No One Said that Any of the Things He Possessed Was His Own

Cheon Seong Gyeong 2260

Earthly families are the production plants to re-create citizens who can be brought along into the heavenly world. We act as the owners of these factories before entering the spirit world. If Adam and Eve had set the straight path, we would not need to educate our children. It would have happened naturally. Everyone would have had God within himself. There would have been no need to educate them. We are where we are now because of the Fall. As a result of the Fall, humanity has been ignorant of all the fundamentals. (254-246, 1994.2.13)

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1205

God’s providence was centered at the Vatican in Rome, and then it passed through Britain and America. Now, after two thousand years, it is returning to Asia. This return is not easily accomplished. According to the principle of restoration through indemnity, history should pass through phenomena opposite to those that occurred in the past. The country of Japan corresponds to England, and Korea is similar to Rome on the Italian peninsula before the providence shifted to Britain. In that age, the responsibility was not fulfilled and the mistake was made on the worldwide level. Now these things have to be indemnified and cleared up in similar circumstances. Without going through the foundation that enables us to do that, we cannot prevent Satan from following us. That is why we have been going this course according to the principle of indemnity. (168-310, 1987.10.1)

Offerings and Tithes

OFFERINGS ARE MATERIAL EXPRESSIONS of faith and devotion. The animal sacrifices of ancient times long ago gave way to monetary donations and tithes, as well as gifts to mendicant monks. Every offering, regardless of its kind, represents an outward expression of a devoted heart. Essentially, an offering is a substitute for the self. Therefore, scripture instructs us to offer up the things that are dearest, willingly and without any reservations or lingering attachments. The biblical standard for offerings is the tithe—ten percent of one’s income.

  1. Offerings—Out of a Pure and Devoted Heart

You will not attain piety until you expend of what you love; and whatever thing you expend, God knows of it.
    Qur’an 3.92

Every sacrifice is a boat to heaven. 
    Satapatha Brahmana 4.2.5.10 (Hinduism)

The spirit that eats a man’s offering, pays him back with life.
    Yoruba Proverb (African Traditional Religions) Continue reading “No One Said that Any of the Things He Possessed Was His Own”

Parents’ Loving Heart towards their Children is an Eternal Standard

Happy Birthday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr!

Book Review: Standing Up to Goliath: Battling State and National Teachers’ Unions for the Heart and Soul of Our Kids and Country by Rebecca Friedrichs

Cheon Seon Gyeong 2063

We should do Tong-ban breakthrough activities, do you understand? In your village, if you think about the people according to each clan, and you have one hundred homes, how many ban(home neighborhoods) does that make? Only by going down to the ban will you move a Mr. Lee of the Lee clan, or a Mr. Pak of the Pak clan. In this way you can move everyone in the area. Since it was in the family that the seeds were sown incorrectly which led to its ruin, it is in the family that you must harvest the results and make a heavenly family that can prosper. Your destiny rests in fulfilling this. Let’s bring this matter to a closing point. (210-291, 1990.12.25

Cheon Seong Gyeong 1189

As God carried out the dispensation for restoration, His grief lay in the fact that the firstborn son was on Satan’s side. That is why human history is diseased. What kind of disease does it suffer from? It has a love related disease. The first son was born after humankind went astray due to the disease of love. If we are not aware of this fact, we won’t reach the time when we are able to ascend to the individual position where we can again achieve harmony, even if we spend billions of years in search of the principled standard. (136-126, 1985.12.22)

Richard: We have to understand The Fall of Man and we have to receive the Blessing.

A Good Heart

2. A Loving Heart and Its Roots in God’s Heart

Gentleness and goodness are the roots of humanity.
    Book of Ritual 38.18 (Confucianism)

To love is to know Me,
My innermost nature,
the truth that I am.
    Bhagavad-Gita 18.55 (Hinduism)

All men have this heart that, when they see another man suffer, they suffer, too… Take an example: a man looks out and sees a child about to fall into a well. No matter who the man is, his heart will flip, flop, and he will feel the child’s predicament; and not because he expects to get something out of it from the child’s parents, or because he wants praise from his neighbors, associates, or friends, or because he is afraid of a bad name, or anything like that.
    Mencius II.A.6 (Confucianism)

