Cheon Seong Gyeong: Episode 108

Cheon Seong Gyeong Book 4: True Person
Chapter 4: The Life Course of True Men and Women
Section 1: The Way of Our Original Nature, 14
Section 2: The Path to Individual Perfection, 12

 

14  It is amazing that our parents and ourselves are from the same origin. Thus, we can say that our parents' love is our love, our parents' life is our life, and our parents' ideals are our ideals. When parents look at their child, they say, "This is my beloved son or daughter.” Parents feel and recognize that their children are the substance of their love, life, and ideals. If they do not see their beloved sons or daughters for just one day, they miss them, and even if they have just seen them, they still want to see them again and again. Even if they try to send their children away they cannot, because they are their bone and flesh. The fulfillment of all their ideals depends on their children. If even parents born into today's fallen world, where no true love, true life or true ideals are to be found, knew how to love their children, how much more does God, who is the subject partner of those parents, love His children. Before the Fall, the original Adam and Eve, as the son and daughter of God's direct lineage, were God's royal descendants.  That is, Adam and Eve were the prince and princess who were to inherit the kingdom of heaven in heaven and the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Section 2.  The Path to Individual Perfection

1 When we consider the fact that human beings have a contradiction within themselves, or have been unable to reach the requisite standard, or are damaged, or have fallen away from an ideal state, we arrive at the logical conclusion that God exists. This being so, we can appreciate the word "Fall." The Fall caused human beings to exist in a state of self-contradiction. Since we are fallen, broken, contradictory, and imperfect, the perfect God cannot stand in the same position as us. Based on this logic, we can affirm the existence of God.

People of contradiction between mind and body

2 When God created all things, as an Absolute Being, He must have done so with an absolute purpose. Even fallen people set out to make things with a purpose in mind and strive to achieve that purpose. Yet it is a contradiction in fallen people that they have a mind and body that seek contrary purposes. That should not be the case in beings created by the absolute God. Because God is one, His creations also should have one purpose. Since we were born with the single purpose of becoming God's children, we should be one with Him based on that purpose. Yet, even between those two entities that are closest to us, our own mind and body, there is a contradiction. This is because humankind fell.

3  If humankind had not fallen, we would now live in the kingdom of heaven and would be fully adapted to its environment. However, because the world is fallen, the magnetic poles of our mind and body were turned upside down, and they came to confront each other. Plus and minus were completely reversed. If there is an absolute God, that God must have one view, one thought, and one purpose. If it is certain that human beings originated from God, who is their cause, and that God has one purpose, then human beings, as resultant beings, should exist in accord with that purpose. Human beings have conflict within themselves, however, and regardless of what angle we look at them from, they exist in a state of contradiction. If we did not understand the Fall, we could conclude that we were originally created with this contradiction. In fact, it is a result of the Fall that the directions of plus and minus were reversed. The mind wants to go toward God, but the body opposes that. It is here that the conflict arises.

4  Human beings have both good elements and evil elements; this is the problem. If we look at ourselves as individuals, we each have a body and a mind. But the body and mind are not always in harmony. The mind says to go one way, but the body often resists. It says, "Don't go that way; let's go this way.” Because of that, many prophets and saints throughout history struggled over how to reconcile the mind and body.

5 Without unity between mind and body, if one wants to go east, the other wants to go west; it means they are pursuing conflicting goals. If we follow the mind, we come to an ideal place that is different from the fallen world today. If we follow the body, we come to a fallen place. When we feed our body, it asks us to feed it something richer. When we let it play, it wants to play more. It even wants to take other people's possessions for itself. It acts in a self-centered way, as though it is the most important thing. It has no concern for others. But the mind acts in a way that is contrary to the body. The mind seeks to sacrifice for others. The mind says, "Live for others. Help unfortunate people. If there are poor people, assist them. Offer your service for others, from a public position. Give of yourself.” It always guides us in a direction different from that of the body.

