WS-II - Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Love True Love TRUE LOVE IS THE SUPREME LOVE. It is highly desired, yet rare in the world. These passages can only begin to describe this ideal love, whose various attributes will be treated at length in the following sections.

Most essentially, true love is grounded in divine love. Love or compassion, being the core of Ultimate Reality, is manifested by the saint who can rise above self-centered attachments and desires. As God created for the sake of His creatures, so true love is totally committed to the welfare of the beloved. As God is absolute, eternal and unchanging, true love never changes and cannot be defeated by the vicissitudes of life. As God is the Parent of all humanity and the creator of all things, so a person with true love is impartial and all-embracing. Therefore, true love is displayed to individuals who are deeply united with God and fulfill God’s purpose for their life.

True love is beyond the reach of most people, who are caught up in self-centered pursuits. Yet it is not so far off, for everyone has within him or herself the potential for love. A parent who gives everything for the sake of his or her children has tasted it. Maybe he had habitually lived for his own pleasure, but with the birth of a child his life goes through a total reorientation—from self to the other, from taking to giving. Parental love is close to God’s true love, and hence we call God our Father. This inborn potential is illustrated by the Chinese character for benevolence (仁), which contains elements signifying “two (二) people (人)”; the same elements that are combined to make the character for Heaven (天). Thus love is innate in our being, through love God dwells with us, and by loving we resemble God.

1. The Nature of True Love If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and under­stand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for

knowledge, it will pass away. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13

Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; 653

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for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us…

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

The infinite joy of touching the Godhead is easily attained by those who are free from the burden of evil and established within themselves.

They see the Self in every creature and all creation in the Self. With consciousness unified through meditation, they see everything with an equal eye.

I am ever present into those who have realized Me in every creature. Seeing all life as My manifestation, they are never separated from Me. They worship Me in the hearts of all, and all their actions proceed from Me. Wherever they may live, they abide in Me. When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were his own, he has attained the highest state of spiritual union.

1 John 4.7-12, 18-20

Bhagavad-Gita 6.28-32 (Hinduism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon What is a life of true love? True love is the spirit of public service. It brings the peace that is at the root of happiness. Selfish love is a mask for the desire to have one’s partner exist for one’s own sake; true love is free of that corruption. Rather, its essence is to give, to live for the sake of others and for the sake of the whole.

True love gives, forgets that it has given, and continues to give without ceasing. True love gives joyfully. We find it in the joyful and loving heart of a mother who cradles her baby in her arms and nurses it at her breast. True love is sacrificial love, as with a filial son who gains his greatest satisfaction in helping his parents. God created the universe out of just such love: absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal, investing everything without any expectation or condition of receiving something in return.

True love is the wellspring of the universe. Once a person possesses it, true love makes that person the center and the owner of the universe. True love is the root of God and a symbol of His will and power. When we are bound together in true love, we can be together forever, continually increasing in the joy of each other’s company. The attraction of true love brings all things in the universe to our feet; even God will come to dwell with us. Nothing can compare to the value of true love. It has the power to dissipate the barriers fallen human beings created, including national boundaries and the barriers of race and even religion.

The main attributes of true love are that it is absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal, so whoever practices God’s true love will live with God, share His happiness and enjoy the right to participate as an equal in His work. Therefore, a life lived for the sake of others, a life of true love, is the absolute prerequisite for entering the Kingdom of Heaven. (September 12, 2005) First Corinthians 13 states, “faith, hope and love abide… but the greatest of these is love.” But people do not understand what love is. What does it mean to love with your whole heart and mind and soul? It means that you love even risking your life. Have you experienced loving someone

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completely? Have you loved your husband or your wife completely? Have your loved your teacher completely as his disciple? Have you loved your nation completely? No one, not a single person, has loved completely.

Therefore, just as in a factory a single mold is used to cast thousands of parts, we need a model human being—a true person—from which to propagate true people throughout the world. That is why God promised to send the Messiah. (Way of Unification 8.4.1) What is true love? It is God’s love. What is the path to true love? To become the owner of true love, we must possess God and His attribute of eternity. It is as simple as that. Why? True love has the quality of eternity. Therefore, to meet the condition of [true] love, we should be eternal. We will have true love between us only when our love is eternal. Therefore, on the path to love it is obligatory that we become eternal and unchanging people. Thus, love is eternal. It is eternal, unchanging and unique. Therefore when we have that kind of eternal heart for Heaven, our path will lead us to true love, to love that is all in all. (123:328, January 9, 1983) What is the holiest thing in the world? It is true love. True love begins from God. God desires the path of true love above all, not any other path. God wants to see, hear, eat, and touch through true love. Were you to receive a kiss from God, you would feel such joy and happiness as if your insides were about to explode. (Blessing and Ideal Family 1.3.8) When God exercised His power as the Creator, He created everything centered on love. God relates to everything with true love. In the spirit world, the connection of true love makes you the leader of all things. You can create anything. Therefore, it is our aspiration to relate to everything in true love. Unless you make a connection with true love, everything you do will be in vain. (147:116, August 31, 1986) Ultimately, the original source of love is not in human beings, but in the first causal Being, who is absolute and unchanging. That is why a family of love is a God-centered family. Such families are the basic units for the realization of the ideal in human society. Beginning with families that realize the highest ideal of absolute love, love can expand to the nation and the world. The world of unity that is formed in families that perfect and complete love will surely expand to bring about God’s promise of an ideal world of eternal happiness. (89:227, November 27, 1976) Suppose a husband and wife give birth to a child with a deformity. Do they terminate its life and say, “Well, we can try again”? Is that true love? No, of course not. By the same token, a husband cannot think that if his wife displeases him, he can simply divorce her and marry someone else. Rather, he should determine to stay with her through thick and thin, always compensating for her shortcomings and her faults. That is the proper course, and such love will pass muster in the spirit world where love is more visibly dominant than it is on earth. Such a person can be called a true husband.

True love is not seen when it is easy to love. True love becomes evident when you love someone even though it is difficult.

The same principle of love applies in a student’s relationship to a [difficult] teacher and viceversa. It also applies in the relationship between a nation’s president and its people. (117:292, April 11, 1982)

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If God has a creation that He cherishes and thinks most valuable, does He intend to throw it away after spending just one day, 10 years or 100 years with it? Or did He create it to be with Him eternally? Surely this applies to human beings, whom God created to live with Him eternally. We are the object partners of the absolute God, who created us out of absolute love for His good pleasure.

Likewise, if a man takes pleasure in a woman for a few days, 10 years or 100 years, and then discards her, it is not love. If it were love, the more he loved her, the longer he would want to be with her.

There was once a man whose wife died young. He stayed single the rest of his life, always carrying her handkerchief. Nehru, the Prime Minister of India, always wore roses on his clothes because his wife had loved roses. (39:342-43, January 16, 1971) True love is love that continues forever. It is love that does not change, whether in spring, summer, autumn, or winter. It does not diminish when a person is a child, middle-aged, a senior citizen, or has passed on to the eternal spirit world. True love does not change. (194:303, October 30, 1989)

❖ 2. Compassion and Benevolence ‘Benevolence (仁)’ means ‘man (人).’ When these two are conjoined, the result is ‘the Way.’ Mencius VII.B.16 (Confucianism)

Benevolence (仁) is simple undifferentiated gentleness. Its energy is the springtime of the universe, and its principle is the mind of living things in the universe.

Chu Hsi (Confucianism)

Compassion is a mind that savors only mercy and love for all sentient beings.

Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 437 (Buddhism)

Anas and ‘Abdullah reported God’s Messenger as saying, “All [human] creatures are God’s children, and those dearest to God are those who treat His children kindly.”

Hadith of Baihaqi (Islam)

Those immersed in the love of God feel love for all things.1 Adi Granth, Wadhans, M.1, p. 557 (Sikhism)

He who is skilled in welfare, who wishes to attain that calm state (Nibbana), should act thus: He should be able, upright, perfectly upright, of

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noble speech, gentle, and humble. Contented, easily supported, with few wants and simple tastes, with senses calmed, discreet, not impudent, not greedily attached to families…

[He should always hold this thought,] “May all beings be happy and secure, may their hearts be wholesome! Whatever living beings there be: feeble or strong, tall, stout or medium, short, small or large, without exception; seen or unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born or those yet unborn—may all beings be happy!”

Let none deceive another, nor despise any person whatsoever in any place. Let him not wish any harm to another out of anger or illwill. Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, let him cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings.

Let his thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world: above, below, and across without any obstruction, without any hatred, without any enmity. Whether he stands, walks, sits or lies down, as long as he is awake, he should develop this mindfulness. This, they say, is the noblest living here.2 Sutta Nipata 143-151, Metta Sutta (Buddhism)

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Now, I am jealous of no one, Now that I have attained unto the Society of the Saints: I am estranged with no one: nor is anyone a stranger to me, Indeed, I am the friend of all.

All that God does, with that I am pleased; This is the wisdom I have received from the saints.

Yea, the One God pervades all: and, seeing Him, I am wholly in bloom.

If you step on a stranger’s foot in the marketplace, you apologize at length for your carelessness. If you step on your older brother’s foot, you give him an affectionate pat, and if you step on your parent’s foot, you know you are already forgiven. So it is said, “Perfect ritual makes no distinction of persons; perfect righteousness takes no account of things [wealth]; perfect knowledge does not scheme; perfect benevolence knows no [partiality in] affection; perfect trust dispenses with gold.”3

Adi Granth, Kanara, M.5, p. 129 (Sikhism)

Chuang Tzu 23 (Taoism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Through many religions, God has taught us that we must love. The Buddha described it by the word compassion. Confucianism described it as benevolence and righteousness. Its teachings on benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom indicate that there is no virtue unless love is included.

The Chinese character for benevolence (仁) shows two (二) people (人). The Chinese character for Heaven (天) also contains two (二) people (人). (256:205, March 13, 1994) Love cannot be true love if it is only for me. True love cannot be my individual possession. True love is for all people and for the whole universe. True love is what connects the family, the society, the nation, the world and universe. (Blessing and Ideal Family 1.3.8) Even among fallen human beings, a parent’s love for his or her children approximates original parental love. Parental love is absolute because it can transcend the parent’s consciousness of his or her existence and activity. It is not comprehended by biological instinct, nor can it be constrained by a ruler’s decree. Parental love transcends ideology. It transcends humanistic values. It can even transcend God’s value. (8:273, February 7, 1969) What is true love? It is God’s love. Then, what is God’s love? Jesus defined it as love that is capable of loving even an enemy…

Those who can unconditionally love everyone, including their enemies, must command the respect of others, whether they are black, white or yellow. This would be true in the past, in the present, and on into the future, even a million years from now. So this must be a universal truth.

Consider all the founders of religion—Jesus, Confucius and Mohammed. Throughout their lives they lived for the benefit of the world, loving humankind. (115:315-16, November 29, 1981) How can we digest the evils of the world? With military power? With economic power?

With the power of knowledge, or gold? No, we must digest this evil world with the power of love…

A small child climbs up on to the topknot on the head of his great grandfather, who is so old he is near death, and then slips off. As he sliding down, he urinates and defecates all over the old man, covering him from his head to his waist with urine and feces. Can such a thing be forgiven? The

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grandmother and grandfather will shout, “Oh, no!” and the mother and father will shout, “Oh, no” and make a tremendous fuss. But will the great grandfather shout, “This brat humiliated me! You must punish him for this!” No, he cannot. He will just laugh.

What great power and authority can do this? Only the unsurpassed power of love! Love is like a huge pot that melts everyone together and creates harmony. What a wonderful melting pot!

(139:209-10, January 31, 1986)

❖ 3. Love’s Circular Motion Love works in a circle, for the beloved moves the lover by stamping a likeness, and the lover then goes out to hold the beloved in reality.

Who first was the beginning now becomes the end of motion.

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica4 (Christianity)

Those who act kindly in this world will have kindness.

Qur’an 39.10

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall attain mercy.

Matthew 5.7

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Proverbs 8.17

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us…

God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him…

We love, because he first loved us.

1 John 4.11-12, 16, 19

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.

John 14.20-21

Believers, men and women, are protecting friends of one another.

Qur’an 9.71

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord.

Ephesians 5.21

True love is a love of beauty and order, temperate and harmonious.

Plato, The Republic (Hellenism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Absolute love is not forced. It circulates naturally. (196:134, December 31, 1989) Love does not come from “me.” It comes from my partner. Knowing this, we conclude that people were made to live for others. Every man was born for a woman, and every woman was born for a man. Only by living for the sake of the other can we find love and receive love. There is no true love when you ask others to live for your sake. (143:54, March 15, 1986)

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Men and women were not created to live for their own sake, but for the sake of their partner of the opposite sex. A man is born for the sake of a woman. Likewise, whether or not a woman is beautiful, or even if she hates men, she was born for a man; just look at the way her body is shaped. God designed each sex to live for the sake of its opposite.

Likewise, when parents live for the sake of the children and the children live for the sake of the parents, there is circular motion. The more they live for each other’s sake, they faster the motion becomes. This is the ideal form—not a square, but round and three-dimensional. Each member adds to the other’s energy; hence the more we live for each other, the more dynamic our circular motion becomes. The family forms a sphere that can continue this way for eternity.

This is why circular forms are so widespread in the world. The face is circular. The eyes are round. They must engage in complete give and take. Veins and arteries also engage in give and take.

Sickness occurs when the balance is broken, when there is giving but no way to receive. In sum, all beings that move must establish the principle of living for the sake of another. Otherwise, they cannot continue to exist. (69:83-84, October 20, 1973) Love, especially true love, involves a spiral action. As two elements revolve, they penetrate each other and rise at the same time. Nearby objects are drawn into the swirl. The spiral action takes place due to the power of give and take action. This is how Jesus could say that he was in the Father and the Father in him. Through love, Jesus is in us and we are in him—it is entirely possible. God, Jesus and us combine in a great sphere. (124:51, January 23, 1983) When something is rotating, its vertical and horizontal axes unite only at the most central point.

When you and your partner come together at that central point, the entire universe resonates.