The Dwelling of the Tathagata is the great compassionate heart within all the living. The Robe of the Tathagata is the gentle and forbearing heart.
    Lotus Sutra 10 (Buddhism)

As a mother protects her only child at the risk of her own life, let him cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings.
    Khuddaka Patha, Metta Sutta (Buddhism)

Allah is kind and loves whoever is kind;
Allah is clean and loves whoever is clean;
Allah is generous and loves whoever is generous.
    Hadith of Muslim 913.2 (Islam)

What sort of religion can it be without compassion?
You need to show compassion to all living beings.
Compassion is the root of all religious faiths.
    Basavanna, Vacana 247 (Hinduism)

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Because God is love, let us center our lives on heart (shimjung), the essence of love. We advance on the path by developing a character that springs from the heart. (84:123, February 22, 1976)
 
In the heart of love, everything becomes one. It is all-inclusive, not discriminating. Being all-inclusive, it is also embracing. Inclusiveness is the inner core that manifests outwardly as tolerance. Inner and outer engage in circular motion; thus tolerance promotes inclusiveness and inclusiveness pro-motes tolerance.
    Beyond that, love is mutually responsive. “Mutually responsive” means the grandfather is not always absolute. Nor are the grandchildren always absolute. At times, the grandfather may become a grandchild, and the grandchild may become the grandfather. This is what is meant by “mutually responsive.” Therefore, anywhere that loving hearts and a loving atmosphere prevail, there is no opposition; everyone welcomes it. Neither knowledge nor power can create such a tolerant and embracing environment; only love can do it.
    When a hungry child is embraced in its mother’s bosom, it can forget its hunger and go to sleep. What else could be as precious as love? Diamonds? Suppose your wife or child was ill and on the verge of dying. Would you refuse to take a diamond out of your jewelry box and sell it to cover the medical costs? Would that be love? Genuine love has the power to move anything. (139:196-97, January 31, 1986)
 
Due to the human fall, nothing about the human realm of heart entitles us to stand before God except for one condition that remains unchanged: parents’ loving heart for their children. Children’s love toward their parents cannot be the standard, because in the beginning we betrayed God from the position of children. Hence we lost the emotional basis to relate to God as His children. On the other hand, God loved Adam and Eve even at the moment of their Fall. That original nature remains in our hearts. It remains the basis for parents to act according to their original mind in loving their children. Therefore, among people living in the fallen realm, only parents’ love toward their children remains as an original, prelapsarian standard of love. It shall remain as an eternal standard. (23:206, May 25, 1969)
 
If parents have a child with a handicap or birth defect, they are heart-broken yet make special efforts to take care of that child. The love of even worldly parents unmistakably reflects God’s heart. That is why restoration is possible when you are filial toward your parents. (99:127-28, September 10, 1978)
 
Right now what we need most is the glow of love. God’s love is like the guide rope of a net. That love should set its anchor in me. Where should we set the center of our character? Not in the truth, but rather in the heart (shimjung). (33:68, August 8, 1970)
 
 

The Rogue Servant Seduced His Master’s Daughter

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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)

Richard: For more information, listen to the Richard Urban Show above.

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)

Sexual Promiscuity is a Principal Cause of the Downfall of Numerous Heroes

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#74 The Family Rooted in Absolute Sexual Ethics Part 9-with Yun-A Johnson
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Cheon Seong Gyeong 856

If you wish to meet with someone who is millions or billions of miles away, that person will immediately appear. Even though the Kingdom of Heaven is vast, when you prepare your heart and say that you would like to meet with some-one you love, he will appear before you. How wonderful that is! Isn’t that great? When he appears in front of you, you will immediately know which level you are on; you will know if you are higher or lower than he. Even if he is your closest friend, if your level of love is higher than his from heaven’s point of view, he will bow to you as soon as he comes to you. Even your own mother or your ancestors who lived on earth long ago will bow to you. Such a place is the spirit world. (206-138, 1990.10.3

Cheon Seong Gyeong 264

What is the local-level breakthrough (tong ban gyeokpa) we are pursuing? We must unite South and North and offer the Republic of Korea to God as the homeland of all humankind. This must be done in God’s name and in True Par-ents’ name, centered on the achievement of victory in all nations. This is why we have been investing everything. It is for this reason that we are now like a group of beggars. Why beggars? Because we already offered everything decades ago. Now we must unite South and North, and in God’s name and in True Parents’ name we must take back all ownership historically claimed by Satan. We must restore the ownership to the throne of God, the Original Parent, so that Korea will emerge from this as the first ancestor nation among all nations through-out history. Working to bring this about is my final purpose of love. (211-126, 1990.12.29)

The Human Fall

3. Corruption of Sexual Love

Teachings of Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Sexual love caused human beings to fall. Therefore, our sexual organs are most fearful things. Religion holds adultery to be the cardinal sin. Is free sex in America and throughout the world the expression of God’s philosophy of the Kingdom or the devil’s philosophy of hell? It is the philosophy of hell run rampant, creating hell both on earth and in heaven. Everyone who follows this trend is doomed. (261:304, July 24, 1994)

How can God’s love be linked to this world? True love coming down from above brings unity by the most direct and shortest path, making a 90-degree angle. Once that direct connection is made with the vertical God, the love of human beings can correspond to it—true love traveling by the most direct and shortest path. Induced by that vertical love, a man and a woman move on the horizontal plane toward the vertical line, creating a right angle: this is love’s final destination. What was the Human Fall? It bent this right angle. (218:219, July 29, 1991)

God’s purpose of creation, described in the blessings “be fruitful and multiply,” (Gen. 1.28) can be achieved only through love. Accordingly, from the viewpoint of God’s purpose of creation, love should be the most precious and sacred act. But because the sexual act was the very cause of the Fall, people often regard it with shame and even contempt. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 1.3.2)

There is ample evidence which helps us recognize that the root of human sin stems from sexual immorality. We know that the original sin has been perpetuated through lineal descent from one generation to the next. This is because the root of sin was solidified by a sexual relationship that binds one in ties of blood. Furthermore, those religions which emphasize the need to purge sin regard fornication as a cardinal sin, and they have taught the virtues of chastity and restraint in order to curb it. This is an indication that the root of sin is found in lustful desires. The Israelites performed the rite of circumcision as a condition for sanctification. They qualified themselves as God’s chosen people by draining blood, because the root of sin lies in having taken in through an unchaste act the evil blood which permeates our being.
Sexual promiscuity is a principal cause of the downfall of numerous heroes, patriots and nations. Even in the most outstanding people, the root of sin—illicit sexual desire—is constantly active in their souls, sometimes without their conscious awareness. We may be able to eradicate all other evils by establishing moral codes through religion, by thoroughly implementing various educational programs, and by reforming the socio-economic systems that foster crime. But no one can prevent the plague of sexual promiscuity, which has become increasingly prevalent as the progress of civilization makes lifestyles more comfortable and indolent. Therefore, the hope of an ideal world is an empty dream as long as this root of all evils has not been eradicated at its source. Christ at his Second Advent must be able to solve this problem once and for all. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 1.5

Lust Requires for its Consummation Darkness and Secrecy

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Exodus 24

 Then Moses wrote down what the Lord had said.

The next morning Moses got up early. He built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up a large stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. He also sent some young men to burn offerings and to sacrifice bulls as special offerings[a] to the Lord. Moses put half of the blood from the animals into bowls and sprinkled the rest on the altar. Then he read aloud the Lord’s commands and promises, and the people shouted, “We will obey the Lord and do everything he has commanded!”

Psalm 69

You know how I am insulted,
    mocked, and disgraced;
    you know every one
    of my enemies.
20 I am crushed by insults,
    and I feel sick.
    I had hoped for mercy and pity,
    but there was none.
21 Enemies poisoned my food,
    and when I was thirsty,
    they gave me vinegar.

22 Make their table a trap
    for them and their friends.
23     Blind them with darkness
    and make them tremble.
24 Show them how angry you are!
    Be furious and catch them.
25 Destroy their camp
    and don’t let anyone live
    in their tents.

