The Temple of God Human beings are meant to be the living temples of God. At the creation of man God injected a special element of His Spirit that endows the human mind with divine qualities, such as love, creativity, and the desire for the eternal. God wants to make His home in human beings. With the Spirit of God resonating with the mind, the body sees, hears and acts as God would see, hear and act. By thus acting on behalf of the formless and invisible God, human beings are sanctified, and through them God is able to sanctify others. In Hinduism and other eastern faiths, this indwelling presence of Ultimate Reality is called the Self or Atman. However, most people live in ignorance of the Self, and they live entirely from egoistic motives. To misconstrue the personal ego as the Holy Spirit would be a serious error and even a mark of insanity. For Father Moon, we are like temples that suffered desecration due to the tragedy of the human fall. God’s Spirit cannot dwell in fallen people. Originally, Adam and Eve were to become temples of God and act as God’s earthly body to beautify this world and transform it into a Garden of Eden. Jesus came as God’s temple; therefore he could reveal God in his person. Through God’s grace and human efforts at restoration, we too can attain the position of God’s temples. Religious scriptures Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3.16 Let a man always consider himself as if the Holy One dwells within him. Talmud, Ta’anit 11b (Judaism) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Galatians 2.20 Heaven and earth contain Me not, but the heart of my faithful servant contains Me. Hadith of Suhrawardi (Islam) Just as God fills the whole world, so the soul fills the body. Just as God sees but is not seen, so the soul sees but is not itself seen. Just as God feeds the whole world, so the soul feeds the whole body. Just as God is pure, so the soul is pure. Just as God dwells in the innermost precincts [of the Temple], so also the soul dwells in the innermost part of the body. Talmud, Berakot 10a (Judaism) When I love him, I am his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. 40 Hadith of an-Nawawi 38 (Islam) I have breathed into man of My spirit. Qur’an 15.29 The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2.7 Smaller than the smallest, greater than the greatest, this Self forever dwells within the hearts of all. When a man is free from desire, his mind and senses purified, he beholds the glory of the Self and is without sorrow. Though seated, he travels far; though at rest, he moves all things. Who but the purest of the pure can realize this Effulgent Being, who is joy and who is beyond joy. Formless is he, though inhabiting form. In the midst of the fleeting he abides forever. All-pervading and supreme is the Self. The wise man, knowing him in his true nature, transcends all grief. Katha Upanishad 1.2.20-22 (Hinduism) Bright but hidden, the Self dwells in the heart. Everything that moves, breathes, opens, and closes lives in the Self. He is the source of love and may be known through love but not through thought. He is the goal of life. Attain this goal! The shining Self dwells hidden in the heart. Everything in the cosmos, great and small, lives in the Self. He is the source of life, truth beyond the transience of this world. He is the goal of life. Attain this goal! Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.1-2 (Hinduism) The rich build temples to Shiva, What shall I, a poor man, do? O my Lord! my legs are the pillars, My torso, the shrine, And my head, the golden pinnacle! Things standing shall fall, But the moving ever shall stay! Basavanna, Vacana 820 (Hinduism) Abdullah bin Omar saw the Messenger (PBUH) walking around the Ka’ba saying, “How blessed you are, O Ka’ba, and your fragrant wind. How great, how great is your sacredness! By Allah, owner of my soul, to Allah the sacredness of a believer has greater holiness than you.” Sunnan Ibn Majah5 2.3932 (Islam) Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. And every man whose spirit receives not the light is under condemnation. For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy; and when separated, man cannot receive a fullness of joy. The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple. Doctrine and Covenants 93.29-35 (Latter-day Saints) Teachings of Sun Myung Moon A human being is a temple of God, and inside that temple dwells a mind which is a microcosm of the infinite God. (107:172, April 27, 1980) First Corinthians 3:16 says: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” If you enter into a deep mystical state, you will recognize this to be true. If you ask, “Heavenly Father, where are you?” God will answer you from the original root of your mind. (362:190, December 12, 2001) As written in I Corinthians 3:16, Adam and Eve were created as the dwelling