Tag: sexual abstinence

Do You Not Know that Your Body Is a Temple of the Holy Spirit?

Cheon Seong Gyeong 755

When you actually stop to think about it, you thought that treasures were stored up there in heaven. But it turns out that you had treasures all along in your bodies. You came to understand that the original palace is a part of your body. Aren’t the love organs the original palace that can attend God? Where is the pathway that makes the love connection? Is it in the fingertips? Where is it? What is it in a man? What is it in a woman? It is the male and female organs, where the most distasteful substance can also be found. Where does urine come out? From the sexual organ. This is the case for both women and men. If that unclean urine thus excreted were to mingle with love, would it still be unclean or would it become clean? Then how wonderful would it be to drink urine steeped in true love like iced tea! (178-125, 1988.6.1)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 703

Would it be all right for this substantial fruit of six thousand years to fall without ripening, like a fruit dropping from its tree? Should the fruit, worrying that the wind might blow, say, “Oh no, it looks like I might fall. If the wind blows a bit more, I am going to fall. Father, don’t shake me, just let me be still.” There may be some people here who are like that. On the other hand, there are members saying, “Even if you take an ax and shake the branches as you please, my branches will never fall until they have been cut.” To which group do you belong? (46-154, 1971.8.13)

Chastity

Chastity is to control one’s sexual desire: to refrain from premarital sex and to have sexual relations only with one’s spouse. Chastity requires the institution of marriage for its most joyful fulfillment. The extreme asceticism of a celibate monk or nun is a vocation only for the few, those who are willing to sacrifice continually the God-given desire to love and be loved. God created us to love, form families and raise children to propagate the human race. In this regard, sexuality within marriage is a wonderful gift, a joyful experience and a blessing of God.
However, as fallen human beings we do not naturally discipline our sexual desires to be employed in a faithful marriage bond. That requires training, and religions have traditionally served this purpose. Religions teach that adultery is among the most serious sins. They train the mind to subdue the desires of the flesh, and set boundaries on behavior to avoid temptation to sin. They lift up marriage as a holy institution. However, in today’s secular society, people have forgotten the discipline of desire. promiscuity and “free sex” are everywhere, promising instant happiness but yielding disappointment, heartbreak, and broken homes. Marriage is under attack, and many young people are cohabiting rather than marrying, largely because they no longer believe that they can make a lasting marriage. As the original standard of faithful marriage is forgotten, homosexuality and lesbianism are gaining acceptance as alternative lifestyles.
Father Moon speaks passionately and directly about this topic. Based upon his teaching that the human Fall was an act of illicit love, he sees the misuse of love as the root of all sins, crimes, unhappiness and suffering in human life. (See chapter 6) the fall caused people to devalue love and use it wrongly. Therefore, he calls us to elevate love to its original, heavenly purpose as the linking point between human beings and God. Sex in marriage should be a holy act, what he calls ‘absolute sex.’ Love between husband and wife should have the same absoluteness as God’s love for us. Anything less creates separation from God.

1. Refrain from Adultery, the Most Serious Sin

Neither fornicate, for whosoever does that shall meet the price of sin—doubled shall be the chastisement for him on the Resurrection Day.
    Qur’an 25.68-69
 
Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled; for God will judge the immoral and the adulterous.
    Hebrews 13.4
 
Whoever has illicit affairs with the wives of his relatives or friends, either by force or by mutual consent, he is to be known as an outcaste.
    Sutta Nipata 123 (Buddhism)
 
But fornication and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as if fitting among saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity,23 which are not fitting; but instead let there be thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man… has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
    Ephesians 5.3-6
 
Approach not adultery: for it is a shameful deed and an evil, opening the road to other evils.
    Qur’an 17.32
 
He who commits adultery is punished both here and hereafter; for his days in this world are cut short, and when dead he falls into hell.
    Vishnu Purana 3.11 (Hinduism)
 
Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph, and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Lo, having me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand; he is not greater in this house than I am; nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
    Genesis 39.6-9
 
Four misfortunes befall a careless man who commits adultery: acquisition of demerit, disturbed sleep, third, blame; and fourth, a state of woe. There is acquisition of demerit as well as evil destiny. Brief is the joy of the frightened man and woman. The king imposes a heavy punishment. Hence no man should frequent another man’s wife.
    Dhammapada 309-10 (Buddhism)
 
