I have known the unification movement for over three decades now. Back in those days I had joined the Unification Church, a major institution in the movement at that time.

Though I believe it has some of the best people of the world in it, I never really liked the movement very much. On the long term the way it ran the lives of its members turned me off. However, to a certain degree we all accepted its top-down, at (many) times coercive leadership style, because it resulted from the teaching. It was okay for some time.

That said, this site is not so much about the Unification Movement. It is also about Sun Myung Moon, ‘the old man’, who founded the Unification Church in the fifties of the last century – plus a plethora of other organizations.

Sun Myung Moon’s vision flows out of an awareness of an  ongoing divine providence, guided by a living God. His teaching about God and eternal life is ‘down to earth’. I know that he is living in the presence of God. That is my experience.

Recently, I heard Chung Hwan Kwak, the second in command in the unification movement, quote him about God’s involvement in history. Kwak had voiced concerns about modified tactics of the North Korean communists and its possible repercussions on South Korea. The old man allegedly said something like, ‘Don’t worry. History is guided by God. Especially here in Korea. Nothing like that will happen’.

Wishful thinking? Speculation? Here is another example, a statement made in 1972 in Paris, France:

“. . . - communism will fall in it’s 70th year. Here is the meaning of the year 1978. Communism, begun in 1917, could maintain itself approximately 60 years and reach its peak. So 1978 is the borderline and afterward communism will decline; in the 70th year it will be alltogether ruined.”¹

I have not attended the speech myself, but I read it in 1979. The quote can be found in a book which was printed in 1985. I did the math: 1917+60 = 1977, 1917 + 70 = 1977 + 10 = 1987.

The statement was made in the middle of the cold war, when most people thought that communism will last forever. At the time of me reading it, Chernenko just had kicked the bucket and Andropov had taken his place. Still, at that time communism looked alive and well. Then, in 1989 I saw the East Germans stand on the Wall in Berlin with pick axes, taking it down piece by piece, while the East German police stood by, watching. I remembered the quote again.

One night, just a few weeks later, still in 1989, I crossed the East German border near Dresden by car. We were five people. In the back of the car, sleeping, was a Polish woman, with a refugee passport issued by the French government. A few weeks earlier we would all have gone to prison there, may be worse. Now the border guards just wanted 5 German marks to put a stamp into her passport.

Sun Myung Moon has never been shy about his vision of the future, no matter how audacious. He sees a bright future. The exact way ahead depends on the cooperation of humans with a divine providence, but there seems to be no doubt in his mind that good is getting the upper hand.

His teaching is not religious. It is spiritual. It is empowering, revolutionary beyond comparison. It is a revolution of the mind, of concepts,  that give highest value, divinity to every human being.

As a matter of fact, the old man always maintained, that religion is a temporary phenomenon whose end has come. He talks about humans developing their spirituality, independent of religions, in direct cooperation with their spirit, the spirit world and God.

"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 only Lord.”

Ask your mind if God is dwelling in you, and it will tell you. 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. You will thoroughly prepare 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 participate in establishing the Peace Kingdom on the levels of the individual, family, nation and world. This is God's most earnest desire.”²

In the old man’s eyes there is a future where no mediator between human beings and God is necessary - at least nobody else than our fellow human beings and the things of the universe. He calls that world the ‘kingdom of heaven’. All limitations between God and humans are removed. It is a relationship like that between mind and body. Thus, human beings themselves are divine, substantial images of the creator, capable of living without a savior and religion.

For some people that’s a scary idea.

“... my followers were content with the light of the lantern, when they could have harnessed the light of the sun.”

the old man

Cool quotes about the man:

Prophet and/or Father
(Herbert Richardson)

Best viewed with: