In Jin Moon
Lovin' Life Ministries
1) In Jin Nim began, expressing how happy she was to be with us this Sunday.
2) Our True Parents are with us still in Las Vegas. They send their greetings and love. In Jin Nim is so appreciative every time they ask about the American movement and the blessed children and how everyone is doing. She thinks that they get the sense that our movement is coming alive. She thanked us for our love and for responding to our True Parents in such a great way.
3) In Jin Nim referred to the tragedy that took place in Japan, that is still unfolding and that our True Parents are sending their prayers to Japan and our brothers and sisters there.
4) In Jin Nim shared with the young people who attended the Youth Concert for World Peace (Friday night), the first one of its kind here in the United States, some good news about Japan. The prefecture where the tsunami hit badly, the town of Sendai -- our leaders there were able to let our American movement know, that although many lives were lost, not one of our brothers and sisters were harmed.
5) In Jin Nim was told of the stories of two sisters. One was being swept away by the tsunami when out of the blue a man grabbed her and pulled her to safety. This woman has no idea who this man was, whether a real man or an angel, but she was saved from being swept away. She is so grateful for the opportunity to live another day and to have the chance to work together with our True Parents. Another story, of another sister -- she was in a car being swept away by the current, but somehow it came to rest on the roof of a building and she was able to crack open the window get out and be rescued.
6) These are two stories of harrowing life threatening situations. When In Jin Nim heard that these two sisters were brought to safety she felt that once again our True Parents prayers are with them. We are so thankful that our True Parents continue to pray for the country of Japan.
7) In Jin Nim thanked those who attended the youth concert and donated on behalf of the Japan relief fund which we have started here. She asked us to please continue to donate and continue to work with different organizations that will be raising money which can be sent to Japan to help them recover. Thank you!
8) When In Jin Nim was leaving Las Vegas, telling True Parents that she must return to New York for the Youth Concert for World Peace -- it is a chance to have a memorial service for our dear older brother. But In Jin Nim expressed to True Father that it is her heart to not only remember her great older brother Hyo Jin Oppa, but also to remember the others that have gone before, her younger brother Heung Jin, her older sister He Jin, and her younger brother Young Jin.
9) One of the things our Father teaches through the Legacy of Peace and through the Seunghwa ceremony is to really be able to let our loved ones move on, celebrating their lives well lived. In Jin Nim expressed her thought, how wonderful it would be if we can start a youth concert series that allows the young people to celebrate their lives and to remember those who have gone before all of us, and to, in a way, in remembrance of what they were to all of us as members of our family -- we can remember them in a joyful way, a loving way, in sharing the universal language of love which is music.
10) When In Jin Nim explained this to our True Father he said to her, something that she found to be incredibly profound, "You know, you need to tell those young people (and we have lots of talented young people in our movement -- because you have been almost hand-picked by God. Your parents came together not just because they liked each other but because they saw themselves as being part of one family and they wanted to try their best to live up to being that ideal husband and wife, father and mother, and do their best in terms of raising up ideal families of their own), you need to tell these young people they are really, really special talented kids, touched by God, blessed by God -- (we call them blessed children). You need to tell them, you need to share with them, that the language of love, the language of music, it is a sacred art."
11) He used the word sacred. When we're thinking of music we think it's a way to express ourselves. One of the pitfalls we can so easily fall into is, "I am so great. I am a great musician, a great player. Look how fantastic I am." The stage is a very interesting medium in that it brings out the best and it brings out the worst.
12) When True Father was emphasizing the word sacred, "You need to tell the young people, you need to share with the young people, that in a way -- to offer music to other people is an art form that is sacred."
13) When In Jin Nim thought about and prayed about the word sacred -- it is a very interesting word. We all know what it means. We know it means holy, something sanctified, something blessed -- having to do with the church, or many times it is a ritualistic rite. But, all in all, the generic understanding of the word is that it is holy.
14) And In Jin Nim always found it fascinating coming to America in learning the language and how the words sound and are composed -- what letters are chosen and how the word looks to her. And the word sacred means something holy. But to her ears it is two syllables, sa-cred. The first word is "say" and the second word is "crud." This is a holy, holy word, sacred -- meaning holy. But why does it sound like -- saying cruddy things. It's the opposite of something sacred, it's something profane.
15) In Jin Nim has often thought of the word God, G-o-d, our Heavenly Parent up in heaven. But why is it when you read it backwards it reads "dog"? Why is it that one of the greatest words in the English vocabulary, God, my eternal Heavenly Parent -- you read it backwards and its dog? In Jin Nim's father touched upon this in the late 70s and early 80s when he was talking about how, if you don't have God in your life, if you don't have a clear understanding of where you come from and who you are and what you need to do, what you need to leave behind before you go to the next phase of your life in the spiritual world -- it's like living a life of a dog in that we succumb to animalistic instincts. We succumb to the animalistic passions, to the wiles of the world, to the temptations. And we can run around barking all over the four corners of the world not realizing who we are, because we don't have a way to find our own dignity and rise up from the four-legged creature existence to becoming that human being, being vertically connected to the Heavenly Parent, understanding that we are divine eternal sons and daughters.
16) When Father used the word sacred it made In Jin Nim realize, here is a word that symbolizes something incredibly holy, sanctified, blessed. But in a way it sounds something like, "say crud". To In Jin Nim, when she hears the word, it's a reminder that if we don't realize that our life is sacred and that it is holy, it is blessed, it is inspired, sanctified by our Heavenly Parent -- then what we can easily degenerate into, is to become that child that degenerated into saying cruddy things -- being negative people. When we forget that we are holy, that our lives are sacred, we can so easily fall into the trap -- that we are no different from dust in the wind, we are worthless, we have no dignity. And we end up becoming the vessel of negativity, of criticism. We start to criticize our God, our parents -- "God, why did you not bless me as much as this person. Why did you not make me more beautiful, powerful, and rich? Why me God? Why me?" And that is saying cruddy things to our eternal Heavenly Parent, isn't it?
17) And then turned to our parents and say, "What have you done for me lately?" The greatest gift our parents gave to us is our life. There is nothing more precious they can give to us than that -- and the love that they provide throughout all the years when we walked our road of self-discovery. We start criticizing our parents for what they are not, and not appreciating them for what they are. And we start looking around in our families and we start picking on our siblings, saying, "Why aren't you more like this? You need to get out of my way. Why don't you just leave me alone? Get out of my life."
18) We can so easily, if we don't find ourselves being connected to God, to something that is sacred and holy, degenerate into human beings that live and animal like existence walking on all fours -- that can so easily degenerate into negative and highly critical people who do not realize how blessed we really are, by saying really cruddy things -- from our eternal Heavenly Parent on down to the very people we actually care about.
19) In Jin Nim has also thought that even the word holy is interesting. Holy is supposed to be something divine, blessed. But if you happen to be a pot and you are full of holes a lot of things will start leaking out of you. It is not a very positive visual image. It is almost a reminder that if we are not connected to the divine, and if we don't hold ourselves as this incredibly divine vessel, something that we should be proud of, something that we should feel gives us infinite worth and dignity -- then what we end up doing is almost drilling holes into ourselves, the holes of insecurity, fear, of not getting enough of something, and the holes of not being acknowledged, the holes that symbolize not been appreciated. And in that way very, very soon we find ourselves literally being hollowed out by all the holes that we drilled into ourselves, not realizing that we have infinite value and potential, and that with our daily life we should practice infinite gratitude to our Heavenly Parent.
20) When Father was saying you need to share with the young people the importance of understanding music, or the universal language, as something sacred, in a way what he was saying is -- (and you know the modern perception of a great musician, and it doesn't matter if you are a classical artist or a punk rock artists -- it doesn't matter, but in the world of entertainment and art there is a huge problem of ego. There is a huge problem of me, myself, and I.) what Father is saying, when he wants to share the message that music, painting beautiful art, and beautiful works of literature -- is sacred -- it is Father's way of saying it's not about you, it's about how God can use you as a vessel to move people, inspire people, to empower people.
