February 6, 2006
Chung Pyung, Korea
Unofficial Translation
The fact that Father wrote the poem "The Crown of Glory" at the age of 16 is incredible to me, when I think of current myself. I came to think about life since my elder brother Young-Jin passed away. Until then, I used to live in comfortable and safe surroundings in the East Garden. But for Young-Jin's death, I would have become a person of pride and arrogance. His death made me interested in religion. Subsequently, I became bald-headed and came to wear Korean clothes. Since those days I began to visit Father in his room late at night and ask him many questions. And, I came to know Father personally. Through those things, I came to realize that actual Father was different from what I thought he was. In those days, he told me to study world religions. So, I have been studying theology. This year I am going to finish my master's course and begin the doctor's course.
I used to hate studying more than anything else. I preferred to play outside rather than studying. Therefore, (laughing) I now have to bear the indemnity of having to study at this age.
For today's speech, I prepared a little bit to talk about why theology is necessary.
Currently, I am concentrating on trinity in my study of theology. The reason why I am talking about it is because the people in general do not have a good image (or impression) of theology.
In the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries there were heated theological arguments. Those arguments originated from a question as to who Jesus was, namely, whether he was God or human. The arguments started from the different opinions on whether he was similar to God or he was the same as God. This fight had a lot of influences, giving birth to the division between the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox. Then, how are those things related to the Unification Church? As we study theology, we come to realize the necessity for enhancing the value of True Parents, first, then, the necessity for preventing division, and, furthermore, the necessity for protecting the value of True Parents, and also the necessity for not making theological mistakes, and maintaining the centrality.
What our family members should understand are:
1) Father is the only person. This is the most important issue.
2) The center should never move.
Christian ministers play the role of a bridge. In my university Christian ministers and Buddhist priests are friends of mine. They have the responsibility for introducing Jesus and Buddha respectively. In theology they insist on the trinity of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. If so, there will be no value of True Parents. Why? It is because believers want to go to a higher place and, therefore, to God only. As a result, in the 3rd century, there appeared theologians who did not appreciate the value of the coming of Jesus. In addition, since Jesus was regarded as God, the dogma of trinity produced that of three gods or that of two gods, and destroyed the dogma of one God. Also, there is a possibility that True Parents will be regarded as a prophet and that the value of True Parents will be down graded.
It is said that this problem was solved at the Nicaea Conference at the time of Emperor Constantine. Actually, however, the problem started there and then. Theologians became divided between those who asserted that God and Jesus were similar and those who asserted that God and Jesus are the same. We could make a similar mistake, too. In Islam, they say that Mohamed was a prophet. According to the Koran, there are two big sins. The first sin is to not believe in God. The second is to attend another being besides God. If this idea is emphasized, the value of True Parents and the value of True Parent's blood lineage become small. A Catholic priest, who is a friend of mine, says, "I directly attend God. Which is higher, myself or those who attend a human being?"
If we think in this way, theology is very important. Without theology, we cannot explain what kind of persons True Parents are. That is why, True Parents said, I would have to study theology.
The Unification Church must always enhance True Parents. In America, spiritual leaders appeared 200 years ago. Today, however, their religions have lost their spiritual aspects and are concentrating on economic activities. There is some possibility that the Unification Church may also lose its tradition, losing its spiritual aspects. Therefore, we must keep interest in spiritual things. The center of our life of faith must be the True Parents.
In True Parent's Words there are contradictory words: some words say that we need to liberate God because He is not liberated, while there are other words which say God has been liberated. This kind of contradiction exists in many aspects of theology.
There is a bridge. A father is calling his children to come to him by crossing the bridge. But, the bride has no parapet. So, unless they walk straight, they may fall down from the bridge. When the children go to right too much, the father will tell them to go left; when the children go to left too much, the father will tell them to go to right. The situation is similar to that. If God cannot liberate Himself, the value of True Parents goes up very much. We must make efforts to enhance the value of True Parents.
I must apologize to Father for having said that I did not want to study theology. Father told me to study at least eight languages. So, I am now learning English, Korean, Japanese, ancient Chinese, and Greek. In the days to come I must learn Sanskrit, French, Spanish, and German, etc. I am going to learn 12 languages altogether.
