As our True Mother, the mother of peace and the only begotten daughter, wishes to see the reunification of the Korean peninsula, asking the FFWPU Korea to concentrate substantially on this providential will of Heavenly Parent, we bring you a series of True Parents’ words (in 28 parts), especially for those who are seeking internal guidance from True Parents. Reading these words will help us to understand better the worldwide conflicts of today. If you wish to order the book “Way of Unification”, please click here.
Part 27 (Earlier installments are available for reading.)
3. Dialectical Materialism And The Alternative
1) Hegel’s Basic Mistake
Hegel’s dialectic was wrong. Do you know where to acknowledge the concept called “struggle” which is found in Hegel’s dialectic? If we delve deeply into the mind of humankind, we find that the conscience and the physical mind are struggling. Therefore, Hegel thought that struggle existed there from the beginning. He misinterpreted, thinking that this struggle was an intrinsic part of the world which God created. But this interpretation lacked understanding of the fall of humankind. This was his fundamental mistake.
If you investigate deeply the deep mind of fallen humankind, you will find that two opposing minds, the conscience and the physical mind, are confronting each other. It is this confrontation that is behind humankind’s historical development. If we analyze fallen humankind, we can see that man embodies two contradictory natures. But a theory was created stating that the universe had also developed in that way and that God had created man as a being who embodied these two contradictory natures. Communist ideology analyzes all matters, and understands the development of history, from a dialectic viewpoint. They are propagating a theory of struggle in which the social reality is divided into an upper sphere and a lower sphere, and history develops through the confrontation between these two spheres. Therefore, they created a theory that claims that what existed before has to be destroyed for the sake of development.
Hegel’s dialectic took the position that humankind hadn’t fallen. But, in fact, the opposite is true. Because of the fall of humankind, the conscience and physical mind started to oppose and struggle with each other. Created humankind originally didn’t have any contradiction within itself. We absolutely need a substantial movement upholding such a viewpoint, which is one with the standard of the original creation. Hegel regarded contradiction as being inherent in “the market of life”. He regarded contradiction as being intrinsic to everyday life and that religion is strange. However, Hegel’s thought and his formulated theory are fundamentally flawed. It was a mistake to regard fallen mankind as a being that was originally created like that. Therefore, we need to quickly emphasize and promote the concept that humankind did fall.
Within humankind the conscience and physical mind are arguing with each other. The expansions of these two entities ultimately caused the division of the world into democracy/spiritualism and Communism/materialism. As these two entities have developed, the harvest is being manifested as the Last Days, which is a phenomenon of our present time. From such a viewpoint, how shall our Unification thought tackle this issue? Because the starting point was flawed, we have to go back to the origin, which is a higher dimension.
What original human form would constitute a higher dimension? It is not a form where the conscience and physical mind are fighting with each other but rather a form in which conscience and physical mind are united. From the viewpoint of a standard of absolute and eternal unity, the spiritual world and physical world have to become one. Until now we have all been false. Look at yourself! Why are you false? You are struggling with your mind and body disunity. How can that be called true? When two are fighting can they become true? (No). Humankind in this state of falseness was examined carefully and the contradictory logic called dialectic was found. All the discoveries made by people such as Hegel came from the study of fallen, struggling humankind. Nowadays, philosophers generally don’t understand the concept of the Fall, and when they examine the mind they say, ” it seems like this”, and something approximating a dialectic principle emerges. Looking at man from the point of having already fallen, the theory of the origin of struggle can be given much credence. If you analyze the mind of humankind, there is clear evidence of struggle, making this theory seem quite plausible.
2) The Mistake of the Dialectic Theory
Communism says that everything develops because there is power in the macrocosm. They acknowledge the surrounding world first and then develop the logic. In order for anything to exist, there first needs to be an environment in which that existence can be sustained. Water, earth and air have to be there. These are the absolutely indispensable environmental conditions needed. If you analyze their argument, where is the starting point of the environment which enables evolution? There cannot be any. That is the contradiction. Where does the life-supporting environment begin?” “Naturally”. “If you say naturally, according to which law?” “Because of power”. “But how is power generated?” Power cannot be generated by itself. Before there is power, there needs to be a reciprocal foundation. The same is true for scientific phenomena: there cannot be any action or movement unless there is a reciprocal base which is connected with purpose. If that is so, what do you need before power can exist? You need a reciprocal foundation. There needs to be a concept of subject and object in order to acknowledge a reciprocal foundation. There needs to be a base of common purpose so that subject and object, plus and minus, can engage in give-and-take-action. Therefore the phenomenon of power or action can be generated only within the domain of the common purpose of power. If that is so, then the dialectic that Communism upholds is debunked.