21) Many times, because the language of love is so over encompassing and covers all spectrums of emotion -- love is not just sweet, sometimes it is tart, sometimes it is painful. Love is not always hallelujah! Love is sometimes the pits of hell, where you struggle with yourself to find your footing, to regain your relationship with Heavenly Father each and every day. Love is many myriad different things and emotions.
22) When we are expressing this through this sacred art, the universal language of music, Father was emphasizing the need, first and foremost, to be that humble vessel -- in that it is really not about you or me, it's not really about how well I sing as a person, how well I dance as a person, but it is really more about -- "Was I able to move somebody in that audience, to provoke them to want to be better, Perhaps to provoke them to want to become artists themselves? Was I able to be that person through which some people in the audience felt moved?"
23) Father is asking this of all the blessed children who are so talented. In Jin Nim got a little taste of that talent that is percolating and brewing in our movement, and she looks forward year after year to watch them grow, and she is hoping that they will not just grow musically but grow spiritually and emotionally into beautiful artists. The reason Father emphasizes humbleness is, if you get so engulfed in yourself -- and In Jin Nim has talked to lots of young people in and out of our movement, and often when she talks to young people who are interested in music -- kids at the Conservatory or who are studying at the Berkeley School of Music -- "What is the reason you got into the arts?" And some of them are quite blunt -- "I got into music because I want chicks. I got into music because I want drugs. I got into music because I want the power." These are the things that you hear over and over again.
24) But what Father is reminding us when he says that it is sacred -- it's not about what you get, you utilizing this God-given talent -- and let's not forget its God-given regardless of how great you think you are, it's really not about you, it's about what God instilled in your care and it's your duty as that musician to nurture it, to support it, to inspire it -- so that you can give back to the world and help lots of people.
25) In Jin Nim makes it very clear to the Lovin' Life Ministries Band, Sonic Cult, we need to create a new culture. This is what Father wanted to do. There is a reason why he supported the New World Players, the Go World Brass Band, Sunburst, a rock 'n roll band called Blue Tuna, all these different bands, these different mediums of expression, expressing the universal language, Father wanted to create and support that. Because it can be an extraordinary and powerful medium through which people can experience the divine, change their lives and become closer, and connected to God.
26) But Father also cautioned that there are dangers in music. There is an unwritten understanding that you cannot be a good musician if you don't do drugs. Our second generation and third generation, there are lots of them thinking about careers in music, who also think we can't be great musicians if we don't do drugs. But what Father is reminding all you talented young people, is that music is not an excuse for you to do drugs. God did not give you that gift so that you can get all the woman, get all the chicks. God gave you that gift to tap into something really powerful and beautiful and change the world.
27) In Jin Nim always felt, as a woman, as someone who very much understands the power of music, the most important thing for every young girl in the audience, including In Jin Nim (and that was a long time ago), every young woman, if you really think about it and ask them for a real conversation and ask them what is the most important thing that they think that they could be -- the majority will tell you, "I want to be a great mother." The thing that really puzzles In Jin Nim is that a lot of these talented young ladies also happen to be talented musicians -- but also succumbing to this understanding that in order to be a true artist you have to do drugs. This is something In Jin Nim cannot understand.
28) If it is our desire to be the greatest mother in the world, our body is our temple. Our body is our vessel. The thing about woman is that they are born with the eggs that, in the future, will become our children. Women are born with the set of eggs that they will release on a monthly basis, when they start to become woman. They are born with their set of eggs. When you start doing drugs at 11, 12, and 13 years of age -- you are already condemning your future kids to a life of great difficulty.
29) Some of In Jin Nim's friends in the music industry, beautiful woman, extraordinarily talented woman, because they put their body, their holy sacred temple through all this substance abuse -- they gave birth to children whose brain is missing one hemisphere. And we're not talking about hard drugs like heroin and cocaine, we are talking about what young people think is a safe drug. We are talking about pot. If you start smoking pot at the age of 11,12, or 13, you are affecting your future children who are waiting to be born.
