Book 7

True Parents' Course of Suffering and Victory

True Father endured six prison terms during his life. He was incarcerated once under the Japanese occupation regime, three times by the North Korean communists, once in the Republic of Korea and once in the United States. He was in prison for a total of five years. He accepted the hardships of these six imprisonments as his course of suffering for the will of heaven.

Nevertheless, prison was mentally grueling, and he was subjected to torture and physical deprivation. The most extreme was Heungnam labor camp. There, the cold and hunger were beyond description, and Father faced death as he endured the hard labor of packing and carrying straw bags of ammonium sulfate fertilizer. Even in the free world, Father endured suffering in Seodaemun Prison (South Korea) and Danbury Prison (United States) as a result of persecution and false accusations. This indicates how much longer and steeper the course of indemnity had become.

As he faced these ordeals, True Father considered that they were for the sake of a greater righteousness, and he endured them to comfort God. He understood the principle that he could best advance the providence by allowing himself to be struck first and then being entitled to claim compensation. Knowing this, he regarded prison as a place of refuge where he could most deeply experience God's love. What a paradox! Having taken responsibility to pay the indemnity for all human beings, it was in prison that he established the conditions of victory for the salvation of humankind.

God had prepared Christianity, but when it was not able to fulfill its responsibility, the suffering True Father endured under the North Korean communists served to build the foundation for a new start on behalf of Christianity. While in North Korea, he met a spiritual Christian group, the Inside the Womb Church, which had been offering conditions of devotion in order to meet the Returning Lord, and through them he indirectly connected with True Mother. It happened that when True Father was imprisoned at the Daedong Detention Center, the leader of the Inside the Womb Church was imprisoned there at the same time. It was tragic that she did not accept Fathers direction, but since True Mother was given a special blessing from that church when she was six years old, in the end that group was connected to True Parents. Such was the mysterious work of God.

During his suffering in Heungnam Prison, True Father found more than 12 disciples. In this way, he set providential conditions to restore through indemnity the death of Jesus on the cross. After he was freed from the prison, the conditions he laid there became the foundation he could use to create the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity after he returned to South Korea.

Moreover, during the time of his suffering in Danbury, American ministers supported him. Their unity with True Father despite decades of persecution from the Christian churches was indeed a miracle. Moreover, True Mother was completely united with True Father as he went through the painful course of Danbury, and they walked together and led the global providence. In this way, True Parents walked a course of hardships, giving their blood, sweat and tears for heaven. They overcame the history of bitter sorrow and persecution, and emerged victorious.

Chapter 1

Suffering and Victory during the Japanese Occupation and in Communist North Korea

Section 1. The Movement for Korean Independence

Imprisonment for underground activities

From April 1941 until September 1943, True Father studied in Japan. During this period he involved himself in the underground independence movement. He had the conviction that a person who does not love his country cannot love heaven. True Father returned to Korea in mid-October 1943. The following year, True Fathers independence movement activity in Japan was exposed, and in October 1944 he was arrested and confined at the Gyeonggi Province Police Station. There he underwent two months of interrogation and torture.

1 I was involved in underground activities during the Japanese occupation. During that time, I determined what path I would take. While studying in Japan I met wealthy people, and encountered temptations of all kinds. I was good at many things, so even though people really did not know who I was, they always sought me out. When I was with them, they were so comfortable with me that almost without realizing it, they would share the deepest secrets of their hearts. (154-162, 1964/06/12)

2 While studying in Japan, I worked in the underground movement directed by the provisional government in Shanghai. Recently my name was discovered in the records of the Japanese Metropolitan Police Headquarters, and I obtained a copy of those records from Japan. The record at the Metropolitan Police Headquarters states that I was "part of the independence movement, traveling between Korea and two other nations." Now I have the evidence of my involvement that no one can deny. (600-034, 2008/10/24)

3 When it was time for me to return to Korea from Japan after finishing my studies, I prayed, "Japan, I will see you again in 21 years." In fact, I did return to Japan 21 years later. While in Japan, I was involved with underground activities, working jointly with communists to carry out operations to liberate Korea. I carried out all kinds of covert activities, and police detectives were always following me. When I left for Korea, they notified the Japanese authorities in Korea that I was on my way to somewhere in Korea. When I arrived at the station, some people came up to me and said, "There you are!" giving me the feeling that I was being watched. There were many such incidents. (034-288, 1970/09/13)

4 I was typical of those who carried on underground activities in Japan. I know Japan better than anyone else. Living near the Nijubashi Bridge, whenever I saw the Royal Palace, it made me so angry to think of what the Emperor was doing to my country. I studied all about Japan, beginning in the slums. I researched all aspects of Japanese life. Once I worked as a secretary doing paperwork in the office of a government official. At that time, I saw that the Japanese occupation would not last much longer. I engaged in underground activities as a student, but I never spoke about it, so no one knew about them. I traveled on the Bukwan Ferry from Busan to Shimonoseki to manage secret negotiations for independence. I also traveled on the Hikari line between Busan in southern Korea, Sinuiju in northern Korea and Dandong in China to connect various people behind the underground movement and serve as a liaison between their operatives. (465-174, 2004/08/21)

5 I experienced prison life during the period when the Korean people were suffering under 40 years of Japanese rule. I was incarcerated. I went to prison for the sake of liberating the Korean people. The Japanese tempted me with all kinds of sweet words, saying, "If you cooperate with us, we will make you successful," or "You will be well taken care off but I chose the path of suffering. God was so displeased with Japan that He would not let me take any interest in that country. God drove me into prison as a strategy to sever me from any kind of relationship with Japan. When I look back now, that's how I see it. All those who supported the Japanese regime, from the top to the bottom, opposed me and pushed others to oppose me. Thus, God wanted me to take a path of suffering. (161-198, 1987/02/03)

6 Our Unification family began in order to pioneer the path to become those who can take responsibility on behalf of God and be recognized by Satan, by making a connection to God s heart. This path is something that no one knows; behind it are tragedies too numerous to count. During the time of Japanese rule I was in and out of prison. Even while vomiting blood, and even when they pulled out my fingernails and blood drained from my ten fingers, I affirmed in prayer, "It is an honor to offer this blood as a sacrificial offering to represent the blood of ten tribes and the blood of ten nations." More than receiving my own salvation, I thought about how good it would be if my one death could free the whole country from its resentment and liberate it. (049-157, 1971/10/09)

7 The universal and supreme hope of humanity is to find their original parents. It is to find the original world, the hometown that the original nature desires. This is the original goal that all people seek to achieve, whether in the past, the present or the future. If a nation cannot obtain it, true happiness will not dwell there. This is heaven's fundamental law, for the sake of which I abandoned everything. For that hope I gave up all attachments, even to my parents.

I was imprisoned during the period of the Japanese occupation, but I was grateful that I could go to prison rather than betray my country. Since I was pursuing the sovereignty of heaven's nation,

I would not bend to the sovereignty of the Emperor of Japan. This was unforgivable to the followers of the Emperor and those under his sovereignty. Yet I did not pursue worldly things. I spurned those pro-Japanese people who offered me a successful and comfortable life. Instead, I left my parents and my family behind and took the path to recover my country's independence. (020-140, 1968/05/01)

8 When I was a young man in my twenties, my head was filled with dreams. Others thought them to be fantasies, and they ridiculed and mocked me. My mother said, "My goodness! I made such a huge effort to send you to study, and yet you have come to this?" I had the reputation of being very smart, so although I was born as a second son, the Moon clan had great expectations for me. My mother invested all her efforts to support me. She did not have much money; still she scraped together enough money to send me to study abroad. Yet when I came home, I ended up being taken off to prison.

When I thought of my mother shedding tears as she visited me in the prison run by the Japanese authorities, I wished I did not have to do what I was doing for my country. Nonetheless, I had to; it was my destiny. Knowing my situation, my mother could not say anything against me.

I said to her, "As your son, I have done nothing wrong. As a son of the Moon clan, I have done nothing to taint the family name. Even from the standpoint of the traditional perspective of Korea, my conscience is clean. While I am here in prison, I do not want you to be the kind of mother who sheds tears over my hardships. I need you to be the kind of mother who will encourage and strengthen me. I need you to be the kind of mother who will advise and encourage me to be bold and courageous for the sake of the future as I pioneer the road that can lead Asia and liberate the Korean people. That is how I want to see you. I would rather not see you just weeping for me. After all, I consider myself to be God's Son." (121-166, 1982/10/24)

9 By the work of my own hands I bought houses and clothes for numerous people, but I did not buy even one handkerchief for my parents. Indeed, I was not a filial son, but it was not for selfish reasons. During the time of Japanese rule, after I came back from Japan and was taken to prison, my mother visited me and shed tears. Like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, I shouted, "Your son is not a small-minded man from the Moon clan. What 1 see through my eyes is more than just you, my mother, weeping for me; it is the sorrow of God and the sorrow of the world. That is why I am here. I am taking this road for the sake of resolving that sorrow."

The path of loving your enemy The Gyeonggi Province Police Department of the Japanese regime, which had jurisdiction over four police stations in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, had a notorious reputation. During the time of Father's imprisonment, he was subjected to cruel tortures of various kinds and was beaten to the point where he vomited blood. The detectives demanded that he confess the names of his comrades in the underground independence movement, but ultimately he did not disclose them. Despite the agony racking his body, he kept his commitment and maintained his loyalty to his comrades.

Even on the verge of death, he did not pray seeking sympathy from God. Even while he was beaten severely, he forgave his torturers and prayed for them to be blessed. His life in prison at the Gyeonggi Province Police Station until his release in February 1945 was a period of internal preparation, during which True Father communicated with God about future public activities. (121-289, 1982/10/29)

10 I was often brought into the police station in shackles for questioning. I was well-known at the police station. On the day when I finally entered prison, word went around, "That Moon fellow is here again." The next day, some Japanese came to greet me, not to show respect but just to see whether the rumor that I had been imprisoned was true. Even when I was a student, it was common for me to go in and out of the police station.

I am a person who possesses a great deal of courage on the torture rack. This was my ongoing history. I was tortured severely by the Japanese police. If you seize young people and tell them that you will torture them with a scorching hot iron, they will say they did something even if they didn't. (025-163, 1969/10/03)

11 Among the tortures I received from the Japanese imperial police was men wearing combat boots kicking me in the stomach. Then, two men on the left and right grabbed my wrists while two other men trampled me. When that was finished, what do you think happened to the skin on my stomach? How painful do you think it was to go to the toilet, to sit down and then stand up? However, I was not discouraged. While they were kicking me I said, "Hey! This is great!" No one in the world talks like that, but 1 was enduring the pain for the sake of God. Even after that treatment, when I was released I was very courteous to my torturers and spoke to them kindly as I was leaving.

After five or six hours of continuous torture, when I was about to faint and topple backward, 1 felt compassion for them. That was my attitude at that time. I sometimes think, "I wonder where that person who tortured me is now?" Someone who pursues only physical pleasures will never be able to understand my attitude, no matter how much I explain it. (017-298, 1967/02/15)

12 What is a patriot? A patriot is someone who sacrifices for the sake of his or her nation. The person who sacrifices the most becomes the most honored patriot. What is a filial child? Filial children dedicate themselves for the sake of their parents, even to the point of giving up their life. Suppose there are two sons, both of whom are dedicated to their parents, but only one of them is willing to offer his life for them. In that case, the one who was not willing to offer his life does not qualify as a true filial son. Likewise, between two people who serve their nation, if one of them offers his life and the other does not, the one who was not willing to offer his life is not regarded as a true patriot.

We should be going the way of the Will, resolved to offer our lives. I personally offered my life long ago for the sake of righteousness. I am not a small-minded man. While attending school under Japanese rule, I fought in the underground movement. Had I opened my mouth after I was captured, 70 of my comrades could have lost their lives; so I did not say a word. When I take an oath of loyalty, I am a person who fulfills it. Even when I was at the point of death from the increasingly severe torture, for which they used various methods, I preferred to die rather than open my mouth. (065-064, 1972/11/13)

13 At the time of Japanese rule, even while I was undergoing all kinds of torture, I did not confess. However much the chief interrogator of the Gyeonggi Province Police Department tortured me, I did not confess. I said, "I will not talk," and that was that. They could have continued torturing me for 365 days and it would not have worked on me. When I blacked out they would throw a bucket of cold water on me to make me regain consciousness; then I would joke with them, "Why did you do that? Let me sleep a little more!" When they saw that, even the torturers became my friends.

When they came, I even said, "Hey, when you do it like that, it doesn't hurt me. Do it like this instead." When it was obvious that torture would not get them what they wanted, they forced me to sign a document. But I told them, "If you take me to court, I will speak out and tell the court you forced me to sign it against my will." A man of integrity acts according to his commitments. I am such a man. Because I am that kind of man, I did not perish even though I was persecuted. (081-205, 1975/12/28)

14 Because God is with me, I am definitely not lonely. I am not lonely at all. During the time of the Japanese occupation, I was imprisoned and subjected to many kinds of torture. They beat me to the point where my head was gashed open and my entire body was covered with blood. In those circumstances, God taught me a secret method of endurance.

Once I was interrogated for 12 hours and tortured to the point that I could not even crawl or move. They tortured me to the point where I lost consciousness, and then they threw cold water on me to wake me up. They repeated this again and again. Nevertheless, I did not open my mouth. Satan conquered the world, and after he occupied the world he attempted to dig out heaven's secret. But I did not utter even one word about it. Since everything hinged on my one word, even at the point of death I absolutely refused to open my mouth. Another horrible torture utilized a square bar with sharp edges that dig into the skin; it tore up my flesh, but I did not talk.

You must know how to maintain loyalty. If you make an oath, you must keep it even if you perish. Suppose after undergoing that kind of torture you gave in and talked; even though you survived, that day would remain a day of misery and regret that you would never be able to forget. (033-116, 1970/08/09)

15 My flesh was hot and sore after my beating, and I was vomiting blood. There I prayed, "This blood is the blood of the ancestors who betrayed history. Since the road that I will have to travel still remains ahead of me, if there is a cross that I need to bear, please let me bear it further." This is the kind of prayer that only a true man can offer. This is the path I have walked to this day.

I prayed, "Right now I am persevering and enduring, but the day will come when I will be repaid. Therefore, Father, please endure. If You are going to judge the Korean people or the world, please notify me first so that I can have a chance to save them before You bring the judgment." What a difference between someone who prays like me and someone who is only complaining about this and that and blaming others!

Why don't you become a man like me, someone who appears only once in human history? Then, after you go to the spirit world, you too will be someone whom the world will honor. How awesome that would be! You have only one chance to become like this, so do not miss it. If you miss this chance, it will never come again. Therefore, you must seize this opportunity. (017-298, 1967/02/15)

16 You do not know how beneficial exercise is. When I was exhausted, I would take advantage of any chance to go to urinate; if I took time to do physical exercise for as little as five minutes, my urine would be clear. Because I learned this, I survived prison life. Even though I received severe torture in that place, still I did not die.

Whenever someone is tortured, blood must be shed. One of the forms of torture was to force me to drink a lot of water and then stomp on my stomach. To resist that kind of torture, I had to empty my rectum. I had to get the water out through my rectum instead of urinating. This was to open a passage to relieve pressure on the stomach.

You must understand that God is the king of wisdom. In order to survive, there has to be a way for blood to get out. When you are exhausted, your nose bleeds, doesn't it? If it did not, you could suffer from a cerebral hemorrhage. To prevent that from happening, your nose must bleed. A nosebleed happens because your body is aware that your blood pressure is rising.

Likewise, during torture, in order to relieve the pressure, you must bleed. If you are not bleeding from the torture, you need to bite your lips or tongue and make a hole so that you will bleed. I saved many people by teaching them this. The path that people like us are walking is not an easy or comfortable one. I faced death many times, but I overcame every challenge because I knew this secret. (206-310, 1990/10/14)

17 Toward the end of Japanese rule in Korea, I was tortured numerous times by police detectives. A person who does not love his country cannot love God. Therefore, I participated in underground resistance activities in Japan. Since I had been involved in that struggle while in Japan, when I returned to Korea, the Japanese police knew that I had returned, and they followed me around like ghosts. When the police finally arrested me and interrogated me, during the interrogation I vomited blood and was on the verge of death a number of times. Despite this, I risked my life to remain loyal and maintain my responsibility to my comrades with whom I had worked, by telling the police that I had fought alone. Even when threatened with death, I did not talk. When I am determined not to talk, I do not talk.

After Korea was liberated from Japan at the end of World War II, I could have retaliated against the people working at the Gyeonggi Province Police Station. But because they were defeated and in tears, I just let them go back to Japan as they were. (023-135, 1969/05/18)

18 If you do not plant, you cannot harvest. I saved my enemies by helping them escape at night, and now the young people of Japan are repaying me for that favor. The country of Japan has to repay it. This is why I am grateful to God for the experience of prison life in my twenties.

By going into a Japanese prison, I could understand the misery of the Korean people who had faced 40 years of this mistreatment. It was all part of my education. After prison, I could understand how evil Japan was. I had heard about the suffering of the Korean people at the hands of the Japanese from the testimonies of my fellow patriots, and I had also read about it in books. But I did not feel how terrible it was until I had the actual experience myself. I did not fully believe what was written in the books because sometimes stories are told from the standpoint of the writer's imagination. I finally came to understand the tragedy of Korea for the first time when I actually went to prison and was tortured and shed blood alongside other prisoners who were enduring the same kind of torture.

My experience in prison awakened my sense of duty that I must liberate these suffering people. Prison served as a great teacher. There I laid foundation stones that, in the course of the providence of restoration, no one is able to touch. (211-150, 1990/12/30)

19 I know that the Japanese slaughtered many of our people during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Because of that, just thinking about the Japanese people makes me tremble with rage. However, in Asia, one cannot ignore Japan. Although Japan was defeated in World War II, its participation is essential to create the three-nation alliance in Asia of Korea, Japan and China.

In terms of their national character, the power of the Japanese to unite could be greater than that of the Germans. Therefore, we do not take revenge against them. If you start with revenge, you end in revenge, and ultimately all will perish. Therefore, in order to make a new world based on Unification teachings, we are leading a new movement for unity to save Japan and its people first. (023-135, 1969/05/18)

20 No matter how much this world opposes me, I will not perish. Even though I may be imprisoned, my mind and my teachings cannot be imprisoned. While the Japanese were torturing me I thought, "Go ahead and strike me! If you do, the path that I have been walking in front of God and the path that God has been laying for Japan will be connected. So go ahead and strike me! See if I hate you or not. You can check how strong my love for my enemy is."

Even while being beaten and vomiting blood, I said, "Ah! It was good for me to be beaten. I was struck on behalf of all humankind and all the resentment in history. You beat me, but I will completely forget it; I will not remember it. Dear God, please forgive them." We must all be willing to be hit and to forgive. In order to do this, we must stand in the position of denying our lives. Then all problems will be simple to resolve.

When Korea was under Japanese rule, there was a time when I was tortured for 12 hours straight and I vomited blood. I was also subjected to a torture so unusual that I can never forget, a torture that drives people insane. Miraculously I survived. Nevertheless, I did not treat my torturers as enemies. I felt responsible to pray for them to receive blessings. I studied each of them and pondered deeply to find something good in them as a condition for me to give them my blessing.

Every human being has a conscience. One of the prison guards who tortured me one day came to me the next morning after everyone else had left the room and apologized to me. Thinking of this, I realized that all human beings are the same. No one can deceive their own conscience. (027-074, 1969/11/23)

Section 2. The Oaedong Detention Center

Background

After the Christian leaders whom God had prepared in South Korea failed to accept him, True Father went to North Korea to prepare a new foundation. He arrived in Pyongyang on June 6, 1946. His evangelical meetings were filled with spirit and grace, and many believers crowded into the hall. Then anonymous reports from Christian leaders jealous of his success reached the communist authorities, who readily accepted them because they had a policy to suppress religions. This resulted in him being imprisoned at the Daedong Detention Center on August 11, two months after his arrival in Pyongyang. The allegations against True Father were that he was a spy for the South Korean government and that he was disrupting the social order. Around that time, leaders of the Inside the Womb Church, including Rev. Heo Ho-bin, were also imprisoned at the Daedong Detention Center.

1 When I went to Pyongyang and struggled to conduct my ministry under the communist regime, I was 26 years old. If you compare that time with the present, your circumstances are much better. In those days, over 70 Christian pastors united to oppose me. I had to face persecution from those ministers, who had submitted to the rule of the communists in North Korea by forming an organization called the North Chosun Christian Alliance that was under the auspices of the Communist Party.

My teachings had such power that we could recruit even core members from any church that we had contact with. At that time I was living in Gyeongchang-ri, Pyongyang, and a rumor spread among the churches, "If you go to Gyeongchang-ri, there is a handsome young man who is a heretic. Once you listen to him, you will fall into his clutches." This rumor circulated widely, saying that people should not go there, especially women. (161-255, 1987/02/26)

2 I went to North Korea, which was ruled by the Communist Party. While I was spreading God's Word, the communists arrested and imprisoned me on suspicion of being an informer for South Korean President Syngman Rhee, simply because I had come from South Korea. However, even after a lengthy investigation, they were unable to find any proof that I was spying for the South. So instead, they accused me of being a shaman who disrupted society and used that as the reason to imprison me.

In prison I was beaten innumerable times. I was brutally tortured and treated with contempt. I walked such a path to come this far. I experienced many extreme situations. Still, they were necessary in the process of realizing a world of hope, and I think of them now as precious memories. (020-027, 1968/03/31)

3 Satan used individuals to attack me and caused families to hate me. He looked for ways to make even the government kill me. Just as Satan killed Jesus, he tried to kill me by every possible means. He mobilized everyone on every level to oppose me.

The North Korean communists used their power to put me in prison. Among their groundless charges, the North Korean government accused me of being a spy for the Syngman Rhee administration in the South. They said things like, "You are a spy sent by the South to plunder our country." They imprisoned me with the intention to kill me. At that time, if I had said, "This is too difficult to endure; I no longer care whether it is for the Will of God. I give up," that would have been the end. However, I resolved, "I must not perish even if the world crumbles. As long as the world remains intact, I must remain intact. No matter how severely they torture me, even if my limbs are torn apart, I will fight for God's Will in His name." (086-280, 1976/04/07)

4 The communists in Pyongyang arrested me, shackled me and dragged me into prison. During the time of Japanese rule as well, the Japanese police had forced me into prison. Although I was going to prison, my heart was brimming with hope. You might ask why. It was because heaven promised me that I would meet someone special in prison. The spirit world had made an arrangement that I would meet someone there. Hence, I went to prison with a joyful heart in order to meet that person. Because I was eager to meet that particular person in prison, going to prison was for me an occasion of new hope. (039-049, 1971/01/09)

5 Rev. Heo Ho-bin of the Inside the Womb Church walked the way of faith throughout her life, wholeheartedly offering sincere devotion. If you look at her personal history, the path she walked was beyond your wildest imagination. She held fast to her faith even under extreme oppression by the communists, who treated people of faith as their enemies. I cannot illustrate the indescribable torture she had to go through. I heard that they beat her so severely that it tore holes through her thin clothes, which were made of the light ramie that Koreans usually wear in the hot summer. She lost consciousness dozens of times. Her younger brother could not bear the torture and died. Approximately 40 leaders of her church were imprisoned and cruelly tortured. I was also imprisoned because the communists considered me in the same category. (024-192, 1969/08/10)

6 Because the Principle of Restoration is fulfilled through indemnity, it was not possible for me to visit in person the spiritual groups that were prepared and waiting for me. One reason Jesus died was that he could not receive his Bride. That was because the conditions for Jesus to meet his Bride had not been prepared. That is what led to the death of Jesus. Therefore, at the Second Advent of the Lord, God prepared groups whose role was to find a Bride for him. If Rev. Heo Ho-bin, the leader of one such group, had prayed to God to know where the Lord was, God would have revealed that place to her. Accordingly, I was waiting for the time her group would come to me. I could not go to them.

During that period, I came to know a woman who was like Anna, the old prophetess in the Bible. She did her spiritual work either on heaven s side or in the midway position. When she was not on heaven s side, she was in the midway position. After I met that woman, who was very elderly, I sent her as my messenger to Rev. Heo. I told her, "Tell Rev. Heo to pray about who I am." However, Rev. Heo was hoping for a colossal sign from God, and to her the young man described by this messenger did not seem special enough. She was not expecting the Lord to be a simple young man. Also, this elderly woman messenger was not someone with a big name, but just an ordinary person. Hence, Rev. Heo, unable to realize that this messenger had such an important mission, sent her back. After that I sent another messenger, this time a young woman, but again Rev. Heo did not respond.

Around that time, Rev. Heo gathered the leaders of her group in one place and described a revelation she had received that said, "Just as Chunhyang (the heroine of a Korean folktale) met her husband when she was in prison, you will meet the Lord in prison." (052-151, 1971/12/27)

7 At the same time that I was waiting to meet Rev. Heo Ho-bin in Pyongyang, the communists were tightening their control over North Korea. They learned that Rev. Heo s group had collected a lot of donations, and that they had prepared special clothes and bought a nice house. Accordingly, they charged the leaders of this group with being pseudo religious swindlers and threw them into prison. At that time, I too suffered persecution because they thought I was doing similar activities. In reality, I had no relationship with that group, but that is what the communists accused me of. The communists imprisoned me, and I happened to share a cell with a man who was a leader under Rev. Heo. My imprisonment began on August 11, 1946. Rev. Heo and the other leaders of her group suffered severe torture. The communists intended to annihilate all religions. (052-152, 1971/12/27)

Torture and release

True Father was subjected to very cruel torture at the Daedong Detention Center. His captors inflicted extreme measures, such as not allowing him to sleep for one week and beating him mercilessly with a club. After 103 days, on November 21, 1946, True Father was released in a condition near death. His followers brought his body to a room, where he vomited so much blood that it filled a washbasin, and then he lapsed into a coma. His disciples discussed what they would do in case of his death. But miraculously, he recovered. After that, he moved to another meeting hall and continued to spread his teachings.

8 The communists inflicted on me the most severe torture, sleep deprivation. They did not let me sleep for an entire week. While suffering through that torment, I remember thinking, "Let s see who wins, you or me," and took it as a game. Normally, after suffering a week without sleep people divulge everything they know. But I was able to get some sleep because I had learned how to sleep with my eyes open. I studied how to do it. Even now when I feel sleepy, I use that method. Also, after I was beaten and felt extreme pain throughout my body, I learned how to exercise in order to lessen the pain and heal the bruises. Today, when I am tired or in pain, I use these same exercises. Even now, I manage my strenuous life while sleeping an average of one hour per day. (067-203, 1973/06/10)

9 When I was doing my pioneer mission in Pyongyang, I was visited by wives of many pastors and church elders. This led about 70 pastors to anonymously inform on me to the police, and I was imprisoned. Even agents from the Soviet Union interrogated and tortured me, because they suspected I was a spy from the South. They put me in a room with red walls and forced me to stay awake for a week. If a person is not allowed to sleep for even three days, that person will lose his mind. They placed me alone on a white cushion in a room enclosed by four red walls and for three days, then for one week, they would not let me sleep. I said to myself, "Do you think 1 will not be able to sleep?" So, I trained myself to sleep with my eyes open. That is why rumors arose that I was a shaman and a magician, and that I did miracles like those in the Bible. They assigned someone to watch me all the time. (486-299, 2005/02/09)

10 I am physically strong and agile. I could engage in any sport and was sure to be among the top three competitors in any athletic event. I am a man with that kind of capability. Yet in prison I was subjected to so many beatings. Twelve people surrounded me and beat me from every direction, north, south, east and west. I was subjected to all kinds of torture, but I received them without saying a word.

While they were torturing me, I endured, thinking, "Come on you guys, hit me!" When a man beat me with a club, I said to myself, "Come on and hit me!" I am not so gutless that I would ask them, "Please, spare me." When they tortured me by tying me up cross-legged, I thought, "You will break before I will." I was beaten in the face so much that half my teeth broke. In those suffering and humiliating conditions I shed sweat, I screamed, I bled, and I shed tears. Many others endured these things, but who could match the purpose for which I endured them? (214-094, 1991/02/01)

Section 3. Pyongyang and Heungnam

Bureau of Internal Affairs trial

Under the communists, annihilating religion was a state policy. Due to the jealousy and false accusations of Christian pastors, True Father was tried by the Pyongyang Bureau of Internal Affairs and incarcerated, beginning on February 22, 1948. At his trial on April 7, he faced such charges as "disrupting the social order." He received a five-year sentence. After the verdict was announced, Father submitted an objection to the wording of the decision that called him "false." This is because the truth that True Father announced is absolutely true and not false. Upon leaving the court, True Father waved his hands to the sorrowful church members in an effort to comfort them.

1 As I began my ministry, the number of members in my congregation increased. But the policy of the North Korean authorities at that time was to annihilate religion. It was at this time that Christian pastors brought allegations against me to the authorities, because many people from their congregations were coming to join me. Consequently, I was imprisoned for the third time. February 22, 1948 was the day I was taken to the Pyongyang Bureau of Internal Affairs. (052-155, 1971/12/27)

2 April 7,1948, was the day of my trial. It was a day I can never forget. I had been arrested by the Pyongyang Bureau of Internal Affairs. The arrest was triggered by the jealousy of Christian leaders and the communist governments policy of annihilating religions. I was arrested on February 22, and my head was shaved on February 25. Under the rule of the atheistic communists, people accused of religious offenses do not receive a real trial. My trial was post-poned from April 3 to April 7. April 3 was the 40lh day after I was taken into custody. (016-201, 1966/04/03)

3 When I stood in the room for my trial at the Pyongyang Bureau of Internal Affairs, Christian pastors came and hurled insults at me. At the time I thought, "Let's see whose children are trained better, yours or mine. Let's see whose followers, the followers you teach or the followers I teach, will turn out better. Even if I die here, mine will turn out better than yours." I cannot forget that day.

I still cannot forget the shock that I experienced then; no one will be able to understand or feel it the way I do. That is why I suddenly wake up from sleep and agonize, "How can I ever fulfill the pledge that I made before God to follow the dutiful path of filial piety and loyalty to Him?" That is why I cannot afford to be exhausted; I have no room for that. I keep myself busy to fulfill my pledge to God. Consequently, I do things that others cannot even imagine.

