The spiritual freedom experienced by people who are released from the fetters of desires and attachments to worldly things is called Liberation (moksha).
It is an inner experience of freedom that can arise regardless of the person’s external circumstances: The saint is free even in prison, while people living in comfort and affluence may be caught in dire bondage to runaway desires, addictions, and bad relationships.
The Christian scriptures speak of a comparable experience of Christian liberty. Yet liberation goes beyond the individual. Jesus spoke about liberating the prisoners and a Kingdom of freedom. When people live in the spirit of love and self-giving, they can be very free with one another.
If everyone in a family or society enjoyed the inner freedom of a God-centered life, they could then live and act in freedom. Therefore, Father Moon teaches, liberating others also expands our own realm of liberation.
That liberation should expand to encompass societies, nations, the entire world, and beyond to the realm of God. Jewish Kabbalistic doctrine describes the task of liberating of the “divine sparks” residing in each thing, that they may rise and rejoin the divine unity.
God’s liberation is contingent upon human liberation, teaches Father Moon because human suffering and oppression bind God in fetters of grief and pain.
Liberating humanity also liberates God, and when God is liberated, humanity can be truly free.
Sun Myung Moon
The State of Inner Freedom
That disciplined man with joy and light within, Becomes one with God and reaches the freedom that is God’s. Bhagavad-Gita 5.24 (Hinduism)
Desire is a chain, shackled to the world, and it is a difficult one to break. But once that is done, there is no more grief and no more longing; the stream has been cut off and there are no more chains. Sutta Nipata 948 (Buddhism)
The fetters of the heart are broken, all doubts are resolved, and all works cease to bear fruit [of karma], when He is beheld who is both high and low. Mundaka Upanishad 2.2.8 (Hinduism)
Yea, happily he lives, the brahmin set free, Whom lusts defile not, who is cooled and loosed from bonds, Who has all barriers burst, restraining his heart’s pain. Happy the calm one lives who wins peace of mind. Anguttara Nikaya 1.137 (Buddhism)
Open yourself, create free space; release the bound one from his bonds! Like a newborn child, freed from the womb, be free to move on every path! Atharva Veda 6.121.4 (Hinduism)
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3.17
Immediately after attaining release from all karmas, the soul goes up to the end of the universe. Previously driven [by karmas], the soul is free from the bonds of attachment, the chains have been snapped, and it is its nature to dart upwards. The liberated self, in the absence of the karmas which had led it to wander in different directions in different states of existence, darts upwards as its nature is to go up. Ratnakarandasravakacara 10 (Jainism)
The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit. John 3.8
He whose corruptions are destroyed, he who is not attached to food, he who has Deliverance, which is void and signless, as his object—his path, like that of birds in the air, cannot be traced.15 Dhammapada 93 (Buddhism)
One that the Lord’s command in mind cherishes, Is truly to be called Jivan-mukta (liberated while living). To such a one are joy and sorrow alike; Ever in joy, never feels he sorrow. Gold and a clod of earth to him are alike, As also nectar and foul-tasting poison. To him are honor and dishonor alike; Alike also pauper and prince. One that such a way practices, Says Nanak, a Jivan-mukta may be called. Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 9, M.5, p. 275 (Sikhism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
According to the perspective of religion, humanity does not dwell in a liberated state. People today do not live in the realm of God’s freedom; rather, they are constrained within the fallen world under Satan’s control.
In other words, the world is in bondage. Christians in the established churches and we Unification Church members have the same understanding: we are in bondage.
This bondage is manifest as the persistent struggle between our mind and body. If human beings were made from the beginning with their minds and bodies in conflict, it would be absolutely impossible for them to perfect their character or attain liberation.
In fact however, humans were created with harmonious internal elements, by which they could have attained the ideal state of liberation. They only fell into bondage during their growth, when as a result of the Fall, they were driven into a state of disorder, where we remain to this day. Therefore, it is entirely possible to be liberated from bondage and attain the ideal state. (85:227, March 3, 1976)
What does it feel like to experience the being of God?
The interminable struggle between your mind and the body, which formerly plagued your self-centered life when you put yourself as number one in everything you did, will completely disappear. Instead, you will live the life that God wants you to live: living for the sake of others and giving yourself for the whole.
Then, true love will continue forever, and God’s joy will be displayed in the spirit world. You will experience such satisfaction and happiness as you have never felt before, because it will be connected to the whole. Thus, you will discover yourself in the state of liberation. (329:301-02, August 11, 2000)
The body has a limit, but the mind is infinite. The world of the mind is beyond form, beyond any philosophy or viewpoint. Still greater than the mind is the world of the heart. It has no restrictions.
The world of the mind has certain restraints, conditioned by its relationships. Yet nothing can restrain the world of the heart. What could ever restrain a parent’s love for his or her children? Even a barrier as daunting as a huge mountain cannot block the way. (7:246, September 20, 1959)
It is written in the Bible, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Cor. 3.17)
The Father is a Spirit of freedom, liberation and unification. How, then, can the spirit of freedom, which transcends any trials, be instilled in your hearts? How can you find the point of liberation where you overcome all the walls of suffering?
