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 26 (Earlier installments are available for reading.)
Chapter 5 – Communism And the Two Wings
Section 5. Explanation Of Materialism (Part 1)
1. Marxism And The Limitation Of His Philosophy
Who is Karl Marx? Is he a saint? Marx cannot belong among the ranks of saints. As you know, saints are not the ones who lived centered on humans. Those who insist on centering on humans cannot be saints. (41:69)
Philosophy says that the troublemaker is man. Advocators of philosophy have always raised trouble in history. In the case of Marxism, Marx played the major role in developing his philosophy to the worldwide level. This he did in order to absorb all other systems of thought into the realm of his own thought. Human beings became the center in the development of thought. Accordingly, under the influence of Marxism, the culture of the world became centered on humans. In combining societies centered on humans, what has played the major role internally in today’s world is philosophical trends like Marxism. However, the way of the saint is not like that. For saints, the center of life is not human beings but God. This is how they differ from those who support Marxism. Therefore, anyone who does not promote God as the center cannot belong to the ranks of saints. (40:33)
Marxism and similar theories today are nothing but a sort of philosophy. Philosophy starts from the individual. The origin of philosophy is human’s knowledge; it does not emerge from a relationship with God, who is the origin of life. Philosophy tends to focus on the existing human nature, rather than pursue the origin of life, when trying to understand what it means to be a human being. The origin of life is pursued not by philosophy but by religion. (41:69)
There was a time when philosophy tried to find God, but it failed. By giving up on finding God, philosophy fell into humanism, which humans like the most. This humanism then fell further, into materialism, which insists that material is the best. (Dec. 18, 1985)
What leads today’s trend of thought? Philosophy. However, philosophy has nothing to do with true life. You have to know that. Philosophy is not in the position to solve the problems of life. Philosophy can be the object of knowledge and life, but it cannot decide the contents of life. In this sense, philosophy cannot save lives. Saints are not philosophers. What did saints do? Even though they taught knowledge and the way of life, their teaching was not a tactic to dominate the world. Their teaching was different from philosophy’s. The more one knows knowledge, the more one tries to dominate the world. Western philosophy is the philosophy of domination. The more one knows, the more he tries to dominate by going beyond himself. Such a person tries to change the world centering on himself. Even though such a person goes forward for the sake of the world, the problem is that he does it centering on himself. Because of this, his direction results in materialism. Therefore, the important thing is what the center is. Since philosophy cannot solve the fundamental problems of human life, it has just the value of objects. (40:330)
2. Two Great Trends of Thought
The world of mind began before you were born. Your environmental world also started before you were born. Then, did the universe emerge without any purpose? (No!) Even for this piano here to be made, there must have been a reason. You may not know how the piano was made, but because some harmonious purpose and effort were invested in it, the piano could be made. That is, because some investment was made, the piano could emerge as a result of that investment. Therefore, material things are not the cause but the result.
When you are born, which comes first: the origin of the mind, or the origin of matter? When you are born, there is the world as well as the mind. Which existed first? That matter existed first cannot be asserted. Regarding the problem of which came first between matter and mind, two great trends of thought have been argued in history. If you have no mind, can you say, “I am going”? (No.) You think first, and then you do something. When it comes to eating food, can you just be eating food? No, your thinking comes first, and then you go eat. In this sense, which comes first? The internal part, thinking, comes first. Then, which is stronger between the body’s desire and the mind’s desire? The desire of the body has a limit; for example, a person’s appetite is satisfied after eating sufficient food. However, the desire of mind has no limitation. It reaches out, going beyond any limitations. You can know this clearly in your lives. (27:55)
The history of human beings has developed toward a certain purpose. The necessary means of accomplishing that purpose is thought and theory. That which is centered on matter is called materialism, and that which is centered on the mind is called idealism. The democratic world has developed centering on religion and culture, which are in the realm of idealism. However, the world is still struggling between materialism and idealism. (20:302)
What kinds of worldviews exist today? The materialistic view and the idealistic view. These two are in conflict. Can they become one? No, that is impossible. Human beings consist of mind and body. The mind cannot be analyzed and managed by the realistic method. The world of the mind cannot be understood by the material world. However, even though the world of the mind seems not to have any concrete substance, it can control the world of reality. In this sense, while the material world can be analyzed by the internal world of the mind at the highest level, the world of the mind cannot be analyzed and resolved by the material world, because its level is very low. (28:15 1)
Today’s world is divided into two camps: the Left and the Right, or materialism and idealism. These two will confront each other head on one day in the near future. When they do, will that be a moment of joy, or horror? That is the problem. If horror surrounds their confrontation, then the world will face death. On the other hand, if they meet in joy, the world will be happy. If they try to establish one world system through threat and horror, then the world will end. On the other hand, if they try to unite into one through peace and joy, then the world can live forever. (9:319)
The mind is inclined to pursue the highest ideal. It tries to reach up to God. The body is the tool to realize our ideal. However, to realize our ideal requires effort, endurance, and self-sacrifice. There is tension between what the body pursues and what the mind pursues. While the mind is looking for the world of faith, the body is looking for the world of reason. Because of this, two conflicting views developed in human history. Because one view is rational and external, it emphasizes the superiority of the body. For example, physical satisfaction, physical beauty, and interest in science require the physical reality. The other view, centered on religious tradition, emphasizes value that goes beyond the body. The law of the mind, value, and God’s revelation, which are of the realm of the mind, cannot be the object of scientific verification. These two views, which we can see in our lives, are the origin of two ideologies in today’s world.