Communists say there was something in opposition to the origin, and that through struggle they will become one. The origin and that which is opposing it are completely different concepts. They have a different sphere of purpose. Can they become one while they have different spheres of purpose? They don’t say that originally there was an origin and something opposing that origin. Rather, they say that first there was some opposing element which had to go through a course of struggle in order to reach the origin. However, reciprocal action can only occur within the limit of the common-purpose sphere. It absolutely cannot be generated in a situation that would bring negative and damaging results. Mutual give-and-take-action occurs within a sphere where the common purpose is established. From this viewpoint the dialectic of Communism is fundamentally wrong. Everything exists reciprocally. If the object is chosen, the purpose automatically makes itself apparent. That purpose possesses even greater value than the sum of the two entities. Therefore the two become united not because of mutual contradictory confrontation, but for the sake of accomplishing the common purpose. This is the fundamental idea of the Unification Church. With this proof you can turn this false theory upside down, and the theories of historical materialism, economics and all of Marx’s theories will be proven false.
What is Communism? It recognizes neither subject nor object. There is also neither direction nor purpose. The relationship of subject and object is regarded as one of struggle. They become one through conflict. On earth, where does such a law exist? (Father laughs). Is it possible? Does it mean that man and woman or mind and body become one through fighting? They say that even though there is subject and object, matter comes first, not the mind. The mind is a by-product of matter.” They are just turning things upside down. This bad guy Satan! While he says, “direction is struggle”, he is striving to realize a direction characterized by struggle. This is not a direction towards peace. He says, “Unification needs to see blood and as you see blood, there is unification.” This violates the principle of historical development as well as the principle upon which the universe exists. Power is always generated through mutual give-and-take action between subject and object. Subject and object don’t have give-and-take in order to damage each other. If the head gets chopped off, there can be no give-and-take action. For example, during adolescence when it comes to dating, a man wants to meet a woman as a partner and vice versa. As they meet, they have to like each other. As long as there is no plus or benefit experienced, one absolutely won’t give of oneself. One dislikes to give. If it becomes clear that someone would receive benefit from a relationship and that it would not result in any damage, then that person would want to have give-and-take with the other. But if they meet for the first time and from the first day on there are only minus elements, they won’t want to meet again. They absolutely won’t want to see each other.
Even if you look at subject and object from the viewpoint of mutual purpose, unless one can receive more plus points and greater purpose from a partner than one would receive by being alone, one doesn’t want to have give-and-take with that partner. Once again, if a good result doesn’t come, there won’t be any give-and-take.
What does good mean? It means that it becomes plus. What does bad mean? If things are constantly taken away, eventually everything disappears and becomes a minus. Good things become plus and prosper, while bad things become minus and perish. So, if there is a minus situation, no matter whether there is a relationship between subject and object and regardless of whether more power is applied, the dynamic of give-and-take-action won’t be generated. When we look at it from this viewpoint, the dialectic of Communism is ignorant of that argument. In order for there to be power, a relationship between subject and object is necessary. This is a prerequisite. Even when you conduct a chemical experiment and look at the tendency of chemical elements to ionize, you will notice that the elements don’t act unconditionally. If a chemical element can increase and fulfill it’s given purpose through interaction with another element, it will act immediately. If there is even a tiny element added that would bring minus and disturb the chemical element itself, it absolutely won’t act. This universe is acting and protecting itself. That is a principle. That is called a scientific principle. Do you understand?
Nowadays, the world faces enormous problems because of Communists’ attachment of great importance to philosophy and dialectic theory. There is no existence that doesn’t possess the aspect of purpose. Development occurs only where a greater purpose is pursued. If we look at humankind, we should see that it is a resultant entity. It exists because something caused it to exist.
3) The Concept of Struggle in Communism
If you look at the dialectic on which Communist ideology is centered, what kind of principle of struggle does it provide? Every social existence centered on a contradictory course is divided into an upper element and a lower element. The upper and lower elements cannot become united and the upper element exploits the lower element. The concept of love doesn’t exist. There is only a concept of struggle. What are they aiming at? Utopia — the ideal. What is the ideal? It is a world of peace resulting from struggle. Such a world of peace is different from the peace that democracy talks about today. Everything that is violating that peace is eliminated. It is called a reactionary element. They talk about a peaceful world in which all reactionary elements are eliminated. That is the difference. Today the Soviet Union advocates peace centered on Marxism-Leninism and thus doesn’t mean a state of peace through becoming one with non-supportive elements, but a state of peace in which all reactionary elements that violate Marxism-Leninism are eliminated. They are talking about a state of peace in which there are no opposing elements. That is the difference.
Democracy talks about a concept of peace where right and left harmonize and become one, thus creating an ideal state. That is the fundamental difference. Democracy is talking about inclusive and idealistic concepts and not about concepts of elimination and destruction. Therefore, this Communist ideology cannot be approved or tolerated by humankind, and people like us must become the spearhead in the fight against it worldwide. In communism, love, and even parents and family, are regarded as major areas of exploitation. According to this thought, children exploit the position of their parents for their own benefit. Within this theory, you cannot say there is love.
The question is whether there can be truth here or not. Today, Communism proclaims, “We have to gain supremacy over the whole world.” Whoever opposes that will be expelled and eliminated. Even one’s colleagues and parents aren’t immune and can be eliminated. How is it possible to massacre people? It is possible when the absolute value of human life, even that of one’s own friends and relatives, is not recognized. The only thing attributed with this value is the Party. The Party is only a skeleton. The more one regards the Party as the greatest entity, the more it becomes fearful and cold-hearted. Do mind and body feel comfortable in such a place? Surely not. Because of the ever changing structure centered on the dialectic dynamic, you cannot live eternally. You have to know that this theory cannot aspire to anything eternal and elevated.
4) The Contradiction of the Theory of Struggle
Now the world is divided in two: the democratic system and the communist system. Which one is true? Both of them claim to be true, don’t they? Does it need to be officially approved as to which one is true? Such approval has to come from history. According to Communist theory, history has to be officially recognized. Because history develops through struggle, according to the dialectic argument, tradition is not cherished. Therefore Satan is the ringleader of the destruction of tradition. Satan is the leader of destruction. Thousands of years of history cannot be set up. Because such a system is false, it cannot make any historical claims. That means that there is no traditional historical background following the unchanging rule of the Principle.
Then, when is the Communist world going to set up a historical foundation of tradition that is unchanging and based on the truth. They talk about a world of utopia . . . . Mankind passes through the stage of socialism and enters the era of communist society. Is the communist society, therefore, the end? What would the world become with such a contradictory argument? Dialectical materialism embodies the concept of struggle. The inherent state of contradiction is resolved through struggle. The conclusion is that the ideal world cannot be established through the concept of struggle, but only through the concept of investment. That which becomes the subject has to invest. If you hold a high position and you invest yourself, you will decrease but your object will increase. Students will claim, “There is a need for a revolution of consciousness. Evil has to be chased out and good has to remain.” That is right, but is the Communist party good? The essence of dialectic materialism is conflict. Does conflict lead to achievement? Is such an argument correct? When man and woman love each other, is that conflict? Man and woman become one through love not conflict. Communism regards man and woman as contradictory beings. So how would it be possible to become one in harmony? They are crazy! Because of them the world is collapsing.
Dialectic theory is ridiculous. Two entities confront each other and through struggle they become one. The argument goes that every day man and woman are struggling, but next morning there is development. (laughter). Is that possible? It’s far from it. If there is fighting, there is damage on both sides and there is retreat. In the history of the world, have you ever seen a country that fought and became rich and powerful? You must know the answer to this. The dialectic is a concept of struggle. The starting point is dissatisfaction. A dissatisfied Satan broke God’s will. You shouldn’t be manipulated by Satan who rebelled against God’s will and who is using a theoretical base to cause confusion throughout the world.
What is the concept of struggle in Communism? It is a doctrine that weakens both the upper and lower levels through division and conflict. We must recognize and go beyond the failure of the first and second Israel and instead embrace the ideology of the unification of the whole world centered on the sphere of the third Israel. The ideal is not achievable through the fist or through power, but only through love. We have already reached an era in which many problems cannot be solved. Therefore, secular people question why humankind has become that way. Today, history is going to ruin in a whirlpool of confusion because religion can provide only a vague explanation of the cause of the fall and cannot present it in a systematic way.
From what angle does the Unification Church look at history? History is indeed a history of struggle; but good and evil are transformed through that struggle. That is the difference. Good and evil fight with each other and evil becomes eliminated, and as this struggle has gradually become a global struggle, the world is changing toward goodness. That is the view of history of the Unification Church. Do parents need development and revolution in their hearts? What do you think? Even animals know how to love their offspring, don’t they? Can the dialectics of Marx, Lenin and Hegel be applied here? The concept of restoration is not found in dialectic theory. It doesn’t develop. The argument that everything will return to the developing world — the Communist world, is false. That logic is absurd. It starts off from a static, unchanging point, and goes through an unchanging course and connects with an unchanging end-point and finally arrives at something unified. That is not going to bring about a world of love and oneness. It’s impossible with this theory. If it was possible with this theory, I would have already brought an end to Communism. Because I am a person who has been confronted with Communism since my youth, I became today the leader of anti-Communism.