Whenever I am accused, I keep silent, but that does not mean I am spineless. I am just too busy with my path. Actually, I am the kind of person who does not tolerate what is not right. (062-045, 1972/09/10)

4 When I was jailed at the Pyongyang Prison, the members of my congregation were more anguished than if their spouses had died. They said, "Teacher, when will you return?" But I said, "I am going to prison because there is someone there I need to meet." At that time, I had been promised that I would meet a certain person in that place. That is why, despite the fact that it was a miserable path in which my legs would tremble and I would sigh and wail, still I accepted going on this path. That was because it was the path to the hoped-for kingdom of heaven. If one goes forward with this kind of joyful heart, even hell can be transformed into the kingdom of heaven. Surely it is in God's heart to do so. Accordingly, I left my followers for a second time while making a new determination that I would meet all the people that were prepared for me in that place. (021-267, 1968/11/24)

5 When I was jailed at the Pyongyang Prison, my trial was originally set for April 3,1948. But the Communist Party needed to make an excuse for suppressing religions, so the scheduled date was postponed to April 7. Our members gathered together that day; yet from that day also, some began to fall away. Upon receiving my sentence and entering prison, I stepped forward full of hope in any case because I knew there were people there whom God had prepared for me to meet.

I was imprisoned at around three in the afternoon. Three days later, I met a young man whose family name was Kim. During Japanese rule, he had graduated from the artillery section of the military academy. He was a captain in the artillery division when World War II ended. After that, he enlisted in the North Korean Peoples Army and became an aide to the commanding officer of the artillery division. But later he was charged with revealing state secrets and sentenced to death. He was waiting in prison for the day of his execution. He had tried to commit suicide, so when I met him he was being kept in chains.

According to him, a white-haired old man had appeared to him in a dream, calling his name and saying, "You will not be executed. Be prepared to meet a young man who came to Pyongyang from the South." Before long, his death sentence was commuted to imprisonment for four years and eight months based on a guarantee by his former boss, the artillery commander. Then the old man appeared again in Kim's dream. He scolded Kim for not having believed him, and revealed to him again that he would meet the young teacher from South Korea within a few days. (018-041, 1967/05/15)

6 I met a person in Pyongyang Prison who had received direct instructions from heaven. He received testimony about me directly from the spirit world. That promise from heaven had prepared him a year before he met me. Heaven sank roots even in Pyongyang Prison, in order that I could find people who would be true and establish a strong foundation of hope. Considering all the efforts that heaven was making, I strongly believed that if I turned away from the path, or if I did not fully commit myself to it, I would be a traitor to my father-son relationship with God. Before I even imagined it myself, heaven had already prepared people to be connected to me, so that I would be able to accomplish my great mission. It made me think deeply when I recognized that those people might possibly betray heaven without even realizing it. (156-112, 1966/01/09)

7 There was an inmate named Kim who shared my prison cell. I was 29 years old, and he was also 29. When he was sentenced to death, his father was so shocked that he became sick, and a short time later, he died in a car accident. Early in the morning on April 28, 1948, Kims father appeared to him in a dream. In the dream, his father brought him to a palace, and they began to climb some stairs. On every step, they heard a new voice, and on every third step they offered three bows. At the top of the stairs, they found a dignified young man sitting on a shining jade throne. His father told him, "Look up and see that gentleman," and so he turned his face upward toward the gentleman but could not see him clearly because of the dazzling brilliance permeating that place.

Mr. Kim was attracted to me from the first moment we met and felt the urge to listen to me as much as possible. Three days later, he earnestly asked me to teach him. I spoke to him for three days about my life course until then, using an assumed name, Lawrence. I realized that Kim, who was the leader in the cell, was the one whom God had prepared. I said to him, "You are anxious about something that you cannot tell anyone about, aren't you?" I asked what he was anxious about. He was so surprised by my question that he told me in detail about what had happened to him. He also realized for the first time that I was the young gentleman that he saw in his dream seated on the shining throne. (018-041, 1967/05/15)

8 When I was in Pyongyang Prison, a rumor circulated that I was a male shaman. It spread because before someone would talk to me I knew in advance what he would say and asked him about it. I do not know if the communist authorities felt afraid of me after they heard such rumors, but every time they interrogated me, at least three guards were posted there.

I knew that I would be transferred from Pyongyang Prison to Heungnam Prison. I considered that this transfer would be like moving from Satan's world to God's world. I determined in front of God that I would never change, either internally or externally, no matter what happened. The reason why Jesus could become a light in the hearts of people all over the world was that his heart of love could not be extinguished, even by death. Jesus overcame the gate of death. That is why Jesus became the root of history and culture that has brought us to today. In other words, Jesus' victory became the origin that created today's worldwide Christian culture. You must understand that even the Unification Church began on that foundation.

Transfer to Heungnam Prison On May 20, 1948, True Father was transferred from Pyongyang Prison to the Heungnam Special Labor Camp. It was known as the prison of prisons. True Fathers prisoner number was 596. Ordinary people found it difficult to endure Heungnam Prison due to the excessive workload, cold and hunger, and the endless exposure to noxious ammonia from the ammonium sulfate fertilizer there. Forty percent of the prisoners there died within a year due to diseases of the lungs and skin, which were caused by ammonia reacting with their sweat. This caused their skin to peel away and their flesh to become gangrenous. In that situation, True Father still found a way to take care of his body and his health. Also, he was able to carry a much greater portion of the workload than his coworkers. In that place, always stalked by the shadow of death, True Father overcame those tribulations with wisdom. (020-319, 1968/07/14)

9 I will never forget the send-off my followers in Pyongyang gave me, waving to me as I was being led away in shackles to be transferred to Heungnam Prison. I did not shed tears, but they wept as if their son or their husband was being taken from them. How tragic it was! But seeing them sobbing, I thought, "A man who moves forward to seek heaven is not a man of misfortune." In my life, I had already suffered hardships behind bars, yet wherever I went, my followers came to see me, even though they were not my blood relations. They could have felt disgrace and shame in doing so, but their coming to see me with such devotion connected the heavenly realm of heart to the prison, which was hell on earth. That is something amazing. (141-052, 1986/02/16)

10 Heungnam was a place where the wind from the sea is so fierce that when it blows it sends bits of shell and pebbles through the air. So in the winter the inmates wanted to cover their bodies with as much clothing as they could. The wind was an enemy that pummeled us. Early each morning, about 900 inmates left for work, but before that, the prison officers conducted a roll call in which they had us sit on the ground in the cold wind for two hours, from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. How do you think it was for us inmates, wearing only one layer of clothes? It was so miserable. We shuddered and shivered loudly in spite of ourselves. We could not control our shivering.

There were about 30 inmates in my cell. In the summer, water leaked down onto the floor. I always chose the hottest and smelliest spot. In that spot I would think about the cold winter. I thought that if I could be the owner of winter I could be the owner of summer, and if I knew how to become the owner of summer I could be the owner of winter as well. I thought, one who is able to overcome all manner of difficult situations will be able to lead the highest and richest people. Heaven would like to give us such riches. Therefore, I regarded my suffering in Heungnam as a blessing. To go to the opposite end and get results is in keeping with the principle of restoration through indemnity. To be worthy of blessings, we must bring such results. (172-245, 1988/01/23)

11 In Heungnam, in the winter the temperature dropped to minus 23 degrees Celsius. Although I wore only thin, unlined clothes, still I did not think it was cold enough. The way I fought to overcome the cold was to think, "Let it get colder! Let it get colder! Let it get colder!" I had a pair of thick pants and a cotton-lined jacket, but I gave them to others and I worked wearing only unlined clothes.

I always tried to find the most difficult work. Others tried to find the easiest work, but I went around looking for the most difficult jobs. I thought that if I could not overcome this, I would die. I had to have that kind of mind-set, otherwise how could I think that I would be able to subjugate the Communist Party or the fallen world? (067-105, 1973/05/25)

12 If you look at my teeth, you will see that some are chipped. They chipped in prison when I used my teeth to make a needle. Needles were scarce in prison. Since we could not buy them, we had to make them. In the fertilizer plant, we used hooks to bind up the bags filled with fertilizer. We used those hooks to make needles. We had to gently beat the end of the hook thousands of times, not strongly but rather gently, until it eventually became flat. We used a piece of broken glass to cut off the barb of the flattened hook. Then we sharpened it. The needle hole should not be round, so we bit it strongly with our teeth to make the hole oval-shaped. Finally we had to cut it, but since we did not have any tools we used our teeth again. While I was doing that, my teeth chipped. Now when I look at my teeth, I recall my life in prison.

Once I made my needle, news about it began to circulate. Every Saturday, inmates came to me to borrow my needle. Then, sitting like a king on his throne, I would lend the needle to them, saying, "You, take this and go! You, take this and go!" Because I helped people like this, they greeted me as I went out for work in the morning. You too should be able to make a needle in such circumstances. I thought that my needle worked better than any other needle in the world, since I had made it with all my devotion. (204-266, 1990/07/11)

13 There is no way for you to know what life is like in a communist prison. After the Soviet revolution, many Russians suffered doing forced labor. According to communist ideology, there should not be any bourgeoisie or reactionaries. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union wanted to kill all who opposed them, but they could not do so outright due to worldwide public opinion. Therefore, they mobilized people into forced heavy labor and waited until they died. The place I was imprisoned in North Korea was a forced labor camp. The communist Workers' Party of North Korea imitated the Soviet Union s practice of subjecting prisoners to forced labor and working them to death. (052-164, 1971/12/28)

14 The strategy of the communist government was to force people to do heavy labor until they died. Almost all prisoners in Heungnam Prison died within three years. They were almost certain to die within that period. Without providing adequate food, they forced them to do heavy labor. Being sent to the camp was like a death sentence. In a normal situation, if people ate three good meals a day, then a group of ten would be able to fill 700 bags of fertilizer per day at best. But in the labor camp, we had to fill and carry almost twice that amount. The ration of food we were given was so small, it amounted to three big spoonfuls. Since we did heavy labor every day, we often staggered on the way to the factory after breakfast. Each morning I dragged my legs to the factory and started to work. It was unimaginably miserable. (035-185, 1970/10/13)

15 There was a huge square in the ammonium sulfate fertilizer factory of Heungnam where I worked. After the white ammonium sulfate fertilizer was made, it was carried on a conveyer belt to the middle of a large open area, where the white fertilizer was dropped to the ground like a waterfall. It piled up to about 20 meters high. The fertilizer dropping from a high place like that wide conveyer belt was a magnificent sight, just like a waterfall. It had to drop down from a high place so it would cool, because if it were too hot, it would not harden properly.

The fertilizer piled up like a pyramid, and our job was to put it into bags. The fresh pile was soft, but once it had been there awhile and the crystals had melted from the heat, it became hard as stone, just like a mountain, and turned deep blue like an iceberg. We stood around that big pile, digging the fertilizer and putting it into bags. In that big square, there were about 800 to 900 people working. It was incredibly hard, like breaking a mountain in two. (165-023, 1987/05/19)

16 I worked at heavy labor in the fertilizer factory at that North Korean communist prison for two years and five months. The fertilizer was carried in on a conveyer belt from the ammonium sulfate factory to the middle of a large open area, where the powder dropped from the belt to the ground. Our job was to put the fertilizer into sacks, weigh them on scales, and load them onto a freight train.

The ammonium sulfate manufacturing process produced heat, so the fertilizer that dropped from the conveyer belt was quite hot. As it formed a pile, it cooled and hardened. After a couple of years, it became like rock.

It was such difficult labor. Every day we worked for eight hours, and each one of us had a responsibility. Ten people made one group, and each group was responsible for filling and loading 1,300 bags in eight hours. If we did not achieve our quota, our food ration would be cut in half. (035-185, 1970/10/13)

17 The ammonium sulfate fertilizer factory where I worked was filled with sulfuric acid gas. The sulfuric acid ate into our flesh to the extent that if we squeezed our flesh, water would come out. This meant the cells were half dead. In such an environment, you could not endure without a strong mind. In that camp, even if you ate well, after three years your lungs would deteriorate and you would get lung disease. If you say you wouldn't, it would be a lie. That kind of sulfuric acid gas filled the factory. Therefore, after six months of working there, if you coughed you would see blood in your phlegm. That was typical.

In such conditions, despite the hard labor, you could survive if you offered devotions and maintained your physical health. However, the young inmates generally did not know this, so I guided them continually, based on my own experience. (154-143, 1964/06/12)

18 My task at the fertilizer factory was to put the material into bags, weigh them on a scale, tie them shut, and load them onto freight trains. Our team set up a base where we started digging. We did not make it near the center of the pile, because people were constantly scooping out the material there. Rather, we set our work base about 10 to 15 meters from the edge of the pile and started working. After we loaded the bags onto the train, the train took them to the harbor, where they were loaded onto waiting Soviet ships.

Every day, several tens of thousands of tons were loaded, and the bags needed to be counted correctly. If we did not meet our quota, there would be a big problem. That is because it involved a diplomatic issue between the Soviet Union and North Korea. Therefore, no matter what, we had to meet our daily quota. If for some reason an inmate could not fulfill his portion, he would be demoted to a second rank and sent to a place where the prisoners had to make sacks with straws; they received only half their food ration. If he failed again, he would be demoted to a third rank and sent to braid ropes out of straw, and with this task his ration of food would be reduced to only one-third. When that happened, it was like a death sentence.

Ultimately, the reason the prisoners went out to work, mustering all their energy, was to get one whole ration of food. When they came back in the evening, their greatest hope was to receive the same portion of food as the others. But when they received only one-half or one-third of a portion, their spirits were crushed. Being desperate for food, they had no choice but to work until they died. (163-195, 1987/05/01)

19 Even when I suffered from malaria in prison, I did not pray for help. Rather, I fasted and thought, "Let s see what will happen." There was no medicine for the malaria, and I was sick for 24 days, but I still managed to do my portion of the work. In the morning when we came out of our cells, the guards would gather us into the yard for inspection. They would check our bodies thoroughly for any contraband. This took one to two hours. The work started at 9:00 a.m., and we had to walk four kilometers to the work site, which took about an hour to an hour and 20 minutes. Including eating breakfast, it took more than two hours. So in order to get to the job site by 9:00 a.m., we had to get up at 4:30 a.m. When I was sitting in the yard, sick with malaria, my head was spinning round and round, and I could not stand by myself. I had to grab on to the shoulder of the person beside me to stand up. Even at the work site, I did not work by my own power. (154-140, 1964/06/12)

North Korean Labor Camp

The inmates received only a small quantity of boiled grains and salty soup. The grains were not sticky, but even if lumped together they would amount to only three spoonfuls. Despite that small ration, even if an inmate was sick he would force himself to go out to the work site, for if he did not, his ration would be cut in half. Heungnam Prison pushed people beyond all human limitations. People were so famished that if someone died while eating, others would rush to scrape the grains of food from the dead man's mouth. Even in such a place, during the first two weeks True Father shared half of his meal ration with his fellow inmates.

20 In prison, I did not talk because I knew how the communist system worked. My most difficult time was listening to propaganda speeches and writing reflections on them. The prison guards were always focused on me, trying to find any condition they could to accuse me. The communists put a spy in my cell to check on me. That was why I did not say a word. It was very easy for the guards to turn an inmate into an informant by giving him more food. In the communist world, they control people with food.

I guess you may have had experiences where you bit down on a stone in the rice and spit it out. But in Heungnam, when people spit out stones, others picked them up and sucked them. People were starving to that degree. It went on and on like this. (052-169, 1971/12/28)

21 I cannot forget the days from December 17 to 21,1949. At that time, the people who entered prison were usually given boiled corn, oatmeal mixed with other grains, and leftover ground beans. Because they could not kill us, they fed us poorly. But during that period, we were given half-ground buckwheat. That was what we got as a meal. When I ate it for the first time, my body became bloated. You will swell up if you eat only buckwheat. Those prisoners who were obsessed with hunger ate greedily without thinking of their stomachs. They did not care about their stomachs because they were so hungry. Being hungry, and the buckwheat being difficult to chew, they just swallowed it and got sick.

I already understood that potential problem, so I ate three times slower than usual. I husked each grain of buckwheat and chewed it well. Others just ate quickly, and since they could not digest the food, their faces became swollen. I figured out that I needed to salivate more than twice as much as usual and chew the grains very well. I will never forget those days, when I husked and ate buckwheat one grain at a time. All the while, while eating such food, we continued our heavy labor. I realized at that time how precious food is. I realized that even one grain of rice is priceless. Even now, whenever I sit down at the dinner table, I am reminded of that time. (068-080, 1973/07/23)

22 The work at the fertilizer factory in Heungnam was hard labor. In society people eat pork at least once a week because pork fat is said to dissolve when digested. Beef fat congeals, but pork fat melts, becoming accessible to the body's cells, performing a cleansing action on them. When we were working at the fertilizer factory, they knew we would die quickly if the fertilizer compounds stayed in our bodies. When they provided pork fat once a week, the prisoners would eat it ravenously.

How could we ever expect to eat meat at Heungnam? We thought, "Never mind meat, we would be satisfied even to eat our fill of rice." Yet breakfast was only three spoonfuls of food. And then we had to work for eight hours straight, doing hard labor. After we ate breakfast, we walked about four kilometers to the factory. In our undernourished state, we stumbled as we walked. Even under those conditions, we still had to do hard labor for eight hours. (163-194, 1987/05/01)

23 Food is the savior for those who are dying of malnutrition and sickness. Thus, one small bowl of grain in prison was valuable enough for someone to trade for a house he would receive when he was released into the world. The prisoners were so starved that if someone died while eating, the other inmates opened his mouth, took out the grains of food and ate them themselves. There can be no insanity worse than that.

Also, when an inmate would bite down on a stone in his rice and spit it out, others would grab it and try to suck on even one grain that might have stuck to that stone. Truly, it was a living hell.

This is how the communist authorities eliminated so-called reactionary elements. Every year, more than a third of the prisoners—400 out of 1,000— died, and their bodies were carried out through the back gate of Heungnam Prison. Everyone in that prison died within three to four years. The authorities' strategy was to cause people to lose all the fat in their bodies and then work them to death. The plan was not merely merciless. There is a limit to mercilessness. There is a limit even to cruelty. But this was beyond any limits. (163-195, 1987/05/01)

24 When I entered Heungnam Prison, there were nearly 1,000 prisoners there. In a year, approximately 40 percent died. That means that there was a death almost every day. I saw boards carrying dead bodies leaving through the back gate. Inmates in my cell died like that. It means that if there were 30 prisoners in a cell, more than 10 died in one year. And it was not like they died while being taken care of and eating well. Hunger came first before sickness. When one became sick, if he was unable to work he would get only half his daily food ration. In prison, to get a full portion of boiled grain was like being in heaven and to get only half a portion was like being in hell. No matter how much I try to describe this to you, you will not be able to understand it.

Because only those who went out and did a days work received full rations, prisoners labored even when they were seriously ill. Even if they collapsed as soon as they left the prison gate, they still crawled to the work site. They had to find a way to at least pretend to work. They somehow endured to the end of the day, being desperate for their bowl of boiled grain. To get their food when they returned to the prison was their all-consuming purpose in life. So when the food was delivered, there was no "sick" person; everyone ate their portion of food. It was not uncommon that, after a man received his rice and bowl of soup, while eating desperately with all his strength, he would drop his spoon, close his eyes and die. (069-253, 1973/12/30)

25 There are incidents that I cannot forget even now. When I was in Heungnam Prison, my mother came to visit me once a month. She would bring me a bag of powder made of mixed grains. I shared it with all the inmates in my cell. There were about 30 people, so each portion was not big. I put a spoonful of it on a piece of newspaper and gave it to each of them. In our situation, that powder was more precious than ribs of beef. Even one bean in the prison was more precious than ten cows outside. Even an inmate who kept up appearances and maintained his dignity would shoot out his arm when he saw a single bean dropping to the ground. More than 30 people shot out their arms to grab that one dropped bean. This situation is probably beyond your ability to imagine. (033-110, 1970/08/09)

26 When I was in prison, the days 1 shared the mixed grain powder were feast days. I did not try to keep it for myself, but freely shared it with the others. I mixed the powder with water and kneaded it into cakes, which I wrapped in newspaper and brought to the work site. I waited until lunchtime for us to eat them. I cannot describe how desperate I was, suppressing my hunger until lunchtime, waiting to eat those cakes of grain. But I endured, so that I could share them with others. All morning long, while working and sweating, that was the only thing I had in my mind.

When it was lunchtime, I shared the cakes, and we ate. That factory was huge, so the work area was divided into the first and second work sites, and there were several large piles of fertilizer. We slaved there during work time, but during our 15-minute break when I shared those mixed-grain cakes, it was indeed the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who has not experienced this will not understand. You cannot buy that experience with a million dollars, because those moments are stained with blood and tears. That is the world where you must invest absolutely everything you have. (033-111, 1970/08/09)

27 In prison we were always hungry to the point of dying. Cod liver oil smells fishy, but in the prison if you could mix your food with cod liver oil, you would not detect any fishy smell. Even if you drank a cup of cod liver oil, you would not smell anything fishy. Rather, you would find it a pleasant aroma. To that extent our bodies were lacking in fat. We were starving that much. That is why, no matter how difficult our work was, we longed to eat. That is why, not knowing how soon we would die, we pushed ourselves to do heavy labor simply for the food. If we did not work, our food was reduced by half, which was a death sentence for us.

In those circumstances, I had to reassure the other prisoners and educate them. I saved a lot of people there. "In your life at this factory," I would tell them, "you will have such and such symptoms. You will experience this and that. Unless you go over these challenges, you will surely die and be carried out the north gate. So listen to me." Many people were able to survive situations of certain death because they followed my advice. They became my disciples. Thus I educated people, even in prison. (222-295, 1991/11/03)

28 In Heungnam Prison, we longed to eat so badly that we would go out to work even if we were ill. Afterward we returned and received our food. Often, someone would die while chewing on a mouthful of food, unable to finish his ration of three spoonfuls. Then a fight would break out among the inmates near the dead man, as they tried to claw the rice from his mouth and eat it themselves. To survive in that environment, for 15 days I shared half of my portion with others and ate only half. With that condition, I resolved that I would survive not just three years but five years and even ten years.

In nature, there are invisible vibrations. Because I loved nature, nature wanted to save me by giving me some of that vibrational energy. Imagine an apple orchard and smell that orchard s fragrance filling the air. Pretend that the fragrance is an apple and swallow that fragrance in a gulp. For me, this was like eating a real apple. (480-303, 2004/12/31)

29 I had the experience of being truly grateful for one apple in my hand. It happened when I was in the communist prison. They gave us a piece of fruit twice a year, on May 1 and January 1. They distributed an apple to each of us. We were not allowed to make a choice, but were given one according to our order in line. No matter what kind of apple we were handed, whether worm-eaten or in any condition, we had to accept it.

When the apples were distributed, people generally began chewing them immediately and finished them in less than a minute. But I thought, "What a beautiful color this apple is! Let me eat the color first." Then, "Now that I have eaten its color, let me actually enjoy its taste." That's how I thought. So I opened my mouth to eat, but I did not feel like eating it. I just feasted my eyes on the apple and enjoyed its fragrance. I felt that I did not need to eat the apple. Even so, I was not supposed to carry it around with me, so I had to eat it. When I actually ate it, I prayed to God. In my prayer, I said, "I am the first person in the world who thinks this way when eating an apple." With the pride that I experienced in my prayer, I ate. (067-155, 1973/06/01)

30 In prison, I did not complain that there were not any side dishes. While drinking only water and eating only plain grains, I would give thanks to Heavenly Father. Then I would say to myself, "Aren't you the one who represents the hope for tomorrow?" With that, I would eat.

In the prison, even if a side dish was served, we could not eat the grains and the side dish together. Since there were about a 1,000 inmates, the guards could not distribute the soup and grains together. We had to finish our meal within one hour. Soup was served on one side and the grains were served on the other side, so we had to move about and line up for each dish. It took about 30 minutes to get our grains, and another 30 minutes to get our soup. So by the time we got both, mealtime was already finished. Within three minutes of finishing our meal we had to leave for the job site.

That was why we could not have the grains and soup together. We had to eat whatever came first, whether soup or grains. Whatever was given first, we had to eat it while standing in line. If we were given grain first, we ate that first; we just ate the plain grains. That is where I learned to eat food without side dishes.

Actually, even plain grains are very tasty. From my childhood I used to enjoy the crust of burnt rice, and I think God trained me well from my early days. That crusty burnt rice I remembered from the past had the same taste as the plain grains that I ate in prison. If the grains I was given had a little of that burnt taste, it was really tasty, to the extent that I forgot it was just plain grains. In this way, I always ate the grains and the soup separately. Even in such circumstances, I was resolved to offer my life for the Will and lived with determination that I would fulfill the dutiful ways of filial piety and loyalty to God. (046-085, 1971/07/25)

Section 4. Victory of Love

The prison saint

For the inmates of Heungnam Prison, food and rest were their entire concern. However, True Father shared with other prisoners the food and clothes that his mother (Chungmonim) brought to him. In this way, Father tried to maintain integrity as a filial son, a patriot, and a divine son, who had to comfort God's heart and walk the course of restoration through indemnity. True Father was an exemplary prisoner who undertook the most difficult work in the prison and fulfilled his responsibility beyond what was required of him. For this the Communist Party awarded him the Model Worker Prize three times. In this way, he received recognition even from Satan.

1 We prisoners in Heungnam Prison never had sufficient nourishment, due to the small amount of food and the heavy labor. The stomach must always function, but when I got up in the morning, my belly would be flat like a board. That was the life of a prisoner in the Communist Party labor concentration camp.

The distance between the prison and the fertilizer factory was about four kilometers. Every morning we walked from the prison to our place of work, lining up in four columns and walking hand in hand. Guards beside both lines with rifles and pistols watched us closely. If the guards noticed the lines becoming loose, or that some prisoners were not holding hands, they considered it an attempt to escape. We were not allowed to lift up our faces while walking. This was their policy.

How could I survive in such an environment? Human beings do not exist with just their physical body; we also have a spirit. If I only tried to sustain my life by eating physical food, I surely would have died. Spiritual strength is important. (052-166, 1971/12/28)

2 While I was in Heungnam Prison, I resolved to do twice the amount of work as others. So every time I went to work, I thought of it as a test. I studied and analyzed how hard work affected my physical body. Sometimes I moved quickly in my work, and I would see a change in my body. Sometimes I worked at a regular pace, watching to see how my body responded.

There were some physically weak inmates on my team of ten people, and I would cover for these fellow prisoners who were unable to finish their workload. In order to do that, I had to work more than my share. I continued working like that every day.

While working, if I thought about food I would not be able to function. So when I worked I did not think of food. Always I thought that this was the work I was destined to do, and that I was born for this work. I always poured all my enthusiasm and heart into my work, as if I were carrying out the providence of restoration. (052-168, 1971/12/28)

3 While working in the prison, I always recalled my experiences with the spirit world. I would think of myself as the lead actor in a movie which I would someday show to my followers and descendants. I worked with the belief that they would be impressed when they saw how I worked there.

We started to work at 9:00 a.m. After 10:00 a.m. we had a 15-minute break and could go to the toilet. However, I never focused on that. I did not hear the bell ring for break time, and would only discover it was break time when I noticed there was no one around me. This is because although my body was working, my spirit was resting. Because I worked in that kind of mental state, I lost very little weight. The prison guards were very surprised at that.

Every time we went out to the work site, I always looked for the most difficult job. After several months I was recognized as the best worker. They rotated team members every week so that the prisoners could not plan an escape. Whenever the teams were changed, all the prisoners wanted to be on the team with the best worker. When I lined up, many people would stand in line behind me. (052-168, 1971/12/28)

4 In my youth, I oftentimes found myself on the edge of exhaustion but did not allow myself to be overcome by it. This did not happen just because I did not want to be exhausted. It took a lot of training to reach that level.

After I became a prisoner, I told God, "Heavenly Father, do not sympathize with me in my circumstances." When I was in difficulty, I never prayed asking God for help. I was serious. For one week or even one month I did not talk with other prisoners. What did that mean? My situation had become more difficult, and I thought, "How can I, by applying all my wisdom, offering all my heart and giving all my devotion, find a way to melt God's heart in this difficult situation?" I was not working hard for my own salvation. I thought, "How can I connect God's sorrow, indignation and bitter feelings to the fervent motivation in my heart and use them to strike Satan? How can the explosive power of God's heart empower me to destroy the enemy camp?"

This is what I thought about. I did not think, "I have to get out of here as quickly as possible." Instead, I told my stomach, "Growl as much as you want!" When I was desperately hungry, the experience gave me an opportunity to embrace God with tears, assuring Him that I was more serious about the course of restoration through indemnity that I will have to walk for the sake of the world, than I was about relieving my hunger. I never tried to escape from hunger and other hardships. (051-338, 1971/12/05)

5 In my life, I faced and overcame many challenges from which tens of millions of men would have retreated. After I was taken into prison, I thought, "In order to survive here, I must make a determination to remain alive while eating only half my portion of food." So for half a month I gave half of my ration to others. I was determined to survive eating only half the food that others ate. Instead, I had to eat spiritual food. Later, when I began eating my full ration, I imagined that I was eating twice the daily ration. This psychological composure gave me the power to sustain my life. Also, I found out why and how months of hard work caused people's bodies to change. With that knowledge, I saved many young people who otherwise would have died. (266-262, 1995/01/01)

6 I had to do physical exercises to sustain my strength. When I was in Heungnam Prison, I invented some methods of exercising that worked really well. Even though I ate little, I trained my body with physical exercise and supplemented it with mental discipline. There is not much difference between my body today and in those days. I was just a little bit gaunt. Even in prison I maintained my weight at 72 kilograms (158 pounds). Other prisoners became skin and bones and their backs were bent. They seemed like corpses, but I was never like that. (154-145, 1964/06/12)

7 In Heungnam Prison we had a one-day break from work on Sundays. Having done heavy labor all week, when Sunday arrived you cannot imagine how happy we were. Truly it was a day of rest. As we worked during the week we were not ourselves. Every day when we came back from working at the fertilizer factory, we just collapsed from exhaustion as if our bones had melted. We had no energy at all. After we ate dinner, we collapsed again and could not get up. Even though Saturday night and Sunday were break time and we were given some freedom, all we could do was eat and then sleep in the same place. However, sleeping is a source of problems. That is why, although I was in that prison for nearly three years, I never took a nap. I absolutely did not take naps. I did not sleep more than the hours that I decided to sleep, and I never ate more than the food that I decided to eat. (154-145, 1964/06/12)

8 When human beings face the moment of their death, a prince must die with the dignity of a prince, and a patriot must die with the attitude of a patriot. They should not die like a beggar. In Heungnam Prison I cleaned my body with cold water every day. Working all day at the pile of fertilizer, sulphuric acid and ammonia clung to our bodies and rotted our flesh. I therefore cleaned my body every morning upon rising. I used my handkerchief, which I wet with the drinking water that I had received the night before. When we heard, "Get up for work!" I cleaned my body while others were preparing.

