How are you doing?
Good to see you. Today's topic is
Propaganda.
Is it necessary? Propaganda has been
around ever since people started to group together. Leaders and kings have
abused it throughout history and you know for organized religion; it's very
useful for them and it's necessary at the same time to promote their faith.
Pretty much that is the pattern of what we
know today, that we see all the time on television; there's infomercials and
commercials. The need comes because we do need to propagate the message
whether we sell cereal or a message from God.
Having said that, the first thing that we
have to think about is how we go about achieving the concept of propaganda
for commercialization or the purpose of propagating the faith. There are
many countries in the world, first of all, right? Every country has a
distinction that they try to put forth that they try to do based on their
law and on the unique way they proscribe and actually implement the law the
way that they accept as a nation.
When you talk about law you have to go to
the beginning and ask God "Did You need law?" Did God need law when he was
by Himself? He was almighty. So going back to the pre-creation period when
God was still God. He was almighty and omnipotent and omnipresent, you have
to ask Him, Did You need law?" I'm sure that He didn't.
Why would you need law when you're by
yourself, especially when you're almighty, omnipotent and omnipresent? Was
it necessary? So I guess the answer can only be that in the purpose of
creation as we know it and allege it is that the law exists because I want
an object. The law exists for the sake of the object, not for oneself.
Of course you know God was almighty and he
wanted to create something. That is the ultimate something (the creator)
that the almighty can be. That's the miracle I guess. That's why we exist.
Unfortunately we had a difficult time understanding the value of the law,
but that is the essence.
So when you talk about the concept of law
which defines us as a group, a nation, or a world, or even a universe
ultimately you have to accept that concept that God has intended, that God's
intention by having law is to create ultimately a family, something that
reflects him and that has volition, consciousness and can reflect what He
is. That is the essence.
From that we have to actually start trying
to create something that we can showcase to the world because ultimately we
have to compete and win; it won't be automatic. Even if we have our own laws
by having it and being who we are, that has to reveal to the world and
through that revelation people must choose because its restoration.
Something that is greater and has greater promise greater than yesterday,
greater than today.
Making that kind of statement is very
challenging. How do you go about doing that? Do think it would be easier to
just shine the limelight on a few individuals? I don't think that will work.
Not today.
Throughout history propaganda has been
abused in so many ways. Mostly it's a kind of psychological warfare tactic.
Propaganda really doesn't have a positive impact. It has a kind of negative
connotation. We have to try to do it (spread positive propaganda about our
movement) systematically.
Unless you can constantly prove something
in today's world where there are so many issues and so many questions,
unless you can handle all of the volume people put out that can literally go
around the world, regardless of who you are, in a few seconds, its very
difficult.
What's the best way if you're going to use
that concept (Of multimedia / propaganda) and we have to use it somehow
because others do even to sell cereal? It's better that we increase the
standing of everybody in the group. That's the challenge. You can invite
people from third-world countries who want to live better. There are still a
lot of people out there. I don't like traveling, but if you do travel there
a lot of places where the people live miserably. In certain places because
of that physical hardship and the challenges that they have to face; some
places like it would be easy to bring people in to the workshop and make
them committed (into our movement). Why, because they have nothing to lose.
I know that feeling. If you have nothing
to loose then you'll do anything. Are we ready to prepare them, take care of
them step-by-step, to raise them to the position where we can say "Hey,
these are the kind of guys (members) that we've got; look at their quality;
they're better than you."
How do you go from here to there? Does it
happen automatically? You pray a lot and things change? It doesn't work that
way. As much as we need to disseminate the faith, disseminate properly the
information, we have to increase the quality of the faithful. It is the most
important thing, if you are going to use propaganda, in the end that is the
only way it will work in today's world. There is no other way.
I wish that I could believe that we go to
Father's speeches, and I did some of them, and I wish it could change
people's lives. But it usually doesn't happen. It is just a condition. I'm
trying to be honest with you. There is only one (True Father). It's not
going to happen, but he is going to do what he is going to do. So be it.