Why is religion needed? Religion is needed in order to resolve humankind’s contradiction and to unite God and man. Religion is needed until the ideal is reached. Therefore, when the perfect human of God appears, religion will not be needed anymore. In the midst of this contradictory environment, we yearn and hope for the ideal which can be reached through the framework called religion. This is true theoretically. But we can conclude that it is impossible to claim that contradictory humankind can realize the ideal world through rapid progress and struggle. Today, it is impossible through dialectic theory or through Communism. It has no standard for realizing it. Rather, it is ignoring the standard. They say that matter comes before spirit, which means that the lump of meat, the body, is perfect. If we look at ourselves, can we say that the body is more perfect than the mind? (No.) The body exists in the limited sphere, while the mind exists in the unlimited sphere. If we question which of the two is greater, it is the mind, not the body. Analyzing in this way, if we look at the systems of Communism and Democracy, we should recognize that only theism, in the form of religion, provides the logic and a path which leads to the realization of the ideal.
What kind of man is Reverend Moon? Amidst the whirlpool of such problems, Reverend Moon has taken greater pains to solve these problems than any other person. How can a standard be made that is unchangeable even after tens of thousands of years? If even after countless years from now, people, centering on an “ism” which upholds an absolute standard of the past, invest themselves wholeheartedly facing limitations and persevering with a desperate and absolute conviction, the whole world will automatically become unified. From such a viewpoint, unification absolutely cannot come about in this present world centered on the dialectic of Communism. It is a logical contradiction to say that unification comes through struggle. They have hope for the future and pursue unification, but through such a method a unified world cannot be realized.
5) What Cannot be Explained Through Dialectic Theory
What is true love? Is it changeable or unchangeable? (Unchangeable.) Let us look at the types of unchanging love in this world. What are they? Is it the love between husband and wife? (No.) Is it the love of parents for their children? Which one is it? Which one is unchangeable? (Parents’ love.) Between the love of children for their parents and the love of parents for their children which one is more unchangeable? (The love of parents for the children.) We can see throughout history the fact that no matter how much love changes, the love of parents for their children doesn’t change. So what does the problem become here? Can Communism explain through dialectic theory the power of love that parents have for their children? That is the problem. Can they or can’t they? (They cannot.) They absolutely cannot. For example, let’s assume the son of the biggest leader of the Communist party gets in trouble with the Communist law and is sentenced to death. As he is about to die, what is the heart of his parents like? Would they say “Die quickly, you villain.”? Whatever the Party says and does away with, will parents have the desire, centered on parental love, to save their child or not? Which mind comes first? Is it the mind that says you have to die or the mind that has sympathy and likes to forgive? Which mind comes first? What would the professors who teach dialectic theory of Communism be like. They would be the same. How about the worker or farmer! Wouldn’t they react the same way if their children’s lives were in danger? Is it any different? This is a natural phenomena. Even a dog dies for the sake of his puppies. Even animals are like that. Can this love be revolutionized?
Can the theory of Communism change it? Does that make sense? (No.) Regardless of what it is, neither Communism nor Democracy can revolutionize such a true, original love. The conclusion is that it is unchangeable. Do you understand and recognize this? Do you absolutely recognize this? Does it become recognized by theory? Then why is parent’s love like that? Why does such a love endure in the world in which we live? Where does it originate from? The parents love. Prior to the expression of parents’ love, the love is already there. What is the motive behind the result? Where is the cause? As soon as one thinks, one needs to have this love, it shows itself. Is that a motive of the result that oneself doesn’t even know? Is it a position of motivation or a position of result? What is the origin? (God.) As a result, we come to know the fact that there is one entity called God who is at the origin of all our ancestors. Man is a resultant being, not a causal being. Because the cause and the result have to be the same, the result needs to become one with the cause. Because they have the same form, if it applies to the result, it also applies to the cause. That is correct theory. If there is no cause, there is also no result.
Is the love between parents and children good or bad? No matter how much revolution and change takes place in the world, and even though the theory of development through dialectic transformation expands to some extent, there is no power that can revolutionize the parents’ heart of love for their children. Can the bird’s love for it’s off spring be revolutionized? Can that be done or not? (Cannot.) Can that be changed? (Cannot.) It is absolute. It was the same a thousand years ago and ten thousand years ago. Communism claims that everything develops centered on the concept of struggle. If that is the case, when we look at the salmon’s behavior, we should expect greater development. But how is it that they endure so much hardship in order to reach the place where, once they lay their eggs, they die. The question is why do they die? What is eternally unchanging, absolute, good and can absorb everything and can cause transformation to goodness. That is God. But even God, of an unchanging mind and center, cannot do it alone. Love is needed. Love has to be found. When you ask the Communist Party, they also hope for eternal and complete love. It is the same with them. Therefore we can make a theoretical conclusion that whereas the ideal of dialectic philosophy cannot bring happiness to humankind, the ideal of unchanging-love philosophy can. Do you understand? Nobody complains about that. The king as well as the worker likes that. It surpasses any rank. You have to know that there cannot be any ranks. (91-146)
To Be Continued …