and looking at it, but it is difficult to fight holding onto that hope. It is easy to embrace a hope of some kind, but it is difficult to live to the end keeping that hope, and to stand and die for the path of that hope so that all humankind lives with that hope. Yet Jesus walked such a path in high spirits.

Today we look forward to the last day of resurrection, the day of hope. The time of the hope that all of us are looking forward to is the time in which all humankind can take delight. Yet that time does not come easily. That hope can be owned only by those who have won over death. Only those who have fought along with God against Satan will take possession of that hope. Only those who have received persecution, together with God, for the sake of Heaven will secure that hope. As we think that such a time is approaching, we must have an ardent mind to overcome this living environment and overcome even the fear of death. Unless such an ardent mind emanates from you, you cannot draw the day of that hope into the realm of your life and go on living. Continue reading “Entertain the Hope that Conquers Death”

The Hope Which Can Go Beyond Death

The latest Richard Urban Show:
Are the Proclamations of Rev. Sun Myung Moon Valid, or Are They Null and Void?  https://youtu.be/yGSVxL2Uy8A

Cheon Seong Gyeong 371

When you have come to know your
parents, what do you have to do for
them? You should carry out acts of fil-
ial piety and become a child of filial
piety. Also, going beyond your parents,
you should be a patriot in your nation,
because your parents have had authority
within the nation and the world. Before
becoming a patriot, you should be a
child of filial piety, and before becom-
ing a child of filial piety, you should be a
member of a family who can be proud of
true brothers and sisters. “Family mem-
ber” is a title that brings the right to sing
the praises of your brothers and sisters.
(30-220, 1970.3.23)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1668

Everything in the world was creat-
ed by God as the textbook to help His
beloved children attain the ideal of love.
Thus, it was created with a recipro-
cal structure. Minerals exhibit subject-
object interaction, as do protons and
electrons in the case of the atom. Noth-
ing can continue in existence without
engaging in action and motion. Thus,
with human beings as the center, the
universe is created to reach that central
point. (137-59, 1985.12.18)

The Path of Life We Must Go, Entertaining Hope

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 22, 1959

Romans 8: 18-21

A person entertains all kinds of hope in his life. However, he runs into death in the end and passes away, having abandoned all the hopes he had fostered. Although he wanders about seeking a new hope, wishing to live today and tomorrow, when he runs into death, he goes the last path in despair. We know this very well.

A person does not have a hope with which he can go over the hill of death, even though he seems to have hope centering on himself. He fades away without such a hope. There are questions then to be considered. Are we to take this for the norm of life? Are we to seek out a hope with which we can go beyond death, scoffing at it and even delighting in it? These are the important questions people living on this earth today must consider.

Everything in the world today will pass away. The families, the nations, the world and any kind of “ism” will pass away and be gone. There is one thing that will remain, in the end: the hope with which we can fight and win over death. Without such a hope, we might as well call ourselves failures in life. There is a set of people who live embracing hope not of the human world, but a new hope of Heaven, an eternal hope, rejecting all worldly hope. Heaven made limitless efforts to enable humanity on earth, who is living centered upon human hope, to go over the hill of death with a new hope and to live with regard to the eternal world. Therefore, people who lead a religious life should not live embracing earthly hope, but should live entertaining a hope with which they can even go beyond death, dreaming of the world of eternal hope. For this, we are leading a life of religion.

Human Beings are Not Aligned with God’s Original Purpose

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2210

If, seeing your faithful determina-
tion, God takes heart and steps forward
to declare, “I am going to tear down
this evil world!” then, in that instant,
His sphere of activity will expand due
to your efforts. This will be a gift of joy
from Heaven more wonderful than any
coveted position, throne, place of honor,
and even awards that would be heaped
upon you over not only one but over
many lifetimes.
You should determine to confront
any kind of persecution in the course
of human history and even beyond that.
This is the path filial sons and daughters
who take on the responsibility to repre-
sent the history of eternity should take.
This is the way of loyalty to the eternal
Kingdom of Heaven. (255-121, 1994.3.10)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 770

Death means to be born in God’s
love. But in the human world, people
make a fuss, saying, “Oh, I am dying!”
Seeing this, would God laugh merrily
or would He exclaim, “Oh, no!”? When
God looks at people crying like this in
the human world, does He feel sorrow
or joy? Leaving the realm of limited love,
we enter the joyful realm of infinite love.
Isn’t death the moment to welcome this
joyfulness? Isn’t this going through the
path of death the moment of actually a
second birth?
If this is the case, would God be joy-
ful about the day your physical body is
gone? Would He be joyful when some-
one is born as a son or daughter who
can act for the sake of love in the sec-
ond, infinitely expanded world? Why
do I talk about such things? You cannot
establish a relationship with God with-
out liberating yourself from the fear of
death. I am speaking about this because
you must understand this reality. (116-172,
1982.1.1)

Let Us Halt in Our Steps and Behold the One Who Is Protecting Us

Rev. Sun Myung Moon
March 8, 1959

Psalm 121

Human beings have walked the long course of history, not knowing their destination. With what ideology were they born? At what destination will they arrive with the aid of that ideology? Based on what value are they going to connect to what purpose? You know very well that people have been struggling because they have not found a complete solution to any of these issues.

When people of faith discuss their existence, they say that their existence began from Heaven and will end in Heaven and that they are pursuing the ultimate value before the will of God. Yet, I believe that there must come a time when even the average person thinks like that. Although all we think about is centered on ourselves, our human purpose is not to be found in ourselves. We sense deep within us that we seek to transcend ourselves and be connected to some world of ideology.

However, there is a gap of time and space between that world and where we are now. If something can bridge this gap, it is not an academic theory or some clever means. This gap can be bridged only when we enter the world of the heart.

“Heart” has been a controversial topic in the religious sphere and in the areas of culture and the arts. There is heart at the level of the individual, heart at the levels of the family, the society, the nation and the world. Furthermore, if a Creator exists, an actual Lord, it is undeniable that this Lord is moving in line with the heart. Continue reading “Human Beings are Not Aligned with God’s Original Purpose”