Inmates were supposed to use the unsanitary water from the lavatory to bathe, but I would rather die than use that water to clean my body. To me, drinking water was less important than protecting my body, which is God's temple. That is also why during my prison life I never exposed my body, not even my calves, to others. I never lived carelessly. That is why, in Heungnam Prison, I was called "the saint of the prison." (415-047, 2003/08/06)

9 As a person who attends heaven, I needed to take care of my body, even in prison. Even though I did heavy labor, I was always careful about where I sat. I never took a nap on Saturday or Sunday. After coming back from hard labor, other inmates lay down and slept as soon as they finished eating, but I never did that. We were all tired, but while they went to sleep right away, I stayed up late. I also woke up earlier than anyone else. So people said they never saw me sleeping. Every night, without fail, I stayed up alone and did exercises.

In prison, drinking water was priceless. A sip of water was as valuable as life itself. There were around 30 people in my small cell, and in the heat of summer we sweated a lot. If we took off our clothes and squeezed them, sweat poured out. So to survive in summer we had to drink many gourds of water. But to me, it was a duty to attend heaven by keeping a clean body. No matter how hot it was, I never exposed my bare skin to others.

In the fertilizer factory we dealt with material that came out of a kiln, so you can imagine how hot it was. Even in such a hot environment, I never exposed my legs. I trained myself more than any woman who ever maintained her modesty. Even the severest prison life could not prevent me from going my path. (141-062, 1986/02/16)

10 When I was in Heungnam Prison working at the fertilizer factory, I kept my pant cuffs tied with strings around my ankles even in the hottest part of the summer. I did not expose even my shins. Recently I began wearing short-sleeve shirts, but in the past I really did not like such clothes. Since on the holy path ahead of me I would be offering my heart and body to God with utmost devotion, I did not want my body to be exposed to anyone. Even in my sleep I did not spread out my arms and legs. I always kept in my mind that God was watching me. I wanted to observe propriety even while sleeping. (048-330, 1971/09/26)

11 When I first arrived at the prison camp, I was on the communists' blacklist. In my cell there were a couple of "dogs" whose orders were to watch me. By "dogs" I do not mean animals, but people who ratted on others in the cell. Since I knew that, I did not talk at all even after the first half-month. I was well-known as the person who did not sleep on Sundays. I was also famous for wiping myself down with a cold wet washcloth after rising early at dawn.

However difficult the environment I was placed in, I had the responsibility to attend heaven. Even though I was living in hell, my life had to shine as a man of the kingdom of heaven. Even though I was in the miserable situation of being pushed around and shivering in thin clothes during the cold winter, I maintained my original relationship with God. (158-048, 1967/02/14)

12 In prison, there was nothing to do after eating dinner except to kill time sitting on the floor. Since there was nothing to do other than talk, the inmates talked about the world and all kinds of issues. When they first arrived they talked about why they were put in prison and then about their parents. But after a few months they had nothing more to talk about.

During all that time, I did not say a word. Consequently, they pressed me to talk. So, I said that I would speak on one condition, saying, "Are you okay with any kind of talk?" After hearing yes from them, I invented lengthy novels and short stories. I would tell a different story every day. I did not recite stories written by others. I made up the titles and created stories that did not exist in any work of literature. I have the kind of brain that I can make up several novels in one night. After three days of looking at their faces and telling stories, I could see that they were happy to hear anything I had to say.

I took my seat next to the toilet bucket, which was the worst place in the cell, but they repeatedly asked me to move up to a more comfortable space in the cell. The cell leader would try to move me up to a better spot, but I said it was all right with me to stay where I was. Whenever I went to prison, I always picked the worst spot beside the lavatory. When I told him I did not want to change my spot, the cell leader said, "I will sit where you are, so please move and sit over here." That is just how it is in the original world. (116-125, 1981/12/27)

13 What was the most exciting thing for the inmates? Their most earnest hope at the labor camp was to get a chance to rest to their heart s content, to rest even once during work hours. Because of that, when the labor teams were organized, everyone wanted to have excellent workers with them so they could finish their quota early.

As far as work was concerned, I was second to none. I excelled in whatever work I did. Whether it was tying the mouth of the fertilizer sack, moving it to the train, or any other job, no one surpassed me. So if my team members just followed my directions, we would finish our quota quickly. Normally we could finish by 1:30 or 2:00 p.m. No other team was able to do that.

If we thought about food, thoughts of food would consume us. So we did not think about food during work. When I worked, I took pleasure in what I was doing, thinking, "I want to tie one more sack before lunchtime. I want to do a better job than the others." When I worked with that mind-set, I just did not know how to feel tired. By thinking that way I could sustain my body. Those whose minds were only thinking about the number of sacks they had to finish before the next meal did not last long. (154-139, 1964/06/12)

14 It usually took our team five to ten minutes to scoop the fertilizer into the bag, move the bag to the scale, and weigh it, but working by myself I could accomplish it in five minutes. It took other teams 15 minutes, and if we had worked at that rate we would not have been able to fulfill our daily quota. We had to go through a huge pile of fertilizer, scooping it into bags and moving it to the scale. If we had stopped while doing this to move the scale four or five meters closer to the pile so we would not have to move the bags so far, we would have been late. So I found a way to do the job without frequently moving the scale. The other members in my team initially did not want to follow my way, so I would have ended up having to do more than half of the 1,300 bags myself. But because everyone has a conscience, in time they ended up following me.

I was a model prisoner. I received the Model Prisoner Award from the Communist Party every year. At that time, my weight was 72 kilos. Outwardly I did not look that heavy, but I had heavy bones. Other prisoners became thin, but I didn't. Therefore, I became the source of their curiosity. (035-186, 1970/10/13)

15 The fertilizer made at Heungnam contained sulphuric acid. When skin comes in contact with such acid, the skin cracks and the hairs fall out. My skin cracked after touching the bag of fertilizer, and the next morning I found myself bleeding. I could have been discouraged by that, but I had to overcome it. So I talked to the sulphuric acid, saying, "However much you damage my skin, I have to survive." In this way, I overcame it. By overcoming such things even in that worst of all environments, I learned how great the human spirit can be.

I never succumbed to my circumstances, but was able to stand tall, reaching the highest position possible in that situation. So even the people who worked at the prison came to respect me. Three times I was given the award as the best worker. Such incidents took place, and they were a recognition that I had broken through in that hellish environment.

We need to have ability to overcome all difficulties, even in prison. That is what we need. We have to overcome hunger and cold. Actually, overcoming heat is rather easy. Next, we have to conquer sleep. I determined to overcome these things, with the thought that even if I died, I would leave a legacy such that people would say of me, "He was not defeated. He died victorious." I thought that unless I left such a spiritual foundation, I would lose the foundation on which I could work again on this earth. (076-319, 1975/03/12)

16 I guided and taught many of the inmates in Heungnam Prison, giving of myself with devotion and tears. Many of those inmates died in prison. At the moment of death, some called to me, saying, "Please convey my last words to my parents. And tell them that even though I died here like this, the days I spent with you were good days."

You cannot imagine how desperately hungry we were at that time. An inmate would die while chewing food in his mouth, and those beside him would quickly scrape the grains out of his mouth and eat whatever he had not swallowed. I do not think you can fully grasp this.

It was under those circumstances that I had to be their parent and their older brother. I had to set the example for them and encourage them, saying, "Since I am doing this for you, you must not collapse." Because I did that in those circumstances, every year I received a commendation. I volunteered for the jobs that no one wanted to do and did them. Everyone else was looking for the easiest jobs, but I sought out the most difficult ones. (184-282, 1989/01/01)

17 During my school days I debated with my friends who studied the theories of communism. I did not believe that we should follow that ideology, and all my life I have been fighting the communists. I know in detail what communism is all about.

The system most completely organized according to the communist program was the prison system. Nevertheless, in prison I never engaged in the communist practice of self-criticism. During my life in prison, for two years and five months, I never wrote even one of the obligatory papers of self-criticism. For that reason I was on their blacklist.

But even under those circumstances, without saying a word I became the top worker. That was the only way I could survive. If I had compromised even a little, I could not have survived there. So I made myself the champion in all aspects and in all areas. No one could keep up with me. I was first in scooping up the fertilizer, in dragging the bags, in tying them, and in putting them on the train. Therefore, I received the top worker award every year while I was in the prison.

Survival through sacrificial love Even in the worst situation, True Father did not betray heaven but rather comforted heaven. Accordingly, not only did his fellow inmates respect him and follow him, he even earned the respect of the Communist Party members. Another way he practiced true love was by sharing, with his fellow inmates, the clothing and grain powder that his mother Chungmonim brought him. This is how, even though on a course that could have led him to death, True Father restored through indemnity the suffering of Jesus and carried on the mission he had inherited from him. Even in sacrificing himself for his fellow prisoners, he gained strength to survive. (163-197, 1987/05/01)

18 During my prison life, whenever I received grain powder from my mother I never ate it by myself. 1 shared it all, sometimes leaving nothing for myself. When I did that, the people with me collected some from others and gave it back to me. Such incidents happened. That was why the people there could say nothing against me.

About 30 people slept together in my cell. I always slept in the worst spot, which was next to the toilet bucket in the corner of the cell. In the middle of the night, anyone who went to use the bucket might step on the people sleeping next to it. The cell was packed with inmates, and people going to use the bucket would first try to push the sleeping bodies aside so they could step between them, but when that did not work they just stepped on them or kicked them. That often happened.

But whenever anyone going to the bucket stepped on me or kicked me, he would come to me the next morning and apologize. If I were like other people, I would have said, "What do you mean doing that last night?" and started a fight. But I was not like that. So even when someone walked on my stomach because he could not help himself in his rush to get to the toilet, when he found out it was me whom he had stepped on, he came to me and apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, I did not know it was you." I lived such a life. (050-312, 1971/11/08)

19 My mother, who was in Jeongju, needed to obtain 18 different letters of authorization to come and visit me in Heungnam Prison. When she finally obtained them, she made mixed grain powder for me and came to give me that powder. Did she have the grain to make that powder? I learned later that she went begging for it all over the village. She even went to ask distant relatives, saying in tears, "My son is in such a miserable situation. Please have sympathy for him." She begged for the grain, made the powder, and came every month to give it to me. Also she made clothes for me, especially in winter when she worried that I might freeze to death.

She made the powder to give to me, but as soon as I was back in my cell I shared it with the others. My conscience would not allow me to keep it and eat it by myself. My mother brought me cotton-padded pants, but I did not wear them; I continued to wear the prison uniform. There were many inmates who had no visitors for years. In front of them my conscience did not allow me to wear those pants proudly. Therefore as soon as I received the pants I immediately gave them away, and I continued to wear the tattered uniform with holes in it. How heart-broken my mother must have felt when she saw me in my prison uniform with its tatters fluttering in the wind. Yet because I was walking the path of God's divine Son and a loyal patriot, I had to go this way. (266-289, 1995/01/01)

20 You cannot imagine how cold it was in Heungnam! There the winter wind was so strong that it blew pebbles around. When my mother visited me in prison in those cold winter months, she saw me wearing only my thin uniform, just one layer without long johns. When my mother saw me not wearing the clothes that she had prepared for me, her blood boiled. She asked me, "What happened to the long johns and cotton-padded clothes I brought to you?" I told her, "I gave them to people whose situation is more difficult than mine. I am willing to shiver in the cold alongside them and to starve together with them. Is that wrong?"

I was confident in what I was doing. In front of anyone in heaven and on earth, I was confident. My mother admonished me, saying, "How could you do this, without knowing what I went through? I prepared those clothes for you. Who told you to give them to others?" So I said to her, "Mother, if you do not care about others as I care about them, then I am not proud of having you as my mother. I wish you had praised me for what I did, and said that if I needed more clothes you would bring them. If you cannot do that, at least do not admonish me or give me that kind of advice." Then my mother sobbed, shedding large drops of tears. I can never forget that. (242-203, 1993/01/01)

21 We were hungry from right after breakfast until noon. You cannot imagine how hungry we were. Our tongues were worn out and our breath smelled bad. In those circumstances I too was hungry, but to comfort my fellow inmates I wove lengthy stories and shared them. Because I did that, before one month had passed they started to bring me food they had received from their visitors, saying, "Teacher, please take this and do whatever you want with it." Thus I experienced something amazing, even awe-inspiring.

The Principle is truly simple: If we invest completely with love to live for the sake of others, whatever we give is bound to return. This is the starting point of the heavenly law. Therefore, as long as we move forward with this principle, no one can destroy us. When we act upon this principle, the output is greater than the input. The output of those days is the group of people I see in front of me today. You have emerged, with a pledge that combines resolute determination and tears, to willingly advance along the path of death on my behalf. When I see you, I know that the path that I have trod is surely the path of truth. (170-181, 1987/11/15)

22 There is one experience during my prison life that I cannot forget. It happened on my birthday. Prison is usually filled with dreariness. Still, there was an inmate from Pyongyang who, I do not know how, learned that it was my birthday, and on the morning of my birthday he left me a bag of powdered grain that he had been eating from. It is something I can never forget in all my life. I still think that I must find a way to pay him back, even thousands of times over.

I really hate being indebted to anyone. When I am in debt to someone, I cannot rest until I repay it. I do not believe that I came into the world to be indebted to others. I rather think that I came to become a creditor. So once I start to do something, I cannot be in last place, a place that would incur debt. (056-047, 1972/05/10)

23 In Heungnam Prison there were some people who followed me. Whenever they had something special to eat, like powder made of mixed grains, they would bring it to me. They would wrap it in paper and hide it inside their smelly pants in order to bring it to me and share it with me. If they had been caught by the guards, they would have been in trouble. Sharing that food impressed me more than any deluxe banquet. After all these years of life, it remains in my memory. Sharing and eating that grain powder, all my senses were totally intermingled and melted together. You need to have that kind of experience before you go to the spirit world. It is such a blessing. You must not live for the sake of yourself but for the sake of the whole. (108-154, 1980/08/18)

24 As an inmate in Heungnam Prison in North Korea, I fought on the front lines to love a wide variety of people, not only my fellow inmates, but also the communist prison guards. Because of that, I experienced that some guards made efforts to protect me in prison. If they saw me doing something against the prison rules they covered for me, even though they ran the risk of losing their own lives. The system inside the prison intensified the atrocities of communism, yet even in that world I found ways to protect myself. The one and only path was the path of loving and sacrificing. It was in prison that I discovered this truth.

There was a former leader of the Communist Party in the prison. When his family sent him powdered grain, he mixed it with water and made balls like rice cakes. Hiding them in his crotch, he walked the four kilometers to the fertilizer factory. If they fell out while he was walking, what he was doing would be discovered and he would get into a lot of trouble. He could even lose his life. Despite this he brought the food, solely for the purpose of sharing that food with me.

Hiding them deep inside his pants, he worked, drenched in sweat, until lunch time. Of course the grain cakes absorbed his sweat and smell, even though he had wrapped them with newspapers. Could I refuse to eat them and throw them away? At the moment when he shared them with me, it was like an explosion of love, big enough to buy even the entire universe. It was like the eruption of an active volcano. I saw clearly with my own eyes that in that worst place, a heavenly comrade had emerged in front of me. I again realized that the only thing that can digest this world is the path of love. (174-353, 1988/03/13)

Disciples in prison

True Father victoriously overcame the ordeals of prison life. In prison he was not allowed to witness directly, but still he found more than 12 disciples. This was possible with the guidance and cooperation of the spirit world through such things as dreams and revelations. By gaining 12 disciples, True Father established the condition of indemnity to restore the 12 disciples who betrayed Jesus. In this way, he made the foundation for a new beginning as the Lord at the Second Advent.

25 In prison, there were some inmates who followed me. If I had asked them to escape the prison with me, they would have followed me out at the risk of their lives. I had to have inmates who would follow me in that environment of death in order to restore the 12 disciples that had deserted Jesus when he was hung on the cross. To restore them I had to find inmates who would naturally submit to me. I did not have to speak to them, because the spirit world already was mobilized to witness to them.

My number in prison was 596. This number, in a way, sounds like "wronged." One inmate had a dream in which he saw his ancestor, who commanded him, "Do not eat the powder you received, not even one spoonful. Give it to Mr. Moon." So this inmate plodded over to my cell holding the sack of powder, and asked, "Is number 596 here? Who is he?" In such ways the spirit world mobilized to feed me.

After I left the prison, I traveled to Pyongyang and then journeyed to the South. At that time four people followed me. This was the restoration of the four-position foundation. Those four people whom I came out with were my church. In this way, providential history cannot deviate from the fundamental rule of restoration. (047-192, 1971/08/28)

26 I wished God's compassion even upon extremely wicked prisoners who were sentenced to death. On the cross Jesus said to the thief on the right, "You will be with me in paradise." Likewise, throughout my life I have fought to give new hope and encouragement to people whose lives were filled with tearful stories. I did this even in prison. I comforted them and lived for their sakes to such a degree that after I left the prison they missed me, shedding more tears than they shed when their parents passed away. I have lived this way because I understood that without doing that, I could not fulfill my responsibility for the mission of restoration. That is why whenever I left a prison, I would see many people clinging to me and weeping. Because I lived my life this way, when I left Heungnam Prison for the South, four people followed me, leaving their parents and children behind. (045-138, 1971/06/24)

27 I had more than 12 followers who lived in other cells. Every morning when the guards ordered the prisoners to come out of their cells, we had 15 minutes to line up. During that time many prisoners went to the latrine, but when it became too crowded we had to wait in our cells. Since the guards watched us closely, my followers in other cells could not come to where I was. We could not pass over the boundary line. For those followers, to see me and greet me was the most honorable moment of the day. It was the moment they received life. Therefore, they would even crawl from their cells to come to see me, hoping not to be seen by the guards. If they were caught, the guards would beat them with the butts of their rifles. They would be accused of planning to escape and put in solitary confinement for one to three weeks. If they were caught three times, they would be punished more severely. The problem could become more complicated.

Nevertheless, they risked it anyway, considering that to see and greet me that day was a great honor. When they had something to eat, they would ignore their hunger and feel honored to share it with me. You have to understand such relationships of heart. They are a hidden tradition in the historical background of our church, and will remain theirs forever. (074-095, 1974/11/14)

28 The reason I suffered harsh oppression and mistreatment in Heungnam Prison under the communist regime was because heaven mandated that I must carry out substantial restoration. Hence, even in front of Satan's guns and swords, heaven sent me people who were prepared, who by following me would enable the prison gates to open so that I could leave.

Even though 1 did not say a word to them directly, spirits in the spirit world witnessed to some inmates and brought them to follow me. I kept silence, but their ancestors directly appeared to their descendants in prison and witnessed to them. In this way, I was able to find and restore in prison more disciples than the 12 disciples who abandoned Jesus and fled when he was on the cross.

Before leaving to work every morning, my followers tried to meet me despite the strict prison security. Amid the din and commotion of people going outside to go to work, the first thing they wanted to do was to come and greet me, the man whom the spirit world had guided them to follow. Even if they had to crawl, even with the guards standing there with their guns, they came. God worked like that. This is how in prison I established the condition of indemnity to restore the four-position foundation. (023-288, 1969/06/08)

Section 5. Gathering Lost Family Members

The Korean War

The Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950. It was the first war in which United Nations peacekeeping forces were mobilized. This war was the focus of the confrontation between democracy and communism, and the army that fought it was a global coalition. The theism of the Judeo-Christian tradition, as the ultimate expression of the Abel-type view of life, was at war with atheistic materialism, as the final expression of the Cain-type view of life. On October 14,1950,112 days after the outbreak of the war, True Father was liberated from Heungnam Prison by a UN bombing attack, followed by the landing of troops. The participation of the 16 nations of the UN in the Korean War was inspired by God to rescue the Lord at his Second Advent.

1 The Korean War was a war in which the people of 16 nations shed blood to bring victory for God. For the sake of God's providence, it was the first time in human history that 16 nations involved themselves in one country's war. Although it seemed like a civil war, it was in fact a war for God's providence that brought international participation. As the war was connected to me, it was connected to God's providence for the Messiah.

Therefore, how much will the world be influenced when the significance of this war is disclosed. The world should understand that Korea is the fatherland where the Messiah was born. Hence, Korea is in truth the fatherland of all people. It is for this reason that 16 nations were mobilized on God's side to protect Korea. Those nations were mobilized in the Korean War for the restoration of the fatherland. (119-218, 1982/09/13)

2 While I was in Heungnam Prison, the Korean War broke out. The North Korean Communist Party planned to send all prisoners to the 38th parallel to die on the front lines. When the battle situation became increasingly urgent, they tried to move those who had long prison terms further north and send the remaining two-thirds of the prisoners to the front lines. In order to implement the strategy of throwing waves of men into action, they dragged everyone out, whether they liked it or not. Any prisoners who did not follow orders were shot.

About 800 prisoners were forced to go to Jeongpyeong, near Heungnam. Trains had been operating between Heungnam and Wonsan, but the United Nations air forces had destroyed parts of the railroad. Those prisoners then had to walk the 50 kilometers from Jeongpyeong to where they could board a train for Wonsan. The authorities kept about 70 prisoners at Heungnam and sent the rest away. At that time, I was among those taken from the prison. We departed at 8:00 in the evening and walked all night until dawn, covering about 30 kilometers. We did not walk during the day because of the air attacks. Trains could operate only at night; so we were to arrive at the place where we could board the train to Wonsan around 4:00 in the morning. We could not make it to our destination in one day; the plan was that we were to arrive there on the second night.

But the train that was sent by the central headquarters to carry us had an accident on the way, and we had to remain there for a few days. With the prisoners there and the train not ready to go, the guards faced a serious problem. There were only a few guards and a great many prisoners. So, in order to avoid potential problems, we were all brought back to the prison. Three days after we arrived in Heungnam, they again took out the prisoners, still numbering about 800. But this time I was not included, and I remained in prison. Eventually I was freed. (154-137, 1964/06/12)

3 When I was freed and finally left Heungnam Prison, four men followed me. Each said, "Teacher, wherever you go, I will go." Instead of seeking out their wives and children, they unconditionally followed me. They said they would not return to their hometowns. These four people followed me to Pyongyang.

Among them was a man of the Moon clan. Thus, I was able to establish a Cain-type person from the Moon family. But in the process of traveling to the South, we were separated from him after I sent him on a mission to find someone. I thought that the reason he remained in the North was that he was Cain, while I, in the position of Abel, went to the South. When I have a chance to return to North Korea, I will find him if he is still alive. If he died, I would like to visit his grave and place a memorial stone there. I pray for him to this day, thinking, "If your dedication continues to this day, the day will come when North Korea and South Korea will embrace each other." Before I pray for my mother or father, I am praying for him. (060-237, 1972/08/17)

4 Among the inmates who left with me and followed me when I left Heungnam Prison was a man from the Moon clan. He had been the section chief of the South Hamgyeong provincial government in Hamheung, and his name was Moon Jeong-bin. One of his subordinates had made a mistake, and as he was accountable for it he was sent to prison. He and I were in the same cell. Having received a message from the spirit world, he followed me.

After we were freed from prison, he accompanied me from Heungnam to Pyongyang. He had a wife and children. After we left the prison, we stopped by his home to say goodbye to his family, and he then continued with me. We planned to travel from Pyongyang to the South. Kim Won-pil's mother was a church member; we wanted to bring her with us, but she was not at home, having gone to Sunan to sell things at the market. We had to leave within a few days but she had not yet returned, so I sent Moon Jeong-bin to Sunan to try to find her and bring her back.

I anticipated it would take one or two days on foot, but he did not come back either. The situation at that time was becoming increasingly untenable for us due to the Chinese communist army, which was threatening to surround our area. Unavoidably, we had to leave before Jeong-bin and Won-pil's mother returned. That is why, although Moon Jeong-bin had pledged his life to me, in the end he was unable to come with us to the South. (130-325, 1984/02/13)

5 When I left Heungnam Prison for Pyongyang, there were many men who wanted to follow me. They insisted they would follow me rather than return to their families in their hometowns. Although they said they would not go to their hometowns, it was the right thing for them to do. So once we arrived in Pyongyang, I told them all to go to their hometowns and to return on a certain date at a specific time. However, because of the withdrawal of the United Nations forces, we were compelled to leave Pyongyang earlier than planned. As a result some of them were not able to come with us. I think I will meet them again someday. Those who offer dedication and are loyal to heaven will never perish.

I know God loves me, because when I experienced loneliness in my heart and no one in the world knew, God came to me and helped me. This occurred not just once or twice. When I look back and recall those experiences, I cannot forget heaven s grace. (158-054, 1967/02/14)

6 I was in Heungnam Prison for about two years and five months. When I left the prison I brought with me the clothes that I had worn while I was working at the factory. All of my clothes—my work clothes, shirts and underwear—were made of cotton. Since my workplace at the prison was an ammonium sulfate fertilizer factory, the cotton deteriorated when it came in contact with the sulfuric acid and ammonia from the fertilizer manufacturing process. Since cotton is vulnerable to acid, when the clothes were stretched even a bit, they tore. After I had worn them a long time, they became tattered and threadbare. In my tattered work clothes I looked like the beggar of beggars. My clothes reeked, and if you rubbed them, the spot just turned to powder. But I could not throw them away. I knew that they would be treasured as historical artifacts of the Unification Church.

Since I could not throw them away, I removed the cotton lining from my comforter, folded these tattered work clothes that I had worn for two and a half years, and packed them inside. Before I went to sleep, I took them out of my blanket and spread them out to keep them from being damaged. What asset did I possess other than those clothes that I could take with me from prison? That is why I carried them with me on the ten-day walk from Heungnam to Pyongyang.

After I arrived in Pyongyang, I could not hold on to my former belongings there. Nevertheless, I asked one member to take special care of these clothes, saying, "Even if you throw away your own silk garments and your brocade blankets, you have to bring these clothes back to me without fail." However, I discovered later that when this woman came to the South she brought only her own belongings, having thrown away my clothes. So, I lost them. If I had those clothes now, I would not have to say even one word to explain my life in prison. They would have been the best evidence, which could not be exchanged even for the whole world. (083-260, 1976/02/08)

7 Emerging from Heungnam Prison, I carried the tattered clothes that I wore during my incarceration. You would not make even a penny if you tried to sell them. If you gave them to a Korean taffy seller, he would not give you even half a stick of taffy for the lot. I gave away the silk pants and jackets that my mother brought me and for almost three years I wore those garments, which were fit only for the dead.

Why did I need these clothes that were so deteriorated that if you touched them the spot would disintegrate into dust? I needed them because they would become a great treasure in a decade, in a century, or in several centuries—a true relic that you would not be able to purchase even with millions or billions of dollars in gold. Imagine if there existed a shard of a utensil that Jesus had used in Jerusalem; you would not be able to buy it, even for all of England or America. Young people today may laugh at this, but since my prison clothes were more precious than any fortune, I carried them with me despite my difficult circumstances. (026-020, 1969/10/14)

40 days in Pyongyang

True Father arrived in Pyongyang ten days after he was liberated from Heungnam Prison. Even when many people were leaving and hurrying to the South, he searched for 40 days to try to find all of his scattered disciples. Even though his hometown of Jeongju was not far away, he did not go there to meet his parents and siblings. This was because he felt he absolutely had to go the path of restoration through indemnity, which required him to love Cain first, and love him more than Abel. And so it was that, accompanied by Kim Won-pil and Pak Jeong-hwa, Father finally departed on the road to South Korea.

8 Just thinking of Pyongyang made me shudder, but when I left Heungnam Prison I went back and visited the city. I did this because my church family members were there. If I were just an ordinary person, I would have ignored Pyongyang and gone directly to visit my hometown. However, I knew that in that city were my church family members whose heart had gone out to me when I entered prison. I acted as I did on heaven s motivation. Accordingly, I went back to Pyongyang and searched for each of the family members who had been with me when I was doing ministry there.

I also looked for those who had left and had even come to oppose me. Of course, they did not leave me while I was in Pyongyang; the only reason they left me and opposed me was that I had been sent to prison. They were people who had pledged to believe in me before I was imprisoned. Since they had not notified me that they wanted to sever their ties, as their teacher I still felt responsible for them. Even though some of them betrayed me, they had once pledged in front of God that they would believe in me, and I felt that vow still stood. If they were to oppose me directly after I had located them, then heaven would let them go. But since heaven had the same regard for me as before, until they personally denied me, I was determined to take responsibility for them as their teacher.

This was why I scoured the city for all those scattered members. When I could not go directly to meet some of them, I sent Kim Won-pil. Because of all this, I was unable to go to my hometown. Still there was one person I could not find, even though I went around searching for her for a week. (158-054, 1967/02/14)

9 When I left Heungnam Prison, there were four people who came along with me as my followers. Jesus died alone, but when I emerged from prison, four people joined me. We walked from South Hamgyeong Province to North Pyeongan Province, through the most difficult mountainous terrain in Korea. From the coast of the East Sea, we walked over Geumgang Mountain and Seorak Mountain in the Taebaek Range in Gangwon Province and then through the mountainous area of North Pyeongan Province.

At that time, the North Korean People s Army was retreating in disarray through the Taebaek Mountains. We went through a territory crawling with soldiers. Our problem was that we were traveling south while the soldiers were escaping north. Why did we take such a path? If we had gone around the soldiers, we would have lost four or five days. On the other hand, it was a situation in which they were retreating and shooting the prisoners they had with them. So as we passed through this dangerous zone, I said to my followers, "What could be dangerous for people who have just left prison? We should be able to go anywhere." So, we deliberately chose that route and finally arrived in Pyongyang.

While living the life of a refugee, I searched for the original group that had gathered around me when I ministered in Pyongyang. I could not forget those who had shed tears for me when I was sent to prison, and because I had promised that I would find them, I kept on searching. At that time, I heard that the Communist Chinese army would soon enter the city, but I still went in search of an elderly lady I had so far been unable to meet. After I learned that the lady had died, we evacuated. (520-186, 2006/03/13)

10 In North Korea, the Communist Party persecuted all of the churches and tried to get rid of them, but we remained to the end. In those days, I did not call our group the Unification Church. It was just a group I was teaching. But even after I left the prison, I had to continue my ministry. Therefore, when I arrived in Pyongyang, I first tried to meet all the family members who had been with me there.

I was in prison almost three years, and because of the communist persecution during that time, church members could not openly practice their religious life. Indeed, they had gradually gone underground. So even though I was freed from prison, I could not continue my ministry as I used to. Still, before traveling to South Korea, I managed to meet almost all the family members who had been with me in the past.

