Discovering the Dynamics of Love

Our Love Language I attended our Church's webinar the other day.  The moderator ask us to look within to determine our 'Spiritual Love Language'.  Just as our individual 'Language of Love', can be identified, our 'Love Language' with God can be realized.  Some communicate with God in nature, some find God while studying truth,  some experience Him in service for others, and other in religious worship or meditation. As I listened to the discussion, I found that my 'Way' was not specifically on the list.  I found it partially in all the Love Languages, but not complete enough in any one that I could truly identify it as my love language with God.  Later, I realized that I find God in 'Discovery'. One of my earliest memories is gliding across a mirror calm lake in the dark of night, surrounded by the lights of hundreds of cottages on the distant shore.  Each of those cottages were beaming light across that mirror, and as we move forward, those lights were following me!  "I must be special", I thought. "I bet they follow every one else too. All of us must be very special". Feeling the Existence of God Our religious quest, or any internal quest for that matter, is not about a battle of words, ideas and beliefs. First, it is awareness that we are a result of something magnificent that pre-existed us. Second is to realize that we have been designed for the entirety of our being to be a part of every aspect of this experience.  We are fully embedded in this magnificent construct that reaches beyond us. God’s existence is not just a matter of words. From the perspective of the subject-object partner relationship in the Principle, we do not need to prove that God exists. Rather, the position we must establish is that God existed before we had cognition of Him and that He rules over all our senses and over everything to do with us. Awareness of this is more important than anything else. The basic rule is that awareness precedes knowledge, not the other way around. When we are cold, we first feel cold before we think, “I am cold.” We do not first think “I am cold” before we feel it. Isn’t that so? Likewise, because God exists, you must be able to feel His existence with your cells. Reaching that state is what matters. In other words, the issue is how we reach the state in which we can experience these things. (CSG: 58-291, 1972.6.25) Finally then, what matters is to 'feel' the reality of 'God's Love'. Tap into those feelings that brings deep experiences. You should be able to cry out “Father!” even in your sleep and even when you are by yourself. When in your daily life you forget to eat or sleep, and exclaim “Father!” with a deep longing, you will be able to hold His hand. Magical things will happen. When you call out “Father!” He will embrace you. You must know that in your life of faith, the most precious thing is how you tap into those feelings that bring you those deep experiences. The degree and amount of your experience and feel- ing can be the measure of your faith. If you have such a heart of love, when you determine, “I must accomplish this,” God will already be supporting you even before you ask, “Heavenly Father, please be with me.” Feeling His support, you will say, “Thank you, God!” (CSG: 58-297, 1972.6.25) I have begun some adventures that keep the spirit of discovery alive. 1)  The Dynamics of Love: Principles for Safe Sailing   The 4 Loves: 1 Child’s Love 2 Mutual Love 3. Conjugal Love 4 Parental Love 2) The Grow Fiddle:  Experiencing the (4) Position Foundation: Grow Fiddle Work Sheet I will keep you posted on my journey.  I'll be on the lookout for inspiration and insight.  We all need partners or nothing is joyful or worthwhile. Take Care! John

23. Natural Love - I

The Textbook of Nature teaches love for your mate.

Swans, Geese & Loons are known to mate with only one mate throughout their entire life. Some birds have become so connected with their mates that they have been know to wait for a missing mate frozen in one place until they die.  

A hunter in a goose blind rounded tree stand to complete the kill on a wounded bird.  The wounded goose's mate landed in front of his mate with wings outstretched to protect her from the second round.  The hunter was so shocked by the sight of that act, that he dropped his gun and could never hunt birds again.

We were not left here without a manual on how to Love. ---

We are not designed to abandon anyone in our life, especially those we become intimate with; our mate with whom were are extending our love forward through our ancestors.   We have powerful minds that can transcend time and space.  If lower animals stand by their mate and families, why can't we.  Why did we ever violate such a fundamental value.  Look at children, how intelligent they are, and at the same time relying on and reaching for consistent love.  What went wrong, to where we have come to even expect such things as divorce and abandonment.  There must some strong, "unnatural forces" that has poison our Natural love.  Returning to Natural Love and the God within it must be our greatest priority.

(Read more at www.WisdomInWorldScriptures.com Send Nature Stories to JohnKeiko@gmail.com)

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From "World Scriptures":

PURITY

Purity is prized and sought after in every religion as the foundation for proper action. The religions of China and Japan emphasize that even before exerting effort, a person should purify his or her heart.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

                        Christianity.  Matthew 5.8


By purity of heart alone is the holy Eternal attained.

              Sikhism.  Adi Granth, Asa-ki-Var, M.1, p. 472


Filth on hands, feet, and body may be washed off with water;
Clothes fouled by dirt may be washed with soap;
The mind fouled by sin and evil
May only be cleansed by devotion to God.

                Sikhism.  Adi Granth, Japuji 20, M.1, p. 4


For everything there is an appropriate way of polishing; the heart's
polishing is the remembrance of God.

