Chapter 14
Wisdom The Primary Ends of Education WHAT ARE THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION? Classical education in all cultures of the world was concerned primarily with cultivating virtue. Education was about cultivating the soul, developing a civilized character and forming good citizens. However, in today’s schooling the focus is on technical knowledge and the skills needed for the complex modern workplace. Character and values get short shrift. Theodore Roosevelt is said to have warned, “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”1 Study of the world’s scriptures leads us back to consider education’s primary ends. Father Moon distinguishes three levels of education: first, education of heart cultivates the emotional basis for unselfish love; second, education of norm deals with the morality of good relationships; third, academic and technical education follow on these two foundations. Much of the first two levels of education is done at home as the responsibility of parents. Yet schools can also play a part, particularly by providing character education and marriage education. Given that deficiencies in character and marital problems can detract from performance in the workplace, educating for these ends need not be seen as in contradiction to the career orientation of modern schooling.
1. The Primary Purpose of Education: to Cultivate Virtue Knowledge is the food of the soul. Plato, Protagoras (Hellenism)
True learning induces in the mind service of mankind. Adi Granth, Asa, M.1, p. 356 (Sikhism)
The end and aim of wisdom is repentance and good deeds. Talmud, Berakot 17 (Judaism)
A faithful study of the liberal arts humanizes character and permits it not to be cruel.
The parents of a child are but his enemies when they fail to educate him properly in his boyhood… Knowledge makes a man honest, virtuous, and endearing to society. It is learning alone that enables a man to better the condition of his friends and relations. Knowledge is the holiest of holies, the god of the gods, and commands respect of crowned heads; shorn of it a man is but an animal. The fixtures and furniture of one’s house may be stolen by thieves; but knowledge, the highest treasure, is above all stealing. Garuda Purana (Hinduism)
Ovid (Hellenism)
Confucius said, “The superior man extensively studies literature and restrains himself with the rules of propriety. Thus he will not violate the Way.” Analects 6.25 (Confucianism)
As soon as a child can understand what is said, nurse, mother, tutor, and the father himself vie with each other to make the child as good as possible, instructing him through everything he does or says, pointing out, “This is right and 705
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that is wrong, this honorable and that disgraceful, this holy and that impious; do this, don’t to that.” If he is obedient, well and good. If not, they straighten him with threats and beatings, like a warped and twisted plank. Later on when they send the children to school, their instructions to the teachers lay much more emphasis on good behavior than on letters or music. The teachers take good care of this, and when the boys have learned their letters… they set the works of good poets before them on their desks to read and make them learn them by heart, poems containing much admonition and many stories, eulogies, and panegyrics of the good men of old, so that the child may be inspired to imitate them and long to be like them. Plato, Protagoras 325c-e (Hellenism)
When things are investigated, knowledge is extended; when knowledge is extended, the will becomes sincere; when the will is sincere, the mind is rectified; when the mind is rectified, the personal life is cultivated; when the personal life is cultivated, the family will be regulated; when the family is regulated, the state will be in order; when the state is in order, there will be peace throughout the world. The Great Learning (Confucianism)
Because perfect wisdom tames and transforms him, wrath and conceit he does not increase. Neither enmity nor ill-will take hold of him, nor is there even a tendency towards them. He will be mindful and friendly… It is wonderful how this perfection of wisdom has been set up for the control and training of the Bodhisattvas.
You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 11.18-19
Does not wisdom call, does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, in the paths she takes her stand; beside the gates of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud, “To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the sons of men. O simple ones, learn prudence; O foolish men, pay attention. Hear, for I will speak noble things, and from my lips will come what is right; for my mouth will utter truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous; there is nothing twisted or crooked in them. They are all straight to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge. Take my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is better than jewels, and all that you may desire cannot compare with her.” Proverbs 8.1-11
Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines 3.51-54 (Buddhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Moral education teaches the norm that people should place the public good ahead of self-interest. (24:212, August 17, 1969) All people live with a desire for goodness. Therefore education should teach: “Before you love God, you must love human beings.” “Live for all humankind.” “Love people and live for their sake.” “You were born for the sake of others, not for yourself.” (64:20, October 22, 1972)
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We have a general idea that people who are good-hearted and sacrificial lead a better life. Moral education everywhere in the world aims at the cultivation of character to this end. Why? In their condition of fallenness, people aspire to rise to a higher state. Yet since Heaven cannot instruct each person one at a time in detail, it resorts to implicit teachings using symbols and metaphors. Despite the diversity of human cultures, the result of Heaven’s work is that all moral instruction today tells people to do right and accumulate virtuous deeds. (65:118-19, November 5, 1972) One does not need any education to become an evil person. If a person wants to do evil or become evil, he will do it whether you teach him or not; so what is the point of educating him? No one teaches him to do evil; still he becomes evil without thinking about it. On the other hand, it is not easy to become a good person. To become a good person, someone capable of practicing goodness throughout a lifetime, education is indispensable. How nice it would be if we could walk that road easily! However, since good and evil travel in exactly opposite directions, the path to goodness is not easy at all. (39:23, January 9, 1971) Conventional schools do not teach about marriage, even though it is a very significant matter. Marriage education is not given much space in the curriculum compared to the seriousness of its problems. There is a lack of education about the needs and aspirations of the opposite sex. There is a lack of education concerning the issues that typically arise after marriage. The schools disregard questions of how to build happy marriages or how to properly educate children. Instead, they focus on teaching science and mathematics. This is certainly an aberration. (Tongil Segye 108, March 9, 1978) Let us create children’s educational materials about keeping purity before marriage.2 Let us create educational materials on how to make good fraternal and peer relationships, educational materials on marriage and on parenting, and educational materials on developing ideal families, extended families and clans. (233:336, August 2, 1992) The family is the school of love; it is the most important school in life. Within the family, children cultivate the depth and breadth of their heart to love others.3 It is education of love and emotion that only parents can provide, and it becomes the foundation stone to form the children’s character. The family is also the school teaching virtues, norms and manners. It is the way of Heaven that people receive academic education, physical education and technical education on the foundation of this primary education of heart and norm. (271:80, August 22, 1995) Children surely need to be educated about love. They do not necessarily need their parents to educate them in knowledge, but their parents are essential to educate them about love. Are they providing an education about love when the mother and father fight? Parents should teach by example how two people can become one with each other. Hence, the mother and father should be pleasing to Heaven; the father should be pleasing to the mother and the mother pleasing to the father. They should like each other and be parents whom the children like. Likewise, both parents should like all their children—it should not be the case that the father likes only some children and not others… That is why we must receive an education about love in the presence of God and centering on God’s love. This education does not begin with human beings. God is their Heavenly Parent, so God should educate human beings about love. God would want to continue this education until people can fully grasp all the values of their Heavenly Parent; at that point they can be said to have reached maturity.
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But is it recorded in the Bible that Adam and Eve grew up receiving God’s love? There is nothing about their receiving love; instead the Bible begins with an unpleasant story about their Fall. (51:172-73, November 21, 1971) Koreans know well how to face death because they have been well educated about it. Teaching people how to conclude their lives well is the essence of education. (25:158, October 3, 1969)
❖ 2. Education Broadens the Mind and Opens New Possibilities for Advancement A good, all-round education, appreciation of the arts, a highly trained discipline and pleasant speech; this is the highest blessing.
Confucius said, “By nature men are pretty much alike; it is learning and practice that set them apart.”
Sutta Nipata 261 (Buddhism)
Analects 17.2 (Confucianism)
There is no greater wealth than wisdom; no greater poverty than ignorance; no greater heritage than culture. Nahjul Balagha, Saying 52 (Shiite Islam)
The truth will make you free. John 8.32
No man is free, but he who labors in the [study of] Torah. Mishnah, Avot 6.2 (Judaism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon People do not enjoy studying in the beginning. They might enjoy sleeping, but not studying—at least not at first. But after awhile people enjoy studying, because they see that through study their area of activity is widened. (36:120, November 22, 1970) Everyone wants to have a fine son. How should you educate him to make him great? Some people think it lies in the quality of schooling, from kindergarten to college. However, education is for a lifetime. Therefore, you should devote yourselves diligently to educate your children with proper values. Having done that, when one day he takes your place at the head of the family, he will represent you, having the same mind as you and following in your footsteps. (24:257, August 24, 1969) Parents think, “To get my children into good universities I have to make them study. Studying leads to success in life.” I do not agree. They tell their children, “You have to have knowledge to be successful.” That is not true. The most precious thing is how much you love your country and how much you love God—not know Him but love Him. (144:130, April 12, 1986) Educational systems in every nation of the world place too much stress on the value of competition and reward only the winners. They mold people for a life of “survival of the fittest.” This has been a plague undermining the healthy human endeavor to lead humankind into a world of peaceful interdependence. Now some intellectuals are questioning this emphasis on competition. They should understand that the emphasis in education needs to shift to cooperation, as it is vital for human
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survival. In light of this, the goals and philosophies of education will have to undergo a profound transformation. (74:109, November 21, 1974)
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The Search for Knowledge THE SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE is incumbent upon everyone. Education and diligent study elevates and ennobles the human person. Several aspects of the search are developed in these passages. First, the search for truth is a religious obligation, and the search takes us back to the Source of the universe from whence comes all truth. Second, an important aspect of learning is to examine oneself. This includes recognizing the extent of our ignorance—how little we know. Third, knowledge is not handed to us, but requires us to comprehend a topic and make it our own. Therefore the student makes thorough efforts to understand the matter from all angles. Fourth, the search should be broad, embracing all religions and cultures, including all the sciences. Several of Father Moon’s remarks in this section were addressed to gatherings of academics and scientists. Others describe his personal search for truth.
1. God and His Principles Are the Starting-point for Understanding The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9.11
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore do not seek understanding that you may believe, but believe that you may understand, as was said, “Except ye believe, ye shall not understand” (Isaiah 7.9). Saint Augustine, On the Gospel of John 29.6 (Christianity)
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. 1 Corinthians 2.4-7
Carefully ponder moral principles and cultivate their source. Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
Without faith there is no knowledge, without knowledge there is no virtuous conduct, without virtues there is no deliverance, and without deliverance there is no perfection [Nirvana].
Truth is the way; truth is the goal of life, Reached by sages who are free from self-will.
Uttaradhyayana Sutra 28.30 (Jainism)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.
A disciple in training will comprehend this earth, the realm of death and the realm of the gods. A disciple in training will investigate the well-taught Path of Virtue, even as an expert garland-maker picks flowers.