Drink water from your own cistern,
flowing water from your own well.
Should your springs be scattered abroad,
streams of water in the streets?
Let them be for yourself alone,
and not for strangers with you.
Let your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
a lovely hind, a graceful doe.
Let her affection fill you at all times with delight,
be infatuated always by her love.
Why should you be infatuated, my son, with a
loose woman
and embrace the bosom of an adventuress?
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the Lord ,
and he watches all his paths.
The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is caught in the toils of his sin.
He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is lost.
    Proverbs 5.15-23
 
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from unchastity; that each one of you know how to take a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like heathen who do not know God.
    1 Thessalonians 4.3-5
 
The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord… Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who joins himself a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two shall become one flesh.” But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
  1 Corinthians 6.13-20
 
 
 

We Acquire Virtues by First Actually Practicing Them

Listen to the Richard Urban Show #22:

Why Abstinence Matters-2: We Have Become Diseased Spiritually and Physically

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1645

Even the microorganisms, which practice their own forms of love, take pride in the fact that they were also created to play their part within the same realm of the ideal of creation, which is represented by the universal pair system. They are proud of the fact that although you are big and they are small, if they can unite with you and give you a part of themselves, they are more than willing to share themselves with you for eterni-ty. They are different from fallen human beings. The creation of one chemical substance signifies that the plus and the minus elements have found and become one with each other. How silly human beings are by comparison! They are in fact essentially disharmonious, and this is the problem. (209-189, 1990.11.29)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1187

The Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages signifies that the historical course of vertical indemnity and the course of horizontal indemnity that went through the stages of individual, family, people, nation, and the world. That is the vertical and horizontal courses consisting of eight stages are completed. Due to this, the right of eldest son has been restored, and the course of indemnity for all humanity is abolished. That is what I have done by holding this ceremony. The right of the eldest son is restored; the Parents are embracing all humankind. Thus, an end is brought to the history of war and struggle that was necessary in order for the right of the eldest son to be restored in the realm of parental love. The time has come when indemnity is not needed and we can reach harmony in love. In order to achieve this, I had to hold the Ceremony of the Settlement of the Eight Stages. By holding this ceremony, the Parents forgave both the elder and the younger son, so that next we can enter the age of the realm of forgiveness for the fallen parents. (193-173, 1989.10.3)

Cultivating the Good

GOODNESS REQUIRES EFFORT. Since evil infests our world and infects our minds and bodies, we mostly find it difficult to do the right thing. Hence, to become a genuinely good person requires sustained effort at self-cultivation. Aristotle writes that cultivating good character is like learning an art or a skill. If a person makes continual efforts to practice good deeds over a long period, he will form good habits. Good habits cultivated over many years leads to the formation of good character. The human spirit is like a field that must be sowed, cultivated and weeded every day if it is to bear a good crop.
If people do not attend to goodness but tolerate small faults, over time they will develop bad habits that become progressively more ingrained. Thus good begets good, while evil begets evil. Father Moon reminds us that because the propensity for evil is highly developed in fallen people, we must be actively engaged in efforts to do well; as even simple neglect can lead to our downfall.

1. Cultivating the Good through a Lifetime of Practice

Not to do any evil, to cultivate good, to purify one’s mind—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.
    Dhammapada 183 (Buddhism)
 
The virtues we acquire by first having actually practiced them, just as we do the arts. We learn an art or craft by doing the things that we shall have to do when we have learnt it: for instance, men become builders by building houses, harpers by playing on the harp. Similarly we become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.
    Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics 2.1.4 (Hellenism)
 
Carefully uphold the proper norms of conduct, and imitate them day and night so that there will not be a moment’s neglect or cessation. After a time, we become familiar with them, and then we no longer need to imitate them but can make our own standard.
    Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
 
Gain: The superior man, seeing what is good, imitates it;
Seeing what is bad, he corrects it in himself.
    I Ching 42 (Confucianism
 
Whatever you would make habitual, practice it; and if you would not make a thing habitual, do not practice it, but habituate yourself to something else.
    Epictetus (Hellenism)
 
Engage in Torah and charity even with an ulterior motive, for the habit of right doing will lead also to right motivation.
    Talmud, Pesahim 50b (Judaism)
 