You can even come to know the spirit world clearly. The world of love has no need for a system of education, nor does it need anyone to dominate and govern it. Love governs us. Doesn’t even God completely submit to love? And if we are headed in the wrong direction, the world of love corrects our direction and sets us on the right way. We automatically know the way we should go. (214:233, February 2, 1991)

❖ 4. True Love Begins from Faith and Character What is meant by saying that the regulation of the family depends on the cultivation of the personal life is this: Men are partial toward those for whom they have affection and whom they love, partial toward those whom they despise and dislike, partial toward those whom they fear and revere, partial toward those whom they pity and for whom they have compassion, and partial toward those whom they do not respect.

Therefore there are few people in the world who know what is bad in those whom they love and what is good in those whom they dislike. Hence it is said, People do not know the faults of their

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sons and do not know [are not satisfied with] the bigness of their seedlings. This is what is meant by saying that if the personal life is not cultivated, one cannot regulate his family.5 Great Learning 8 (Confucianism)

He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.

1 John 4.8

It is not for the sake of the husband, my beloved, that the husband is dear, but for the sake of the Self.6

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It is not for the sake of the wife, my beloved, that the wife is dear, but for the sake of the Self.

It is not for the sake of the children, my beloved, that the children are dear, but for the sake of the Self.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.4.4-5 (Hinduism)

The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.

Galatians 5.23

What kind of love is this that to another can shift?

Says Nanak: True lovers are those who are forever absorbed in the Beloved.

Whoever discriminates between treatment held good or bad, Is not a true lover—he rather is caught in calculations.

Adi Granth, Asa-ki-Var, M.2, p. 474 (Sikhism)

Wherefore let us exhort all men to piety, that we may avoid evil, and obtain the good, of which Love is to us the lord and minister; and let no one oppose him—he is the enemy of the gods who oppose him. For if we are friends of the God and at peace with him we shall find our own true loves, which rarely happens in this world at present…

My words… include men and women everywhere; and I believe that if our loves were perfectly accomplished, and each one returning to his primeval nature had his original true love, then our race would be happy.

Plato, Symposium (Hellenism)

Now tell me: can a man love anyone who hates himself? Can he be in harmony with someone else if he’s divided in himself, or bring anyone pleasure if he’s only a disagreeable nuisance to himself?

How necessary it is for a man to have a good opinion of himself, give himself a bit of a boost to win his own self-esteem before he can win that of others.

Erasmus, Praise of Folly (Humanism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon People seek love with each other—horizontal love, while God’s love is vertical love. If love is to be perfect, the horizontal and the vertical lines must be connected. (238:140, November 22, 1992) It is a teaching of the Principle that God dwells in an individual whose mind and body are in oneness. Why does God dwell there? Love most certainly dwells where a person’s mind and body are united. Love is the starting point of unity. The object partner’s love brings God near, to dwell there.

It is said that human beings are temples of God. What kind of place is a holy temple? Is it a place of work? No, a temple is a place of rest and tranquility. Where can we rest? We can rest in the midst of God’s love; that is the most ideal place. Don’t you agree? So we can be God’s temples when we can rest in God’s love.

We aspire to have such a mind, with God’s love and peace abiding within our inmost heart.

Then we would dwell in what is called “the world of heart (shimjung).” That place is like an everflowing spring of the purest fresh water. Love and peace well up from within, never ceasing, never stagnating. It is endless because God dwells there.

Become that kind of person, a temple of God, and you can comfort those who are crying out in pain. (91:77, January 30, 1977)

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True love moves at the zero point. The zero point is where the mind and body become one. There, every void is filled and every excess flattened. There the mind and body have perfect rest. At the zero point, only love has the power to move us. Nothing else works. At the zero point both the wife’s mind and the husband’s mind are at zero; therefore they can become one, they can become totally one. At the zero point, neither the wife nor the husband clings to their own concepts. Abiding there, they have no concept of “two,” only “one.” What does it mean? They are living for each other. That is the zero point. In that state they free in everything; wherever they go and whatever they do they are free. (230:103, April 26, 1992) A person who does not love himself cannot love God. A person who does not love himself cannot love his parents. A person who does not love his parents cannot love his country. You must first love yourself to be able to love your parents, love your country, love the world, and love God. (22:97, January 26, 1969) According to the ideal of love, all love relationships in the animal and plant kingdoms are for reproduction only. Human beings are the sole exception. Humankind enjoys freedom in the conjugal relationship of love. This is humanity’s special privilege as the lord of all creation. God blessed His sons and daughters with the infinite joy of love.

However, the true freedom that God allowed requires human responsibility. If an individual were to insist upon and practice freedom of love without responsibility, how much confusion and destruction would take place! Achieving the highest ideal of human love is possible only when one takes responsibility for love.

We can think of this responsibility in three ways. The first responsibility is to become a master of true love—truly thanking God for the freedom of love and knowing how to cultivate and control ourselves. We do not take this responsibility for a love relationship merely because of law or social convention. Instead, a person should establish this responsibility through his own self-mastery and self-determination within a committed vertical relationship with God. The second responsibility is toward our partner of love. By nature, people do not want their spouse’s love to be shared with others. Horizontal conjugal love, which differs from the vertical love between parents and children, loses its potential for perfection the moment it is divided. This is because the Principle of Creation requires husband and wife to become one in absolute love. Each spouse has the responsibility to practice absolute love, living for the sake of the other.

The third responsibility of love is toward our children. The love of parents is the basis for children’s pride and happiness. They would wish to be born through the total and harmonious unity of their parents in true love, and they would wish to be raised in that kind of love. The highest responsibility of parents is not only to rear their children externally, but also to offer them life elements of true love that can perfect their spirituality. This is why the family is so valuable.

(277:201-02, April 16, 1996)

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Living for Others THE SPIRITUAL LIFE THAT BEGINS WITH FAITH AND DEVOTION to God finds its completion in deeds of loving-kindness and service to others: “We love, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4.19) Living for the sake of others is love’s fundamental ethic.

Living for others is a natural expression of a loving heart that flows spontaneously from a person’s inner being. This is because human beings take after God, who from the moment of creation has continually been living for the sake of His creatures. Nevertheless, due to the fall, human nature became corrupted. Misunderstanding love as a matter of personal pleasure disconnected from the divine source, our minds, attitudes and habits became self-centered. Hence many people find it quite an effort to serve others without the expectation of some sort of payback. We have created a society of takers, not givers, leading inevitably to inequality, resentment and crime.

Passages from all the world’s faiths recommend service and living to benefit others as the supreme way of life in this world. Jesus identifies service as the most authentic way of leadership, and exemplified it in his own life as one who came “not to be served, but to serve.” Moreover, some texts, notably the Bhagavad-Gita and the Tao Te Ching, identify it as the fundamental principle by which God creates and sustains the universe. Every selfless act in the service of others is an act born of God. Father Moon has much to say on this topic, affirming the life of living for the sake of others as the lifestyle of the Kingdom.

1. Helping Others and Caring for Others Is the Fundamental Ethic of Human Life Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6.2

another. As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.

1 Peter 4.8-10

Rendering help to another is the function of all human beings.

Tattvarthasutra 5.21 (Jainism)

All men are responsible for one another.

Talmud, Sanhedrin 27b (Judaism)

The best of men are those who are useful to others.

Hadith of Bukhari (Islam)

Be kind to parents, and the near kinsman, and to orphans, and to the needy, and to the neighbor who is of kin, and to the neighbor who is a stranger, and to the companion at your side, and to the traveler, and to [slaves] that your right hands own. Surely God loves not the proud and boastful such as are niggardly, and bid other men to be niggardly, and themselves conceal the bounty that God has given them.

Qur’an 4.36-47

Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

1 Corinthians 10.24

Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality ungrudgingly to one

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Until now each and every one throughout the world has been concerned only with himself.

How pitiful it is! You have no mind to help others, however hard you may think it over.

Henceforth, ceaselessly strive to restore your mind! I, God (Tsukihi), request it from you all

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equally. If you ask what kind of mind it is, it is the mind to save single-heartedly all people of the world. Henceforth, if only all people of the world equally help each other on any and every matter, believe that I will accept your minds and will work any and every kind of salvation!

Ofudesaki 12.89-94 (Tenrikyo)

Do not seek to benefit only yourself, but think of other people also. If you yourself have abundance, do not say, “The others do not concern me, I need not bother about them!” If you were

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lucky in hunting, let others share it. Show them the favorable spots where there are many sea lions that can be easily slain. Let others have their share occasionally. If you want to amass everything for yourself, other people will stay away from you and no one will want to be with you. If you should one day fall ill, no one will visit you because, for your part, you did not formerly concern yourself about others. Grant other people something also. The Eskimo do not like a person who acts selfishly.

Yamana Eskimo Initiation (Native American Religions)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon The essence of love is to live for the sake of others instead of waiting for others to serve you. This is different from what passes for love in the secular world. Therefore, religion teaches to live for the sake of others—to be obedient, to serve and to sacrifice. (46:42, July 18, 1971) Altruism—investing oneself for others, for the nation and for the world, living a life of sacrifice and service to others—may be considered by today’s society to be a most foolish philosophy of life. As you come to understand the deepest truths, however, you will understand that altruism is the secret to living in eternal happiness and the way most beneficial to human beings. (198:163, February 1, 1990) It is a principle that those who invest themselves for the sake of others and live for the sake of their partners will go to heaven. Because educational philosophies and cultural traditions throughout history have taught this idea, the planet Earth has been preserved at least to its current extent. (69:86, October 20, 1973) The way of true love can never be found without a partner to live for. (398:284, December 15, 2002) Live a broad and grand life on earth to be on the track to heaven. Live for others. Invest repeatedly and forget what you have invested. Love and forget, and continue to love infinitely because you were born to live for others. (306:215, September 23, 1998) Who is a good person? Not someone who wishes that others would obey him. No, a good person is one who lives for the whole. Don’t family members agree on who is the most promising and best-natured child in the family? From grandparents to cousins, if you ask them they will say, “Yes, that one gives the most.” Undoubtedly that child is not the one who always asks his grandfather to please him. Rather, although he is a little child, he always considers how to behave and how to serve in order to make his grandfather happy. Day and night he tries to help all his family members, even cousins and in-laws. That child is undoubtedly a grandson on whom the family can place great hope. (174:11-12, February 23, 1988)

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The universe was created by investing, based on love for the sake of others. Hence, when a person lives for the sake of others, he aligns himself with the original activity of creation, and this brings him into oneness with God. This person will not perish, because God will never perish. He will surely become an owner of the universe, because God is the Owner of the universe. Seen this way, it is clear that the person who lives for the sake of others becomes a central figure. (270:165, May 29, 1995) I know that the American people respect individualism. However, individualism that lost sight of relationships between subject and object partners cannot endure. That is why America has reached a blind alley. How can we save America? We have to remind her of the essence of the Christian life, which is God’s original way of life. There is no other way. In this sense, even though you do not welcome Reverend Moon, you need him. He teaches God’s principle: You individuals should live for your families, families for your communities, communities for your nation, your nation for the world, and the world for God. (69:88, October 20, 1973)

❖ 2. Serve Others without Demanding Anything in Return Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave.”

The more he gives to others, the more he possesses of his own.

The Way of Heaven is to benefit others and not to injure.

The Way of the sage is to act but not to compete.

Tao Te Ching 81 (Taoism)

Matthew 20.25-27

Without selfless service are no objectives fulfilled; In service lies the purest action.

Adi Granth, Maru, M.1, p. 992 (Sikhism)

One who serves and seeks no recompense Finds union with the Lord.

Such a servant alone takes the Master’s guidance, says Nanak, As on him is divine grace.

Unlike material possessions, goodness is not diminished when it is shared, either momentarily or permanently, with others, but expands and, in fact, the more heartily each of the lovers of goodness enjoys the possession the more does goodness grow. What is more, goodness is not merely a possession that no one can maintain who is unwilling to share it, but it is one that increases the more its possessor loves to share it.”

Adi Granth, Sukhmani 18, M.5, pp. 286f. (Sikhism)

Saint Augustine, City of God 15.5 (Christianity)

When you are in the service of your fellow beings you are only in the service of your God.

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2.17 (Latter-day Saints)

The sage does not accumulate for himself.

The more he uses for others, the more he has himself.

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Philippians 2.3-4

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Teachings of Sun Myung Moon The blessing of all blessings is to give sacrificial love and service for the sake of others. (43:309, May 2, 1971) Regardless of sex or age, everyone is longing for love. What kind of love? Love that is for the sake of others, not love that demands others love them. (211:206; December 30, 1990) Do not think selfishly that you should receive love. A loving heart always seeks to sacrifice and yield to others, and after giving wants to give still more. That is God’s heart.

For example, if I had one billion dollars and gave it all away to the poor on the streets, my mind would not be at ease. I would regret that I did not have more money to give away to help every human being in need. (133:180, July 10, 1984) What is God’s love? It is a love that is not satisfied with what it has given. It feels ashamed because it wanted to give more. If you give your utmost and still feel ashamed that you could not give more, then you are an owner of true love. A loving parent feels anxious that she could not buy better clothes for her children, so she supplements the deficiency with love. Therefore, love that was given in scarcity is returned in abundance. Love does not diminish when it is spent, but flourishes because it is supplemented by something bigger. Therefore, nothing prospers without love. Eternal life does not exist without love. (38:327-28, January 8, 1971) What is the essence of love? It is living for others. It is giving to others—giving from a desire arising out of our own free will. Where did that love originate? It originated from God. God is the Subject of absolute love, and giving is the essence of His love.

We can see the essence of love in parental love. The child may spurn the parent, rebel and turn to evil, yet if the parent loves him even more than before, the child will repent. If the parent were to scold the child, saying, “I loved you so much, even breaking my back for you, you ungrateful brat!” then after three such scoldings the child might run away. But suppose that parent repents in tears, standing in front of the child and saying, “It is my fault for not loving you more.” Don’t you think that child would turn around? Greater love has the power to digest and unite lesser love. (48:182, September 12, 1971) Let me explain with several illustrations why God made the principle of living for others. First, let me ask you a question. If someone truly loves you and sacrifices for you 100 percent, would you want to return only 50 percent, keeping the other 50 percent in your pocket? Or would you want to give more, even everything you have? Which is in accordance with your original conscience? The answer is, you would want to return more than you receive.