James 1.5
Dhammapada 45 (Buddhism)
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Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6 (Hinduism)
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Teachings of Sun Myung Moon To reach the goal of philosophy, to know the ultimate truth, it is necessary to posit a transcendent or absolute Being. Why is this? Apart from the Absolute Being, one cannot understand the origin of existence or its meaning. Therefore, when facing serious difficulties, people have sought solutions through making a relationship with the Absolute Being and the truth of that Being. (24:318, September 14, 1969) The truth is one, and it is the principle that rules both the natural world and the human world. In nature this principle is the root and source of all things of the universe. For human beings this principle is the absolute value of true love, which guides us to complete our personalities through harmonizing our spirituality and physicality and to realize truth, goodness, and beauty. I do not believe that the claims of theism, humanism, and materialism are in irreconcilable conflict. I think, rather, that they were incomplete and one-sided expressions of the one principle of absolute values. In order to fundamentally solve various human problems of the modem world, we should find this one principle, the absolute value—which can cope with the whole, beyond any existing ideologies and claims. The search for absolute value leads us ultimately to the fundamental question of God. To accept that God exists is to recognize that there exists a universal principle which operates consistently in nature and the human world. On this foundation, values that appear to be relative can be understood as interrelated with each other when viewed from the viewpoint of the absolute value. (170:268-70, November 27, 1987)
❖ 2. Know Thyself An unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates, in Plato, Apology 38 (Hellenism)
things which would not be had they not been in Thee. Saint Augustine, Confessions 10.27 (Christianity)
He who knows others is wise; He who knows himself is enlightened. Tao Te Ching 33 (Taoism)
Mencius said, “A gentleman steeps himself in the Way because he wishes to find it in himself.”
What thing I am I do not know. I wander secluded, burdened by my mind. When the Firstborn of Truth has come to me I receive a share of that selfsame Word. Rig Veda 1.164.37 (Hinduism)
Mencius IV.B.14 (Confucianism)
Too late did I love Thee, O Beauty so ancient and yet so new! Too late did I love Thee! For behold, Thou wert within, and I without, and there I was seeking Thee—I, unlovely, rushed heedlessly among the things of beauty Thou didst make. Thou wert with me, but I was not with Thee. Those things kept me far from Thee,
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God gives wisdom to whom He will, and he to whom wisdom is given has truly received abundant good. But none remember except men of understanding. Qur’an 2.269
I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance. Socrates (Hellenism)
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To know when one does not know is best. To think one knows when one does not know is a dire disease.
The fool who knows that he is a fool is for that very reason a wise man; the fool who thinks he is wise is called a fool indeed.
Tao Te Ching 71 (Taoism)
Dhammapada 63 (Buddhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon If you do not know your present position, you are like a person sailing on the ocean without knowing his latitude and longitude. You must know where you are now before you can set your proper course. (120:303, October 20, 1982) In today’s world, quite a few people attempt to commit suicide, taking overdoses of sleeping pills… Why do they take their own lives? It is because they do not know the purpose of their life. When studying philosophy, the first question you ask is: “What is life?” The next question is: “What is the purpose of our life?” (222:70) What is the origin of the evil mind that incites evil desires in opposition to the original mind? What is the root cause of the contradiction that brings people to ruin? In order to ward off evil desires and follow good desires, we must overcome this ignorance and gain the ability to distinguish clearly between good and evil. Then we can take the path to the good life the original mind seeks. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction) How can we find the truth by which to judge what is good and what is bad in this evil world? You have to get rid of your self-centered mind and take the lowest position. The Bible says, “Every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”4 (2:138, March 17, 1957) If you know yourself, you will say, “I am inadequate in many areas.” This is a good gift to have. (Way of God’s Will 1.3)
❖ 3. Comprehend the Truth Not Merely on the Authority of a Teacher, but from One’s Own Extensive Study and Research Do not be misled by reports, or tradition, or hearsay. Be not led by the authority of religious texts, nor by mere logic or inference, nor by considering appearances, nor by the delight in speculative opinions, nor by seeming possibilities, nor by the idea: “This is our teacher.” But when you know for yourselves that certain things are unwholesome and wrong, and bad, then give them up… And when you know for yourselves
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that certain things are wholesome and good, then accept them and follow them. Anguttara Nikaya 1.190-91 (Buddhism)
The search for knowledge is an obligation laid on every Muslim. Hadith of Ibn Majah and Baihaqi (Islam)
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Thinking is like drilling a well; if we are persistent we will reach clear water. At first it must be muddied, but by gradually scraping away it will naturally become clear. Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
He who devotes himself to the study of the law of the Most High will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients, and will be concerned with prophecies; he will preserve the discourse of notable men and penetrate the subtleties of parables; he will seek out the hidden meanings of proverbs and be at home with the obscurities of parables. He will serve among great men and appear before rulers; he will travel through the lands of foreign nations, for he tests the good and the evil among men. Ecclesiasticus 39.1-4 (Christianity)
By collecting contrasting divergent opinions I hope to provoke young readers to push themselves to the limit in the search for truth, so that their wits may be sharpened by their investigation. It is by doubting that we come to investigate, and by investigating that we recognize the truth. Peter Abelard, Inquiry into Divergent Views of the Church Fathers (Christianity)
The most useful piece of learning for the uses of life is to unlearn what is untrue. Antisthenes 5 (Hellenism)
Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking; where it is absent, discussion is apt to become worse than useless. Leo Tolstoy (Humanism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon The ultimate purpose of religion can be attained only when one first believes it in one’s heart and then puts it into practice. However, without first understanding, beliefs do not take hold. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction) Do not recklessly make a move when you are given a vague teaching. Do not make a move unless the direction is established in clear truth. Even if someone propounds a new teaching with great persuasiveness, do not simply believe it. First discuss it with someone who is more Abel-like6 than you. (3:212, November 1, 1957) Although you have joined the Unification Church, if it does not answer all your questions, then pack up and leave. (150:110, September 4, 1960) Philosophers, saints and sages set out to pave the way of goodness for the people of their times. Yet so many of their accomplishments have become added spiritual burdens for the people of today. Consider this objectively. Has any philosopher ever arrived at the knowledge that could solve humanity’s deepest anguish? Has any sage ever clearly illuminated the path by resolving all the fundamental questions of human life and the universe? Have not their teachings and philosophies raised more unsettled questions, thus giving rise to skepticism?… If we are created in such a way that we cannot live apart from God, then surely our ignorance of God consigns us to walk miserable paths. Though we may diligently study the Bible, can we really say that we know clearly the reality of God? Can we ever grasp the heart of God? (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)
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Before I began my path of life, I asked the question, “Does God exist?” Only after I could give a clear answer, “Definitely, God exists,” did I begin my course. (13:201, March 15, 1964) When searching for truth, it is not enough to just accept what you read in the Bible. We need to be able to measure the truth with precision. I searched for truth like a researcher who does experiment after experiment to prove his results. The Divine Principle contains many such well-tested discoveries. (May 1, 1977) What did God teach me when I was a boy? Do you know what a hard time God gave me? Step by step I had to verify for myself the two fundamental axioms: love passes through the shortest distance, and the origin of the universe is the father-son relationship. Then from these two truths I had to work out everything else. I had to elucidate the truths of the world of the principle from this new starting-point—the original father-son relationship that has nothing to do with the lineage of the secular world. Hence, I could not understand anything without knowing the particulars of the Human Fall. Now I have uncovered the origin, and from it, I have revealed the law of the universe, the heavenly law. (376:315, April 29, 2002) Once I started seriously questioning a certain passage in the Bible, I would strive continually even for three years to solve the mystery of it. Until I could shout, “Eureka!” I would push myself to penetrate the root of the problem. (35:38, September 27, 1970)
❖ 4. Investigate All Sides of a Subject A gentleman can see a question from all sides without bias. The small man is biased and can see a question only from one side.
my teachers I have acquired wisdom.” [Psalm 119.99] Mishnah, Avot 4.1 (Judaism)7
Analects 2.14 (Confucianism)
I am not biased in favor of Mahavira, nor averse to Kapila or other teachers. I am committed to the preaching that is truly rational.
The Buddha says, “To be attached to a certain view and to look down upon others’ views as inferior—this the wise men call a fetter.” Sutta Nipata 798 (Buddhism)
Haribhadra, Loktattvanirnaya 38 (Jainism)
There are three things that occasion sorrow to a superior man [who is devoted to learning]: If there be any subject of which he has not heard, and he cannot get to hear of it; if he hear of it, and cannot get to learn it; if he have learned it, and cannot get to carry it out in practice.
Comprehend one philosophical view through comprehensive study of another one. Acarangasutra 5.113 (Jainism)
I intend to make a careful study of my own religion and, as far as I can, of other religions as well. Mohandas K. Gandhi (Hinduism)
Book of Ritual 18.2.2.20 (Confucianism)
Ben Zoma said, Who is wise? He who learns from every person, as it is taught, “From all
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Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind. Albert Einstein, The World as I See It
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Teachings of Sun Myung Moon In order to become a great scholar, you should absorb the great teachings of the many great men and women of the past. As you go through kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school, college and graduate school, you should be absorbing all the knowledge of the world’s prominent thinkers. You need to digest them and synthesize their thoughts into your own understanding. You can appear as a new, extraordinary thinker as you add your originality to the elements they provide. That is the way to become a world-class scholar. The same applies on the path to fulfilling the Will of goodness. (35:327, November 1, 1970) It is sad to see that, although knowledge in various fields of study does interrelate, all too often scholars prefer to concentrate only on their own field of study. Extreme specialization provides knowledge that may mean little to anyone other than the individual who pursues it. The joy of discovery should inspire a scholar to communicate his findings to others in terms they can understand. We should all be willing to listen, lest our knowledge be superficial and imprecise. Religious people have felt threatened by the development of science—especially since the time of the Renaissance. Yet how can a religious person be concerned with salvation without being concerned with developing the knowledge and techniques necessary to solve the problems of hunger, disease, old age, and inadequate housing and clothing? Certainly science has contributed much towards these ends. Furthermore, in contemplating the mystery and wonder of man and the universe, religion and science through inspiration, logic and observation both seek to explain, or at least point to, the cause that brought into existence the universe and humankind. Such contemplation of our origin and purpose is certainly one of the things that distinguish us as human beings. It provides us with never-ending sources of energy. In this regard, twentieth century cosmologists and biologists concern themselves with matters related to the concerns of theologians and philosophers. (95:20203, November 25, 1977) In a world of many cultures, religions and social systems, where can we find a transcendent ideal and public purpose that can harmonize them all? To avoid being misled by partial values that favor one nation, culture, religion, race, or social system over another, we invite scientists and scholars representing every nationality, culture, religion, race and social system in a common search for truth. This truth should regard both the spiritual and physical aspects of human beings, that is, the needs of physical well‑being within a comfortable and productive environment, as well as the spiritual needs—regard for personal virtue, promotion of morality and religious faith, and respect for the traditions of every culture. We must lift up the absolute value which will create the basis for constructive cooperation in every aspect of human existence. (November 25, 1988)
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Tradition TRADITION CONTAINS THE ACCUMULATED WISDOM of the generations. It is bequeathed through the study of history, the recitation of proverbs and folklore, in public ceremonies and at home. Some of its best teaching material consists of the lives of great men and women, as well as ordinary citizens who lived lives of exemplary goodness and self-sacrifice. Tradition can be hard to find in today’s culture of celebrity and instant fame, yet its importance can hardly be overlooked. Family lies at the heart of tradition. Parents pass on their values and morals to their children through teaching and example. Good parents encourage their children to keep their ways and even surpass them. A stable family structure maintains and strengthens tradition, passing on its wisdom to succeeding generations.
Tradition endures. Akan Proverb (African Traditional Religions)
Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6.16
Taming Power of the Great: The superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity and many deeds of the past, in order to strengthen his character thereby. I Ching 26 (Confucianism)
The virtues of what the ancients had to say, when perfectly digested and thoroughly penetrated, will all be useful for self-cultivation, and they can daily be put into practice and carried out thoroughly and steadfastly. Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
Without proverbs [traditional wisdom], the language would be but a skeleton without flesh, a body without a soul. Zulu Proverb (African Traditional Religions)
Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for. Socrates (Hellenism)
The teachers… put into his hands the works of great poets, and make him read and learn them by heart, sitting on his bench at school. These are full of instruction and of tales and praises of famous men of old, and the aim is that the boy may admire and imitate and be eager to become like them. Plato, Protagoras 325e (Hellenism)
On Thee alone we ever meditate, And ponder over the teachings of the loving mind, As well as the acts of the holy men, Whose souls accord most perfectly with truth. Avesta, Yasna 34.2 (Zoroastrianism)
If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants. Isaac Newton
He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. Psalm 78.5-7
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Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight; for I give you good precepts: do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me, and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Get wisdom; get insight. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.” Proverbs 4.1-6
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Goodness is not realized instantly. If we are to be good people, we have to inherit from the past. This is why we need education. We need to go to a school and learn. What should we learn? Throughout history, those who have sacrificed to pave the way for goodness did not have an easy life. We should inherit the spirit of those who made sacrifices in the past. (50:101, November 6, 1971) For a nation to prosper, it should preserve the inheritance of history. Young children absorb stories from the elderly and enjoy folktales. Like the new buds that receive sap from the tree, children should inherit all the historical essence of their culture. Though children may be crying with runny noses, if you say you will tell them a fairy tale, they immediately stop crying and wait for the story to begin. They truly enjoy listening to it. Why? It is because they desire to inherit history. It is a principle of heaven and earth. (28:188, January 11, 1970) What should each nation’s history textbook contain to properly educate its citizens? It should gather accounts of the lives of those citizens who sacrificed the most for their nation. The people discussed in the textbook should be the rulers and good people who sacrificed and suffered for the sake of the people. Among them should be some who gave their lives. (65:216, November 19, 1972) There are many traditions that bind together families and nations, but only a tradition based on love can unite them eternally. It can even unite the world. What kind of love? It must be a love that longs for eternity. In the family, this is none other than parental love. Parental love is not the love of the moment. It becomes an eternal inheritance of children, from generation to generation. Don’t parents want to pass on their tradition completely and see it develop? Hence when parents educate their children, they tell them, “You should be better than me.” They say, “Become a better person! You should be better than me in at least one thing.” Parents even compel their children to strive in this way, and there is nothing wrong in it. They constantly pay attention to their children and encourage them to fulfill that expectation. They do not let their children do whatever they please. Not at all! They push them to go in directions not of their own choosing, for their benefit. They make sacrifices for them so that children will turn out to be better than they are. (95:49, October 23, 1977) You are inheriting as a free gift all the foundations I have fought to establish throughout my life. However, that is not enough. You should inherit my tradition of practice. You should inherit my way of dying and living as your tradition.
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Not only that, you should also teach this tradition to others. Teach it to your children, your husbands and your wives. For example, it is my tradition that husbands and wives should respect and praise each other, saying, “My husband is a great person; my wife is a great person.” A married couple that practices this tradition will educate their children to do the same. (113:303-04, May 10, 1981)
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Scripture and Interpretation SCRIPTURE IS THE BEDROCK OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE. All the higher religions are founded on inspired teachings or divine truths revealed by their founders and codified as scripture. Thus, scripture is the basis upon which believers lead their lives. It is also the enduring standard for evaluating new ideas and theological innovation. Regular study of scripture is recommended for gaining wisdom and finding guidance for daily life. Nevertheless, the proper interpretation of scripture is not simple. The many disagreements of the meaning of scripture have created lasting disputes and fractures in communities of faith. One reason for this confusion is that the scriptures were written using parables and veiled language. Understanding the meaning of these symbols and parables requires spiritual discernment, even the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Another issue is the problem of the letter and the spirit. Religious traditions always have to balance fidelity to the letter of a text with openness to new spiritual insights. Where scripture is meant to be a “raft,” in Buddha’s terms, which takes us across the sea of troubles that we might walk free on that blessed other shore, fixation on the words of scripture can be a burden to further spiritual advancement. Old interpretations need to give way to new ones or the scripture itself can become an impediment—a situation that occurred in Jesus’ day. The section closes with passages on the limitations of scripture as finite expressions of God’s infinite truth. Jesus, Buddha and other Founders lived in circumstances where they could only teach a part of what they knew of God’s truth, according to the level that their disciples could receive it. Father Moon affirms the value of all scriptures as expressions of the truth of God, given at various times and places to elevate humanity for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Nevertheless, since there is still much of God’s Word yet to be revealed, the world is due for a new expression of truth fit for this scientific age.
1. Take Instruction from Regular Study of Scripture O how I love thy law! It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119.97
and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3.14-17
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
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The work which the sages saw in the sacred sayings Are manifestly spread forth in the triad of the Vedas. Follow them constantly, you lovers of truth! This is your path to the world of good deeds. Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.1 (Hinduism)
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And these words which I [Moses] teach you shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.8
Absorbed in the scriptures and their purport, he transcends the cycle of birth and death. Acarangasutra 5.122
The holy Word is the Preceptor; by devoted meditation on it am I its disciple. By absorbing the discourse of the Inexpressible I remain free from the taint of illusion.9 Adi Granth, Ramkali Siddha Goshti, M.1, p. 943 (Sikhism)
Deuteronomy 6.6-9
We have sent down the Qur’an in Truth, and in Truth has it descended: and We sent you [Muhammad] but to give glad tidings and to warn sinners. It is a Qur’an which We have divided into parts from time to time, in order that you might recite it to men at intervals; We have revealed it by stages. Say: Whether you believe in it or not, it is true that those who were given prior insight, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration, and say: “Glory to our Lord! Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled!” They fall down on their faces in tears, and it increases their earnest humility. Qur’an 17.105-9
Know that he who reads and recites the Lawflower Sutra—that man has adorned himself with the adornment of the Buddha, and so is carried by the Tathagata on his shoulder. Lotus Sutra 10 (Buddhism)
Whosoever labors in the Torah for its own sake merits many things; and not only so, but the whole world is indebted to him: he is called friend, beloved, a lover of the All-present, a lover of mankind; it clothes him in meekness and reverence; it fits him to become just, pious, upright, and faithful; it keeps him far from sin, and brings him near to virtue. Mishnah, Avot 6.1 (Judaism)
And when a company meets together in one of the houses of God to pore over the Book of God and to study it together among themselves, the Shekhinah comes down to them and mercy overshadows them, the angels surround them, and God remembers them among them that are His. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 36 (Islam)
If two sit together and the words between them are of Torah, then the Shekhinah is in their midst. Mishnah, Avot 3.2 (Judaism)
I am leaving you a trust. So long as you cling to it you can’t go wrong. That is the rope God has extended from heaven to earth. That is the Qur’an.
Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18.20
Hadith of Darimi 1 (Islam)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon The ultimate purpose of religion can be attained only when one first believes it in one’s heart and then puts it into practice. However, without first understanding, beliefs do not take hold. It is in order to understand the truth and thereby solidify our beliefs that we study the Holy Scriptures. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Introduction)
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It is God’s responsibility to give us His Word and guidance, and it is our responsibility to believe and practice it in order to fulfill the providence. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Resurrection 2.1) Jesus instructed the people, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24) Why are we judged when we do not believe in God’s Word? In the Garden of Eden the first human ancestors disbelieved in God’s Word and fell. To be restored to life we must believe in God’s Word with greater faith than our disbelieving ancestors. We cannot be restored unless our faith is stronger than their will to rebellion. (69:128, October 23, 1973) When you read the Bible, you should look at the saddest things. Not the sections about heaven or the Book of Revelation, but the saddest contents. To become someone’s close friend, don’t you need to empathize with the most painful moments in his life? It is the same principle for us who would reconnect with God as His sons and daughters: we have to understand God’s most painful moments. Then when you listen to God’s Word, you will feel deep, bottomless sorrow in the core of your soul. You will weep your eyes out with heart-felt grief without understanding why. You may not be able to stop weeping after ten days, a hundred days, even a thousand days—you will want to weep endlessly. Only when you understand God’s Word in this light will you begin to understand the core of God’s heart. (10:137, September 18, 1960) Wherever you go in the world, you should gather and study the message God revealed to us; it is called Hoondokhwe, the education that pleases God.10 When you enter a new town, you should regard setting up a gathering to read God’s word as more important than introducing yourself. Those who enjoy gathering and reading the hoondok scriptures will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. God dwells with us where we read His words. When we diligently keep hoondokhwe, the spirits in the spirit world descend and participate with us, thereby receiving the benefit of returning resurrection. Thus, keeping hoondokhwe is the way to mobilize the heavenly spirit world. Through keeping hoondokhwe you will make your family a true family. You will revive the church through the works of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of studying God’s word is to resemble God and True Parents, the original forms of the Word. Keeping hoondokhwe unites the True Family; likewise, by keeping hoondokhwe your family may become one with the True Family. (321:32, February 14, 2000)
❖ 2. Scripture Teaches in Parables We have put forth for men in this Qur’an every kind of parable, in order that they may receive admonition.