The democratic world, or free world, started from religious tradition and developed. The foundation for the modern concept of democracy can be traced to the Bible passage, “God created man in His image.” This means that because human beings are children of God, the democratic world respects them. And it grants them the maximum possibility of choice because human behavior cannot have value unless it is freely expressed. On the other hand, communism is the result of a more external, secular trend of thought. After studying the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, Marx insisted on reconstructing society through violence by doing away with faith in God and applying the sociological method. Marx’s sociological method is based on denying the existence of God. However, what is the result of Marxism in history? Although some people still support it, Marxism, which reigned for 70 years in the Soviet Union, has ended up a tragic failure. Some 1.5 million people’s lives were sacrificed through false charges in order to establish a strong system of communism, but the world of justice and prosperity that Marx promised cannot be found in communist society. The countries that support the two great ideologies are confronting each other, and all mankind is threatened by a horrible destructive power that the world could never imagine. (166:130)
1) The Course of Historical Development and Communism
Those who have shaped history in the past centuries have been people with good minds, namely intellectuals. If we compare historical eras to parts of the human body, we could say this was the era of the head. But in the period surrounding the first and second world wars, militarists, namely people with power, influenced the world, ushering in another era — the era of the fist. Now we are entering another era centering on the farmers and workers-the era of the foot. In order for heaven to reclaim everything from Satan’s world, history had to develop in that way. In other words, human history is God’s history of the providence for restoration.
Many people with good minds stood on Heaven’s side and, most intellectuals from the democratic world who lead the free world today, including America, are people who believe in God. Now, little by little, Satan is being robbed of his head and body and, finally, he will be kicked out altogether. When humankind, who had been trampled underfoot by Satan, was snatched back by God, Satan faced the inevitable destiny of being eliminated in front of God. As Satan could no longer be attended by humankind, he founded the atheistic ideology Of Communism, with the intention of preventing humankind from attending God, too. You all need to know that. For this reason we can now see the worldwide phenomena of separation which is due to Satan. There is separation within the head and within the hand. The head symbolizes God and it can be called the information organ of the body. The organs that observe all things are in the head. Through the seven openings of the face, namely the mouth, the nostrils, the eyes and the ears, the world is perceived. Through this network of intelligence, which represents the number seven, Satan and evil things are to be completely cut off. Therefore, Satan is using his final means in order to escape.
Satan, who once opposed God, now acknowledges God. But now, in this era of the Last Days where Satan has had to reveal his true identity, he endeavors to deny himself and God so that neither will be worshipped. Communism is such an ideology. Also, Communism is an ideology that tries to prevent humankind from returning to God. Communists hold meetings at night. Secret directions and secret details are all decided on at night. They also meet under the ground. On the contrary, the democratic world does all these things in the daytime. Therefore the Communist Party is a movement whose aim is global Communization, making the whole world satanic. God is destined to govern the world, but because the satanic force of Communism has emerged, whose aim is to rule the world instead, God has a big headache.
2) The True Character of Materialism.
