Opening Yourself To God - Part I

July 18, 1993

Last night I said that I want to talk to you about how to open yourself up to Me more deeply.
So tonight, and also perhaps the next one or two sessions we share, we should talk about this.
And this is not just for you but this is for more people, so please listen carefully and make
sure that the tape is right and that no mistakes are made as you transcribe this.

There are many things to say and it isn't easy to say them all in a few minutes. "H" (husband)
should have done some homework to do a little bit of thinking back and forth with Me about
how to organize this talk. As you know, I am not just speaking through "H" as if he were a
dumb kind of loudspeaker. I'm asking him to cooperate with Me and to truly work together;
that is the joy of the fatherchild relationship. So perhaps he still has some concept that all he
has to do is open his mouth and then everything will just come out. There is a joy, of course,
in feeling that power beyond yourself guide your tongue, but, on the other hand, there is a joy
for Me to see when My son or daughter can do some preparation. It's the same joy you felt
when your oldest son thought about your heart and already did some work in the kitchen that
you hadn't even mentioned to him yet. Right? So this is the same in our relationship.

Again and again I must say this is a family style of relationship. This is the Age of the True
Family and this means not just Reverend Moon and his family but, ultimately, the entire
world and all of the families of the world as they relate to Me.

You remember last year I already told you that this is the time, on the foundation of much
historical indemnity, that you can open up to Me and I can come to you very directly in terms
of your prayer life and even in your daily active life. So as I share with you tonight, please
remember that this kind of sharing was not always possible. Because of the work that has
been done by the True Parents and because of the time of the Providence, there is much more
cooperation from the high spiritual realms. There is still much confusion in the lower realms
of the spiritual world just like there is in this world. But in the higher realms that do relate
more directly with Me there is a lot of support for you as you reach out toward Me. This is
one invisible hand that is helping you as you seek to build this relationship, and you should
always feel gratitude to really recognize that support. Historically the direct relationship with
Me was not always possible. As you know, confession in the Catholic church was done
through the priest and oftentimes the church elders in the Catholic or Protestant churches have
served as the counselors, the path makers or the guides for the younger members or less
experienced members. But, again, this is the time when each of you needs a much more direct
relationship with Me. Truly, this can be a source of counsel, encouragement, inspiration,
wisdom, strength, courage, and even practical guidance day by day, as you know from our
experience this past year.

So it's a different time right now. Religion in the old kind of form is not attractive to people,
and that's one reason why America, for example, has in many ways lost its hunger for the
church. Of course people are always hungry for Me whether they admit it or not, whether they
put it in those words or not; but if the church does not keep up with the depth of that hunger,
people are not so interested in the church anymore, and they are reaching more deeply. The
very confusion and upheaval in America today, if you look at one positive aspect, is that
people are sincerely, deeply seeking something more. Their original mind is no longer happy
with what, perhaps, used to satisfy them - religious guidance from their minister, and so on -
but they are looking for something more.
Now this doesn't just mean you have a bunch of saints walking around looking for God. On
the other hand, if you look, there is so much immorality, so many crazy things going on, and
yet I look at the positive aspect of that. You may think that I am terribly unhappy to see all the
confusion and the moral chaos in this society, but you know the saying, "It's always darkest
before the dawn," right? Well, that moral confusion and chaos comes when people no longer
accept the old answers. They are, in the deepest sense, looking for something new. And, of
course, many of those people who practice an immoral or unethical lifestyle can tell you, if
they speak honestly, they know they're not doing right. But, on the other hand, they're not
satisfied to go back to the old straight line they used to walk. Something in them is very
unsatisfied. And so, as you know in your own life, at those times when perhaps you are not
satisfied with anything, then you may go through a period of rejection and then rebellion, and
then even doing something crazy. But ultimately don't you come around then and realize
finally, "No, I don't want ultimately to rebel, I don't want ultimately to do the wrong thing.
Ultimately I don't want to go backward, but I want to go forward and lay aside this rebellion
or wrong lifestyle and find something new."

