Ritual

Father Moon teaches that God instituted rituals in every faith as a means by which people might approach Him. All rituals, therefore, have value. When performed with pure intention and following precisely their prescribed form, ritual offers respect to heaven and establishes for the believer a “foundation of faith.”

There is no way to do justice in this book to the wide variety of rituals and rites by which the peoples of the world worship God and show their respect to Heaven.

Some of the types of rituals included here are keeping a sacred time—the Sabbath, the Eucharist or sacred meal, circumcision, baptism, worship at holy places, worship by images and symbols, and dietary laws.

Liturgy and Worship

Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18.20

Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the Lord in holy array; tremble before him, all the earth! Psalm 96.7-9

Those who, knowing my true nature, worship me steadfastly are my true devotees. Worship me in the symbols and images which remind you of me, and also in the hearts of my devotees, where I am most manifest… Observe the forms and rituals set forth in the scriptures, without losing sight of their inner spirit. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5 (Hinduism)

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.
Habakkuk 2.20

Let us do it the way it is usually done so that we may have the usual result. Yoruba chant (African Traditional Religions)

All the Islamic worship practices aim at morality: Prayer restrains from shameful and unjust deeds; giving alms takes from the wealthy to purify their souls from greed; the fast is a lesson in patience and will; and the pilgrimage is a training course in bearing difficulties and hardships, in equality among all creatures, and in cultivating the roots of peace within the human soul. Al-Ghazzali, Ihia’ Ulum el-Din 130.1 (Islam)

Wang-sun Chia asked about the saying, Better pay court to the stove Than pay court to the shrine. Confucius said, “It is not true. He who has put himself in the wrong with Heaven has no means of expiation left.” Analects 3.13 (Confucianism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The worship service is the time when we make an offering. It is the time when we report to Heaven what we have done and repent for our mistakes. Therefore, it is a most serious time when we are not free to do as we like. (11:163, June 24, 1961)

We earnestly pray that Thou wilt allow this place, where we bow to Thee with hearts rejoicing and which is guarded by angels and the heavenly hosts, to become an altar of wondrous blessing that can lead our whole lives to victory. (7:12, July 5, 1959)

Please let this place become a holy sanctuary where we become one with Thy mind.

Please allow it to become a holy place where only Thou canst take dominion and where we can be close to Thy heart, be moved to tears by Thy situation, and be in harmony with Thy hope. (21:132, November 17, 1968)

The Sabbath

And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, You shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who pro- fanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”47 Exodus 31.12-17

The function of lighting the Sabbath candles has been entrusted to the women of the holy people… This tabernacle of peace [the divine Shekhinah] is the Matron of the world, and the souls which are the celestial lamp abide in her. Hence it behooves the matron of the house to kindle the lights, because thereby she is attaching herself to her rightful place and performing her rightful function. A woman should kindle the Sabbath lights with zest and gladness, because it is a great honor for her, and further, she qualifies herself thereby to become the mother of holy offspring who will grow to be shining lights of learning and piety and will spread peace in the world, and she also procures long life for her husband. Hence she should be very careful to observe this ceremony.48 Zohar 1.48b (Judaism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

The Sabbath day is the day when we return glory to God. (21:76, October 20, 1968)

The Sabbath is not a day to rest comfortably and sleep all day. Rather, it is a day to become one with God and rejoice to participate in God’s joy. Then you will be able to enter into God’s eternal Sabbath when you go to the Kingdom of Heaven in the spirit world.

You will rejoice in God’s eternal love, in the eternal Sabbath of the eternal God. Yet because of the Human Fall, neither God nor humankind could enjoy this Sabbath. (20:330, July 14, 1968)

Once a week, Unification Church members offer bows and recite the Pledge. That day is a holy day. The breakfast we eat on that holy day is a holy meal. We have to dissolve God’s pain and sorrow caused by the Fall. Because they fell, Adam’s family could not attend God and could not share a sacred meal with Him.

This became a source of God’s pain and grief. To dissolve this pain, we bow and recite the Pledge and eat the meal with a heart to praise and honor God. (280:289, February 13, 1997)

The Eucharist

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is [broken] for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11.23-25

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 1 Corinthians 11.27-29

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Christianity is based upon the blood of Jesus, which connects us to his lineage. What is the sacrament of the Eucharist for?

The wine represents Jesus’ blood, and the bread, his body. Partaking of them joins us to his blood and body—to his lineage. But having inherited it, we should love our enemies. Unless you love your enemies, you are not truly of Jesus’ lineage. (May 21, 2000)

The Holy Wine Ceremony in the Unification Church has the same meaning as the Christian Holy Communion has for receiving Jesus. At the Holy Communion, you eat bread and drink wine symbolizing Jesus’ flesh and blood.

Its meaning is this: since human beings are fallen, they should receive a new body.