Here is Mr. Pak translating for me. If I give him 100 percent true love, and he knows this, then he will return more than 100 percent. So 100 percent is returned as 110 percent. After you receive 110 percent, in response to his sincerity, you would give again 120 percent. In this way the concept of eternity comes about. That’s why God set up this principle—as the basis of eternity. It makes development and prosperity possible.

Second, if among five people in a family there is one who lives for the sake of the family, eventually he or she will become the center of that family. When he or she is established as the center, subject-object relationships are formed. This creates a realm of voluntary dominion. People

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today don’t understand how happy it would be to be ruled by a subject who lives absolutely for his or her objects. You can never imagine how glorious it is to be under the direct dominion of God in the spirit world. This is the true subject-object relationship.

Third, we know that love and ideals are more precious than life itself, yet we tend to think we produced them and they belong to us. This is a big misunderstanding. Love and ideals come from your partner. Because they come from your object, the principle of living for others is necessary. God, the King of Wisdom, knows all of this, so He made this principle. (73:326-27, August 10, 1974)

❖ 3. In Creating the Universe, God Gave Everything for the Sake of His Creations We love, because he first loved us.

1 John 4.19

Heaven is eternal and Earth everlasting.

They can be eternal and everlasting because they do not exist for themselves, And for this reason can exist forever.

Therefore the sage places himself in the background, but finds himself in the foreground.

He puts himself away, and yet he always remains.

Is it not because he has no personal interests?

This is the reason why his personal interests are fulfilled.

Tao Te Ching 7 (Taoism)

At the beginning, mankind and the obligation of selfless service were created together. “Through selfless service, you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires”: this is the promise of the Creator….

Every selfless act, Arjuna, is born from the eternal, infinite Godhead. God is present in every act of service. All life turns on this law, O Arjuna. Whoever violates it, indulging his senses for his own pleasure and ignoring the needs of others, has wasted his life. But those who realize the God within are always satisfied.

Having found the source of joy and fulfillment, they no longer seek happiness from the external world. They have nothing to gain or lose by any action; neither people nor things can affect their security.

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What the outstanding person does, others will try to do. The standards such people set will be followed by the whole world. There is nothing in the three worlds for Me to gain, Arjuna, nor is there anything I do not have; I continue to act, but I am not driven by any need of my own. If I ever refrained from continuous work, everyone would immediately follow my example. If I stopped working I would be the cause of cosmic chaos, and finally of the destruction of this world and these people.

Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal in life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind. It was by such work that Janaka attained perfection; others, too, have followed this path.

The ignorant work for their own profit, Arjuna; the wise work for the welfare of the world, without thought to themselves. By abstaining from work you will confuse the ignorant, who are engrossed in their actions. Perform all work carefully, guided by compassion.

Bhagavad-Gita 3.10-26 (Hinduism)

The threefold offspring of Prajapati—gods, men, and demons—dwelt with their father Prajapati as students of sacred knowledge.7 Having lived the life of a student of sacred knowledge, the gods said, “Speak to us, sir.” To them then he spoke this syllable: “Da.” “Do you understand?” “We understand,” said they. “You said to us, ‘Restrain yourselves (damyata).’”

“Om,” said he. “You do understand.”

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Then the men said to him, “Speak to us, sir.” To them he spoke this syllable: “Da.” “Do you understand?” “We understand,” said they.

“You said to us, ‘Give (datta).’” “Om,” said he.

“You do understand.”

Then the demons said to him, “Speak to us, sir.” To them he spoke this syllable: “Da.” “Do you understand?” “We understand,” said they. “You said to us, ‘Be compassionate (dayadhvam).’”

“Om,” said he. “You do understand.”

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The same thing does thunder, the divine voice, here repeat, “Da! Da! Da! Restrain yourselves. Give. Be compassionate.” One should practice this same triad: self-restraint, giving and compassion.

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5.2.2: The Voice of Thunder (Hinduism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon What kind of being is God? God acts according to the law of priority of the universal and public. It requires that every being act to benefit the greater whole ahead of its own existence. Living by that law means to embody the spirit of sacrifice and service. (105:99, September 30, 1979) Love is to invest oneself 100 percent. Out of love, when God created heaven and earth He invested Himself 100 percent. That is why true love starts from living for the sake of others. (189:202, April 6, 1989) When God created humans beings as His partners of love, He was living for their sake. Therefore, human beings are meant to model after God and live for the sake of others. However, due to the Fall, we came to live for ourselves. The philosophy of living for the sake of others is based on the fact that all love comes from one’s partner. (149:273, November 27, 1986) Parents invest and forget for the sake of their children, a husband invests and forgets for the sake of his wife, and a wife invests and forgets for the sake of her husband. Siblings, too, invest and forget.

God envisioned this standard of love at the beginning of creation, which He founded to manifest His ideal of love. (253:66, January 7, 1994) God created the universe by investing Himself. Since God invested Himself completely, the complete result was guaranteed. As this is the principle of creation, we likewise should invest ourselves completely and sincerely. By giving sincerely you find your future object, build your foundation, and create the circumstances in which you can succeed. All this is impossible by merely receiving. The principle of creation is to live for others. (82:323, February 1, 1976) God’s act of creation required an investment of energy. The act of creating consumes energy. How much did God invest? You read the Bible, and you think that everything was created easily according to the Word of God, “Let there be… and it was.” It was not that way. Rather, God completely invested His true life, true love, and true ideal in His creations.

Hence, there was a difference between the situation before the creation and after God finished His creation. Before the creation, the God only thought of Himself. After God created, He entered the age of existing for the sake of His object partners…

In this way, my existence is no longer for own benefit. Instead, I exist for the sake of my partner.

Parents exist for the sake of their children. Because words such as “love” and “ideal” presume the

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existence of a counterpart, the origin of ideal existence does not begin at the position where we exist for our own sake but where we exist for the sake of our partner.

This is the reason God invested completely in creating His partner. God wanted to create an object partner of greater value, more complete and ideal. After creating Adam and Eve, God determined that He would exist for their sake. He made the transition from living for Himself to living for the sake of His partner.

For this reason, we cannot hope to attain our ideal as long as we put ourselves first. We can attain our ideal only by living for the sake of others, especially for the sake of our partner. This principle stems from the origin of the universe. (69:82-83, October 20, 1973)

❖

Sacrificial Love TRUE LOVE IS SACRIFICIAL LOVE. It calls forth self-sacrifice in the service of others. Love prompts us to get involved in the knotty problems of the world, gives us the strength to bear with the failings and weaknesses of others, and moves us to help others regardless of the cost. We have the example of Jesus Christ, who out of love, offered his life to redeem sinful humanity. Moses in his time, and Muhammad as well, endured persecution and exile, risking their lives to enlighten and liberate their people—all for the love of God and humanity.

Out of Buddhism comes the figure of the bodhisattva, who vows to devote himself to save all beings. He regards his own happiness as incidental to the happiness of others, and would rather not enjoy the fruits of his own spiritual progress before first liberating others.

On this topic, Father Moon describes the root of sacrificial love in God, who invested Himself endlessly at the creation to make a beautiful home for His children. God, who ever since the fall, has continuously and sorrowfully devoted Himself as would a loving Parent to rescue prodigal humanity from the pits of sin and grief. Such divine love is manifested every day in the human love of parents, who willingly sacrifice for their children’s future.

1. Sacrificing Everything—Even Your Life—for the Sake of Those You Love Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15.13

The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Love will make men dare to die for their beloved—love alone; and women as well as men. Of this, Alcestis, the daughter of Pelias, is a monument to all Hellas; for she was willing to lay down her life on behalf of her husband, when no one else would.8 Socrates, in Plato, Symposium (Hellenism)

Matthew 20.28

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.

Ephesians 5.1-2

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By this we know love, that he [Christ] laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But if any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in

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him? Little children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth.

1 John 3.16-18

We, truly, have come for your sakes, and have borne the misfortunes of the world for your salvation. Do you flee the one who has sacri­ficed his life that you may be quickened?… Do you imagine that he seeks his own interests, when he has, at all times, been threatened by the swords

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of the enemies; or that he seeks the vanities of the world, after he has been impri­soned in the most desolate of cities?…

Verily, he has consented to be sorely abased that you may attain glory, and yet, you are disporting yourselves in the vale of heedlessness.

He, in truth, lives in the most desolate of abodes for your sakes, while you dwell in your palaces.

Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas (Baha’i Faith)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon If I put my life on the line to subjugate evil, then the life-giving love of God will be bestowed upon me. (40:243, February 6, 1971) A sacrificial spirit—where for the sake of a neighbor you can throw away your life as if it were a worthless piece of straw—is exactly true love. (224:254, December 7, 1991) Love would not be possible if human beings did not have an original nature to sacrifice. We do not think of it as a sacrifice when we sacrifice for someone we love. We feel it is worthwhile, even as we sacrifice more and more. (63:25, October 1, 1972) In the course of loving their children, parents will sacrifice. No matter how much they sacrifice for their children they do not take it as painful, because the heart of love is contained in their sacrifice.

All the energy they expend returns to them as stimulating love. The more they give out, the more joy they feel. That is the power by which they can overcome the pain of sacrifice.

Likewise, husband and wife may make sacrifices for each other to the point of giving their lives, yet through it all, they feel joy. In love they can invest infinitely, and feel infinite joy in return.

Sacrifice in itself is consumptive; it is a minus force. How can one feel joy by becoming diminished? From a worldly viewpoint it is impossible. However, it is possible because of love.

Why did God pour out His love? Because without love, nothing returns. Through a relationship of love between subject and object partners, an eternal give and take action is set in motion which multiplies God’s power. Therefore, we can conclude that love establishes eternity. That is why the Bible says that God is love.

According to the laws of mechanics, the output can never be greater than the input. If that were true where love is concerned, then when God loved it would drain out all His energy and nothing would return to Him. Therefore, He set up the ideal that in loving, the output is greater than the input.

Accordingly, true parent-child relationships, true husband-wife relationships, and true brotherly relationships are established through sacrificial love. The genuineness of those relationships depends upon keeping the standard of sacrifice.

Children know that their parents truly love them when they sacrifice themselves for them.

Although the sacrificial position is a sorrowful one, when the children perfectly appreciate it and return love to the parents, the parents can feel more joy.

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Likewise, a couple that sacrifices for each other finds their love constantly renewed, revived by the power of sacrifice. A husband and wife who share their suffering with each other can become one eternally. True friends also, are those who sacrifice themselves for each other. The position of love can be established when one sacrifices oneself and gives himself for others. Thus sacrifice accompanies love. (September 11, 1972) Love embraces all. Love goes beyond the law. Because it goes beyond the law, not even death can stand in its way. Love can penetrate any wall, even a wall tens of thousands of years in the making.

Though the wall is so strong that no army can invade, love can push its way through safely. The most formidable wall will crumble when you attack it with the weapons of self-sacrifice and investing everything, for the sake of love. (49:52, October 3, 1971) You should sacrifice the person closest to you. What principle has God employed in His efforts to restore this world? To save this sinful world and all the wretched people of the earth, God sacrificed the person He loved most.

God sent His servants as offerings, and when the time came God offered up His only Son. This has always been the way of God’s providence: He sacrifices the most beloved on His side for the sake of Satan’s tribe. Can you possibly experience how God must feel, to sacrifice His beloved ones to liberate the followers of His worst enemy? Yet He perseveres in this providence for the sake of the world and for the sake of His enemies. Therefore, the entire human race should give God honor and glory. (33:298, August 21, 1970) When an individual sacrifices him or herself for the sake of others, the others will recognize him as a virtuous person. If a certain family lives sacrificially for other families, those families will respect it as a virtuous family. If a community sacrifices itself for other communities and dedicates its full energy for them, then they will honor it as the most virtuous of communities. Likewise, if a nation seeks to sacrifice itself for all nations in the world, then the other nations will honor that nation as the most noble among nations.

This principle is God’s Will, and God sent Jesus to establish it. Christianity is spread throughout the world. If Christians were living this way, sacrificing their own nations to save other nations, and giving everything they owned for the sake of saving humanity, then surely the churches would today be fulfilling the Will of the God of goodness. (69:86, October 20, 1973)

❖ 2. Enduring Life’s Hardships and Sorrows to Help People in Need The believer who participates in human life, exposing himself to its torments and suffering, is worth more than the one who distances himself from its suffering.

A man should share in the distress of the community, for so we find that Moses, our teacher, shared in the distress of the community.

Talmud, Taanit 11a (Judaism)

Hadith of Ibn Majah (Islam)

One who stays in the shade does not know the sun’s heat.9 Igala Proverb (African Traditional Religions)

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And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples,

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“Why does your teacher eat with tax collec­tors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

Matthew 9.10-12

If I have to be reborn I should wish to be born as an ‘untouchable’, so that I may share their sorrows, sufferings and the affronts leveled at them, in order that I may free myself and them from that miserable condition.

Mohandas K. Gandhi (Hinduism)

It is not always physical bravery that counts.

One must have the courage to face life as it is, to go through sorrows and always sacrifice oneself for the sake of others.

Kipsigis Saying (African Traditional Religions)

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me.”

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terrors of birth, of old age, of sickness, of death and rebirth, of all kinds of moral offense, of all states of woe… My endeavors do not merely aim at my own deliverance. For with the help of the boat of the thought of all-knowledge, I must rescue all these beings from the stream of Samsara, which is so difficult to cross… I myself must grapple with the whole mass of suffering of all beings. To the limit of my endurance I will experience in all the states of woe, found in any world system, all the abodes of suffering…

“And why? Because it is surely better that I alone should be in pain than that all these beings should fall into the states of woe. Therefore I must give myself away as a pawn through which the whole world is redeemed from the terrors of hells, of animal birth, of the world of Death, and with this my own body I must experience, for the sake of all beings, the whole mass of painful feelings. And on behalf of all beings I give surety for all beings, and in doing so I speak truthfully, am trustworthy, do not go back on my word. I must not abandon all beings.”10 Sikshasamuccaya 280-81, Vajradhvaja Sutra (Buddhism)

Romans 15.1-3

Those who are morally well adjusted look after those who are not; those who are talented look after those who are not. That is why people are glad to have good fathers and elder brothers. If those who are morally well adjusted and talented abandon those who are not, then scarcely an inch will separate the good from the depraved.