Yesterday Father said, "I am going to Hannam-dong today." So, I said, "Why are you going today when I give a speech?" He replied, " If I were present, you would feel uneasy." However, he will watch me speak on the Internet anyway. I love Father. I love Mother as well. There are mainly two types of religions in the world. One of them are universal religions; the others are ethnic religions. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Confucianism, etc. are universal religions. The universal religions assert that people can become disciples. They have that kind of universal message. Therefore, those religions spread to the world.
The Unification Church also teaches that all people can become True Parents. Unification Church teaches about democratization of the Messiah. All people can become the Messiahs. The National Messiahs and the Blessed Family in Africa are all Tribal Messiahs. Moreover, it is a religion that gives the Blessing to everyone.
I was born as a son of True Parents. However, True Parents were so busy that I could hardly meet with them.
I became a monk six years ago. At that time, I thought that I would die. However, I have gained eternal life instead. I was told to continue to study instead of being persecuted. At that time, I received love and salvation from Father. I experienced True Parent's power. I have met with Dalai Lama. I have also met with a teacher of philosophy who was a Catholic priest. I talked with Dalai Lama in January. I bought air tickets at the time of Christmas last year, but I was told that I had no visa. I became desperate. On Monday after Christmas, I went to the office of consulate. They asked me for what purpose I was going to India. So, I replied that I was going to visit Dalai Lama. Then, they said, "If you are going for a religious purpose, it would take six months to obtain visa.
However, I managed to get visa and went to India. In order to visit Dalai Lama, I had to travel to his place near the Himalayas by car. It took 12 hours. The mountain roads were not smooth. I became carsick. When I arrived at last, I was met by a secretary. Americans and Englishmen were standing on line. The visitors went in and came out of the room at an interval of five minutes. When I asked the secretary how long I could see him, he said with an unfriendly attitude, "Five minutes." I said to myself, "It took a very long time to come here.
Yet, I can see him for only five minutes, can't I?" How was my meeting with him actually? Simply saying I spent 45 minutes with him. I report to True Parents about the meeting, showing photos. True Parents were very pleased and made me give the same report at every meal. I talked to Dalai Lama that I had received salvation. Listening to my talk, he said, "You are a wise man." No one knows me. Yet, I was able to see him because I am a child of True Parents.
I myself am nothing. This understanding is important. If Father and Mother had not done it on that day, I would not have existed. No matter what I do, I have nothing to be proud of.
Seen theologically, Mother has great value because she is the one who perfected Father. She has holy value.
How should we explain true love? Suppose there is a person to love in our life. We think that happiness of our sons and daughters are even more important than that of our own.
If we can love all the people in the universe in that way, that love is close to True Parent's love. It is difficult to love even one person. In this secular world there are many people who fight with their spouses and get divorced. One day Father asked me, "Have you seen me fight with Mother?" I have never seen True Parents fight with one another. I really appreciate the fact.
True love is the universal love. To learn about world religions is to know culture, philosophy, and life of others. It is the same as a movement for knowing others. If you study Christianity, you can get closer to Jesus. If you study Buddhism, you can get closer to Shakyamuni. If you study Confucianism, you can get closer to Confucius.
I have been to the place where Confucius was born. The birthday of Confucius is September 26, the same day as mine. He is said to have been a very tall man. It is said that his height was more than 185 centimeters. And, it is said, his head did not have a good shape with a prominent forehead.
There lived some descendants of Confucius near the place. When they saw me, they said, "You are a reincarnation of Confucius." It is because my birthday is the same. I am tall, and my head has a strange shape, too. I said to them, "I cannot be." The Unification Family must transcend barriers. All the people are one under True Parents. When we see our brothers and sisters, we must appreciate them. When I see the 36 couples, I feel they are my brothers and sisters.
It is not good to think that I am superior because I am a member of True Family.
I should think that I can live in this way thanks to you, family members, particularly to the Japanese members who have been attending True Parents. (Weeping) We must respect them. I would like to offer a bow to the Japanese members.
We must make the Unification Family become one family.