The Holy Wine Ceremony has a similar significance: through this rite, fallen people reverse the process of the Fall. (Blessing and Ideal Family 4.4.2)

Circumcision

This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.

He that is eight days old among you shall be circumcised; every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, shall be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Genesis 17.10-14

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
At the time of Adam the blood lineage was stained. That is the reason for the Jewish rite of circumcision.

Circumcision is drawing blood from the male sexual organ—the organ through which Satan’s blood lineage was transmitted at the Fall. It is cut to indemnify Satan’s invasion of the male sexual organ at the time of Adam. (277:264, April 18, 1996)

God gave the Israelites the commandment that all their males be circumcised. Circumcision is done by cutting the tip of the male organ and letting out some blood. Thus sanctified, the Israelites could live in the realm of Abraham’s blessing. Sin infiltrated humankind through the male organ, so circumcision, by letting blood from the male organ, restored the sin by indemnity.

It fulfilled the law of indemnity as it was practiced in the Old Testament Age, that is, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a wound for a wound.” Thus, circumcision established the condition to return to God. Now you know why circumcision was necessary: to separate human beings from the blood relationship that was made at the Fall. (54:143, March 22, 1972)

Baptism and Purification by Ritual Bathing

Wash away, Waters, whatever sin is in me, what wrong I have done, what imprecation I have uttered, and what untruth I have spoken.49 Rig Veda 10.9.8 (Hinduism)

Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2.38

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6.3-11

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
By making the indemnity condition of baptism by water, we can be spiritually born anew through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, by taking a piece of bread and a cup of wine at the sacrament of Holy Communion, we receive the precious grace of partaking in Jesus’ body and blood. All these are examples of conditions of lesser indemnity. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Restoration 1.1) Baptism with water is for purifying the body, soiled by sin. It is the next stage after purifying the sexual organ by circumcision. Yet the issue remains, how to connect the people purified in this way to the path of love. (277:265, April 18, 1996)

Holy water is the water of victory, the water of sanctification. Its sanctifying power removes Satan’s blood and introduces Heaven’s lineage. (215:347, March 1, 1991)50

Pilgrimage and Holy Places

Three times a year, all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place which he will choose: at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths.

They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed; every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you. Deuteronomy 16.16-17

In those days and in that time, says the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come; and they shall seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, “Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant which will never be forgotten.”52 Jeremiah 50.4-5

And when We settled for Abraham the place of the House, “You shall not associate with Me anything. And do purify My house for those that shall go about it and those that stand, for those that bow and prostrate themselves; “And proclaim among men the Pilgrimage, and they shall come unto you on foot and upon every lean beast, they shall come from every deep ravine, that they may witness things profitable to them and mention God’s name on days well-known over such beasts of the flocks as He has provided them, ‘So eat thereof, and feed the wretched poor.’ Let them then finish with their self-neglect and let them fulfill their vows, and go about the Ancient House.”53 Qur’an 22.26-29

Pilgrimage falls during known months. Anyone who undertakes the Pilgrimage during them should commit no sexual intercourse, immorality, or quarreling during the Pilgrimage. God knows any good you do. Make provision; yet the best provision is heedfulness. Qur’an 2.197

Though the poorest of mankind come here once for worship, I will surely grant their heart’s desire. Oracle of Itsukushima in Aki (Shinto)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Suppose you die amidst tears and suffering… while devoting your life for God.

Then even if your grave is at the top of the Himalayas, people from all over the world will visit your tomb and weep in memory of you.

The locals might want to discourage them from coming, but no one can stop them. Isn’t it true? When Jesus was being led to his death on Golgotha, he prayed as the Son of God. Who knows what actually took place? Yet that awesome event [has inspired millions to visit Jerusalem.] (97:104, March 1, 1978)

My hometown is Jeongju in North Korea. Would you like to visit there? Why would you like to go there? When we go there, there are many stories that I would like to tell you. I have many anecdotes about my childhood. Therefore, you should visit there at least once in your lifetime.

If you do not, it will be your shame in the spirit world. In the future, Unificationists will regard it as Mecca for Muslims or as Jerusalem for Christians. (Way of Unification 8.3.4.3)

Symbols, Images, and Relics

Worship me in the symbols and images which remind you of me. Srimad Bhagavatam 11.5 (Hinduism)

Then the Sun Goddess Amaterasu imparted unto the first emperor the myriad Maga-tama beads and the mirror which had been used to lure her out of the cave as well as the sword Kusa-nagi… and said, “This mirror—have it with you as my spirit, and worship it just as you would worship in my very presence.” Kojiki 39.2-3 (Shinto)

