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Part Three - The Path of Life
Chapter 13. Love
3) Sacrificial Love
2. Enduring Life’s Hardships and Sorrows to Help People in Need
World Scripture
The believer who participates in human life, exposing himself to its torments and suffering, is worth more than the one who distances himself from its suffering. Hadith of Ibn Majah (Islam)
One who stays in the shade does not know the sun’s heat.9 Igala Proverb (African Traditional Religions)
A man should share in the distress of the community, for so we find that Moses, our teacher, shared in the distress of the community. Talmud, Taanit 11a (Judaism)
And as he sat at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Matthew 9.10-12
If I have to be reborn I should wish to be born as an ‘untouchable’, so that I may share their sorrows, sufferings and the affronts leveled at them, in order that I may free myself and them from that miserable condition. Mohandas K. Gandhi (Hinduism)
It is not always physical bravery that counts. One must have the courage to face life as it is, to go through sorrows and always sacrifice oneself for the sake of others. Kipsigis Saying (African Traditional Religions)
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me.” Romans 15.1-3
Those who are morally well adjusted look after those who are not; those who are talented look after those who are not. That is why people are glad to have good fathers and elder brothers. If those who are morally well adjusted and talented abandon those who are not, then scarcely an inch will separate the good from the depraved. Mencius IV.B.7 (Confucianism)
A bodhisattva resolves, “I take upon myself the burden of all suffering; I am resolved to do so; I will endure it. I do not turn or run away, do not tremble, am not terrified, nor afraid, do not turn back or despond. “And why? At all costs I must bear the burdens of all beings. In that, I do not follow my own inclinations. I have made the vow to save all beings. All beings I must set free. The whole world of living beings I must rescue from the terrors of birth, of old age, of sickness, of death and rebirth, of all kinds of moral offense, of all states of woe… My endeavors do not merely aim at my own deliverance. For with the help of the boat of the thought of all-knowledge, I must rescue all these beings from the stream of Samsara, which is so difficult to cross… I myself must grapple with the whole mass of suffering of all beings. To the limit of my endurance I will experience in all the states of woe, found in any world system, all the abodes of suffering… “And why? Because it is surely better that I alone should be in pain than that all these beings should fall into the states of woe. Therefore I must give myself away as a pawn through which the whole world is redeemed from the terrors of hells, of animal birth, of the world of Death, and with this my own body I must experience, for the sake of all beings, the whole mass of painful feelings. And on behalf of all beings I give surety for all beings, and in doing so I speak truthfully, am trustworthy, do not go back on my word. I must not abandon all beings.”10 Sikshasamuccaya 280-81, Vajradhvaja Sutra (Buddhism)
“I should be a hostel for all sentient beings, to let them escape from all painful things. I should be a protector for all sentient beings, to let them all be liberated from all afflictions. I should be a refuge for all sentient beings, to free them from all fears… “I should accept all sufferings for the sake of sentient beings, and enable them to escape from the abyss of immeasurable woes of birth and death. I should accept all suffering for the sake of all sentient beings in all worlds, in all states of misery, forever and ever, and still always cultivate foundations of goodness for the sake of all beings. Why? I would rather take all this suffering on myself than to allow sentient beings to fall into hell. I should be a hostage to those perilous places—hells, animal realms, the nether world—as a ransom to rescue all sentient beings in states of woe and enable them to gain liberation. “I vow to protect all sentient beings and never abandon them. What I say is sincerely true, without falsehood. Why? Because I have
set my mind on enlightenment in order to liberate all sentient beings; I do not seek the unexcelled Way for my own sake.” Garland Sutra 23 (Buddhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
To reach the Kingdom of Heaven, you must pass through hell. (Way of God’s Will 1.8)
Love always requires sacrifice, and it also requires overcoming. (46:35, July 18, 1971)
In my student days, whenever I came home from school I would change my student uniform for a laborer’s clothes and go out to do menial labor. It was not because I lacked for money, but because I wanted to experience the life of a laborer. I carried coal, worked on the docks and as a farmhand. I experienced every sort of job, to learn everything about suffering and joys of working people. I thought it my responsibility to liberate them all. (37:35-36, December 22, 1970)
To bring happiness to this unhappy, chaotic world, we should conquer a path of misery and unhappiness. That means we have to taste the bottom of human misery. The only way we can liberate the misery of the world is by leading an even more miserable life. If this way did not bring results, we would have to say that God does not exist. I walked the path of abuse and persecution throughout my life for this very reason. I determined that I would walk this path throughout my life. How would you fare in such miserable circumstances? Are you someone who can stand, determined to do the will of God, and say, “Follow me! I am not discouraged, but full of joy”? If so, then you can bring real happiness to the people in that wretched place. The people we respect as saints, heroes, patriots and exemplary women all became famous, historical figures only after enduring such circumstances. America’s patriots tasted the misery of the nation’s travails and fought bravely to establish the nation at the risk of their lives. All the saints of this world, and all God’s sons and daughters, have done likewise. (91:287, February 27, 1977)
The law of priority of the universal and public upholds and protects people who sacrifice themselves for the whole. It eliminates people who only pursue their own benefit and hate to sacrifice. (105:91-92, September 30, 1979)
Some religious people pray, “Please let me go to the Kingdom of Heaven.” Those people are frauds. The proper attitude is this: a wife thinks to send her husband to the Kingdom of Heaven first and follow him there later. It is wrong if she thinks she alone deserves to enter the Kingdom while abandoning her husband. Likewise, a son thinks to send his parents and siblings to the Kingdom of Heaven first and only afterwards to enter himself. A loyal citizen would not want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven until he has sent his entire nation there first, even all the people of the world. Those who would first liberate God before they enjoy the delights of the Kingdom of Heaven are people who resemble Jesus. Their desire is in line with the Messiah’s responsibility. The Messiah does not think, “I must quickly enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” He works to send individuals, families, tribes, peoples, nations and the world to the Kingdom of Heaven. He even strives to liberate all the denizens of hell and send them to the Kingdom of Heaven, because he is determined to carry all the sadness of God on his shoulders.
The Messiah never dreams of living happily in the Kingdom of Heaven alone. He is willing to enter the Kingdom only after he has liberated all humankind on earth and all the inmates of hell, because he knows God’s sorrow. God does not feel comfortable to see hell. By creating the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in heaven, the Messiah will release God from having to see hell. Only when he knows that God can relax upon seeing the work of salvation completely finished, will the Messiah enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (188:283-84, March 1, 1989)
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