Cheon Seong Gyeong: Episode 185

Section 3: The Meaning of Death, 09-19

(9)  Death is similar to coming out of the womb, where we lived in a world of water, and in the process destroying the umbilical cord and the amniotic sac. Death is our second birth. It is our departure from this limited world, where we breathe through our nose and our arrival in the place where we can receive God’s love. That is what death is. This is why we have a first ancestor and a second ancestor. Our path of life is such that we leave this world where we received our parents' love and we seek out the place of the love of God, our infinite and eternal Parent. Embraced in God's bosom, we form bonds of infinite life and love and return to the original homeland where we can live eternally. There we breathe love, just as we breathe air now. We originated from God, and by achieving this real authority of love we incarnate God. In love, our value is equal.

(10)  Since human beings were born from the world of spirit, they have no choice but to return to the world of spirit. The Korean word toraganda (to die, to return) is interesting. To where are we returning? It is not to a cemetery. It is to our place of origin. We did not begin life in a cemetery. The word implies crossing the vast expanses of history, even beyond its beginning point. It does not mean to return as a Korean even if one was born a Korean. A Korean who dies does not return on that path as a Korean. We return to the original world that brought forth the ancestors of humankind. It means returning to the place where the Creator is. Since that is where we originated, it is to there that we return.

(11)  If someone died of old age, the Korean expression is that that person "returned." When someone asks about our deceased grandparents, we say, "They went back," don't we? To where did they return? They went back to the spirit world. Since we originally come from the incorporeal God, the incorporeal world is our original homeland. From the incorporeal world, we come to the corporeal world, multiply on this earth and then return to the incorporeal world. This is the path by which we go back. We originate from the incorporeal Father, then we are born through our corporeal father and mother and we live in the corporeal world. Later we discard our physical body, return to our original form and go to the spirit world.

(12)  Once we are born, it is inevitable that we will die. But where do we go after death? We do not dissipate like smoke. We go to the spirit world. When we go to the spirit world, we will find there is a territory there. Who, then, is the owner of the spirit world? It is God. Therefore, we should become the sons and daughters of God. If we do not become God's children, we cannot enter Heaven.

(13)  You may not know the reality of the heavenly world, but I do. I enjoy a spiritual gift from God, giving me clear insight into that unknown world. Digging into the root of that world, I found its principles to be quite simple. Only those who live for others in line with God's universal principles, that is, who live for the sake of the original ideal, can enter that world. The world that is structured along those lines is the ideal heavenly kingdom. It is the original homeland that humankind should seek. We are fallen human beings exiled from our original homeland, but we are destined to return. Nonetheless, because we cannot return through our own efforts alone, God had to set up a specific path through the course of history by which we can return.

Going to the world of God's love

(14)  Whether we know it or not, we are headed for a certain destination. We are getting closer both when we are moving and when we are resting. Not just you but also this people, this world and even heaven and earth are headed there. This is an undeniable fact. Where will you go after you have lived through this life on earth? This is an important issue that everyone needs to resolve. Religions have mobilized to resolve this issue, as have philosophies and history itself. You too cannot deny that this destiny completely captivates you and pulls you along. Whether you can resolve this issue in your mind or not, you are destined to go. This body will see its end and be buried in the ground at the time of our death. Yet will this mind, this life, this heart, these thoughts, and even this hope be buried together with our body? A person who is unaware of this, and who has not resolved this in his or her mind, with a clear view of his or her purpose, will surely suffer misfortune.

(15)  If God is the Parent of humankind, what does that tell us about how and why He created us? When the God of love created us, we started out from the place where He had us participating in His love. It is our path of life to start out from the heart of God. We are to grow up in the embrace of His love, reach maturity, and form a family in God's love. We are to become mature people who can develop our love to a global level on earth and finally return to the embrace of His love.

(16)  Because we are spiritual beings, our life is eternal. Why have some people practiced loyalty before Heaven, walking the way of death for Heaven with hope in their hearts, though they followed a path many would not have wanted? They have done so because they felt something that ordinary people could not feel; they knew heavenly values that ordinary people did not know. It was for that reason that they could tread even the path of death. You may encounter adversity or sadness in your course of life. Unless your mind becomes stronger than death, you will inevitably feel regret when you face death, and retreat from pain and sorrow.

(17)  You are born from your father and mother, but where do you come from, fundamentally? You come from God. You are born through your father's seed and your mother's womb, yet your mother and father did not create you. You were born so that you could seek out parents that are true, True Parents. You need to find True Parents through the universal Parent and through your natural parents. That is why the moment of your death is a time of jubilation when you go to meet your True Parents. There you will find the true love of True Parents. This is the spiritual kingdom of heaven, a place made up of love. It is a place abundant with the love of the True Parents. That love is a love based on the principle of service and sacrifice, in keeping with absolute law. To become eligible to stand for the test, you have to love the universe. Your life on earth is the training ground for you to love humankind and the examination room. This is the basis of the universe. If you undergo such experiences and live with such love during your life on earth, meeting the standard, then when you pass on you will surely come into the presence of God.

(18)  People aspire to resemble God. God's plan is to enable us to resemble Him.  We, therefore, need to be reborn into a form that can resemble God. Both we and God eagerly await such a day. The day of our death is the day of our birth as such people. Therefore, should we welcome death or not? We should welcome it. When we are asked what we are dying for, we should answer, "I am dying for the sake of God's true love." Accordingly, we discard our physical body so that we can participate in the realm of activity of God's infinite love, and for the sake of the world of God's love. To die means to be born into a state of being enveloped in God's love. However, in this world people protest, saying, "Oh, I'm dying!" The moment you transition through the point of death is the moment of your second birth. You can experience the joy of leaving the realm of limited love and of entering the realm of infinite love. You cannot establish a relationship with God unless you liberate yourself from the fear of death.

(19)  Human beings inherit a purpose for their life, but then they live for different purposes. For what reason are you asked to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind"? (Matt. 22:37) It is so that you can become God's child. Therefore, you should be willing even to risk your life to love God. This is what we are meant to do, so we cannot go and die in the lowliest of places. Instead, we need to die in the highest place. We should die centering on the heavenly kingdom. We should die in the one and only heavenly kingdom in heaven and on earth. Even in dying, there is a proper method and a proper place. The usual Korean way will not suffice. You need to die in the highest position, centered on the nation of God's heart, which passes through heaven and earth. You need to die at the very center of the heavenly kingdom. Your death should be such that the universe welcomes you with flags flying.