True love is the origin of existence 27 If their children were in a life-or- death situation, parents would readily expend all their possessions to save them. Considering this, we can see that life is more precious than material things. Then between love and life, which is more valuable? Between husband and wife, if the husband prepared a treasure for his wife with the full investment of his life, she would never tire of it; she would want to keep it for ten thousand years. But if the treasure were given without love, she wouldn't want to keep it. Thus, the value of the treasure depends on the investment of heart. If there were one couple in the universe whose love remained unchanged for ten thousand years, their love would be more precious than life. That is why people sacrifice their life for love. We don’t abandon love for life, but we abandon even life for love. (136-108, 1985.12.22)
28 In this world there are gems such as diamonds and pearls. Why do we call these precious? A diamond is so hard that nothing can corrupt it; thus it has the special nature of being unchanging. A pearl’s elegant sheen never changes for thousands or tens of thousands of years; nothing can compare to it. Why is gold so great? Its golden luster never changes, even for thousands of years. Nothing can surpass that color. Because of the unchanging qualities of these things, people treat them as treasures. But there is something we would never give up, even for these treasures. Such treasures have no life. You would never give up your beloved one’s life for treasure. (136-107, 1985.12.22)
29 The first measure of value in the kingdom of God is love. It is not life, but love. That love is unique, unchanging and eternal. Based on this standard, all value is decided. Since God holds that highest standard, it has very naturally become the decisive standard. When God says, “That person is a man of character,” or “She is a valuable person,” His assessment is based on this standard. (099-063, 1978.07.23)
30 The common denominator for all beings is life. Life comes from love. So love is more valuable than life. Who is closer to the center, someone who is willing to sacrifice his love to sustain his life, or someone who is willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of love? Who is closer to the truth? The one who sacrifices his life to attain love is closer to the center and closer to the truth. This is because the one willing to sacrifice love for his life is self-centered, whereas the one willing to sacrifice his life for love is not. (174-015, 1988.02.23)
31 Love subjugates life. Love has the power to change the direction of life from right to left. But life cannot dominate love. Then what about God, the subject partner of life and of love? Even God is vulnerable in the face of love. Even though God is the absolute standard of life itself, when He faces a love stronger than His love, He submits to that love. If there is a power that can move the power of life, it is the power of love. (48-149, 1971.09.12)
32 What is true love? In this human world, since we have never seen God, we say we don’t know. True love is stronger than a mother’s love for her child, stronger than the burning passion of first love, that explosive power that rushes in, oblivious to even a life-or-death situation. The love of parents, who will sacrifice their own lives to protect their children from death, is connected to Heaven’s love. Heaven’s love begins there. (121-126, 1982.10.24)
33 Even though the omniscient, omnipotent God is the owner of true love, He doesn’t want the root of love to begin with Him. He wants to place the root of love in people who are able to be His partners of love. That is why, even though we associate God with true love, God wants people who can love truly, into whom He can invest everything He has. When God invests, He does not begin with inferior things. He invests the best things first. To God, the best thing of all is true love, so He invests everything in the person who will love with true love. (177-269, 1988.05.20)
34 God was behind the original formation of the universe, but His central motivation was to set up the way of true love. He was not thinking only of Himself. Before God thought of Himself, He invested everything in a second self, a partner that could be the object of His love, and He respected that being. What was to be the substantial result of His love? It was not God Himself but the object partner into which He invested, who was made to bear the fruit of His love. This is an amazing concept. This is the beginning, the origin of the formation of the universe. In short, why did God create heaven and earth? This is a philosophical question. Why did God create heaven and earth? Of course, He created what was good to behold, but more than that, He created heaven and earth to attain a love that is like His love. (177-270, 1988.05.20)
35 There can be no result without a cause. My mind and body came from my parents. Through the love of my mother and father, their two lives combined. Love harmonizes everything. Through true love, my mother’s inner mind and body harmonized with my father’s inner mind and body. The life force spreads out like a fan, and the lineage connects with love at the center. The first cause that led to my existence was not the lives of my mother and father. Rather, it was that the lives of my father and mother connected in love, and I was born through that lineage. From the bone of my father and the blood of my mother, flesh and blood connected, and after ten lunar months in the womb, I was born. I had the power of the life of my parents, linked to their lineage. My origin, the fundamental beginning of “me,” is not myself. My origin is the life of my mother and the life of my father. Preceding life is love, which combines two lives into one. The origin of all beings on earth, the origin of all created beings, is love. (187-044, 1989.01.06)
36 What would have happened if there had been no concept of love when God created Adam and Eve? Adam and Eve were born to manifest the concept of God’s love, expressed from the time of creation as the relationship of convex and concave forms. This is not something that evolved; there is no evolution taking place. The concept of love leads to the existence of male and female, and this fact transcends evolution. (223-021, 1991.11.07)
37 We have three important original palaces: a palace of love, a palace of life and a palace of lineage. The purpose of these original palaces is to unite in perfect oneness. This is possible only through love; there is no other way. The place where they unite is the most secret and most holy. Why did this palace become corrupted? It is because of the Fall. Because of the Fall, the palace of love was destroyed, the palace of life was destroyed, and the palace of lineage was destroyed. In fact, that place was desecrated and became shameful. (228-052, 1992.03.03) |