All religions agree that the seeker of Ultimate Reality must restrain his or her desires and subdue the passions of the flesh.

Striking and weakening the body through rigorous self-control, fasting, sitting hours at meditation, etc., are all commendable ways to struggle against the flesh’s desires and ultimately to dominate them.

For most people, the most challenging of them all is sexual desire. Jesus taught that we should be ruthless, “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out…” to which we add a Buddhist story of a nun who did just that—to quench her counterpart’s sin, not her own.

Buddhism promotes the technique of meditating on “the loathsomeness of the body” as a bag of fluids, lymph, bile and feces to help men curb their desire for the opposite sex.

Father Moon also recommends summoning up an attitude of disgust for the body, calling it “Satan’s dance hall.” Related passages on self-conquest are found in Chapter 12: Self-Control; yet, perfect self-control is nearly impossible to attain.

Father Moon explains this predicament as a consequence of humanity’s impaired condition after the Fall. Extreme and forceful practice is required to do what does not come naturally.

Therefore, religions developed to teach the path of intense and unrelenting efforts at striking at the body and subduing its desires. In some religions, these practices became organized into monasticism; nevertheless, people in every walk of life should be making efforts in this direction.

Self-Denial
People are blinded to their self-centeredness. We know that selfish and greedy people are far from goodness; yet, everyone is tainted by selfishness to some extent. This self-centeredness needs to be exposed and beaten mercilessly; otherwise, our goodness is superficial and ephemeral. Therefore, we should deny ourselves. A life of

Extinguishing the Desires of the Body

Beloved, I beseech you…to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul. 1 Peter 2.11
Through the abandonment of desire the Deathless is realized. Samyutta Nikaya 47.37 (Buddhism)
Put to death what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Colossians 3.5-8
Is he who relies on a clear proof from his Lord like those for whom the evil that they do seems pleasing while they follow their own lusts? Qur’an 47.14
Only on complete obliteration of sensuality can one forsake violence. Acarangasutra 4.45 (Jainism)
Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires. Tao Te Ching 19 (Taoism)
When all the desires that surge in the heart Are renounced, the mortal becomes immortal. When all the knots that strangle the heart Are loosened, the mortal becomes immortal, Here in this very life. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.7 (Hinduism)
Realizing that pleasure and pain are personal affairs, one should subjugate his mind and senses. Acarangasutra 2.78 (Jainism)
Confucius said, “There are three things against which a gentleman is on his guard. In his youth, before his blood and vital humors have settled down, he is on his guard against lust. Having reached his prime, when the blood and vital humors have finally hardened, he is on his guard against strife. Having reached old age, when the blood and vital humors are already decaying, he is on his guard against avarice.” Analects 16.7 (Confucianism)
Monks, there are these three feelings. What three? Pleasant feeling, painful feeling, and feeling that is neither painful nor pleasant. Pleasant feeling, monks, should be looked upon as pain, painful feeling should be looked upon as a barb, feeling that is neither painful nor pleasant should be looked upon as impermanent. When these three feelings are looked upon in these ways by a monk, that monk is called “rightly seeing.” Itivuttaka 47 (Buddhism)
Judge Not
Scripture cautions us not to judge another person’s faults, even when they are evident, because neither are we perfect and free from error. Scriptures of all faiths echo Jesus’ teaching, not to regard the speck in your neighbor’s eye before removing the log from your own eye. Father

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The true religious life starts from denying all relationships with the body. If you read the scriptures, can you find any guidance about eating good food and leading an easy life?

It is impossible to find such guidance. Religion teaches you to serve, sacrifice, be gentle and humble. Therefore religious people pray for the sake of others even at the risk of their lives.

The body by itself cannot do this. In this way you can knock down your body. The mind and body fight when they have the same amount of strength. So you should make effort to weaken your body.

When your mind can subdue your weakened body for several months, then even after the body regains its strength it will follow the mind out of habit. When you reach such a level, you will find that your plans turn out well, having support from Heaven.