6 Originally our mind and body should have been infused with God's love. Then there would be no contradiction, conflict, or struggle between mind and body. But we fell away from God and engaged in external love centered on the body. The result of this has been struggle and conflict between mind and body. Love focused on the outer body was a betrayal of the love of God, who is the origin of ideal, eternal life that centers on the inner mind. The result is what we have seen throughout history. Therefore, we must remove external, body-oriented love, namely, Satan's love, and replace it with the internal, mind-oriented love that was originally meant to be, by inheriting the love of God. Then we will be able to reconcile mind and body. Unity can emerge only when we accomplish this.

7 The deeper we go into the realms of spiritual growth, the more difficulties we encounter. Until we cast off and rise above all the selfish desires of our body, we face all kinds of resistance. Therefore, religions encourage us to strike our body. They teach that when we bring our body to the zero point, new hope arises. True religions are rooted in the absolute denial of the body. In this regard, they point to the formula course that human beings are destined to follow. It is based on the fact that if something is broken, it needs to be remade according to its original factory design. Yet it is more difficult to repair something than to build it the first time. This means that even for God, it is more difficult to fix something than to create it. This applies to the path for perfecting human beings.

8  How do I develop an unchanging mind and bring it into oneness with God's heart? How do I make my mind stand in the position of a subject partner, whence it can control my body throughout my life? This is the challenge. If I can bring my body to take a minus position and unite with my mind, if I can keep it in the position of object partner to my mind at all times, twenty-four hours a day, I will generate a power that can move the universe. My mind needs to become a plus, and my body a minus. But all too often in reality, my mind is plus and my body is also plus. Because two plusses repel each other, my body is my enemy. How do I make my body into a minus? This is the challenge presented by all religions.

9 If you want to go the way of God's Will, you need to unite your mind and body. Because the mind should be the subject partner it is crucial that you subjugate your body to center on your mind. As you pursue the way of faith, if your body does not obey you, you should scold it, "You foolish body!" and rein it in. You fast, you restrain yourself, you deny yourself, and you impose restrictions on what you do. As you lead a life of faith you refrain from many things, such as casual love relationships. Money is not the issue. Knowledge is not the issue. The problem is that the body is always 100 percent armed and completely prepared for hand-to-hand combat, ready to attack the mind. This is the battle you face. Unless you succeed in this, you can never realize God's Will.

10 People who are going the way of self-cultivation offer their utmost devotion in order to communicate with the spirit world, however, just as a man is about to succeed in his spiritual quest, a beautiful woman may entice him. This is Satan's secret weapon. Likewise, if a woman oilers great devotion, a handsome man may appear and entice her. If a man seeks to shake off the devil's urge to destroy heaven and earth, if he seeks to find his origin or to learn about the original world of God, the devil Satan will mobilize his best weapon, a woman, to trip him up there is no man who is not vulnerable to the charms of a beautiful woman. Moreover, no matter how devoted a woman is in cultivating her spirituality, no matter how well-behaved or disciplined she may be, if she sees a handsome man of the world with an impressive build beckoning her, without her realizing it her hand has reached out to touch him even before her eyes meet his. Even if she tries to remain still, her body acts first. It happens through the attraction of love, through the attraction of plus and minus.

11  Religions teach us to live a sexually abstinent life as a shield against immoral love. The flesh can be an enemy, and this enemy has three great weapons: eating, sleeping, and sexual desire. I have faced all of these.  You have no idea how much I struggled, how many tears I sited to overcome them. In order to make the indemnity conditions to conquer these, you have to do whatever it takes—even go to prison for ten years if necessary. Being in the position to receive God's sweet love is good, but when you run into the enemy's weapons, what are you going to do? I knew that the way to save humankind according to God's Will is not the easy and comfortable way, and the first question I wrestled with was how to bring myself back to the original state.

12  How can we restore our rightful dominion? In the evil world of Satan, people want to seize that position by force. Saying, "I will rule over you," they take up a whip and use any means to take dominion.  That is not how it should be. By what means should we restore the original dominion? Not by force or by any means commonly used in Satan's world today. Not by plotting to hurt other people, nor by sacrificing others for our benefit. Rather, it is by self-sacrifice and love. God has been showing us the true way to have dominion, beyond the ages. If a person overcomes many humiliations and difficulties with self-sacrifice and love, the people surrounding him automatically push him or her forward to govern them in the position of subject partner.