So in one sense then, it's good news to Me. America is not just happily sitting in the old
churches, but is, in one way, rebelling, going through this period. Does this seem strange to
listen to? It is very painful, of course, to see so many people hurt by the rebellion in their own
lives and within the lives of others; there is much chaos and terrible pain right now. But in the
coming ten to fifteen years, especially here in America, you will see some amazing things in
terms of humankind really seeking Me out.

Also, these UFO's that you speak of, yes there is something to that. I don't want to go into that
now and it is not important for our purposes at this moment. But all of those things are forces
that are working to bring man and woman through their full circle back to a much more deep
kind of religion. Not just external, but a rebinding to Me in a deeper sense. That's My hope.

It's so easy to judge people who are going through the rebellion; it's so easy to condemn them
and say "Our nation is in terrible condition." Sometimes those people who are holding the
light actually forget they are holding the light and become too involved in critiquing, but they
need to hold that light up high and realize that after the darkness will come a dawn. And, in a
sense, their light is part of that dawn and they should recognize it and not be caught in self -
righteous judgment. So the Unification movement should not be caught by that. It's not good
to dwell on how bad things are, but really, in light of that, to see hope from that chaos.

So what we want to work on tonight is how to open up to Me. We're going to speak on an
individual level first. I want you to recognize that this is not like a recipe - how to bake a
cake, how to open up with God - but I want to give you a series of insights and suggestions
because this can help you as you go through your daily life. The two of you are caught by
many different responsibilities, and you must remain clear about how to stay in touch.

"H" wants to express one thing that I think is relevant here, and I think it's a good thing to do,
and that is he remembered this evening how many times he gets the ideas for his sermons,
some of the best sermons he has given, when he was laying in bed in the early morning, just
drifting, not fully awake and not fully asleep, but the mind was free and drifting. And it's
interesting because even in that moment sometimes he would feel guilty - he should be up
with his tie and white shirt on, with the Divine Principle book in front of him and praying
very intensely for a message. I understand. But there is something to that lying down and
drifting, because in that state the mind is free to roam, and when one's fundamental purpose is
to find something of value, to find Me, so to speak, then that guides that traveling in the mind,
and you can catch something this way. The problem, oftentimes, of just going through the
book or trying to think what you want to talk about is that you are still maintaining the role of
your mind and you're still very much in the logical realm, perhaps in the emotional realm
where maybe you are afraid that you're not going to have the right message. But the key point
here is that you are still holding on to your own mind and ego and not letting it go.

Now in the oriental religions, they have truly mastered the letting go of the mind. In various
Buddhist traditions particularly, there is the practice of meditation where one, in a sense,
travels, gets out of the ego. And this is very healthy because you are breathing from a truly
spiritual atmosphere and you're going outside of your self-containment as a separate entity;
you are blending with a higher power, a more universal force.

The problem in the West, especially with Judeo-Christianity has been that there is so much in
the theology in terms of different ideas that the Christian can go to the Bible, or in your case
the Divine Principle book, and get all kinds of ideas to share. The problem, oftentimes, is that
you don't know how to let your mind go and to really listen to a higher power, to blend with
that higher power. And so if you want to share a brilliant sermon, and you have many brilliant
ideas, an excellent vocabulary and a very good ability to express yourself, fine, you can give a
brilliant sermon and you can help people that way. But you may not be able to bring them that
vibration that comes from Me. If you think of certain speakers - I don't want to mention them
on this tape, it's not important - but can you think of two or three speakers in your movement
who have impressed you with their English or their expression or whatever, but you couldn't
get the vibration? These are people who are very experienced in speaking but who rely too
much on themselves. On the other hand, you may hear a speaker who is not so articulate, but
this person may have really had a profound experience with Me; then there is a vibration that
is totally different.