Then it will be difficult to lead the life you led in the past. You will gravitate towards living an upright life according to your conscience. This is the purpose of the religious life. (38:272, January 8, 1971)

Religions present teachings on how to conquer the body. They instruct us: Be forceful in restricting your body. Do not give in to what the body wants to do. For this reason, religions direct us not to go to theatres or walk through red-light districts.

They command men not to chase after women, and advise women to consider men as thieves and to avoid paying attention to them.

Can you ladies in the Unification Church date?

No, you cannot. Can you men date? No, you cannot. Do I use force to keep you from dating? No. Go ahead, try dating if you want to, but you will find you cannot do it. If someone was stopping you by force, you would do it all the more.

Go ahead and try it, and fall on your own back. What should you do with your body? You should subdue it. Seeking for goodness requires you to subjugate your body. That is why I am asking you to twist the neck of your bodily desires. The body likes to be arrogant. It demands that others serve it. Its philosophy is: “Mine is mine, and yours is mine.” (39:193, January 10, 1971)

You young men should cut off your desire to have every attractive woman you see. You should cut off the music you enjoy listening to—everything the world delights in. Religions direct you to strike the body.

The highest religions advocate denying the flesh completely. Throughout history, religions have taught asceticism and sacrificial service. Why? There is a reason for it.

To enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to realize heaven in this hellish human world. Is this world a place of misery or of happiness? It is a world of misery. Can this world of misery and turmoil ever become a world of happiness if everyone keeps on eating, playing, drinking and dancing?

No, the world will only become more miserable. Therefore, anyone seeking the world of happiness should go to a place of misery and there make a break-through. The way forward can only be found in a place of misery. If it is not there, then God does not exist. (91:286-87, January 30, 1977)

We strike the body to eliminate Satan’s influence. We strike the body to allow the Holy Spirit to take control. To strike our body is to strike Satan. When we strike Satan, the Holy Spirit can occupy what Satan had previously ruled. (1:126, June 27, 1956)

Repentance
Repentance is the first step on the road to recovering our relationship with God and realizing our original self. Sins, attachments, and mistaken views must be acknowledged as such; then it is possible to turn away from the old life and set out on the new path of faith. Since