overcome with various reasonings, parabolic expressions, and expedients. Lotus Sutra 2 (Buddhism)
Qur’an 39.27
Knowing that all the living have many and various desires deep-rooted in their minds, I have, according to their capacity, expounded the various laws by which these [desires] could be
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And when Jesus was alone, those who were about him with the Twelve asked concerning the parables. And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables;
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so they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.” Mark 4.10-12
He who does not know that indestructible Being of the Rig Veda, that highest ether-like Self wherein all the gods reside, of what use is the Rig Veda to him? Those only who know It rest contented. Svetasvatara Upanishad 4.8 (Hinduism)
The biblical tales are only the Torah’s outer garments, and woe to him who regards these as being the Torah itself! Zohar, Numbers 152a (Judaism)
It is He who sent down upon you the Book, wherein are verses clear that are the Essence of the Book, and others ambiguous. As for those in whose hearts is swerving, they follow the ambiguous
part, desiring dissension and desiring its interpretation; and none knows its interpretation, save only God.11 And those firmly rooted in knowledge say, “We believe in it; all is from our Lord”; yet none remembers, but men possessed of minds. Qur’an 3.7
First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. 2 Peter 1.20-21
Were you to cleanse the mirror of your heart from the dust of malice, you would apprehend the meaning of the symbolic terms revealed by the all-embracing Word of God made manifest in every dispensation, and would discover the mysteries of divine knowledge. Book of Certitude 68-69 (Baha’i Faith)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon God reveals well in advance all the essential matters of His Will in parables and symbols, in order that people living in any age can understand the demands of the providence for their time and for the future according to the level of their intellect and spirituality. The fact that God used parables and symbols in the Bible has inevitably resulted in many divergent interpretations. This is a major reason why the churches have become divided. In interpreting the Bible, therefore, the most important matter is to find the right perspective. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Second Advent 2.1) The Bible is like a love-letter written by a bridegroom searching for his bride and containing many secret codes. Why does God write in code? It is because God is a God of heart. Not everyone is meant to decipher the Bible; only the bride and bridegroom should be able to decipher it. In other words, only those who have prepared themselves to attend the Lord with a heart akin to God’s heart can decipher the Bible; to anyone else it is an impenetrable mystery. The Bible has a code. It is like a key that opens the gate to allow the bridegroom to enter. What is that key? It is heart. The heart of a parent does not change, whether the child is feeding on its mother’s breast or has grown old and gray. There is no difference in that heart. So we need to search for the original source of all the hearts hidden in the Bible. Finding it does not require a Ph.D. Theologians have been analyzing the Bible for centuries, but their theories just come and go. Heart cannot be controlled by logic. It cannot be experienced through theories. No systematic analysis can comprehend it. Why? Because heart flows with the heavenly law and with nature. It does not matter how well you know theology. You cannot understand the Bible unless you interpret it by the flow and feeling of heart. The current theological trend will pass away, but the
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world of heart remains forever. It is the alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. (8:305-06, February 14, 1960) Some prayerful people consider nature to be the number one Bible. It does not take second place. The Bible that describes the history of Israel does not always give a clear message. Do you know how much I shook my head as I read it? It can be very ambiguous; people understand what they want from it, as if it were a fortune-teller telling their fortune. For some it is a way to escape from reality. So the natural world created by God is better than the Bible at carrying out the hard task of judging the facts and clarifying everything from beginning to end. (20:270, July 7, 1968) Why does the Bible sometimes seem to be leading us toward the Kingdom of Heaven and sometimes not? The present world is not the Kingdom of Heaven. It is encircled by the satanic world… God’s champions today, like the prophets and sages of Israel and the saints of the early Christian church whom we know from the Bible, are like God’s secret agents sent on missions in the satanic world. When the CIA and the KGB send their agents into enemy territory, they take pains not to reveal their plans to the enemy. The CIA bureau chief notifies his agents about their missions using a secret code that he alone knows. Likewise, the Bible contains God’s most important directives to His operatives, but as coded messages that God alone understands. For example, in describing the Last Days Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matt. 24.36) Hence it stands to reason that when the Last Days arrive, God will send another prophet to decipher the code, as it is written in Amos 3.7, “Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets.” To have that secret revealed to you, you must directly connect with God. That is why it is said that you should go into your secret chamber, anoint your head with oil, and have a show-down prayer with God. Now that we know the Bible contains coded messages, it is evident that we will be judged if we interpret its symbols and parables carelessly. (73:207-08, September 18, 1974)
❖ 3. Do Not Get Caught up in the Letter of the Scriptures; the Letter Is but a Gateway to the Spirit The written code kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3.6
Lord Mahavira said to Gautama, “When Dharma is not seen by the seer directly it is seen through the wire mesh of words. Conjecture is the wire mesh that covers that window. Multiple sects and systems result from such an indirect observation. The path suggested to you, Gautama, is the direct path of the seer. Be vigilant and a seer of Dharma.” Uttaradhyayana Sutra 10.31 (Jainism)
Mahamati, let the son or daughter of a good family take good heed not to get attached to words
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as being in perfect conformity with meaning, because truth is not of the letter. Be not like the one who looks at the fingertip. When a man with his fingertip points out something to somebody, the fingertip may be taken wrongly for the thing pointed at. In like manner, simple and ignorant people are unable even unto their death to abandon the idea that in the fingertip of words there is the meaning itself, and will not grasp ultimate reality because of their intent clinging to words, which are no more than the fingertip…. Be not like one who, grasping his own fingertip, sees the meaning there. You should rather energetically discipline yourself to get at the meaning itself. Lankavatara Sutra 76 (Buddhism)
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crossed over and got ten to the other side, he thinks, “This raft was of great help to me. With its aid I have crossed safely over to this side, exerting myself with my hands and feet. It would be good if I carry this raft on my head or on my back wherever I go.” What do you think, O monks: if he acted in this way would that man be acting properly with regard to the raft? [No, Sir.] In which way, then, would he be acting properly with regard to the raft? Having crossed and gone over to the other side, suppose that man should think, “This raft was a great help to me. With its aid I have crossed safely over to this side, exerting myself with my hands and feet. It would be good if I beached this raft on the shore, or moored it and left it afloat, and then went on my way wherever it may be.” Acting in this way would that man act properly with regard to the raft. In the same manner, O monks, I have taught a doctrine similar to a raft—it is for crossing over, and not for carrying. You who understand that the teaching is similar to a raft, should give up attachment to even the good Dhamma; how much more then should you give up evil things.
The fish trap exists because of the fish; once you’ve gotten the fish, you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit; once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning; once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can have a word with him? Chuang Tzu 26 (Taoism)
O monks, a man is on a journey. He comes to a vast stretch of water. On this side the shore is dangerous, but on the other it is safe and without danger. No boat goes to the other shore which is safe and without danger, nor is there any bridge for crossing over. He says to himself, ‘This sea of water is vast, and the shore on this side is full of danger; but on the other shore it is safe and without danger. No boat goes to the other side, nor is there a bridge for crossing over. It would be good therefore if I would gather grass, wood, branches, and leaves to make a raft, and with the help of the raft cross over safely to the other side, exerting myself with my hands and feet.’ Then that man gathers grass, wood, branches, and leaves and makes a raft, and with the help of that raft crosses over safely to the other side, exerting himself with his hands and feet. Having
Majjhima Nikaya 1.134-35: Parable of the Raft (Buddhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Fallen people’s spiritual sensibility is extremely dull. Hence, they generally tend to adhere strictly to the letter of the truth in their efforts to follow God’s providence. Such people cannot readily adjust themselves to the dispensation of the new age, even though the providence of restoration is moving toward it. They are generally too strongly attached to the outdated perspective provided by the doctrines of the old age. This is well illustrated by the case of the Jewish people of Jesus’ day who were so attached to the Old Testament that they could not respond to Jesus’ call to open a new chapter of the providence. On the other hand, those believers who receive divine inspiration through prayer are able to grasp spiritually the providence of the new age. Even though this may put them at odds with the doctrines of the old age, they will still respond to the promptings of the spirit and follow the calling of the new providence. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 5.2)
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4. Scriptures Teach Only a Finite Portion of Heaven’s Truth And if all the trees in the earth were pens, and the sea, with seven more seas to help it [were ink], the words of God could not be spent. Lo! God is Mighty, Wise. Qur’an 31.27
All the Scriptures mean as much—no more, no less— to the discerning spiritual man As a water tank in a universal flood. Bhagavad-Gita 2.45-46 (Hinduism)
The water from the ocean contained in a pot can neither be called an ocean nor non-ocean, but it can be called only part of the ocean. Similarly, a doctrine, though arising from the Absolute Truth, is neither the Truth nor not the Truth. Vidyanandi, Tattvarthaslokavartika 116 (Jainism)
The Word is measured in four quarters. The wise who possess insight know these four divisions. Three quarters, concealed in secret, cause no movement. The fourth is the quarter that is spoken by men. Rig Veda 1.164.45 (Hinduism)
The Torah we have is the incomplete form of heavenly wisdom. Genesis Rabbah 17.5 (Judaism)
I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.12 John 16.12-13
Every term has a Book. God blots out, and He establishes whatsoever He will; and with Him is the Essence of the Book. Whether We show you a part of that We promise them, or We call you unto Us, it is you only to deliver the message, and Ours is the reckoning.13 Qur’an 13.39-40
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Now it happened to the venerable Malunkyaputta, being in seclusion and plunged in meditation, that a consideration presented itself to his mind: “These theories which the Blessed One has left unelucidated, has set aside and rejected—that the world is eternal, that the world is not eternal, that the world is finite, that the world is infinite, that the soul and the body are identical, that the soul is one thing and the body another, that the saint exists after death, that the saint does not exist after death… these the Blessed One does not elucidate to me. And the fact that the Blessed One does not elucidate them to me does not please me…” [The Buddha]: “If, Malunkyaputta, a man had been wounded by an arrow thickly smeared with poison, and his friends and companions, relatives and kinsfolk, were to procure for him a physician or surgeon; and the sick man were to say, ‘I will not have this arrow taken out until I have learnt whether the man who wounded me belonged to the warrior caste, or the brahmin caste, or to the farmers’ caste, or to the menial caste.’ “Or again he were to say, ‘I will not have this arrow taken out until I have learnt the name of the man who wounded me, and to what clan he belongs.’ “Or again he were to say, ‘I will not have this arrow taken out until I have learnt whether the man who wounded me was tall, or short, or of middle height.’ “Or again he were to say, ‘I will not have this arrow taken out until I have learnt whether the man who wounded me was black, or dusky, or of a yellow skin.’ “Or again he were to say, ‘I will not have this arrow taken out until I have learnt whether the man who wounded me was from this or that village, town, or city.’… That man would die, Malunkyaputta, without ever having learnt this. “In exactly the same way, Malunkyaputta, any one who should say, ‘I will not lead the
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eternal, there still remain birth, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, misery, grief, despair, for the extinction of which in the present life I am prescribing… This profits not, nor has to do with the fundamentals of religion, nor tends to aversion, absence of passion, cessation, quiescence, the supernatural faculties, supreme wisdom, and Nirvana; therefore have I not elucidated it.”