I can vividly recall the moment when those members shed sorrowful tears as I was led away to prison in shackles. I had been sentenced to five years, and when I said to them, "Take care and let's meet together again five years from now," they wept. Even now the memory is vivid. After I came out of prison, I searched for everyone I could think of—the old and the young—for the sake of gathering again the family members with whom I had made a relationship based on the Will. (170-015, 1987/11/01)

11 After I left Heungnam Prison and went to Pyongyang, I sent a messenger on three separate occasions to a man who had been a member of my group. The first time, the man turned away my messenger at the door. He visited a second and third time, but the man snubbed him each time. The principle I adhere to is that I must invest myself with highest devotion until God instructs me to stop. Until then, I just cannot give up. While everyone else was escaping to the South, I continued to try to contact this man, sending for him until the evening of December 2. Therefore, I completely fulfilled my responsibility toward him.

Wherever I go under the sun, I have nothing to be ashamed of. I have been upholding the teachings based on heart. In Pyongyang my heart was pierced and wounded many times. So I did not want to leave until I had removed all those wounds. After doing that I had the conviction that I was ready to connect new people in the South with God. That is why I left Pyongyang that very night. Leaders must carry out their responsibilities diligently like this.

Even in a life-or-death situation, unless a leader completes the portion of responsibility that God entrusted him with, his path will be blocked. You have to bring a clear resolution and tie up every relationship you make with people. You see, whether I am in this world or the next, I must stand in the position where the ancestors of that person are able to sympathize with me and, at the same time, the descendants of that person will be able to sympathize with me. Because I thought like this, I searched for that particular former member. (157-336, 1967/10/16)

12 I left behind all eight of my siblings. Even when I was in prison in North Korea, I could foresee the future political situation. Accordingly, after I came out of prison I went to Pyongyang and stayed there for 40 days. My hometown was only about 110 kilometers from there, so two days would have been enough time for me to travel home. But during those 40 days, instead of visiting my parents and siblings, I searched out every person I had previously worked with for the Will. I went here and there, seeking out those people who had once pledged their lives to me before heaven. I gave no priority to caring for my parents and relatives in my hometown, but instead looked for each family member at the risk of my life. (038-325, 1971/01/08)

13 When I was in Pyongyang, I could have taken the two-day journey to meet my older brother and brought him with me. However, I knew that if I did not make the condition of loving my country more than I loved my older brother, I could not have a clear heart to bring him with me. I knew that if I did not make the condition to love my country more than I loved my parents, I would not have a clear heart to bring my parents with me.

This is the requirement of perfect restoration through indemnity. In order to become Abel, one must love Cain. Then, in order to attend True Parents, one must first attend the parents of Satan's world. That is why 1 did these things. That is why when I came out of prison I attended elderly women. The fundamental Principle of Restoration is like that. I left the prison and gathered together grandmothers to form a trinity. I set up three children from Satan's world who were able to carry out mother-son cooperation. You also need to act in this way according to this principle. (029-226, 1970/02/)

Chapter 2

The Ewha University and Yonsei University Incident and Suffering in Seodaemun Prison

Section 1. Ewha University and Yonsei University

Gathering young Christians

With the founding of HSA-UWC in 1954, the mainstream of God's providence in Korea was transferred from older Christians, the first generation, to younger Christians, the second generation. The Unification Principle began to circulate among university students. Among the universities, Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University, both with Christian church endowments, were the leading schools that educated the best of the young generation of Christianity. The so-called Ewha University-Yonsei University Expulsion Incident occurred due to Christian persecution and opposition to the Unification Church, with collaboration from the Korean government. It began in March 1955 and continued into July, becoming a major social issue.

1 Christianity is the bride religion. To prepare the Bride for the Bridegroom to come, early Christianity suffered great persecution from the Roman Empire. When Christianity reached the era of the worldwide Christian cultural sphere, the Bridegroom was to come and unite the world. That time was just after World War II.

After World War II, the world was supposed to unite centering on Christianity. The world was supposed to become one. There were to have been no more wars among nations. During World War II, the Allied powers of Great Britain, America and France fought and defeated the Axis powers of Japan, Germany and Italy. On the foundation of that victory, the Eve, Cain and Abel nations should have attended the Lord on his return. If those nations had attended him at that time, centering on Christianity, the world would have been unified. For this, these Christian nations were supposed to have received me. If they had, I would have taken care of the entire world with God's full authority. Starting with China, Russia, Japan and the United States, I would have brought all nations together.

However, because Christianity failed to accept and attend me, the incidents at Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University occurred. Yonsei and Ewha Universities represented the best men's and women's schools for educating the young generation. If God's plan for these two universities had been accomplished, they could have become the center of all the organizations in this nation. (233-122, 1992/07/31)

2 In Korea, my purpose in working at Yonsei University and Ewha Womans University was to connect the first and second generations based on the second generation. From a vertical perspective, the first generation, Christians, and the second generation, the students of the two schools, have a parent-child relationship. Horizontally, the two schools have a relationship as partners. We can consider the horizontal relationship between Yonsei University and Ewha Womans University like the position of Adam and Eve, man and woman, and the second generation as in the position of the children. If the second generation had united with me, the Parent, then not only the children of the second generation but also Christians in the position of the first generation could have united with me.

According to Principle of Restoration, if the first generation and the second generation become completely one, Cain is brought to surrender. This is because the second generation would stand on God's side and not on Satan's side. Had the second generation come into the realm of God's protection, then since the second generation, the realm of Abel, was united with me, on that day the first generation would have naturally become one with me as well. The first generation of Israelites died in the wilderness, but now both generations would be on God's side and in the realm of His protection. Hence, both the first and second generations could have entered the land of Canaan together. This is the Principle. In this way I tried to connect the first and second generations of Christianity centering on my work at these two Korean universities, but the Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University incident occurred. (137-023, 1986/01/01)

3 I had to unite the leaders of the Spirit-led Christian that had gone underground during Japanese rule. Then after the liberation of Korea, I had to gather the Christian ministers who had yielded to Japanese pressure and worshipped at the Shinto shrines. My responsibility was to bring these two types of Christian leaders together in order to build a foundation for the nation. However, the effort broke down because their beliefs were so different from each other. When I brought them together, the leaders who had been active underground fiercely refused to work with the ministers who had compromised by yielding to the Japanese.

Those ministers who had cooperated with the Japanese imperialists and now cooperated with the Korean government stood in the position of opposing me. This became a problem. The providential Will for the first generation of Christianity had been to unite all the Christian leaders. But because they were in complete opposition to God's Will, I had to lead a movement to gather the second generation. While doing this, the Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University incident transpired. (143-129, 1986/03/17)

4 Since the first generation of Christianity opposed me, the work I have been doing during my lifetime has been to gather together the second generation. This providence began with a focus on Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University. At the time, Korean President Syngman Rhee's wife was connected to Ewha Womans University through the university's vice president, Maria Park. The two were completely united with the government, based on the Christian missionary foundation. These powerful women made the same mistake as Eve when she influenced Adam.

To rectify the mistake of the first generation, I had to bring the second generation together and bring them into complete unity with me. Among the students in the position of the second generation were sons and daughters of all kinds of parents, including parents who were spiritually open, parents who had worshipped at the Japanese shrines, parents without any faith, and so on. They were all there together. Had I brought these students of the second generation into oneness with me, I could have corrected what the first generation had done to me. I could then have brought the nation and the churches together, and from there we would have moved onto the world stage. (143-130, 1986/03/17)

5 When the Lord came to Korea, the teaching that Christianity presented was too limited. It was not adequate to restore the world. So he had to develop something new that could lead humanity to make a leap to a higher dimension. For me, the issue was not only the independence of the nation; I was concerned to save the entire world. But Christianity did not have a teaching comprehensive enough to achieve this.

For three and a half years immediately after Korea was liberated from Japan, I went to all the prepared Christian leaders to bring them to understand this teaching, but every one of them opposed me and I was driven away and left alone. Had Christianity united with me, I could have led the people of the nation, and Korea would not have been subjected to the American military administration.

Even after that, if the Ewha Womans University incident had not occurred, then the government policy of religious freedom would have allowed me to go to a position above the Cain-Abel relationship with the support of the government of Syngman Rhee and the president of Ewha University. However, because of the Ewha University and Yonsei University incident, this was not realized. Had they accepted me, then based on the Cain-Abel relationship between the United States and President Syngman Rhee, we could have made an incredible leap to a new dimension that the world had never known. Then the entire world would have been united by the time I reached the age of 40. (321-045, 2000/02/14)

6 It was my destiny to start on the foundation of Christianity, but because Christianity rejected me I had to establish a church that was on an equal level with Christianity. This is the Unification Church. Those who established the foundation of this church through hardships were those second generation students who were chased out by the first generation Christians. These students of the second generation had to go out and suffer and indemnify everything in history. Because Christianity could not fulfill its responsibility centering on the standard of saving the world, the Christians all became the enemies of this new church. Hence, even though the Christians were to break down the walls of the individual, family, tribe and people, the Unification Church had to offer the sacrificial price to build the spiritual and physical foundation on a par with what had been lost. (105-252, 1979/10/26)

7 Yonsei University and Ewha Womans University were in the positions of a pure young man and pure young woman, like Adam and Eve who had not fallen. If they had become one with me in a father-child relationship, it would have been like forming a family-level four-position foundation. From that foundation could have emerged individuals, families, tribes and the Korean people aligned with me. Next, if the Korean people had become one with the government of Syngman Rhee, since the nation was centered on Christianity, True Parents could have stood on the national level. Then, centering on Korea, the ideal of True Parents could have embarked on a solid foundation.

The missionaries and America were the backdrop of Christianity in this nation. The commander in charge of the US military administration was the representative of the American nation, and the ones in charge of the churches were the American missionaries. But because of the opposition of these missionaries, everything went wrong. It was the same as Judaisms opposition at the time of Jesus. As a result, I was expelled and driven out as a contemptible heretic. I was driven out into the wilderness. Therefore, the foundation that heaven had prepared for 4,000 years was lost.

In order to rebuild it and climb back up, I had to carry out the collective responsibilities that American Christianity and America could not accomplish, and that Korean Christianity and the Republic of Korea could not fulfill. In the Republic of Korea, Christianity and the government stood on the national level. In the global era, I must take charge of Christianity and the nation on the global level. (137-023, 1986/01/01)

The expulsion of professors and students

From March to July 1955, Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University harassed the students and professors who attended the Unification Church to the point where they had to choose between their school and the Unification Church. Fourteen students from Ewha Womans University resolutely accepted expulsion and five professors were forced to resign their positions. Also, two students were expelled from Yonsei University and one professor was dismissed. The press published articles critical of the conduct of the universities. If at that time Christianity and the government had recognized the Unification Church as a legitimate religion to which the students had a right to belong, it would have created a foundation enabling a new start for God's providence on the national level.

8 The Ewha Womans University incident that took place in 1955 was a national event. Five cabinet ministers of Syngman Rhee's administration who were united with Christianity conspired to eliminate the Unification Church. Nevertheless, we overcame that period of conflict and quietly built up a new foundation internally and externally. By succeeding at this we restructured and solidified our movement so that we could face any opposition, whether from Christianity, the Korean people or the government. In other words, those expelled second generation students made it possible for us to form a new people, the new membership of the Unification Church. (110-119, 1980/11/10)

9 Representing humanity, I became a sacrificial offering for God. Although I was attacked ruthlessly, I would not let go of humanity. I alone took responsibility to fight for the Will.

What would have happened if the established Christianity had accepted me? If Christianity had only listened to what the Unification Church was saying, it could have turned around. Within a matter of seven years, Korea could have stood at the center of the Will. Then it could have guided world Christianity in a single direction, and Christianity united with my worldwide teaching would have brought about the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Yonsei and Ewha Universities were as Adam and Eve. They were also the second generation of Christianity. I claimed them as the core of the second generation, while half of the first generation was tangled up in the fallen world. In the past Satan took everything that was precious, but this time God claimed what was precious. (136-236, 1985/12/29)

10 During the Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University incident, Ewha University was in an uproar for three months. During that three-month period, about 100 students came to the Unification Church. Because they could not leave campus due to opposition from the school, cases arose where some students went to the Unification Church after saying they were going to a public bathhouse. Therefore, the school administration responded with emergency countermeasures to protect itself. They demanded that the students and the professors make a choice between the Unification Church and the university. To do something like that, how desperate they must have been!

At the time, all the students who were attending the Unification Church said they were willing to be expelled from the university. After I dissuaded them, only 14 of them were expelled. If I had let them do as they wished, more than 40 students would have left the school. If this had happened, there could have been a serious problem in the history of our church. That was the situation at the time. (287-164, 1997/10/03)

11 At the time of the Ewha Womans University incident, if only six more months had passed, the dormitory where 300 students were living would have been turned around completely. Our church was spreading like a prairie fire. How desperate the administration must have felt when it had no way to block the students from leaving, and had to demand that they choose between the church and the school! In what democratic nation in the world would we find such a situation?

The university students were from all kinds of religious backgrounds, yet they were told not to go to the Unification Church, that it was Satan's work. Helen (Hwal-lan) Kim, the president of Ewha, sent Dr. Young Oon Kim, who was the director of the Department of Christian Social Work and a professor who had complete authority on theological and religious matters, to investigate the Unification Church.

Professor Kim went to our church, but within one week she turned around 180 degrees. She went back to the school and talked about the Unification Church. Christians there would come and ask her in whispers, "What is this Principle all about?" As the school authorities watched, they saw that those who listened to the Unification Principle would change. The school authorities began to fear that everyone would turn to the Unification Church. So they turned against us. (191-117, 1989/06/24)

12 Among the 300 students living in the Ewha University dormitory were many intelligent young people who listened to the Divine Principle lectures of the Unification Church. Many of them changed so quickly it was as if a volcano had erupted at Ewha. It became a big problem. The university was the recipient of diverse forms of support, including literally hundreds of thousands of dollars annually from the American Methodist Foundation. The school feared they faced the possibility that this support could be cut off, and this was unthinkable. For this reason, they mobilized even the president of Korea to have the government attack me. (438-300, 2004/02/18)

13 The springtime in 6,000 years of history comes only once. It does not come at just any time. The springtime for Adam and Eve was only once. The spring breeze is felt when the time of marriage has come. Thousands of thousands of years have gone by in the providence of restoration, and finally that spring breeze is blowing through the land of Korea.

The Ewha Womans University incident was a manifestation of that spring breeze. That breeze touched more than 300 female college students. This is why they climbed over the school wall or made an excuse that they were going to the bathhouse, and came running to the church. (163-258, 1987/05/01)

14 After Korea was liberated from its 40 years of tribulation under Japanese rule, Korea and the missionaries from America should have completely united with me. That would have happened if the Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University incident had not occurred.

The students at those universities were the second generation. I understand well the work of restoration. It progresses in reverse, from the second generation to the first. If the Yonsei and Ewha University incident had not occurred, we would have connected with the presidential residence in Seoul and all of Christianity would have connected with us. At that time, Dr. Young Oon Kim was director of the Christian Social Work Department at Ewha Womans University. Because important professors like her joined our church, Helen Kim, the president of Ewha, should not have opposed us. However, despite Professor Kim's reports, several highly placed Christians at the university opposed our church and created a problem for her.

If Ewha and Yonsei had turned around and had not opposed us, Korean Christianity would have turned around too. But instead an unprecedented event took place in which five professors were forced to resign and 14 students were expelled from the school. The history of restoration is that difficult.

You must understand how fearful a hardened belief can be. To bear a habitual, traditional mind-set is truly a frightening thing. Even though you joined the church, the habits and the mind-set that you used to have when you lived in society remain with you. God does not accept them. It is indeed difficult to make a new beginning with the standard that we are newly born. (170-306, 1987/12/04)

15 If you ask who was behind Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University's effort to eliminate the Unification Church in Korea, I would tell you it was the missionary organizations. If at that time these universities had turned around and united with me, then, working with top leaders such as Ewha University Vice President Maria Park and Korean President Syngman Rhee, we would have been able to carry the flag throughout the world and lead the procession to the kingdom of heaven. If this had happened, then with the heavenly fortune that had come to us through the merit of those who offered their lives down through Korea's 5,000-year history, our land would have received God's blessing for all time. Then I would have stood in the position of the Lord, with worldwide authority. Then we would have established God's nation. However, when they thwarted our growth, that chance was lost. (136-170, 1985/12/22)

16 What happened to President Helen (Hwal-lan) Kim of the Ewha Womans University, the key person in this situation? Indeed she suffered hwallan, meaning disaster in Korean. With the authority of her school, she moved to sacrifice a religion and sacrifice her students. Her move was not based on righteousness. It was based on unrighteousness. This is why she was required to pay the price.

Had Helen Kim welcomed the Unification Church, Korea would have become the nation that could have won over all the nations and moved the world. The outcome of the events at Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University, which were at the center of Korean Christianity, was critical for determining whether Korea would go over the hill of its 40-year history under Japanese occupation. However, it ended with the students' expulsion, with the result that 40 years of the Korean people's suffering was wasted. (172-176, 1988/01/10)

Section 2. Seodaemun Prison

Wild rumors

The expulsion of students and dismissal of professors from Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University caused True Father's suffering to continue. Christian organizations responded to the spiritual enthusiasm that was taking place in the Unification Church by spreading all kinds of wild rumors. On July 4, 1955, True Father was arrested on charges of avoiding the draff and thus violating the military service law. Subsequently, four of his disciples were also arrested.

1 Many sectors of society opposed the Unification Church. Government offices, schools, religious groups and families all turned against our church. We were persecuted not because I was an evil person or because the Unification Church was an evil church. Rather, it was based on rumors that Christian leaders contrived by accusing us of all sorts of evils and wrongdoing as have been seen throughout history. As a result of these rumors, Christians began to hate us.

I was educating people with the words of the Principle; that is why whoever came to the church had spiritual experiences. If they did not come back, the spirit world gave them a hard time. This would become a serious problem for them. When intelligent people listened to the Principle, they were bound to join the Unification Church. That is why, in order to stop us, Christians began taking all kinds of terrible measures against us. (104-069, 1979/04/01)

2 Christians raised the issue of the heretical groups in the history of Christianity and said we were like those groups. They threw every sort of accusation against us. Because this continued for about ten years, the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCLA) investigated us. They spent 40 days investigating the rumors that had accumulated over ten years and concluded, "There is nothing there." But they did not make a public announcement about it. They did not say, "Moon of the Unification Church has done nothing wrong, and all the rumors you have been believing are lies." When I was declared not guilty after my trial, the newspapers devoted only a few lines to it.

How could the negative image that was established nationwide be changed? Even though our church did public relations work to change public opinion, everyone still opposed us. Finally there were legal proceedings, and based on the investigative report from the police, we made an announcement that the Unification Church is not the kind of place that people think. They still did not believe us. Although the police confirmed it, people said, "The Unification Church has bribed the police!" (104-070, 1979/04/01)

3 There was a woman, a devoted mother and wife. She was so close to her husband that she thought that without him she would die. But after she joined the Unification Church, her life changed. Instead of going back to her house at 5:00 p.m. to prepare dinner, she would stay and listen to my teachings late into the night. In those days I often spoke until 4:00 a.m., regardless of how many members were with me. I was sleeping just two hours a night on average.

Naturally, problems arose within her family. Her husband asked her not to go to the church, but still she came, saying, "No matter what, I will go." This kind of family dispute was a good reason for Christian ministers to oppose me. From their point of view, I was causing their best members to go astray. Hence, many of them gathered and organized to oppose our church. As a result, I was falsely accused of all kinds of wrongdoings. However, I thought to myself, "Go ahead, put all the blame on me," and I did not make excuses.

After the court found me not guilty and I was released from Seodaemun Prison, I did not hear any Christian ministers say that I was found innocent of the rumors and that they must have been false. (249-206, 1993/10/10)

4 Unification Church members were persecuted severely, especially the women. It is because when they left home to go to the market, they ended up going to the church in spite of themselves, which led their husbands to jump to all sorts of wrong conclusions. These incidents were common in the early days of our church. If you understand spiritual phenomena, there is nothing mysterious about them. Yet the rumor spread that I controlled our members by some kind of electrical device that I had secretly implanted in them.

Actually, even people in the secular world use hypnotism to exercise mind control on people. How much more powerful are the spiritual experiences that people have when they connect to the Spirit of God! There was nothing unusual about what these women believers did, coming to the church with a heart yearning for the Word of God. Do you have any idea how great the power of prayer is? If you pray, you can have such experiences. (076-142, 1975/02/02)

5 Around the time of the Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University incident, five cabinet ministers tried to knock me down and obliterate the Unification Church. Since they could find no fault in me, they tried to convict me of evading military service. They accused me of lying about my age, that I claimed I was two years older than my real age. However, despite a thorough investigation, the court could not produce any evidence, and I was found not guilty. (239-021, 1992/11/23)

6 We held a 60-day witnessing campaign at Ewha Womans University and Yonsei University, and many students and professors joined. The two universities were in an uproar, and their administrations felt so threatened that they had to do something about this situation. So they made allegations against me. They called me a heretic and hurled all kinds of false accusations at me. But no matter how much the prosecutors investigated me on those charges, they could find nothing criminal.

The university authorities accused me of being anti-family, and that I practiced sexual immorality, but the prosecutors could not find any evidence to support those charges. Therefore, they arrested me on the charge that I evaded military service. Did I evade military service? I had short hair during the Korean War, so they thought I belonged to the North Korean Peoples Army. Even though I was willing to join the South Korean army, I was classified as Third Class, which exempted me from military service. Hence I was not able to join the army. In the end, no matter how much the prosecutors tried to make a case against me, they could not find me guilty of any of the charges. That is why I was acquitted after three months.

However, most people did not learn that I was declared innocent. Christian ministers did not inform their members that the court had acquitted me. The newspaper reports about it were very brief. Our church leaders suggested, "Let s make a statement about the Seodaemun incident and the groundless allegations against the Unification Church." Yet to me, the allegations were not the issue, and my imprisonment was not the issue. The issue to me was that the Republic of Korea had betrayed me. It would do no good to regard Korea as my enemy and fight back. Rather, in order to restore Korea, we would have to move on to the world level and then return to Korea. This was the path of restoration through indemnity that lay before us. (185-206, 1989/01/08)

Life in Seodaemun Prison

In Seodaemun Prison, True Father was assigned number 390. Four disciples were imprisoned with him: Kim Won-pil, Eu Hyo-won, Eu Hyo-young and Eu Hyo-min. So many people visited Father in prison that it must have broken the record for the number of visitors. He encouraged all the church family members who visited him, telling them, "Do not waver." By his heart and way of life, Father earned the respect of the guards, the warden and the other inmates.

7 I was imprisoned in Seodaemun Prison in 1955. Many rumors were circulating about me as the leader of the Unification Church. So as I entered the prison in shackles, the manager of my cell block glared at me angrily and shouted that he would punish me. I said to myself, "Wait and see. Within one month, I will win you over."

In the beginning, I was watched and treated as if I were a monkey in a zoo. I thought, "Do as you please! Unlike you, I am not a good-for-nothing!" Within one week, I won the hearts of the guards. People began calling me "Teacher," even in the prison. When I was released, the warden of the prison came out and called me "Teacher Moon." (039-050, 1971/01/09)

8 When I entered Seodaemun Prison, the manager of my cell block belittled me. I was quite upset with his behavior, but I determined to win him over before my departure from the facility. A few days later when he came to my cell, I greeted him cheerfully, "Good morning!" Sometimes he silently walked by my cell, and I thought, "You are just passing by, but you will come back." Then, just as I expected, he actually did.

One day he came to me and told me that on a certain morning he was eating rice cakes, and one got stuck in his throat. Why do you think he choked? It was because his ancestors caused it to happen to him, knowing that if their descendant kept on mistreating me, they and that descendant would be in trouble. Not only that, he was eating the rice cake by himself, and his ancestors wanted him to change his ways. After I explained all this to him, his attitude changed. He started to call me "Teacher," and he also ran errands for me.

Even the warden came to respect me. On the day of my release, he brought me a cantaloupe, a watermelon, and other seasonal fruits. He shared personal stories with me that he had not revealed even to his own siblings. He testified about me to the prison officers and guards. Do you think he testified to me because I witnessed to him? I never witnessed to him directly, yet I knew how to witness to him. (033-267, 1970/08/16)

9 I know the yearning heart you had when you came to see me in Seodaemun Prison, as if nothing else in your fife mattered. History will remember your names. Someday in the future I will reward all the family members who came to visit me in prison. So treasure your visitor's pass and keep it safe. Any of you who has one should regard it as a family heirloom. And when you marry, keep it close to your bosom.

When I left the prison, all the guards and even the warden came to see me off. Some of those guards later joined the church. In this way, despite the enemies I faced, I pioneered the path of heaven. In order to become Abel, we must unite with God at all costs. Therefore, whatever the suffering on your path, you should never think that you are walking that path alone. God chooses as Abel those who will not rest until they win over those who accuse them.

True religions start from prison. A new history can begin from the worst place, if in that place you have more hope and a greater vision than anyone else. Then Satan's world cannot accuse you or interfere with you, even when you are later elevated or promoted. That is why in prison you can make a new start that connects you to a new world. In prison we can experience the heart of God and become one with Him. (034-050, 1970/08/29)

10 People wanted me to die or come to ruin, but I didn't. Why didn't I? I was insulted and isolated, but the more people cursed me and drove me into a corner, the more people shed tears for me and comforted me.

Our members fought for a place in line to visit me in prison. Visiting hours began at 8:00 a.m., but our members waited in line from 1:00 a.m. to get a pass. Seodaemun Prison had never seen such a thing in its history. Some people even waited in line more than 24 hours. (168-264, 1987/09/27)

11 When I first arrived at Seodaemun Prison, people disparaged me as "Moon of the Unification Church." It sounds odd, but in prison everyone thinks he is a prince. Everyone thinks he is better than the others. However, whenever inmates spoke to me in a derogatory way, I kept silent. From the first day, I did not say a thing. I could stay that way for one or two months. However, after one or two weeks, the inmates started to regard me with some kind of awe. When they woke up in the morning, they saw me praying. Who could stop me from praying?

One inmate was giving everyone a headache, and the other prisoners wished he would die. However, I took him under my wing and started speaking with him. People said that after I came to the prison, this troublesome man changed. When, after some time, that inmate no longer said anything to insult the other prisoners, the rumor started, "That troublemaker listens to Moon very well."

This happened because I try to have the heart that the president of Korea should have. My heart prompted me to live for the sake of all the prisoners. I believe that it is the right heart for a loyal citizen of this nation; it is the heart that all the people of Korea should have. So I prayed, shedding tears for that prisoner. In other words, my heart was the heart of an owner. That is why he bowed his head to me. It is heaven's principle that people bow their heads in front of a good person who takes responsibility for them. (024-041, 1969/06/22)

12 I can still picture the faces of those who tormented me when I was in Seodaemun Prison. Vicious rumors about me circulated inside the prison, but I did not say a word in response. Despite the negative environment, my cellmates came to like me very much. Also, I had many visitors. Some of those who came had bad intentions toward me. Aware of their intentions, I admonished them, "In the future, do not visit me with such a heart."

There was an inmate who used to be a pastor. He called me a heretic and an enemy, and angrily challenged me, shouting, "What you teach is no good!" But after hearing me, he came to see me on a regular basis and we became very close.

The rumors about me spread quickly, so much so that even the warden wanted to meet me in person. In the meantime, my disciples who were imprisoned with me served and attended me wholeheartedly. Then the people there started to say, "Many people insult and accuse Reverend Moon of the Unification Church, but he withstands it so well. Truly, he is an extraordinary person."

In this way, even though I was in the lowest place, I upheld my position as God's representative with integrity and authority. I had to, because there was no one else who could take my place. There is no one else, no matter how much worldly power he has, who can take over my responsibility before heaven. (021-160, 1968/11/17)

13 People looked at me with jaundiced eyes and said, "That guy Moon is no good." Yet I am not ashamed of anything in my past. The question is: Did others fabricate this image of me, or did I create it by my own deeds? It is either one or the other. If others fabricated it, it is their fault and they will perish, even as the one who is unjustly criticized will prosper. Evil perishes but good prospers. You will never perish when you stand in a position that is true, pure, and attested to by history.

When I was in handcuffs, Christian women passing by would look at me out of the corner of their eyes and grimace. I thought to myself, "Now your path seems holy, and this man whom you look upon seems miserable. But you cannot tell the outcome because you do not have the standard for comparing my situation with yours. When that is revealed, the judgment will come as to who is right and who is wrong." With these thoughts in my mind, I could come this far. (040-325, 1971/02/11)

14 1 should have been able to guide the Republic of Korea centering on the Unification Church, but instead I was put in prison. Yet even in prison, I was not anxious about when I would get out. I was calm and peaceful, because I regarded prison as my path for the sake of the Will. I was resolved to stay on my path no matter how many years I might spend in jail, even to the end of my life. This is one way that I am different from others. Even in that situation, I focused on spiritual self-cultivation.

What kind of self-cultivation? I meditated on how to resolve the situation of the Republic of Korea, which had lost a glorious opportunity. I contemplated how I could create a path of hope for the nation, one that would bear fruit. It was as if I was surrounded by mountains, and I had to look for ways to drill through them one after another to make a tunnel and build a highway.

I thought that if I happened to collapse, God would take responsibility. However, as long as I had energy to go on, I would not ask God for help. Therefore, I did not pray for myself. Without asking God for help, I gave out all of my energy, knowing that by doing so, God would surely help. (033-167, 1970/08/11)

15 As the Unification Church advances, the question is, within the limited time you have every day, how much can you wholeheartedly invest yourself for the whole purpose? We will rapidly advance and win victory if the standard of our life is higher and deeper than that of the early Christians. It is good to taste the sorrow of loss. Experience shame and suffer humiliation to such a degree that you cannot lift up your face.

I had such a time. In the courtroom before going to Seodaemun Prison, an ex-member said to me, "You were in jail in North Korea, and here you are again. You just cannot give up the old habit." I cannot forget those bitter words.

While going in and out of prison, I carried on the fight to dissolve all of God's bitter grief. Although I faced many painful, even resentful situations on the way, I knew that if I kept going, the time would come when it would all be dissolved. That is why even now I cannot afford to grow weary. Though my lips are blistered and my body suffers aches and pains, I will move forward until the day I defeat the enemy Satan, until he lies prostrate and I am standing with my two feet upon his back. I will fight him all the way to the end. (025-332, 1969/10/12)

Section 3. Bearing Society's Sin

All charges dropped

On October 4, 1955, True Father was found innocent and released by the Seoul District Court. The members were overwhelmed with joy to welcome him back. Three days later, they moved the church from Jangchung-dong to Cheongpa-dong, and on October 10 the church celebrated Father's release from prison. Everyone sang "New Song of Inspiration," which True Father himself wrote in Pyongyang, and reflected deeply on the meaning of his ordeal.