Make that commitment. More power to you. That's His (Father's) prerogative,
and there is only one man like Him; Right?
When others start to do that, that's a
problem. That's a serious problem. Why the hell do you want to be that
famous? Why the hell do you want to be in that focal point? Why? Why do you
want to be that important? Why the hell do you use propaganda? This is not
the nineteen-twenties. You must be crazy. You have to be beyond stupid using
imageries and stupid sentiments and crazy stuff. It's ridiculous. Even a
teenager will laugh at that in today's society, never mind grown-up people
who have been through that nonsense all throughout their lives.
Everybody sitting here, you know in
today's world and in today's media driven world, we are a victim to that
stuff (multi-media / propaganda) one way or the other. We can't even use
what is obvious for tutelage. We blatantly sometimes just use it for
ourselves. That's ridiculous. It makes us look so stupid. That's shocking.
That's shocking to me. That has to go away because it's just absolutely
humiliating. I believe it's better to inspire and uplift. Make other people
the star, not yourself.
If you have that capacity; if you have
that realization or enlightened heart, you should do that because that is
better, and I have something to give that is also great, much better than
just a commercial. Even if you consider it as being a cynic, that action of
self-promotion; that's a better way to self-promote.
There are certain things that are basic,
that are fundamentally basic and if we don't practice it, well nothing is
going to change. What you see is what you get.
Have you ever thought of the relationship
between ...You think about your desire a lot, right? Sometimes it can be a
problem. If we have a problem dealing with our desires then what good is
freedom? Freedom can be a problem if you have uncontrollable desires. What
good is freedom if people living "in freedom" can't control their lives?
If it's uncontrollable; they'll probably kill each other in the end. What
good is freedom? Why do you need freedom for the people when they can't
control their desires?
It's that kind of basic stuff. Unless we
can address those kind of basic questions all the ideal stuff that we think
about and talk about really doesn't mean anything. You can talk about it
'till the cows come home I guess. It isn't going to happen 'till you have
all sorts of stuff (knowledge ideas) in your head that you want. You have to
know how to control stuff (your desires) you had better know why you want
that stuff. Think about this week, okay.
You're free to do so in America. That's
why it's silly in the end. But I live here; I have freedom, but you have no
absolutes. Of course you have a lot of laws and regulations, a lot of
secondary absolutes. I call man-made laws secondary absolutes. God-made laws
like simple physics are primary absolutes. We make our laws because we need
to live gregariously. If we don't have any we would probably kill each other
or something. There are layers and layers of complicated laws. They will
absolutely go after you if you break one of them. It's absolute; trust me!
They'll penalize you in an absolute manner. When they come after you it's
absolute.
Think about what you want to be and how we
want to present ourselves to the world and try to do something to help each
other. (Hyo Jin Nim is in tears) Do something meaningful, something from the
heart. Don't do it because someone is watching you or because of your pride.
Do it because you are made of something and it's just the right thing to
do.... (Hyo Jin Nim's words become hard to understand because he is in
tears.)
Do you know the story of Sun Wukong, the
Monkey in Buddha's hand? (Explained below) That's how you feel. That's what
you are in the end and you know it.
You will die. You want to leave a lasting
propaganda? Die well and let somebody else say that "he died well" That's
the way to do it. Anyway something like that.
Take care.
I'll see you.
Here is an excerpt from a synopsis of the
story of the monkey in Buddha's hand that Hyo Jin Nim referred to.
Buddha challenges Monkey: He will make
Monkey emperor if Monkey can jump out of his hand. Monkey thinks this
sounds easy and leaps across the universe. When he lands, he sees five
pillars. To show he's been there, he writes "Monkey was here," and in a
naughty mood, he also leaves a puddle of pee.
Then Monkey flies back to Buddha and
boasts that he has won. But Buddha shows Monkey his hand-- on his middle
finger are the exact words Monkey has just written and, phew, the smell
of monkey pee.
This is a synopsis of one event from the
novel: "Journey to the West" which was written by Wu Chen-en, and is
considered to be one of the four great classic novels written during the
Ming Dynasty (c. 1500-1582).