In due time they purified the bones of the deceased Saint with the finest water, and, placing them in golden pitchers in the city of Mallas, they chanted hymns of praise, “The jars hold great relics, full of virtue, like the jeweled ore of a great mountain, and the relics are unharmed by fire, just as the sphere of Brahma in heaven is unharmed [though the whole earth be burned up]. These bones, pervaded with universal benevolence, and not liable to burning by the fire of passion, are preserved under the influence of devotion; though they are cold, they still warm our hearts.” The wise know the virtues of the Buddha to be such that, given equal purity of mind, the same fruit will be won either by reverencing the Seer during his worldly existence or by doing obeisance to his relics after his passing into Nirvana. Ashvaghosha, Buddhacarita 28.69 (Buddhism)

With a love for the happiness of different beings Shiva Puja shall be performed—so say the wise men. The pedestal represents Shiva’s consort Parvati and his phallic emblem represents the sentient being. Just as lord Shiva remains ever in close embrace of the Goddess Parvati, so also the phallic emblem holds on to the pedestal forever… The devotee shall install the phallic emblem and worship it with the sixteen prescribed types of homage and services: invocation, offering the seat, water offering, washing the feet, water for rinsing the mouth as a mystical rite, oil bath, offering of cloth, scents, flowers, incense, lamps, and food, waving of lights, betel leaves, obeisance, and mystical discharge and conclusion… Everywhere, Shiva accords benefit as befitting the endeavor put in. Shiva Purana, Vidyeshvarasamhita 11.22-35 (Hinduism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Just as among sinful humanity there are filial children who love their parents, there should be sons and daughters of Heaven who come forward to break away from the history of sin.

To demonstrate their dedication, people need an object partner representing Heaven; that is why they set up an altar, arrange a place to pray, or erect a statue of Buddha. Even when you are by yourself, you need to make offerings and to set up an altar or a sacred image where you can offer your devotions.

Then, whenever you meet with good fortune, upon your return you should look at the sacred image and present an offering of sincerity in front of Heaven, saying, “I am grateful for today’s good fortune. I offer this gift before Thee, Heavenly Father, as a token of it.” (123:189, January 1, 1983)

In Buddhism today, many people pray for blessings in front of the Buddha’s statue. The external difference between the worshipper as the object partner and the statue as the subject partner is enormous.

However, in the world of the heart, there is no difference. When people believe and relate to the statue as God, moved by the feelings it inspires in them, then God inspires their minds and fulfills their wishes. (6:342, June 28, 1959)

By wearing a cross around their neck, people show themselves to be Christians. If you carry a picture of the True Parents, it symbolizes that you are their son or daughter. It begins with a symbol, then an image, and finally substance. [People who carry the picture] enter the realm of the formation stage—the first of the three stages of formation, growth and completion; hence they are protected.

Therefore, as tribal messiahs, you should give True Parents’ pictures to everyone in your clan. (212:109, January 2, 1991)

Dietary Laws—to Sanctify the Food We Eat

You shall not eat any abominable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the hart, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. Every animal that parts the hoof and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean to you. And the swine, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you. You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a people holy to the Lord your God… You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.56 Deuteronomy 14.3-21

What does God care whether a man kills an animal in the proper way and eats it, or whether he strangles the animal and eats it? Or what does God care whether a man eats unclean animals or clean animals? “If you are wise, for yourself you are wise, but if you scorn, you alone shall bear it” [Proverbs 9.12]. So you learn that the Commandments were given only to purify God’s creatures, as it says, “God’s word is purified, it is a protection to those who trust in Him.” [2 Samuel 22.31]57 Tanhuma Leviticus, Shemini 15b (Judaism)

O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth… Allah hath forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and swine’s flesh, and that which has been sacrificed to anything other than Allah. But he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.58 Qur’an 2.168, 173

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
When we eat, we should first offer our food to heaven and then eat. Likewise, when we sit, we should first sanctify the place and then sit. (236:338, November 9, 1992)

When you sit at the table, you may enjoy the food, saying, “These are wonderful dishes you prepared today.” It tastes good, so you eat it. You think you know enough, but you do not know how it was prepared.

There could be many stories behind the scenes. You do not know whether the rice was stolen, or from whom it was brought, or what kind of people grew it and prepared it. Maybe the farmer who grew the rice once slept with your wife. Maybe the machinery used to cultivate it was made by a gang of your enemies.

If you knew these things, you would not be able to eat. God knows it all; therefore, He instructs us to purify the things we eat. Without cleansing and purifying the things we eat, we who yearn for Heaven while living in the midst of Satan’s world cannot reach Heaven. (138:183, January 21, 1986)

We use holy salt to sanctify what we eat and wear. Since the land we live in is not God’s nation, God’s sons and daughters should not eat the harvest of the land without first sanctifying it. Would that we lived in a land where we could eat freely of its fruits without needing to sanctify them! (48:252, September 19, 1971)