Tag: Mind-Body Unity

We Can Only Become Good if Our Body Obediently Follows Our Mind

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Cheon Seong Gyeong 2324

Had Adam and Eve fulfilled their responsibility before God, He would have blessed them. From the place of this blessing, goodness would have started, and unity of truth, substance and heart been attained. Unity of truth means that when God says, “Do this!” we answer “Yes” and follow and fulfill what He commands us to do. From the perspective of God’s will, Adam and Eve are essentially not two separate beings. Lured by Eve, Adam broke heavenly law and thus they separated; originally, they were united. After unity of truth and substance are attained, unity of heart should be attained. When this happens, we can become as one with God, and He has ventured forth hoping for that day. (15-263, 1965.10.17)

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All the creation would appear beauti-ful in your eyes at the time of your mar-riage, just as it was when God created the universe. The whole of creation, includ-ing you, exists through love. When you realize this, then through that love the fundamental feelings God nurtured at the time of Creation can be re-created and shared with your partner and all forms of existence on earth, all united together as one. In other words, it is pos-sible for you to experience the deepest feelings of God at the time of Creation. You are also a part of the creation who inherited every ideal conceived by God when He created the universe. If you were to pull true love towards yourself, heaven and earth would also be drawn towards you. Even the furthest things would be drawn to you if they were pulled by true love, and things nearby could be sent far away by the power of true love. (216-192, 1991.3.31)

Cultivating the Good

2. Good Leads to More Good, while Neglecting the Good Leads to Evil

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

We can become good only if our body obediently follows our mind, which directs us towards goodness. All too often, however, our body rebels against the mind’s direction, repeating by analogy Cain’s murder of Abel. This is how evil grows within us. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Foundation 1.2)

People who only go to church on Sunday without making any effort to pursue God’s Will are very dull. They are too numb to know the difference between good and evil, even if others admonish them. They are used to taking each day for granted, just repeating the daily routine. Such people do not make spiritual progress; they remain in the same place. After wasting their lives like this for 10 years or more, the day comes when they look back on their past with shame and regret, realizing, “My position is so far below what it could have been.” (89:231-32, December 1, 1976)

People’s original desire is to avoid evil and pursue goodness. Our [original] mind is always running to promote goodness and eliminate evil from our world; however, through personal experience, we are well aware of our evil mind, which strongly opposes or distorts the good mind. The stronger we uphold our good mind, to that degree we confront our evil mind.
Although our good mind prompts us to head toward a certain goal, it is often hard to see it clearly. Then our motivation falters. Feeling distant from the goal, there is nothing to stimulate our good mind to continue on the path. On the other hand, there is never any lack of stimulation for the evil mind. Each step on the road to evil links us to ever more evil. Considering this, people who have a mind to pursue a life of truth and goodness perforce find themselves isolated and beset with sorrows. (36:51-52, November 15, 1970)

We Find a Great Contradiction in Every Person

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God exists in front of human beings for their sake. This is why we want to follow God forever. If you want to main-tain your own position of existence within natural law and in front of the universe’s realm of existence, you must exist for the sake of others as does the universe. In serving others, you connect to the East and West and to the past and the present. Because God has the same love in the past and at present, and in the East and in the West, He can overcome the East and the West and overcome the past, present, and even the future. God can overcome the past, present, and future, and can, therefore, always make progress. He can overcome the East and the West, and therefore unify them. This is possible only in love. (187-89, 1989.1.6)

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The Blessing is the most precious thing in heaven and earth. It is also the most fearful. If a blessed member is attracted to others besides his or her spouse, it is an emotional violation of the spouse. Good ancestors, the territory and the nation stem from you, the Blessed Families. That is why blessed members should think about the universe during every waking moment. You have received the Blessing so that you can share blessings with others. (13-67, 1963.10.17)