30) We need to start thinking ahead. It is almost accepted that there are lots of drugs in the world of rock 'n roll, but there are, many times, even more drugs in classical music. These are incredibly talented young man or woman -- and when In Jin Nim sees the amount of damage that is being done, especially to the girls, in her mind she is fast forwarding two or three decades from now when they will have to suffer the consequences of their actions. By then, 20 or 30 years from now, these women are going to be mature woman wanting to establish beautiful families, wanting to raise healthy children. But, because of what they did before, it will carry on and effect their children later in life.
31) The Youth Concert for In Jin Nim is extremely important. Not only are we emphasizing the importance of having the arts in a young child's education process, not only is it wonderful in that it teaches discipline and the ability to set short-term goals and accomplish long-term goals, but at the same time it gives us the opportunity to set the culture straight, to turn the culture around, and basically say, "We can be all of these great things without the crutches that we have been standing on for so long."
32) Usually when you meet these artists at the end of their life, having gone through the substance abuse, and all the woman and all the men, usually at the end of their lives -- for example John Lennon before he died, he was quoted as saying, "There is nothing like being sober." No amount of drug is going to make you high on life. The only thing that is going to keep us, and continue to keep us high on life, is our relationship with our Heavenly Parent and our relationship with our True Parents.
33) When Father says that music is sacred, it is his call to the young people "respect it." "If you think you are hot, you'd better think God is hotter, because that gift came from God. If you think you are all that, you had better think your Heavenly Parent is all that and more. Because he blessed you with that talent. And so respect your art. Approach it with honor and do not abuse yourself. Know the talent that has been placed in your behalf."
34) The great thing about something like the youth concert, and the need to understand it as something sacred -- when something is sacred and holy, you want to keep it and maintain a certain level of devotion, a level of attendance. That is where discipline kicks in. When you accept that music, art, and literature are forms of art that are sacred -- then you are approaching it with a willingness to go through the discipline to become the kind of an artist you want to be. You are not going to come up on the stage of the Grand (ballroom) winging it. You are going to come up on the stage having practiced. In Jin Nim challenged the young people in the youth concert -- next year when the concert is held -- she wants to hear bands from all the different Districts. And it will be her privilege to produce an album of the first top three bands that she finds to be inspirational.
35) This is a call for you to approach your craft with a heart of humbleness and gratitude and with that determination, "I'm not just going to wing it. I'm not going to just use it to socially interact with people, but understanding that music is a sacred art -- really put myself into it, practice discipline."
36) The word discipline is beautiful, because, In Jin Nim has dealt with a lot of kids who are starting out in classical music -- and the minute they hit the octave scales (and the Russians like to put kids on four octave scales) the kids say they can't. "I can't." But the great thing about discipline, you know, if you tell yourself, if you discipline yourself each and every day a little bit at a time -- the first week the first octave, second week two octaves, next week three octaves, the fourth week four octaves. Before you know it you can overcome one's defeatist attitude -- "I can't, it's too difficult, it's impossible."
37) In a way, the arts, and the importance of understanding discipline, tells the kids, and pushes the kids -- that there is nothing that is impossible. There is nothing that we cannot do. There is nothing that can stand in the way if we decide today that we are going to give ourselves to the discipline.
38) When In Jin Nim thinks of the word discipline -- when she uses it on the kids -- they feel it's scary. It sounds monstrous. But the way In Jin Nim thinks about the word discipline -- it's almost like Ying and Yang, a positive and negative thing. This is a reminder to the parents and herself -- discipline is a way to set your kids on a schedule -- and many times doing the things that are really, really difficult to do -- it's something negative, they don't like to do it, it's distasteful, they would rather do something else. But the great thing about discipline -- it's a system of reinforcement. It's the system of enforcing what needs to be done to take this child from a poor piece of coal, deep in the earth's core and turning it into a brilliant diamond. Yes, there are components of discipline, of enforcing -- making sure they get themselves into gear, that might be painful. But discipline can be very positive and uplifting in the sense that there has to be a balance of the difficult as well as the uplifting, positive reinforcement. So, if a child does his part in practicing 20 or 30 minutes a day, the parents clearly articulate, "Wow, John! Wow, Sarah! You were fantastic!" And don't just leave your kids at "fantastic." Explain why they were fantastic. "You were fantastic because you completed your 20 or 30 minutes of practice." This is discipline, as much as having them sit in a chair and practice for 30 minutes.