Now God and Satan are fighting over humankind. The Bible states that Satan seized authority in heaven and is ruler of the earth. Therefore God had to reclaim the sovereignty of heaven and of earth. For a long time prior to the First World War, Heaven had possessed the spiritual world. Since Heaven owned the spiritual world, Satan had to come down to earth, and with the onset of the war, an era began in which God and Satan struggled over global power. Deprived of the global spiritual world, Satan mobilized the world to oppose the heavenly world. What does that mean? The global cultural sphere of Christianity and the cultural sphere of Satan began fighting each other. Also in the spiritual world, centering on the cultural sphere of Christianity, there was a struggle against Satan. In the same way there is a global struggle on earth between the spiritual God who is united with the Christian countries and Satan who is united with countries opposing Christianity.
Because this world was under his dominion, Satan was able to muster the intellectual elite and upper classes to join together in opposing God. That fight took place prior to the First World War. It was a time when the upper class, which held power in the world, mobilized Satan’s world and struck God. Again, referring to the human body, Satan mobilized the head to oppose Heaven. That was the First World War. Next, because Satan lost the head, he turned from the upper class to the middle class. He was pushed down to that level. The era of the neck passed and the era of the arm, namely the era of power, began. He tried to oppose God with power. This was an era of militarism that corresponds to the middle class. The era of militarism manifested the attitude that with power alone everything will work out. That was the Second World War. Satan was pushed down to the middle-class level. In terms of the human body, at this point, Heaven had taken everything above the hip. Therefore Satan, who was pushed down, had no choice but to head towards the very bottom. Thus began the era of the foot. This is the era of the workers and farmers which is Satan’s last attempt to revive. Through Communism, Satan has called together the lower classes centered on workers and farmers. This is the very bottom.
Satan has thus reached the lowest level, and when he is expelled from there, he will have nowhere to go. Because he will have nowhere to go and will not be worshipped by humankind, he has created an atheistic ideology with the purpose of preventing humankind also from worshipping God. Therefore this ideology is called Earthism — Materialism. It is also called Economism. He is trying to rule the world through economics. Marxism is a philosophy of economics. It is an ideology that strives to remove completely the element of heart, the internal God, and is determined to exclusively possess humankind.
When you look at this, you all have to understand how crafty and cunning Satan is. Therefore you have to understand that Communism is Satan’s knowledge and wisdom. Because Communism is a movement that is trying to conquer the world not by exalting humankind but by exalting matter, Communists give more priority to matter than to people. Communists think mankind has evolved from matter and don’t recognize the value of people. Originally, there was value in people doing things centered on God; but because all that was denied, the world became a world of materialism. Therefore, it is easier to eliminate one person than it is to destroy one house. If there is a choice between the destruction of one house or the killing of 10 people, the latter will be chosen. There is even no problem with getting rid of many people. This kind of “ism” is now swaying the world.
If the upper class, namely, the head and body, had fulfilled its responsibility, the foot would now be under control; but because it failed in its responsibility, the foot is able to walk around and cause trouble. If the democratic world had fulfilled its responsibility and the upper class (neck) and the middle class(body) had united with the Lord, forming a normal body, the world could have been made one. Because this didn’t happen, it is as if everything died completely.
All created things are matter. If this ‘ism’ that loves matter is so determined to dominate the world, then we need to think about how tough the people in favor of the Creator need to become. It is then a reasonable principle that the ‘ism’ centered on the Creator and the love for the Creator’s sovereignty needs to be several times stronger than the “ism” centered on all things and the love of the sovereignty of the Soviet Union centered on materialism. This principle should be totally clear to you. It is said that humankind evolved from the soil of the earth. However, the soil came into existence for humankind. If you don’t understand this correctly, the world will become Satan’s world. You have to understand that the mission of our Unification Church today is to make this clear. Therefore, if only you all crush Satan’s world, then the world will be ours. This is our Unificationism. You have to know that the ideal world will appear for the first time when Heaven takes away the spiritual and physical world that Satan has dominated externally and can control them. Do you understand? (Yes).
You must know that we have first of all to separate from Satan’s dominion. Until now humankind has fought about territory and people. Materialism is a theory that intends to captivate people’s bodies. It is devoid of any concept that connects with spirituality and the cosmic purpose of Heavenly law and eternal life. This world belongs to humankind.
