Speeches of Hyo Jin Moon 2006-2008
Delivered Sunday at Belvedere Estate in Tarrytown, New York
Hyo Jin Moon Speaks on Quality of Life, Page 339

Some episodes may contain explicit language. Listener discretion is advised.

Quality of Life

August 19, 2007

Good morning. (Good morning.)

Another day of the grind, just another day. Today's topic is, "Quality of Life."

Can you give me some idea of what you think quality of life is to you? (No response.)

Oh, you have no quality of life? That's terrible! (Laughter.) Okay. 

I was watching TV the other day and there was a documentary about conservationism. I guess they summoned some economist and a geologist to estimate what it would cost for the clean water and clean air that we take for granted that nature gives us for free. Their conclusion was that humanity would have to cough-up annually about 30 trillion dollars for something that we take for granted. Because when we spoil these things, it's based on that kind of logic. 

Obviously, something is trying to provide us with quality of life, even with the fundamental stuff, just your sustenance, the vital stuff that keeps your body working. So from there, what are you chasing? What is quality of life?

Let's say that you're locked up in a prison in a six foot by eight foot cell. It's much better for you to try to somehow get into a work program that you volunteer for. Let's say that you wash thousands of dishes every day, they'll pay you about two dollars a day. Because, based on laws, if they don't pay you, it's slave labor. So, you get paid about two dollars a day for doing that kind of stuff, washing toilets or mopping the floor, washing dishes, that kind of basic stuff. The most that you can get is about ten dollars per day being a nurse's aide or doing some clerical work for the bureaucrats.

But at least that's better than being locked up 23 hours per day in a six foot by eight foot cell, because if you're doing stuff, at least you have a purpose. When you have a purpose to life, the quality of life changes. 

And where you find purpose, it's up to you. You can complain. I mean people complain when they're locked up. "I'm innocent!" Everybody's innocent right? "I shouldn't be here!" But if you choose to find a purpose your life can change, the quality of life can change, because you know that you're going to be stuck in there for X amount of time, and you know what you did wrong and what your sentence is.

The funny thing about jail is that if you're not sentenced, you don't even get paid. For instance, like if you're in jail for contempt of court, you don't get paid. But it's better to do something than not. That determines, when you're in that kind of miserable situation, even in the worst hell hole, that's hell on earth, living in places like that, if you have something, if you have some meaning, some purpose, it can change the quality of life, because you're going to do it whether you like it or not. You have no choice.

There's another thing that I believe is important. I took my kids down to Boston for a week. When I was young, all the entertainment that I had was just reading books, because in Korea when I was a kid, TV came on at five o'clock in the afternoon and went off at midnight. Right after the war Korea was poor and couldn't afford to broadcast stuff and spend so much energy and money needed to have 24-hour programming. What you got was just one cartoon every week. (Hyo Jin nim laughs.) I really looked forward to that.

What are you going to do? You read books. That's why I hate reading books, (Laughter) because I read too many books when I was little. I read the same book over, and over, and over, again. In those fantasy books and stuff, all sorts of little story books, they depict something beautiful. It kind of sticks to you, something beautiful, because we all want something beautiful, something more, when they depict something like a beautiful beach, let's say I'm reading a pirate book or something.

Of course, you don't have the kind of white sandy beaches like you find in the Caribbean in Korea. Just going there, there are some beaches with very coarse sand. One time Father took a bunch of leaders to a place like Kang-Nung on the East coast of Korea and he took me with him. I still have that memory, and it's still wonderful to me. Because of that it doesn't matter what happens. It doesn't matter what the current situation might be, that's the quality of life for me, when it comes down to it. Based on the memory of Father and me. That's it.

And the more that you have it the better, right? The clock ticks forward, it doesn't tick backwards. It's done, it's history, it's a memory. Whatever you do. and moving on. 

To me the greatest thing that can define the quality of life for me is how much love do I have, how much love can I give, and how much love can I get. That is the ultimate thing that will determine the quality of life for me. So, you ask yourself how much you can give, are you being loved by others. How much? God will judge you in the end. The thing is, don't waste time judging each other about that kind of silly stuff, but focus on what you can do. 

The funny thing is when you're first growing up, when you're a little kid, just physically testing yourself, speed matters first, right? You want to be a little Speedy Gonzales always racing each other around, literally speed-wise, you know. Then you get into a little more of the, "I'm smarter than you" stuff to try to determine intellectual quality and try to measure each other and try to compete with each other. 

I guess when boys get a little bit bigger they literally start to get AWWWW QUANTITY! (Laughter.) l have a bigger quantity than you! It's funny. And even girls too, "I have bigger quantity than you!" (Gesturing toward chest and hips.) (Laughter.) But all that is during the maturation process to the point of quote-unquote adulthood, it's like that. But when it gets to the point when you have to choose a profession, something that will give you sustenance in life, make a living, make money so you can live, it goes opposite.

You have to know how to deal with volume—you'd better have the highest quality possible, and you'd better do it in the fastest time possible. That's how you move up the ladder, whether you work in corporate, or whatever, in any competitive situation. That has to do with sustenance. It's all about sustenance, isn't it? It's about making a living. When money is circulating, that's all it is.

When you retire, all that stuff doesn't matter except for one thing, quality, quality of life. And what the heck is that? What have you learned? Because what you take when you're dead is what you leave behind in goodness and what you learned. That's all that you take, doing good. Everything else is meaningless.

Once you get older and older you will start to feel that more every single day, because you know that time is ticking forward and you know that you're going to die anytime soon. So, what is life? Make sure that you know what you're dying for. Make sure that you have a quality of life that you can be proud of, facing death, because you will die. And that's the lesson of this world, learning the quality of life. You make the answer. You make the answer, not somebody else, because everybody will be responsible for their answers, because your answer is who you are and you will die.

Choice? Yes, you have a choice, make a good answer. For yourself, not anybody else, start with yourself. Don't worry about other people, other people have the same worries like you. You want to help other people? Okay! I commend you for it. That's noble, but that's very difficult.

At least be sure what you're dying for first, before you try to help somebody else. Be sure, absolutely sure. Otherwise it's just a game you're playing. And if you think that life is just a game, well, okay, that's your opinion. But I think that it's a little more serious than that, because you will die, and you have one life to live.

When you're young you think you can play around, hey so be it, but in the end, you've got one life, that's all you have. You want to play with it? So, play with it, it's up to you.

It's a pain in the butt process, learning what's right, when there's so much crap out there that is luring you, dragging you, and pulling you from here to there to whatever, all over the place. I'm sure that you face that stuff each and every day and that you feel that pressure, but it is not a game. Okay? 

You make that call, and you make that answer, and you're going to stand by it because no one else will. That's it. How many people do you think would be willing to do the time for you that you deserve? How many people do you know around you who will do that for you? Even if you have people like that, still in the end, you'll stand alone in final judgment.

The quality of life, what is it to you? Think about it. Okay, I'll see you next week. (Taps podium twice.)