Tag: restoration

It Is Hard for a Rich Man to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven


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Cheon Seong Gyeong 1206

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 conditions. 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 restoration. Indemnity means going the route opposite to that of the Fall. It means going the reverse way. (92-254, 1977.4.18)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1086

As buds, you have not yet bloomed. Do not become wicked like those who write love letters and have illicit love relationships. You should blossom naturally. When God sees you, He should be able to exclaim, “Oh! You have blossomed purely and naturally. Since I can smell the fragrance, I can tell that you are a virgin.” In this case, God feels so much hope. Does God want something pure or something damaged? What about you, then? Do you want something pure or something damaged? Even fallen men want to have something pure. Would God not value that even more? For this reason, I hope that you can blossom fully with a pure heart and be people of value who can go beyond the fallen world of today without being trapped in the valley of sorrow. (47-88, 1971.8.19)

Non-Attachment to Wealth and Possessions

2. Giving Away One’s Wealth and Finding Contentment with Little

    Jesus said to [the rich young man], “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.
    And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will by hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
    Matthew 19.21-24 Continue reading “It Is Hard for a Rich Man to Enter the Kingdom of Heaven”

It Is Human Beings, Not God, Who Make the Indemnity Condition

#91-Seth Rich Murder and Cover-Up-New Evidence

Cheon Seong Gyeong 79

If we talk of God’s omnipresence, where is God? He is not found in knowledge. Love, however is different. It is the parents’ heart of love toward their children that makes omnipresence reason-able and possible. It is a heart that reaches beyond ultimate extremes. On the path of love, the parent’s love is omnipresent; there is nowhere outside its reach. This is possible only with love. Only love can completely govern the son. This is where omnipotent authority comes to bear. (59-101, 1972.7.9)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1194

The democratic political system is a system of struggle. That is why we have to rise to the position of parents. Only then can the struggle be stopped. Siblings can all unite, centered on the parents. The world of peace starts from such unity. There is no other method. First, people need to find the True Parents, and then everything else including true children, true nation, and true peace can be found. There is no other way. (205-190, 1990.9.1)
Richard: Learn more about True Parents.

Reversal and Restoration

3. Restoration by Returning to the Original State

If you wish to untie a knot, you must first under-stand how it was tied.
    Surangama Sutra (Buddhism)
 
    Sentient beings wish to return to their origin where their nature will be in perfect unity.
    Surangama Sutra (Buddhism)
 
Confucius said, “To subdue one’s self and return to propriety, is perfect virtue. If a man can for one day subdue himself and return to propriety, all under heaven will ascribe perfect virtue to him.”
    Analects 12.1.1 (Confucianism)
 
Always to know the standard is called profound and secret virtue.
Virtue becomes deep and far reaching,
And with it all things return to their original natural state.
Then complete harmony will be reached.
    Tao Te Ching 65 (Taoism)
 
It is as if a man traveled through the forest, through the great wood, should see an ancient road traversed by men of former days… And that man brings word to the prince, “My lord, as I traveled through the forest, I saw an ancient path, an ancient road traversed by men of former days. Going along it I saw the ruins of an ancient city, an ancient prince’s domain, wherein dwelt men of former days, having gardens, groves, pools, foundations of walls, a goodly spot. Lord, restore that city.” The prince or his minister then restores the city, so that it becomes prosperous and flourishing, populous and teeming with people who thrive and reach old age. Even so have I seen an ancient Path, an ancient road traversed by the rightly enlightened ones of former times.
    Samyutta Nikaya 2.106 (Buddhism)
 
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Corinthians 15.21-22
 
Why are idolators lustful? Because they did not stand at Mount Sinai. For when the serpent came upon Eve he injected lust into her; as for the Israelites who stood at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness departed; but as for the idolators who did not stand at Mount Sinai, their lustful-ness did not depart.38\\
    Talmud, Shabbat 145b-146a (Judaism)
 