religious life under the Blessed One until the Blessed One shall elucidate to me either that the world is eternal or that the world is not eternal, etc.’—that person would die before the Tathagata had ever elucidated this to him. “The religious life does not depend on the dogma that the world is eternal; nor does the religious life depend on the dogma that the world is not eternal. Whether the dogma obtain, that the world is eternal, or that the world is not
Majjhima Nikaya 1.426-31 (Buddhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Spirit and truth are unique, eternal and unchanging. However, the degree and scope of their teaching and the means of their expression will vary from one age to another as they restore humankind from a state of utter ignorance. For example, in the age prior to the Old Testament, when people were still unenlightened and could not directly receive the Word of truth, God commanded them to make sacrificial offerings as a substitute for the Word. In the course of time, the spirituality and intellect of human beings were elevated to the point when, in Moses’ day, God granted them the Law, and at the time of Jesus He gave the Gospel. Jesus made it clear that his words were not the truth itself; rather, he declared that he himself was “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) Jesus was the incarnation of the truth. His words were just a means by which he expressed himself. Thus, the scope and depth of Jesus’ words and the method of his teaching varied according to whom he was speaking. In this sense, we must understand that the verses in the Bible are only one means of expressing the truth and are not the truth itself. The New Testament is but an interim textbook given to enlighten the people of two thousand years ago, whose spiritual and intellectual levels were far lower than today. The modern, scientific-minded thirst for the truth cannot be satisfied by expressions of truth which are limited in scope and couched in symbols and parables aimed specifically at instructing the people of an earlier age. For modern, intellectual people to be enlightened in the truth, there must appear another textbook of higher and richer content, with a more scientific method of expression. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 5.1)
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Intellectual Knowledge and Spiritual Wisdom THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INTELLECTUAL knowledge and the spiritual truth that is conducive to salvation and enlightenment. Intellectual and conceptual knowledge, for all its utility in the world, does not always profit the spiritual seeker, and too much of it may even impede higher realization. There is a gulf between Athens and Jerusalem—between the conceptual systems of secular philosophy and the scriptural truth of religion. Scriptures call us to check our priorities, as we live in an age that pushes secular learning. A second topic of this section concerns ways of knowing. While intellectual knowledge is gained through empirical perception of sense data and rational formulation of theories, spiritually minded people employ intuition and sensitivity to the inner dimensions of reality. Reliance upon reason can be an impediment to the
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spiritual path; hence much religious practice, such as Zen Buddhism, is aimed at blocking the intellect. For instance the Zen koan, “Has a dog the Buddha nature?” only leads the questioner into a welter of mental confusion until he realizes that the way out is beyond any conceptual understanding whatsoever. Nevertheless, Father Moon regards both the paths of rationality and spirituality as having their place in the Kingdom, and seeks for a balance. The final texts return to the opposition between secular knowledge and divine knowledge, focusing particularly on the damage caused by science and technology when it is not restrained or directed by spiritual wisdom. Ultimately science and all secular knowledge needs to be guided by what Father Moon calls “absolute values,”—the true love of God that seeks to benefit humanity and the whole creation.
1. Intellectual Knowledge Does Not Profit for Salvation What has Athens to do with Jerusalem? Tertullian (Christianity)
within me, and I have not taken a single step in the service of God. The Baal Shem Tov (Judaism)
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if one loves God, one is known by Him. 1 Corinthians 8.1-3
My now-deceased mother really scolded me. She said, “Go away somewhere into the wilderness, since all you seem to do is look at books. For all the days to come you will be pitiful because the book blocks your path. Never will anything be revealed to you in a vision, for you live like a white man.” Delaware Testimony (Native American Religions)
Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Ecclesiastes 12.12
A thousand and hundred thousand feats of intellect shall not accompany man in the hereafter. Adi Granth, Japuji 1, M.1, p. 1 (Sikhism)
This is true knowledge: to seek the Self as the true end of wisdom always. To seek anything else is ignorance. Bhagavad-Gita 13.11 (Hinduism)
Though I reach a high rung of knowledge, I know that not a single letter of the teachings is
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True words are not fine-sounding; Fine-sounding words are not true. The good man does not prove by argument; And he who proves by argument is not good. True wisdom is different from much learning; Much learning means little wisdom. Tao Te Ching 81 (Taoism)
Of all things seen in the world Only mind is the host; By grasping forms according to interpretation It becomes deluded, not true to reality. All philosophies in the world Are mental fabrications; There has never been a single doctrine By which one could enter the true essence of things. Garland Sutra 10 (Buddhism)
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For the Jews demand signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and
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the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1.20-25
Rabbi Eleazar Hisma said, “Offerings of birds and purifications of women, these, yea these, are the essential precepts. Astronomy and geometry are but fringes to wisdom.”14 Mishnah, Avot 3.23 (Judaism)
It was necessary for human salvation that certain truths which exceed human reason should be made known to him by divine revelation. Even as regards those truths about God which human reason could have discovered, it was necessary that humans be taught by a divine revelation; because the truth about God such as reason could discover would only be known by a few, and that after a long time, and with the admixture of many errors. Whereas humankind’s whole salvation, which is in God, depends upon the knowledge of this truth.
Therefore, in order that human salvation might be brought about more fitly and more surely, it was necessary that they be taught divine truths by divine revelation. Therefore, besides philosophical science built up by reason, there necessarily should be a sacred science learned through revelation. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica 1.1.1 (Christianity)
The whole object of the Prophets and the Sages was to declare that a limit is set to human reason where it must halt. 15 Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed 1.32 (Judaism)
Human philosophy has made God manlike. Christian Science makes man Godlike. The first is error; the latter is truth. Metaphysics is above physics, and matter does not enter into metaphysical premises or conclusions. The categories of metaphysics rest on one basis, the divine Mind. Science and Health, 269 (Christian Science)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon The ideal world will not be realized based upon the human brain but upon God’s love. (Way of God’s Will 1.8) Philosophy and religion have different starting-points. Philosophy [at its best] is a human quest in search of God, but religion is the path laid out for us to meet God and begin to live with God. (187:70, March 19, 1989) Extensive reading of sacred texts and philosophy books that line library shelves does not enable you to achieve unity of mind and body. (May 1, 2004) Know that no amount of knowledge will enable you to fulfill the ideal of creation. Neither knowledge, nor power, nor money avail us to fulfill God’s ideal of creation. Only with love can we fulfill it. The same goes for the purpose of our life—only with love can we accomplish it. Therefore, parents who push their children to study all day long [thinking that it is the only way to success], are making a serious mistake. (144:130, April 12, 1986) Do not boast because you attend a first-rank university. I do not regard it as such a great thing. Maybe you study seven hours per day—that amounts to about 2,000 hours in a year, but if you divide it by 24 hours it is not that many days. It is nothing to brag about. Love is far more precious, and it cannot be learned so quickly. Love is absolute and eternal, so you cannot master it even in your whole lifetime. You can receive a Ph.D. after studying a field of
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secular knowledge for a few years, but you cannot get the diploma of love even after 30 or 40 years, because the field of love is without limit. Love keeps expanding, only to circle around and return to the starting-point. You can spend an infinite amount of time studying love. Nevertheless, you never grow tired of it. It is just fun, filled with more happiness, gratitude and dignity than anything else in the world. (113:324-25, May 10, 1981) If you are so cocksure of your intellectual prowess, go ahead and see where it leads you. The story of your demise will simply become another cautionary tale in the textbook for raising true sons and daughters. (60:75, August 6, 1972) Absolute value relates to love and emotion, not intellect. Love is the highest value, containing the purpose of existence and the perfection of existence. True love is such that both the giver and the recipient are happy. Love is not something to be learned. It should sprout and be experienced directly in a person’s original mind. The world of intellect develops through cognition, but the world of emotion does not. Therefore, absolute value remains in the dimension of absolute love, not intellect. From this perspective, the First Cause cannot be found within the sphere of our cognition but is experienced in an emotional dimension. Values lacking love do not last forever; they are changeable and someday will vanish. Philosophies and teachings up to the present time have been helpful to humankind in some respects, but in other respects they have misled the development of thought and the progress of history. Hence, it is inevitable that we re-evaluate our value systems. (102:59, November 25, 1978)
❖ 2. Attaining Spiritual Wisdom The kami-faith is caught, not taught. Shinto Proverb
A monk asked Joshu, “Has a dog the Buddha nature?” Joshu answered, “Mu [Emptiness].” Mumon’s comment: To attain this subtle realization, you must completely cut off the way of thinking.16 Mumonkan 1 (Buddhism)
Pure Knowing has nothing to do with hearing much. Wang Yangming (Confucianism)
Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. The unspiritual man does not receive the gifts of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2.12-16
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4.24-25
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In the heart of the enlightened man there is a window opening on the realities of the spiritual world, so that he knows, not by hearsay or tra-
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ditional belief, but by actual experience, what produces wretchedness or happiness in the soul just as clearly and decidedly as the physician knows what produces sickness or health in the body. He recognizes that knowledge of God and worship are medicinal, and that ignorance and sin are deadly poisons for the soul. Many even so-called “learned” men, from blindly following others’ opinions, have no real certainty in their beliefs regarding the happiness or misery of souls in the next world, but he who will attend to the matter with a mind unbiased by prejudice will arrive at clear convictions on this matter.