1 The whole nation was in an uproar in 1955 due to such incidents as the expulsion of students from Ewha Womans University. Under the influence of Syngman Rhees government, they arrested me and tried to expose me for crimes, but I had committed none. They charged me with all kinds of heinous things, but there was no crime with which to implicate me. When I came down from North Korea, I had short hair. I went to enroll in the armed forces, but they investigated me, thinking I had been in the North Korean People s Army. As a result, they did not allow me into the armed forces. That is the reason I was not accepted. Since those were my circumstances, my accusers were not able to implicate me as a criminal. Therefore, I was released with the verdict of innocent.

Christians did not know that fact at all. At that time, we could have proclaimed that fact as we do now; however, back then it was not the time to do that. On my path, there was a cross I had to bear on a worldwide scale. I could not be proud just because I had become the victor in the individual battle on the path of the cross. I could not forget that on the victorious foundation of the individual level, the cross of the family level was next. (184-273, 1989/01/01)

2 Newspapers played up the story that I was imprisoned with banner headlines. However, when they wrote about my release after the not guilty verdict, they printed only one sentence in small letters. Hence, no one knew about my acquittal.

When I came out from prison, some people told me that we should fight about this matter. But I did not fight. By not fighting, we made a condition to pull out the root. Anyone who opposed me by fomenting this historical injustice will be uprooted in the end. Their children may believe that their parents were good pastors who were loyal to the nation, but eventually they will understand that their parents were betrayers. When they realize that their mother and father stood in the position of betrayers who opposed the great Parents of Heaven and Earth as they strove to fulfill their duty in front of heaven, they will want to dig up their parents' graves. These are not empty words. (240-231, 1992/12/13)

3 During the administration of the Liberal Party, five cabinet ministers tried to knock me down. President Syngman Rhee issued a special directive to five departments to eliminate the Unification Church. This included the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After a perfunctory investigation, they used the rumors to fabricate stories about me and the Unification Church. For instance, they accused me of the crimes committed by the founder of the Pure White Sect. Thus, they tried to tarnish me with all kinds of allegations.

Yet when I was brought to court and investigated, they could not find any fault. Although they brought me to trial, they could find no evidence that would prove their case, and after 90 days I was acquitted and released.

In those days, Korean society truly believed I was a criminal. Later this became the basis for me to be accused throughout the world. Still, I have been silent these 40 years. Why? I knew the principle that after being struck, I can claim what I am entitled to. They believed Reverend Moon was the worst person and tried to knock me down. Yet I thought, "You are bound to perish! Go ahead and strike me! One day you who strike me will be driven into a corner and shattered into pieces." I could say that because I had done nothing wrong. (182-306, 1988/10/26)

4 We put up the sign of the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity in 1954. In those days I was opposed by the entire nation of South Korea. An incident occurred which resulted in my imprisonment. Within any three-year period there is always indemnity to pay. There is no way to avoid the restoration through indemnity. It is a formula, and it works without fail.

In those days, the government of the Republic of Korea tried to knock me down; they took all kind of measures to eliminate me. Christianity and the government joined forces for this purpose. However, when my case came to trial, I was found not guilty and released. Thus, the Unification Church could continue, and it remains to this day. (087-059, 1976/05/01)

5 What does it mean that the court released me with the verdict that I was innocent? If I was acquitted and discharged, shouldn't the Korean government offer me compensation? The Republic of Korea charged me, claiming that I was guilty when I had not been proven guilty. I declared I was innocent. When God examines the Republic of Korea in His court, God's verdict will be, "Republic of Korea, you are guilty. It is because you caused suffering to a man who committed no crime, and you charged him even though you already knew that he was innocent."

The key officials in the Korean government who opposed me were Christians. Are Christians a group of people who support God, or a group of people who oppose God? We read from the Bible, "One's foes will be members of one's own household." (Matt. 10:36) These words came true. Indeed, Christianity committed a sin.

The person who supports a criminal is like a partner in his crime; hence, he may be convicted as an accomplice. Therefore, the Korean government and the Christian churches may perish, but not Father. (187-219, 1989/02/11)

The meaning of True Father's suffering in Seodaemun Prison

True Father's incarceration in Seodaemun Prison was his 5th imprisonment. We can view that ordeal as religious persecution because the government of Syngman Rhee was incited by some Christian leaders and negative publicity. The consequence of that incarceration was that the Unification Church lost the God-given opportunity to launch the worldwide providence on the foundation of Christianity in the Republic of Korea. Instead, it had to once again face a wilderness course.

6 I did not perish. People were saying that Mr. Moon of the Unification Church danced naked. If they were cursing me because I really danced naked, I would not have so much pain and grief about it. I have never seen anyone dancing naked; even so, I became known as the ringleader of a naked dancing cult. Nevertheless, by accusing me that way, if the people of Korea could receive many blessings, I would welcome it unconditionally. Let them strike and curse me all they like; if the Korean people would be greatly blessed by striking and cursing me, one person, then why not? It would be good for the nation. In that case, I would be more than happy and willing to be cursed. If their motivation in doing so were for the love of the people and the nation, I would personally report to God that they had done a holy and righteous deed. (032-270, 1970/07/19)

7 The providence of re-creation cannot be accomplished by money, power or knowledge. We can only do it with true love. Even when I was in Seodaemun Prison, I did not wish for the Republic of Korea to perish. I did not wish for Christianity to perish. Instead, my heart was, "Please forgive their sins, for they do not know what they are doing. Let me bear the burden to indemnify the sins of the Republic of Korea. Have compassion on the nation. They are cursing me, and I only hope that by my accepting their curse they will receive blessings. If that happens, there will be no greater joy." With this heart, I overcame every challenge, one by one.

When we sow seeds, we can harvest a hundredfold and a thousandfold. Accordingly, now we can connect tens and hundreds of times more people to salvation in God's love. Heavens law operates according to this fundamental principle for multiplying the root of life. When we go the way of love based on heaven s law, we can harvest a hundredfold and even a thousandfold. In the universe, such things can occur in the bosom of love. (179-300, 1988/08/14)

8 The 30 million people of Korea said, "You ringleader of heretics, you must perish." But did I perish? No, I did not. If they did not have a legitimate basis for striking me, they will have to pay me damages.

I was working for God under miserable circumstances while they were pointing fingers at me. While pioneering the path, they put me through all sorts of hardships. Nevertheless, each time I thought, "God has suffered more hardships than I have; how can I not endure this degree of hardship?" The more hardships and difficulties you endure in a public position, the more your storehouse will be filled with treasures—treasures that no one else can ever have. (017-252, 1967/01/29)

9 The history of the Unification Church started from prison. Even after I came to South Korea, my path began with curses, betrayals and persecution.

I am not a spineless man. I have not forgotten what the manager of the cell block said to me when I entered Seodaemun Prison. Even after I die, I will not be able to forget it. But before one month had gone by, he came to me and said, "The Moon of the Unification Church that I heard about in the past is different from the Mr. Moon of the Unification Church that I know now. I am sorry." He apologized to me; I saw this clearly with my own eyes. In that experience, I witnessed that righteousness can defeat even the crudest prison chains.

Therefore, although the path of righteousness is difficult, we must not be discouraged. I am responsible to lead this group of people for whom God has been searching. This is my path, and I never let myself become discouraged along the way. I carry numerous scars from the ordeals, tribulations and beatings, but I do not mind the wounds. (064-148, 1972/10/29)

10 When you are going through hardships, ordinary things can be lifted up and become objects of absolute value. If you were to experience prison life or live through a severe famine, you would understand this.

Indeed, trials and suffering are not bad. Those who possess the strength, hope, and desire to affirm the value of life while undergoing trials and suffering are not crushed by the difficulties of those tests and hardships. Rather, they become a stimulus to find joy in the future. Not only that, they can enable you to find the nation of hope, even God's kingdom.

If you keep your hope alive while you are going through difficulties, you can realize the joy of the kingdom of heaven. Without overcoming difficulties, you can never achieve your hopes. Therefore, the God of love trains people so that they will be able to overcome a wide spectrum of trials that will come during the course of their lives. In this sense, the course of that training is not an end in itself. It is a path of suffering that is given as a gift, enabling you to feel value and motivating you to find greater joy.

When we think like this, suffering and difficulties are not bad. They can become the foundation of our happiness today and the means enabling us to inherit the happiness of tomorrow. (042-320, 1971/04/04)

11 I have been walking a long and arduous path alone, pioneering the mission of a forerunner. But I did not speak about it to others. My mission requires me to risk my life. Nevertheless I am not a lonely man. I do not need sympathy from you, either.

Actually, I am a happy person. Since God, the owner of the universe, recognizes me, I could be happy even through torture, when my tendons were cut, my flesh was torn and blood flowed from my torn flesh. I could be happy, because I knew the heart of God, who suffered more than I in order to send His Son on such a path. I was fighting to find the nation that would be able to embrace and comfort heaven. For that I could endure any torture, no matter how severe. Even when the path of the cross came to me unexpectedly, and even when that path drove me into difficult and despairing circumstances, I remained determined to go forward, renewing my resolve and renewing my hope. (065-091, 1972/11/13)

12 Looking at the trail of history until now, we see that the central figures of history are the ones who in their time surmounted suffering and fought unceasingly while never giving up hope for their nation and for the kingdom. Such people are the owners of history.

Saints and sages are the people who honored the will of heaven. They gave up any attachment to what the human world valued, and more than that, they changed its direction. They elevated the existing world to the world of hope by overcoming all the difficulties in their environment, even at the sacrifice of their lives. Hence, although their lives appeared to be miserable, all the pain and suffering they experienced internally became the motivating power that enabled them to connect the existing world to the world of joy.

The suffering path that God made the Unification Church walk until now was not for the purpose of bringing our church to ruin. On the contrary, its purpose was for the sake of God's love. The Unification Church has been developing so that it can meet the spring of tomorrow and become a greater light to the world. (042-320, 1971/04/04)

13 When I entered Seodaemun Prison in shackles, I was not ashamed. I had nothing to be ashamed of before heaven or earth. I kept my back straight and walked tall. When I was released from prison, I remember that four prison guards stepped forward and said that they would become members of the Unification Church.

The warden came to see me a number of times. He was thinking, "Is this the man whom the people of Korea consider so bad? He is not really the person they say he is." Outside the prison, all the Unification Church members waited in line, competing to see me. When the warden saw the young men and women lining up early in the morning, waiting to see me, he acknowledged, "Oh, I really did not understand him." This is the kind of path I have walked thus far. (065-063, 1972/11/13)

14 Never forget that I was chased out by the churches and the nation, which persecuted the Unification Church. Never forget that I stood before the presiding judge in a prison uniform, wearing shackles.

Now the season of sorrows is over, and our time has come. Springtime, the time for sowing seeds, has come. When we sow them they will sprout. However, sprouts will not germinate where people oppose us. Throughout history until today, we have been accumulating the merit of life and merit of love on behalf of our fellow citizens, all the people of Korea. The day will come when we can bequeath these merits to all those who are building the nation. Christians are still treating us as their enemies, but the path for those numerous Christians will be opened here. (048-318, 1971/09/26)

Chapter 3

Suffering in Danbury Prison and True Parents' Victory

Section 1. The Tax Evasion Trial

The Fraser Committee

When True Parents began their activities in America, including the Washington Monument Rally, a backlash arose that developed into organized opposition. The primary incident that incited this backlash was a public hearing led by Congressman Donald M. Fraser, chair of the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International Relations of the United States House of Representatives.

At that hearing, which began on March 22, 1978, Reverend Moons special assistant Bo Hi Pak testified four times. The purpose of the hearing was to stop the activities of the Unification Church by connecting it to what had come to be known as Koreagate. Kore-agate had arisen out of allegations that the Korean government provided a lobbyist with large sums of money to influence American politicians. The entire matter was politically motivated.

It was in this atmosphere of hostile accusations that True Father was indicted on charges of filing false tax returns at the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 15,1981. He was compelled to appear at the court many times. In a public statement that he made outside the courthouse after his arraignment, True Father refuted the charges, saying that he loved America more than anyone else did, and that the real cause of his trial was racial bias and religious prejudice. He declared that he had done nothing wrong and that his conscience was clear, because his life was one of self-sacrifice to serve America and all humanity.

1 In Japan, the Unification Church played a key role in defeating the Communist Party. We had advanced beyond the national level, and with this foundation we could go beyond the level of Asia. It was time to take the fight to America, representing the world stage. Communist forces throughout the world have begun to attack me. They have stirred up great winds of opposition from the entire world to blow against me. Where are these winds blowing? In the free world, in America, and in Christianity worldwide. They are launching an all-out attack on me.

Even though the free world should be defending and protecting me against Satan's side, in fact they are doing the opposite, going against me and God's side. Even though Korea supports me internally, because it is under the influence of America, it is in a situation where it is unable to support me openly. This has left me completely isolated. Notably, the Carter administration used Congressman Fraser and the Koreagate political scandal to try to bring down the Unification Church. (104-257, 1979/05/27)

2 When I was preparing to speak at the Washington Monument Rally, I felt as forlorn as a death row inmate walking toward the execution chamber. But thank God, it turned out to be a miraculous event. It was like a dream. I was resurrected from hell. At that point even the authorities in Washington, DC could not interfere. They wondered how I was able to make such a great foundation among the American people and its minority groups in such a short time.

Thereupon, they changed their strategy from a short-term one to a long-term one. Mustering every ally they could find, they tried to gradually tighten their grip on me, bring me down, and get rid of me. Representing them, Congressman Fraser did the work. Communist forces, Jewish and Christian organizations, and the United States government all joined together to attack me.

Abel's position is always defensive while Cain takes the offensive. But these positions were reversed here. From that point on, it was, "Remove Congressman Fraser!" I can go on the attack. Because they attacked us, we reversed the offensive and defensive roles. (099-184, 1978/09/18)

3 When we engaged in the fight with Congressman Fraser in America, if I had been hesitant to fight, if I had fear like a small-minded man and said to my followers, "It is time to retreat. I do not dare confront this nation that rules the world," then we could not have advanced God's Will and I would have been swept away. However, I was not afraid to fight. Instead, like David when he confronted Goliath, I went into the battle with the determination that my arrows would pierce his heart and my cannonballs would knock him down. I resolved, "It is not I, but you who will be pierced." Because I fought with that kind of determination, we could make a breakthrough in America. Now we can say that from every viewpoint we were victorious. (100-285, 1978/10/22)

4 Every time I do something, the Congress and the State Department make a fuss. Congressman Fraser, with the backing of the US State Department, became the flag bearer of the combined efforts of the government, communists, and some Jewish and Christian leaders in their efforts to bring down the Unification Church. Yet his efforts ended up working against him.

The Fraser Committee's allegations against me were made known to the whole world. Remarkably, some members of Congress came to our side. They became like our public relations team. When we won, they called to congratulate us. Also, the members celebrated with shouts of "Mansei!" However, I told them not to get too excited and stay calm.

I explained that one who is defeated is weak, and heaven does not permit us to strike the weak. God's way is to protect the weak. We should not be overjoyed with the fact that the Unification Church defeated the Fraser Committee. Our victory was only for the sake of goodness. I told the members, "Do not go out dancing in the streets and boasting about our victory." Forbearance is the way we can win over not only Fraser but also his descendants. (099-154, 1978/09/17)

5 The world knows that Congressman Fraser was defeated in his primary bid for the US Senate because he had fought me and lost. One day, major newspapers carried a four-page article about the Fraser Committees efforts to destroy us, which might be a historical world record. However, that was the media's last attack on us. In a single moment, the communists who had so confidently expected Fraser to win were completely defeated. They were defeated in the final fight.

When Jacob fought with the angel, at the very last moment Jacob clung to the angel and would not let him go. When the angel knew he could not win, he broke Jacobs hipbone. Even then, Jacob still held tight. Jacob won in this way, and the angel had to bless him. I fought Congressman Fraser like that. However much he and his people opposed me, I would not be defeated. I am sure God was helping me, but I'm no fool either. So people say, "There is nothing to gain by fighting Reverend Moon. He is a fearsome man." (099-185, 1978/09/18)

6 In all times and places, people who live for righteousness and devote themselves for God must inevitably travel a rocky and thorny path and must endure great suffering in their lifetime. Jesus Christ was the great example of this truth. In addition to him, history is filled with saints devoted to God whose lives were filled with suffering.

Ever since I resolved to dedicate my life for God and for the world, I have endured great suffering. So far I have endured 60 years of it. But I know the lessons of history, so how can I refuse the thorny and suffering path? I do not feel wronged, angry or hurt that the American government brought charges against me. Rather, I take it as an opportunity to share the suffering of God. God is the one who has been wronged more than anyone, has felt indignant more than anyone and has endured loneliness more than anyone. Hence, I consider this upcoming trial to be a trial of glory.

I have a clear conscience. When I look back on the life I have lived, I am confident that I lived for the sake of God and in sacrificial service for all people and the world. Therefore, I have no fear about the outcome. I have loved America, investing my heart and soul for that land for the last ten years. Ever since I went to America, I poured out my blood and sweat to revive the spirit and morality of that nation. History will testify to this. (115-061, 1981/11/01)

7 From the perspective of God's providence, if America cannot maintain its spirit and become truly a nation of God, there will be no way to save the world from the evil forces of communism. I have not taken anything from America. Nevertheless, I came devoting all the manpower and resources of the Unification Church worldwide to America.

America is known as a rich nation that gives aid to many throughout the world. But the Unification Church receives no support from America; on the contrary, America is the recipient nation that receives spiritual and material support from the Unification Church. If, nevertheless, they call it a sin or a crime that I love America and support it in this way, and give everything that I have for America, then I will not hesitate to accept whatever judgment is imposed upon me. I will not retreat from suffering, even suffering on the cross. (115-062, 1981/11/01)

8 Today we recognize two major shadows on the righteousness of America, which is otherwise a great and beautiful nation; they are religious prejudice and racial discrimination. As for the problem of racial discrimination, President Lincoln paid the price for it with his blood. Even so, much about that problem remained unresolved. More recently while fighting this injustice, the great American, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., also offered his life on that holy altar.

Now this fight has become the fight of the Unification Church. The Unification movement, which originally came from the East, has become the spokesperson and champion of all the minorities that are ostracized in todays America. One of the reasons I came to America was to establish organizations to defend minority rights. I put aside funds for this purpose before I returned to Korea. The movement to defend minority rights, which is spreading like wildfire in America, will become a righteous movement and a driving force in the 1980s. If God is truly alive, which He is, and if His truth exists, and it does, then history will flow in this direction. (115-062, 1981/11/01)

The course of the trial

In 1982, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York completed the selection of a 12-member jury for True Fathers trial on charges of tax evasion. His lawyer had asked for a trial by judge instead of by jury, because that way an impartial verdict would have been more likely. But the judge denied this motion, and his trial in the federal district court began. As the US government desired, on May 18,1982, the jury handed down a guilty verdict. On July 16 the court sentenced True Father to 18 months' imprisonment and a $25,000 fine.

True Father was sentenced for filing false tax returns and conspiracy to file false tax returns. At issue were his tax returns for the three-year period from 1973 to 1975. The government alleged that he should have declared as his personal income $112,000 in accrued interest on members' donations of $1.6 million and the receipt of $50,000 in stock. However, all of those funds were used for church purposes; they were not his personal income. If they are reckoned as his personal income, the amount of tax that he was said to owe was only $7,300.

On November 3 the defense counsel appealed to the United States Court of Appeals. Religious leaders in America, together with many non-governmental organizations, submitted numerous written petitions to the appellate court. As soon as the jurors pronounced the guilty verdict, members of the clergy held religious freedom rallies to protest the outcome. These were supported by the leaders of every major Christian denomination, as well as many conscientious people who regarded Fathers conviction as religious persecution. As a result, protests and demonstrations began to spread.

The defense counsel appealed, but on September 13, 1983 the verdict was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals. On May 12, 1984, when his final appeal to the US Supreme Court was denied, the sentence held firm. From the time of his indictment on October 15, 1981 until his incarceration began on July 20, 1984, True Father's trial had lasted two years and nine months.

9 At school when two students are fighting, if you listen to them, they argue over who is right and who is wrong. Then their schoolteacher makes a judgment based on which of the two is more public-minded. It is simple to come up with the right judgment; the student who stands in the right is the one who upholds a greater public purpose.

Today, when I enter the courtroom to face my trial, you church members must not be sad about it. The US government is thinking only of its own benefit, but I am going a more public path that is on a higher level. Therefore, although America may judge me and give me whatever sentence, I will remain the victor based on heaven's law. This is the plain truth. Therefore, in the past whenever I stood in court, I never had any fear whatsoever. The Unification Church centers on God alone and continues walking the path according to God's heart. (117-270, 1982/04/01)

10 Right now in America, everyone is making a fuss, saying that I evaded taxes. Yet these people have no idea how much money I brought to America and spent for this nation. I brought money to America because it is the central nation of the free world. My intention is to make a foundation here, and protect it for the greater purpose of the world, even if some other part of the free world may have to sacrifice. When I save America, the worlds central nation, the rest of the world can also be saved.

Whom does history follow? American citizens will not even follow their own government, but I believe that they will end up following me regardless of this court battle. Even the American government will follow the path that I am going. When Americans emerge who think more publicly than most present-day Americans, they will all follow me. That is why I say that we are going the path to victory. (117-277, 1982/04/01)

11 You should realize that just as I stand before a United States Court in New York today, someday you will stand before the Court of the Universe. Even if I am found guilty at the first trial, the second trial and the third trial, if the Court of the Heavenly Kingdom finds me innocent, all the guilty verdicts on earth will be reversed.

The Court of the Heavenly Kingdom is the supreme court of history. American citizens can appeal only to the Court of Appeals and to the United States Supreme Court, but I can still appeal to the final court, the court of history, the Supreme Court of Heaven. You too will stand before that court someday.

Yet what an honor it is to stand before this historical court while I am alive on earth. How wonderful it would be if I were to receive the verdict of innocent. It would be such an honor to be vindicated during this trial now, and not after death.

Would you like to be in that position after you die, or would you rather be in that position while you are still alive? The path of righteousness is only for the strong and bold. My way of thinking is to take a path that is great and awesome, even though it can be intimidating. The rest of the world is afraid of the American government, but because I have this kind of thinking I have been fighting the government all by myself. (117-280, 1982/04/01)

12 Once news that I committed tax evasion was publicized, even some of the American church members were concerned, thinking "Where there's smoke, there's fire." The US prosecution has no evidence of serious wrongdoing. No matter how much they looked, they could find no crime. Yet still the American people believe the accusations are true. They are thinking of me as a person who lies and commits fraud. They are making a huge commotion, pouring millions of dollars into investigating a case that involves less than $10,000 in taxes. How foolish and shameless they are!

If a third party asked you to investigate such a case and gave you a million dollars for that purpose, would you do it? If I were guilty, I could understand such an action. Yet they created a great commotion just to convict an innocent person. I realize that I am in a place where I must love my enemies totally, with the heart of Jesus on the cross. Yet whatever the outcome of the trial, at least I am not in danger of being put to death, as Jesus was.

America and Korea stand in exactly the same positions as Rome and Israel at the time of Jesus. If Jesus had been able to go to the Senate in Rome, and had fought, won his case, and raised the flag of victory, more than likely Christianity would not have shed blood. Therefore, if we are victorious here, then Unification Church missionaries around the world will most likely never have to shed blood. This is where we are beginning a new history. When you consider this, we have arrived on the battlefield where we can fight, the place where we can work to begin this new history. So with the spirit of a righteous person, and with the spirit of a saint, you should charge forward with all your might. (118-057, 1982/05/02)

13 1 told the court that I did not want a jury trial, as I could not have full faith in its fairness. But the American court compelled me to accept trial by jury. When the jury handed down the guilty verdict, all Unification Church members around the world united with me. I have made this a condition to bind all people in history together as one. By making them as one, we can go over another hill.

White people cried; black people cried; yellow people cried. People of all races shed tears during my trial for tax evasion. That this happened is an amazing thing. They did not cry for their own country. They cried for me, for God and for the world. Because of one person, True Father, all people shed tears for the sake of God.

This is truly a historic bond of heart. As a result, everything in providential history became connected. This trial became an opportunity for God, me, and all humanity to stand together in heart. That is why I tell you, this trial is an important turning point in history. It is the moment when, one in heart, all people occupied and surmounted the high ground. (118-137, 1982/05/23)

14 At the same time as I am waging this legal battle, I am preparing to found The Washington Times. It will cost tens of millions of dollars, but it is an investment for the sake of America and the world. It is an investment to stop communism and save America. I also invested more than $50 million in the movie Incheon. Was this for my benefit? I did it for America and the free world. Given this, would I conspire not to pay income taxes that did not amount to even $10,000? That is beyond ridiculous.

In the future, where will America go to hide from this historic disgrace? This is a serious problem for America. Americans will not be able to lift their heads. All of the records remain. America will always be reviled for bringing this court case against me. Therefore, in order to protect America from this national disgrace in the future, all members in America must unite and offer special conditions of devotion until the day of my sentencing on July 14.

You must all take responsibility for the future. In order to protect America from this disgrace, you need to cry out for justice throughout the land. You need to take this opportunity to turn American citizens around to the right direction. You must press on and on, making your best efforts, even to the point where you can no longer move your lips, open your eyes or move your bodies. (118-139, 1982/05/23)

15 The American government sentenced me, but they cannot push me around as they like. I will continue to guide America to the right direction, teaching the American people, and even the American government. My life is only daytime; there is no nighttime. I jump over the nighttime and work 24 hours a day. What matters to me is: What will I restore in my life? What will I fulfill here? What will I leave behind?

When God was sad for my sake because I stood before a court, charged with tax evasion, I sought to comfort God. I told God not to worry about me. I comforted Him each day, saying, "I am going through this time for the sake of the future." I thought about how I could unite heaven and earth. I thought about how I could unite God and humanity.

If I am evil, I am bound to decline. If the American government is good, it is bound to rise. If it rises, then I will follow America and not oppose it. If, however, I am the one who is good, I will continue along my path even if I have to leave America behind. A saint is someone who loves humanity and comforts heaven day and night even during the most difficult times. My path is the same path that the saints of history have walked. (119-176, 1982/07/18)

16 I intend to continue this court battle. I am determined not to leave anything bad behind in America. I am determined to leave something good behind. I need to instill a new spirit in the American people. Do you think anyone who has studied about me will stop following me simply because I was brought before a court? Or will they keep moving forward? This is a serious question I'm asking you.

We must have hope. America must follow heaven s law, which is the way of public righteousness, not of private self-interest. Those who follow the way of public righteousness will rise, but those who go the opposite way will decline. Who will remove those who are going the opposite way? The universe will remove them. The public law, public righteousness, will remove them.

I have faced opposition throughout my life. I am working to save this nation and its youth; I am striving to create people who can save the free world; yet I had to stand trial. (119-178, 1982/07/18)

17 There remains a road ahead of me, the road for the sake of the world. This road will take me beyond the United States. But once I leave, what will become of America? Unless you American members pledge to work harder than me, unless you are determined even to stand before a court and sacrifice yourself more than I did in order to lead your nation on the path that it must go, America will face a bleak future. After your nation has treated me like this, how can it hope to stand with honor before the nations of the world? America has already been damaged.

I have been teaching you about heaven's law of public righteousness. I am not saying that I have no responsibility; I do have responsibility. I am speaking this way because I am taking responsibility. Yet, because I realize that you also must shoulder this responsibility, I am even more serious about you. A parents heart desires to ensure his children have a bright future. The path of heaven's law of public righteousness must become your path. You must travel this path and live by this law. (119-180, 1982/07/18)

18 You must inherit heaven's law of public righteousness and resolve that you will follow this path until the world welcomes us, until all the people of the world have the heart that they would share a prison cell with me. I was very serious during the time I fought the allegation of tax evasion in the American court. I decided flatly, "I am going to do this," and flew back there.

Nevertheless, I never cursed America. I did not curse the prosecutors or the judge. I know that if I go in front of God, I am justified. In front of Americas good ancestors, I am justified. They are on my side. Your future descendants will be on my side. In the future, when your descendants find out what their ancestors did against me, what will they say about what you did? That is why I am saying that the path of righteous men and women, of good men and women, lies before you. However, there is no path for the evil person to go. Evil people are bound to perish. (119-181, 1982/07/18)

19 I am intending to conclude in 40 years' time the 4,000-year indemnity course of Judeo-Christianity that has unfolded from Jacob's time until today. Further, in these same 40 years I am trying to restore the 400-year indemnity course that early Christianity suffered under the Roman Empire. The period of all-out attack that occurred in this three-year period of legal battles corresponds to the three-year period of Jesus' course. I am indemnifying this in reverse. The course of indemnity goes in reverse.

In this time, Christianity can indemnify the age of Judaism by attending True Parents. This three-year period in which I have been fighting in the US courts is precisely the three-year period when, as the Messiah today, I have been preparing the foundation for saving the free, democratic world. It is the same foundation that Jesus should have been able to prepare by fighting and bringing victory on the worldwide stage in Rome. During this period I was being crucified in America, just as Jesus was crucified. The legal battle has been like the crucifixion.

Passing through the first stage at the New York District Court and continuing to the second stage at the United States Court of Appeals was equivalent to Jesus who had died being brought back to life. The presiding judge in that court was on my side and the two other judges were against me. This corresponds to the age of the growth stage.

During the third stage of the fight, at the US Supreme Court, public opinion was boiling and the people shouted, "Reverend Moon must be released!" The entire free world and all of Christianity came together. As I carried the cross, Christianity, the free world, and the American people united to support me, just like the thief on Jesus' right side who supported the crucified Jesus. (131-137, 1984/04/29)

20 America prosecuted me, but I am going beyond America; I am advancing beyond just America's hope. Tomorrow our achievement will be greater than it is now, and after one more year it will be greater still. We need to prepare the path along which all humanity will become one, which is the hope of God; and my vision is to choose the most direct path that can lead us there. When the judgment of the Supreme Court was rendered, I said, "God! What are you going to give me next?" Then Christianity turned around and supported the Unification Church.

The result of the court battle is that I am going to prison. What great blessing will we inherit thereby? All people worldwide will come back to my side. Families will become unified families and follow me on the path that I am going. Ethnic groups will become unified peoples, nations will become unified nations, the world will become the unified world, and all of them will follow me. Accordingly, when I am released from prison, a group of people representing the unified world will be waiting for me. That is why I consider the path I am on to be a path of hope. That is why I intend to go the path of the cross, knowing that it is actually the path of joy and hope.

I know that because of today, the Unification tradition will connect everyone together in a single line, from the True Parents to the True Children to blessed families, Christianity, America and the world. It will grow and grow.