39) As a parent we need to help our kids understand a new way of coming to terms with this word. Because actually discipline, a system of reinforcement, is a combination of the difficult and negative with the positive and the uplifting. If we can keep on doing this as parents, reminding them of what they need to do, things that they don't like to do, but also reinforcing with positive compliments -- why they were awesome at doing what they did on a daily basis -- then before you know it the kids will come to expect the best of themselves. They'll come to expect this because they now have a framework in which they can work.
40) A lot of the difficulty with young people, in terms of not being able to stick to something -- a lot of parents tell In Jin Nim, "My kids are really talented in painting." And when In Jin Nim meets them a few months later and asks how the painting is going -- they answer, "Oh, Jane decided to do the computer." Okay, the computer is good, programming is great. "Oh, Jane decided to do horseback riding." That's great too. "Now Jane is doing swimming." This is where parents come in. Children need parents to create a structure, a framework in which they can grow. If you want to plant parsley in a pot, there has to be a pot with soil. You can't just take a handful of soil, stick a seed in there, and say grow! You have to be the pot. The parents have to be the enforcer and the re-enforcer of the positive as well as the difficult things that need to be done to bring the kids to the true virtuosity that we know every child is capable of.
41) This brings us to the third point, which is the importance in consistency. Once the child understands that their art, their journey into this art, is sacred, and they remember that they must approach it with a sense of respect and reverence, with an attitude of humbleness, and they need to engulf themselves in this framework provided by their parents, to go through the way of discipline. (And the parents play a pivotal and crucial role in this. The children cannot do it themselves.) Then there is this point, the importance of consistency. It does not matter how wonderful a framework you provide for your kids, if you don't do it day in and day out, day in and day out, the talent that is inherent in that child will never flower or blossom. In a way, the parents need to help the kids to stay focused, to stay consistent -- consistent with a heart of Cheung Sung -- which means devotion, a certain devotion to what they are doing -- so we are being consistent in our effort, not just so we can feel good about ourselves, but to allow us to partake in this incredible creative force -- to speak the beautiful universal language of music and art. And in order to do that we must be consistent.
42) When we understand that this is the reason why teaching every child, or exposing them to the art, is a wonderful thing, we realize that the lessons learned while they are perfecting and pursuing their art -- lessons of being humble, of understanding discipline, of being consistent -- these are all the traits that are the secret ingredients to anything else in life -- any other relationship in life.
43) When a child starts on the road to becoming a musician or becoming a painter you are starting a relationship with that instrument or with that medium -- be it oil painting, acrylic, or watercolor -- you are starting a relationship and you are approaching that relationship with reverence, a heart of humbleness, understanding that that relationship is going to require a great deal of discipline. And understanding that that relationship, in order for it to be successful, is going to require consistency on your part.
44) These three ingredients can be taken anywhere into any other relationship -- be it a parent-child relationship, the conjugal relationship, brother and sister relationship, or even with our colleagues -- this is what creates winners out of people. In Jin Nim has seen it over and over again. The simple lessons that In Jin Nim learned by pushing and inspiring the kids to devote themselves to the arts, can be a wonderful thing. That is the reason why In Jin Nim started the Youth Concert for World Peace in Japan 10 years ago -- and she is tickled pink that we can do the same in America.
45) Think about it -- here we are living with the philosophy of living for the sake of others -- how beautiful it would be if every year the money that we generate, the money that we raise, because we want to practice -- not just talk about living for the sake of others, but actually practice living for the sake of others -- how beautiful it would be if at every concert we raised money so that we can decide a country of our choice for that year and send that money as a gift from America to the other nations of the world.