So to come back, truly to reach Me in prayer is to give up all your concepts and to be able to
simply open your mind's eye, the ear of your mind, the heart of your mind - your inner self -
to just receive Me. When "H" goes through this experience whereby I can work through him,
he knows by now that he has to give up all his anxiety, all the fear that maybe it's not going to
work tonight, and what will he say, and will it be right or what if some strange thing comes
out? It's just "H." Still, you know, he struggles sometimes with this. All of that is that he's still
holding onto himself. So the only way that I can work - and sometimes he's holding on a little
bit and I struggle to get through - the only way I can work is when he lets it go. It's good when
he's a little tired because he can easily let it go. But then because he's so tired, I can't be clear.
It's a struggle. We have to meet somewhere halfway. And so letting go of that mind is so
important. You remember we spoke some time ago about people who pray about what they
want Me to do about their agenda, but they never listen to Me and they never allow Me to
come back to them. Well this is the same communication problem that people have with one
another oftentimes. We talk at one another but we seldom listen, even to the person who
physically is sitting two feet across the table from us. Then how much more of a problem do
people have with listening to their Heavenly Father, their Heavenly Parent? There is a fear of
listening. Satan has implanted very deep in the heart of many people, and as well as many in
the Unification church, the fear that they may not be worthy of receiving direct
communication with Me, the fear that they may not believe, doubts as to whether I really
exist, feelings of inferiority. All of these things are there, so it's much easier to just pray to Me
and, in a sense, put the deposit in the bank and walk out and then say, "Well it's in the bank
and the bank keeps a record; they know what I prayed, so everything's okay." But this is not a
bank. This is a parentchild sharing. And truly, again, if you know your son who comes to you
and says this and that and then just walks away, you feel very unsatisfied, right? It's the same
way I feel when people come to Me and just say this and that and then walk away. The key
point here is to go into your prayer with the understanding of twoway communication and
listening, to let your mind go, to throw it out just like a fishing line almost, but infinitely out -
here's no end - and to give up your concept. As Divine Principle members it's so easy to have
so many concepts about Me, but you have to give it all up. This is not conceptual. When you
really meet your Divine Parent you don't need to have a concept because the reality is right in
front of you. Sometimes people are so caught by their concepts, even in prayer directly to Me,
that they only see their concept and they don't see Who's sitting right in front of them. The
concept is like a blindfold. Like a blindfold. So, it's a lucky person who can find the secret of
giving up those concepts and just being open. I told you last year that your husband is best
after he is doing his art work. Why? Because it's not conceptual. He opens up the original
mind, the creative process is taking place, and it's very much a freeing of the mind. And so
prayer is very much that way too. Each drawing is different. Each prayer is a different
experience. This is all very important. Can you follow Me so far? Do you have any questions?

Another key here, a second point I want to make, is how you think of yourself, not just how
you think of Me. And, again, I think we've spoken of this in the past but it never hurts to
review, that according to how you regard yourself, you have a greater or lesser relationship
with Me. So if you yourself struggle with thinking that you aren't very spiritual or you don't
have that much real connection with God in your experience, or whatever, those very thoughts
themselves are what block you. The only thing that blocks you is thinking those kind of
thoughts. If you can just lay them aside, let them pass by - as Father once said, "All those
thoughts that come in prayer, let them go by" - like a parade in some way. Let them go. Let
them go. Don't hold on to them because then, again, your ego is stopping you. Let them go.
Let them go. Let them go, because there is another self far deeper than any of those concepts
to be born in the relationship with Me. It's so important for you to liberate yourselves from
those opinions of who you are. Nobody in this world really knows their identity until they
truly come to know Me. I am your origin and I am the one who gave you your life and your
identity. And it's only as you see yourself through My eye and through that real relationship
that you'll ever come to know yourself. This is the point. Learning how to love yourself is
learning how to accept My love for you and not just trying to do it all by yourself. This is
crucial.

"W" (wife) says, "I was reflecting on what one sister once told me, about what some people
call "selftalk," and how each person carries this socalled selftalk since very early childhood
either from being told by their own parents or friends or teachers, or from something inside of
themselves. Especially they carry negative thoughts like: 'I can never sing well,' or 'I can
never stand up in front of people and express myself,' or 'I can never be good in language,' or
'I'm not lovable.' All of these selftalk thoughts speaking inside the person are repeated and
repeated constantly. And the person lives with those words, and it's very hard to shut it off
because it just becomes part of them; it's like 'word incarnate in flesh.' And so I was just
thinking, even as I am opening up to You, that I always felt inferior or I'm not that type or I
can never do that, you know? My husband can do this but maybe God doesn't speak that way
through me. So when you said, 'Just let go, let go' I was really thinking that yes, I must let
those thoughts go. Because that itself blocks. Yes I understand."