Knowledge is of five kinds, namely: sensory knowledge, scriptural knowledge, clairvoyance, telepathy, and omniscience. These five kinds of knowledge are of two types: the first two kinds are indirect knowledge and the remaining three constitute direct knowledge. In sensory knowledge… there is only the apprehension of indistinct things… But clairvoyance, telepathy, and omniscience is direct knowledge; it is perceived by the soul in a vivid manner without the intermediary of the senses or the scriptures. Tattvarthasutra 1.19-29 (Jainism)
Al-Ghazzali, The Alchemy of Happiness (Islam)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon We should cultivate the heart of true love through experience. True love cannot be learned through the spoken or written word, or through general education. This is how it was in the beginning. Adam and Eve, who were created as infants, were to grow and experience love at each stage of life, perfecting in turn the heart of true children, the heart of true brother and sister, and the heart of true parents. Only by experiencing each of these kinds of love, can we become ideal people who fulfill the purpose of creation. (282:209, March 13, 1997) There are generally two types of people: the intellectual type and the spiritual type. When intellectual type people search for an answer, if their research coincides with their reasoning they accept it, but if it does not they reject it. Spiritual type people are more intuitive, making decisions based on intuition more than reason. People of the spiritual type feel from inside and apply it to the outside, while the intellectual type experience the outside and apply it in the inside. One type is extroverted and the other, introverted. Intellectual type people usually do not like to pray. They resist praying and question the need for it. They do not feel comfortable calling out, “Heavenly Father!” They do not feel that it is real. Prayer, God, etc. appear to them like superstition. Since they don’t believe in prayer, they feel to pray would be to deny their integrity. They judge the truth of something by whether it agrees with their theoretical model of the world. Spiritual type people, on the other hand, love saying the words, “Heavenly Father” from birth. They delight in prayer, and do not need any explanation. Intellectual type people cannot launch a revolutionary spiritual movement. In the world of faith, those who can do something extraordinary are not intellectuals, but are rather uninformed and simple-minded people who are spiritual. They do what comes to them, disregarding what the world says. Believing that God told them to do it, they just go ahead and do it. After doing it, they find that what they did turned out to be right. Great persons can appear from among such spiritual people. The apostle Paul was an intellectual type person. Nevertheless, after having a spiritual experience on the road to Damascus, he totally changed. Having felt something explosive from inside that was greater than anything he had experienced from external investigation, he came to deny everything he had been taught and accepted his new experience as the truth. Hence, he could become the
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pioneer of a new revolutionary religion, Christianity. You should know which type of person you are. In general, spiritual people are thick in spirit but pointy in intellect. Therefore, although they may be solid in the beginning, they will not be consistent all the way, and after a time their works often fail. By the same token, although a person of truth may be strong, if his spirituality is weak his works will also eventually fall short. Therefore, whichever type of person we are, we need to balance these two aspects. There is a saying, “Worship God in spirit and truth.” (John 4.23) It means that people should make these two sides parallel and find harmony between them. We should be able to control both the spirit world and the physical world. Standing in the center of spirituality and rationality, we should be able to make adjustments between the right and the left. Otherwise, we cannot reach perfection. (76:136-37, February 2, 1975) Fallen people have been overcoming their internal ignorance by enlightening their spirituality and intellect with “spirit and truth” (John 4:23)… “Spirit” in this context denotes the inspiration of Heaven. Cognition of a spiritual reality begins when it is perceived through the five senses of the spirit self. These perceptions resonate through the five physical senses and are felt physiologically. Cognition of truth, on the other hand, arises from the knowledge gleaned from the physical world as it is perceived directly through our physiological sense organs. Cognition thus takes place through both spiritual and physical processes. Human beings become complete only when their spirit self and physical self are unified. Hence, the experience of divine inspiration gained through spiritual cognition and the knowledge of truth obtained through physical cognition should become fully harmonized and awaken the spirituality and intellect together. It is only when the spiritual and physical dimensions of cognition resonate together that we can thoroughly comprehend God and the universe. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 5.1)
❖ 3. The Danger of Highly-Developed Knowledge When Spiritual Wisdom Is Lacking The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.
Albert Einstein
Love without wisdom means love without discrimination. Wisdom without humanity means knowledge not translated into action. Therefore, humanity is to love mankind and wisdom is to remove its evil.
Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good life let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable,
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James 3.13-17
Tung Chung-Shu (Confucianism)
Science is one thing; wisdom is another. Science is an edged tool, with which men play like children, and cut their own fingers. Sir Arthur Eddington
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Know verily that knowledge is of two kinds: divine and satanic. The one wells out from the fountain of divine inspiration; the other is but a reflection of vain and obscure thoughts. The source of the former is God Himself; the motive force of the latter the whisperings of selfish desire. The one is guided by the principle: “Fear God; God will teach you”; the other is but a confirmation of the truth: “Knowledge is the most grievous veil between man and his Creator.” The former brings forth the fruit of patience, of longing desire, of true understanding, and love; while the latter can yield naught but arrogance, vainglory, and conceit. Book of Certitude 69 (Baha’i Faith)
As long as men in high places covet knowledge and are without the Way, the world will be in great confusion. How do I know this is so? Knowledge enables men to fashion bows, crossbows, nets, stringed arrows, and like contraptions, but when this happens the birds flee in confusion to the sky. Knowledge enables men to fashion fishhooks, lures, seines, dragnets, trawls, and weirs, but when this happens the fish flee in confusion to the depths of the water. Knowledge enables men to fashion pitfalls, snares, cages, traps, and gins, but when this happens the beasts flee in confusion to
the swamps. And the flood of rhetoric that enables men to invent wily schemes and poisonous slanders, the glib gabble of “hard” and “white,” the foul fustian of “same” and “different,” bewilder the understanding of common men. So the world is dulled and darkened by great confusion. The blame lies in the coveting of knowledge. In the world everyone knows enough to pursue what he does not know, but no one knows enough to pursue what he already knows. Everyone knows enough to condemn what he takes to be no good, but no one knows enough to condemn what he has already taken to be good. This is how the great confusion comes about, blotting out the brightness of sun and moon above, searing the vigor of hills and streams below, overturning the round of the four seasons in between. There is no insect that creeps and crawls, no creature that flutters and flies, that has not lost its inborn nature. So great is the confusion of the world that comes from coveting knowledge! Chuang Tzu 10 (Taoism)
The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking, and we thus drift towards unparalleled catastrophes. Albert Einstein
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon We should admit that the various sciences and philosophies today have failed in solving the world’s problems. The grand promise of natural science has too often been used for evil purposes instead of for the true happiness of humanity. The social sciences have been corrupted due to the influence of partisan political interests and thus have played a dysfunctional role on many occasions. Philosophy has become a lifeless study, having given up the great pursuit of the ultimate ideals of human beings. This trend is becoming more serious because of the passive attitude of many scholars. I think that scholars should not be satisfied only with carrying on their own research. They should respond to the call of the world, which is in need of active guidance. The world demands responsible action by scholars who enlist their capabilities for the good of mankind in accordance with a right value perspective. (170:268-70, November 27, 1987) Human beings are creations of God, created to lead life with a definite value perspective in accordance with the purpose of creation. Yet people have disregarded this value perspective and taken
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science as a panacea, believing it to be omnipotent. Consequently, technology has become a source of increasing damage. In human life, science can only be a means; it cannot be an end. The purpose of human life is to realize God’s purpose of creation. A human being is a unified being of both physical and spiritual entities. Hence, on the foundation of physical life, he is to lead a life of value—a life of love, truth, goodness and beauty. Technology is needed only for the convenience of physical life, which will allow physical life to become a proper basis for spiritual life. Therefore science that disregards or fails to emphasize the life of value actually brings about the destruction of humanity’s value perspective, leading to today’s reality of fear and insecurity. Only searching for and discovering the true value perspective can achieve the deliverance of humankind from this unfortunate reality. Science, in turn, must be in accord with this value perspective, which, needless to say, must be based on absolute value. Where can the absolute value be found? It can only be found in God’s love. Truth, goodness and beauty, when they are based on God’s love, are elevated to the absolute value itself. In the end, human beings can only avoid the harm that misuse of science and technology brings when science itself recognizes God and people use technology in accordance with God’s love. (106:53, November 23, 1979) In the library at the University of Cambridge, I saw tens of thousands of rare books in cases. I looked around to see who was studying them, but there was no one; only the librarian was there. This showed me that the age had passed when knowledge ruled the world and the pen was mightier than the sword. Money controls the world now. Money is the element through which Satan rules the world today. Yet Satan rules the world through knowledge as well. As people seek knowledge of the external world through science, they forget about God, and in the end they lose God. Meanwhile, philosophy, which should form the backbone of knowledge, extols materialism and holds that God does not exist. Theology, which should be the head of knowledge, claims that God is dead… Instead of believing that human beings are descended from God, intellectuals now believe that humankind is descended from the apes. Does that make God happy? Not at all. Because of ideas like that, God would sometimes like to smash the walls of the universities. (99:103-104, September 1, 1978)
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The Teacher TEACHERS SHOULD SET A GOOD EXAMPLE of integrity in their own teachings and impart moral teachings in accord with their own high standard of conduct. They should have mature faith, rich experience, and discernment to treat each student in the way that best suits the student’s individual temperament and interests. They should regard their task as not merely to impart knowledge, but also to motivate and inspire their students with a vision for their lives. Most of all, the best teachers have the heart of a parent, training their students as they would their own children. The ability to teach is a gift from God, and teachers are in a sense partners with God the divine Teacher. Therefore, good teachers show God’s unconditional love by devoting themselves to all who wish to learn regardless of their ability to pay. When they lecture, they are mindful that God may wish to use them as His
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mouthpiece. The final passages thus describe teaching as a divine calling. These include examples of Father Moon’s advice to pastors about delivering a sermon.
1. Qualities of a Good Teacher Teachers train the pupil in what they have been trained; they make him hold fast to moral precepts; they thoroughly instruct him in the lore of every subject; they speak well of him among his friends and companions; they counsel him for his safety and benefit. Digha Nikaya 3.185-91, Sigalovada Sutta (Buddhism)
Set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Till I come, attend to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophetic utterance when the council of elders laid their hands upon you. Practice these duties, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress. Take heed to yourself and to your teaching; hold to that, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.17 1 Timothy 4.12-16
The teacher, brethren, should regard the pupil as his son. The pupil should regard the teacher as his father. Thus these two, by mutual reverence and deference joined, dwelling in community of life, will win increase, growth, progress in this Norm-discipline.
