The initial warm hospitality shown to me by Americans beganto grow cold, even hostile. They cynically questioned how a
religious leader from Korea, an insignificant country that had
barely survived hunger and war, could dare call on Americans to repent.
It was not just Americans who opposed me. The reaction from
the Japanese Red Army, in league with international communists,
was particularly strong. They were even caught by the FBI trying
to sneak into the workshop center in Boston where I often stayed.
There were so many attempts to harm me that my children could
not attend school without the presence of bodyguards. Because of
the continued threats on my life, I spoke from behind bulletproof
glass for a period.
Despite such opposition, the lecture series by the small-eyed man from
the Orient gathered more and more interest. People began to listen to the
teachings, which were completely different from what they had heard until
then. The content of the lectures dealing with the fundamental principles of the
universe and seeking to reawaken the founding spirit of America was a breath
of fresh air for Americans who had fallen into the hell of immorality and sloth.
Americans experienced a revolution of consciousness through my
lectures. Young people began to follow me, calling me “Father Moon”
or “Reverend Moon” and cutting their shoulder-length hair and their
scruffy beards. When appearances change, minds also change. So God
began to enter into the hearts of young people who had been immersed
in alcohol and drugs.
The lectures were attended by a variety of young people, transcending
denominations. When I would interrupt my sermons to ask, “Are
there any Presbyterians here?” many young people would wave their
hands, saying, “Here. Here.” If I asked, “Are there any Catholics?” hands
would go up again. When I asked, “How about Southern Baptists?”
many people would again answer, “Me. Me.”
“Why do you come to hear me instead of going to hear a sermon in
your own religion?” I asked. “Go home and go to your own church to
hear God’s word.”
When I said this, the audience responded, “We want to hear Reverend
Moon!”
More and more people began gathering, and even some ministers
of Presbyterian and Baptist churches came, bringing with them the
young people of their churches. As time went on, Reverend Moon
became an icon representing a revolution of consciousness in
American society.
I taught American young people how to endure difficulty. I thoroughly
taught them the principle that a person must be able to rule himself before
he can rule the universe. My teachings provided a new inspiration to American
young people living in an age of confusion. They shouted in agreement
with my message of sexual purity and true families. The reception was so
enthusiastic that it made me sweat with excitement as well.
“Do you want to bear the cross of pain?” I asked them. “No one
wants to go the way of the cross. Your heart may want to go that way,
but your body says ‘No!’ Just because something is pleasing to the eye
doesn’t mean it is good for the heart. There are many things that look
good, but an examination of their inner aspect shows them to be evil.
If you catch yourself seeking after only things pleasing to the eye and
try following that path, you must immediately stop yourself and say,
‘You rascal!’ Also, if you feel the desire to eat only things pleasing to
the mouth, you must scold your body, saying, ‘You rascal,’ and block
yourself. You young people are attracted to the opposite sex, aren’t you?
In this case, too, you must make a strong stand against such urges. If
a person cannot control himself, he cannot do anything in this world.
Consider that if you break down, the universe will break down.”
I was teaching them the motto that I had followed as a young man,
which was “Before seeking to rule the universe, first perfect your ability
to rule yourself.” America had great wealth and had become obsessed
with material goods. I stood in the midst of this material civilization
and talked about matters of the mind and heart. The mind cannot be
seen with the eye or held in the hand. Yet, we clearly are ruled by our
minds. Without our minds, we are nothing. Then I talked about true
love, God-centered love, which should guide the mind. I said that true
freedom can be enjoyed only when we have a clear understanding of
ourselves based on a foundation of true love and are able to exercise
self-control.
I taught them the value of labor. Labor is not suffering but creation.
The reason a person can work all his life and be happy is that labor is
connected to God’s world. The labor that people perform is nothing
more than taking things that God created and shaping them in different
ways. If you think that you are making something to give to God as a
memento, then labor is not something to think of in a negative way.
Many American young people were so steeped in the affluent life provided
to them by their materialistic civilization that they didn’t know
the joy of working. So I taught them to work with joy.
I also awoke in them the joy of loving nature. The young people were
caught up in the immoral culture of the cities and enslaved in selfish
lives, so I talked to them about the preciousness of nature. Nature is
given to us by God. God speaks to us through nature. It is a sin to destroy
nature for the sake of a moment of enjoyment or an insignificant
amount of money. The nature that we destroy eventually will make its
way back to us in the form of poison and make life difficult for our descendants.
We need to go back to nature and listen to what nature tells
us. I told the young people of America that when we open our hearts
and listen to what nature is saying, we can hear the word of God.
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