Mencius IV.B.7 (Confucianism)

A bodhisattva resolves, “I take upon myself the burden of all suffering; I am resolved to do so; I will endure it. I do not turn or run away, do not tremble, am not terrified, nor afraid, do not turn back or despond.

“And why? At all costs I must bear the burdens of all beings. In that, I do not follow my own inclinations. I have made the vow to save all beings. All beings I must set free. The whole world of living beings I must rescue from the

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“I should be a hostel for all sentient beings, to let them escape from all painful things. I should be a protector for all sentient beings, to let them all be liberated from all afflictions. I should be a refuge for all sentient beings, to free them from all fears…

“I should accept all sufferings for the sake of sentient beings, and enable them to escape from the abyss of immeasurable woes of birth and death. I should accept all suffering for the sake of all sentient beings in all worlds, in all states of misery, forever and ever, and still always cultivate foundations of goodness for the sake of all beings. Why? I would rather take all this suffering on myself than to allow sentient beings to fall into hell. I should be a hostage to those perilous places—hells, animal realms, the nether world—as a ransom to rescue all sentient beings in states of woe and enable them to gain liberation.11

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“I vow to protect all sentient beings and never abandon them. What I say is sincerely true, without falsehood. Why? Because I have

set my mind on enlightenment in order to liberate all sentient beings; I do not seek the unexcelled Way for my own sake.”

Garland Sutra 23 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon To reach the Kingdom of Heaven, you must pass through hell. (Way of God’s Will 1.8) Love always requires sacrifice, and it also requires overcoming. (46:35, July 18, 1971) In my student days, whenever I came home from school I would change my student uniform for a laborer’s clothes and go out to do menial labor. It was not because I lacked for money, but because I wanted to experience the life of a laborer. I carried coal, worked on the docks and as a farmhand.

I experienced every sort of job, to learn everything about suffering and joys of working people. I thought it my responsibility to liberate them all. (37:35-36, December 22, 1970) To bring happiness to this unhappy, chaotic world, we should conquer a path of misery and unhappiness. That means we have to taste the bottom of human misery. The only way we can liberate the misery of the world is by leading an even more miserable life. If this way did not bring results, we would have to say that God does not exist.

I walked the path of abuse and persecution throughout my life for this very reason. I determined that I would walk this path throughout my life. How would you fare in such miserable circumstances? Are you someone who can stand, determined to do the will of God, and say, “Follow me! I am not discouraged, but full of joy”? If so, then you can bring real happiness to the people in that wretched place.

The people we respect as saints, heroes, patriots and exemplary women all became famous, historical figures only after enduring such circum­stances. America’s patriots tasted the misery of the nation’s travails and fought bravely to establish the nation at the risk of their lives. All the saints of this world, and all God’s sons and daughters, have done likewise. (91:287, February 27, 1977) The law of priority of the universal and public upholds and protects people who sacrifice themselves for the whole. It eliminates people who only pursue their own benefit and hate to sacrifice.

(105:91-92, September 30, 1979) Some religious people pray, “Please let me go to the Kingdom of Heaven.” Those people are frauds.

The proper attitude is this: a wife thinks to send her husband to the Kingdom of Heaven first and follow him there later. It is wrong if she thinks she alone deserves to enter the Kingdom while abandoning her husband. Likewise, a son thinks to send his parents and siblings to the Kingdom of Heaven first and only afterwards to enter himself. A loyal citizen would not want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven until he has sent his entire nation there first, even all the people of the world.

Those who would first liberate God before they enjoy the delights of the Kingdom of Heaven are people who resemble Jesus. Their desire is in line with the Messiah’s responsibility.

The Messiah does not think, “I must quickly enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” He works to send individuals, families, tribes, peoples, nations and the world to the Kingdom of Heaven. He even strives to liberate all the denizens of hell and send them to the Kingdom of Heaven, because he is determined to carry all the sadness of God on his shoulders.

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The Messiah never dreams of living happily in the Kingdom of Heaven alone. He is willing to enter the Kingdom only after he has liberated all humankind on earth and all the inmates of hell, because he knows God’s sorrow. God does not feel comfortable to see hell. By creating the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven, the Messiah will release God from having to see hell. Only when he knows that God can relax upon seeing the work of salvation completely finished, will the Messiah enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (188:283-84, March 1, 1989)

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Universal Love TRUE LOVE IS UNIVERSAL. IT HAS NO LIMITS. When we are immersed in the love of God, we can experience that everyone is our brother or sister. Here is a major distinction between absolute, true love and the relative love of fallen people: true love is impartial and universal, while fallen love is partial to kith and kin, to friends and compatriots. In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”12 Yet is love for humanity enough? Not if we mean only a general sentiment that can be satisfied by acts of charity and political efforts to benefit the downtrodden. The real stage of love is actual relationships. How can we love strangers and people of faraway nations with the same intensity and concreteness as we love members of our own family? Here scripture speaks of extending to strangers the way we treat members of our own family.

Father Moon is very clear on this score. To demonstrate universal love that transcends race, he recommends that we give one of our children in marriage to someone of another race. By digesting every difficulty in relating to our in-laws, we become people whose love truly goes beyond the racial barrier.

1. A Heart to Love All People May good befall all, May there be peace for all, May all be fit for perfection, and May all experience that which is auspicious.

Om, May all be happy.

May all be healthy.

May we all experience what is good and let no one suffer.

Om, Peace, Peace, Peace!

The Universal Prayer (Hinduism)

He lets his mind pervade one quarter of the world with thoughts of love, and so the second, and so the third, and so the fourth. And thus the whole wide world, above, below, around, and everywhere, does he continue to pervade with the heart of love, far-reaching, exalted, beyond measure. Just as a mighty trumpeter makes himself

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heard—and that without difficulty—in all the four directions; even so of all things that have the shape of life there is not one that he passes by or leaves aside, but regards them all with mind set free, and deep-felt love. Verily this is the way to a state of union with Brahma.

Digha Nikaya 13.76-77, Tevigga Sutta (Buddhism)

A man once asked the Prophet what was the best thing in Islam. He replied, “It is to feed the hungry and to give the greeting of peace both to those one knows and to those one does not know.”

Hadith of Bukhari (Islam)

Of the adage, Only a good man knows how to like people, knows how to dislike them, Confucius said, “He whose heart is in the smallest degree set upon Goodness will dislike no one.”

Analects 4.3-4 (Confucianism)

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The sage has no fixed [personal] ideas.

He regards the people’s ideas as his own.

I treat those who are good with goodness, And I also treat those who are not good with goodness.

Thus goodness is attained.

I am honest with those who are honest, And I am also honest with those who are dishonest.

Thus honesty is attained.

Tao Te Ching 49 (Taoism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon The sages of old… taught us to love Heaven, to love the earth, and to love humankind. (19:285, March 10, 1968) God’s love is the original source of the universe, and it embraces the world. If such love had reached each and every person, wouldn’t this world be a realm where love is everywhere, whether we go up or down?

In such a world, what would we value in a person? It would not be eloquence or good looks.

We would value people of character, those who are faultless from any angle. Their fragrance would spread to everyone who knew them. Shouldn’t you be like that? When you relate to others with the heart that each is a part of God and no one is unrelated to God, then everyone becomes your friend.

(33:89-90, August 9, 1970) A loving heart is the same whether it is for an enemy or a friend. It is universal. The whole is the same as one cell. The universe is formed like a human being, each composed of 400 trillion cells living in oneness. You can become one with God when you become the embodiment of love that can connect to all of these cells. (225:132, January 5, 1992) God’s love has no boundaries. Love transcends national borders. Love transcends race. In love there is no discrimination between black, white, and yellow.

Love is the greatest thing. Wherever love flows freely and without fear, the environment adapts to it; who or what would want to rebel? This way of thinking is pleasing to God. Distributing love everywhere is the only way to win God’s favor. (164:93, April 26, 1987) What is the character of God? God is a being who loves His object partner more than He loves Himself. God’s activity of loving the object partner more than self brings unity; then together they can love an object partner of greater scope. Since this is the core of God’s practice, God sends the person closest to Himself to the evil world, offering him as a sacrifice for humankind. This is God’s way of thinking.

That is why the sages, saints and great men of history invariably taught, “Love all humankind.”

They did not restrict their love to only their family, but loved their country. They went beyond their country to love the world. They loved this way even though they were not welcomed, but rejected and sacrificed. (100:81, August 8, 1978)

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2. Loving Others with the Same Heart as We Have for Our Own Family 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)

It is to regard other people’s countries as one’s own; regard other people’s families as one’s own; regard other people’s person as one’s own.

Mo Tzu13

Lacking compassion for all beings, Filial piety causes samsara.14 Milarepa (Buddhism)

Treat the aged of your own family in a manner befitting their venerable age and extend this treatment to the aged of other families; treat your own young in a manner befitting their tender age and extend this to the young of other families.

Mencius I.A.7 (Confucianism)

I should accommodate and serve all beings as attentively as I show filial respect to my parents, due respect to my teachers, to elders, and arhats, up to the Tathagatas, all in equality.

Gandavyuha Sutra, Vows of Samantabhadra (Buddhism)

The bodhisattva, the great being, having practiced compassion, sympathy, and joy, attains the stage of the best-loved only son. For example, the father and mother greatly rejoice as they see their son at peace. The same is the case with the bodhisattva who abides in this stage: he sees all beings just as the parents see their only son. He greatly rejoices when he sees them practicing goodness. So we call this stage the best-loved.

For example, the father and mother are worried at heart as they see their son ill.

Commiseration poisons their heart; the mind cannot part with the illness. So it is with the bodhisattva, the great being, who abides in this

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stage. As he sees beings bound up in the illness of illusion, his heart aches. He is worried as in the case of an only son. Blood comes out from all pores of the skin. That is why we call this stage as that of an only son.

A child picks up earth, dirty things, tiles, stones, old bones, pieces of wood and puts them into his mouth, at which the father and mother, apprehen­sive of the harms that might arise thereby, take the child with the left hand and with the right take these out.

The same goes with the bodhisattva: he sees that all beings are not grown up to the stage of law body and that non-good is done in body, speech, and mind. The bodhisattva sees, and with the hand of wisdom has it extracted.

He does not wish that man should repeat birth and death, receiving thereby sorrow and worry.

When a father and mother part with their beloved son as the son dies, their hearts so ache that they feel that they themselves should die together with him. The same is the case with the bodhisattva: as he sees a benighted person fall into hell, he himself desires to be born there, too. [He thinks,] “Perhaps the man, as he experiences the pain, may gain a moment of repentance where I can speak to him of the Law in various ways and enable him to gain a thought of good.”

For the father and mother of an only son, in sleep or while awake, or while walking, standing, sitting, or reclining, their minds always think of the son. If he does wrong, they give kindly advice and lead the boy that he does not do evil any more. The same is the case of the bodhisattva: as he sees beings fall into the realms of hell, hungry ghosts and animals, or sees them doing good and evil in the world of man and in heaven, his mind is ever upon them and not apart from them. He may see them doing all evil, yet he does not become angry or punish with evil intent.15 Mahaparinirvana Sutra 470-71 (Buddhism)

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Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Do not nurse only your own dear child, but try to be a mother who treats other children with the heart that they are yours as well. With that heart, the babies who suckle at your breast will certainly become great men and women. (31:168, May 24, 1970) You can build the world of peace on this earth if you become people who act according to the Kingdom of Heaven’s universal teaching to unfold the movement of God’s love, life and truth. This means your parents are not only your biological parents; your siblings are not only your biological siblings, and your children are not only your biological children. When you become a person who regards all people as your parents, your siblings and your children, then as you look upon the multitudes of people suffering in this world of death, you cannot relate to them without tears. Looking at people your own age as your siblings, or younger people as your own children, you will feel a strong sense of responsibility to save them. You will make every effort, with tears. If you truly become this kind of person, then you will be a central pillar for building the Kingdom of Heaven. (2:144, March 17, 1957) Jesus said, “A man’s foes will be those of his own household.” (Matt. 10.36) He meant that when you love your family members more than other people, they become your enemies that block you from entering the Kingdom of Heaven. (161:249, February 22, 1987) Parents who praise their child for being filial to them cannot raise true filial children. Parents who want to raise true filial children should teach them, “My child, love your brothers and sisters even more than you love me. Love your neighbors and your nation more than you love me.” I think that parent is qualified to have many filial children.

If there is a good king, that king should teach his loyal subjects, saying, “I appreciate that you give devotion and love for me, but first love your fellow citizens and God, and then love me.” That is the good king who can rightly lead many loyal subjects.

Likewise, how does God lead the saints? God does not teach them, “Do your utmost duty to show your loyalty to Me.” Instead He says, “Don’t pay Me so much regard; first love the people.

Liberate every being on this earth and all the spirit beings in the spirit world, and then love Me.” Because God is that kind of being, He bears the name Jehovah, Lord of all beings.16 (85:265, March 3, 1976) Who is a son of filial piety? He discovers what his parents most want and completes it; thus he tries to align himself with his parents’ desires. Whatever his eyes see, he sees through the eyes of his parents. Whatever his heart feels, he feels through the heart of his parents. Whatever words he hears, he thinks, “Would my parents like this kind of speech?” A filial son or daughter devotes all five senses to delighting in his or her parents’ world.

The thing that filial sons and daughters, patriots, and saints have in common is their concern for others—their family, their nation and the world respectively. Then let us turn our eyes to God, the Center of the entire universe. If you were to love God in like manner, you would embrace heaven and earth with love. You would devote all your heart and mind to benefit all beings in the universe; to make them fit to receive God’s love.17 (161:132-33, January 18, 1987)

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3. Love Especially the Stranger, the Foreigner, and Those Whom Society Despises For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.

He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Love the stranger therefore; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go, and do likewise.”18

Deuteronomy 10.17-20

When Israel crossed the Red Sea, the angels were about to break forth in song, but the Holy One rebuked them, “My children are drowning, and you would sing?”