In the messianic future the Holy One will heal the injury [of Adam’s sin]. He will heal the wound of the world.
    Genesis Rabbah 10.4 (Judaism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The way of restoration is to return to the origin. Therefore, unless you make the required indemnity condition, you cannot return to the origin. It is human beings, not God, who make the indemnity condition. In order for a sick person to be healed, he must take the medicine even if it is bitter. Real medicine is bitter medicine. Making the indemnity condition is like taking bitter medicine; it is dif-ficult work. However, without making the indemnity condition, you cannot go the path of restora-tion. (92:254-55, April 18, 1977)
 
How can we be re-created as God’s children? There is only one way: by going all the way back, before the many generations of your ancestors, before fallen Adam and Eve, and come to God through the gate of the True Ancestors. (96:40, January 1, 1978)
 
Adam and Eve took a path that resulted in their drowning. Hence, all fallen human beings are like drowned men. They cannot save themselves; someone must come and resolve the problem for them. We who are called to this task must go all the way to the root of the problem and fix it there. (248:149, August 1, 1993)
 
At the Fall, human beings disobeyed God’s word and rebelled against Him. Hence they were sub-jugated by Satan’s lies. Once united with Satan, human beings received Satan’s nature and Satan’s love instead of God’s nature and God’s love.
    To be restored as an original human being, we must reverse the process of the Fall. This time we must separate ourselves from Satan, reach out to God whom we had lost, and obey His Word. In this way, we can receive God’s nature and His love. (88:208, September 18, 1976)
 
    Father! All the situations of history are entangled in us today.
    Therefore we wish and pray that Thou wilt cut all those tangles
    by connecting us with the Center of liberation. (1:345-46, December 30, 1956)
 
 

Whoever Seeks to Gain His Life Will Lose It

Cheon Seong Gyeong 862

What will happen to a dark-skinned person in the spirit world? Will a black man’s skin be dark? What do you think? If a black person wishes to appear as a white person, he can choose to do so whenever he wants, and vice versa. In that case, what effect would that have in the spirit world? A light must be bright. What kind of light? The light of love. In order to magnify the light of love, you must be ablaze internally and externally. You should be on fire from the impetus to love. You have to unleash this energy in large quantities to the east and west. Love is able to do such a thing. When we come to understand this, all events in this world just become passing visits. (194-56, 1989.10.15)

Cheong Seong Gyeong 1264

Who are true parents? If Adam and Eve had not fallen, God would have bestowed His vertical love on them, and Adam and Eve would have become the body of God. They would have represented the body of God. God would have been like the bones, and Adam and Eve like the flesh. God can have a mind and body through Adam and Eve. He would have become the internal parent in the internal position, and Adam and Eve would have become the external parents in the external position. The internal and external parents must become one through love; at that place, we come to have external parents and attend the internal parents in heart. With the union of love between God and Adam and Eve, then true parents – the perfected man and woman – would emerge. There can be no perfected human beings if there is no union through love. (184-71, 1988.11.13)

Reversal and Restoration

2. Restoration by Going in the Opposite Direction

Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.
    Luke 17.33

To yield is to be preserved whole.
To be bent is to become straight
To be empty is to be full.
To be worn out is to be renewed.
To have little is to possess.
To have plenty is to be perplexed.
Therefore the sage embraces the One
And becomes the model of the world.
    Tao Te Ching 22 (Taoism)

I will teach you Dhamma: If this is, that comes to be; from the arising of this, that arises; if this is not, that does not come to be; from the stop-ping of this, that is stopped.
    Majjhima Nikaya 2.32 (Buddhism)

The world, O Kaccana, is for the most part bound up in a seeking, attachment, and proclivity, but a monk does not sympathize with this seeking and attachment, nor with the mental affirmation, proclivity, and prejudice which affirms an Ego. He does not doubt or question that it is only evil that springs into existence, and only evil that ceases from existence, and his conviction of this fact is dependent on no one besides himself. This, O Kaccana, is what con-stitutes Right Belief.
    That things have being, O Kaccana, constitutes one extreme of doctrine; that things have no being is the other extreme. These extremes have been avoided by the Tathagata, and it is a Middle doctrine he teaches:

On ignorance depends karma;
On karma depends consciousness;
On consciousness depends name and form;
On name and form depend the six organs of sense;
On the six organs of sense depends contact;
On contact depends sensation;
On sensation depends desire;
On desire depends attachment;
On attachment depends existence;
On existence depends birth;
On birth depend old age and death, sorrow,lamentation, misery, grief, and despair. Thus does this entire aggregation of misery arise.
But on the complete fading out and cessation of ignorance ceases karma;
On the cessation of karma ceases consciousness;
On the cessation of consciousness ceases name and form;
On the cessation of name and form cease the six organs of sense;
On the cessation of the six organs of sense
ceases contact;
On the cessation of contact ceases sensation;
On the cessation of sensation ceases desire;
On the cessation of desire ceases attachment;
On the cessation of attachment ceases existence;
On the cessation of existence ceases birth;
On the cessation of birth cease old age and
death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, and
despair. Thus does this entire aggregation of
misery cease. 35
    Samyutta Nikaya 22.90 (Buddhism)

The sage awakes to light in the night of all crea-tures. That which the world calls day is the night of ignorance to the wise.
    Bhagavad-Gita 2.69 (Hinduism)

The Way out into the light often looks dark,
The way that goes ahead often looks as if it went back.
The way that is least hilly often looks as if it went up and down,
The virtue that is really loftiest looks like an abyss,
What is sheerest white looks sullied. 
    Tao Te Ching 41 (Taoism)

Sights, sounds, tastes, odors, things touched and objects of mind are, without exception, pleasing, delightful, and charming—so long as one can say, “They are.”

These are considered a source of happiness by the world with its gods, and when they cease, this is by them considered suffering.

The cessation of phenomenal existence is seen as a source of happiness by us Aryans—this insight of those who can see is the reverse of that of the whole world:

What others say is a source of happiness—that, we say, is suffering; what others say is suffering—that, we know, as a source of happiness. Behold this doctrine, hard to understand, wherein the ignorant are bewildered.
    Samyutta Nikaya 4.127-28 (Buddhism)

 

The Last Will Be First, and the First Last

1 Samuel 24

12 I’ll let the Lord decide which one of us has done right. I pray that the Lord will punish you for what you’re doing to me, but I won’t do anything to you. 13 An old proverb says, “Only evil people do evil things,” and so I won’t harm you.

Richard: Let God settle battles and grudges. If someone wrongs us, we should forgive and pray that God’s Will be done regarding that person. To be clear, this does not mean that we accept abusive relationships. Rather, this applies to our reaction to them.

Proverbs 28

12 When an honest person wins,
    it’s time to celebrate;
    when crooks are in control,
    it’s best to hide.
13 If you don’t confess your sins,
    you will be a failure.
But God will be merciful
    if you confess your sins
    and give them up.

Reversal and Restoration

Salvation is sometimes pictured as a great reversal. it looks to the day when God will act to turn the existing social and political order upside down, when the wealthy and powerful will no longer tower above the honest and god-fearing. internally, it brings the insight that the way to God is the reverse of the way of the world. an enlightened person recognizes that he should reverse his or her orientation one-hundred-and-eighty degrees. scripture speaks of this inner reversal as dying to self in order to live, seeking darkness in order to find the light, and abasing the self in order to become prominent.
This leads to the concept of salvation as restoration. restoration refers to the undoing of bad habits, modes of thinking, ways of behaving, and social relations that have grown corrupt and deviated from the proper way. it is a return to the origin, aimed at restoring the original way of life according to the true principles and purposes of God. an important expression of this theme of reversion to the origin is the Buddhist doctrine of Dependent origination (Paticcasamuppada), which is not just a law of causality but more properly the insight that all causes leading to downfall must be reversed.
Father Moon discusses this topic at length under the teaching of restoration through indemnity. indemnity, broadly speaking, means to restore mistakes by taking the opposite course. it begins with a reversal of character—from self-centeredness to other-centeredness. it extends to relationships—paying restitution for a crime to making amends for a breach of trust, from the standpoint that it is my responsibility to restore harmony with my brother, even when the original problem was not my fault. it concludes with complete restoration, the reversal of the original sin that happened at the human Fall.


