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World Scripture Ⅱ
Part One - God and Creation
Chapter 2 Truth and Universal Law
6) Duality
Duality is a consistent theme throughout the cosmos. All existing beings display duality or polarity: male and female, light and dark, heaven and earth, mind and body, subject and object, the self and the whole, being and non-being. The dynamic interactions between these poles are a source of generative and creative power. This is seen in the regular cycles of nature, the alternation of day and night, and the changing seasons. Duality is portrayed mythically by the cosmic union of god and goddess, and recognized by science in the electromagnetic interactions that construct atoms and molecules. Some religions, notably Confucianism and Taoism, regard the polarity of yang (masculine) and yin (feminine) as a governing principle of nature, one that can instruct human beings on the proper way of life.
Father Moon devotes considerable attention to duality, which he develops into a systematic relational ontology. He observes the interactions in nature and sees in them the basis for the principle of altruism; as giving precedes receiving in all successful relationships. Even the forces of repulsion in nature have the effect of reducing threesomes to twosomes, thus protecting the realm of creative and loving relationships that duality provides. On that basis, he also critiques the Marxist dialectic for teaching a flawed conception of reality, rooted in conflict.
1. The Duality of Masculine and Feminine
Religious scriptures
And all things We have created by pairs, that you may receive instruction.
Qur’an 51.49
All things are twofold, one opposite the other, and He has made nothing incomplete. One confirms the good things of the other, and who can have enough of beholding His glory?
Ecclesiasticus 42.24-25 (Christianity)
The Originator of the heavens and the earth; He has appointed for you of yourselves spouses, and pairs also of the cattle, by means of which He multiplies you.
Qur’an 42.11
The Great Primal Beginning generates the two primary forces [yang and yin]. The two primary forces generate the four images. The four images generate the eight trigrams. The eight trigrams determine good fortune and misfortune. Good fortune and misfortune create the great field of action.
I Ching, Great Commentary 1.11.5-6 (Confucianism)
The Creator, out of desire to procreate, devoted Himself to concentrated ardor (tapas). Whilst thus devoted to concentrated ardor, He produced a couple, Matter and Life (prana), saying to Himself, “these two will produce all manner of creatures for me.” Now Life is the Sun; Matter is the Moon.
Prasna Upanishad 1.4-5 (Hinduism)
By the transformation of Yang and its union with Yin, the five agents arise: water, fire, wood, metal and earth. When these five forces are distributed in harmonious order, the four seasons run their course. The five agents constitute the system of Yin and Yang, and Yin and Yang constitute one Great Ultimate.
Chou Tun-i, Explanation of the Diagram of the Great Ultimate (Confucianism)
Mujahid said, “God has created all things in pairs: He created man and woman, heaven and earth, sun and moon, night and day, light and dark, mankind and jinn, good and evil, morning and evening, also all different kinds of foods and winds and sounds. God has made all these as signs of His greatness.”
Al-Qurtubi, Al-Thuriat Surat 17 (Islam)
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 1.27
“Male and female He created them.” From this we learn that every figure that does not comprise male and female elements is not a true and proper figure… Observe this: God does not place His abode in any place where male and female are not found together, nor are blessings found save in such a place.
Zohar 1.55b (Judaism)
All life, all pulsation in creation throbs with the mighty declaration of the truth of Shiva-Shakti, the eternal He and the eternal She at play in manifestation.
Kularnava Tantra 3 (Hinduism)
When the upper world was filled and became pregnant, it brought forth two children together, a male and a female, these being heaven and earth after the supernal pattern. The earth is fed from the waters of heaven which are poured into it. These upper waters, however, are male, whereas the lower are female, and the lower are fed from the male and the lower waters call to the upper, like a female that receives the male, and pour out water to meet the water of the male to produce seed.
Zohar 1.29b (Judaism)
The Innate is twofold, for Wisdom is the woman and Means is the man. Thereafter these both become twofold, distinguished as relative and absolute. In man there is this twofold nature: the thought of enlightenment [relative] and the bliss arising from it [absolute]; in woman too it is the same, the thought of enlightenment and the bliss arising from it.
Hevajra Tantra 8.26-29 (Buddhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The entire world of being exists in a pair system. Human beings exist as men and women, and animals as male and female. Insects also exist as male and female. So do butterflies, birds, ants, and even minerals. The 107 elements do not come together randomly; when one element finds another that can be its reciprocal partner, nothing can stop them from uniting. But not even God can bring together two positives that repel each other. If there is a reciprocal quality between two things, they will come together automatically, and nothing can stop them.
(203:353, June 28, 1990)
When we study the universe, we see that all beings exist by forming reciprocal relationships between masculine (yang) and feminine (yin). This holds in all cases. On the level of minerals, the bonding of positive and negative ions forms molecules. In plants, existence and propagation occur through the cooperation of pistil and stamen.
This duality is even more pronounced in animals. Birds, mammals, and all other types of animals exist as male and female. Finally, we human beings, who are God’s highest creation, are differentiated as men and women. The first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, were the first ancestors of humankind.
For what purpose did God create the universe with duality? The Creator separated all things into masculine and feminine so that the two could join by giving and receiving love. All species increase their numbers and carry on life through acts of love. (201:204-05, April 9, 1990)
The universe emerged out of relationships— between up and down, right and left, and front and back. Therefore, from insects to animals and humans, heaven and earth exist in a pair system. Even the five sensory organs exist in a pair system. So do the hands, feet, mind and body (however our mind and body are not united as one, and this is a most critical problem). Our eyes blink together. Our nostrils breathe together. Our lips move together when we speak. Sound resonates in both ears when we hear. We use both hands to make things. We cannot walk with one foot alone but require two feet. Everything in the universe needs a partner in order to function and act. Nothing can function alone. Hence, a being by itself cannot resemble God.
(391:174, August 21, 2002)
When God created, He worked centering on human beings. With human beings as His model, He expanded the creation in all directions. Hence, He created all creatures—minerals, plants, and animals— in pairs. The act of creation proceeded by weaving together in pairs the vertical paths and the horizontal paths. Some moved straight, some in a zigzag, others engaged in all manner of actions, but all were arranged in a pair system to create the natural world. It is teaching material for people to learn about ideal love.
(173:211)
Inside the seed of a plant are two parts in a reciprocal relationship. The two are completely one inside a single shell. They engage in give and take action through the embryo in order to propagate life. In an egg, too, there is an embryo between yolk and white, and they form one body within the single shell. The same is true for the human fetus. Whether human beings or plants, life forms through a harmonious union of subject and object partners by means of give-and-take action. These multiply in a way that resembles their causal being, thus connecting to the foundation of their existence. Ultimately we resemble the First Cause. Therefore, the First Cause must be the basic model, with subject and object partners forming a perfect harmonious union, and having the status of Subject Partner in relation to all beings. (89:226, November 27, 1976)
Even though a person may have many possessions, many children and great power, there is no joy if he or she lives alone. Likewise, although God is the Subject and the Absolute Being, without a partner He also is lonely. Why did God create heaven and earth? God is the Absolute Subject, but He cannot experience joy as long as He remains alone. Joy cannot be experienced alone; it arises only in the context of a relationship. Peace, too, and happiness, only exist in the context of relationships. For this reason, God cannot function as God as long as He is alone.
(58:210, June 11, 1972)
Throughout the universe, love is something that no being can possess by itself. Once a being meets its counterpart, however, and they relate with love, they can obtain all the things that love provides. For example, even though a couple may love children, until they have children of their own, they cannot experience parental love. They cannot become the owners of the kind of love that parents have for their children. From this perspective, we can understand why God created human beings and the universe: He created them as His object partners in order to realize true love. All types of love—including the love of children, love of siblings, love of husband and wife, and love of parents—come about through the unity of subject and object partners. Once subject and object partners become one, nothing can separate them. If they could be divided, we could not say that true love is indestructible. Among married couples, there should not be even the thought of divorce.
(True Family and World Peace, March 14, 1999)
God created everything in complementary pairs so that they could receive God’s true love. God wanted them to receive this one love as a partnership. If a man and a woman perfect God’s love, embody God’s love, and share that love with each other from the same ground of complementarity as God, then they will definitely become an ideal couple.
(26:155-56, October 25, 1969)
For the sake of love, God created human beings as His partners. God created all things in the universe in pairs so that God’s love may be eternal, man’s love may be eternal, woman’s love may be eternal, and children’s love may be eternal. They are all God’s family; hence they should be eternal.
(201:193, April 1, 1990)
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