A lawyer… said to Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half-dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever you spend, I will repay

Luke 10.25-37: Parable of the Good Samaritan

Talmud, Megilla 10b (Judaism)

The bodhisattva should adopt the same attitude towards all beings, his mind should be even towards all beings, he should not handle others with an uneven mind, but with a mind which is friendly, well-disposed, helpful, free from aversions avoiding harm and hurts, he should handle others as if they were his mother, father, son, or daughter. As a savior of all beings should a bodhisattva behave towards all beings.

So should he train himself if he wants to know full enlightenment.

Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines 321-22 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon You cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless you love strangers more than you love your own brothers and sisters. You must love all people in the same way that you love God. (Way of God’s Will 1.8) Jesus Christ lived and worked with twelve difficult people. Each disciple represented a particular type of person and displayed the worst aspects of that personality type. On your path, you also should know twelve different types of people and deal with their fallen natures: people with personalities resembling January, February, March, etc., the twelve months of the year. (January 10, 1982) You white people cannot say, “I only like white people. I can love white grandparents, but I cannot love black grandparents or Asian grandparents. I can love a well-dressed and cultured grandmother, but I cannot love those… primitives!” No, you should make extra effort to love elderly Africans as much as you love your own grandparents. That is the formula for training yourself to live properly on this earth. (130:274, February 5, 1984)

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Suppose you have three sons. You could marry one to a German wife, one to a French wife, and one to an African wife, and take in all three couples to live in your home. You would have three daughters-in-law each from nations that have been enemies to each other. How could you create an atmosphere where they will not fight or quarrel?

Have everyone eat food out of the same pot. What if a morsel falls back into the pot from your African daughter-in-law’s mouth? Are you going to clean it off, or not mind and keep on eating?

Some of you would not like it in the beginning; you would rather not eat at all, but you must. Why? You cannot love African people without eating what they eat. When you can eat that spilt food without it bothering you, God will dwell in your home and God’s love will dwell in your home.

(99:134-35, September 10, 1978) Americans should not say, “Only Americans,” and Oriental people should not say, “Only Oriental people.” No good comes from favoring family members, or the people of our tribe or nation. We have to digest the problem of racial discrimination with the love of Heaven. How do we prove we are doing it? By international and interracial marriage. (112:86, April 1, 1981)

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Love Your Enemy THE PRESCRIPTION TO LOVE YOUR ENEMY and to requite evil with good is sometimes thought of as an impractical and perfectionist ethic. But in fact, this doctrine is widely taught in the world’s religions. It is in fact a fundamental principle for relating peaceably with others.

Many people seek recompense for wrongs done to them in the name of “justice.” Yet if everyone demanded an eye for an eye, the whole world would be blind. Revenge only multiplies evil in the world; neither does it solve the fundamental root of evil, which lies in Satan’s accusations against God and humanity. As Father Moon explains, only the unparalleled love of enemy can overcome evil at its root and lead to the advancement of God’s Kingdom.

Several passages in this section describe Jesus’ example of loving his enemies as he hung from the cross.

We have also included quotations from two modern-day apostles of this doctrine: Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others?

Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You,

therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5.43-48

God says, “Resemble Me; just as I repay good for evil so do you also repay good for evil.”

Exodus Rabbah 26.2 (Judaism)

It may be that God will ordain love between you and those whom you hold as enemies. For God has power over all things; and God is Oftforgiving, Most Merciful.

Qur’an 60.7

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The Messenger of God said, “Shall I inform you of the best morals of this world and the hereafter? To forgive him who oppresses you, to make a bond with him who severs from you, to be kind to him who insults you, and to give to him who deprives you.”

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of God even this most difficult thing becomes easy to accomplish if we want to do it.

Mohandas K. Gandhi, All Men Are Brothers (Hinduism)

Do good to him who has done you an injury.

Hadith (Islam)

Tao Te Ching 63 (Taoism)

“He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me!” In those who harbor such thoughts hatred is not appeased.

The good deed and the evil deed are not alike.

Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo!, he between whom and you there was enmity shall become as though he were a bosom friend.

But none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save a person of great good fortune.

“He abused me, he beat me, he defeated me, he robbed me!” In those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred is appeased.

Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world; through love alone they cease. This is an eternal law.

Dhammapada 3-5 (Buddhism)

When we look beneath the surface, beneath the impulsive evil deed, we see within our enemyneighbor a measure of goodness and know that the viciousness and evilness of his acts are not quite representative of all that he is. We see him in a new light. We recognize that his hate grows out of fear, pride, ignorance, prejudice, and misunderstanding, but in spite of this, we know God’s image is ineffably etched in his being.

Then we love our enemies by realizing that they are not totally bad and that they are not beyond the reach of God’s redemptive love.

Qur’an 41.34-35

If you meet your enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the ass of one who hates you lying under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it, you shall help him to lift it up.

Exodus 23.4-5

Aid an enemy before you aid a friend, to subdue hatred.

Tosefta, Baba Metzia 2.26 (Judaism)

It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends.

But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion.

The other is mere business.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love (Christianity)

Mohandas K. Gandhi (Hinduism)

It is not nonviolence if we merely love those that love us. It is nonviolence only when we love those that hate us. I know how difficult it is to follow this grand law of love. But are not all great and good things difficult to do? Love of the hater is the most difficult of all. But by the grace

And when they came to the place which is called The Skull [Calvary], there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Luke 23.33-34

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon What kind of person can be close to God and attend Him in the Kingdom of Heaven? One who resembles God. Since the nature of God is to love His enemies, then the person who tries to love

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his or her enemies and invests him or herself completely for that purpose will be able to live near God’s royal throne.

From this standpoint, the most precious education is to learn to love your enemies. The noblest training to cultivate your mind is to train yourself to always make effort to love your enemies.

(124:155, February 6, 1983) What is true love? It is God’s love. What is God’s love? In Jesus’ words, it is to love your enemy.

If white people love other white people, there is nothing special about that. When a white person loves a black person, however, that is close to true love. Loving your enemy is true love, without a doubt.

Why is loving your enemy true love? It is true because no one can criticize or complain about it.

It is always round and can flow everywhere. Whether that love goes towards one side or the other, it is all good. Wherever it goes—into the eyes, into the nose, into the mouth—wherever it goes, it is good. (115:315-16, November 29, 1981) What is the difference between love in the satanic world and love in the heavenly world? Satanic love repays evil for evil, while heavenly love repays evil with good. When we love even our enemy, Satan runs away.

That is why Jesus went a paradoxical way, and taught believers to walk a paradoxical way. They had no choice because everything is turned upside-down. West had become East, East had become West. South had become North, and North had become South.

Therefore, you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless you love your enemies—your individual enemies, your family’s enemies, your clan’s enemies, your nation’s enemies, and your world’s enemies. God likewise is in this situation. (130:161, January 8, 1984) I am teaching you to love those who hate you. If you love them, sooner or later they will come to like you. If you return good three times for every time someone does you wrong, eventually that person will bow his head. Try it yourself and see if I am right or not. Everyone has a conscience. (39:302-04, January 16, 1971) True love has influence on the enemy. If you overcome the first, second, third and fourth difficult situation with love, the enemy will disappear. Jesus loved his enemies knowing that love has such great power. (121:173, October 24, 1982) Did you ever take pity on someone who opposed you and persecuted you? Did you ever think that he might be jealous of you on account of your many blessings? Did you ever think that the reason he persecutes you is because he is jealous of you? (105:31, July 8, 1979) The reason why God does not punish an enemy, even though He would want to kill him, is that He is thinking of the enemy’s parents, wife, sons and daughters who love him. God cannot bear to strike that enemy with His whip because He would experience the painful hearts of all those good people as they wept many tears out of their love for him. God’s love is like that.

When you really feel this heart of God, could you take revenge on your enemy? If you really knew all the precious love connected with that person, instead of hitting him you would get someone to go and help him. Thus you come closer to the great way of the universal Principle, which instructs us to embrace everything with love. When you practice it, heaven and earth will shake and even God

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will cry out with tears, “You truly resemble Me. How happy I am!” This is how we should understand the teaching to love our enemies. Where can we find the power to love our enemies? The source is neither knowledge, nor money, nor earthly power. It is only true love. (201:150, March 30, 1990) You should love your distant relations more than your immediate family. God gave His own Son, Jesus, to be killed because He was living for the benefit of Israel ahead of His own Son. Even though Israel had turned against His Son, God loved Israel more. Likewise, even on the cross Jesus loved his enemies. He interceded for the Roman soldier who pierced him with a spear, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” He did not say this to make peace with Rome, but to find the peace of God and the peace of God’s family. (235:224, September 20, 1992) How much does God love His enemy? God’s love is such that He sacrificed His own Son in order to save His enemy’s children… If you can love your enemies more even than you love your own children, then Satan will surrender to you, exclaiming, “I could never do that. I could never be worthy to receive such love.” At that point Satan will retreat. You should know that this is the path of Abel.

As Jesus was dying on the cross, he prayed for his enemies rather than for himself; he prayed that his sacrifice would become the source of their blessing. Can any being with a conscience not bow his head and yield to such great love? However vicious the enemy may be, he cannot help but bow down and surrender. By practicing this you can completely separate yourself from your enemy’s wrath—and you will discover that you have no enemy.

Then Satan has no choice but to issue a certificate signed, “This son or daughter of God loved me, their enemy. Therefore I cannot stand in the way of God loving this person.” Satan can no longer hold on to his grudge, but when he sees God embracing and loving the person, he must say, “Amen!” This is how you must clear your relationship with Satan. (118:172, May 30, 1982) Why is God on my side? It is because I have tried to love even those who opposed me. I have not sought revenge on the enemies who stood against me. I do not want an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or a life for a life. I try to digest everything with love. (168:204, September 20, 1987) When I doubt people, I feel pain.

When I judge people, it is unbearable.

When I hate people, there is no value to my existence.

Yet if I believe, I am deceived.

If I love, I am betrayed.

Suffering and grieving tonight, my head in my hands Am I wrong?

Yes, I am wrong.

Even though we are deceived, still believe.

Though we are betrayed, still forgive.

Love completely even those who hate you.

Wipe your tears away and welcome with a smile Those who know nothing but deceit And those who betray without regret.

Oh Master! The pain of loving!

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Look at My hands.

Place your hand on My chest.

My heart is bursting, such agony!

But when I loved those who acted against Me I brought victory.

If you have done the same thing, I will give you the crown of glory. (The Crown of Glory)

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Forgiveness A LARGE-HEARTED ATTITUDE OF FORGIVENESS to those who have done us wrong is advocated in all the scriptures. Forgiveness is at the heart of Jesus’ message; indeed according to The Lord’s Prayer it is incumbent upon the Christian to forgive. God is most forgiving. It states in the Qur’an that people who seek to draw near to God should likewise be full of forgiveness. Forgiving is natural to a parent; therefore if we can take a parental heart towards others, akin to the heart of God our Father, we can forgive them. While it may be difficult to forgive people who do us grave injustice or injury, it is far preferable to holding a grudge, which would only fester and poison the spirit.

Yet how can we forgive? Forgiveness is not a natural thing. It will not do to simply forget a wrong or sweep it under the rug. Such easy or ritualistic forgiveness is phony and can mask deeper feelings of lasting resentment. As theologian Paul Tillich wrote, “Forgiving presupposes remembering. And it creates a forgetting not in the natural way we forget yesterday’s weather, but in the way of the great ‘in spite of’ that says: I forget although I remember.”19 Father Moon teaches that we need to find a positive reason to forgive, a reason to make a new beginning in relating to that person in spite of the painful memory of previous wrongs. Thus he explores the reasons why God forgives us, and searches for that point of weakness and pathos in the wrongdoer that can evoke the heart of compassion.

Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6.11-12

If you efface and overlook and forgive, then lo!

God is forgiving, merciful.

Qur’an 64.14

Allah is All-Forgiving and loves the one who forgives others.

Better and more rewarding is God’s reward to those who believe… and when angry, even then forgive…

Let evil be rewarded by like evil, but he who forgives and seeks reconciliation shall be rewarded by God. He does not love the wrongdoers…

True constancy lies in forgiveness and patient forbearance.

Qur’an 42.36-37, 40, 43

Algama’ Alsaghair 2.1749 (Islam)

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, “I repent,” you must forgive him.

Matthew 6.14-15

Luke 17.3-4

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The best deed of a great man is to forgive and forget.

Nahjul Balagha, Saying 201 (Shiite Islam)

The truly great man must forgive people without being forgiven by them.

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Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles; lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

Proverbs 24.17-18

Chu Hsi (Confucianism)

Release: The superior man tends to forgive wrongs and deals leniently with crimes.

I Ching 40 (Confucianism)

Who takes vengeance or bears a grudge acts like one who, having cut one hand while handling a knife, avenges himself by stabbing the other hand.

Jerusalem Talmud, Nedarim 9.4 (Judaism)

Moses son of Imran said, “My Lord, who is the greatest of Thy servants in Thy estimation?” and received the reply, “The one who forgives when he is in a position of power.”20 Hadith of Baihaqi (Islam)

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.

Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such. What do you say about her?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the eldest, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus looked up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.”

Subvert anger by forgiveness.

Samanasuttam 136 (Jainism)

Kuan Chung… could seize the fief of P’ien with its three hundred villages from its owner, the head of the Po family; yet Po, though he lived on coarse food to the end of his days, never uttered a single word of resentment. The Master said, “To be poor and not resent it is far harder than to be rich yet not presumptuous.”

Analects 14.11 (Confucianism)

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”

Matthew 18.21-22

Doing an injury puts you below your enemy; Revenging one makes you but even with him; Forgiving it sets you above him.

Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanack

Where there is forgiveness, there is God Himself.