Yes, it's very hard to express the importance of letting go, but you're coming into a much
larger world when you're able to let go. Many people are afraid to let go for fear there will be
nothing there, nothing. Well, it is true in one sense that there will be nothing, nothing of an
earthly variety; however, something of a very much higher variety is there when you learn
how to let go. There is a fear. It's like having training wheels on your bicycle when you were
a child, the little wheels that go on the back like the two on either side of the back tire - do
you know? So the little child is very happy to have those wheels there because even if he
loses his balance the bicycle cannot fall down. But the first day that the daddy says, "Okay,
we're going to remove those training wheels and let you ride by your own balance," it's very
frightening; and the child immediately thinks, "What if I fall down? What if I hurt my leg?
Maybe tomorrow, how about tomorrow?" Well, it's the same thing, many people are praying
with training wheels. They use the same phrases, the same kind of words for everything. That
enforces the fact of the same level of prayer with Me, and there isn't a developing
relationship. Your truest friend is someone who every time you meet him/her something is
new, you're traveling together. Well, our real relationship is that kind of relationship because
every day is different. Every challenge that each day brings is a new challenge. So we have an
unending rainbow kind of relationship; every color is involved, every mood; everything is
involved in that. That's what makes it interesting for Me, and that's what can make it totally
stimulating for you, but it's a matter of learning how to take off the training wheels and just let
yourself be free. When a person can do that he/she becomes a new person, a very new person.
That's what faith is all about. Faith is life without training wheels. Do you understand? It's
still, perhaps, a concept, but if you can even lay in the early morning when you're half asleep
and just let your mind go out like a kite, let it be free and kind of drift. That itself is a good
practice so that when you pray it's not your words, you just throw your mind out toward Me.
You know how close I am. And the key is that you know I'm not next to you like "H," next to
you on the bed, I'm in your own heart. I want to express through your prayer and that's why I
started talking to you.

Now, this brings Me to a third point. You remember that you started to have profound prayer
when you were really in a desperate state. Do you remember the story that Mr."X" told about
the man who was on the sinking ship and then he was in the lifeboat - he was an atheist, but
he started praying to Me in this stormy sea in the lifeboat? And then another man in the
lifeboat, who had known him for a long time, looked at him and said, "Hmmm, your atheism
is only good for the land." You remember that story? Well, this is the point: That man had
gone beyond all his rational atheism and his arguments and was facing perhaps the end of his
physical life; and so he had gone to a completely different level of his being or his
consciousness by being in this state of threat to his life. And that's why suddenly I became
very real to him. It's the same thing as when you came home from the hospital and you and
"H" began to pray. You were facing a situation completely unprecedented in your lives and
one in which you didn't know what was coming next. And so you were at a completely
different level than, let us say, if both of you are feeling fine, everything's good, there's
enough money in the bank, and you're just planning to come to your hometown, there was no
physical problem, nothing. You could not have the same prayer! I tell you, tell you, tell you,
you could "never" have that same prayer! Never! You cannot manufacture that kind of
seriousness simply by hearing someone's sermon telling you "You must be serious" or "You
should pray with tears" or whatever. That's not enough. You have to really look into the face
of death and that's the only time that you can truly feel that kind of seriousness. Father has
faced that face of death so many times in his life, knowing that Satan meant to kill him in one
moment in the prison camp or at various times. He's lived his life facing that kind of reality
so, truly, he couldn't go forward without Me. And that was your state too. And that is why, as
I've said many times, it is good for you to continue in a rather critical situation. Okay, you
know the pain doesn't feel good, but you are constantly having to reach out to go beyond it
and this is good for you. I'm not saying you need to have the pain the rest of your life, but it's
a very good point of understanding.
"W" comments: "It's either mind over body or body over mind. It's a constant, realistic
struggle, and I'm much more alert in that realm of struggle than just the concept of mind over
body."