On such a great day as today, when we are about to take that first step, I do not want you to send me off with tears. If you are going to shed tears, shed tears for the sake of this nation and the world. Your tears for the nation and the world should be tens and hundreds of times more than the tears I shed for them. If your hearts are hurting and feel sorrow, then become Unificationist laborers who, by the time I am released from prison, will have united 1,000 people, 10,000 people for the Will. (133-263, 1984/07/20)

21 While going the way of the Will, I spent a lot of time in prison. However, I was always grateful for the fact that my life did not come to an end. I welcomed my path with joy and entrusted the result to heaven. I thought about the miserable circumstances of God, who has to fulfill the Will, even though it required putting me on the verge of death. I thought about God's miserable situation, having to see me go through that kind of suffering in order to surmount those obstacles and advance the providence.

Even now it is the same. At this time, as I stand in this central position with this world and the spirit world interacting in oneness, I must resolve to make myself a sacrifice. This is the way in which I can harvest beautiful fruit for God in these Last Days. You should know that this path—this tradition-will remain, and that you too must follow it. (131-319, 1984/05/19)

Section 2. The Ascension of Heung-jin Moon

Sacrifice of the second son

From December 14 to December 23, 1983, True Parents led Victory Over Communism rallies in eight major cities in Korea. These rallies were held to thwart North Korea's growing ambition to unify the Korean Peninsula under communism. At the final rally in Gwangju, True Father delivered his speech amid rising tensions due to reports that a group had been sent there to assassinate him. On that same day Heung-jin Moon, True Parents' second son, was badly injured in a traffic accident in the United States. His injuries proved fatal, and he passed away on January 2,1984. At a time of opposition from that Christian nation and the increasing danger of communism, his death became a sacrificial offering.

1 In December 1983 I spoke in eight major Korean cities at Victory Over Communism rallies in order to unite the citizens of the Republic of Korea in defense of their nation. I also assembled 72 national delegates from the Professors World Peace Academy, representing the world and Christianity. I had a fierce battle with Satan as our rallies swept the nation. The entire nation of Korea was caught up in our movement. Through these rallies, I intended to subjugate Satan, who was working through North Korea to invade the South.

At that time my own family was under extreme duress. As the representative of the entire world, my family was under attack. Since Satan could not attack me directly, he attacked my son, Heung-jin. During the last Victory Over Communism rally in Gwangju, while I was actually speaking, my son was involved in an automobile accident. (161-080, 1987/01/02)

2 When I went to Korea in December 1983, both America and Japan paid careful attention to what I was doing. These three providential nations were leaning toward communism. However much Satan wanted to destroy me, he could not do so because I had established victorious indemnity conditions. Although the democratic world opposed the Unification Church, I had already made the indemnity condition to triumph over the groups that were attacking me there. However, Heung-jin, who represented the children, lived in America, and he became Satan's target.

Satan always seeks a way to strike. Just as the Victory Over Communism rallies in eight major cities were ending with great success, Heung-jin was seriously injured in a car accident. This happened while I was delivering my speech at the last rally in Gwangju. My speech began at 11:00 in the morning, but the arena was already packed by 10:00. There were assassins in the audience plotting to harm me, but the hall had become so crowded that they were unable to carry out their plot. The space was filled so tightly that people could not move freely. Thus, the conditions in the arena naturally protected me from them. As Satan could not attack me directly, he took my most beloved son. (130-196, 1984/01/15)

3 When I returned to Korea, I held Victory Over Communism rallies. The last venue was Gwangju. At that time, some spiritualists warned me not to go because the communists were sending agents to get me. But should I not go just because they told me not to? A public person should be willing to risk his life at any time. So I went, and heaven worked. At the rally the aisles were crammed with people so that those sitting down could not get up and move around. That was how I was protected. A serious incident took place, however; the car accident that claimed Heung-jin s life occurred at that very moment. (212-092, 1991/01/02)

4 Many things were accomplished through Heung-jin s sacrifice. In life he was the most filial son, but now this most sincere and pure child is in the embrace of God. If Heung-jin s sacrifice had not occurred, there could have been two very unfortunate developments. First, the North Korean military could have invaded South Korea; second, my earthly life could have ended. Already, because of the success of the Victory Over Communism rallies in Korea, Satan could no longer attack South Korea. Satan still tried to attack me, but instead, at the exact time when we were harvesting victory in Korea, he claimed Heung-jin, and my son became a sacrificial offering. (130-289, 1984/02/07)

5 Heung-jin, my second son, was always extremely concerned about my safety and security. He had the mind-set that if an assailant came to shoot me, he would jump in front of me to take the bullet for me. He organized the blessed families in East Garden and trained them to have this mind-set. At night he would station blessed family members and stage surprise attacks to keep them alert. He was so concerned with my safety that he went through all this effort to train and test the security staff to make them into real bodyguards.

Furthermore, at the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences in Chicago, Heung-jin stayed up and stood guard all night alongside the official bodyguards. He did not fully trust the bodyguards. In his mind, they had not reached the standard of heart that they thought of me as their own father the way he did. Heung-jin felt that if I were in genuine danger of assassination the bodyguards might flee. He said, "I am not like that!" That is why he gave mental and physical training to my security staff, so they would protect me properly. He was always ready to offer his life for me. (137-293, 1986/01/03)

6 I visited the scene of Heung-jin s car accident. I learned that a truck driver had hit the brakes to slow down as he was going down a hill, and his truck skidded into the oncoming lane. The truck could not go straight and veered diagonally, blocking the road. Heung-jin was driving up the hill headed toward the truck. His natural reaction as a driver facing danger would have been to reflexively turn the steering wheel to avoid injuring himself. But Heung-jin did not do that. Instead he kept his car at a slight angle toward the truck, swerving his car so that the truck struck it on the driver's side where he was sitting.

Why did Heung-jin do that? He did it because he loved the brothers who were riding with him. Their father had passed away many years ago, and he deeply loved them. When they studied together in the evening, if they said they were hungry, Heung-jin would go to the refrigerator and find something for them. He wanted to show them his love. He would say, "I need to take care of these brothers because their father is gone." Because he loved them like that, he turned the steering wheel to take the impact on their behalf. When I saw this, I was truly grateful to have had such a son. (137-291, 1986/01/03)

7 When Jesus died on the cross, there was a thief on his right side and a thief on his left. They represented the democratic world and the communist world. Communism says there is no God. Democracy says there is. This time, there were two young men in the .car with Heung-jin. Although Heung-jin lost his life due to the car accident, both the young men survived.

Heung-jin's good deed was a great thing. He could have swerved the car in the other direction. But why did he steer the car so his side would receive the impact? This is the question. The car rammed into a corner of the truck. The two young men riding with Heung-jin said he turned the wheel as he did because he was thinking of them, so that they would receive less impact.

We can understand from this that Heung-jin passed away as a sacrificial offering for both the democratic world and the communist world. The two other young men represented the democratic and communist worlds, in the same position as the two thieves on Jesus' right and left sides. Heung-jin passed away instead of them. In Jesus' time all three died. In my time, because Heung-jin made himself a sacrificial offering, those two young people remained alive. This opened the way to liberate both the democratic world and the communist world. (130-199, 1984/01/15)

8 Heung-jin's sacrifice stands on the national foundation of indemnity that I established in Korea for the sake of the free world and the communist world. His sacrifice connects these two worlds to this national foundation. Although the accident happened in America, he was buried in Korea. His body was returned to his homeland and buried there. Thus, Heung-jin stands on the victorious national foundation that True Parents established.

Because he stands on this national foundation, although Heung-jin dwells in the spirit world, he also has a spiritual foundation to settle on earth. This means that Heung-jin's sacrifice restored through indemnity what Jesus could not accomplish on the national level, and at the same time it laid the foundation for Jesus to interact with the earthly world on a higher dimension. Heung-jin made such a connection between the two worlds. (130-200, 1984/01/15)

9 My court battle in America, up to and including the US Supreme Court, is the same as Jesus being hung on the cross. However, we are no longer living in an age to die hanging on a cross; rather, it is the time to advance while bearing the cross. At the time of Jesus, Judaism and Rome foundered, but now in the time of my legal battle, rather than colliding with me, Christianity and America are uniting with me. This means we have come to the time when we can restore through indemnity all the failures of Jesus' day.

Why was Heung-jin caught up in this indemnity condition? It happened because this is the time when True Parents are bearing the cross, and hence Heung-jin was automatically in that realm as well. If you look at the positions of God and Jesus, God is the Father and Jesus is the Son. It is not God who must bear the cross, but the Son. In the present age, True Parents are in the position representing God, and Heung-jin is in the position of Jesus. For this reason, his sacrifice corresponds exactly to the indemnity condition that requires him to bear Jesus' worldwide cross as the son.

After Satan struck Jesus down, God resurrected him. In the same way, when Satan struck Heung-jin down, True Parents resurrected him for the world-level providence. Whereas Jesus after his death opened the gate to spiritual salvation, Heung-jin opened a gate to the physical world. Hence, now the time has come for a new pentecost on the world level that can unite spirit and body, like the Pentecost that occurred after the death of Jesus.

This is restoration through indemnity. Because Christianity opposed us, its failure had to be indemnified. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down to where 120 disciples had gathered on earth after Jesus' death, and launched Christianity. Over the next 2,000 years, Christianity expanded to form the Christian cultural sphere. If that foundation had been offered to the Returning Lord, a new pentecost would not have been needed. But because they opposed us, everything was shattered and had to be rebuilt. (131-231, 1984/05/04)

The victory of love

At 4:00 a.m. on January 3, 1984, at the Belvedere Training Center, True Parents proclaimed January 2, the day when Heung-jin Moon ascended to the spirit world, as the Day of the Victory of Love. They were able to make this proclamation because when he went the course of a sacrificial offering and triumphed over the realm of death, Heung-jin Moon embodied the standard for a new beginning in which God could take dominion over love.

10 On December 31,1983, we, as True Parents, visited the hospital and conducted the Unification Ceremony. That ceremony placed Heung-jin above both the communist and democratic worlds. It was a serious moment. Even though this robust son whom we loved more than anyone else was about to pass into the spirit world, we could not allow ourselves to shed tears. During the three days after the Unification Ceremony, when we instituted the Day of the Victory of Love, we could not shed tears. Since we were marking his victory over death while standing as the True Parents of humankind, we could not permit ourselves to be sad.

Adam and Eve by their mistake built a high wall separating human beings from God. This created the valley of death, the hell of death, hell in the spirit world and hell on earth. Standing at the highest point, we put everything in order and offered up our son. You cannot imagine how serious we were.

As a parent, if I could have slowed the passage of time, I would have. But at a time like that, I had to send Heung-jin off without any hesitation and keep a steady heart in front of heaven. I even had to tell Mother that if she cried she would invite misfortune. Only after we held the ascension ceremony in Korea and sent him off to heaven could we cry as parents. Only after the ceremony was completed did I shed tears, but those tears of grief were mixed with tears to celebrate his victory. (408-293, 2003/06/17)

11 Satan cannot invade you as long as you love True Parents more than your own life. This is because Heung-jin died in your stead. On top of that, if you love True Parents more than Heung-jin did, then Satan will not be able to do anything to you. Until now Satan was in control of love, but from now on God will reign with love. Since Heung-jin became one with God based on this standard, I proclaimed the Day of the Victory of Love.

Now Satan will retreat in proportion to your activities. Therefore, based on the spirit of the Day of the Victory of Love, you must work hard day and night for three years. You need to push yourself to do so. Heung-jin is not resting day or night. He is working hard in the spirit world to mobilize all his juniors and elders so that they will move the young people of the communist world and democratic world. You too should work so that you achieve no less. You should have that kind of determination.

With the Day of the Victory of Love, the time has come when Cain can welcome Abel. In the past if you loved Cain, you had to pay indemnity, but now if you love Cain, you will receive blessings from him. In the past when Cain loved Abel, he suffered hardships from Satan even to the point of death, but now that time is over. The time has come when God will pour out blessings. (130-206, 1984/01/15)

12 By setting up the Day of the Victory of Love on January 3, 1984, we broke down the barriers that Satan's love had erected in the realm of dominion based on accomplishments through the Principle (the realm of indirect dominion) and in the realm of God's direct dominion. Now that they have been broken down, with God's love we can dismantle any barrier anywhere, including in hell. Spirits in heaven can descend even to the dungeons of hell and then ascend. When they do so, since they belong to God's realm, the spirits in Satan's realm are bound to surrender to them. This is why we call it the Day of the Victory of Love.

God's love represents the past, present and future. Hence it can remove the realm of death in Satan's world. That is why we could claim victory. That is why we could set up the Day of the Victory of Love. At that time Mother and I were in a difficult position where we were not supposed to think any sad thoughts about our son who had become an offering. We had to walk such a path.

You church leaders should resemble Heung-jin. Work just like him. People say that Heung-jin resembled me. Just as God never rests, I am working sin-gle-mindedly for world restoration 24 hours a day. You need to practice this lifestyle. So clean yourself up. Put yourself in order. You need to live and work like Heung-jin. (171-274, 1988/01/02)

13 In the spirit world, Heung-jin is now an owner and conveyer of love. He is in the realm of God's direct dominion. Because of the way he died, separating himself from the realm of the Fall, God can call him His son and can love him unreservedly, saying, "This is my son. This is my son who overcame Satan's world." I was not able to fully love Heung-jin when he was young, but now God is redeeming that situation.

God's love for Heung-jin is His love for True Parents. Because Heung-jin made the condition that he loved True Parents with his life, all the situations where God's love could not be manifest can be solved. Hence, Jesus will be liberated, and the conditions can be fulfilled that will alleviate my pain and sorrow, that in the past I was not able to receive God's love at the completion stage.

Because Jesus died at the age of 33, young people under 33 years old could not receive benefit from Jesus when they entered the spirit world. But now with Heung-jin's entry into the spirit world in his teenage years, all people who died as teenagers can enter that realm of love. By connecting teenagers as a group to the top of the growth stage, they can now enter the realm above the realm of indirect dominion where Satan could interfere.

The completion level of the growth stage was the level that Adam and Eve were at in their teens when they fell. But now that teenagers are connected to a realm that has no relationship with the Fall, others can also enter that realm. This is the result of what Heung-jin indemnified. Therefore, the time has come when Satan no longer has authority in the realm of indirect dominion, the realm of dominion based on accomplishments through the Principle. Now he cannot exercise his power there and must retreat. This applies on earth as well.

From the viewpoint of the Principle, Satan did not have a condition to demand that I hand over my son to him. Actually, he should not have been sacrificed. In the same way, it was not necessary for God to hand over His Son, Jesus. However, God handed him over in order to save Israel, Judaism and Rome. Likewise, although there was no need for True Parents to deliver Heung-jin to Satan, because Christianity had been faithless, we handed him over for the sake of Christianity, the free world and the whole world. (131-234, 1984/05/04)

14 If the Christian spirits in the spirit world are going to come down to help Jesus on earth, what must they do? In the case of Christians on earth who are opposing the Unification Church, those in the spirit world are not able to help. However, on the basis of the sacrifices that we as a group are making, when Christians make a horizontal relationship with us on earth, spirits can descend to them and help.

Before Heung-jin's ascension, none of True Parents' blood relations who went to the spirit world were able to form a direct relationship with the spirits there. Therefore, the wish of spirits was to connect in a relationship of heart with True Parents on earth. But few Christian spirits were able to do that because their descendants on earth were opposing me. Now, having sent my son Heung-jin to the spirit world, those spirits are able to establish a relationship with him, and through him they can descend to earth and cooperate with the movement to assist and transform Christianity. Thereby, with Jesus at the center, the environment can arise where the Christian spirit world and the entire spirit world can return to earth and attend True Parents. (161-080, 1987/01/02)

Marriage and eternal life

On February 20, 1984, 50 days after Heung-jin Moon's ascension, True Parents conducted the marriage Blessing of Heung-jin Moon and Julia Moon (Hoon-sook Pak) at the Belvedere Training Center. This marriage ceremony brought unity between heaven and earth. True Parents had promised their son as he lay dying in the hospital that he would be blessed and have children by adoption. On the foundation of the Unification Ceremony and the Day of the Victory of Love, they gave him the Blessing; moreover, they bestowed on him the titles of Ambassador of Love and Commander of the Spirit World, and charged him with the mission of liberating the spirit world.

15 Jesus died in his thirties, but Heung-jin passed away when he was 17. This became the condition to connect the two realms—the realm of dominion based on accomplishments through the Principle (the realm of indirect dominion) and the realm of God's direct dominion. Heung-jin can receive God's love through the love of True Parents who stand in God's place. Because of this, he is beyond the realm where Satan can interfere. He is within the realm of indirect dominion but he is also under the protection of True Parents and the archangels. This is why I can give him the Blessing on earth.

Jesus wanted to set up a path whereby Christians in the spirit world could go through True Parents on earth, but due to the disbelief of Christians on earth, that path was blocked. However, Heung-jin has set the indemnity condition based on True Parents' life on earth, and he has been resurrected within True Parents' realm of love. Hence, he does not need to deal with Satan's interference. I bestowed the Blessing on him 50 days after his ascension, which connected his offering to earth. This is an amazing thing. It is what Jesus has wanted to accomplish for 2,000 years.

This is equivalent to the Second Adam receiving the Blessing within the realm of the Principle and attaining the standard of perfection—the very standard that the First Adam failed to attain. When Adam fell, he was at the completion level of the growth stage, but this is the time when the Second Adam is able to connect directly with True Parents at the completion stage and enter the realm of direct dominion. Accordingly, we now have entered the time when the spirit world is bound to submit to and follow Heung-jin. (131-233, 1984/05/04)

16 Today, February 20,1984, is the 50th day after Heung-jin's ascension ceremony. It is comparable to Pentecost at the time of Jesus. After the Holy Spirit descended in tongues of fire to 120 people in the upper room, they began doing wondrous spiritual works among people of every nation. Likewise, today with the Blessing of Heung-jin and Hoon-sook, we will witness the beginning of a movement where the departed rulers of 120 nations will descend to earth, be resurrected, and perform spiritual wonders worldwide. This represents the Pentecost. Rulers from 120 nations in the spirit world with their sovereign authority will now be present on earth and move their nations toward unity with True Parents. Even if only one nation from among the 120 nations on earth attends True Parents, the gates of the kingdom of heaven will open from that nation. (131-016, 1984/02/20)

17 Look at Heung-jin's wife, Hoon-sook; she lives alone, is devoted to God, is a filial daughter to her parents and a filial daughter-in-law to True Parents. So you blessed families no longer have any justification to complain about your three-year course or your seven-year course. By making these conditions, you establish on earth a point of origin and a tradition for breaking free from Satan's accusation. This is very happy news for you.

So, are you in a position to complain when your spouse is with you here on earth? I am giving you a gift that will protect you from Satan's accusation. If you are spiritually one with Hoon-sook, then Satan will not be able to invade your family. If you have a mind-set that you are living on behalf of Hoon-sook and Heung-jin, then you can purge Satan from your life. What an incredible result! This is why I strongly commanded the blessed families to begin their married life with a three-year course of separation. (131-017, 1984/02/20)

18 Today is the day of Heung-jin s Blessing. Blessed husbands and wives who were given a solemn direction to begin a three-year course of separation but have fallen short need to embrace each other and repent to each other. Then from tomorrow, they need to make a new point of departure on that path.

The important points are these: First, if Heung-jin does not have a wife, then the kingdom's authority cannot be established.

Second, the people and kings with royal authority in the spirit world, which is in the position of the angelic world, must come to earth, to Adam s world, wrest Satan's foundation away from him, and completely bequeath to us on earth the authority of the kingdom in heaven. Just as the angels were supposed to protect and nurture Adam and Eve before the Fall in accordance with the fundamental rule of the Principle, the people and kings of the spirit world must protect and nurture this earthly world. God and the angels who attend Him must expel the angels who oppose God. The time has come when this is possible, because now, centered on True Parents' love, they can assert their authority to occupy and lead the realm of indirect dominion, based on accomplishments through the Principle.

Third, in Hoon-sook and Heung-jin, a lighthouse has appeared that shows the way to good fortune. They have created the bridge of true love between the spiritual world and the physical world. Satan can no longer interfere. This is the viewpoint of the Principle. (131-017, 1984/02/20)

19 When you look at the realm of heart of Jesus and Heung-jin, Heung-jin is in the position of Jesus' elder brother. Jesus went to the spirit world first, and he had been in the position of the elder son in heaven. However, on the foundation of Heung-jin s realm of heart connected to True Parents, Jesus needed to hand over his authority to Heung-jin, the younger son. By doing so, he could connect to the original standard centered on True Parents' love. This was the essential step for opening the gate to enter the kingdom of heaven. It created the path between paradise and the kingdom of heaven.

That is why the holy wedding of Heung-jin in heaven and Hoon-sook on earth, held on the 50th day, established the condition through which Jesus could come to earth. I made this connection with earth through their Blessing. (137-188, 1986/01/01)

20 The Blessing of Heung-jin in heaven with Hoon-sook on earth built a bridge of love between heaven and earth. This opened the way for Jesus to come and assist the True Family and the Unification Church. Because I opened this path for him, Christianity centered on Jesus now needs to become one with the Unification Church on earth. Therefore, Christian spirits, in the position of the archangels, are helping the Third Adam and Eve as they direct the course of re-creation on earth. According to the principle that the archangels were to help Adam and Eve, these Christian spirits will assist in creating the bond between the Unification Church and Christianity on earth.

Further, based on the oneness of heart created between heaven and earth, all the good Christian kings and rulers in the spirit world will create links among all nations, which are currently divided one from another. Thus far it was impossible to achieve the goal of forming one unified realm transcending nations, centering on the realm of heart of God's love; the gap was just too great. However, now it is possible, because we have entered the age of grace when we can establish a realm of partnership that connects the realm of heaven's heart with the realm of earth's heart. Now we can create the realm of unity between the two. This is all possible because I gave the Blessing to Heung-jin and Hoon-sook. (140-055, 1986/02/01)

21 All of the members and leaders of the Unification Church who came and went up to now have fulfilled indemnity on the church level, but have not fulfilled the indemnity conditions required for the nation or the world. However, Heung-jin's case is different. He achieved the national level. That is why he could become the commander who represents the just cause of the heavenly kingdom. That is why he could become the subject partner of the spirit world, able to connect the spirit world to earth. Had he been married when he made his sacrificial offering, he could not have done it. It was possible because he was not yet married. As of now, people in the spirit world still remain unmarried.

Since I knew all this, I promised Heung-jin, "I will find a child for you to adopt." I can find him one because he achieved the national level. In order to find a child to adopt, I first had to find him an ideal partner. In the spirit world, where people are like unmarried men and women who want to marry, Heung-jin with his wife became the center. He became the commander of that world.

In the Unification family, the way we drive all fortune of the world is by making ourselves an offering and taking the position of a sacrifice. That is what Heung-jin did. Therefore, you need to love Heung-jin and his family. (130-201, 1984/01/15)

22 I concluded the Unification Ceremony on December 31,1983. Then, on the day before Heung-jin left for the spirit world, I prayed and promised, "Even if you leave this earth, I will find a child for you to adopt as if you were on earth and I will regard him as your actual son." If I am going to do this, I must give him the Blessing on earth. Otherwise, it would be impossible.

God sent the Messiah to earth in order to save the physical world. However, in my case, in order to save the spiritual world, I sent the Prince of Love as my ambassador with full authority on behalf of True Parents. Even Jesus could not reach that position in the spiritual realm. For the first time in history God has come to have a son in his teens, whom He can call His own and love as His own. (131-014, 1984/02/20)

23 A report came from the British church leader. He shared a report given by one of the blessed wives about Heung-jin s activities in the spirit world. She reported about St. Francis of Assisi—that after he died in Italy he had not been able to return there, not even once. But as a result of Heung-jin's arrival in the spirit world, for the first time he could go and visit Italy. He expressed how overjoyed he was that he could return to his country.

Also, a bishop from southern Germany died in Germany, but had been unable to go back to his country after his death. However, after Heung-jin took charge, that bishop was sent to Germany to supervise his nation, and he now has the amazing blessing of cooperating with the work of True Parents. He was extremely happy with this as well.

Her report that I received through her church leader coincides with what I have said. People in the spirit world at first did not know who Heung-jin was. They were wondering about him, saying, "Who is that Asian boy?" They wondered all the more when they saw that Jesus was humble in front of him. So Heung-jin introduced himself to them, "I am Heung-jin." And then Jesus said, "I am the older Christ and Heung-jin Moon is my younger brother Christ." (131-205, 1984/05/01)

Section 3. Prison Life in Danbury Forgiving America

On July 20, 1984, True Father was imprisoned in the Federal Correctional Institution at Danbury, Connecticut. The day before his imprisonment, he delivered a public statement, asserting that the root of this case was not a matter of tax evasion but the abuse of government power to persecute religion. Earlier, on June 26, 1984, he had testified as to his innocence at a hearing of the US Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Constitution.

1 I am innocent. I have not committed any crime. I am simply a victim of the US government's persecution and abuse of power. Thousands of members of the clergy from all over America have protested the government s persecution of me and have made a pledge to undertake one week of imprisonment in solidarity with me, in the name of protecting religious freedom.

In 1971, God called me to come to America and lead a movement to revive Christianity and restore the founding spirit of this nation. He sent me to awaken the American people from their spiritual ignorance at a time when an oppressive spirit of atheism and religious intolerance had emerged. I myself suffered nearly to the point of death in a communist prison camp. I am willing to suffer in an American prison if it will serve God's purpose in awakening America from its spiritual slumber.

If you truly understand the scope of my work in America, can you really believe that I came to America to defraud the United States government of an estimated $25,000? From the very beginning, this was not a tax case. It was an attack by the United States government on the religious freedom of my church. I stand convicted for no other reason than that of my religious beliefs and activities.

I will now move the world headquarters of my church to Danbury Prison, where I will continue to pray and work for the sake of this country. I thank God that He is using me as His instrument to lead the fight for religious freedom and to ignite a spiritual awakening in America at this most crucial time in human history. May God bless America. (133-212, 1984/07/19)

2 When I was leaving for Danbury, our Unification Church members around the world asked, "What shall we do while you are gone?" But I said to them, "Do you not see the new beginning that will take place around the world? You may not be able to see the things that God is preparing beyond Danbury, but I can. Can you not hear the sound of drums as the foundation is being set for a hopeful future, when all who oppose us will surrender? Can you not see the American people bowing their heads in reverence?" I held on to this vision as I entered Danbury Prison.

My opponents gloated, saying, "Look at this man. He thought he was strong enough to pick up and put down the whole nation of America. Now he is nothing but a loser." But I am not a loser. For me, prison is just a stage on the path to accomplishing my incredible dream. I said to myself, "When I leave prison and step outside, the morning sun will be shining brightly. You will be greeting the darkening days of autumn, while I will be greeting a spring garden budding with new shoots. When you are unable to step into this green garden, your hearts will be filled with what feels like a 1,000 years of bitter sorrow." With such thoughts in my mind as I entered prison, I walked tall. (171-083, 1987/12/06)

3 Up until the very moment Father departed for Danbury, he encouraged you and tried to inspire you with hope. Even so, July 20, 1984, is a day I truly would like to erase from history forever.

Departing from East Garden at 10:00 p.m., I accompanied him to Danbury Prison. Biting my lip, I firmed up my resolve to be strong, yet I could not hold back the tears that flowed even without my realizing it. During that ride, Father was not the least bit concerned about what would happen to him. Even as he thought about America and God's providence, his only concern in that moment was to comfort me. When I saw that, I was overwhelmed; I did not know what to do.

Before his departure, Father said, "I will liberate even this prison." He repeatedly said we should not cry for him but rather pray for the sake of accomplishing God's Will.

Today, July 22, at the crack of dawn, he called and asked me to convey this message to you, "You are the people who have received God's royal summons to kindle a beacon of light within Christianity."

Securing Fathers freedom depends on you. I see this as the final opportunity God has given to us. Please continue fulfilling your mission and activities with the most sincere devotion, and carry out Father s direction. When you move God's heart with your sincere devotion, Satan will raise his arms in surrender, and history will welcome a new age. (True Mother, 1984/07/22)

4 Whatever bitter pain I suffered, it cannot be compared to the bitter sorrow of God. Every time I went to prison, I poured out everything. I was imprisoned under Japanese imperial rule, I was imprisoned after going into North Korea, and I was imprisoned after I came back down to South Korea. I was imprisoned even in America. As I carried out my God-given mission, I even looked forward to the prisons I might go to in the Soviet Union and China. I have faced death and imprisonment throughout my life. Yet I had to stay alive. Even in the worst prison, even under torture, I did everything possible to stay alive. No matter how thick the prison walls, each time I made a breakthrough.

In Danbury Prison I was taken aback by how our Unification Church members from around the world wept profusely when they came to see me. Before entering the prison I said to them, "You are only staring at the iron gate of Danbury Prison. You cannot see the world of the future that lies beyond its prison walls, but I can. I hear the trumpet call sounding liberation and the shouts of workers gathering the harvest."

Wait and see. We will surely embark on a path to a brighter future for America. If I cannot get there, you must teach people and lead them until it comes to pass. The time is coming when America will have to seek my advice. (238-165, 1992/11/22)

5 When God loves people, what if He were to love them only at the level of 80 percent and put the rest of His bundle of love in a warehouse? People are greedy; they would not be able to sit still. They would surely explore the entire warehouse, licking their lips and tasting everything, looking for more. They would not leave until they felt certain there was no more love left for God to give away. People are that greedy for love. God created people to be greedy for love, so they will scrape up the bits of love at the very bottom. For this reason, history welcomes people who are in search of love, and has done so for thousands of years.

I have been bringing a tide of love to America. We were opposed from the front but welcomed from the back; we were opposed from above but welcomed from below; we were opposed by the present but will be welcomed by the future. How marvelous! So I did not worry about my imprisonment. Lying in a prison, I felt so comfortable. My digestion was good. I was comfortable through and through. The other inmates would clamor about this and that, saying they wanted to die. I, on the other hand, slept well and ate well. To me, prison is no problem. (173-052, 1988/02/01)

Winning new followers

As True Father suffered through this world-level Golgotha, he never despaired. Although he was unfairly incarcerated, he served his time as an example to others, giving profound inspiration to the other inmates. Seeing the way he practiced true love in his daily life, the inmates came to respect him. The environment of love he created transformed the atmosphere of the prison.

In prison, True Father continually prayed for America. Knowing the great purpose God has for this country, he could not stop loving America. Also, throughout his incarceration he continued leading the providence.

6 The prisoners at Danbury Prison were starved for love and yearned to receive it. So I spoke every word with a heart to love them. Consequently, they all wanted to be close to me.

At mealtimes, in the beginning I would sit in a corner and eat by myself. But within three months there were people who would gather at my usual spot and wait there for me to come and sit down. When so many people came to my table that every seat was occupied and there was no seat for me, I would go to a different table; but then they would leave their seats and come to sit near me. This happened frequently.

