Essentials Of Unification Thought - The Head-Wing Thought

VII. The Law of the Universe

From the previous discussion, it follows that we must look at the universe in order to find the way for the family and society to exist. The law that governs the universe is called the Way of I-leaven. This law refers to the harmonious give-and-receive action between subject and object. It has seven characteristic features, as follows:

1. Correlativity

Every being not only possesses the correlative elements of subject and object within itself, but also engages in external correlative relationships with other beings. Without correlativity (both internal and external), no being can exist or develop.

2. Purposefulness and Centrality

The correlative elements of subject and object always possess a common purpose and perform give-and-receive action centering on that purpose.

3. Order and Position

Every being has its own position, whereby it maintains a certain order.

4. Harmony

The give-and-receive action between subject and object is harmonious. There can be no opposition or struggle in their relationship, for God's love always works there.

5. Individuality and Connectedness

Every being is an individual truth body and, at the same time, exists as a connected body. Each being, while maintaining its own inherent characteristics, has relationships with other beings and interacts with them.

6. Identity-Maintaining Nature and Developmental Nature

Every being maintains its own unchangeable essence (identity maintaining nature) throughout its life, and, at the same time, has aspects that change and develop (developmental nature) as it grows.

7. Circular Motion

In the give-and-receive action between the subject and the object, the object revolves, centering around the subject, and performs circular motion in space or in time.

It can be said that the law of the universe is the work of the Logos. Logos is law, but at the same time it contains reason. Moreover, behind the Logos there is love at work, for when God created the universe through the Logos, the motivation of creation was Heart and love. Therefore, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon has stated that working in the universe there is not only physical force, but also the power of love.

Applied to the human family and society, the law of the universe manifests itself as ethics and morality. To be precise, the law of the universe and the ethical laws are in a relationship of correspondence.

When an individual being violates the law of the universe, that being becomes unable to maintain its own existence. For example, if one of the planets of the solar system were to deviate from its orbit, not only would that planet be unable to maintain its own existence, but also great calamities to the solar system would ensue. Likewise in the family and society, if people violate ethical laws, that can only give rise to destruction and disorder.

Accordingly, in order to save a confused society, the urgent thing to do, before anything else, is to establish ethical laws. Yet, the ethical laws based on traditional religions and thought systems do not have sufficiently developed logical explanations, and therefore they are not persuasive to present-day rational people, and these laws are all but neglected today. Thus, in Unification Thought we endeavor to provide a basis for ethical laws, so that they may be strengthened, from the standpoint that ethical laws correspond to the law of the universe. This point will be explained in further detail in "Axiology" and "Ethics."

The final point will be an analysis from the position of Unification Thought, of the views of Communism concerning the law of the universe.

Communism is based on a dialectical view of the universe; therefore, it asserts that the phenomena of motion, change, and development in the universe take place through contradiction, or the struggle of opposites inherent in all things. Communism also claims that, in order for human society to develop, struggle (i.e., class struggle) is necessary. On this matter, Lenin wrote, "The unity (coincidence, identity, equal action) of opposites is conditional, temporary, transitory, relative. The struggle of mutual exclusive opposites is absolute, just as development and motion are absolute." 12 Lenin went as far as definitively affirming that "Development is tile struggle of opposites." 13

Communism asserts that things develop through the struggle of opposites, but in reality, there is no such phenomenon in the universe.- In the past, as well as today, it is only through maintaining harmony that the universe has been developing. If one observes tile universe, one may find phenomena, such as the explosion of stars, that appear partially destructive, but which in reality are not destructive. These phenomena are not different from what happens in a living being. When the cells of a living being become old, they are replaced by new cells. Likewise, when stars become old, they disappear, and new stars are born-and in this way the universe, which is an enormous organic body, has been maintaining itself.

At this point someone might say that, since the world of the animals is a world in which the stronger prey upon the weaker, the theory of the struggle of opposites holds true there. For example, snakes eat frogs, and cats eat mice. Communism attempts to justify their theory of struggle in human society on the basis of these facts of nature. It should be noted, however, that the struggles between snakes and frogs or between cats and mice are struggles between animals of different species.

In taxonomy, living beings are divided into the groupings of kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. In the case of cats and mice, cats are in the order of Carnivora, and mice are in the order of Rodentia. Cats and mice are different from each other on the level of order. In the case of snakes and frogs, snakes are in the class of Reptilia, and frogs are in the class Amphibia. Snakes and frogs are different from each other on the level of class. In other words, when an animal preys upon another, in most cases the preying animal is different from its prey at least on the level of species. In nature, there is hardly a case in which animals belonging to the same species fight at the risk of their lives. In marked contrast, human beings, who all belong to the same species (namely, Homo Sapiens) plunder from one another and kill one another. Therefore, the fact that human beings struggle with one another cannot be justified on the basis of nature's phenomenon that the stronger prey upon the weaker.

As an illustration, consider the case of struggle among lions. When a new lion is placed into a pride of lions, a struggle may take place. However, there arises no killing, as the weaker lion surrenders to the stronger one. Accordingly, this kind of struggle is intended to determine which lion should be the leader-in other words, it is intended to establish order. This is not an essential struggle. Therefore, this kind of struggle just as the kind discussed above, cannot be the basis for justifying the kind of struggle in which one human being kills another human being.

Moreover, even though in nature we may find phenomena in which the stronger prey upon the weaker, more often than not what we find is that different animals cooperate with one another and coexist. Therefore, we cannot rationalize struggle between human beings, thereby making a law out of it, on the basis of the phenomenon of the stronger preying upon the weaker in nature.

It is only because humankind fell away from God, and became self-centered, that human beings have come to plunder from and kill one another. Accordingly, if humankind returns to its original state, such struggles will no longer be seen in human society. Furthermore, if humankind had not fallen, people would have become the rulers of the cosmos, and would have exercised dominion over nature through love. Therefore, if humankind comes to exercise dominion with love, even greater harmony will be realized in nature.

Thus, we come to the conclusion that the universe and human society have been developing, not through the struggle of opposites, as Communism asserts, but rather through harmonious give and-receive action between correlatives. that is. between subject and object.

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