                        Islam.  Hadith of Tirmidhi


O my brother!  A pure heart is as a mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of
love and severance from all save God, that the true sun may shine within
it and the eternal morning dawn.

        Baha'i Faith.  The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, 21

Even as a mirror stained by dust
Shines brilliantly when it has been cleansed,
So the embodied one, on seeing the nature of the Self,
Becomes unitary, his end attained, from sorrow freed.

                  Hinduism.  Svetasvatara Upanishad 2.14


All you who come before me, hoping to attain the accomplishment of your
desires, pray with hearts pure from falsehood, clean within and without,
reflecting the truth like a mirror.

                       Shinto.  Oracle of Temmangu


The mind of the perfect man is like a mirror.  It does not lean forward or
backward in its response to things.  It responds to things but conceals
nothing of its own.  Therefore it is able to deal with things without
injury to [its reality].

                          Taoism.  Chuang Tzu 7


Though I had nothing to eat but a red-hot ball of iron, I will never
accept the most savory food offered by a person with an impure mind.

Though I were sitting upon a blazing fire hot enough to melt copper, I
will never go to visit the place of a person with a polluted mind.

                   Shinto.  Oracle of the Kami Hachiman


Should clothing be rendered impure if blood-stained, How reckon pure the
way of those who suck human blood? Saith Nanak: Utter God's Name with thy
tongue in purity of heart-- That alone is true religion; All else is
worldly show and false deeds.

               Sikhism.  Adi Granth, Var Majh, M.1, p. 140


The body is cleansed by water, the internal organ is purified by
truthfulness, the individual soul by sacred learning and austerities, the
intellect by true knowledge.

                      Hinduism.  Laws of Manu 5.109


If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel
consecrated and useful to the Master of the house, ready for any good
work.  So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love,
and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord with a pure heart.

                     Christianity.  2 Timothy 2.21-22


Behold, thou desires truth in the inward being;
       therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
       wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Fill me with joy and gladness;
       let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins,
       and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
       and put a new and right spirit within me.

                Judaism and Christianity.  Psalms 51.6-10


"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
       remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes.
Cease to do evil, learn to do good.
Seek justice, correct oppression.
Defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
       they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
       they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient
       you shall eat the good of the land;
But if you refuse and rebel,
       you shall be devoured by the sword;
       for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

                Judaism and Christianity.  Isaiah 1.16-20

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From "The Holy Way of the Couple (Family)" Book 3 - Chapter 1:

Section 5. Perfection Is Attained through Love

God created the world with the purpose to realize his ideal of absolute love through the oneness of Himself and human beings. He created human beings as His highest and very best object partners of love. Accordingly, of all the forms of creation, only human beings are His object partners uniquely embodying His image. Human beings were born as visible beings in front of the invisible God. When human beings are perfected they become God’s temples, meaning that they are the corporeal beings into whom God can freely and comfortably dwell at any time. God’s ideal of true love is realized and fulfilled through human beings in the form of the vertical parent-child relationship. (277-198, 1996.4.18)

What do human beings live for? If you answer, “They live for love,” that is a wonderful answer! Life, as originally intended at the time of the Creation, is for us to be born as the fruit of love, to live with love, and in the end to return to the bosom of our God of eternal love. (39-340, 1971.1.16)
Human beings are born to bear the fruit of love on earth. The purpose for which we live on earth is to bear the fruit of love that God desires to see. That is why life on earth is brief. It is just one season, a short time. (130-158, 1984.1.8)

As we are born from love and matured through love, we cannot live separated from the realm of love. (Blessed Family - 1062)

Since we are born of love, it follows that we must walk the path of love, and ultimately die for love. The purpose of life is to find love that is welcomed not by the microcosm but rather, by the great universe; it is to be born, to live, and to die surrounded by the universal love that is recognized by God, the angelic world, all things of creation, and our parents. (83-164, 1976.2.8)
The mind and body of a person unite when he stands in the same position as the nucleus of the love of God, and he reaches maturity when he enters the realm of God’s love united in mind and body. Only then can he start on the path to individual perfection as a person in the original mold, untainted by the Fall. (Blessed Family - 313)

God is the king and owner of true love. Since God is the king of true love, and the bridegroom, it is an absolute principle that He needs His partner, the queen. Then you may ask who can be the absolute God’s partner in true love? The answer is true people. It was Adam and Eve who were to become one with God’s love. (275-53, 1995.10.31)

The path trod by a man or a woman exists because of love, and for love. Our path is the path of love. We are following this path in order to acquire love, defend love, and establish an environment of love. (Blessed Family - 1062)

Even if a person sets his goals well, if he cannot establish the loving authority through which he can manage that goal, he must pursue a new goal. The purpose of this goal cannot be greater than love. (29-130, 1970.2.26)

Adam must become one with God, and what joins them together is love. A human being is the two-dimensional representative of the existing world, and God is the three-dimensional representative. Between them is the bond known as love that joins them together for eternity. (35-156, 1970.10.13)

Think of even a poor country man who works all day, weeding the fields and farming the land. If the passion of love is kindled such that it fills up his body and mind, the five senses of the body and the five senses of the mind will completely unite into one, and he will experience unsurpassed joy. In the same way, if you have inside yourselves the place of complete settlement, in which the love of God can reside, you will become one in heart with God, so that just like the swing of a pendulum, if God’s heart beats once, your heart will beat once too, and your body will be turning around together with God. Once you begin to revolve, you will continue to turn. The more you turn, the more momentum you will gain, and the action of centrifugal force will demand that you love your family, love your society, love your nation, and love the world. (Blessed Family - 376)

From whom originates the love that embraces and forgives everything? Love does not start from human beings. It starts from God, who is the Subject of love. God created human beings with love, so He desires to receive love from them. Love is perfected as God returns to humankind that love He has received. (Blessed Family - 380)

Love is absolute. Even God, who has absolute knowledge, absolute capability and absolute authority, is absolutely obedient in front of absolute love. (206-24, 1990.10.3)

True love must start from a certain point, turn through 360 degrees and thus return to the starting point. Only then is it true love. It cannot be true love until it reaches that point. (178-309, 1988.6.14)

The purpose of life is to occupy the love of God. If you do not occupy the love of God, even if you think you have achieved all your hopes, you have not achieved anything. Although you may
be very happy, that happiness cannot become eternal happiness. (38-326, 1971.1.8)

And so when you love you can attain immortality. It is God’s love that stimulates the reciprocal action that continues forever. (38-273, 1971.1.8)

The most sacred thing on this earth is true love. True love begins from God. Since God exists, there is no other way for things to be. What God truly desires is the path of true love, and you cannot dwell in His presence unless you walk this path. Through love, God wants to see, hear, eat and touch. Similarly, if human beings receive the kiss of love from God, they will feel a joy so great that it will seem to burst inside them. This is what God truly desires. Owning diamonds and jewels will not bring Him joy. (Blessed Family - 380)

It is not without meaning that I am vibrant and active in many fields. I do so because I have a purpose and that purpose is none other than to realize the world of love. Human beings exist with the aim of realizing and attaining love. Since the purpose of human life lies in the realization of true love, the value of human existence is also decided by this true love. How wonderful this is! What kind of person can harmonize with the essence of God’s love? A self-centered person has no value at all. Only the person who is willing to invest, with the sincerest devotion, everything he has in his life for others – only this kind of person can live continuously in the realm of God’s love. This is how it has been with the great people and saints of history. (46‑36, 1971.7.18)

The love of God is love for the sake of others, love that seeks to live for others. When there is such a love – true love – things automatically rotate. How did the universe begin? It began from the point of rotation. All existing things, by their intrinsic nature, have to rotate. Then what can keep on rotating forever? The love that is willing to give eternally, that is, eternal love, will keep rotating forever. Since the giving and receiving forces become one and want to give and give, they have no choice but to expand. (128‑291, 1983.9.11)

Since God, the origin of true love, is the parent, humankind is situated as His sons and daughters. From the children’s viewpoint, their parents are the best examples of love. The relationship between parents and children is a vertical, perpendicular one, whereas the relationship between husband and wife is a horizontal, equal one. Therefore when the parent-child relationship and the husband-wife relationship meet at a right angle, and to this formation is added the relationship between siblings – a “front to back” relationship – the resulting configuration of loving relationships together form a sphere. Thus, all existing things created through love are spherical in form. The entire universe is in the form of a sphere. (34-215, 1970.9.13)

Just as human beings wish to see God, God also wishes to see true human beings. But no matter which of two He says He wants to see first, the other one will certainly complain. And so God has no choice but to put love first. If He puts love before everything else, He can see the man and the woman together at the same time, touch them at the same time, and share with them at the same time. People fight to possess the precious things of the world, but there is no fighting in love, because in order to possess it, two must unite into one through living for the sake of each other. Everyone likes love and it is only love that can fully satisfy our desires. Therefore, it is possible to carry out God’s providence of salvation based on this principle. (Tongil Segye 1986.9‑17)

We must find true love. Then where can you find it? True love lasts forever, and remains unchanged, day or night. Something that exists for oneself alone cannot be true love. True love cannot belong to just one individual. True love belongs to all, and is jointly owned by the whole universe. True love connects the family, the society, the nation, the world, and the universe. (Blessed Family - 380)

Where is the root of true love kept? Even though God is all-knowing and all-powerful, the root of love is not kept within Himself. Although the all knowing and all-powerful God is the central figure of true love, He does not want to keep the root of love within Himself. God wants to plant that root in the person who is to be the object partner of His love. (177-269, 1988.5.20)

Where did love begin? It began from God. God created this world because He needed His ideal partner in love, and so even the Creation of heaven and earth had its origin in love. (213-79, 1991.1.14)

The fountainhead of the power of the mind and heart is love. So, when the explosive force generated by the give and take action of the mind is connected to God, that force can be multiplied hundreds or even thousands of times. It can realize the hopes of the people of the world. At the same time, it can even establish the Kingdom of God as our own, in which we can live together eternally. The key is love. (18-328, 1967.8.13)

When human beings attain oneness with God, their hearts and emotions are enraptured in infinite joy and happiness. God and human beings ultimately become one through love. Human beings also become one with the world through love, and the realization of the ideal world, fulfilling God’s purpose at the time of Creation, is begun from there. (35-156, 1970.10.13)

When human beings reach the divine spirit stage, they can realize that universal principles are contained in the smallest grain of sand, and the harmony of the limitless universe is contained in a single atom. The fact that all existing things are the result of complex forces cannot be denied. From molecules to atoms, and from atoms to elementary particles, nothing exists without reason. Everything in existence has ness and purpose. Therefore all existing things have passed through the loving hands of God, and so exist in a relationship of heart with God. Joy can be felt when a certain purpose is achieved. Since the consciousness of God’s purpose is inherent in all things, God feels joy from their creation. (9-166, 1960.5.8)

How strong must your love be for you to advance to the realm of God’s love? The false love found among humanity today is below that of the archangel. The love in the fallen world is a love that has been invaded by Satan. The people born and living in that realm are making a commotion over whether, due to issues of love, they can continue living or not. Such love is like a whirlpool, with neither order nor direction. Only dirty things collect in a whirlpool. Yet once human beings form a relationship with the love of God, they naturally follow the direction of that love even though they are not taught to. (130-23, 1983.12.11)

God’s ideal begins from a new love centered on God – in other words, from the place where love that is in accord with the laws of creation exists. (19-314, 1968.3.17)

Why do people like love? It is because you have no choice but to like it. The rope that binds a mother and the father together into one is love. Steel chains rust over time and eventually break, but the rope of love lasts forever. Moreover, parents and children cannot be bound together with food or money. They can only be bound together with love. (18-328, 1967.8.13)

The perfection of humankind cannot be achieved through knowledge, authority, or money; it can only be achieved through love. That love is not the secularized love of this world, but original love, and through that love everything is perfected. (God’s Will - 697)

22. Bible called Nature - II:

 

The Textbook of Nature teaches love for your children.

While fishing in a quiet bay, my solitude was disturbed by loud smashing sound under the hull of the boat.  I look into the clear water and to my amazement, saw a mother loon, repeatedly torpedoing her body into the 26' long boat with every once of her strength.  The boat had accidentally drifted upon her nest. I quickly responded to her demands and moved the boat.

After a forest fire in Yellowstone Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.  One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.  As he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.  She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and as the heat had scorched her small body, the mother remained steadfast.  Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings lived.

We were not left here without a manual on how to Love.

Please send your "Nature Lessons" to JohnKeiko@gmail.com

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From "World Scriptures":

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

1. Christianity;  Romans 1:20

****God and his nature is a self-evident Truth, Seen in Nature, the things of Creation

Truth, Eternal Order that is great and stern,
Consecration, Austerity, Prayer, and Ritual--these uphold the Earth.
May she, Queen of what has been and will be,
make a wide world for us.

Earth, which has many heights and slopes and
the unconfined plain that bind men together,
Earth that bears plants of various healing powers,
may she spread wide for us and thrive.

Earth, in which lie the sea, the river, and other waters,
in which food and cornfields have come to be,
in which live all that breathes and that moves,
may she confer on us the finest of her yield....

Set me, O Earth, amidst what is thy center and thy navel,
and vitalizing forces that emanate from thy body.
Purify us from all sides. Earth is my Mother; her son am I;
and Heaven my Father: may he fill us with plenty....

There lies the fire within the Earth,
and in plants,
and waters carry it;
the fire is in stone.
There is a fire deep within men,
a fire in the kine (female of large animals),
and a fire in horses:
The same fire that burns in the heavens;
the mid-air belongs to this divine Fire.
Men kindle this fire that bears the oblation (offering)
and loves the melted butter.

May Earth, clad in her fiery mantle,
dark-kneed,
make me aflame;
may she sharpen me bright....

Whatever I dig from thee, Earth,
may that have quick growth again.
O purifier, may we not injure thy vitals or thy heart....

As a horse scatters dust, so did Earth, since she was born,
scatter the people who dwelt on the land,
and she joyously sped on, the world's protectress,
supporter of forest trees and plants.

What I [Earth] speak, I speak with sweetness;
what I look at endears itself to me;
and I am fiery and impetuous: others who fly at me with wrath
I smite down.

Peaceful, sweet-smelling, gracious, filled with milk,
and bearing nectar in her breast,
may Earth give with the milk her blessings to me.

Thou art the vessel, the Mother of the people,
the fulfiller of wishes, far-extending.
Whatever is wanting in thee is filled
by Prajapati, first-born of Eternal Order [the first god].

May those born of thee, O Earth,
be, for our welfare, free from sickness and waste.
Wakeful through a long life, we shall become
bearers of tribute for thee.

Earth, my Mother! set me securely with bliss
in full accord with Heaven. Wise One,
uphold me in grace and splendor.

18. Hinduism. Atharva Veda 12.1

The earth was once a human being: Old One made her out of a woman. "You will be the Mother of all people," he said.

Earth is alive yet, but she has changed. The soil is her flesh, the rocks are her bones, the wind is her breath, trees and grass her hair. She lives spread out, and we live on her. When she moves we have an earthquake.

After taking the woman and changing her to earth, Old One gathered some of her flesh and rolled it into balls, as people do with mud or clay. He made the first group of these balls into the ancients, the beings of the early world. The ancients were people, yet also animals. In form some looked human while others walked on all fours like animals. Some could fly like birds; others could swim like fishes. All had the gift of speech, as well as greater powers and cunning than either animals or people.

Besides the ancients, real people and real animals lived on the earth at that time. Old One made the people out of the last balls of mud he took from the earth. He rolled them over and over, shaped them like Indians, and blew on them to bring them alive. They were so ignorant that they were the most helpless of all the creatures Old One had made. Old One made people and animals into males and females so that they might breed and multiply.

Thus all living beings came from the earth. When we look around, we see part of our Mother everywhere.

19. Native American Religions. Okanogan Creation

God's hand has touched even every small blade of grass which grows in the field.... All creatures we see contain God's deep heart and tell the story of God's deep love.

8. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 6-28-5

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From "The Holy Way of the Couple (Family)" Book 1 - Chapter 2

5.4. Our attitude toward nature

When you open your eyes in the morning and look at nature, it subtly connects with your original nature and inspires feelings about a new ideal that can sprout forth. On the other hand, you know very well that the more you look at the human world, the more despair and sorrow it arouses in your heart. If the world were populated by people who had not fallen, the value of human beings would not stir up sorrow in the heart of a beholder. Human beings were not created merely to have the value of a blade of grass, a flower or a tree trunk. People were supposed to be noble beings who could not be exchanged for anything in the created world. They were supposed to step forward representing Heaven with incomparable value. (9-97, 1960.4.24)

You should have a mind that contemplates nature that is imbued with the love of God and says, “Could anything precious owned by a king of this world or by some famous person compare with this? Could any antique artifact compare with this? Could a glamorous dress worn by a famous lady compare with this?” Without that kind of heart, we are committing a sin before the natural world without even knowing it. If there is someone who can look at a living being and say, “Can anything produced by human hands compare with this? No matter how great someone may be, could he ever be greater than God?” and value most highly all things created through God’s hard work, he must surely be a child of God. Such a person does not need to pray. He lives with God. God guides people into such a position. (9-174, 1960.5.8)

People will enjoy and take delight in anything that belongs to someone they love. Nevertheless, they do not know how to take delight in all things created by God, whom they should love the most. Can such people become God’s sons and daughters? You are responsible to liberate creation which is sighing and lamenting from its sorrow. You should deeply experience the heart and care that God invested in the creation of even one tree or plant 6,000 years ago. You should have such a heart. So you should be able to shed tears even at the sight of one plant along the road, or holding onto one tree, say, “How lonely you must be to have lost your master!” I myself have wept profusely while grasping a rock; I have shed tears to feel the wind blow. Now, because you have heard my words, you understand why. (9-176, 1960.5.8)

I have gone this way while saying to myself, “The precious things of creation, which God made and which have forged an eternal connection with God, are not cherished as much as national treasures or valuables in some kingdoms today. I will understand that sorrow; I alone must understand.” If you have a heart that says, “I will understand, though all those living on this earth may be ignorant
of it,” your people will be a new people who can rule humankind in the future. This is not a concept but a fact. Where are the people who can value all things of creation more than the family treasures that are handed down over the generations, or more than diamonds, supposedly the most precious stone in the world – so that they hold on to those things and refuse to let them go? Upon seeing those who understand in their hearts what He has created, and who hold those things and shed tears over them, God will say, “My dear children!” (9-176, 1960.5.8)

What is nature? It is an exhibit that God has given us as a gift, something He prepared for the birth of His beloved sons and daughters. Even the song of a bird and a plant growing are decorations prepared to bring beauty into the lives of His beloved sons and daughters. Even the rocks rolling on the road were created as decorations for a nation, since God knew that His sons and daughters would be the owners who would rule over that nation. It is the same with flowing water. God did not want things to be dry and monotonous, so He created things for a prince of dreams and of hope who could look at this infinitely colorful and harmonious garden – this world of love – and inherit it. Hence, we learn from all things of creation. When the male and female birds sing, the lady who owns them should learn from that. You should be able to sing praises for the beauty of the original world of creation, where everything devotes its entire life to establish a world where each lives for the sake of the other. Then, even baby birds will want to come and live in your home. Birds will want to have their young there. (175-186, 1988.4.16)

No matter how precious a work of art in a museum may be, can it have more value than a living work of art? I am asking who has loved this earth, the museum of all things and the work of God, more than God has. I am asking if anyone has loved it more than the museums in his own country. Can you compare a gold crown from the Shilla Dynasty in the museum with a dandelion lying on the road, when that is made directly by God? If there is a king who embodies the heart of such a God and takes care of the creation with a heart that says, “You stand in a position to receive love. I am sorry that I cannot love you from the position of the king for whom the original God could exist,” the tufts of grass will want to follow that king and be with him eternally. This is how people should live. (175-186, 1988.4.16)
 

5.5. Love nature and love people

You should know how to love nature and love people. You should know that those who cannot love people or love nature cannot love God. Because all things of creation are symbols for God and because people are substantial beings, those who know how to love all things of creation and people will come to love God. (70-181, 1974.2.9)

You should always love nature. You should love nature and love people. You should love people of all five colors in the human race. Would God say, “Oh, I like only white people”? Then everyone would have to wear only white clothes. All white people would have to wear only white clothes, and throw away all their colored clothes. Why would you wear black clothes or colored clothes? That would be a contradiction. (133-28, 1984.7.1)

Even all the elements and the smallest creatures go toward the way of love. They are moving toward being the cells of humankind that can directly contact the love that is one with God. For this reason, we should sacrifice ourselves for the sake of love. We should invest ourselves.  Since there is a tradition of pouring out one’s life and possessions in their entirety, lower entities seek to give their whole being for the sake of higher entities.  This is not Darwin’s Theory of Evolution but a theory of absorption based on love. The question is how the value of one of the smallest creatures increases as it becomes material to be used in creating the next higher level of value. (204-129, 1990.7.1)

We should feel that all creatures of God are objects of our love. We should be people who can love, and be loved by, even the smallest forms of life, not to mention human beings, as well as everything visible and invisible in heaven. When a bird calls, “Chirp, chirp, chirp” in the morning, instead of saying, “You pesky sparrow, I am trying to sleep late. Why are you chirping?!” say, “Oh, thank you. You came to wake me up. Ha ha, you are telling me that an important guest is coming to see me.” The outlook is different. This is a great thing. (112-219, 1981.4.12)

God created the angelic world at the same time that He created the human world. What kind of world is the angelic world? Only when human beings appear with beauty and fragrance – like blossoms that exist for the sake of bearing one fruit – will the nest of love finally be prepared. Hence, all life starts from there, and all beings that have life can harmonize starting from there. Human beings make this harmony possible. Centered on such people, a myriad of angels in heaven form a subject realm of harmony where they can have give and take with people, as butterflies and bees do with flowers. When that happens, a flowery garden of harmony will surely appear in which God rejoices, people rejoice, angels rejoice and all things are immersed in love. A spring party will then begin. (31-124, 1970.5.3)

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21. The Bible called Nature - I:

What is clear and speaks without contradiction and paradox?  Where can we find a consistent response to our ponderings?  Our printed Bible is laden with difficult communications and parables.  It is one of the reasons there are so many different teachings of the same words, each teacher claiming to be the "only right one".  In contrast "Nature" speaks with a unified mind.  Gravity is always gravity.  The "E" chord has always sounded the same since the first time I tuned a guitar over 2 decades ago.  My favorite Bible is Nature.

Jesus said there are many things he would like to say but we couldn't bear them.  "Now I speak in parables and symbols, but a time is coming when I will speak plainly of the Father."

Spirit of Truth coming and guiding us in understanding all things. It will bring us to an understanding that will not contradict our practical understanding of the world.  Science and Religion will no longer oppose one another, but will harmonize to bring our minds into balance with Nature and it's eternal principle.

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From "World Scriptures":

Reverence for all life begins with the recognition that human beings are but one species of living beings. All living beings are God's sacred creations, endowed with spirit, consciousness, and intelligence. Our reverence is heightened by the recognition that the interdependent web of life is wonderfully self-sustaining and productive. We see the results of human depredation of the environment, which have damaged the original balance of nature.

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

1. Christianity;  Romans 1:20

****God and his nature is a self-evident Truth, Seen in Nature, the things of Creation

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein.

2. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Psalm 24.1

This earth is a garden,
The Lord its gardener,
Cherishing all, none neglected.

3. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Mahj Ashtpadi 1, M.3, p. 118

Even in a single leaf of a tree, or a tender blade of grass, the awe-inspiring Deity manifests Itself.

4. Shinto. Urabe-no-Kanekuni

The stream crosses the path, the path crosses the stream:
Which of them is the elder?
Did we not cut the path to go and meet this stream?
The stream had its origin long, long ago.
It had its origin in the Creator.
He created things pure, pure, tano.

5. African Traditional Religions. Ashanti Verse (Ghana and Ivory Coast)

All you under the heaven! Regard heaven as your father, earth as your mother, and all things as your brothers and sisters.

6. Shinto. Oracle of the Kami of Atsuta

I say, "Just as the consciousness of a man born without any sense organs [i.e., one who is blind, deaf, dumb, crippled, etc. from birth] is not manifest, likewise the consciousness of beings of earth-body [e.g., atoms, minerals] is also not manifest. Nevertheless such a man experiences pain when struck or cut by a weapon, and so also do the beings of earth-body. Likewise for water-beings... fire-beings... plants... animals... air beings: their consciousness and experiences of pain are [actual though] not manifest."

9. Jainism. Acarangasutra 1.28-161

CSG - 1/2 - 5.3 Nature is a textbook teaching the ideal of Love.Tao gave them birth;

The power of Tao reared them,
Shaped them according to their kinds,
Perfected them, giving to each its strength.
Therefore of the ten thousand things there is not one that does not
worship Tao and do homage to its power. Yet no mandate ever went forth
that accorded to Tao the right to be worshipped, nor to its power the
right to receive homage. It was always and of itself so.

Therefore as Tao bore them and the power of Tao reared them, made them
grow, fostered them, harbored them, brewed for them, so you must
Rear them, but do not lay claim to them;
Control them, but never lean upon them,
Be their steward, but do not manage them.
This is called the Mysterious Power.

10. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 51

Come back, O Tigers!, to the woods again,
and let it not be leveled with the plain.

For without you, the axe will lay it low.
You, without it, forever homeless go.

11. Buddhism. Khuddaka Patha

A horse or a cow has four feet. That is Nature. Put a halter around
the horse's head and put a string through the cow's nose, that is man.
Therefore it is said, "Do not let man destroy Nature. Do not let
cleverness destroy destiny [the natural order]."

12. Taoism. Chuang Tzu 17

They gave the sacrifice to the East,
the East said, "Give it to the West,"
the West said, "Give it to God,"
God said, "Give it to Earth, for Earth is senior."

13. African Traditional Religions. Idoma Prayer

The solid sky, the cloudy sky, the good sky, the straight sky.
The earth produces herbs. The herbs cause us to live. They cause long
life. They cause us to be happy.
The good life, may it prevail with the air. May it increase. May it be
straight to the end.
Sweet Medicine's earth is good. Sweet Medicine's earth is completed.
Sweet Medicine's earth follows the eternal ways.

SweetMedicine's earth is washed and flows.

14. Native American Religions. Cheyenne Song

Perhaps if we are lucky,
Our earth mother
Will wrap herself in a fourfold robe of white meal,
Full of frost flowers;
A floor of ice will spread over the world,
The forests because of the cold will lean to one side,
Their arms will break beneath the weight of snow.
When the days are thus,
The flesh of our earth mother will crack with cold.
Then in the spring when she is replete with living waters,
Our mothers,
All different kinds of corn,
In their earth mother we shall lay to rest.
With their earth mother's living waters
They will be made into new beings;
Into their sun father's daylight
They will come out standing;
Yonder to all directions
They will stretch out their hands calling for rain.
Then with their fresh waters
The rain makers will pass us on our roads.
Clasping their young ones [the ears of corn] in their arms,
They will rear their children.
Gathering them into our houses,
Following these toward whom our thoughts bend,
With our thoughts following them,
Thus we shall always live.

17. Native American Religions. Zuni Song

God's hand has touched even every small blade of grass which grows in the field.... All creatures we see contain God's deep heart and tell the story of God's deep love.

8. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 6-28-5

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From "The Holy Way of the Couple (Family)" Book 1 - Chapter 2

5.3. Nature is a textbook teaching the ideal of love

Some people who pray have called nature the number one Bible. It does not take second place. The Bible that describes the history of Israel does not always give a clear message. Do you know how much I shook my head as I read it? It can be very ambiguous; people understand what they want to from it, as if it were a fortune teller telling their fortune.  For some it is a way to escape from reality. So the natural world created by God is better than the Bible at carrying out the hard task of judging the facts and clarifying everything from beginning to end. (20-270, 1968.7.7)

Connections are made beginning in extremely small places. Your individual self is also a life in which 400 trillion cells are connected. Among all beings in the ideal world of creation centered on God’s love – that is, the great universe – there is not even one that is born outside God’s heart. A poet who feels such a thing must be a great poet. If there were a poet who could feel and express the cosmic heart when he saw a shaking leaf, he would have to be a poet of the universe.  We have not thought about how everything in heaven and earth that unfolds around us without our being aware of it exists together with God’s love. When you enter into a mystical state of mind, you can see that the principle of the universe is contained in one small grain of sand and how the endless and inexhaustible harmony of the universe is contained in one atom. We cannot deny that all existence is a result of some unknown yet complex force. Beyond the molecules there are atoms, and beyond the atoms there are elementary particles. These things, rather than existing unconsciously, exist with a certain consciousness and purpose. Thus, you should thoroughly understand that all existing beings have come about through God’s loving hand. So they are inevitably connected to God in heart.
(9-166, 1960.5.8)

What kind of person is a spiritual master? The one who has the heart to exclaim, “God!” while holding just one blade of grass, and who can recognize its value as being equal to his own. That person is the greatest spiritual master. A person who can sing about such a value in that way would be the greatest artist. The person who can discover the various tastes of God’s love and heart in the diversity of all things existing around him should represent the entire universe. He or she is the one who has the feeling to become friends with all things and find joy with them.  If there is someone whose each and every cell is moved by such a feeling, he should be the one to represent the entire universe. Such a person is a lord of creation.  Could someone who knows nothing  other than eating become the lord of creation? (9-166, 1960.5.8)

If you carefully observe children, mainly they like lively creatures such as puppies, insects, birds and wild animals.  Why is this? This is basically how people are. What does this mean? Their interests are aroused when they see the natural world and the earth in motion. Although, of course, there can be different levels of partners, people enjoy themselves and find it interesting to contemplate these things. In this way, they learn about all the properties of love within themselves. Observing how bugs, insects and animals live, we see that they all exist in pairs. Considering this, nature is a museum of textbooks built to educate human beings, as the object partners of God’s love, about the ideal of reciprocal relationships. (137-211, 1986.1.3)

God made the universe and everything in it to be a textbook to help His beloved sons and daughters find the ideal of love. This is why everything exists in a pair system. The mineral kingdom operates through the relationship of subject partner and object partner. In atoms, which are the structural units of matter, the protons and electrons interact in a relationship of subject partner and object partner. Without this interaction they cannot exist. Without movement, there can be no eternal existence. This is why they must interact.  People observe and learn from nature as they grow up. They learn things and say, “This is what the insect world is like!” When you listen carefully on an autumn night with a radiant moon and shining stars, the sounds of the insects are like an orchestra. Why do they make such sounds? They are singing of their ideal as they search for their partners. They are whispering about love. Birds and all other animals follow the same common denominator of love in making their sad and glad sounds. They are low on the scale, and far from the axis, and yet they are circling around the axis on the same horizontal plane. This is the way all things in existence are. (137-59, 1985.12.18)

There are three kinds of bird songs: first, a song signaling hunger; second, a song sung out of love for its mate; and third, a song sung in time of danger. They are all different. We ordinary people do not know this, but in their own world they know. When they call out of hunger, all their fellow birds understand. But what does their daily life revolve around? Hunger is taken care of simply by eating, and they are not facing danger every day, either. Most of their singing has to do with going back and forth in the give and take relationship with their love partner. (137-211, 1986.1.3)
Human beings were created as a subject partner and object partner, as a pair. The world of all things, too, which exists for the sake of humankind, makes harmony under the principle of love and realizes its purpose in life and ideal through the love of humankind.  For humankind, and especially for the maturing Adam and Eve, the world of all things is a textbook of love and a museum that infinitely displays the essence of love. (135-10, 1985.8.20)

All birds and animals exist in pairs. They harmonize with each other in love. Flowers and butterflies relate from two opposite poles, yet harmonize with each other. This reflects the harmonious relationship of heaven and earth. The opposite poles of the universe come into harmony based on love. It’s the same with migratory birds. Birds in the south fly to the north, and birds in the north fly to the south, loving each other back and forth across the regions. In so doing, they center on love eternally. People learn about love through the textbooks in the museum God created. When people and God love each other in joy, everything in heaven and on earth will follow that rhythm and harmonize around them. If God likes this and loves this, the angelic world also will like it. The entire created world will like it too, applauding and offering praise. Songbirds will sing praises, and beautiful flowers will offer praises through their fragrances. This created world exists in order to expand the fragrant atmosphere in which human beings, in the central position, having the highest love, can enjoy themselves.  Even the ugly toads croak, “Wook, wook, wook,” when they make love. How charming! They kick with their legs and move them up and down while making love. What a delightful scene! This is the highest art. (142-273, 1986.3.13)

As they mature, Adam and Eve will come to understand, saying, “Ah, that’s how to make love.” God laid out the world of all things to serve as a textbook, to guide the ideal of human love to reach maturity. So they go on learning. As they grow bigger, they will come to have different feelings toward each other, saying, “Aha, we were like a brother and sister in the past, but now it seems. … ” They will learn, saying, “Aha, that’s the way it is.” So they will go straight along parallel lines, and then collide, saying, “You and I must meet even at the risk of death. We cannot go anywhere else.” (137-59, 1985.12.18)

Born as God’s first children, Adam and Eve were to grow from childhood to maturity in the realm of God’s protection. Since their intellect was meant to develop through this process, they would have come to realize why God created the world, and God would have educated them through the created world. The created world, with everything in motion, was a textbook to teach Adam and Eve everything they needed to know about how to live. They were to have been our first, original ancestors.  You have to understand that since Adam and Eve did not reach perfection, the created world has been a model and a museum showing us how to lead an ideal life. (137-126, 1986.1.1)

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