  1. The Great Reversal

The last will be first, and the first last.
    Matthew 20.16

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
    Matthew 23.12

Him who humbles himself, God exalts; him who exalts himself, God humbles; from him who searches for greatness, greatness flies; him who flies from greatness, greatness searches out: with him who is importunate with circumstances, circumstance is importunate; by him who gives way to circumstance, circumstance stands.
Talmud, Erubin 13b (Judaism)

The way of Heaven,
Is it not like stretching a bow?
What is high up is pressed down,
What is low down is lifted up;
What has surplus is reduced,
What is deficient is supplemented.

The way of Heaven,
It reduces those who have surpluses,
To supplement those who are deficient.
The way of man is just not so:
It reduces those who are deficient,
To offer to those who have surpluses.
Who can offer his surpluses to the world?
Only a person of Tao.
    Tao Te Ching 77 (Taoism)

The bows of the mighty are broken,
but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger.
The barren has borne seven,
but she who has many children is forlorn.
The Lord kills and brings to life;
he brings down to Sheol and raises up.
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
he brings low, he also exalts.
He raises up the poor from the dust;
he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
and inherit a seat of honor.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord ’s,
and on them he has set the world.
He will guard the feet of his faithful ones;
but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
for not by might shall a man prevail.
    1 Samuel 2.4-9

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

The path of the providence of salvation is the path of restoration. The path of restoration is the path of recreation…
    When God created the world, He had only one concept—the concept of the zero-point. Hence, we have to return to the zero-point when walking the path of restoration and recreating God’s world. We should return to the state prior to God’s creation; otherwise, nothing is possible. That is why the Bible teaches, “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.” To lose your life means to cut off Satan’s life [by returning to the zero-point]. Otherwise, we have no way to connect with God at the origin. 
 
    Historically, evil people have lived better than good people. Originally, good people should prosper while evil people should decline. These positions should be switched. The zero-point is the time of transition when good people go up while evil people decline. Now is the time when this transition is taking place. (218:187-88, July 28, 1991)
 
In America, quite a few people live perverted lives. Grandfathers have sex with their granddaughters and fathers with their daughters—even while they live with their wives. This is the fruit of Satan, who in the beginning reversed the direction of human life 180 degrees from the plan of God. In a world that abides by Heaven’s principles, could homosexuality exist? Lesbianism, alcoholism, drug addiction and such came to exist because human beings suffer from emotional misalignment. They suffer in this world, which is hell on earth. We, on the other hand, are living 180 degrees different from them, as we strive to live in God’s Kingdom. (243:192, January 10, 1993
 
 

To Remove the Fallen Nature, We Must Reverse the Course of the Fall

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1 Samuel 2

22 Eli was now very old, and he heard what his sons were doing to the people of Israel.[f] 23-24 “Why are you doing these awful things?” he asked them. “I’ve been hearing nothing but complaints about you from all of the Lord’s people. 25 If you harm another person, God can help make things right between the two of you. But if you commit a crime against the Lord, no one can help you!”

But the Lord had already decided to kill them. So he kept them from listening to their father.

Job 21

14 Those who are evil say
    to God All-Powerful,
“Leave us alone! Don’t bother us
    with your teachings.
15 What do we gain from praying
    and worshiping you?
16 We succeeded all on our own.”
And so, I keep away from them
    and their evil schemes.