Adi Granth, Shalok Kabir, p. 1372 (Sikhism)

John 8.3-11

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Great forgiveness is possible when you have understood the other person’s situation one hundred percent. Because God knows our situations, He forgives us. (2:220, May 26, 1957)

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Joseph forgave his brothers, although they were his enemies who had sold him into slavery. Yet Joseph forgave them for his father’s sake, because they were all his father’s sons. Put yourself in Joseph’s position. Like Joseph, we have many enemies, yet we have no choice but to forgive them because they are all the children of our Father, God. We forgive them for God’s sake, because we believe in God. (146:125, June 8, 1986) Among the countless people I have been leading, many have committed transgressions. I deal with them with the attitude, “I will forgive you one hundred times.” This is the fatherly heart.

Suppose your own son were arrested as a robber and a murderer and was facing execution.

Would you as a parent say, as you watched your son walking toward the execution chamber, “It is a good thing that you are about to die. You should be killed quickly”? No, you would look for every possible way to win him a pardon. That is the heart of a parent. You would forgive him, even a thousand or ten thousand times. (157:259-60, April 10, 1967) You leaders who live with your members, if one of your members is wrong, do not tell him he is wrong to his face, but look for how you can forgive him. Look at his wife; is she worse than her husband?

Look at his children; are they worse than their father? Then look at his mother and father; are they worse than their child? No, among his family some are good people.

Thus thinking of his family’s good qualities and their love for him, you can find a way to love him. Then the blessings gathered in that family will be joined with you. If you live this way, you will not perish. Heaven will protect you. (308:208, January 5, 1999) God does not strike someone who is defeated. Rather, God shows mercy to those who recognize their sin and repent. God exists; therefore anyone who raises a sword to strike a defeated person will bring ruin on his descendants. Instead, we should pray for him and give him guidance with the heart of a close friend. (25:333, October 12, 1969) Among the Christian martyrs who were thrown to the lions in the coliseums of Rome, there were two kinds of people. One kind prayed, “God, take revenge upon my persecutors. Punish them! May they all perish!” Their mind was to resist the unjust Caesar up to the moment of death. The other kind prayed, “Forgive their sins! Forgive the Caesar! May Rome one day become God’s nation on this earth!”

Compare the destinies of these two kinds of martyrs. Those who prayed for their enemies, for Rome and Caesar, are dwelling in an exalted realm among those who are victorious over Satan. But those who died with the self-centered desire to receive salvation and held a grudge against Rome are dwelling somewhere below the realm of Rome. (130:233, January 29, 1984) When Jesus taught us to love our enemies, do you think he meant that we should forgive Satan? You should be clear about this question.

When someone asked him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?

As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”

If Jesus, the Son of God, could forgive people to that extent, should he not also forgive Satan? Yet he cannot do that; it is impossible.

When Jesus prayed for his enemies, the object of his prayers was not Satan but rather the people whom Satan invaded. Evil people are merely victims of God’s enemy; therefore he forgave them and sought for them, as God was seeking for them. Yet, this does not mean that he should forgive Satan.

(92:187, April 10, 1977)

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O Source of all goodness! I earnestly pray that Thou wilt forgive through Thine infinite love and magnanimity the many religious believers of this nation for their past acts of persecution against the children of the Unification movement. [Because of their actions,] some who joined the movement for a time grew tired and lonely and fell away, unable to endure the persecution, unable to find even one person to console them on the lonely path. And I know that many who remain on the path are exhausted.

Thinking of how they ought to be bowing their heads and begging Thy forgiveness, my indignation against them is hard to bear, and I long to resolve the grudges in Thy heart. Still, thinking about Thy merciful path of restoration, as Thou seekest to recover the children of the enemy, I know that Thou canst not help but bless them again— and therefore I pray that Thou wilt forgive them.

Father, I earnestly ask Thee to please forgive and once again extend Thy grace to the pitiable churches that betrayed Thee. (27:301-02, December 28, 1969)

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A Good Heart LOVING-KINDNESS AND COMPASSION spring naturally from a good heart. Hence, cultivating a good heart ought to be a priority in life. A number of passages praise a loving heart as superior to faith, knowledge, dedication to the truth, and all other virtues.

A loving heart is rooted in God—what Father Moon call’s God’s heart (Korean: shimjung). Shimjung is God’s irrepressible impulse to love—the very motivation for His creation. (See Chapter 1: Divine Love and Compassion) In human terms, it is closest to the heart of a mother, who cannot help but love her child. A good heart is impartial and all embracing, able to digest evil and unpleasant people as well as kind and virtuous people. Therefore, it is indispensable to reconciling opponents and resolving conflicts.

1. Loving-Kindness Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4.32

May I look on all beings with the eye of friend!

May we look on one another with the eye of friend!

will weep over you; alive they crave for your company.

Nahjul Balagha, Saying 9 (Shiite Islam)

Gentle character it is which enables the rope of life to stay unbroken in one’s hand.

Yoruba Proverb (African Traditional Religions)

Yajur Veda 36.18 (Hinduism)

He who can find no room for others lacks fellow feeling, and to him who lacks fellow feeling, all men are strangers.

Chuang Tzu 23 (Taoism)

Treat people in such a way and live amongst them in such a manner that if you die they

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Monks, whatsoever grounds there be for good works undertaken with a view to [favorable] rebirth, all of them are not worth one-sixteenth part of that goodwill which is the heart’s release; goodwill alone, which is the heart’s release, shines and burns and flashes forth in surpassing them.

Itivuttaka 19 (Buddhism)

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should cleave.” Rabbi Eliezar said, “A good eye”; Rabbi Joshua said, “A good friend”; Rabbi Jose said, “A good neighbor”; Rabbi Simeon said, “One who foresees the fruit of an action”; Rabbi Elazar said, “A good heart.” Thereupon he said to them, “I approve the words of Elazar ben Arach, rather than your words, for in his words yours are included.”

Even though it be the home of someone who has managed for long to avoid misfortune, we gods will not enter into the dwelling of a person with perverse disposition. Even though it be a dwelling where a man be in mourning for father and mother, if he be a man of compassion, we deities will enter in there.21 Oracle of the Kami of Kasuga (Shinto)

Mishnah, Avot 2.13 (Judaism)

Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai said, “Go forth and see which is the good way to which a man

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon No matter that you plan to go another way; the heart of love for the sake of others will always point you in the right direction, as a compass always points north. (138:99, January 19, 1986) Make a habit of liking people. Tell them that you like them even if they do not like you. It is training. (118:116, May 9, 1982) Have you ever shed tears for others? It is easy for people to weep for themselves, but have you wept for others? There are two kinds of tears. A person who sheds tears for him or herself will go to hell, but a person who sheds tears for others will go to heaven. (96:172-73, January 3, 1978) Respect all things as holy things. Treat them as sacred objects. Respect all people as holy people, each one the sacred body of God. Respect yourself as a holy person, with the thought that your mind is God’s mind and your body is God’s body. (102:113, November 27, 1978) Do we say of someone who possesses much knowledge, “He is an outstanding person”? No. He must have a good heart. A good person has an innately good framework of life and original nature.

Whether knowledgeable or not, a good person has a good heart. (39:315, January 16, 1971) Your eyes should become more benevolent. Of course they shine when you look at a good person, but even when you see wicked people you should add extra effort to look at them with a heart of compassion and love. True love has the capacity to digest even evil things. It possesses such power.

(123:225, January 2, 1983) You may have beautiful eyes, but if they glow with the light of jealousy or personal ambition, seeking to take advantage of others or out for blood, those eyes are fearsome and ugly to behold. Yet even though your eyes may be unattractive and irregular-shaped, if they shine with the light of love, benevolence and peace, then those eyes will captivate people. They are charming and possess magnetic power. So when you act with love as the inner motivation, even wearing a mask cannot hide your beauty. (116:53-54, December 13, 1981)

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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)

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.22 Lotus Sutra 10 (Buddhism)

To love is to know Me, My innermost nature, the truth that I am.

Bhagavad-Gita 18.55 (Hinduism)

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)

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)

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 Sun Myung Moon Because God is love, let us center our lives on heart (shimjung), the essence of love.23 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 promotes 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

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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)

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Good Deeds GOOD DEEDS ARE A MANIFESTATION of a healthy spiritual life. Good deeds promote friendship and harmony in our dealings with people. Good deeds create merit for heaven and improve our relationship with God. While religions often emphasize faith as the key to salvation, all genuine faith is manifested outwardly in transformed behavior. Father Moon recommends unflagging efforts to do good deeds, whether they are appreciated or not, both to fulfill love in our hearts and as spiritual training to love more profoundly.

Many garlands can be made from a heap of flowers. Many good deeds should be done by one born a mortal.

Every selfless act, Arjuna, is born from the eternal, infinite Godhead. God is present in every act of service. All life turns on this law.

Dhammapada 53 (Buddhism)

Bhagavad-Gita 3.16 (Hinduism)

Be mindful of your duty [to God], and do good works; and again, be mindful of your duty, and believe; and once again: be mindful of your duty, and do right. God loves the doers of good.

Every person’s every joint must perform a charity every day the sun comes up: to act justly between two people is a charity; to help a man with his mount, lifting him onto it or hoisting up his belongings onto it is a charity; a good word is a charity; every step you take in prayers is a charity; and removing a harmful thing from the road is a charity.

Qur’an 5.93

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2.10

Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 26 (Islam)

Good deeds annul evil deeds. This is a reminder for the mindful.

Qur’an 11.114

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Whoever, by a good deed, covers the evil done, such a one illumines this world like the moon freed from clouds.

Dhammapada 173 (Buddhism)

He who carries out one good deed acquires for himself one advocate in his own behalf, and he who commits one transgression acquires one accuser against himself. Repentance and good works are like a shield against calamity.

Mishnah, Avot 4.13 (Judaism)

Heaven is not attained without good deeds.

Adi Granth, Ramkali-ki-Var, M.1, p. 952 (Sikhism)

What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled” without giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by itself, without works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from

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your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.

Do you want to be shown, you shallow man, that faith apart from works is barren? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by works, and the scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone… For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.24 James 2.14-26

Is there a “righteous man” who is good and a righteous man who is not good? He who is good to Heaven and good to man, he is a righteous man who is good; good to Heaven but not good to man, that is a righteous man who is evil.

Talmud, Kiddushin 40a (Judaism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon A good person has both unwavering faith and accumulated good deeds. (73:116, August 16, 1974) Pay attention to people and treat each one with a loving heart and with truth. Say at least three good and positive things each day. Along with your words, do three good deeds each day, no matter how small. When you greet someone, do not say words out of habit but with sincerity and genuineness.

(99:142, September 10, 1978) Do a good deed and forget about it. Although you forget, it remains in God’s memory, connected to His goodness. (Way of God’s Will 1.1.2) Carry out the difficult tasks others avoid, while remaining detached from the things you like. Solve your parents’ most difficult problems for them and take upon yourself all their outside difficulties as well. (17:338, April 30, 1967) Good people are those who willingly take responsibility for other people’s debts. (41:90, February 13, 1971)

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Good or evil in the conduct of the physical self is the main determinant of whether the spirit self becomes good or evil. This is because the physical self provides a certain element, which we call the vitality element, to the spirit self. In our everyday experience, our mind rejoices when our physical self performs good deeds but feels anxiety after evil conduct. This is because vitality elements, which can be good or evil according to the deeds of the physical self, are infused into our spirit self.

(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Creation 6.3.1)

❖

Giving and Receiving THE WISDOM OF GIVING is the topic of passages in this section. When we give to one another freely and without conditions, sharing our blessings with others and bearing each other’s burdens, the giving multiplies. We receive far more than we gave. Even when there is no immediate prospect of return, Heaven keeps accounts of giving, and in the end blessing will return to the giver, multiplied many-fold. We must give first; to expect to receive without having given is to violate the universal law. (See Chapter 2: Duality) Conversely, giving with strings attached—in order to receive, to curry favor or to make a name for oneself—is condemnable.

Father Moon’s extensive teachings about giving provide a philosophical basis for this universal moral wisdom. Giving is rooted in the nature of the Creator, who invested Himself utterly to create all things in heaven and earth. He goes on to explain several reasons for giving’s paradoxical power to yield increase the more it is spent: first, because in giving we pattern our lives after the Creator; second, through the concept of give-and-take action as seen in the cycles of the natural world; and third, in the investment of parents in their children, with its joyful yield over the years—growth, prosperity and grandchildren. To encourage us to give without any conditions, he counsels us to “give and give and forget what you have given.”

1. The Way of Giving and Its Rewards It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Acts 20.35

One must pour cold water on the ground before he can tread on soft soil.25 Yoruba Proverb (African Traditional Religions)

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

He who gives liberally goes straight to the gods; on the high ridge of heaven he stands exalted.

One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

A liberal man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 11.24-25

Rig Veda 1.125.5 (Hinduism)

Give not with the thought to gain, and be patient unto thy Lord.

Qur’an 74.6-7

Verily, misers go not to the celestial realms.

Fools do not indeed praise liberality. The wise man rejoices in giving and thereby becomes happy thereafter.

Dhammapada 177 (Buddhism)

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The accumulation of wealth is the way to scatter the people, and the letting it be scattered among them is the way to collect the people.

Great Learning 10.9 (Confucianism)

He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work.

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The Buddha said, “When you see someone practicing the Way of giving, aid him joyously, and you will obtain vast and great blessings.” A novice asked, “Is there an end to those blessings?” The Buddha said, “Consider the flame of a single lamp. Though a hundred thousand people come and light their own lamps from it so that they can cook their food and ward off the darkness, the first lamp remains the same as before. Blessings are like this, too.”

Sutra of Forty-two Sections 10 (Buddhism)

2 Corinthians 9.6-8

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon True love begins from investing and forgetting. (225:15, January 1, 1992) Is the essence of [ordinary] human love the same as the original essence God’s love? Out of human love, people seek to receive; but when we embody God’s original love, we seek to give. (130:118, January 1, 1984) Goodness is the driving force that advances life. Therefore, we must give. What shall we give? We should give life. More than your life, you should give your love—the one love that is of God—parental love. That is why our motto is, “Go forth with the heart of the parent, in the shoes of a servant, shedding sweat for earth, tears for humanity, and blood for heaven.” Do this, and you will not perish.