The War Within

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Human beings inherently tend to avoid evil and seek goodness. Our minds are ever eager to establish a world of goodness and eradicate the world of evil. On the other hand, we also experience an evil mind within us, which struggles powerfully against our good mind. To the degree that we hold fast to our good mind, our evil mind opposes with proportionate strength. (36:51, November 15, 1970)

Since the beginning of time, not even one person has abided strictly by his original mind. As St. Paul noted, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God.” (Rom. 3.10-11) Confronted with the human condition, he lamented, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am!” (Rom. 7.22-24)

We find a great contradiction in every person. Within the self-same individual are two opposing inclinations: the original mind that desires goodness and the evil mind that desires wickedness. They are engaged in a fierce battle, striving to accomplish two conflicting purposes. Any being possessing such a contradiction within itself is doomed to perish. Human beings, having acquired this contradiction, live on the brink of destruction.         
    Can it be that human life originated with such a contradiction? How could beings with a self-contradictory nature come into existence? If burdened by such a contradiction from its inception, human life would not have been able to arise. The contradiction, therefore, must have developed after the birth of the human race. Christianity sees this state of destruction as the result of the Human Fall. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)

The conscience is that faculty of the mind that presents God’s thought. It does not exist for you, but for the righteousness of Heaven. Your conscience always pursues goodness. The body rebels against the conscience. Your body is self-centered; it seeks its own comfort; it follows instinctive desires. Your conscience strives to have your body obey the mind and reproaches it when it does not. From this point, conflicts and struggles arise within the self. (219:118, August 28, 1991)

Our body has become the stage of Satan’s activities. It has become Satan’s dance hall. Had there not been the Human Fall, our mind and body would be one. They would become one automatically centering on God’s love, life and lineage. (235:203, September 20, 1992)

Why do human beings need religion? We need religion to conquer our body. Otherwise, due to the body, human history would be doomed; due to the body, society would be doomed; and due to the body, humankind would be doomed. Accordingly, you should deeply realize that your body is the womb of the enemy and the seedbed of sins and evils. (18:322, August 13, 1967)

Regard yourself as the problem. You can be your own worst enemy. If you cannot unite your mind and body, you become your own enemy. (128:108, June 5, 1983)

Even though [at the Fall] we received Satan’s evil seed, each person, deep in his original mind, covets God’s original, ideal seed of life. This is the basis of our internal struggles. Within each individual, two opposing elements are struggling: the original mind on God’s side, and the body on Satan’s side. For this reason, as long as we do not bring oneness in our mind and body, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (235:203, September 20, 1992)

 

I Do No Understand My Own Actions

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Numbers 10

On the twentieth day of the second month[a] of that same year, the cloud over the sacred tent moved on. 12 So the Israelites broke camp and left the Sinai Desert. And some time later, the cloud stopped in the Paran Desert.[b]13 This was the first time the Lord had told Moses to command the people of Israel to move on.

Psalm 80

17 But help the one who sits
    at your right side,
    the one you raised
    to be your own.
18 Then we will never turn away.
    Put new life into us,
    and we will worship you.

19 Lord God All-Powerful,
make us strong again!
    Smile on us and save us.

The War Within

The human condition is beset by inner conflict between two opposing inclinations, one good and the other evil. as long as people are plagued by this inner contradiction, they can neither realize their divine self nor achieve a state of wholeness. paradoxically, people immersed in worldly life may not always recognize the war within themselves—except in the glimmerings of a guilty conscience. on the other hand, those who strive to lead a conscientious or religious life are directly confronted by this problem. 
    Father Moon teaches that this inner contradiction is a direct result of the human Fall. it cannot be that God created human beings with such a contradiction, he maintains, or God would not be a God of goodness and humans would have no hope to reach perfection. no, this inner contradiction is evidence of a distortion in human nature, caused by the human Fall. the war between mind and body will never end until the problem of the Fall is solved.