Why do you think this happened? Were they forced to do it, or did they want to? The human heart is attuned to heaven's heart. People are spiritual beings who know innately who loves them, who cares about them and who guides them in the right direction. They can recognize a loving heart and an upright mind. This is why we do not need to witness to people with words. When love is overflowing from our heart, flowers will naturally bloom there. Even if a frigid wind blows, some flowers will bloom through cracks in the rocks. Some flowers can bloom even in the arctic regions amid the world of ice. (163-284, 1987/05/01)

7 I thought that if I had a mind to love the inmates in this American prison, even if I was only able to love one of them, it would be as if I were loving all the citizens of America. I regarded the prison as a microcosm of heaven and earth. So in loving the inmates, I would be loving America. In that place I determined that I would love America more than anyone else. No one tends to like prison inmates, but I loved them more than anyone else ever loved them. When I make such a claim to the world, no one can dispute me. The people in the prison will testify to it. Whenever the prison served some delicious food, the inmates would bring it to me.

In general, prison life is not easy. Even so, you have to live for the sake of others. When you serve others, new and higher things can be created. And when you continue to serve, those newly created things will fall into your possession. This is God's fundamental principle. This is what is signified by the Garden of Eden that God created in the beginning; it is the realm of heart where people live for the sake of others. (163-284, 1987/05/01)

8 Shall I share with you one of my experiences from when I was in Danbury Prison? I received a letter from someone who had once been a member of the Unification Church. After seven years of hardships doing fund-raising activities, he could no longer endure, and left the church. But after he left, all the things he had learned during his time fund-raising helped him to become a self-reliant person capable of earning his own living. What he had learned helped him to become a person who had compassion for others, whereas before he had always expected others to have sympathy for him.

He wrote that all the principles of the Unification Church had proven true in every situation. He had gone on to complete graduate school. But during his school years, not a single professor helped him to establish the foundation to have a bright future; nor had his parents done that. The only person who taught him how to establish his foundation for the future was me, a teacher from the East, and he was truly grateful for it.

As I read this letter in prison, I thought, "Hmmm, what 1 have been doing is not wasted." This ex-member is proof that I am resurrecting the American people who are withering away, helping them to become new sprouts that will bud and blossom. The young people whom I am deploying in crucial positions, and who love this country, can become mainstays of a new America in the future, and through them this nation of America will be renewed. (200-120, 1990/02/24)

9 After my release from the prison in Danbury, I heard that one of the supervisors said, "I never knew that one person could make such a big difference." He said that while I was at the prison, those who drank alcohol would not do it except in hiding somewhere out of my sight, those who smoked marijuana would not do it except while hiding in the woods so that I wouldn't spot them, and those who were fighting would immediately stop if I happened by. That man said he had never seen criminals behave with such guilty consciences. However, only three days after I left, things went back to the way they had been. Reflecting on this, he said, "How could one person make such a difference in the world of the prison without speaking one word? He must have some kind of incredible power!" This became a topic of conversation.

These are not my words. Investigators from the Department of Justice went to the prison and reported all this to me. Wherever I go, whether I am in a prison or anywhere, I give all of myself with a heart of love so I can leave something good behind. This has been my life, and I live it vigorously. I live as if I were the ancestor of the world in which everyone will live this way. (190-030, 1989/06/18)

10 Even though I had lived in America for some time, it was through experiencing prison life in Danbury that I really came to know America. The small community in Danbury Prison includes the best and the worst of America. There I could meet the best people and the worst. I took my stand, expressing my heart to educate them so they would be with me in heart and surrender to me. I did so to make an indemnity condition in the realm of heart, so I would be able to teach all the American people in the future. In Danbury I could really learn about America.

Those inmates were depressed. They thought they had done nothing wrong that deserved prison. Some of the most cunning inmates met together and agreed to kill me if I did anything to cross them. There, it is easy to murder someone in their sleep. It could happen; I knew that very well. However, I did not fight the people of that small community; instead I reached out to them and helped them live in harmony. Six months later, all the inmates had come to respect me. I had the ability to make that happen. (182-094, 1988/10/14)

11 In Danbury Prison, I sometimes kept working at my prison chores even when lunchtime came around. When I did that, the kitchen leader came to me and said, "It's lunchtime now, so quickly stop what you are doing and get something to eat." Such is the heart of people. He was concerned I might miss breakfast and lunch, so he came and urged me to eat the food he had prepared. Sometimes he even shared a portion of his own meal with me. People everywhere have a conscience, even in prison. If you live a life of serving others, you can make friends even in prison and they will protect you.

Please do not forget what I am telling you. It is extremely valuable advice. I received this teaching from heaven, and I must convey it to you so you can make it your own tradition. Truly, the one who strives to live for the sake of others will not fall into ruin. Even if you are headed toward destruction, the universe will protect you. Even if someone is trying to kill you, you will live and he will die instead. It may seem as if nothing is working, that you are failing and going to ruin, but instead you will live, prosper and advance. Things will turn around for you, because God is protecting you and the universe is protecting you. (134-249, 1985/07/20)

12 I have served prison terms many times. Yet because in prison I lived my life for the sake of the whole, I ended up meeting many people who were willing to lay down their lives for me. When I worked in the fertilizer factory at Heungnam Prison, many inmates wanted to work by my side. My time in Danbury was like that too.

Once, I heard that a particular person wanted to be close to me but found it difficult to approach me. Later he confessed that he approached me several times but could not even open his mouth to speak. It is amazing that such a thing happened. He was a tough man who relied on his fists, yet I had some kind of power such that even he behaved that way in front of me. Even such tough-minded prisoners liked me.

The reason I have the power to pull and attract people is because I know God's heart and how God has been working. Thus, I live for the sake of the whole just as God does. When I do, then even while not saying anything, I project a natural authority. (134-250, 1985/07/20)

13 Most of the inmates in Danbury Prison were about 30 years old. Not many were above that age. Quite a number were incarcerated because of drugs. Often they were Christian believers. Many more had Christian backgrounds, coming from either Protestant or Catholic families. The fact that these young people ended up in jail indicates that the Christian clergy, whether Protestant ministers or Catholic priests, had not taken responsibility for them. I strongly believe that those clergy should repent.

As a spiritual leader myself, I had to seriously reflect upon and evaluate myself with regard to the following questions: Ever since I hoisted the flag of my new church in America, how much impact am I actually making on the young people who are falling into corruption and are on the path of death? Am I making a positive or a negative impact on them? (134-233, 1985/07/20)

14 Whenever I went to prison, I was most interested to see the particular inmates whom God brought to me and with whom I would form a relationship. This was always so intriguing. It was the same with Danbury Prison. One Italian prisoner there said he was just happy to see me for no reason. He thought it strange, but whenever he came to do his chores after his meal, he would always check to see if I was there. He would say, "I do not know why, but I feel comfortable only when I see you nearby." He added that he had never had such a feeling, even toward his wife when he was falling in love with her! He kept on saying, "It is really weird." He also said that when he was alone he would often become anxious, but whenever he was with me he did not have a worry in the world. As a result, he used to stay up all night and guard me after I went to sleep.

Do you think I forced him to do that? No. Somehow he felt he had to protect me. He volunteered to protect me, even losing sleep, because it was something he wanted to do, not something I forced him to do. He did it out of his heart toward me. (166-242, 1987/06/07)

15 Once I decide to do something and carry it out, even if the result turns out to be poor, I do not complain about it. This is why I do not complain about the persecution I receive in America, and why I do not complain that I was sent to Danbury Prison. After all, my experience in prison helped me to better understand American society, the American people and the system of the western world. I did not suffer any loss from it.

Many Americans do not know what prison life is like, but I came to know it. Prison is where I learned the reality of America. In the future, I need to turn even that prison into heaven. It will not be an easy mission, but my experiences in prison will help me do it. This is why I say it was not a loss.

When I was in prison, there were a lot of people who followed me around. I did not preach to them. I did not say much, but I influenced them through my everyday life. I am sure that if I asked those who were with me in Danbury and have now been released to come for a gathering, they would all come. While many Americans reject me, saying, "No, I do not like him!" those prisoners learned who I am firsthand—and when they did, they welcomed me. (167-232, 1987/07/19)

16 Even now, one thing I miss about Danbury Prison is the big rock on which I used to sit and rest from time to time. On Saturdays and Sundays when we did not work, I would not sleep in my cell all day long as many of the other inmates did. Especially during the summertime, being cooped up in the cell was stifling for me. So I would go out to the big rock on the shoulder of the hill, lie atop it and fall into a deep sleep. Sometimes I would begin snoring and then wake up, startled by my own snoring. You have no idea how much I miss that! I have never slept so soundly. When I have to focus on fulfilling the Will every day, how can I ever be at ease to sleep with my limbs spread out? A person who lives a public life cannot just enjoy his sleep. (202-181, 1990/05/20)

17 When I had to go to prison in America, I was not anxious about it. Compared to the other prisons, my time in Danbury was like a comfortable vacation. I am used to sleeping only two to three hours a day, but in Danbury Prison there was a rule that you had to sleep eight hours a day. If you stayed up and did not sleep, they would not give you food. Therefore, in prison I could indemnify all the time I did not sleep throughout my life. Ordinarily, my life is so busy I have no time to enjoy myself. But on weekends in Danbury there was nothing to do but relax 24 hours a day. I could read as many books as I wanted, and no one would fault me for it. For that I said, "Thank you, God!" Actually, what I did in prison was totally opposite to what America anticipated. It was God's strategy for me to reach out to the other side—to Satan's world. In loving the people of Satan's world, I did what Satan cannot do. I can embrace and love people anywhere, whether in God's world or in Satan's world, as represented by the prison. Satan cannot do that. He is an expert at hating, but he cannot love. This is why he can rule only the people on his side, not on both sides. This is why Satan will inevitably lose to me, the expert at loving the people on both sides. Thus, as we head toward the realm of liberation, Satan cannot follow us. This is why America and the world will surrender sooner or later. Now, no one is blocking my way. (196-206, 1990/01/01)

18 Jesus said we should love our enemies, and he demonstrated this on the cross. Likewise, it was while I was carrying the cross of Danbury Prison that I set the standard in loving the American people. Indeed, in Danbury I truly loved my enemies.

When several inmates would sit together and complain about the prison employees and the government, instead of joining them in their complaining I would express compassion. This is how I guided those inmates. In the end, I created an environment of love in which they respected me. Also, when I worked, I worked in such a way that drew them into harmony with me, into a position where I could love them. Love governs everything. Thus, although I was in a prison cell, even without their realizing it, they became woven into the very fabric of my love and came to respect me. (136-062, 1985/12/20)

Section 4. Mission in Prison and Christian Support

Fall of the Soviet Union

True Father had long predicted that the communist world would fall. While in Danbury Prison, he asked Professor Morton Kaplan to make "The Fall of the Soviet Empire" the theme of the upcoming Second International Congress of the Professors World Peace Academy held in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1985. Also while in prison True Father developed The Washington Times and promoted other activities for the sake of world peace; most notably, he encouraged Nicaraguans who were working to prevent communists from overrunning Central America.

1 On at least three occasions while in Danbury Prison, I spoke with Professor Kaplan, who was responsible for the upcoming International Congress of the Professors World Peace Academy, and persuaded him to give it the title, "The Fall of the Soviet Empire." At first he urged me to use a different title, saying, "Please let's not say ‘the Fall.' Instead, what about saying ‘maybe' it will end?" I asked him, "What will you do if communism does in fact end in the next five years?" Within five years it actually happened.

I am the only one who knew when the communist world would collapse. Neither the academic world, nor the religious world, nor the media knew. The entire world opposed me, but I am the one who foresaw when it would happen. It was also in Danbury that I proclaimed the opening of the gate to heaven. (414-016, 2003/07/26)

2 America opposed me, but I have been loving America. I cannot fulfill the history of restoration unless I am more patriotic than the American people. There will be no path open to restore America unless I make the condition of loving America more than its own citizens and patriots who lived for the sake of their nation. For this reason, when I established The Washington Times, I authorized the first payment while I was actually in the courtroom facing the trial that would send me to Danbury Prison. I founded The Washington Times to save America, even while America was in a rage against me and trying to bring me down. (175-023, 1988/04/06)

3 The weapon that I possess is love. That is why, even though I was incarcerated in Danbury Prison, I called the leaders of The Washington Times to begin publishing Insight and The World & I magazines. I established six other organizations as well. My purpose in all of this was to revive America. It is because of the foundation that I made while in prison that we could establish today's worldwide foundation. (184-315, 1989/01/01)

4 President Reagan submitted to Congress a bill authorizing $14 million to aid the Nicaraguan Contras. However, Congress rejected it. Why do you think that, out of the 240 million people who are living in America, God would wake me up in the middle of the night in my cell in Danbury and give me an urgent command regarding this matter? He ordered me to do it right away, so I called True Mother at once. I told her that The Washington Times had to solve this problem of support for freedom. I said they had to be determined to succeed, and even stake the future of the newspaper on it.

At that time, President Reagan was in Germany and not on US soil. I called those in charge of The Washington Times to create a fund-raising campaign with the American people to generate the $14 million for the Contras. I told them that the newspaper should encourage people to step forward and take responsibility for it. This kind of thing was inconceivable in the world of mass media, but I told them they had to do it. I told them that if they were not willing to do it, within a month I would find the money to fund the Contras myself. I said, "Write an editorial and publish it."

A great leader makes things happen while not taking the credit. I asked the newspaper leadership to contact the editor-in-chief of The Washington Times directly and ask him to initiate a fund-raising campaign to mobilize all the American citizens who wanted to support the Nicaraguan Contras. Thanks to God's help, within seven weeks American public opinion completely reversed and a majority supported the Contras. Congress again took up the matter, and this time it passed a bill authorizing $27 million in aid. (138-036, 1986/01/13)

5 God blessed America in order to build the kingdom of heaven, with North and South America as His base. Nicaragua was in a critical situation; if it fell to communism, God would face a situation in which He might lose all of South America. Have you ever thought about God's miserable heart when He came to me while I was in prison and told me I must save the Americas, even though there are many capable people such as the US president, Christian leaders and the like? You may doubt my direction, but if had I doubted God's direction and thought, "I'm not sure if this is God's command; let's just wait and see," what do you think would have happened? God directly gave me an order, and it had to be carried out. We could not be even one or two days late. It was Saturday night and the next day was Sunday, when the entire US government was not working. God knew this situation. If we had waited until Monday night, rumors probably would have spread that The Washington Times was conspiring with the White House. (146-285, 1986/07/20)

6 Even when I was in prison, God continued to give me directions. He ordered me to carry out all kinds of tasks in order to resolve the Nicaraguan issue. As a result, American public opinion in support of the Nicaraguan Contras grew, and the aid bill that Congress had put aside was passed. The US government needed to provide $27 million of support to the Nicaraguan Contras; otherwise Nicaragua might well have fallen under the control of the Soviet Union. If that had happened, then five other nations, including Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras, would also have been attacked by communist forces and a major war could have broken out.

The aid bill had to be passed. Since Congress knew I was prepared to raise the support myself, which would have been a great embarrassment for America, Congress had to pass the bill. (146-149, 1986/06/08)

7 While in Danbury Prison, I established six organizations in the span of nine days. This work, which I did in a very short time, was to promote religious freedom and to save America— although America had taken the position of my enemy. Nevertheless, these organizations, which I established to play a pivotal role for this nation, became an issue for Americans. Americans were not supposed to oppose these organizations; they were supposed to support them. So I had to make a condition for Americans to welcome them.

America is the leading nation of the free world, yet Satan was blocking America from returning to its founding spirit. Therefore, I had to make a condition in front of God to love America more than the Americans love their own nation. I received God's affirmation that I had done so. With God as my judge, I fought to set the condition of having the highest standard of love, and I succeeded. (175-024, 1988/04/06)

Uniting Christianity

On May 30,1984, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, DC, members of the clergy from 40 denominations participated in a rally to protest the US government's prosecution and imprisonment of True Father as religious persecution. It was followed by a conference at the Sheraton Hotel in New York on June 11. True Father then worked with the religious leaders who gathered in support of religious freedom and religious tolerance to develop further activities for the revival of American Christianity.

Moreover, while True Father was incarcerated in Danbury Prison, he prepared educational materials and sent them together with his own letter dated February 28, 1985, to more than 300.000 American clergy. In his letter, he urged them to stand for religious freedom and religious tolerance. Each minister received a copy of Divine Principle, a Divine Principle lecture video, and a copy of God's Warning to the World. Father also set up seminars for 7,000 Christian leaders, inviting them to Korea and Japan to study the Unification Principle.

8 We must gain victory over the American government before we can enter the promised land, the land of Canaan. It is that simple. I understood this before I went to trial. So even now my focus is on making all the necessary preparations to lay the foundation by which I can influence the government to go in the right direction. I am determined that I will not be defeated like Moses was in the Old Testament Age; I will not be like Moses who died and could not enter the promised land.

Now the time has come when I can restore all that was lost with Jesus' death on the cross. Christianity today is in the same position as Judaism at the time of the Roman Empire. I am in the same position as Jesus of that time. When Jesus carried the cross, Judaism and Rome were estranged. However, when I am walking the path of the cross, Unification members did not run away from me; my 12 disciples did not run away from me. Even Christianity did not oppose me. On the contrary, 40 Christian religious bodies united and welcomed me, pledging to support me in my fight. Therefore, if the American government says even one word in support, everything will be done. (132-025, 1984/05/19)

9 Jesus was not welcomed, either by Judaism or by the nation of Judea. They persecuted him and worked to destroy him. His situation was as a third party, an outsider, fighting to restore the standard whereby Judaism and the nation of Judea would cooperate with him. Under those circumstances, he ended up dying on the cross. Likewise, I was not welcomed, either by Korea on the national level or by Christianity on the worldwide level, and I too was driven to the position of a third party, an outsider. It was in order to overcome this situation that I came to America, but I have been opposed in America as well. Now I am faced with the prospect of being hung on the Danbury cross. I must reverse this entire situation of opposition.

It is an unsettling truth that because John the Baptist failed to attend Jesus, not only did the nation of Judea and Judaism oppose Jesus, but Rome joined them in opposing him. The opposition of Christianity and America came about because the Unification Church was not able to establish a strong enough foundation in Korea to overcome the persecution there. To make matters worse, we are receiving opposition from communism, which has a worldwide foundation. This puts us in a position exactly like that at the time of Jesus. The opposition of Rome was exactly the same as the opposition of America, which represents the free world. Because of this, even if it takes going to prison in America, I will have to mobilize Christian churches and establish a coalition movement. If we cannot do this, it will be a serious problem for us. (146-121, 1986/06/08)

10 The purpose for my coming to America is to save Christianity. God's Will is to unify world Christianity. So, whatever it takes, we must influence the Christian ministers and guide America and the world in the direction that God desires and connect them to Gods Will.

After the people of Israel finished their 40 years in the wilderness, the time came for them to migrate to a new land and settle there together. Where can the Unification Church go to settle? God's desire is for the Unification Church to settle in America and create a new America. I came to America because I knew that God wants to build a new, ideal nation in America. In order to create a new America, we will have to be victorious over communism, prevent the breakdown of families, stop the moral degradation of young people, and revive Christianity. There is no way other than this to revive America. (134-090, 1985/02/25)

11 Christianity is losing ground in America and can do very little to combat the ideologies of humanism, materialism and communism. These forces are influencing this country. Lately, I came to realize even more that the US government is Christianity's enemy and opposes Christianity. Congress is antagonistic toward Christianity and often overturns legal provisions favorable to religious groups. It is pulling the country to a place distant from God.

The government prosecution of me that put me in Danbury Prison served as a good opportunity to create a coalition of Christian faith groups, of clergy working together for religious freedom and raising awareness about these problems. Actually, I had been making preparations to build a movement of Christian clergy and Unificationists working hand in hand even before I went to prison. I continued working for this after I was incarcerated.

For America to deal more effectively with the communist threat, I linked CAUSA (Confederation of Associations for the Unification of the Societies of the Americas) to this new movement to revive the churches, centering on the work of the Divine Spirit. This is the movement that I am aiming to establish, and that we, the Unification Church, are striving to build. (146-122, 1986/06/08)

12 America has been existing for her own sake, but this is wrong. America should exist for the sake of the world; it should guide the way to save the world and serve the world. Yet it wants to place the world under itself, and in seeking for its own benefit it even abandoned God. America lost the vision of building a world of peace for all people throughout the world. It is because of this selfish motivation to misuse the victorious foundation it inherited at the end of World War II that God's work has declined in America. America was supposed to create the base upon which God could act on a global scale, but it did not do that. This is the reason America is gradually declining.

As a result, Cain is invading. The Cain side is moving in by promoting habits and lifestyles in the secular world that are rooted in Cain-like values and traditions. America has its own traditional values, and lifestyles based on those traditional values, but they are being overwhelmed. Cain's foundation of secular, worldly values is seeking to put itself above Christianity and Christian values. This is the reason the US government is attacking Christianity and eroding the right of religious freedom. This onslaught of secularity is also the cause of many other problems that are becoming increasingly serious, such as prohibiting school prayer and withdrawing aid for religious schools. These issues all reached their peak around the time I was incarcerated in Danbury. Although they had been pressing for some time, it was my imprisonment that awakened people to these issues. (148-145, 1986/10/08)

13 In Jesus' day, he lost everything. He lost his disciples, he lost Judaism, he lost his nation, the world, and heaven and earth. However, now with the victory that I gained upon my release from Danbury Prison, we will enter the time of heavenly fortune when we can recover all that was lost. From now on, we should be able to build up our substantial authority such that we can lead and guide the world.

You learned about the indemnity course of eight stages, but who did it and when was it done? You were not able to make the necessary indemnity conditions to restore the position of the elder son, so I did that mission. Representing the Abel position, I restored the position of the elder son. You have borne witness to it. Now that I have restored the elder son, centering on me the Unification Church is ascending from the position of the younger son to the position of the elder son.

This means that the one who was the elder son in the past must go down to the position of the younger son, thus reversing their positions. In other words, Christianity, which represents the elder son, needs to support and follow the Unification Church by taking the position of the younger son. It cannot abide by heaven's principles unless it does so.

True Parents can revive the world only after accomplishing through indemnity the reversal of the positions of the elder and younger sons. This is based on the Principle of Restoration. Only with this condition can they emerge as the Parents with the authority to lead the world. This is now done. I fought Satan and regained the birthright of the elder son; as a result, the elder and younger sons have been restored to their proper positions.

I went to Danbury Prison on July 20, 1984. When I entered prison, a prominent black Christian leader, Dr. Joseph Lowery, and a prominent white Christian leader, Rev. Timothy LaHaye, came together to support me. In Jesus' time, the two thieves quarreled while he was on the cross. However, in my time, the two became one. This has built the best bridge to enable the white world and the black world to advance in harmony. (135-183, 1985/11/13)

14 Many Christian believers are awakening to this conviction: Since Christianity is on the side of God, we Christians should not permit ourselves to be led around by the government or influenced by secular humanists, communists or materialists. We need to bring America back to its founding principles, which are based on Christianity.

This kind of awakening is taking place in America right now, and it is happening because I went to Danbury. I educated 7,000 Christian clergy by sending them to Korea. After coming to Korea, they realized that America does not have the best God-centered Christian movement. They had thought America was unsurpassed; however, they had to change their view when they witnessed how Christianity in Korea was growing, at least externally. (148-146, 1986/10/08)

15 While I was imprisoned in Danbury, 7,000 Christian clergy participated in a Christian coalition to support me. They are similar to the 7,000 men in the Qld Testament Age who supported Elijah. During Jesus' time, if 7,000 people had become one with Jesus, they could have moved the nation of Israel. I am now re-enacting this on the stage of the free world. In Jesus' time it was on the national level, but now it is on the world level. That is why I am now carrying out a campaign to reach 70,000 clergy worldwide. (135-179, 1985/11/13)

16 If the 7,000 followers of John the Baptist had united with Jesus, Jesus would not have been killed. That is why, with approximately 7,000 American clergy as the core, we taught the contents of the Unification Principle to 320,000 members of the clergy. We prepared and distributed the book, God's Warning to the World. All of the Principle's secrets are included in that book.

I fulfilled my responsibility. Representing the realm of Abel, I, the younger son, brought victory over the realm of the elder son, Cain. Since my coming out of prison, theologians have concluded that "only Reverend Moon can give new direction to Christianity." After I presented them with my blueprint for the future of Christianity and America, they also came to realize that without the teachings of Reverend Moon, the US government and its people will not be able to put the nation in order. (207-279, 1990/11/11)

17 I have been making indemnity conditions on the world level that are parallel to the course of indemnity that Jesus walked on the national level. Thus, I had to make an indemnity condition of carrying the cross just as Jesus had carried it, but on the world level. This was why I was put into Danbury Prison. Likewise, just as God told Elijah that he would find 7,000 men in Israel, I have to fulfill a similar task.

For a time, Christianity and the US government opposed me; they plotted to get rid of me, hoping that it would be the last of me. They could not put me to death, although if the system had allowed it they would have found a way to do so.

While in prison, I gave the direction to educate 7,000 Christian clergymen. We did further outreach by sending out a package with several books: Divine Principle, Unification Thought, Critique and Counterproposal to Communism, and lastly God's Warning to the World, which I compiled in prison. That book conveyed the essential content from my sermons.

As a result of my imprisonment, Christians in America began to realize that the government was suppressing religion. Therefore, a movement arose, beginning with clergy from over 40 religious bodies uniting in solidarity with me. They organized the Common Suffering Fellowship, holding demonstrations in which they symbolically put themselves in jail for one week, proclaiming that they were incarcerated together with me. This movement became well known throughout America. (164-132, 1987/05/10)

18 We started to teach 7,000 Christian leaders while I was in Danbury Prison. Also, we actively developed the CAUSA movement; it reached 70,000 Christian clergy. We did that for four years. This was my plan to lay the foundation to restore Christianity.

We are in the position of Abel, and Christianity is in the position of Cain. By uniting the Christian leaders in America and the Unification Church into one, Cain and Abel can unite as one. By Christianity and the Unification Church becoming one, they assume the Abel position and the US government assumes the Cain position. We will then unite them with God's teaching, which is True Parents' teaching. This is God's purpose.

Once we lay this foundation, America will be on the side of God as was originally intended. America's ultimate purpose is to build God's ideal world, the original kingdom of heaven on earth. This is its final goal. It must become America's goal and the goal of Christianity, as well as the goal of the Unification Church. If we can develop this foundation, it will be no problem to educate all humankind all over the world. (146-293, 1986/07/20)

Section 5. Resurrection from Prison

Opening the Gate to Heaven

At dawn on February 1, 1985, True Father telephoned True Mother at East Garden from the prison at Danbury, and through her, he proclaimed the Day of Opening the Gate to Heaven. It was a proclamation that opened wide the gate between the spiritual world and the physical world. He then said that through this, he established a highway for spirits to ascend from hell to the heavenly kingdom.

1 For the past 13 months I have been fighting with America all alone, just like David standing in front of Goliath. In America, the number 13 is the most unlucky number. For 13 months, nearly 400 days, I have been fighting all by myself.

By going through this period of time in prison, I opened up a path for people to ascend to heaven. I built a highway that goes from this earthly hell to heaven. Thus, while in prison I completed making all the conditions by which I will be able to stand as the Parent to the people in hell. (134-325, 1985/08/16)

2 Being in the position of the True Parent, throughout my life I have been taking responsibility to prepare the path for all people, my children, to go, a path they must go to get to the kingdom of heaven. When you can love humanity with as much love as you have for True Parents, then you will become one with True Parents and stand with them on the same plane. At that point Satan cannot touch you, because you will be in a realm higher than any fallen realm of heart. Therefore, you can go directly to the kingdom of heaven.

The proclamation of the Day of Opening the Gate to Heaven was to start this work. I did that while I was in Danbury. I opened that gate while I was in the lowest level of prison hell, after I had been there seven months, from July 1984 to January 1985, halfway through my 13-month sentence. I opened that gate based on the realm of heart I established there. Because I did that, I was able to liberate Satan's world. (140-059, 1986/02/01)

3 On February 1, 1985, I proclaimed the Day of Opening the Gate to Heaven, opening the gate from hell to the heavenly realm. Hell and the heavenly realm are opposite poles. I had to connect these poles vertically, not horizontally. By connecting them, I could establish the point of settlement for the first time. It is a point that connects the physical world with the spiritual world. Therefore, when we do this kind of work with the heart of God, we can connect the two worlds with the power of love. (136-047, 1985/12/20)

4 Without liberating hell, we cannot build the kingdom of heaven. Before the Fall, hell did not exist. Hell was created from the root of Satan's defiled blood. So to open the kingdom of heaven, we have to purify human blood with heaven's blood to create the form of the original root, and then recover its fruit.

Understanding that this is the Will, we can see how miserable our reality is. Our reality is hell, which came into existence before the kingdom of heaven could be established. Again, hell was not our original state, but came to exist due to the Fall. This hell must be transformed into the kingdom of heaven. The realm of heart that True Parents have established will liberate even hell. We have to rescue the world from this desperate situation. (139-269, 1986/01/31)

5 I told loyal subjects and virtuous women who have been centered on the royal authority of kings in the spirit world to come down to earth and follow the True Parents in the ideal realm centered on their royal authority. Even in the spirit world, everyone hears the news of what True Parents are doing. From now on, more and more of the news of True Parents that will be conveyed to the spirit world will be good news. Also, the news about each and every one of True Parents' followers will be publicized widely. All the bad reports about True Parents and their followers will disappear. Only good things about them will be spread, reports that say, "He is good, or she is good." Therefore, good ancestors in the spirit world will come down and guide their descendants on earth. These good ancestors will go down to hell and teach evil spirits.

I opened that gate while in Danbury. On February 1, 1985, at 3:00 a.m., together with Mother, I paved the highway between heaven and hell. Now, although we completed the highway, more preparation is needed. We need cars with which to travel on the highway. We need gasoline to operate the cars, and we have to learn how to drive the cars. You do not have any of that. Your ancestors will have to supply them. I have begun activities in the spirit world so your ancestors can come to you with cars, give you gasoline, and teach you to drive. I am developing a movement to allow your ancestors to bring you to the good spirit world. (137-190, 1986/01/01)

6 Because of the Unification Church, the gate to the kingdom of heaven has opened. Yet since I have not yet gone there, no person has entered yet.

I searched and searched throughout the earthly world and the spirit world, even to the lowest level, and I have made the only path that can lead human beings straight to the throne of God in the kingdom of heaven. To make that path, I had to traverse the individual level through the levels of the family, tribe, people, nation, world and the spirit world.