Absolutely, you will not perish. (34:246, September 13, 1970) The universe’s motion began with an act of giving. I teach that all motion arises according to the principle of give-and-take action.26 Does “give-and-take action” mean we first give and then take, or first take and then give? When you give first and then receive you feel good, but when you receive and cannot give you feel ashamed. (239:222, November 25, 1992) In give-and-take action, does “give” come first, or “take?” Giving comes first. Do parents first give for the sake of their children, or children for the sake of their parents? Parents give first. Then it is logical that the act of giving began with the One who is the origin of all existence, and through the links of the chain of existence it has been passed down to us. (239:59, November 23, 1992) Unity takes place where people invest creative energy—where there is giving. It does not happen where people mainly seek to receive. To receive can be good if after receiving, you add interest to it and give out more than you received. But even God dislikes the person who receives and only seeks to receive still more. No more will be given to him. (82:326, February 1, 1976) Take an illustration of a good man and a bad man. Each begins with ten friends. The good man unselfishly serves his friends day in and day out, this year, next year, for ten years, for his whole

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life. All ten people say he is their very best friend. Since they like him, they introduce him to their mother and sisters and all their relatives.

The bad man thinks that his friends exist to serve him. By the time he tells them three times, “Hey you! Serve me!” every one of his friends would run away; they would want nothing more to do with him. Isn’t that true? It is universally true: A self-centered way of life leads you down the road of self-destruction, to hell. But those who give, living their lives in service to others, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. They are living in accordance with God’s Principle. (69:86, October 20, 1973) God created all creatures in heaven and earth by investing completely His heart of love. It means He gave. Because God has this nature, it is certain that a counterpart will come into being who also has such a heart. As a result, human beings can form a relationship with God, and through that relationship, to manifest God’s love. By living this way, we can only prosper.

Our conscience does not understand this fact logically and with certainty, but nevertheless it tells us to love each other and live for the sake of each other. Similarly, religions teach us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others. Thus our conscience, in agreement with morality and ethics, tells us to live for the sake of others, sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others, and love others. (112:300, April 25, 1981)

❖ 2. The Virtuous Cycle of Giving and Receiving Give, and it will be given to you… for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.

Luke 6.38

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Matthew 5.7

Those who act kindly in this world will have kindness.

Qur’an 39.10

Who is honored? He who honors his fellowman.

There was presented to me a papaya, And I returned for it a beautiful keu gem; Not as a return for it, But that our friendship might be lasting.

There was presented to me a peach, And I returned for it a beautiful yaou gem; Not as a return for it, But that our friendship might be lasting.

There was presented to me a plum, And I returned for it a beautiful kew stone; Not as a return for it, But that our friendship might be lasting.27 Book of Songs, Ode 64 (Confucianism)

Avot 4.1 (Judaism)

When a greeting is offered you, meet it with a greeting still more courteous, or at least of equal courtesy.

Qur’an 4.86

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Teachings of Sun Myung Moon The more you love God, the more of God’s love you will receive. This is the principle for expanding the love of God in your life. You will receive God’s love because you have loved God. (40:244, February 6, 1971) The more you love, the more you receive love—not only from God but also from the people you love. Hence your investment yields a two-fold return, and even more. Your one effort at giving love yields a many-fold return, because it connects with multiple dimensions. (90:21, December 5, 1976) A good person is someone who adds to what he receives and passes it on to others. For that reason, parents want their children to grow to be better than them. Likewise, a husband wants his wife to be better than him; a wife wants her husband to be better than her; an elder brother wants his younger brother to grow up to be better than him, and so on. (315:211, February 2, 2000) Which is more joyful, the joy of owning something precious or the joy of giving your prized possession to someone else? Giving leads to multiplication. What you give with a sincere heart will be returned to you many-fold. You have initiated give-and-take action, a virtuous cycle of everincreasing giving. It comes back to you, and the next time you want to give more. That is how giving expands. (248:96, August 1, 1993) Look! When there is air at low pressure, a corresponding region of high pressure is created and circulation necessarily occurs. God is the king of wisdom. Why do you have to give and give and forget what you have given? It is because it guarantees circulation, which becomes an eternal circulation.

This is the logic of the theory of eternal life. When you invest, invest, and invest more, the principle of eternal life operates. When you live for others, you do not perish. (204:107, July 1, 1990) When flowing water comes to a depression, it must fill that depression before moving on. The same is true with air. Loves also flows, and if there is a depression, it works to fill that depression before moving on. (241:306, January 1, 1993) The power of true love comes from investing. It is the power of giving, not just receiving. When we give totally, we ultimately reach a point where there is nothing left to give. That is the ‘zero point,’ where we become completely empty. Then we have the capacity to receive anything that comes to us. Whenever we give even more returns. By continuing in this way we generate a never-ending process of giving and receiving. This forms an eternal balance.

A world where everyone lives for the sake of others centering on true love is perfected through countless such relationships of giving and receiving. (315:210, February 2, 2000) Why does the person who gives flourish? Why do you grow larger when you give? It is because giving connects you with the origin—with God’s principle by which He created the universe. God created by giving, and what was given kept on growing.

You Americans will continue to prosper only if you change your concept of life to the way of giving. Then the universe will help you, since you will be living in accord with the Principle of Creation. But if you continue to take and take, your life will shrink.

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The root of true love is the eternal cycle of giving. The power of giving multiplies; taking only makes things get smaller. It is a mysterious fact. In ordinary physics, energy dissipates when it is put to work, but the principle of love is that giving leads to increase. Everything you give moves in a cycle and ultimately comes back to you—with interest! For example, Abraham left his home as one man carrying a blessing, but after thousands or years it has multiplied to touch billions of people.

(183:324, November 9, 1988) Your partner is the foundation for your hopes, the foundation of your happiness, and the foundation for your everything. When God created heaven and earth, He created all things and human beings as His object partners. The principle of give-and-take action governs action, movement, and law in the universe. It states that nothing comes back until it has been given completely. Isn’t that so? For a wife to love her husband completely, she first must feel that he loves her completely. Only then will she say, “I’m going to really love him.” You begin to give back completely when you receive completely. That is the principle of heaven and earth… If you begin to return before you have received, then it will not come back to you in its entirety. (60:232, August 17, 1972)

❖ 3. Giving Without any Conditions or Concern for Past Slights He who gives his wealth to purify himself, and confers no favor on any man for recompense, only seeking the Face of his Lord the Most High; He shall surely be satisfied.

Qur’an 92.18-21

A gift is a gift of integrity when it is given at the right place and time to the proper person, To one who cannot be expected to return the gift— and given merely because it should be given.

But what is given to get a gift in return, or for the sake of some result, Or unwillingly, That is a gift in the sphere of passion.

A gift is called slothful when it is given not at the right time and place, Nor to a worthy person, nor with proper ceremony, but with contempt.

Bhagavad-Gita 17.20-22 (Hinduism)

A man who is out to make a name for himself will be able to give away a state of a thousand chariots, but reluctance would be written all over his face if he had to give away a basketful of rice and a bowlful of soup when no such purpose was served.

Mencius VII.B.11 (Confucianism)

“If I give this, what shall I [have left to] enjoy?”

Such selfish thinking is the way of the ghosts; “If I enjoy this, what shall I [have left to] give?”

Such selfless thinking is a quality of the gods.

Shantideva, Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life 8.125 (Buddhism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon True love is love that gives and forgets what it gave. Having forgotten what you gave, you want to give again and again. (162:239, April 12, 1987)

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You give and then forget. You do not keep an account of what you gave, but forget it. When you give and forget, you are elevating your beloved above yourself. Give and forget—that’s the idea. As soon as you remember what you gave, it breaks the circuit of giving.

Unity does not exist where there is self-assertion—where a husband asserts his rights or a wife asserts her rights. God created the universe by investing without limit. Therefore, when a man gives limitlessly for the sake of his wife, and the woman likewise gives limitlessly for her husband, they can achieve total unity. You couples can become completely one by giving and forgetting, following God’s pattern. (267:301-02, February 5, 1995) God desires a free, peaceful, and happy place where giving has no accusers and receiving has no conditions attached. God’s purpose is to expand this place worldwide and bring all humankind to live there. (13:249, April 12, 1964)

❖

Charity CHARITY TO THE POOR AND THE NEEDY is a traditional virtue encouraged by all religions. Our relationship to the Highest Good creates a natural bond of family among all members of the community, rich and poor. We can experience God’s love and compassion for all his children, and especially for those who suffer from poverty, disease, war, famine and natural disasters. Giving alms and charity is a concrete expression of this spiritual bond of love. Texts such as the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats from the New Testament liken helping a poor man to giving offerings to God or the highest saints. Charity is not excused even for the poorest giver, according to several texts.

Some passages describe the attitude one should take in giving charity. The dignity of the transaction should be upheld by all means. “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” describes the value of anonymity for both the donor and the recipient: for the donor to eliminate any occasion for boasting and for the recipient to preserve his dignity. An even higher form of charity, according to Maimonides, is to extend interest-free loans and other forms of aid to help the poor man get started in a business or trade and thus earn his own living. In a modern version of the adage, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime,” Father Moon has been developing oceanic fishing enterprises with the intent to help the people of Africa become self-sufficient in food.

1. Charity in an Expression of God’s Love and Draws Us Near to God Blessed is he who considers the poor; the Lord delivers him in the day of trouble.

They sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need.

Psalm 41.1

Acts 2.45

They feed with food the needy wretch, the orphan, and the prisoner, for love of Him, saying, “We wish for no reward nor thanks from you.”

Charity—to be moved at the sight of the thirsty, the hungry, and the miserable and to offer relief to them out of pity—is the spring of virtue.

Kundakunda, Pancastikaya 137 (Jainism)

Qur’an 76.8-9

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If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him, and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be… You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him; because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and the poor, in the land.

Deuteronomy 15.7-11

When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at his left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, “Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.”

Matthew 25.31-40: Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

On the Day of Judgment God Most High will say, “Son of Adam, I was sick and you did not visit me.” He will reply, “My Lord, how could I visit Thee when Thou art the Lord of the Universe!”

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He will say, “Did you not know that my servant so-and-so was ill and yet you did not visit him?

Did you not know that if you had visited him you soon would have found Me with him?”

Hadith of Muslim (Islam)

“Ye shall walk after the Lord your God” [Deut.

13.4]. But how can a man walk after God who is a devouring fire? [Deut. 4.24]. It means, walk after His attributes: clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort the mourner, bury the dead.

Talmud, Sota 14a (Judaism)

When the Holy One loves a man, He sends him a present in the shape of a poor man, so that he should perform some good deed to him, through the merit of which he may draw to himself a cord of grace.

Zohar 1.104a (Judaism)

The gods have not ordained that humans die of hunger; even to the well-fed man death comes in many shapes.

The wealth of the generous man never wastes away, but the niggard has none to console him.

He who, possessed of food, hardens his heart against the weak man, hungry and suffering, who comes to him for help, though of old he helped him— surely he finds none to console him.

He is liberal who gives to anyone who asks for alms, to the homeless, distressed man who seeks food; success comes to him in the challenge of battle, and for future conflicts he makes an ally.

He is no friend who does not give to a friend, to a comrade who comes imploring for food; let him leave such a man—his is not a home— and rather seek a stranger who brings him comfort.

Let the rich man satisfy one who seeks help;

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and let him look upon the long view: For wealth revolves like the wheels of a chariot, coming now to one, now to another.

In vain does the mean man acquire food;

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it is—I speak the truth—verily his death; he who does not cherish a comrade or a friend, who eats all alone, is all sin.

Rig Veda 10.117.1-6 (Hinduism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Parents suffer when one of their children are sick. When one of your siblings is hurt, you feel pain.

When seeing people suffering from poverty or war, a saint feels their suffering more intensely than his own difficulties. Forgetting his own circumstances, he gives all he has to help them. This way has been bequeathed as the standard of morality the world over, in all ages and nations. It is the philanthropic spirit, the love for humanity. (186:74-75, January 29, 1989) When you see gaunt children playing on the street, underfed and wearing tattered clothes, you should hug and embrace them as you would your own children. You should feel ashamed if you do not want to do that. You should feel more shameful than would a parent who abandoned her child feel should she catch a glimpse of him on the street. Seeing him as she passes by the town, where years before she had left him on a doorstep or perhaps in the care of a nanny, she cannot hold up her head. That is the bond of heart. If your own children were that gaunt, wouldn’t you embrace them and shed tears until your bones melt? (46:281, August 17, 1971) While walking on the street, if you see an old man with a hump in his back you should think, “My Father might have such an appearance when He visits me.” When you see the rough and swollen hands of a laborer, you should think, “My Father who is searching for me might look worse than him.” When you meet a beggar, you should be able to bow your head, thinking, “He is not a beggar, but actually my Father.” Know that God’s heart dwells in each of these miserable and pitiful looking people. You should love them, regardless of your situation and social position, shedding tears with the heart that each of them is your own father. Only then, can you meet God. (8:345-46, February 28, 1960) At lunch time, if you should see an elderly person who is in distress because he does not have enough money to buy food, take him with you to the cafeteria and treat him to a good meal. Serve him as you would serve your grandparents. (215:109, February 6, 1991) I cannot forget those who visited me when I was lonely in prison and comforted me in my miserable plight. I might forget about my family members or relatives, but never those who sought me because of the bonds of true love. (63:208, October 14, 1972) Once I rescued a prostitute, a young girl who had fallen into that pitiful situation. I loved her as my own sister; I remember it as if it were yesterday. After listening to her story, I wept with her and truly uplifted her. That kind of deed is greater and more precious than prayer. (May 1, 1977) I have studied the ocean industry because I know it is a way to feed the starving people of Africa.

For twenty years, steadfast, without letting up, I have worked hard to pave this road. I made my own nets, built boats in my own factories, and created my own methods of fishing. The waters off Africa

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have an abundance of fish. If only the people of Africa could harvest them, they would have food to spare. How then could they possibly die of starvation?…

Sixty thousand people starve to death every year, mostly in Africa. Ask your own conscience.

These people are starving due to the want of food, whereas here in America you eat so much that you become as plump as a cow and then have to work hard dieting and exercising to reduce that weight. Should you not be punished by God? (261:307, July 24, 1994)

❖ 2. The Manner of Giving Charity A kind word with forgiveness is better than charity followed by injury; God is Self-sufficient, Forbearing.