But the basis of materialism is the historical view of economics and it upholds a world in favor of materialism . However, democracy is putting humankind itself at the center. In fact, all kinds of Marxist theories, such as the theories of labor value, surplus value, dialectic materialism and historical materialism are completely opposite to the truth and lend justification to a violent revolution.
3) The Alternative to Materialism
What is atheism? Atheism says there is no God. Materialism, centered on matter, and humanism, are atheistic theories. Atheism is centered only on itself. Why did an empire such as Rome go to ruin? Because it was not united with God’s principles of cause and result, God’s principle of the ideal, and God’s principle of creation. What is the cause? Self-investment. What is God going to do after investing Himself? He is going to look for love. Even though God invests everything, God is in need of love. He invested himself for something greater. That is the bottom line.
Rome, which had its eyes on the world, was hoping for an ideal world centered on Rome; but it didn’t invest itself enough. While facing the world it didn’t invest its country enough. If Rome had sacrificed and invested itself, what would have happened? The world would have become one with Rome. If you compare the fundamental roots of Godism, theism, and materialism it becomes very obvious. When atheism, regarding theism, claims that God doesn’t exist in the social system, then that in itself amounts to destruction and self-exhaustion. Under this system, the more power is generated, the more exhaustion there is. The motive power of love cannot be supplied in this way. The Communists appeared centered on common property, but why does common property achieve less than private property?
This is the problem. From the viewpoint of common property, all groups that possess the right of ownership centered on the profit of the group need to put more importance on the individual than on the profit of the group. If it is done like that it works. Do you understand? The Party needs to have more regard for the individual than for its own desired profit. This means that property doesn’t only belong to the Party but also to a higher private owner. Such a concept hasn’t been realized. Always the individual has had to live only for the sake of the group. There is no concept of the Party also living for the individual. That is Satan; that is called a system of dictatorship. What is on Satan’s side? The Party centered on the Party; this is absolutism. It has no “ism” that claims living absolutely for the smaller part or shows the Party to be existing for the sake of the individual and family. That is Satan. Therefore, he is pulling the individual into hell. Because the individual can’t realize a reciprocal foundation of ideal give and take action, he becomes a worthless and entirely destroyed existence. Therefore he can only go to hell. Do you understand what that means?
Communism is a contradiction. It is a logical contradiction to set up a dictatorship regime centered on workers and farmers. Such a logic cannot become an ideal logic. The ideal needs to have give and take. Can you realize the ideal alone? If that was the case, God, who is the greatest ideal subject, could have felt satisfied about being by himself, but he created the world in order to pursue the realm of ideal love in relationship with an object. Therefore, we must clearly grasp that the logic of love is based on the origin of creation and has to develop in that context. Isn’t that so? That means it can never be separated. If you consider different viewpoints such as an individual outlook or a family outlook, they should be connected with the bone. Therefore we have to center everything on the heartistic realm of love. That direction is inevitable regardless of whether you live in the East or in the West.
If there is something good, the Party wants to get it and doesn’t want to give it to the individual. If there is something good, the group shouldn’t center on their desire for possession. Without love this is impossible. The parents, if in the position of subject, don’t keep something good to themselves, but want to give it to their children because of love. They want to give until they exhaust themselves. In this world, such love doesn’t exist. People are centered on the desire for possession and don’t think of giving what is theirs to someone else. Therefore, the parents don’t show any appreciation for their children. Everything is hooked onto Satan’s side centered on individualism. Therefore, in such a world the place where this love can be realized is already destroyed. For this reason, individualism and the desire for possession belong to Satan.
The desire for possession centered on love is not for material things but for the ideal. Everything can be sacrificed for that ideal. Every aspect of life desired by humankind, including even one’s own life, can be sacrificed. Therefore, this dimension is different. No matter how much sacrifice is made, it doesn’t become a problem to human life. However, this is not the case with the concept of possession centered on the individual. One cannot go up to a higher level within that concept. You all know Communism, but remember the concept of Communism is an ideology centered on matter. It is not an ideology centered on God. Also, what is democracy? It is an “ism” centered on people. If so, what is the original Adamism? It is the way of true love: if there is only true love everything will be resolved. if so, where does True Loveism start from? It starts with God. In that case, when we ask what kind of circumstances humankind is hoping for, it is not a world in which we eat and live well. It is instead a world of True Loveism.
To Be Continued …