Cham Bumo Gyeong: Episode 64

Cham Bumo Gyeong
Book 3: The Beginning of True Father's Public Course and the Founding of HSA-UWC
Chapter 3: Founding the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity
Section 1: Background, The Bukhak-dong three-gate house
Section 1: Background, Paragraph 1

The Bukhak-dong three-gate house

The three-gate house in Bukhak-dong where the sign of the Holy Spirit Association was hung was a shabby house with eaves so low that people could reach them with their outstretched hands. This being the case, neighborhood children sometimes took down the sign and used it as a game board. Sometimes people who opposed us threw it down and broke it, so it was damaged often and had to be repaired and reattached to the house.

When you entered the house, you had to pass under three gates with your head bent low. They opened into a small courtyard of about ten square meters with a well at one corner. Next to the well was a small platform for clay jars filled with traditional Korean condiments. On the right side of the house was the master bedroom, about two square meters in area, so small that when people lay down in it, their feet touched the wall and there was barely room for three. To the left was a second bedroom, a guest room that was not even three square meters in area. The men used the master bedroom, while the women slept in the second bedroom. The rooms had a low paper ceiling that would bend upward if your head touched it.

As is apparent from this description, HSA-UWC began in a place that was little more than a shanty. Although only a small number of people gathered inside, True Father still prayed and spoke in a roaring voice as if speaking to thousands of people. He spoke so passionately that his shirt would be drenched in sweat. Sometimes he would speak to just one person, yet afterward he would weep for more than an hour and offer a heartfelt prayer. Everyone who came there was filled with so much divine grace that they all wept their hearts out, and the floor would be soaked with their tears.

7  The name I created for the Unification Church was “Holy (Divine) Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.” It was hard enough to bring unity within Christianity on earth, yet I was striving to bring unity in the spirit world as well. Back then I did not have any money. So I rented this place where the rooms were so small that when I lay down my feet would touch the wall. It was from such a humble place that I started the church. I took the position of a servant, doing everything for the people who came. In this way I advanced from the position of a servant to that of an adopted son. This was the path of my liberation.

8  The first house where we displayed the Unification Church sign was a small shanty. The entrance had three gates. People who were tall and wide like me had to enter sideways, with our heads down. It was there that we mounted the sign, “Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.” It is an enormous task to unite Christianity on earth, and yet this was an association that aspired to unite Christianity not only throughout the physical world but in the spiritual world too. Isn’t this a formidable vision? We had placed the sign under the eaves, at one end of the house. Yet despite the grand name on the sign, when you looked at the house, you would see nothing but a shanty.

9  We put up the first sign of the Unification Church at the Bukhak-dong house in Seoul. That house was probably the smallest house in Seoul. When I lay down sideways, my feet touched the wall. Only when I lay down lengthwise would my feet not touch the wall. One room was like that, and a second room was about the same. This house was known for its three-gate entrance, and so it was called “three-gate house.” Those gates were tiny, so we had to lower our heads in order to enter. The sign was hung up under the eaves, which were so low that even children could reach up and touch it. Our sign was not hung on a great big house but on the smallest house in the city. Who would be interested in us? People even pitied the sign because it was so mistreated. The neighborhood children often took it down and played with it, and it was often damaged. Once a person who opposed us came and said, “You want to unite Christianity? That’s heresy!” Then he smashed the sign with a rock, breaking it into pieces. I could not throw away this historic sign, so I put the two pieces back together with metal braces and hung it up again.

10  Whether I lived under the eaves of some house or in a shanty, my thought was, “I have to attend God here and offer greater devotion.” My belief was, “According to the Principle of Restoration, the leader who can offer sincere devotion for the world should be able to do it even in the tiniest house.” This was my way of thinking. Then I would say, “Now that I have offered sincere devotion in this tiny house, I should be able to offer it in a bigger house befitting a world leader.”

The Unification Church began in this place. The Unification Church has grown to this size starting from this tiny Bukhak-dong house with its three gates. This is the main philosophy of the Unification Church. Although there have been many rumors about us, so much so that all the world has heard about us, no has one criticized the Unification Church for its small size. What was most important was what we did in that place.

The mission of HSA-UWC

The founding of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity (HSA-UWC) is significant in that it was to fulfill the mission that was to have been carried out by Christianity. Of course, HSA-UWC is the parent religion that needs to ultimately take charge of God’s providence of restoration. This is why the name includes the words “World Christianity.” “Unification” signifies uniting not only Christianity but also other religions and even all humankind. The words “Holy (Divine) Spirit” incorporate the goal of establishing a foundation for the kingdom of heaven on earth and in heaven, through the harmony of the spiritual world and the physical world based on God’s truth. The word “Association” refers to an organization that realizes the originally intended, ideal world by perfecting the united realm of the spiritual world and the physical world.

11  Why did we take the name, Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity? Because we had Christianity in our name, we were persecuted. But without it, we would have had to give up the Old Testament Age and the New Testament Age. Without the Old Testament Age, the New Testament Age could not have come.