When, therefore, anyone takes the name of Abbot he should govern his disciples by a twofold teaching; namely, he should show them all that is good and holy by his deeds more than by his words; explain the commandments of God to intelligent disciples by words, but show the divine precepts to the dull and simple by his works. Saint Benedict of Nursia, The Benedictine Rule 2 (Christianity)
Harun ar-Rashid said to his son’s tutor, “I have delivered to you my own blood and the treasure of my soul. You have authority over him and he has to obey you, so be worthy of the trust that the Caliph of all Muslims has placed in you. Let him recite the Qur’an, teach him history and read him poetry. Teach him the traditions of the Messenger and politeness of speech, and not to laugh except when it is appropriate. Let no hour pass without teaching him something that will benefit him, but do not hurt him, as this may quash his thoughts, causing him to love idleness and become familiar with it. Correct him with kindness and compassion. Only if he refuses to obey can you use punishment and force.” Ibn Khaldun,18 Raising Children in Islam (Islam)
Vinaya Pitaka, Mahavagga 3.1 (Buddhism)
Confucius said, “The thought that, As in the sky flies the white-clothed crane, Keeping its mind behind, In its heart continually remembering its young ones; So the true Guru keeps the disciple absorbed in the love of God, And also keeps him in his heart. Adi Granth, Gauri, M.4 (Sikhism)
I have left my moral power untended, My learning unperfected; I have heard of righteous men, but have been unable to go to them, I have heard of evil men, but have been unable to reform them. —it is these thoughts that disquiet me.” Analects 7.3 (Confucianism)
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Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Professors should inculcate in their students strong determination and clear values for meeting the challenges of the times. In this sense, professors and religious leaders share a common task. More than merely transmitting knowledge and publishing the results of their research, they should inspire their students to live a life of responsibility. (130:16, December 18, 1983) Everyone should meet at least one mentor in his life on whom he can totally depend, to whom he can offer himself unconditionally, whom he can trust never to violate his heart, and to whom he can entrust everything he has and feel totally at ease. In this way he can understand the heart of God. He can taste the heart of a true child in relation to his Heavenly Father. (4:168, April 6, 1958) Teachers, you should protect your school as you would your own home, with a sense of ownership. You should teach your students as you would your own children, with the heart of a father or mother.19 (203:308, June 27, 1990) Teachers should educate their students with love, standing in the place of parents (in loco parentis). They should teach with love that is eternal, building ties with their students that last beyond their school days. They should make such efforts to form such deep, loving relationships with their students that they never forget them for the rest of their lives. True teachers imbue their teaching with love. They do not teach just to earn a living; they teach out of an irrepressible love and desire to teach, even at great personal cost. Teachers and students should have such a relationship that, night or day, the teachers long to meet them and convey their knowledge—always with love, and the students are eager to receive it. (127:17, May 1, 1983) Schoolteachers who care for their nation’s destiny dedicate themselves to inculcate their students with the proper values. Holding their hands and with tears in their eyes they tell their students, “More than you have obeyed me, be loyal to your nation.” Students who receive such teaching will fulfill their teachers’ hopes. When dedicated teachers regard the nation and the world as more precious than themselves, and when parents raise their children with sincerity while upholding the nation and world above their families, they will educate those young people to become the future pillars of the nation. (25:98, September 30, 1969) Teachers and professors have a great deal of influence on young people. However, their parents influence them even more. It is the family that exerts the most influence on the formation of an individual’s character. The family is the school of love, the most important school in life. In the family, children expand the capacity of their hearts through education in love and emotions that only parents can provide. This becomes the cornerstone to form the children’s character. Further, the family is the school teaching virtues and norms. Education in academics, sports, technology, etc., should be given on the foundation of this primary education in heart and norms; this is the heaven-designed way. Hence, just as parents should become true parents and give their children true love, they also should become true teachers and educate their children properly in heart and norms. Though children may not be aware of their parents’ role as true teachers, inevitably they learn from them and come to resemble them. The role of parents is that important. (271:80-81, August 22, 1995)
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2. Teachers that Value Their Students Confucius said, “From the very poorest upwards—beginning even with the man who could bring no better present than a bundle of dried flesh—none has ever come to me without receiving instruction.” Analects 7.7 (Confucianism)
I teach young children, and I treat the children of the poor exactly the same as the children of the rich. Those that cannot afford to pay, I teach without charge. Since I am also a fisherman, to encourage those who do not wish to come and learn I give them each a fish to take home. Talmud, Taanit 24a (Judaism)
And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” Luke 13.6-9
The sage always excels in saving people, and so abandons no one; Always excels in saving things, and so abandons nothing. This is called following one’s discernment. Hence the good man is the teacher the bad learns from; And the bad man is the material the good works on. Not to value the teacher Nor to love the material Though it seems clever, betrays great bewilderment. Tao Te Ching 27 (Taoism)
There are four types of men: The man who has knowledge and is aware of it is a scholar—follow him. The man who has a great deal of knowledge but is not aware of what he has is asleep— wake him up. The man who knows nothing and is aware that he knows nothing is ignorant—teach him. The man who knows nothing but is not aware that he knows nothing is a devil—avoid him. Al-Ghazzali, Ihia’ Ulum el-Din 59.1 (Islam)
The Master said, “Only one who bursts with eagerness do I instruct; only one who bubbles with enthusiasm do I enlighten. If I hold up one corner and a man cannot come back to me with the other three, I do not continue the lesson.” Analects 7.8 (Confucianism)
Socrates to Ischomachus: “Does teaching consist in putting questions?” [Ischomachus replies]: “Indeed, the secret of your system has just this instant dawned upon me. I seem to see the principle in which you put your questions. You lead me through the field of my own knowledge, and then by pointing out analogies to what I know, persuade me that I really know some things which hitherto, as I believed, I had no knowledge of.” Socrates, in Xenophon, Oeconomicus (Hellenism)
Much Torah have I learned from my teachers, more from my colleagues, but from my students most of all. Talmud, Taanit 7a (Judaism)
Even when walking in a party of no more than three I can always be certain of learning from those I am with. There will be good qualities that I can select for imitation and bad ones that will teach me what requires correction in myself. Analects 7.21 (Confucianism)
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fisherman, until he became emperor, there was no time when he was not learning from others how to practice goodness. Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon God does not demand that you exist for Him; rather, He says that He exists for you, His creations. Who are true parents: those who want their children to live for them, or those who live for their children? Likewise, who is a true teacher, the one who tells his students that they come to class only so he can earn a salary, or the one who says, “Even though you cannot afford to pay tuition, I will still teach you.” A true teacher loves his pupils regardless, and would even sell his own suit to get money for a student's tuition. (104:210, May 6, 1979) When you meet someone, do not treat him casually. Always consider whether he or she can teach you something. Have a hungry mind, eager to learn something new from him or her. You should discern right away whether to relate to that person as your subject partner or as your object partner. By attending to this point, you are always ready to learn. (76:132, February 2, 1975) When a teacher gives an exam, he usually asks a few questions that he thinks the students do not know. If he has a class of 50, he gives a very tough problem to pick out which of his students is truly the best. The professor will make a special relationship with the student who solves that difficult problem. From then on, he will greet that student warmly and encourage him. If he puts forth a problem to you that nobody else was ever able to answer before and you find a way solve it, it becomes the basis for you to become his successor. (66:45, March 18, 1973) God has been merciless to me. God opposed me every step of the way as I climbed up from the very bottom. Yet I endured it all because I knew that without me, God would be all alone. I passed all the tests, and now God believes in me. It is the same with you. If a doctoral candidate writes an excellent dissertation, then his professor will say, “You have taught me something new; now you are my teacher.” The professor and all his colleagues will approve of you and even boast about you. Will you do likewise, so I will be able to praise you through all the ages? (320:250, April 16, 2000)
❖ 3. Co-Teaching with God This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. Luke 21.13-15
I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field. 1 Corinthians 3.6-8
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vary one from another. Subtler than the subtlest is this Self, and beyond all logic. Taught by a teacher who knows the Self and Brahman as one, a man leaves vain theory behind and attains to truth… Words cannot reveal Him. Mind cannot reach Him. Eyes do not see Him. How then can He be comprehended, save when taught by those seers who indeed have known Him?
He who sees through the eye tells proverbs.20 Igala Proverb (African Traditional Religions)
To many it is not given to hear of the Self. Many, though they hear of it, do not understand it. Wonderful is he who speaks of it. Intelligent is he who learns of it. Blessed is he who, taught by a good teacher, is able to understand it. The truth of the Self cannot be fully understood when taught by an ignorant man, for opinions regarding it, not founded in knowledge,
Katha Upanishad 1.2.7-8; 2.6.12 (Hinduism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon God is the true teacher, who teaches with true love. (203:237, June 26, 1990) When you stand at the podium to teach, believe that God is standing beside you. When you lecture, speak representing Jesus and all the founders of religion, and represent the president of the nation and its people. Believe that through your teaching, you can bring your students to a place where they can live with God. (148:277, June 5, 1977) Through a life of prayer you can feel indescribable joy, even the joy [of anticipation] that God felt in His heart prior to creating all things. If you have a sincere, dedicated prayer life, you can reach the spiritual state where you know, “This is it!” That is the very position in which God stood when He was creating all things. In that mystical state of creating through the Word, you should proclaim the Word. Then people will definitely be touched by the Word. (29:321, March 13, 1970) Had there been no Human Fall, we would have had God as our best parent and best teacher. Since God is full of love and knowledge, who could teach anything better? Yet in this fallen world, Satan says, “Go to the best university! Find a lover!” to capture young people for himself. Does Americanstyle love have anything to do with God? God still wants to teach us two things: "I am your True Teacher, and I am your True Parent." If we could only learn that, we would know everything. (102:233, January 1, 1979)
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Discipleship A student should seek out a good teacher to receive instruction and submit to discipline. He becomes more than merely a recipient of knowledge; he becomes a disciple. Discipling is a valuable part of education. It recognizes that a good education engages a student’s entire being, to be molded and shaped by a course of training and instruction.
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The relationship between teacher and disciple is typical of Eastern religions, which conceive of truth as embodiment more than as words. But we also find it in medicine and any field where learning requires mastering an art through a long apprenticeship. This section concludes with passages that recognize the variable capacities of students to receive the truth. Again, this is not a matter of intelligence but rather of the heart. God tries to fill us with new wine, but if our wineskins are old they will burst. He wants to plant His seed in our hearts, but if our hearts are rocky soil, it will not take root. Therefore, a major task for the student of any spiritual path is to clear away the debris and make his or her heart ready to receive and respond to spiritual truth.
1. Apprenticing to a Good Teacher If at any time there is doubt with regard to right conduct, follow the practice of great souls, who are guileless, of good judgment, and devoted to truth. Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.4 (Hinduism)
Let your house be a place of meeting for the wise, and dust yourself with the dust of their feet, and drink their words with thirst. Mishnah, Avot 1.4 (Judaism)
I will follow the examples of the Buddhas from thought to thought. Even though the void of space has end, and the worlds of beings, the karmas of beings, the sorrows of beings all have end, yet my practice and following the examples of the Buddhas will not be ended. Thought succeeds thought without interruption, and in deeds of body, speech, and mind, without weariness. Gandavyuha Sutra, Vows of Samantabhadra (Buddhism)
One not knowing a land asks of one who knows it, he goes forward instructed by the knowing one. Such, indeed, is the blessing of instruction, one finds a path that leads him straight onward.
Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn. Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path— so the wise say—hard to tread and difficult to cross.
Rig Veda 10.32.7 (Hinduism)
Katha Upanishad 1.3.14 (Hinduism)
Approach someone who has realized the purpose of life and question him with reverence and devotion; he will instruct you in this wisdom. Once you attain it, you will never be deluded.