When you travel on that path, you must signal with the flag of love. Without that signal, you cannot travel on that road. You are not allowed to. Do you have confidence that you can go to the kingdom of heaven? You can go there by driving the car of love. When you do, an angel will signal to the car of love and guide you to the kingdom of heaven. The highway is now built that will take you there.

I, in Danbury Prison, together with Mother in East Garden, opened the gate that connects heaven to earth for the first time. It is a road that begins in hell. Therefore, for people who entered the spirit world thousands of years ago to go to heaven, they have to pass through hell. This means they must come to earth and work with their descendants who are fighting to win over hell. For you to go to heaven, you must win over hell. Those who win over hell can go to the kingdom of heaven. (140-046, 1986/02/01)

7 I have been educating the American people about God while shedding blood and tears, even more than any of America's forefathers. However, despite that, because of their own ambition they made me shed blood and put me in prison. Yet by the time I was released from prison, I had opened the way to restore the authority of the elder son on the world level. I have always followed heaven's strategy of being struck first and then claiming back all that was taken. This is how the age of world restoration and cosmic restoration can begin.

I fought to liberate the world of hell. On February 1, 1985, at 3:00 a.m., I opened the gate to heaven. If I thought only about myself and the Unification Church, then I would not have gone to prison. I was thinking about America. But not only that, I was thinking that I had to open the gate to hell and win over all the historical Cains in the spirit world. Without doing so, I could not have restored the authority of the elder son in the realm of heart on the individual level. Since I have now established the individual-level authority of the elder son, the condition has been set that no one can oppose my advance toward establishing the authority of the elder son on the world level. (140-196, 1986/02/09)

The teaching moment

True Father was released from Danbury Prison on July 4, 1985, which marked the beginning of the 210th year of America's independence. He finished the remainder of his sentence at a halfway house in Brooklyn, New York. He had been selected as a model prisoner, and his prison term had been reduced by five months. At 12:00 a.m. on August 20,1985, True Father concluded his term. During his time in Danbury Prison, and with oneness in heart with True Mother, he guided the worldwide course of restoration through indemnity to victory.

8 When I was released from Danbury Prison, many inmates wanted to say goodbye. They found out the date and the time I would leave and planned to send me off. But when the warden heard of their plan, he thought it could become a big problem for him. He was worried that if nearly 200 people came out when I left, it would cause a huge commotion. So he said I would be released at 8:00 a.m., but then secretly arranged to let me out at 7:00 a.m. instead, and through a different exit door than what is ordinarily used to release prisoners. I later heard that the inmates protested to the prison authorities after they heard the news that I had already left.

People there had thought that this Asian man would be like a mere visitor who comes and goes. But after spending only one year in that turbulent and troubled environment, I transformed that environment into one in which we shared a bond of tears. (163-283, 1987/05/01)

9 I spent one year and one month in Danbury Prison. During that time many prisoners came to respect me. Those who were released earlier than me entrusted their valuables to me and said they would visit the Unification Church. Even now, if I put an ad in the newspaper inviting them to a gathering, many of them would show up. I told them, "If you want to join the Unification Church, you must first participate in a study session of the Word with me in prison," what we now call hoondokhae. They all said they would attend.

However, this could have posed a problem in the prison, because there is a regulation that gatherings of more than seven people are not allowed. This created a situation where the men competed to attend those hoondokhae sessions. This is how they were interacting with me in the prison. Hence, when they knew I would be released soon, they came to see me and shed tears. If these convicts wept because they missed me, do you think my prison life was good or not? This is why people say I create problems wherever I go. (418-048, 2003/09/14)

10 The year 1985 is the 210th year since America gained independence from Britain. The fact that I was released from prison on July 4 at the start of the 210th year since America's independence means we have entered the time when we can make a leap on the national level to a new dimension of history. My liberation on Independence Day marked a new start. It is significant in light of the providence.

The fact that the Jewish people completed their return to their homeland 210 years after they were taken to Babylon holds the same significance. It meant they entered the era when they could build a new temple and make a new start with a new vision for their nation. This is why July 4,1985, America's Independence Day, can also be called the Day of True Father. The day has such significance. When you look at the periods of history in the Bible, you need to understand that the providential history of that time is mirrored in the events of our time, with similar significance.

Therefore, when July 4, 1986, arrives, people in America will think about me, because it is the anniversary of the day I was released from Danbury Prison. More and more Americans will ascribe that significance to July 4 in the years to come. For those who know the Unification Principle and Unification Thought, the day I was liberated from prison in America will be a day they cannot forget for the rest of their lives. Whenever Independence Day arrives, they will remember it only as the day of my liberation, the day when True Father came out of prison. (134-229, 1985/07/20)

11 After Jesus' death on the cross, he was resurrected on the third day. He then worked spiritually on earth for 40 days, which makes 43 days in total.

Originally I was scheduled to be released from Danbury Prison to the halfway house on July 8, 1985, but instead I was released on July 4. From July 8 until today, August 20, marks a period of 43 days. Just as Jesus passed through a 43-day period to be resurrected and erect the realm of resurrection in order to recover his disciples and establish the Christian cultural sphere substantially, now that I have passed through this time period all of you should be able to stand as perfect Unification Church believers. Now all American people also must be turned around. I was resurrected during this period for this purpose.

In Jesus' time, only his disciples experienced the glory of his resurrection, but now we must establish the substantial foundation where all Americans can be part of that glory. American Christians thought, "That Reverend Moon is Satan!" but now they recognize that he is a man of God who should not be opposed. Accordingly, in America we see a movement of Christians stepping forward in repentance.

The number 13 is for the 13 months I was in Danbury, and the number 13 signifies Jesus and his 12 disciples. It is the number of restoration through indemnity. In the West, 13 is an unlucky number. However, with my sentence completed today, we have now completely restored it through indemnity. (135-026, 1985/08/20)

12 When I went to prison, I was prepared for the worst. In prison it is not that difficult to do away with an inmate. However, since it would have been a very serious problem for God if I had been killed there, as soon as I arrived heaven set some people in place to watch over me. Actually, many mysterious things like that happened.

Whenever I slept, there was always someone on guard. That person would protect me from midnight until 4:00 a.m. without sleeping. This was not due to human intervention. After leaving Danbury, I was sent to a halfway house, a facility to help inmates return to society. Even before I arrived there, the spirit world communications network was already preparing protection for me. Two prisoners, one African-American and one Chinese, were waiting for me. As I slept from midnight until 5:00 a.m., they would protect me, taking turns while watching TV through the night. They stood guard. But who really was protecting me? It was none other than God Himself. (138-046, 1986/01/13)

13 After I was released from prison, 12 respected American ministers came and embraced me with deep emotion. We had never met before, never even greeted each other. Why would they do that, overjoyed with tears for me? It is because they felt shame over what America, their country, had done to me and because they recognized the value of my substantial work as a man of faith and my fight for the way of goodness. When they compared their own lives to mine, they bowed their heads before me. I saw big teardrops well up and fall from their eyes. They rejoiced more seeing me being released from prison than they would have if they themselves had been released from prison. Seeing them, I thought, "The bond of heart that links us in the world of goodness is expanding in this place."

I have created a new rope for America, a nation that is heading toward ruin. I have made a new chain to anchor the ship that is on the verge of being swept away and wrecked. It is an anchor chain that no one can cut or remove. By binding America to it, America will live. The way I see it, because I love America and made this chain of justice that cannot be severed, America is being resurrected and its life can continue. (170-050, 1987/11/01)

14 By willingly going to Danbury, I made a condition of total indemnity on the world level. Going to Danbury was equivalent to bearing the cross on behalf of the entire earthly world that opposed me. My purpose for bearing this cross was for the sake of unity in the spirit world and the liberation of the earthly world. Unity was my purpose.

Many groups around the world had mobilized to put me in Danbury Prison. They had mobilized from Judaism, Christianity and the other religions in America and many other nations of the world. After all, the CIA investigated us in 25 countries. They were looking for anything, any wrongdoing on our side, and whatever they discovered they intended to charge me with in order to throw me into prison. In this way the whole world invested all its power to oppose me.

Our purpose is to bring the spirit world in Satan's realm back to God. Knowing this intention, Satan tried to strike our Unificationist foundation and knock it down in order to destroy us. This was when the US government and I fought face to face, with the United States of America as the plaintiff and myself as the defendant. In the end I reversed this situation, and now it is clear that the United States was in the wrong. This means that the spirit world has now entered the united realm. Because of this, beginning with the three years after 1985, the spirit world must work together with the earthly world, moving at the same pace. Now that the united realm has emerged in the spirit world, heaven and earth must advance in step with each other. (164-167, 1987/05/14)

15 I am in the position of Abel to all the religious leaders throughout the ages. I am the one who went through the model course, receiving the most persecution. It was the religious leaders in the latter half of the 20th century who saw me walk this course. When I was thrown into Danbury Prison, they hoped I would perish. They hoped I would die. Yet with God's protection, I did not die. In time they saw I was a righteous man who was sent to save all humanity. This is why they all bowed their heads before me. (136-051, 1985/12/20)

16 Why is it that God could not make Satan surrender up to this point? And why is it that all people could not make Satan surrender until now? Satan insists on only one thing, "Even though I am fallen, God, You still have to love me. And, Son of God, you too have to love me. That is the Principle, and that is the standard of parental heart. Isn't it a fundamental rule of the Principle that you two must love me and gain my natural surrender in order to realize the kingdom of heaven?" When he argues like this, God cannot refute his logic. We are caught by his words.

Satan further asserts, "If anyone is going to rise to the status of a perfected person and become qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven, that person must make the condition of loving me. If not, there is no way he or she can reach the status of perfection." This is why Jesus loved his enemies on the cross and taught us to love our enemies. This is why I made a condition to pray for all the American people and set the standard of loving all America in Danbury Prison. This condition of heart set up an axis of love that connects the numerous peoples of the world to me. America is linked to me. All people in the position of Abel are linked to me. If this standard of connection is maintained, Satan has no authority to invade. (136-061, 1985/12/20)

17 You are going on the path of restoration, so do not think that you will live a comfortable life for yourself. Inevitably you will face and have to endure suffering. If on that path your husband is sent to prison, you must set your heart to invest your sincerest devotion for his sake. If necessary, you must be willing to sacrifice even your family. Only from a place where you pledge such determination can heaven work and connect to you.

At this time, I am most grateful to Mother. I am sure that while I was imprisoned in Danbury, True Mother's heart suffered through the deepest valleys numerous times. Because her life has been like that, her standard is gradually rising. Through the events of Danbury she has come to understand my value even more. (136-046, 1985/12/20)

18 True Mother suffered a lot because of me. Could she be assured of my safety in prison? Hostile communists worldwide had their eyes on me. In prison I was completely vulnerable, like lying naked in a field. Mother visited me every day in Danbury, shedding many tears. And when she was back at East Garden, don't you think she cried there too? Every Sunday morning at 5:00 a.m. she shed tears as she bowed before God and prayed for my safety. Our children shed tears alongside her. Why did they have to endure this situation, crying like that? I have money, authority and knowledge. I can also lead people. But why did I come to America? Why did I throw myself into this fight? It is only because of God's Will. (146-183, 1986/06/15)

Section 6. Learning from Suffering

The path of indemnity

Because Christianity and its representatives whom God had prepared failed to fulfill their responsibility, True Father walked the path of indemnity, enduring the suffering of prison six times. He walked a thorny path, leaving a trail of blood, sweat and tears, even as he comforted God in His bitter sorrow. In the end, True Parents surmounted a course of eight vertical and eight horizontal stages and were victorious in completing the providence of restoration through indemnity.

1 The path of restoration is paved with suffering. It is the way of indemnity. On this path, you should not think centered on yourself, or insist that you must live this way or that way. You cannot hold onto any particular expectation about how your life should go. Rather, you must maintain a public perspective. On the arduous path that heaven has mandated for you, you should feel that you are ever falling short and must redouble your efforts. You need to press forward one step at a time, always striving to overcome the challenges on your path, and to go as quickly as you can. If you start complaining that your path is too difficult, you will not be able to overcome it. To overcome the suffering, you must walk the path with gratitude.

There is a gap between us and heaven. God is high above, and we are far below. Therefore, we must always contemplate how we can reach the position that God wants us to reach. Yet the gap between individuals and heaven is so huge. How can we bridge the gap and meet together? God must descend to find us, and we must ascend to find Him. Yet, because it is difficult to reach Him, we need to pay indemnity in the process. (277-121, 1996/04/07)

2 Ever since the Fall, the levels of the individual, family, tribe, people, nation and world have been Satan's kingdom. So how do we restore this world? Each individual has to be planted in a place where he or she is separated from the world. The path that each of us must go is opposite to the world, and we need to pull ourselves through it in order to separate from the fallen world. This is why in high-level religions like Buddhism, believers leave their homes and renounce the world. It is why Christianity teaches that we must love Jesus more than we love even our mother and father, or our older brother or sister; as is written in the Bible, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (Matt. 10:37) It sounds paradoxical, but it actually embodies a logical principle that leads us along the path to heaven.

I came to understand that this law of indemnity has to be extended to the cosmic level. That is why I have been focused on perfecting love from the individual level to the levels of the family, tribe, people, nation—to all levels. As I proceeded on each level, Satan used all his strength to destroy me. So we can see why the path of faith entails persecution.

You simply must not walk the path that the world says is good. You must proceed on a path where you are willing to shed tears and blood. Do not strive to reach the top of the world, but rather remain in the shadow of suffering. That is the safety zone. Since Satan is arrogant, he despises difficult places. So our safety zone is found in the most miserable places. (181-212, 1988/10/03)

3 From the time I turned 20 until the time I passed 40,1 had to endure a period of tearful struggle. You really do not know what it was like. I went to prison as if it were just another stage on life's way; I decided that undergoing torture was something ordinary, and I accepted it as necessary in order to go through the course of indemnity, to pay the price. That was my whole life during that time. The nation of Korea and the religious world in Korea opposed me. The 30 million people of Korea banded together to oppose me. They drove me out into sorrowful circumstances. I come from that kind of personal history. (059-286, 1972/07/27)

4 When God created, He invested His whole heart into all things of creation and into human beings. Therefore, we should be willing to offer ourselves and all our material possessions to God. This is why the motto of the Unification Church emerged, "Shedding tears for humanity, sweat for earth and blood for heaven."

Are you all living this way? You should be. If you do not, it is a serious problem. To live like this involves treading a complex and complicated indemnity course. In order to pass through the individual challenges of this course, you have to bring yourself to the zero point and tear down the walls within yourself. I myself do that continually, which is why during the most crucial times of my life I willingly went to prison. (211-318, 1991/01/01)

5 Looking back on my life, I recall going to prison and being severely tortured many times. During those times, I would tell myself, "If I die here in prison under this torture, it would be an utter catastrophe for God's providence." If I had died with my body covered with scars from torture, despairing and groaning in pain, it would have been a serious problem for God. Who else did He have who would take responsibility for this path of restoration through indemnity?

In these circumstances, when I shed tears transcending my own death, moving God's heart and even shocking Him, God resolved everything for me. I had many such experiences. In my mind, the pain of the torture was not the real issue. What was most fearful to me was dying with my mission unfulfilled. (276-012, 1996/01/02)

6 Never in my entire life have I insisted on my own way. My life has been like living in prison, or even more difficult. Prisoners have to endure hunger with barely enough food to survive, but my life is not that simple. I am intensely aware that on this earth thousands upon thousands of people are dying in pain every day, at every moment. To me, this is as painful as having my own hand cut off. That is what you should feel too.

We should not be able to look at the world we are living in without tears. When we have this mind-set, we cannot face God without tears. That is why, when I prayed in wintertime, I shed tears and sweat to the point where my cotton pants were completely soaked. (343-095, 2001/01/16)

7 I pioneered the course of indemnity, conquered Satan's realm and laid the foundation for our victory. This is easy to say, but the reality was—and is—not easy at all. Unimaginable complications arose during my course. As I walked the path, the way I could overcome all obstacles was by leading a life of extreme intensity in which I felt I could not let my guard down even for a second. Without such seriousness, there would be no way to ever turn Satan's world around. (362-182, 2001/12/12)

8 Because I came in Adam s place, I had to walk the course of indemnity on the world level. Settling the accounts with Satan is not just a symbolic matter. I had to face him man-to-man. Now it is easy to make conditions; you are now in circumstances where you can even be welcomed by the world. You have just no idea what I went through.

My hope is that your family will become a family that is filial to heaven, that your nation will become a nation that is loyal to heaven s nation, that the world will become the realm of global citizens, and that heaven and earth will become the realm of divine, holy men and women. Yet, no place on earth other than the Unification Church provides the training for you to grow into people of such greatness. Therefore you must do this work, to create that which the whole world longs to see. By establishing the realm of liberation and securing it on earth, you should be able to say that we have gone beyond the age of indemnity. (307-191, 1998/11/08)

9 Parents can never sit idly by as their child edges toward death. Until their last breath they invest all their strength to revive their child, and if they do, they raise a heartfelt cheer. Unless you have experienced a state like that, you cannot understand me. I am fighting, risking my life to the edge of death, to save even one person. I have devoted my entire life to battling for the lives of all humankind. The spirit world knows this. That is why a person like me can never be overcome by bad fortune.

Even in prison I would always examine myself and think that my imprisonment occurred because I still needed to invest more. Because I was determined to do more to save humankind, I had no regrets whatsoever. Since I had no regrets, I could embrace my incarceration, even forgetting that I was in prison. When parents look at their son who has such a heart, they have to hold back their tears and bless him for eternity. Such is the heart of God. (247-033, 1993/04/21)

10 Throughout my entire life, I have had to climb over many hills of restoration through indemnity. I climbed over the hills of eight stages, from the individual to the family, tribe, people, nation, world, cosmos and God. On my individual course, the entire world opposed me. On the family level, the parents of our members were against me. After I went over that family-level hill, the tribe opposed me, then the Korean people opposed me, the nation of Korea opposed me, and the entire world opposed me. All the Christian denominations stood against me. However, they could not succeed in eliminating me. On the contrary, those who attacked me have since suffered misfortune. God formally recognizes this.

Although they struck me with all of their might, since they could not eliminate me, they are now being won over. Yet I never fought with them. God's strategy is to be struck first and take back what is lost. In God's ideal of creation, there is no such thing as striking. (302-217, 1999/06/14)

11 In order to pay the indemnity to restore Satan's world, the shortest path is the one beset by the most persecution. It is the path that takes you to the rock bottom of prison. The path that can reach the vertical is the path of suffering. It is the path of prison, which intersects with death. That path is like a bridge that makes a straight line. This is why I did not mind going to prison. That is why God even led me to prison. In fact, Jesus also was imprisoned before he died on the cross.

When the ruler of your nation sends you to the dungeons of your nation's foulest prison, you form an adversarial relationship with that ruler. That is why if you want to reach the topmost position in your nation, the shortcut is to go to prison and overcome that experience, and then you can stand even above that ruler. When a righteous person is cast into prison, the ruler who imprisoned him or her is considered evil. Then when that righteous person is released, he or she can stand above that ruler. When a good person is forced to go to prison, the people in his or her surroundings will support and protect him or her. That is why on all levels, the path of imprisonment is the shortcut by which to ascend. (136-046, 1985/12/20)

The ultimate victor

Although innocent of any crime, True Father underwent imprisonment six times: once by Japan, three times by communist North Korea, once by South Korea and once by the United States. He endured and persevered because he understood the fundamental rule of restoration, that progress in God's providence comes about through setting indemnity conditions, by being unjustly struck, and then claiming back what was taken. With this conviction, he overcame every kind of suffering in prison. Boldly standing up against Satan's powers that occupied the positions of authority, he took on the role of a beacon that guides the world shrouded in darkness into the light. In the end, True Father was victorious over every form of opposition and persecution.

12 You have no idea how deplorable it is that during my life on earth I had to go to prison. How will this affect the dignity and honor of both you and your ancestors? All of your necks are on the line. You do not know the fearful consequences that could ensue.

Why do you think I risked my life during six terms of imprisonment? Society brands a person who has gone to prison even once with a scarlet letter, but six times? If a normal person were to go to prison six times, he would carry so much shame that he could not walk the earth with his head held high. However, I am not the least bit ashamed. The ones that should feel ashamed are those nations that did this to me.

Each time I survived. Why? I had a job to finish, and I could not afford to die until I got the job done. That is why each time I went to prison I survived. (612-222, 2009/05/27)

13 I have lived a righteous life in the service of God's Will, while keeping myself whole under the shade of His protection. That is why I could remain alive despite experiencing prisons more bleak than anything in Satan's fallen society. Even in those wretched prisons, God was my refuge.

You have no idea how many tears my mother and father cried when I entered prison. My parents had provided me with everything for my schooling, saying that I would help save the nation with my education. But after graduating from school, I ended up incarcerated. Can you imagine how they felt?

In a sense, I sought out prison. 1 went to live in North Korea under the communist regime, and while in prison there I studied and analyzed communism more than has anyone else. Besides the prisons in North Korea, I experienced prison life in Japan, in South Korea, and even in America. (430-061, 2003/12/30)

14 I experienced prison life three times in North Korea. It was heaven's strategy to put me through this so I would not have even the slightest lingering attraction toward communism. It was also God's plan that I would not be interested in the type of Christianity that was allowed to exist under the communist regime. God wanted me to utterly repudiate anything influenced by communism, so I would not trust the Christian churches under the sway of communism or in any way trust the nation of North Korea. It was God's strategy for me to reject it all. Even persecution from South Korea and America was God's strategy, so that I would not have any unnecessary attachment to the false values in those societies.

Now thinking about the past after going over all those hills, I realize that all those experiences were heaven's strategy to give me something more precious than I could ever anticipate. I count those suffering times as God's blessings, because thereby He would bring me something greater, something even more valuable, something infinite—the honor of pioneering the path to give the Blessing to all humankind. They enabled me to secure a position that no one can usurp. Indeed, it was heaven's love that I went through those paths full of ordeals, because they were the conditions by which I could claim everything from Satan. Everything that Satan had taken from heaven came back to me. (161-198, 1987/02/03)

15 It is not because I enjoy receiving persecution that I have been doing this work. I have not been working like this because I enjoy being insulted and abused. Honestly, I do not enjoy it at all. Yet I am doing it because I had personal experiences in the spirit world where I tasted a joy more wonderful than anything else. It is so real and intense, that I can feel it as I reshape this world. That is why I continue this work.

You might think that the reason I can work so tirelessly is because I was born different, as if my body were made of steel, but that is not the case. Why would I do this work if it brought me nothing that I liked? Try and do work that you do not like for one or two years. That is like dying. There is a reason I am doing this, despite all sorts of hardships; it is because there is something so real, something so worthwhile, that is calling me to continue. (036-121, 1970/11/22)

16 God loves me. I know this very well. Yet while I kept faith in Him and loved Him all my life, there were more than a few times when I felt like complaining to Him. Sometimes when I was in a life-threatening situation, God acted as if He did not know anything about it. However, think of how heartbreaking it must have been for a parent, especially the Heavenly Parent, to say, "I did not know about your suffering plight." Parents could never stand idly by while their child's hands and feet were tied up. They would do whatever it took to untie their child's bonds and free him. But if God had intervened, then the person known as Mr. Moon of the Unification Church would not have been able to accomplish his responsibility, which he had to do on his own. So God had no choice but to stand by as if He were a third party. (048-121, 1971/09/05)

17 When I felt lonely as I walked this path for the Will, I recall God who had called me and said, "Sun Myung, you know that I am with you, don't you?" Then walking a lonely path became no problem. I said to Him, "For a while I thought I was all alone, but truly You are with me," and then I went on with new strength.

There were times when I would weep when I saw a beggar on the street, thinking, "What if that beggar were my Father who had come to find me? What would I do?" You should all become people of such heart, so you would even hold the hands of a beggar in tattered clothes and weep for him without letting him know why. I have had many such experiences.

In the midst of pain and loneliness, I sometimes felt, "Heavenly Father, You are so cold-hearted. You are so merciless. You only give me responsibility, but You do not take care of me." But as soon as I said that to myself, God said to me, "Look, I was right there with you when you held the hand of that beggar. In the midst of your misery, when you were shedding tears with those sorrowful people, I was with you there." So how can I not but continue on this path? Now we can understand why Jesus said, "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me." (Matt 25:35-36) (011-203, 1961/07/17)

18 God's strategy is to be struck first and then claim what is His. Satan's way is to strike first and take what he wants, but eventually he falls into ruin. In both the First and Second World Wars, the side that attacked first was defeated. The third world war is similar; it is a war of ideology in which communism has been attacking the world. Many of its attacks have been aimed at me.

The Republic of Korea opposed me, the United States opposed me, and so did Japan and China. They are still doing so. Virtually the whole world united against me. However, I have emerged from all this and am now receiving blessings from the entire evil world. The Devil cannot keep all the blessings of heaven and earth. In the Last Days, Satan has to hand over all the blessings to the True Man. (176-203, 1988/05/09)

19 I never doubted God's Will. Nevertheless, without training myself, and without exploring and understanding more and more about the great mysteries of the here and the hereafter, the foundation I built could have been lost. In order to inherit a foundation on a higher dimension, it was imperative that I pay an appropriate level of indemnity.

This is why I received persecution. Persecution is not a bad thing, actually. It helped me reach perfection. That is why going to prison was not a problem. Nor was facing life-and-death situations. I already knew that if I died while living in adversity, I would go to the most precious place imaginable. So I had no basis to complain. (326-040, 2000/07/02)

20 When I was in prison, beaten so badly that I collapsed and vomited blood, I still did not pray in a way that would cause God to worry about me. I endured, silently pledging, "God, I am different from other saints, even Jesus in ancient times." If I prayed asking God to save me, that would be a weak prayer. As God's central person, I did not want to be petty and unmanly. Hence, I never prayed for anything for myself; I only prayed for God's sake.

God had put all His expectations and hopes on me to shoulder a cosmic responsibility. So how could I come pitifully crying for Him to save my life and free me from prison? I was arrested and locked up by the Japanese imperialists, by the North Korean communists, and even by the democratic world in South Korea. Even so, I kept advancing toward the world. I will keep moving forward, no matter how much they might persecute me or shun me. (016-243, 1966/06/19)

21 Before Jesus was crucified, he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt." How can there be "my will"? Satan tried to catch him on this point. What I am saying is that at that time, Jesus' will and God's Will were not perfectly one. Because I understood this, even when I found myself in circumstances where I was tortured and vomiting blood, I thought to myself, "I am different from Jesus. I am determined to offer my blood for Your Will, without any hesitation." Truly, I was willing to offer all my blood for God alone. That is why, no matter how difficult my situation, I never pray for myself.

Heaven already knows my situation, so I do not pray, "God, please save me!" I have trained my body to go the sacrificial way that will enable all humankind to live. By focusing on the goal, I ultimately emerged as a man of absolute faith and absolute love. Whenever I have to go through the valley of the shadow of death shedding tears and blood, I go only with my love for God, and with my heart and mind in absolute oneness with God. (268-300, 1995/04/03)

22 Alone, I carry out the work of a lighthouse that guides people in the night with its light. A lighthouse is important to those who travel at night by sea. Yet, no one regards a lighthouse as important during the day, and people do not much appreciate the lighthouse keeper. Yet that is the role I have taken on.

People do not appreciate the light from a lighthouse in the daytime. So the question is, how can I make my light become like the daytime sun? The way is by taking up the task of restoration through indemnity. What I am trying to do is to shine a light that will help people change to become God's eternal, original stars whose light will shine in this world. It was incredibly challenging to change my lighthouse lamp into the shining sun. Yet with this as my goal, I have come thus far.

Even as I entered the first prison, I asked myself, "Where will prison number two be? Where will prison number three be?" I am the type of person who, as I entered prison number six, was thinking about prison number seven. After all, I still had a mission to fulfill in the Soviet Union and China; thus, I thought that in the years ahead of me I might have to go to prison in those nations.

Since I was preparing myself for this path, God protected me and I did not need to go. However, I was determined that before I died I would visit the countries that could be worse than any prison. Thus I went to the Soviet Union. Many people around me advised against my trip there; they begged me not to go. However, I went to that prison of the day in order to dissolve the prison of the night. In fact, by going there, I brought daylight to that prison. (311-092, 1999/08/19)

23 I have been shunned and persecuted all my life, but I have not perished. This is because I always go in the original direction. 1 do not act in a self-centered way. The reason I have been setting this standard is to help people become better, to help them advance to be in a better situation and to have a greater future. For this purpose, I have been educating people and setting the example of living by that standard. As a result, I have been persecuted, but both heaven and earth are protecting me.

There is a fundamental law and principle that defines the path we must walk. A man must walk the path of a man, and a family must walk the path of a family. When we live 100 percent in accord with that fundamental principle, all of heaven and earth will support us, and nothing can cause us to fail. If we were to fail, heaven and earth would fall apart. The principles and standards of nature would fall into chaos, and heaven and earth would face destruction. (120-151, 1982/10/05)

24 In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, I must stand in the position of the perfected Adam, and in that position give out so much blessing that even the Archangel will protect me until the end. Because such a standard exists in the Principle, you have to meet the condition of overcoming Satan's accusation and loving your enemy. Otherwise you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. If you do not love your enemy, you cannot go there.

That is why I too have been striving to meet this standard in the work I have done throughout my entire life. It is what I did when I went to Danbury Prison. Although the government and people of America cheered when I was sent to Danbury, I loved them from inside the prison. Because I loved them truly and fully with the original love of God, Satan's world cannot lift its head. This is how I overcame them and emerged victorious. From that point, a new world could open up. (173-295, 1988/02/21)

25 I am the central person in a world where every nation has lost its direction. Day and night I have been pioneering the new direction that will set each nation aright. When I walked the path of indemnity, I had no awareness of myself. Jesus, too, had no awareness of himself when he was nailed to the cross. That is why he prayed to God, pleading with Him to forgive those who crucified him, as they did not know the serious crime they were committing. In this way, he made the condition for Christians to conquer Rome in the future.

It is the same with me. I went through the crucifixion of prison under the Japanese, in North Korea, in South Korea, and in the United States. However, I never forgot God's guidance that I must not sever the net of love that will save them. So, even in prison, I hauled in people with the net of love.

This can be likened to a light bulb that will always remain lit if it is connected to the power station by a live electric line. If the electricity of God's love is connected to the spiritual electric line, that light will shine everywhere. If you are connected to God's love, the electricity of His love can resurrect you and give you new life.

This is how you can see a clear path of hope. This can be your joy. It will make you such an amazing person that you can smile even while going over the path of the cross. Then Satan will flee without looking back. When you become such a person, we can conclude that restoration has been completed. (229-258, 1992/04/12)