46) Mr. Rockefeller said something a while back that was very interesting, "The art of giving starts from the home." The art of giving starts when you are very, very young. Our children need to be encouraged to give, they need to be taught to give. When In Jin Nim has Jaga come up every Sunday (and he does such a fantastic job) and talk about the importance of giving -- that needs to be taught from a very, very young age. And through all the other programs that are developed at headquarters -- that idea, that concept needs to be reinforced at every stage of life. So even as we are so lucky to participate and celebrate our musical expression at this beautiful Hall, the Grand -- initiating the first Youth Concert for World Peace, we must be mindful of how blessed we really are and therefore we should use that occasion to help somebody else in need, to help people who we don't see everyday, but love them nevertheless because we belong to one family.
47) We have a lot of things taking place in our movement, lots of difficulties, lots of exciting things -- and one of the things that moved In Jin Nim so much, was the last time, when True Father called all the managers of True World Food Group to Las Vegas -- there was a big shuffle at their headquarters in New Jersey, and a great deal of pressure was put on them -- of course they would not say "you cannot go," but they made sure that the next morning they had an international meeting -- "so please attend," and it was implied that if they did not attend, their jobs would be on the line. But these managers, these Japanese managers -- and what moved In Jin Nim so greatly was that when Father called them to Las Vegas they do not care if they would have a job when they got back -- they all came except one.
48) When In Jin Nim sees that Japanese spirit, and there were some Westerners there too, when she sees our good members' spirit in really wanting to totally unite with our True Parents, and totally live as one family, really honor our True Parents -- she could not help but be moved. Here they were struggling with their own individual burdens and problems -- dealing with work and the possibility that they might be fired for not showing up for the next round of meetings -- but instead chose to go because Father called. When your parents call you should go, and they came. It was incredibly moving for all of us to realize how much brothers and sisters were united with our True Parents.
49) Can you imagine how much comfort they gave to True Parents. In Jin Nim believes that something like that, a heartistic foundation of unity -- something like that is really going to translate and be taken back to the country of Japan. Even as Japan struggles with the aftermath of the tsunami, In Jin Nim knows that that kind of heartistic unity is a great preparation for many, many great things to take place in Japan and also in America.
50) So, in a way, this youth concert is a great opportunity to link what we've been doing in Japan for the last 10 years -- to America. In the spirit of cooperation, in the spirit of unity, inspire our youth to really be the giants, the ones who will usher in this new millennium as a member of the generation of peace. Now that, brothers and sisters, is something incredibly exciting.
51) The Good Book reminds us in Psalms 55:22 "Give your burdens unto the Lord." Give up your burdens unto the Lord, just like those managers did. When Father calls for heartistic unity, when Father teaches us a sublime understanding of what it is to be a true artist, by introducing the word sacred and the whole heartistic understanding of what we need to be, Father is reminding us -- we are all divine beings. We have this ability to channel truelove, one of the most powerful things in the universe. It is incredible how you don't need a language to understand what love is. And music, you don't need a language to understand it -- it doesn't matter if you are German, from the Amazon forest, or from the North Pole hanging out with the Eskimos -- everybody understands music and everybody understands love.
52) Brothers and sisters, let us remember what Father meant when he said, "Understand our lives, our loves, and our art as something sacred." And, regardless of how difficult life might be, and for many of us in the room the most difficult relationships are sometimes parent and child, dealing with our children, helping them through the difficult times. But come high or low we have got to know that we are not alone, and God is always with us, God is watching after our kids. God is watching after all of us so give your cares and burdens unto the Lord.
53) There was this great song a wild back that said, "Don't worry, be happy!" Whenever In Jin Nim heard that song, when she heard that "Don't worry, be happy!" (And it was a favorite of many Japanese sisters too). Worry is something that burdens, it's something heavy. But "worry" in Korean means Divine Principle. So when you are a grief stricken, when you are overcome with the burdens of the world, remember that we have this thing called the Divine Principle that teaches us that we are divine beings, eternal sons and daughters of God and we were put here for greatness. We were put here to honor our Heavenly Parent and our True Parents with our lives.
54) So give your burdens unto the Lord, because the Lord will always take care of you.
55) God bless you! Have a wonderful Sunday!