By degrees, little by little, from time to time, a wise person should remove his own impurities as a smith removes the dross from silver.
    Dhammapada 239 (Buddhism)
 
By sustained effort, earnestness, discipline, and self-control, let the wise man make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm.
    Dhammapada 25 (Buddhism)
 
Study of Torah leads to precision, precision to zeal, zeal to cleanliness, cleanliness to restraint, restraint to purity, purity to holiness, holiness to meekness, meekness to fear of sin, fear of sin to saintliness, saintliness to the holy spirit, and the holy spirit to life eternal.
    Talmud, Aboda Zara 20b (Judaism)
 
This Atman, resplendent and pure, whom sinless disciples behold residing within the body, is attained by unceasing practice of truthfulness, austerity, right knowledge and continence.
    Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.5 (Hinduism)
 
Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these things are yours and abound, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    2 Peter 1.5-8
 
Maintaining your self-cultivation for a long time will gradually lead to a congenial spirit; a congenial spirit will find one tender, generous, amiable, and agreeable. Anyone who hopes for this must eliminate his ill feelings and break up his anger, and be free of the adversity which invites opposition and attracts indignation. Personal and thorough investigation for a long time will gradually lead to the clarification of principle; perfect understanding will find one able to passively influence others without openly criticizing them. Anyone who heeds this will be well-informed and influential, and free of the worry of rising up in contention and being rejected.
    Even more must we actively observe the principles of things and deeply investigate our basic feelings; personally experience these things through your own faculties, carefully think about them through time—do these things and you will be free of the errors of bias and deceit. It is important that in all matters you always check your power of learning. If there should be any hindrances or irregularities probe deeply until you discover the malady and then root it out.
    Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
 
“Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it had not much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil; and when the sun rose it was scorched, and since it had no root it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”…
    And he said to [his disciples], “Do you not understand this parable? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown; when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which is sown in them. And these in like manner are the ones sown upon rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones sown among thorns; they are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the delight in riches, and the desire for other things, enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown upon the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” \
    Mark 4.3-20
 
 
 
 

The Rogue Servant Seduced His Master’s Daughter

Listen to the Richard Urban Show #21:

Why Abstinence Matters-1: The Fall of Man

Cheon Seong Gyeong 325

A human being is the body of God, who is assuming physical form. Since we are the physical body of God, we are the external God. God wishes to bestow such a privilege on us. (39-340, 1971.1.16

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1131

What kind of a being was Satan originally? The devil was actually a servant of God. Yet, this scoundrel of a servant seduced the master’s daughter. This was the Fall. The Fall as recounted in the Bible describes it as Eve having eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but this fruit was not a literal fruit. The rogue servant seduced his master’s daughter. She was supposed to fulfill God’s ideal by raising sons and daughters who would inherit His lineage, but the archangel, created as a servant, seduced the master’s daughter; that became the origin of the Fall. How in the world can such a thing happen? Heaven and earth ended up this way. If you study the Principle, you will generally understand these complex matters. (85-308, 1976.3.4)

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The Seasons of Life

2. Maturity and Old Age

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

What period of human life is most important? It is not childhood. It is the years when you are passing through young adulthood and into middle age, that is, between your twentieth and fortieth year. Especially during a person’s twenties, before age thirty, he should lay the groundwork for his life’s activities and secure a solid foundation for his life. He should also create the conditions upon which he can move forward and pursue his goals. Anyone who fails to do these things is bound to live as a mediocre, unremarkable person during his thirties and into his forties. (22:314, May 12, 1969)

The period in a person’s life when he is capable of the greatest amount of activity is from his twenties to his forties, perhaps his fifties. These twenty to thirty years are a person’s peak years. But once a person crosses forty, he usually starts to decline. From this perspective, you should think about how little time you have left to work for God’s Will. (33:186, August 12, 1970)

Of all the precious seasons of life, the bloom of youth is beyond compare. When we enter the prime of life we have burdens to carry, and if we cannot keep up the fight, we know that our descendants, who are the fruit of that, will be miserable. Therefore, only if we live vigorously during the prime of life, and continue into old age, will our family have in its bosom descendants who will be able to greet new springs, see new summers, and prevail through the following winters without difficulties. (31:139, May 3, 1970)