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.
    So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
    Romans 7.15-24
 
I know what is good
but I am not inclined to do it;
I know also what is bad,
but I do not refrain from doing it;
I just do as I am prompted to do
by some divine spirit
standing in my heart. 21
    Mahabharata (Hinduism)
 
Rabbi Isaac said, “Man’s evil inclination renews itself daily against him, as it is said, imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil every day.’ [Genesis 6.5].” And Rabbi Simeon ben Levi said, “Man’s evil inclination gathers strength against him daily and seeks to slay him… and were not the Holy One, blessed be He, to help him, he could not prevail against it.”
    Talmud, Kiddushin 30b (Judaism)
 
By the fetters of envy and selfishness are all bound—gods, men, demons… so that although they wish, “Would that we might live in friendship, without hatred, injury, enmity or malignity,” they still live in enmity, hating, injur-ing, hostile, malign.
    Digha Nikaya 2.276 (Buddhism)
 
All vices are like chains thrown around the neck.
    Adi Granth, Sorath, M.1 p. 595 (Sikhism)
 
Whatever harm a foe may do to a foe, or a hater to a hater, an ill-directed mind can do one far greater harm.
    Dhammapada 42 (Buddhism)
 
Surely God wrongs not men anything, but men wrong themselves.
    Qur’an 10.44
 
The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.
    Matthew 26.41
 
Man should discover his own reality
and not thwart himself.
For he has the self as his only friend,
or as his only enemy.
A person has the self as a friend
when he has conquered himself,
But if he rejects his own reality,
the self will war against him.
    Bhagavad-Gita 6.5-6 (Hinduism)
 
The Prophet declared, “We have returned from the lesser holy war (al jihad al-asghar) to the greater holy war (al jihad al-akbar).” They asked, “O Prophet of God, which is the greater war?” He replied, “Struggle against the lower self.”
    Hadith (Islam)
 
What is the life of virtue save one unending war with evil inclinations, and not with solicitations of other people alone, but with evil inclinations that arise within ourselves and are our very own… And when we seek final rest in the supreme good, what do we seek save an end to this conflict between flesh and spirit, freedom from this propensity to evil against which the spirit is at war? Yet, will as we may, such liberty cannot be had in mortal life.
    Saint Augustine, City of God 19.4 (Christianity)
 
 

Before You Desire to Have Dominion Over The Universe, You Should First Have Dominion Over Yourself

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We Have Become Diseased both Spiritually and Physically.

Deuteronomy 5

5 Moses called together the people of Israel and said:

Today I am telling you the laws and teachings that you must follow, so listen carefully. 2 The Lord our God made an agreement with our nation at Mount Sinai.[a] 3 That agreement wasn’t only with[b] our ancestors but with us, who are here today. 4 The Lord himself spoke to you out of the fire, 5 but you were afraid of the fire and refused to go up the mountain. So I spoke with the Lord for you, then I told you that he had said:

6 I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt where you were slaves.

7 Do not worship any god except me.

1 Kings 18

7 As Obadiah was walking along, he met Elijah. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down, and asked, “Elijah, is it really you?”

8 “Yes. Go tell Ahab I’m here.”

9 Obadiah replied:

King Ahab would kill me if I told him that. And I haven’t even done anything wrong. 10 I swear to you in the name of the living Lord your God that the king has looked everywhere for you. He sent people to look in every country, and when they couldn’t find you, he made the leader of each country swear that you were not in that country. 11 Do you really want me to tell him you’re here?

Richard: Elijah was committed to speaking the truth, no matter what.