It's just simply true that many people, even in the Unification movement, are looking for a
comfortable place. They might be working hard externally, making a good effort, but
internally everyone's looking for that place where they can fit in and feel rather nice, but that's
exactly the place they don't need to be. That's why, for example, Father is always kicking
people, pushing them, because that's the only way, some way, that he can get them to the edge
of the cliff where they're looking down to that deep, deep place where they can start to have
that real relationship with Me. I told you a year ago that by sending members to their
hometowns, Father knew that he was pushing people to the place where they have to really
call out to Me, and he knew I would be there, that truly some spiritual giants can come out of
the hometown providence. And, in a sense, the church, as with church centers and living in a
community together and everything, had become too dependent on people, on structure, on
concept, and not on Me. That's why there needs to be challenge and suffering. That suffering
is always the bringer of life. And so, this is another key point of developing that relationship
with Me.

It's so interesting how many young people many years ago in the hippie movement wanted to
meditate and to become enlightened, and it was very romantic. But many of those people,
after the hippie movement, either they forgot about it or they came back and became an
insurance salesman. Or perhaps after that time they really went through a very difficult time
in their life where it was no longer just romantic to be in contact with Me, but it was life or
death. It's only then that a person begins to recognize the level at which we need to
communicate. So your situation, too, was critical in bringing this relationship.

A fourth point is how open are you to what I would like to suggest? If you are open to Me in
prayer, it means you're open for anything I might want to say, but if you're afraid of hearing,
even though you may have confidence that I'm there and that you're going to get an answer,
but if you already have a concept of what you want for an answer, then this limits Me very
much. You know your own feeling in facing your children if, for example, your youngest son
asks if he can go here or there and he's absolutely waiting for you to give only one answer, but
you know a much different reality, then it's very hard for you to speak at the moment. The
same thing. It's where your heart is that's important. Another factor that made it easy for you
to open up to Me during the early time after you came back from the hospital was that you
really, simply wanted to know what I wanted to do with your situation. You wanted to know
My will. That was important. If you had your plan made, then it would have been difficult for
Me to communicate to you. So, when many people pray, the strength of the ego, even though
they may believe Me completely, creates the kind of situation where they're already stuck on
the answer they want, and this, too, limits Me. So as you pray to Me, pray with an open mind
to hear and to know whatever I may say. The Christians who would pray about the identity of
Reverend and Mrs. Moon, for example, many of them, though they say they have prayed
about it, already have their minds made up before the prayer. And that's why they don't hear
Me; they hear themselves. They can't give up that ego to really listen to what I want to say
about this man and woman. And this is a very extreme example of your own ability,
sometimes, to let go of your own ego. If you have a preconceived notion of what you want to
hear, that may be what you hear, but you will be hearing yourself.

"W" comments: "In that way, following Father is extremely uncomfortable for us. I always
had a fear that Father would stir up a whole situation, change things around, and I would be
sent here or sent there, or be asked to do something that I had never done before, you know.
His mission was continuous. But even after so many years of that pattern, always you find
much meaning, you find that it was, indeed, good for your growth as an individual and at the
same time collectively helped the work that you were accomplishing. Even though I had that
experience, still, to face a new thing I always felt butterflies inside - Where is Father going to
send me now? Am I going to be sent out someplace? What if I can't fulfill? What if I can't do
it? It was always like that, and I didn't like it, but it's very hard to let go and just face Father
innocently, without being confronted internally. Because Father is, in one way, always
determined to keep us uncomfortable for the sake of our growth, I think, so that we will not be
settled somewhere as a small perfectionist. I know that in my mind, but my heart was always
in conflict, my emotion was always filled up. So I was just thinking about that as you were
speaking."

Yes. If your prayer life is already open in that direction to whatever I might say, that's a good
foundation for listening to Father. But if it's not, then Father becomes a threat to security. So
that's the fifth point that's important. Now these points are rather long and they could be
boiled down, but they could be very important for the people who hear this tape or who may
read the transcription.

We've covered these five points, do you feel that they are relevant? It's prayer in a whole
different way. In the past many people have prayed through church concepts, church doctrine.
Some people's prayers are like a lecture on Divine Principle. Some people pray to be heard by
others. As Jesus said about the high priest in the temple, they pray to be heard of men but not
of God; they have their reward. They may be admired for their wonderful and very holy
prayers, but truly did they open themselves to God? So, as I said, if you hold a concept about
yourself, whether it's too good or too bad, your concept itself is a problem. But truly, that one
who prays without concept, like a child, this is the most precious person. It's true, very very
true. You can gain this as you simplify yourself. A spiritually mature person is not someone
who just knows all things and then gobbles up all kinds of books and knows more and more
and more, but it's a person who has a different quality of knowledge, not all kinds of concepts,
but knowledge of himself or herself and knowledge of that point where that self meets Me.
That meeting point, that's very important. Where is that point in your awareness and how can
you come to that point day by day? That meeting place is the place where you go beyond all
the knowledge, all the concepts on the earthly level, and you come to a new kind of
knowledge. And so I'd like you to practice that. Don't do it just because I said, but this is part
of pioneering for the sake of other people. And it's not merely as if you aren't good enough or
deep enough. No, No. You and "H" both are in a pioneering role and so I want you to work on
pioneering that openness. As I say, there is a fear of openness because some people feel that
by being open they may lose their judgment about what's right and wrong. Many people
within the Divine Principle movement are stuck in the realm of legalism, so it's very hard for
them to let go. Like "I can always do the right thing because I know what's black and what's
white, and if I let go of all that I may be betrayed or I may be stupid or somehow I'll lose my
clear judgement." But this is the thing, to truly be able to go beyond all those concepts is to
come into a different level of understanding of what's right and what's wrong.

"W" says, "Because I am Japanese, in my experience Japanese people in particular are

extremely afraid of doing anything different from other people, especially the collective
others, like a group. So, in our church if you are Japanese, in the category of the Japanese
community let's say, then if you do something a little bit different from the rest of the group,
you'll be immediately labeled as an outcast. Though I am not working with the Japanese
community day by day, I think this is something age old that has been built up in me very
strongly, and I am always worried about letting go of myself and not knowing where I am
going to end up. So I think that because of that fear, we always want to be in control because
we are afraid that if we lose control, then what's going to happen? Who will take over? Even
though God has taken me over and God did enough trustworthy things for me to believe and
let go, still I think it's something that I have to really, conscientiously work on. And I realized
that as you were talking about it."

Yes. The problem of the Japanese historical culture, or Confucian culture you might say, is
that the God is like a Godman - for example the Emperor in traditional culture - so that he
stands at the top of the society but he's not transcendent. He's human form. And so the whole
society, from the bottom to the top, is limited by that physical man who is in the place of God.
Everything under him is in order from the higher to the lower people, and so it's all very
hierarchical. It limits each person because that man, the Emperor, is external to each person,
and they can only worship him in the sense of an outer being. But in the Judeo Christian
tradition, with the personification of the heavenly parent who goes beyond physical being and
lives within the heart, only then can each person freely become a mature son and daughter.
And they will be very different from one another. They can freely harmonize but that doesn't
have to be the source of their identity, that harmonization with the larger order in the society.
That does not become the source of their ultimate security or identity; it's just pecking order.
You know pecking order? That means the social order in a Confucian style. No, the ultimate
source of security is their relationship with Me and their identity as a son or daughter through
that relationship. This is the profound difference between JudeoChristian society and
traditional Japanese society. And so you can see why there is such a fear of getting out of line
in the traditional Japanese society. It's because the security is entirely based on the social
environment. And if you got out of line, it's almost like you're in hell, you're so out of place.

"W" says: "Speaking about that central person who represents or is like a human God . . . I
can see why we became more and more sensitive when we ourselves or members talk about
True Parents. Or even when True Parents talk about unity with True Parents, and then if God
or Heavenly Father is not mentioned, people may easily feel like a danger of this
personification of God, limited by one individual - True Father or True Mother. Members try
very hard to follow them, but they may be limiting themselves to this one set of human
beings, this one couple, and not really going beyond into the realm of God, which is much
more vast. So easily we just start looking at True Father's face, at True Mother's face, and
asking ourselves if they are happy. And if they are sad, what should we do to make them
smile again? And I can see why we become more sensitive about why we are not talking more
about God, why we are limiting ourselves by just saying True Parents, True Parents, True
Parents. I see that more and more."

Right. And another point here is that by focusing only on True Parents, as with Reverend and
Mrs. Moon, then we fail to recognize our own potential as true parents in that lineage
ourselves, so that ultimately it turns into a parallel with many Christians who think only Jesus
was Divine and they are sinners, that only True Parents are True Parents - "I know I am
supposed to be a true parent myself, but I am pretty bad; I didn't do this or that." So then we
repeat the problem of Christian history. It's very important to go beyond Christian history and
recognize that each person is called upon to grow in that relationship with the Divine Parent
and become whatever you want to call it - True Parents or a spiritually complete person or
whatever - ultimately the reflection of God as the parent. So when True Parents are set up
only as the messiah and his bride, and one doesn't recognize the opportunity within their own
life, this is very serious. Now it's one thing, of course, to testify to the arrival of that first
model of True Parents, but it's another thing in your own spiritual life to think that only they
are True Parents and you are going to find your salvation by somehow just doing what they
told you to do and not really connecting with Me. Do you understand? There's a difference
between those two things. And many members of the Unification movement have very poor
selfimage and a very poor relationship with Me and think their salvation just lies with unity
with True Parents, but with no internal unity to Me. What are they thinking?

"W" says, "Because the original ideal of True Parents belonged to You, it came from You,
and so if we don't look at the True Parents through our relationship with You, there is no
meaning. We are tempted to start creating a kind of personality cult, just worshiping one
particular individual or family, and that has a dangerous consequence."

Right. Again, this relationship with Me in each person becomes very important as the inner
spirit of your outer relationship with True Parents. It's the difference between life and death,
honestly. It's the difference between a cult and a true movement of faith.

"W" comments, "So what can we do with the kind of Confucian influence in our church, with
the way we operate the church and human relationships in general within the church
structure? This situation can be potentially harmful in not allowing each person's divinity to
come out because it doesn't allow that freedom. It doesn't allow that space for the individual
to come out. And that's why members are rather suppressed, always put down, saying they're
not adequate, they're not enough. And though it may sound like a very humble expression
before True Parents, in another way it's my responsibility to develop my divinity that God
gave me."

Yes, it's worth reflecting on those things we discussed about Confucianism because there is
truth within those ideals. It's good to help you get an insight to what you need to do
ultimately. That will become more clear to you as we continue.

Going back to opening up this way, don't think that you know prayer. Don't think that because
you have prayed for all these many years that "Oh yes, I know prayer, but I just don't have a
good prayer life." No. Father always talks about the real taste of prayer, that if you have that
taste of prayer you can't stop, you really want to have it. Well, you know the taste of our
communication. When we have a really rich communication, then for days afterward you feel
happy. In the prayer lives of each of you, this is good. But I want to say one more point here:
Truly this is a time of couples and so this kind of threepoint prayer is very good. "W," there is
perhaps a time when you can do this same thing for "H" and go around in a circle. We can all
share this way. Ideally, this could be done with twenty or thirty people, working to help each
other, one to another. I could express through many people this way. But this is very
frightening, I think, for many church members now because it would be seen as channeling or
spiritual things going on, and it would be very hard. It takes integrity and it takes process for
that to happen, and so that shouldn't be pursued at this time, even with anyone outside of your
couple. But the two of you could practice this as you wish to and really allow Me to flow in
that way.

So, it is a different age of prayer at this time. Maybe even the word "prayer" could be
eliminated because it maintains that same image, that same concept you might have. Simply
call it "talking with your parents," or whatever, to get beyond these concepts we hold onto and
to just cast our mind out like a fishing line, without any holding back. This is really the key, to
know that meeting point between you and Me. It's not within your ego. It's not within your
fears. It's not within your insecurities. It's beyond all those things. You just lay them aside.
Don't even listen to them. Let your mind go out, and that's the key.
I want to close tonight. We have talked about many things, but maybe this talk could be
boiled down to some very concentrated points when you try to type it out and edit it, because
it's quite lengthy. It could be boiled down. Yes. We'll continue as the week goes by.
Goodnight.