place of God, as holy temples. What of God was to dwell within them? God’s love was to dwell within those holy temples. As God’s temples [had they not fallen], Adam and Eve would be God’s body. When they loved each other, it would be God loving through them as His body. This is the secret of the universe. (161:44, January 1, 1987) Had there been no Fall, God would be dwelling in our hearts and we would be His temples… Our faces would express God’s pure joy. We would see things with God’s eyes and for God’s sake; we would listen with God’s ears and for God’s sake; we would feel with God’s touch for God’s sake; we would speak on God’s behalf, and so on. Everything we did and thought would be an expression of the living God inside us. (95:247, December 4, 1977) Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, God has been hoping to find men and women who could empathize with God’s heart, be united in God’s heart, and be the temples in which God can dwell. (3:298, January 26, 1958) Jesus’ mind and body were not simply his own. His mind was the mind of God. His body was not his, but God’s. Also, Jesus’ words were not his own, but were the law of Heaven, representing God’s Will and the hope of all humankind. Jesus came to this earth as God’s substantial temple, as the divine Word, and as the representative who could sit on God’s throne. (3:264, January 12, 1958) The relationship between God and a person who has attained individual perfection can be compared to that between the mind and the body. The body is the dwelling place of the mind and moves according to the mind’s direction. Likewise, God abides within the mind of a fully mature person. Such a person becomes a temple of God and leads his life in harmony with His Will. A perfect individual is fully attuned to God, just as the body resonates with the mind. For this reason it is written, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (I Cor. 3.16) and “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14.20) A person who has perfected his individual character becomes a temple of God, and the Holy Spirit abides within him. Living in oneness with God, he acquires a divine nature. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 1.1.1) When you go to bed and your head is snuggled into the pillow, have you ever thought, “Ah, I am sleeping with God”? Have you ever thought, “I feel so good that God is sleeping next to me”? And then in the morning as you wake up and get out of bed, do you say to yourself, “Wake up, God! Oh, You are already awake. Good morning, Father”? You should live with the feeling that when you wake up, God is already awake, ready to greet you. (92:153, April 1, 1977) Each human being can contain the entire universe. Therefore, prepare a space within yourself where God can come and take a nap, comfortably stretching His legs. Become a person within whom God can feel completely free. Though he kicks and stretches, he feels no walls or obstructions. If you are like that, you can be God’s temple. Knowing this, you should love yourself and respect yourself as the temple of God that you are. (125:101, March 13, 1983) A human being has a body and a definite shape, while the invisible God has no shape or body. However, without having a body, God cannot reign over the spiritual and physical worlds. God also needs a substantial body in order to manifest as the Parent of humankind. God created Adam and Eve to manifest Himself through these substantial beings. Thus, unfallen Adam and Eve were not only to be the progenitors of the human race; they were also to be God’s substantial body through which He could reign over heaven and earth. They were responsible to exercise dominion over the world on behalf of God in the position of parents. (133:91- 92, July 10, 1984) God has no shape or form. Even in the spirit world, you cannot see God. The reason why God created Adam centering on love is because this created world around us has form. [Through Adam], God was to become a Father with a form. As a result of God becoming a Father possessing form, that which is invisible and that which is visible are united into one. This, in turn, symbolizes the unity of the universe. Thus, God created Adam and Eve so that He could take on form. So, what is the decisive element in His taking on form? This can only be love. Adam and Eve came into the world with an appearance such that they could have a form resembling God’s external aspect. In that case, the features of Adam and Eve would have been elevated to the palace and the throne of the Kingdom of Heaven. God would have then dwelled within the hearts of this king and queen, and from there He would have ruled over the physical world and the invisible world. This would have created God’s Kingdom—a kingdom of love. Only love can bring spirit and flesh together. Nothing else will suffice. (143:93-94, March 16, 1986) |