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 3

Perfection

1. Perfection Begins with Unity of Mind and Body

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

“Before you desire to have dominion over the universe, you should first have dominion over yourself”: This is the first article in the life of faith. To attain self-perfection you should have dominion over your self. In other words, you should reach the state of self-mastery, controlling your body, with no conflict or opposition between your mind and body. (37:122, December 23, 1970)

The structure of a human being consists of dual aspects: mind and body. The mind relates to the vertical standard, while the body relates to the horizontal standard. Had human beings attained God’s ideal standard at the beginning, always receiving God’s love, then whenever the bell of God’s love would ring in their vertical mind, their bodies on the earth plane would resonate with it and feel everything. Whenever the mind-like spirit self resonated vertically with true love, the body on the horizontal plane would naturally respond.
When you strike an “A” on a tuning fork, it sends waves of a certain frequency through space, and when they match the frequency of another object, that object sends its waves back. This is called resonance. Likewise, there is resonance between the mind and the body at the frequency of love. When love strikes the mind or spirit self, the body responds. Had human beings not fallen, it would have been this way. By what standard would resonance occur? The resonant frequency has to be true love. (177:216, May 20, 1988)

When your mind and body become one, God will be with you. This is a fundamental principle. Why would God be with you at that point? Because that is where love is. Love begins when mind and body become one. For love to flow, subject and object are necessary. Therefore, God is with the person who has established mind-body unity. Then his or her body becomes God’s temple.
What sort of place is God’s temple? It is a place of Sabbath rest. In what can God rest? Love. God’s temple is the place to rest in the love of God.
The highest human aspiration is to abide in the place of love—the world of heart. It is like a fountain: there is no end to love no matter how much pours out. Why does love have no end? Because God dwells there. (91:78, January 30, 1977)

God is like pure gold; there is nothing false about God. What should we do to be united with God? We should not be false people. That means our mind and body should be united, just as God’s [inter nal nature and external form are united]. That is the meaning of Matthew 5:48: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (91:321, March 1, 1977)

Each member of the family first needs to perfect his or her individual character. This requires removing the fallen nature, which has been passed down through the generations since the Human Fall. In other words, each person must be victorious in the struggle between the mind and the body. Then the world of harmony will bear fruit in that individual’s perfected character—a state of one heart, one mind and one thought. Fallen nature, which causes jealousy, envy, greed, hatred and all other evils, will never again take root in a person who has achieved that state. (March 23, 2004)

The purpose of religion is to cultivate people of character who live by the laws of the world of the heart and all the principles of the cosmos, and thereby govern the emotions of life. (6:349, May 24, 1959)

Unless you can perfectly love yourself, you cannot perfectly love God. (22:97-98, January 26, 1969)

Perfection is a State of Unity With God

Watch or listen to the second part of the series on the Richard Urban Show, Why Abstinence Matters:
We Have Become Diseased both Spiritually and Physically on the Richard Urban Show.

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The result of this Fall is that human-
kind became ignorant of such basic
issues as the facts relating to God, life,
and the universe. Throughout my life,
I have spoken in public more than ten
thousand times, and presented a true
view of the world, of life, and of history
based on the principles of ‘Godism.’ This
content in its entirety has been translat-
ed into twelve different languages and
published in a series of some three hun-
dred volumes. It was not brought to light
as a result of some kind of comprehen-
sive literary research or academic study,
but is comprised of the fundamental and
essential answers I found while freely
traversing both the visible and the invis-
ible worlds.

Richard: Very true. How many are aware of what the purpose of life is, as God designed it?

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1509

Where is the center of the universe?
It is the family. Where is the base for true
love to settle? It is in your family. There-
fore, the family of the original ideal is
one that grasps the love of the universe
and participates in the protection of the
universe. Also, such a family applies
the realm of love for the universe to the
national level in order to walk the way
of patriotism and finally, applies it to the
world level. People who love their family
are called filial sons or daughters, people
who love their nation are called patriots,
and people who love the world are called
saints. (Blessed Family – 925)

World Scripture and the Teachings of
Sun Myung Moon

Chapter 3

Perfection

Scriptures describe the virtues of a person who is one with the Absolute, who is firmly established in truth, who is without sin or bondage to worldly corruption, and who exhibits the fullness of sanctifying grace. He or she may be called a saint, a sage, a Buddha, or a divine man. This state of perfection is not beyond our reach; it is a goal to be attained, if we only make the effort. Gandhi once said, “Life is an aspiration. Its mission is to strive after perfection, which is self-realization. The ideal must not be lowered because of our weaknesses or imperfections.”
The passages in this section describe the excellent qualities of a person who has attained the state of perfection. Three characteristics of perfection in particular stand out: The first is mind-body unity. The saint has dominion over him or herself, having overcome selfish desires and been purified of any feelings of lust, greed or other cravings. As a result, he only wishes to do what is right—in accord with God’s will and the dictates of conscience. In Saint Augustine’s words, he is one who can “love God and do what you will.”
Second, perfection is a state of unity with God. God is the pattern and model for the highest human aspirations. Thus, the saint participates in God’s own perfection and comes to embody God’s attributes— absoluteness, unchangeability, compassion, righteousness, etc.
Third, perfection means to embody God’s true love. Love or compassion is the core of God’s being, as expressed in His untiring efforts to save sinful people. Therefore, a man or woman of perfection delights in the well-being of others and selflessly works for their benefit. Saintly love has no partiality, regards no one as an enemy, but always repays evil with good. (See also Chapter 13: True Love.)

  1. Perfection Begins with Unity of Mind and Body

A novice asked the Buddha, “What is goodness
and what is greatness?” The Buddha replied,
“To follow the Way and hold to what is true is
good. When the will is in conformity with the
Way, that is greatness.”
Sutra of Forty-two Sections 15 (Buddhism)

None of you truly believes until his inclination
is in accordance with what I have brought.
Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 41 (Islam)

One who is rich in the enlightenment will not
indulge in any sinful action, since his conscience is
guided by the intellect fully illumined with Truth.
Acarangasutra 1.174 (Jainism)

Whose minds are well perfected in the Factors of
Enlightenment, who, without clinging, delight
in the giving up of grasping, they, the corrup-
tion-free, shining ones, have attained Nibbana
even in this world.
Dhammapada 89 (Buddhism)

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 94-97 (Buddhism)

Arjuna: Tell me of those who live established in
wisdom, ever aware of the Self, O Krishna. How
do they talk? How sit? How move about?
Lord Krishna: They live in wisdom who
see themselves in all and all in them, who have
renounced every selfish desire and sense craving
tormenting the heart.
Neither agitated by grief nor hankering after
pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and
anger. Established in meditation, they are truly
wise. Fettered no more by selfish attachments,
they are neither elated by good fortune nor
depressed by bad. Such are the seers.
Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the
wise can draw in their senses at will. Aspirants
abstain from sense pleasures, but they still crave
for them. These cravings all disappear when
they see the highest goal. Even of those who
tread the path, the stormy senses can sweep
off the mind. They live in wisdom who subdue
their senses and keep their minds ever absorbed
in Me.
Bhagavad-Gita 2.54-61 (Hinduism)

Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as say-
ing, “The believers whose faith is most perfect
are those who have the best character.”
Hadith of Abu Dawud and Darimi (Islam)

The monk who has destroyed the cankers, lived
the life, done what was to be done, laid down the
burden, won the goal, burst the bonds of becom-
ing, and is freed by the fullness of gnosis, cannot
transgress nine standards: a monk in whom the
cankers are destroyed cannot deliberately take
the life of any living thing; cannot, with inten-
tion to steal, take what is not given; cannot
indulge in carnal intercourse; cannot intention-
ally tell a lie; cannot enjoy pleasures from mem-
ories as of yore when a householder; a monk
in whom the cankers are destroyed cannot go
astray through desire; cannot go astray through
hate; cannot go astray through delusion; cannot
go astray through fear.
Anguttara Nikaya 4.370 (Buddhism)

He who has achieved it cannot either be drawn
into friendship or repelled,
Cannot be benefited, cannot be harmed,
Cannot either be raised or humbled,
And for that reason is highest of all creatures
under heaven.
Tao Te Ching 56 (Taoism)