When will you experience that peaceful moment of total unification, which is your ultimate hope? In thinking about these important questions, consider that God is not free. Since God is not free, liberated and unified, the freedom people pursue today is not true freedom. The liberation people are proclaiming is not complete liberation, and the unification people are promoting is not complete unification… God created us.
Therefore, the complete freedom, liberation and unification that we desire can be realized only when God is free and becomes the master of liberation and unification. God’s freedom, liberation and unification are the standards for humanity’s freedom, liberation and unification; that is only logical. (4:314-15, October 12, 1958)
Universal Liberation
And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and he went to the synagogue, as his custom was, on the sabbath day. And he stood up to read; and there was given to him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened the book and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind. to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4.16-21
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. Romans 8.19-23
The holy sparks that fell when God built and destroyed worlds, man shall raise and purify upward from stone to plant, from plant to animal, from animal to speaking being, purify the holy sparks that are imprisoned in the world of shells (kelippot)17 That is the basic meaning of the service of each one in Israel. It is known that each spark that dwells in a stone or plant or another creature has a complete figure with the full number of limbs and sinews and, when it dwells in the stone or plant, it is in prison, cannot stretch out its hands and feet and cannot speak, but its head lies on its knees.
And who with the good strength of his spirit is able to raise the holy spark from stone to plant, from plant to animal, from animal to speaking being, he leads it into freedom, and no setting free of captives is greater than this. It is as when a king’s son is rescued from captivity and brought to his father. All that a man owns, his servant, his animals, his tools, all conceal sparks that belong to the roots of his soul and wish to be raised by him to their origin.
All things of this world that belong to him desire with all their might to draw near him in order that the sparks of holiness that are in them should be raised by him. Man eats them, man drinks them, man uses them; these are the sparks that dwell in the things. Therefore, one should have mercy on his tools and all his possessions for the sake of the sparks that are in them; one should have mercy on the holy sparks. Take care that all you do for God’s sake be itself service of God. Thus eating: do not say that the intention of eating shall be that you gain strength for the service of God. That is also a good intention, for course; but the true perfection only exists where the deed itself happens to heaven, that is where the holy sparks are raised. In all that is in this world dwell holy sparks, no thing is empty of them. In the actions of men also, indeed even in the sins that a man does, dwell holy sparks of the glory of God. And what is it that the sparks await that dwell in the sins? It is the turning [repentance]. In the hour where you turn on account of sins, you raise to the higher world the sparks that were in it. Israel Baal Shem Tov (Judaism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Liberation means that all hazardous conditions in our world are transformed into harmonious relationships. Our world becomes unified, without any sharp edges, where up and down, right and left, and front and rear have equal value.
Once liberation comes, grandfathers and grandmothers will like it, quarreling husbands and nagging wives will be satisfied, children and grandchildren will be glad. The multitudes will rejoice, and people of all nations will cheer. (341:161-62, January 1, 2001)
Before trying to liberate North Korea, you should ask yourself whether you are liberated. The liberation of the self is based on the unity of your body and mind.
The liberation of the nation is the fifth level after the liberation of the individual, family, tribe and people.18 (187:126, February 5, 1989)
All things that were supposed to be united into one were shattered into pieces.
They were turned upside down throughout humanity’s fragmented history because countless indemnity courses blocked heaven and earth and passed each other in all directions.
Therefore, God has been leading a course of re-creation. To walk that course, True Parents came to the earth. Heavenly Father, we know how hard Thou hast striven throughout history, in Thy providence of recreation which Thou hast conducted through our forbearers, to reconnect all the divisions in the mineral world, the world of microscopic organisms, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human world, and even in the heavenly world…
Therefore, centering on the love that is proper to God’s ideal of creation, we should restore back what was lost in the world of minerals, the world of microscopic organisms, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom, the human world, and the heavenly world.
Thou, Heavenly Father, and we, True Parents, should create the realm of oneness… I sincerely hope and ask Thee to guide us to create one unified world, joining the heavenly world and the earthly world. (May 4, 2003)
Throughout history, human beings have been searching for their own liberation and salvation, but who has been concerned about God’s situation? Does God dwell in blissful joy for eternity, not in need of liberation?
God is the Parent who has been mourning over human beings as they suffered in sin and evil throughout history. How, then, can God rejoice with a liberated heart? It is impossible.
Depending on the degree of earthly liberation, God’s heart can also be liberated. Only when God is liberated can human beings be liberated, be free to enjoy a family life of true love, and bring liberation to the creation. Furthermore, only when God is liberated can the beings in the spirit world be liberated and released. (April 30, 2004)
The ultimate goal of God’s providence of salvation goes beyond the individual; it is to liberate and save the family, tribe, nation, physical world and the spirit world including hell.
Until this is done, God Himself is not liberated. When the purpose of God’s providence of salvation is fully attained, in other words, when even hell and all the spirit world are liberated, on that day, God will declare the completion of His ideal, proclaiming, “My will is done! Hallelujah! March forward into one world, under the dominion of my love.” (114:78, May 17, 1981)
Sun Myung Moon