Since the Old Testament Age went wrong, the New Testament Age was needed. Without the New Testament Age, the Completed Testament Age could not have emerged. The New Testament Age came on the foundation of the Old Testament Age, and the Completed Testament Age came on the foundation of the New Testament Age, so the Unification Church has to be connected to Christianity. Christianity is the extension of Judaism. If I threw that away, I would have no ground to stand on. The national level that Satan rules is the completion level of the growth stage, and until I can go over that stage and gain an independent foundation, I have to stand on Christianity, the Old Testament Age and the New Testament Age.

12  I gave such a grand title to our church: the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity. Is such unification even possible? Yes, it will be realized without a doubt. Christianity alone has over 400 denominations that have been fighting each other. But I do not think the unification of Christianity will be that difficult. I believe that if we are a religious group that follows the principle of living for the sake of others, and all other religious groups make an effort to do the same, we will all become one without fail.

Even if religious leaders call this heresy, if we can demonstrate greater love than they do, I believe we can embrace even them. This is because God, the subject partner, is such a being. When we establish a relationship with God, I believe we are bound to come into unity by the power of God. This is logical. It is not so difficult to achieve oneness. The Unification Church was founded on this principle.

13  When we say “Unification,” tong-il (統一), the character tong (統) does not mean “to be guided” but “to lead.” You have to lead. When you want to lead someone, you must have qualities with which you can lead. As the subject partner, you need those qualities so that you can take responsibility to protect and raise people. Therefore, the Unification Church has to take responsibility for heaven and earth. The scope of what the Unification Church is trying to do is different from that of other groups.

You then have to protect this world that is being attacked by the realm of evil. You have to protect it by creating an environment in which there is only goodness. You must not only deter the evil things but also develop the good.

The Unification Church is to lead the world and make it one. I am not saying that we should unite the world centering on the Unification Church. We have to unite the world centering on God, the Creator of the universe, the subject partner and root of all.

14  Unification is simple. The word “unity” is the best gospel. If you want to stand with confidence in front of your father and mother, you have to stand in the place where your mind and body are united. When you look at yourself, if your behavior is aligned with your conscience, or if you are aligned with the standard of the moral teachings you learned in school, you can stand tall. If your mind and body are united, you can uphold your dignity. This is why filial children can stand confidently before their parents—in their thoughts, emotions and behavior in daily life. It is upon this foundation of dignity that parents find the will to live and establish the dignity of their family.

This is the principle of heaven and earth. This is why the term “unification” is great. After searching through all of heaven and earth, I found that the only appropriate word for the name of our church was “Unification,” and this is why I chose this word for our name.

15  The religion of the son, representing the desire of all religions throughout the Old Testament Age and New Testament Age is connected with the religion of the servant and the religion of the adopted son. At the same time, the religion of the son has to reach the realm of the religion of the parents and form one system that can be recognized officially by God and the spirit world. When that happens, the unification of worldwide Christianity will be accomplished automatically.

Based on this, I put up the HSA-UWC sign. I am saying that it is the association by which the Divine Spirit can unite Christianity. Some may think that it is simply an association of Unification Church members, but in fact it is an association led by the Divine Spirit of God to unite Christianity.

Since we include the word “spirit” in the name of our church, because people in the world do not fully understand the meaning of the Divine Spirit of God that we are centered on, they say we are connected to spirits or ghosts. This is why we Unification Church members are called “michin” (crazy) people. However, this word used as a verb, michida, means “to reach.” We are michin people because we are reaching the goal. Ours is the religion that is striving to fulfill the goal of the Old and New Testaments, which is the Will that all the spirits in the spirit world want us to fulfill centering on God’s love. This is why in the Unification Church the work of God’s Divine Spirit continues.

16  The Unification Church needs God’s help. Of course, it receives support from good spirits such as our good ancestors, but I am saying we should also receive the spiritual support of the founders of the world’s religions. We need to expand our scope. We cannot expect cooperation only from the Christian spirit world. The Christian spirit world is only concerned with the Christian world; this is why it is not enough. If we are to unite the entire world, we cannot do so only with the support of the Christian spirits centered on Jesus. We have to receive the spiritual support of all religions. We should receive help from our good ancestors, from the loyal patriots and virtuous women of Korea, and further, we should have the cooperation of the founders and saints of the world’s religions.

17  What is the ultimate goal of God, who has been leading human history for 6,000 years since the Fall? It is to find His sons and daughters, loyal subjects and virtuous women, upon whom He can bestow the marriage Blessing before all of heaven and earth. This is God’s work, and it will be done with one place on earth as the central point. In this place, words conveyed with heart on behalf of God will move the spirit world. If these words can reach the hearts of people who are true to their conscience, their hearts will be greedy moved. When these activities become widespread on earth, Satan’s world will collapse.

We who are striving to achieve this goal are raising the torch in front of the world and all of heaven and earth. Because during this era we shoulder this tremendous name, the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, we must not allow ourselves to collapse. We must penetrate God’s heart. This is the source of the message by which we can reach every level, from the individual and family to the society, nation, world and cosmos. If we cannot do this, we had better take down the sign. I, whom you have been following thus far, am focused on making this breakthrough. This has been my lifelong goal.