The Human Fall

3. Corruption of Sexual Love

Lust requires for its consummation darkness and secrecy; and this not only when unlawful inter- course is desired, but even such fornication as the earthly city has legalized. Where there is no fear of punishment, these permitted pleasures still shrink from the public eye…
    Even the parental duty, done as it is in accordance with Roman law for the procreation of children, and, therefore, is both legally right and morally good, looks for a room from which all witnesses have been carefully removed. It is only after the best man and bridesmaids, the friends and the servants, have gone from the room that the bridegroom even begins to show any signs of intimate affection… Not even the children who have been born because it was done are allowed to be witnesses while it is being done. Yes, it is a good deed; but it is one that seeks to be known only after it is done, and is ashamed to be seen while it is being done. The reason can only be that what, by nature, has a purpose that everyone praises involves, by penalty, a passion that makes everyone ashamed…
    Now, in the Garden, before the Fall… the passions of anger and lust were never so roused counter to the commands of the rational will that reason was forced, so to speak, to put them in harness. It is different now, when even people who live a life of moral and religious self-control have to bridle these passions. This may be easy or difficult, but the bit and bridle are always needed. Now, the present condition is not that of healthy human nature; it is a sickness induced by sin…
    No one, then, should dream of believing that the kind of lust which made the married couple in the Garden ashamed of their nakedness was meant to be the only means of fulfilling the command which God gave when He “blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.” (Gen. 1.28) The fact is that this passion had no place before they sinned; it was only after the Fall, when their nature had lost its power to exact obedience from the sexual organs, that they fell and noticed the loss and, being ashamed of their lust, covered these unruly members. But God’s blessing on their marriage, with the command to increase and multiply and fill the earth, was given before the Fall. The blessing remained even when they had sinned, because it was a token that the begetting of children is a part of the glory of marriage and has nothing to do with the penalty for sin…
    We conclude, therefore, that, even had there been no sin in the Garden, there would still have been marriages worthy of that blessed place and that lovely babies would have flowered from a love uncankered by lust. Unfortunately, to show just how that could be we have no present experience to help us. Nevertheless, when we consider how many other human organs still obey the will even after the Fall, we have no reason for doubting that the one unruly member could have done the same, as long as there was no defiance from lust. After all, we move our hands and feet to their appropriate functions whenever we choose and with no rebellion on their part… But the peculiarity of the passion of lust which we are here discussing is that the soul can neither sufficiently control itself so as to be free of lust, nor in any way control the body when lust takes over the control of sexual excitement in defiance of the will. This defiance is precisely what makes both lust itself and the organs it controls such sources of shame. Saint Augustine, City of God14.18-23 (Christianity)

You must know, monks, that after the floods [that put out the conflagration that ended the last cosmic cycle] receded and the earth came back into being, there was upon the face of the earth a film more sweet-smelling than ambro-sia. Do you want to know what was the taste of that film? It was like the taste of grape wine in the mouth. And at this time the gods of the Abhasvara Heaven said to one another, “Let us go and see what it looks like in Jambudvipa now that there is earth again.” So the young gods of that heaven came down into the world and saw that over the earth was spread this film. They put their fingers into the earth and sucked them. Some put their fingers into the earth many times and ate a great deal of this film, and these at once lost all their majesty and brightness. Their bodies grew heavy and their substance became flesh and bone. They lost their magic and could no longer fly. But there were others who ate only a little, and these could still fly about in the air. And those that had lost their magic cried out to one another in dismay, “Now we are in a very sad case. We have lost our magic. There is nothing for it but to stay here on earth; for we cannot possibly get back to heaven.” They stayed and fed upon the film that covered the earth, and gazed at one another’s beauty. Those among them that were most passionate became women, and these gods and goddesses fulfilled their desires and pleasure in one another. And this was how it was, monks, that when the world began love-making first spread throughout the world; it is an old and constant thing…
    And the gods who had returned to heaven looked down and saw the young gods that had fallen, and they came down and reproached them, saying, “Why are you behaving in this unclean way?” Then the gods on earth thought to themselves, “We must find some way to be together without being seen by others.” So they made houses that would cover and hide them. Monks, that was how houses first began.
    [Now the people] seeing this thing of husbands and wives had begun, hated and despised such couples and seized them with the left hand, pushed them with the right hand and drove them away. But always after two months or maybe three they would come back again. Then the people hit them or pelted them with sticks, clods of earth, tiles or stones. “Go and hide yourselves! Go and hide yourselves properly!”
That is why today when a girl is married she is pelted with flowers or gold or silver or pieces of clothing or rice, and the people as they pelt her say, “May peace and happiness, new bride, be yours!” Monks, in former times ill was meant by these things that were done, but nowadays good is meant.
    Ekottara Agama 34 and Ch’i-shih Ching4(Buddhism