O you who believe, do not make your charity worthless by reproach and injury, like him who spends his wealth to be seen by men.

Qur’an 2.263-64

One should give even from a scanty store to him who asks.

Dhammapada 224 (Buddhism)

Even a poor man who himself subsists on charity should give charity.

Talmud, Gittin 7b (Judaism)

He who has two coats, let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.

Luke 3.11

When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6.3-4

Enlightening beings are magnanimous givers, bestowing whatever they have with equanimity, without regret, without hoping for reward, without seeking honor, without coveting material benefits, but only to rescue and safeguard all living beings.

Garland Sutra 21 (Buddhism)

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O you who believe, give of the good things which you have earned, and of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not aim at getting anything bad for the purpose of giving it away, when you would not take it for yourselves save with disdain…

If you publish your almsgiving, it is well, but if you hide it and give it to the poor, it will be better for you, and will atone for some of your ill-deeds. God is Informed of what you do…

[Alms are] for the poor who are straitened for the cause of God, who cannot travel in the land [for trade]. The unthinking man accounts them free from want because of their restraint.

You shall know them by their mark: They do not beg of men with importunity. And whatever good things you give, surely God knows it.

Qur’an 2.267-73

And in their wealth and possessions they remembered the right of those [needy] who asked and those who [for some reason] were prevented from asking.

Qur’an 51.19

The highest degree of charity—above which there is no higher—is he who strengthens the hand of his poor fellow Jew and gives him a gift or [interest-free] loan or enters into a business partnership with the poor person. By this partnership the poor man is really being strengthened as the Torah commands in order to strengthen him till he is able to be independent and no longer dependent on the public purse. It is thus

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written, “Strengthen him [the poor person] so that he does not fall and become dependent on others” (Leviticus 25:35).

A lower standard of charity is one in which the benefactor has no knowledge of the recipient and the latter has no knowledge of the individual source of charity—“giving in secret.”

This is practicing the mitzvah of charity for the sake of the mitzvah.28 Such charity is like the courtyard in the [ancient] Temple where the righteous used to place their donations secretly and the poor would benefit from them in secret.

Similar to this secret courtyard is the act of one who puts his money into the charity box.

Below this rank is the case where the recipient is known to the benefactor but the latter is unaware of the source of the charity. This is what the sages used to do when they would go

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in secret and place their gifts at the door of the poor. It is fitting to do this and meritorious in those cases where the officials in charge of the communal charity do not behave righteously.

Where the recipient is aware of the source of the charity but the giver does not know to whom the money is being given, the degree is lower. Yet, there is merit since the poor are saved from direct shame.

Of less merit is charity where both are known to each other but the gift is made before the poor asks for it.

Of lower degree is where one gives charity after being asked for it. Lower still is one who gives less than what is fitting but with good grace, and least of all is one who gives unwillingly.

Maimonides, Mishneh Torah: The 8 Degrees of Charity (Judaism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon When you meet a poor person and give him alms out of sympathy, never say, “Hey, you are a young fellow who can work. What’s the matter with you?” I suggest you say to him, “Though it is but a small token, if you revere it highly you will receive many blessings in the future.”29 You can say this to everyone to whom you give alms. (127:89, May 5, 1983) When you offer your substance to build the Kingdom of Heaven, do not think that you are offering what belongs to you; think that your offering already belongs to Heaven.

Likewise, when you give to others, do not think that you are giving to them out of your own pocket. Give with the mind that it comes from the treasury of Heaven. The person receiving it will know your mind; thus he will recognize that he is actually receiving from God. Then God will take note and return it to you ten times over. (102:119-20, November 27, 1978) The most excellent giving is to give generously to others although you yourself are in want. (Way of God’s Will 2.2) Our mind urges our body to help the poor and sacrifice for others, even though we may be going through hardships of our own. (41:60, February 13, 1971) It is said, “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” If you lend ten thousand dollars to someone and then remember it with added interest, you cannot be an owner of the Kingdom of God. You should forget about the money you lent. When parents raise children, do they remember how much money they spent for their care? Do they tally up a bill and present it to their grown children, demanding payment with interest? No, a parent’s heart is to forgive and forget it all.

Moreover, after forgetting what they have given, parents are anxious that they could not have given something better. (36:85, November 15, 1970)

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When I was a student in Seoul, my home was outside the city, in Huk Suk Dong. For a nickel I could ride a streetcar to school. The ride took only a short time, while on foot the journey took over an hour. Every day I walked, in order to save that nickel to give to some needy person on the street.

By the time I came home, the nickel was gone, not to the train conductor but to a needy person.

(244:25, January 29, 1993) I observed the beggars closely; there were many on the street by the Noryangjin Station and the Hwasin Department Store. As I walked, I would quickly distinguish the old ones from the young ones. I would not give to the young ones; I only gave to those who were handicapped, blind or elderly. Likewise when you give alms, give to those who truly need it. (50:308, November 8, 1971)

❖

Hospitality HOSPITALITY TO GUESTS, ESPECIALLY TO TRAVELERS seeking food and rest, is a traditional virtue from ancient times. Abraham was exemplary in his hospitality to strangers, three of whom turned out to be angels. Father Moon describes the custom in his parents’ home, where hospitality to strangers was a rule firmly enforced by his father. The best families create such a loving atmosphere in their home that it attracts people and even animals from miles around.

Even families of little means should give their best hospitality to guests regardless of the hardship it might cause them; this is illustrated by three texts lauding exemplary hospitality in extremis, by Lot who defended his guests against molestation by the people of Sodom, by a companion of Muhammad who gave his last morsel to a guest of the Prophet, and by a Hindu householder who preferred to die of thirst rather than withhold drink from a thirsty stranger.

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.30 Hebrews 13.1

See to it that whoever enters your house obtains something to eat, however little you may have.

Such food will be a source of death to you if you withhold it.

A Winnebago Father’s Precepts (Native American Religions)

Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbor, and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest.

Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 15 (Islam)

The husband and wife of the house should not turn away any who comes at eating time and

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asks for food. If food is not available, a place to rest, water for refreshing one’s self, a reed mat to lay one’s self on, and pleasing words entertaining the guest—these at least never fail in the houses of the good.

Apastamba Dharma Sutra 8.2 (Hinduism)

The two… came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed himself with his face to the earth, and said, “My lords, turn aside, I pray you, to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise up early and go on your way.”31 They said, “No; we will spend the night in the street.”

But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city,

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the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house; and they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” Lot went out of the door to the men, shut the door after him, and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. Behold, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please; only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

Genesis 19.1-8

A man came to find the Prophet and the latter asked his wives for something to give him to eat. “We have absolutely nothing,” they replied, “except water.” “Who wants to share his meal with this man?” asked the Prophet. A man of the Companions then said, “I.” Then he led this man to his wife and said to her, “Treat generously the guest of the Messenger of God.” She replied, “We have nothing except our children’s supper.” “Oh, well,” he replied, “get your meal ready, light your lamp, and when your children want supper, put them to bed.” So the woman prepared the meal, lit the lamp, put the children to bed, then, getting up as if to trim the lamp, she extinguished it. The Companion and his wife then made as if to eat, but in fact

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they spent the night with empty stomachs. The next day when the Companion went to find the Messenger of God, the latter said to him, “This night God smiled.” It was then that God revealed these words, “and they prefer the others before themselves, although there be indigence among them” [Qur’an 59.9].

Hadith of Bukhari (Islam)

The fame of Rantideva is sung in this and the other world, Rantideva, who, though himself hungry, was in the habit of giving away his wealth as it came, while trusting in God to provide his needs. Even in time of famine, Rantideva continued his generosity though his family was reduced to poverty.

For forty-eight days he and his family were starving; a little liquid, and that enough for only one, was all that remained. As he was about to drink it, an outcaste came begging for water.

Rantideva was moved at the sight and said, “I do not desire from God the great state attended by divine powers or even deliverance from rebirth. Establishing myself in the hearts of all beings, I take on myself their suffering so that they may be rid of their misery.” So saying, the compassionate king gave that little liquid to the outcaste, though he himself was dying of thirst.

Srimad Bhagavatam 9 (Hinduism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon A household that is always prepared to welcome noble guests will receive blessings. (100:259, October 22, 1978) Treat people who come to visit you as kings. Serve them as kings and attend them like kings.

(89:290, December 4, 1976) Make hospitality to friends and visitors your family custom. Care for them so well that they say, “Your house is better than mine. This meal is more delicious than the food at my house. Can I stay here one more night?” When you make your house a place where every guest or friend wants to come and stay, even ignoring their own families, you have the Kingdom of Heaven in your family.

(16:328, July 31, 1966) The more people you invite into your home to eat and sleep there, whether they stay in a guestroom or in the attic, the more blessed your family will be. The time will come when families will

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compete in the practice of hospitality. Families will want to become famous for hosting guests from the neighborhood, the county, from around the nation and from overseas. People do not practice hospitality because they are materially wealthy; they practice hospitality because they are wealthy in heart and love. There is happiness in hosting others, even though you may be eating hard bread.

(244:49, January 29, 1993) Your home should be a place where passing beggars want to sleep or even lean against your doorstep to take shelter from the cold. Even the neighborhood dogs want to lie down there, and birds want to take shelter. There should be bird-droppings on your doorstep from the birds that nest in your eaves.

When you make your home like that, you will flourish and God will be with you. Why? Because the place where God’s love dwells attracts all living things; it is a place of peaceful Sabbath rest for all beings. (100:299, October 22, 1978) My family had a tradition: Nobody passing by our house left with an empty stomach. Our home was widely known to every beggar in the district; they all visited and received our hospitality. When my mother served our grandparents their dinner, she also served the beggars. [It was a heavy physical ordeal for my mother. Yet on one occasion when she neglected to feed a beggar, my father took his own meal and gave it to him. Thenceforth my mother had to feed the beggars or else my father would go hungry.]32 I am grateful to my mother, who did not complain though she labored to feed these strangers.

It became a motive for a person like me to lead a movement to feed the world. (130:276, February 5, 1984) All the beggars that lived in or near our district used to visit our house. Our house was like a meeting place for beggars. There were always a few of them sleeping in the guestroom. There was an old mill in our village where beggars would congregate. I made friends with many of them. When our family made rice cakes I always took pity on them and brought them some.33 When a beggar left our house in the morning, I thought, “Who will give them lunch?” Since there was no one, I often fed them. Without asking my mother for anything, I took the food she had set aside for my lunch and shared it with the beggars. It was a good deed. Thinking about it now, I think I did well. (127:111, May 5, 1983)

❖

The Great Commandment AS A CONCISE SUMMATION OF THE LAW OF LOVE, Jesus’ Great Commandment is without parallel. It links together love’s two dimensions: vertical love for God and horizontal love for other people. In this brief section, we give several examples of Father Moon’s commentary on this verse.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall

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love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

Matthew 22.37-39

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And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” [Jesus] said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and

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with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Luke 10.25-29

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon God gave us a commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” (Matt. 22.37-38) You should remember that God kept this commandment before humankind did…

When listening to the commandment, if you think that it starts with you, you are seriously mistaken. God is the Subject of human life, love and ideals. Before He brought this commandment to humankind, God first went through a historical course of exerting his entire mind and will for the sake of humankind. In other words, before any human being loved God with all his heart and soul and mind, God loved humankind with all His heart and soul and mind. God could give us this commandment because God first kept it Himself. (4:304, October 5, 1958) True love has two axes: the vertical and the horizontal. True love on the vertical axis means that God is the Creator; He is the source of true love, and He loves His creation. Human beings, as the supreme creation of God, are the recipients of God’s true love and return love and beauty to Him. True love on the horizontal axis means that our actions are motivated by love for the sake of others, and we give our love to others in a way that will be genuinely beneficial to them. Within a family, the husband may energetically pursue the Will of God, even running far ahead of his wife.

But if his motivation is for the sake of his family, all the members of that family will feel united in love. We can see, therefore, that the true concept of unification emerges when we act from the motivation of sacrificially loving others.

All creation is an effort of giving. It is a universal law that the giver prospers and grows. When a person only takes from others in order to satisfy his desires, that selfish action is not love, and it ultimately creates enemies. He will become more isolated and decline. But a person who gives of himself to benefit others creates friends who will in turn help him. He will inevitably receive more than he gave, and he will prosper. Therefore, the person of true love lives for the highest purpose, and then gives of himself. These two axes of true love are the principle behind Jesus’ great commandment. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” teaches the vertical axis of true love, and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself’ teaches the horizontal axis of true love. (November 25, 1988) While on earth we must attend God in a way that brings Him joy. So what should be our standard of attendance? By making offerings that meet with God’s desire we develop a character that matches with God’s heart. That is the meaning of Jesus’ first commandment, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength.”

Once you love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength, what happens next? God then manifests His love through you to relate with all people. Since you have become one with God’s love, you are able to love all people. Hence in your family, you give your utmost love to your father

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and mother, and then you give your utmost love to your brothers and sisters. That family will be a happy family.

God wants to dwell in the family whose members love the Lord their God with all their heart, all their soul and all their strength, and then love their brothers and sisters in the same manner, even more than they love [God] their Father. If we establish our family like that, God cannot help but dwell there. (101:153-54, October 29, 1978) The second commandment is to love the people of the world like your own self. Just as you should love God by offering even your whole life, you should love your neighbors even by sacrificing your life. Just like you stake your life to protect yourself, you should become a person who can risk his or her life to love and protect all people. (143:137, March 17, 1986) Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself,” but what does it mean? Specifically, it means that when you go into the world, you should love elderly people as your own grandparents, middleaged people as your own parents, and youth as your own children. You love the people in all these positions: above and below, right and left, and front and rear. (128:23, May 29, 1983) Who is your neighbor? Are your neighbors only those who also believe in Jesus? No. Your neighbors include people at the ends of the earth. Even the people in the bosom of the Devil are your neighbors. When Jesus said to love your enemies, he included the Roman soldiers. Actually, you should not think of your neighbors as neighbors, but as your older brothers. It is a principle of the Unification Church that you have to restore Cain. Every Cain-type person is actually your older brother. (138:187, January 21, 1986)

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