Exposition of the Divine Principle
3 Color Edition-The Red part

Part 2 Chapter 1

The Providence to Lay the Foundation for Restoration

THE PROVIDENCE OF RESTORATION IN ADAM’S FAMILY

 For the providence of restoration to be accomplished in Adam’s family, the members of his family had to make certain conditions of indemnity to restore the foundation of faith and the foundation of substance. On these two foundations, the foundation for the Messiah was to have been established, and the Messiah could have come to Adam’s family.

1.1 THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH

 To restore through indemnity the foundation of faith, fallen people must set up an object for the condition. For Adam’s family, this object was a sacrificial offering. To restore the foundation of faith, there must also be a central figure. Yet nowhere in the biblical record do we find Adam offering a sacrifice. Instead, his sons Cain and Abel offered them. What was the reason for this? In line with the Principle God gave Adam two sons, representing good and evil, and set them in positions where each dealt with only one master, God or Satan. After setting up this arrangement, God had the two sons offer sacrifices separately.

 Since Cain was the first fruit of Eve’s love, signifying Eve’s first fallen act of love with the Archangel, he was chosen to represent evil. Therefore, he was in a position to relate with Satan. Since Abel was the second fruit of Eve’s love, signifying Eve’s second fallen act of love with Adam, he was chosen to represent goodness. Therefore, he was in a position to relate with God. God received Abel’s sacrifice because he stood in a proper relationship with God. Also, he made the offering in an acceptable manner—through faith and in line with God’s will. In this way, Abel successfully laid the foundation of faith in Adam’s family.

1.2 THE FOUNDATION OF SUBSTANCE

 Had Cain fulfilled the indemnity condition to remove the fallen nature, God would have gladly accepted his sacrifice. The foundation of substance would then have been laid in Adam’s family. To remove the fallen nature, a person must make an indemnity condition in accordance with the Principle of Restoration through Indemnity, by taking a course which reverses the process through which human beings initially acquired the fallen nature. The Archangel fell because he did not love Adam; rather, he envied Adam, who was receiving more love from God than he. This was the cause of the first primary characteristic of the fallen nature: failing to take God’s standpoint. To remove this characteristic of the fallen nature, Cain, who stood in the Archangel’s position, should have taken God’s standpoint by loving Abel, who stood in Adam’s position.

 The Archangel fell because he did not respect Adam as God’s mediator and did not receive God’s love through him; rather, he attempted to seize Adam’s position. This was the cause of the second primary characteristic of the fallen nature: leaving one’s proper position. To remove this characteristic of the fallen nature, Cain, who stood in the Archangel’s position, should have received God’s love through Abel, who stood in Adam’s position, respecting him as God’s mediator. In this way, Cain should have maintained his proper position.

 The Archangel fell when he claimed dominion over Eve and Adam, who were his rightful lords. This was the cause of the third primary characteristic of the fallen nature: reversing dominion. To remove this characteristic of the fallen nature, Cain, who stood in the Archangel’s position, should have obediently submitted to Abel, who stood in Adam’s position. By accepting Abel’s dominion, Cain should have rectified the order of dominion. The Archangel conveyed to Eve his evil will that it was permissible to eat of the fruit. Eve in turn conveyed this evil will to Adam and led him to fall. This was the cause of the fourth primary characteristic of the fallen nature: multiplying evil. To remove this characteristic of the fallen nature, Cain, who stood in the Archangel’s position, should have been receptive to the intentions of Abel, who stood closer to God, and learned God’s Will from him. Thus, Cain should have made a foundation to multiply goodness. Instead, Cain killed Abel. In murdering Abel, Cain repeated the sin of the Archangel. That is, he re-enacted the very process which had given rise to the primary characteristics of the fallen nature. Adam’s family thus failed to lay the foundation of substance. Consequently, God’s providence of restoration through Adam’s family could not be fulfilled.

View slides 1 to 26 below for an illustrated presentation of the above content:

2007p2-CHAPT-1-Adams-Family_revised-4-28-2014