Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: Episode 406
Pyeong Hwa Gyeong: A Selection of True Parents’ Speeches
Book 10: True Parents, the Hope of God and Humankind
Speech 06: The Harmonization of Values, and the Liberation and Complete Settlement of the Realm Transcending Religions and Nations from the Providential Perspective, pg 1517-1520
Individual perfection begins with unity of mind and body
Thus, the starting point of the kingdom of heaven lies not in the individual or in the nation, but in the family. Once we enter heaven and are surrounded by our beloved family, we will not want to leave. We can see each other hundreds and thousands of times and we will still want to see each other again and again. This is our original homeland, for which everyone longs.
Yet, heaven is not created in an instant. Just because the age has changed and heavenly fortune is with us does not mean that heaven will fall from the sky and appear before our eyes. We first must become people of character who can create heavenly families. In other words, we have to begin with individual maturity.
The path to becoming people of character, to achieving individual maturity, lies in perfecting the harmony and oneness between mind and body. Originally, God created us to live without any inner conflict. The mind is supposed to guide the body and the body act in absolute obedience to the mind. Mind and body were created to function with this perfect harmony. However, as a result of the Fall of the first ancestors, Adam and Eve, all human beings inherited fallen nature. Humankind has lived in suffering because of the unavoidable conflict between mind and body that has its roots in the Fall.
No one in history has ever achieved mind-body unity during his or her life on earth. Despite the steady progress of God’s providence of restoration and His determination to save us, not a single person has been liberated from the struggle between the mind and body and achieved individual maturity. Although countless monks and hermits have followed the arduous path of asceticism, living in caves deep in the mountains and devoting their entire lives to meditation and prayer, not one has ever triumphed in that struggle. No one has known the method to win this unrelenting, internal war. The reason that even enlightened sages have been unable to end the mind-body struggle is simple. Self-discipline by itself is not enough. One needs to connect with the providence of Heaven, receive the call, complete the providence of restoration that God has guided for thousands of years, and gain victory in a position publicly recognized by heaven and earth.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus came to the earth as Savior, Messiah and True Parent. As God’s only begotten Son, Jesus had the mission to complete the providence of Heaven and end forever the struggle between the mind and body. Nonetheless, when Jesus died on the cross due to the inability of crucial religious and political leaders to recognize him, he lost the position from which he could bring an end to the struggle between mind and body. Jesus took every opportunity to call people to love their enemies, yet his teachings could not bring an end to the struggle between mind and body.
Rev. Moon has revealed the truth of Heaven
Heaven can wait no longer. On the foundation of my victory, Heaven is now revealing the truth. I have completed the mission of the Lord of the Second Advent, Savior and True Parent. Now I am revealing this truth, bringing to a conclusion the final stage of the providence for humankind’s salvation. The absolute values of true love that I am teaching you today will bring a revolution of character for all people. Those who follow my teachings will achieve individual maturity and participate in the construction of the ideal of Heaven on earth.
Dear guests, the only way to bring harmony and unity between mind and body is to live by the absolute values of true love. Live for the sake of others. Invest yourself with true love and forget what you have invested. Practice this, and you will reach maturity as the owner of love. You will gain the authority of a subject partner in relating to others, and they will happily respond to you. Unity of mind and body is impossible unless you practice love’s absolute values, where you give yourself for the sake of others completely. Please discard self-centeredness. It is the root of fallen nature.
Ultimately, the realization of the kingdom of heaven on earth depends upon the presence of original, true families. Individuals who have achieved harmony and unity between the mind and body create such families. They will form a society, nation and world characterized by interdependence, mutual prosperity and universally shared values, in which people live in harmony focused on the greater good.
Unity between mind and body means to live in absolute obedience to the voice of the conscience. The conscience is the root of the mind. You must listen to your conscience that arises from within your mind, and be able to modify your course of action at any time, anywhere, while remaining as clear as crystal. This is a necessary condition for becoming a true parent, a true teacher and a true leader.
Your conscience tells you to live for others according to the Principle. No matter how strong your body’s desire is, if you intentionally increase the force of your conscience beyond the force of your body, your body will follow it. If you cannot, you had better decrease your body’s force through fasting and asceticism. If clear water continually flows into a muddy pond, eventually the pond will become clear.
Dear guests, don’t give your conscience any more grief. Don’t disobey its call. Disobeying the voice of your conscience only brings sorrow to your heart. It brings sorrow to your parents, to your teachers, and even to God.
Instead, cultivate a joyful mind. Although you may be lonely, and appear miserable in the eyes of the world, create an unbreakable bond with your mind and try to be your mind’s best friend. Within the harmony and unity of your mind and body, you will discover a world where all of heaven and earth are spread out before your eyes. In the state of mind-body unity, your conscience and body enter a realm of resonance. Referring to this dimension of the mind, the Buddha said, “Throughout heaven and earth, I am my own lord.” Ask yourself if God is dwelling in you, and you will hear the answer. You will reach a state in harmony with nature, able to communicate freely with animals and plants. You will be able to converse freely with the beings of the spirit world. This will thoroughly prepare you for eternal life.
By attaining this unity of mind and body, and establishing the absolute values of true love in relating with your reciprocal partners, you will participate in establishing the peace kingdom on the levels of the individual, family, nation and world. This is God’s most earnest desire.
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