Breaking the Barrier
by Rev. Sun Myung Moon
December 10, 1978 (Belvedere USA)
Translator – Bo Hi Pak
Edited by esgd
15 minutes
In our world there are many countries and many people living under all different kinds of circumstances. In America alone there are many people, races and cultures and consequently there are many barriers even within this one country. Beyond the level of the nation, there are countless barriers and compartments within each individual. From the individual to the nation, world and beyond to the spirit world, there are all kinds of circumstances and barriers which cannot be solved by their own power. There are tens of thousands of barriers.
Let us concentrate for a moment on ourselves as individuals. Suppose we brought our minds to the top of this water glass so that we could observe their condition. There are many ups and downs, peaks and valleys in your mind. Do you think there is more flat ground or more hilly ground in your mind? There are mostly hills. Where is the peaceful flat ground then? There are all kinds of upheavals in each person’s mind, like volcanic explosions. When a person kills someone or commits a crime it is because an evil explosion occurred in his
mind first.
If Almighty God truly exists and did create man, I don’t think He would have planned for man to have a mind of upheaval like this. When you imagine the ocean, the first thing that may come to your mind is the peaceful flatness of the sea, or you may first think of the crashing waves. Which do you think is the most normal state of the sea? Tranquility is the basic characteristic of water, isn’t it? Because the wind comes against the will of the water, however, upheaval in the form of waves results. Trying to sail through a typhoon is a very serious situation because waves like mountains and valleys batter your boat. One minute you find yourself on top of a huge wave and the next minute diving down into the valley.
The sea resembles the state of a person’s mind; the sea is a symbol of tranquility and calm, but when a wind comes there is upheaval. God created the human mind to be peaceful and tranquil, but different kinds of winds cause disturbances there. Imagine that your mind is an ocean and imagine a loved one walking on the surface of the water. If the surface is rough with all kinds of upheavals then he cannot walk in a normal straight way. If a husband is walking on the surface of his wife’s mind but the terrain is irregular and full of ups and downs, how is he going to make much progress? Would you like to walk through such a mind? If even you women wouldn’t like that, how can you hope that a man would like that? All kinds of phenomena occur as a result of such turbulence.
God is truly the most super-idealistic being. Would He prefer to walk on a mind with a rugged surface or on a smooth, well-organized, peaceful mind? How do you feel riding on a well laid-out highway where the automobile can go smoothly and quickly? When a car is on a smooth surface, it is always eager to go faster. lf there is a God, what kind of highway is He looking for? Where would He like to dwell? God would like to dwell in the mind of His loved ones, and so their minds should be calm and peaceful and full of tranquility. That is the mind God can trust. He wants to dwell in a mind that is peaceful like calm waters.
God is a peaceful person, so if there are many barriers in ourselves and our world where did they come from? The fall of man is the origin of the disturbing turbulence. If there is a rugged surface in your mind, would you want to keep it that way or to smooth it out? Everyone, even little children, wants to have a peaceful mind. But if everyone wants it, why can’t they do it? There is one giant obstacle to calming the mind: oneself. Everyone reasons after centering on himself first. When you see, hear, think and act, either consciously or unconsciously you do these things with yourself at the center. That’s what creates the overwhelming obstacle and until that is changed there is no way you can break down the barriers. The moment you reduce yourself to nothing and move yourself out of the picture, the job will become infinitely easier. When you center upon yourself you are building more and more hills and rugged mountains within your mind. Therefore, the ultimate problem lies within oneself, not somewhere outside. When Jesus was asked where the Kingdom of Heaven can be found, he replied, “It is in the midst of you.” Unless you create the Kingdom of Heaven within your mind, you can’t even think about having it anywhere else.
Don’t you want to open your mind and clean everything up, making it flat and tranquil? Is this an urgent task to be tackled, or can it wait until you have some extra time after eating and sleeping? This is an emergency task. Before you can talk about world peace and solving the problems of society, you must first worry about peace within yourself and between yourself and God. Because the self is creating all the upheavals and barriers, when you remove yourself the surface of your mind will become smoother. So far you have been living for some selfish purpose, but when you fully change your concept of life and start trying to live for others then a typhoon has really blown through your mind.
The greatest puzzle in history is how the name of Jesus, that unknown, uneducated son of a carpenter, became known in every household in the last 2,000 years. Jesus was not well accepted during his lifetime. He didn’t have any formal education and he looked very humble and shabby. He collected friends like fishermen from around the sea of Gallilee and tax collectors and harlots. When Jesus went from village to village with such people, saying shocking and unheard of things, the people thought he was crazy and dangerous. He was finally crucified on the cross.
How could the name of such a man become universally known in 2,000 years? Jesus lived according to God’s formula. He is a universal man in this respect and this is what sets him apart. He was totally and absolutely a public person who embraced the universe. As he was dying on the cross, he even prayed for the Roman soldiers who pierced his side, asking God to forgive them because they didn’t know what they had done. His compassionate mind could embrace not only his own people but also his people’s own enemies.
That is precisely how God has been living through all of history. The philosophies of God and Jesus were absolutely parallel, and after Jesus’ death God raised his name up universally.
We Moonies in the twentieth century actually have a better situation than at the time of Jesus. Did anyone in the Bible charge Jesus with brainwashing? Furthermore, we are an infinitely better off group than the disciples of Jesus. There are no harlots or tax collectors here, though perhaps there is an IRS agent somewhere. Educated, good-looking men and women are following me today. We are not just trotting from one village to another around the desolate sea of Gallilee; we are striding all over the world, from one continent to another. Yes, our external situation is infinitely better, but the most fundamental concern is this: whether we are living the public way of life. Do we have that way of life?
Is it an easy task or a difficult one? How difficult? Do you have the appetite to do it? Ambition can be used for good or evil. Do you have greediness to live the unselfish way of life? Ambition for advancement of the public purpose is noble, while selfish ambition is evil. If you have ambitions for your own sake then you are digging your hell wider and deeper, but if your ambition is for the sake of the world, you are stacking up treasures in heaven. How many years would you like to live for the sake of others? If you are asking yourself this question, you have reached down to the core truth.
Have you really gone out with a compassionate heart? Can you say that you have truly served someone and unselfishly given yourself to some family, some country, or the world? The world is only an expanded version of your family and your country. Your nation is a microcosm of the entire universe. Therefore, when you serve your family you are actually serving the world. When you serve your nation, you are serving the universe. If this concept is always in your mind then you can set the condition while you are here on earth that you really lived and served someone. For that purpose God gave you a husband or wife, and He gave you children. By serving them you have served the universe and mankind. The purpose of having a home is to set this kind of condition. That’s why everyone needs marriage. Everyone needs to have some object whom he can truly love and serve 100 percent. By setting that condition you can come before God and say you have loved mankind and the universe.
In marriage you can set the condition so that you can say, “Heavenly Father, I served this man unselfishly and purely. I loved this person as a representative of the universe and by doing this I broke down all the barriers. There is no racial, cultural or national barrier in my love for this person.” When that couple goes anywhere hand in hand together, there is nothing that can block them. They can go straight into the Kingdom of God in heaven with no obstacles. Wonderful!
Everything you do is dress rehearsal until you meet someone you can serve absolutely. Elementary school children serve their teachers, college students make friends with and serve their professors, all of them respect their parents, and so forth. All of this is preparation for them to give their ultimate service to their fellow man. Everything culminates in service between men and women. Keep in mind that you must serve and give to the people. If you do that then you will become popular. Your teachers and friends will all love you. They will say, “Come to my room. Without you I am very lonely. You are my best friend.” Your professors will say, “Without you my class is a very lonely place. Please don’t be absent.” That’s the practice of serving.
Your home is the stage where you diligently practice for your ultimate service. Society is the stage where we can practice our way of life. It is a most precious time you have here on earth. If you practice that love here on earth then when you are elevated into the spirit world you will find a beautiful spiritual heaven waiting for you. You will also find that there are no barriers to stumble over in spirit world.
The title of my talk is “Breaking the Barrier.” In order to break the barriers in our lives we have to live the totally unselfish way of life. We must demonstrate our life of service, looking at our own home or church as a microcosm of the universe. Our ultimate goal is service to mankind, the universe and God, but we demonstrate it with our neighborhood and with our families.
What I am trying to describe is just how to serve unselfishly and willingly. From now on, after you get blessed and to the end of your life, will you be a person of service?