One man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school. Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 1.84 (Hellenism)
Bhagavad-Gita 4.34-35 (Hinduism)
Should one see a wise man, who, like a revealer of treasure, points out faults and reproves; let one associate with such a wise person; it will be better, not worse, for him who associates with such a one. Let him advise, instruct, and dissuade one from evil; truly pleasing is he to the good, displeasing is he to the bad. Dhammapada 76-77 (Buddhism)
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Yen Hui said with a deep sigh, “The more I strain my gaze up towards it, the higher it soars. The deeper I bore down into it, the harder it becomes. I see it in front; but suddenly it is behind. Step by step the Master skillfully lures one on. He has broadened me with culture, restrained me with ritual. Even if I wanted to stop, I could not. Just when I feel that I have exhausted every resource, something seems to rise up, standing out sharp and clear. Yet
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though I long to pursue it, I can find no way of getting to it at all.”21
When your view is the same as your teacher’s, you destroy half your teacher’s merit; when your view surpasses your teacher’s, you are worthy to succeed him.22
Analects 9.10 (Confucianism)
Mumonkan 17 (Buddhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Do you know an earthly person with the character of God? Someone with the pure disposition of Jesus? Find that person and make him your friend. If you know a person of noble character, please follow him. If you know someone with a God-like disposition who brings harmony wherever he goes, follow him and attend him. Then you will surely gain the path of life. (2:318, July 7, 1957) There is no life apart from the heart. The path through the valley of life is difficult and grim. When you seek a teacher, seek a teacher of the heart, not a teacher of knowledge. If you dig into the valley of the heart, the more you dig, the more tears you shed and the more your “self” disappears. (9:81, April 16, 1960) Maybe you are someone with a talent for writing. After you write a particularly fine poem or essay, do you ever think, “I’m grateful to my teachers who taught me how to write well”? Do you ever miss your teachers and wonder how they were doing? Do you remember a teacher who made a striking impression on you with something he wrote on the blackboard? Truly, they made great efforts to educate you. Sometimes you resented a strict teacher who chastised you and gave you a hard time, but now you recognize that his training has made you a better writer. (104:278-79, June 1, 1979) My idea is to give you an extremely hard time, in order to make you into filial children of God and loyal patriots in the service of your nation and the world. Should I strike you if you do not go this way? In the relation between father and child, elder brother and younger brother, or teacher and disciple, one should say firmly, “Father, please cut off my bone!” “Elder brother, please cut off my bone!” “Teacher, please cut off my bone!” It is true love to make someone overcome his present difficulties by kicking him with your foot. (49:304, October 17, 1971) A teacher who tells you, “You don’t need to study hard. Just take it easy,” is a fake. Why do your teachers push you to study hard? It is not for the sake of the present, but for the future. They want you to prepare for the future. If you do as they say, your future will expand without a doubt. (93:232, June 5, 1977) President Eu was my disciple; he went through a lot of suffering for my sake. For instance, he was deeply concerned about me when I was in the prison. When I think about him, I reflect on when I was lying in prison. I was pulled by his love. It made me want to see him. Whenever I sent him a note on a scrap of paper, he regarded it as precious as his life. (33:83 August 9, 1970)
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2. Understanding Does Not Take Root without Properly Cultivating the Self Jesus said to them, No one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.23 Luke 5.37-38
First take up the words, Ponder their meaning, Then the fixed rules reveal themselves. But if you are not the right man, The meaning will not manifest itself to you. I Ching, Great Commentary 2.8.4 (Confucianism)
If there is no host on the inside to receive it [the Tao], it will not stay; if there is no mark on the outside to guide it, it will not go. If what is brought forth from the inside is not received on the outside, then the sage will not bring it forth. If what is taken in from the outside is not received by a host on the inside, the sage will not entrust it. Chuang Tzu 14 (Taoism)
There is the man who sees but has not seen Speech [the words of the Vedas]; there is the man who hears but has not heard Her, but to another She reveals her lovely form like a loving wife, finely robed, to her husband. Rig Veda 10.71.4 (Hinduism)
Hear then the parable of the sower. When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty. Matthew 13.18-23: Parable of the Sower
When the man of highest capacities hears the Tao He does his best to put it into practice. When the man of middling capacity hears the Tao He is in two minds about it. When the man of low capacity hears Tao He laughs loudly at it. If he did not laugh, it would not be worth the name of Tao. Tao Te Ching 41 (Taoism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Why did God send me into situations that were very difficult to tolerate, like prison? Looking back on it, I know it was to broaden my heart. Why should you broaden your heart? God wants to enter and live in you. He tries to step in with his [right] foot, but your heart is closed and He cannot put it in. Then He kicks you with His left foot again and again to enlarge your mind. God keeps on kicking until He can fit one foot inside; then two feet. Next He would put His hands inside, and then put His head in. [Bending over to demonstrate.] God can enter because your heart has enlarged. Eventually, it can become really big. I observe True Mother24 when she becomes pregnant. In the beginning her belly is small, but as time goes by it grows bigger and bigger. It increases until the baby is born; then it decreases again. It
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is the same with her womb: it starts out small, but look how it expands! A ten-pound baby can grow within its watery bag. I thought, “How much can her womb stretch? The sac of my heart should stretch even more.” Ladies, have you ever thought that the baby in your womb might die because your womb could not stretch enough to accommodate it? Then what about your heart? When God’s seed is planted in the sac of your heart and starts to grow, it should grow to be as big as God Himself. But what if the sac of your heart cannot expand enough to contain God in all His immensity? What would happen to God, who is growing inside? If something goes wrong with the baby in your womb, you have a miscarriage after three months. Would God like to go into the sac of your heart if He thought it would miscarry in the middle of His growth? Would God want to plant His seed there? (110:325-26, January 4, 1987)
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Learning and Practice WHEN A TRUTH IS LEARNED IT MUST BE PRACTICED. Indeed, knowledge that is not put into practice is not truly learned; it soon fades away like a mirage. True knowledge arises when the conceptual becomes experiential. This applies particularly to religious and moral teachings, whose practice may be difficult. The hypocrite is someone who claims to be wise and devout but never acts accordingly. Unity of word and deed is a central quality of authentic personhood. Likewise, a teacher should first practice what he preaches. An Oriental virtue is to be reserved and taciturn, in order that one not display knowledge that he has not mastered in practice. The same wisdom applies to leaders in business or any field. A leader who in his youth has experienced all the hard jobs will easily win the respect and loyalty of his people, because he knows what he is asking of them.
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.25 James 1.22-24
That knowledge is very superficial which remains only on your tongue: the intrinsic merit and value of knowledge is that you act up to it. Nahjul Balaga, Saying 90 (Shiite Islam)
Not study is the chief thing, but action; and whoso multiplies words, multiplies sin. Mishnah, Avot 1.17 (Judaism)
Though he recites many a scriptural text, but does not act accordingly, that heedless man is like a cowherd who counts others’ cattle. He has no share in the fruits of the religious life. Though he can recite few scriptural texts, but acts in accordance with the teaching, forsaking lust, hatred, and ignorance, with right awareness and mind well emancipated, not clinging to anything here or in the next life, he shares the fruits of the religious life. Dhammapada 19-20 (Buddhism)
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Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat
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against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it. Matthew 7.24-27
The one who would have the worst position in God’s sight on the Day of Resurrection would be a learned man who did not profit from his learning. Hadith of Darimi (Islam)
No one who really has knowledge fails to practice it. Knowledge without practice should be interpreted as lack of knowledge… No one should be described as understanding filial piety and respectfulness, unless he has actually practiced filial piety toward his parents and respect toward his elder brother. Knowing how to converse about filial piety and respectfulness is not sufficient to warrant anybody’s being described as understanding them. Or it may be compared to one’s understanding of pain. A person certainly must have experienced pain before he can know what it is. Likewise to understand cold one must first have endured cold; and to understand hunger one must have been hungry. How, then, can knowledge and practice be separated? It is their original nature [to be in accord] before selfish aims separated them. Wang Yang-Ming, Instructions for Practical Living (Confucianism)
Vainly understanding without practice is understanding that has no use. It is nothing but empty understanding. Vainly practicing without
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understanding is practice that has no direction. It is nothing but misguided practice. Knowledge and action always need each other. It is like a person who has eyes but no legs and so cannot walk, or who has legs but no eyes and so cannot see. With respect to priority, knowledge comes first. With respect to import, action carries more weight. When you know something but have not yet acted on it, then your knowledge is still shallow. Once you personally experience something, then your knowledge will become increasingly clearer, and its import will be different than before. Chu Hsi (Confucianism)
Tzu-kung asked about the true gentleman. The Master said, “He does not preach what he practices until he has practiced what he preaches.” Analects 2.13 (Confucianism)
Just as a man or a woman has known what is truth, so he or she should practice that truth with zeal, and should teach it those persons who should practice it so, as it is! Avesta, Yasna 35.6 (Zoroastrianism)
The Master said, “Do not be to ready to speak of it, lest the doing of it should prove to be beyond your powers.” Analects 14.21 (Confucianism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon Whatever you conceive in your head, you should practice. It is not enough to only think it. Why do you need to act? When your actions are in accord with your words it creates a center, a place of unity between word and deed, and of unity between mind and body.26 (248:89, August 1, 1993) Whatever you learn you must practice. You must practice it in all dimensions: in your vertical relationships, in your horizontal relationships, and in all four directions, widely and deeply.27 By so training yourself in this world, you will become adept when you go to the spirit world. (248:166, August 1, 1993)
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Human beings‌ cannot become the object partners who inspire God with joy unless they understand His will and make effort to live accordingly. Hence, human beings are endowed with emotional sensitivity to the heart of God, intuition and reason to comprehend His will, and the requisite abilities to practice it. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 1.1) I do not have the right to teach you anything unless I have first practiced it. (134:203, July 20, 1985) Teaching is not just a matter of repeating what you have heard. You have to speak from experience; then the knowledge becomes real. (205:130, July 9, 1990) I believe that anyone who would become a world-level leader, in charge of many people, should first have many life experiences before the age of thirty. You should acquire unforgettable stories from having gone through many challenging life experiences. That is my conclusion after experiencing it all. Then, when you ask your people to do manual labor, you can appeal to them with the heart you felt while you were a laborer. For example, suppose you once worked at a job where you carried loads of clay across a narrow bridge using poles to balance yourself. When you tell your story about that job and the dangers you faced, your workers will become serious. An expert is someone who explains and teaches everything on the basis of his or her own experience. (65:302-03, March 4, 1973) This teaching is not just a theory. I tested everything through my own experience, which involved all kinds of suffering. I have put this teaching to the test and applied it in practice. (133:83, July 8, 1984)
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