Feeling Revulsion for the Body and the Corrupt Senses

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell. Mark 9.43-47
In Jivaka’s pleasant wood walked the nun Subha. A gallant met her there and barred the way. Subha said to him, “What have I done to offend you, that you stand obstructing me? For it is not fitting, sir, that a man should touch a sister in orders…” “You are young, a maiden, and faultless— what do you seek in the holy life? Cast off that yellow robe and come! In the blossoming woodland let us seek our pleasure… If you will do my bidding, come where the joys of the sheltered life await you; dwell in a house of verandas and terraces…” “What so infatuates you about this carcass, filled with carrion, to fill a grave, so fragile, that it seems to warrant such words?” “Eyes you have like a gazelle’s, like an elf’s in the heart of the mountains—‘tis those eyes of yours, sight of which feeds the depth of my passion. Shrined in your dazzling, immaculate face as in the calyx of a lotus, ‘tis those eye of yours, sight of which feeds the strength of my passion…” “O you are blind! You chase a sham… What is this eye but a little ball lodged in the fork of a hollow tree, bubble of film, anointed with tearbrine, exuding slime-drops, compost wrought in the shape of an eye of manifold aspects?” Forthwith the maiden so lovely tore out her eye and gave it to him. “Here, then! Take your eye!” Her heart unattached, she sinned not. Straightaway the lust in him ceased and he begged her pardon. “O pure and holy maid, would that you might recover your sight! Never again will I do such a thing. You have sore smitten my sin; blazing flames have I clasped to my bosom; a poisonous snake I have handled— but O, be healed and forgive me!” Freed from molesting, the nun went on her way to the Buddha, chief of the Awakened. There in his presence, seeing those features born of utmost merit, her eye was restored. Therigatha 366-99 (Buddhism)
The body, brethren, is not the self. If body were the self, this body would not be subject to sick- ness, and one could say of body, “Let my body be thus; let my body not be thus.” But since body is not the self, that is why body is subject to sickness, and one cannot say of body, “Let my body be thus; let my body not be thus.”… Now what do you think, brethren, is body permanent or impermanent? [Impermanent, Lord.] And is the impermanent painful or pleasant? [Painful, Lord.] Then what is impermanent, painful, and unstable by nature, is it fitting to consider as, “this is mine, this am I, this is my self”? [Surely not, Lord.]… Therefore, brethren, every body whatever, be it past, future, or present, be it inward or outward, gross or subtle, lowly or eminent, far or near—every body should be thus regarded, as it really is, by right insight—”this is not mine; this am not I; this is not my self.” Samyutta Nikaya 3.68 (Buddhism)
He who delights in subduing evil thoughts, who meditates on the loathsomeness of the body, who is ever mindful—it is he who will make an end of craving. He will sever Mara’s bond. Dhammapada 350 (Buddhism)
The mouth is a vessel filled with foul Saliva and filth between the teeth, The nose with fluids, snot, and mucus, The eyes with their own filth and tears. The body is a vessel filled With excrement, urine, lungs, and liver; He whose vision is obscured and does not see A woman thus, lusts for her body. This filthy city of a body, With protruding holes for the elements Is called by stupid beings An object of pleasure. Why should you lust desirously for this While recognizing it as a filthy form Produced by a seed whose essence is filth, A mixture of blood and semen? He who lies on the filthy mass Covered by skin moistened with Those fluids, merely lies On top of a woman’s bladder.15 Nagarjuna, Precious Garland 149-57 (Buddhism)
Get back, I hate you! Don’t hold my sari, you fool! A she-buffalo is worried of its life, And the butcher, of its killing! The pious think of virtues, And the wicked, of vices; I am worried of my soul, And you, of lust… Fie on this body! Why do you damn yourself In love of it—this pot of excrement, The vessel of urine, the frame of bones, This stench of purulence! Think of Lord Shiva, You fool!16 Akkamahadevi, Vacana 15 and 33 (Hinduism)
Humility
An attitude of humility is essential on the path to God. Any self-conceit, whether nurtured by superior intelligence, wealth, high status, or the praise of others, is an obstacle blocking our way. Genuine humility requires a constant willingness to deny oneself, to be critical of oneself, to endure hardship without

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Your eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and hands are in contact with two roads. When your eyes see for “me” they become the Devil’s eyes; when your nose smells for “me” it becomes the Devil’s nose, and when your ears hear for “me” they become Devil’s ears.

You should rather see with eyes that care for others, care for the nation, the world, and heaven and earth—in other words, you should see with God’s eyes. Those eyes of yours do not exist for your successful career… they exist for the sake of others—to save the nation and liberate humankind. (214:65, February 1, 1991)

When you come home at night and wash your face, look at the mirror and say, “Eyes, nose, ears, hands and feet; you are always a problem.” Ask them, “Did you do anything sinful today?” You should reflect upon what you have seen with your eyes, what you have said with your mouth, how you have acted, and everything you have done by your own power. Then you should go the opposite way. (122:264, November 21, 1982)

Who is your enemy? Your own eyes and ears, your nose, mouth, your thoughts—those are your enemies. You must make your eyes God’s eyes, your ears God’s ears, your nose God’s nose, your mouth God’s mouth, and your hands and feet God’s hands and feet. By doing so, you should find the “I” that can live entirely for the world. That is your revolution.

The borderline between heaven and hell is within your own self. If you move to the right you end up in the Kingdom of God; if you move to the left you end up in hell. Some people stay on the borderline, shifting sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left, back and forth.

Others go to the left; they are headed for hell… Still others keep pushing themselves to live for God and His Will their whole life long… Among those three types of people, which are you? Even Unification Church members are divided among these three types. Some are A, some are B and some are C.

Which type do you want to be? “A!” Oh, you people are ambitious! But you will face many difficulties… You young men, when you see an attractive young woman, do you want to flirt with her? You must cut off that thought. You must cut off all the messages [about love] that you hear every day.

You must cut off all the things the world says are good. You must cut off all of them. That is why religion commands us to strike our own body. The higher the religion, the more sacrifice it demands. Is that the correct thing to do, or not? It is correct. All the religions throughout history have taught people to live an ascetic life, to sacrifice and serve. There is a purpose for it. (91:285, February 27, 1977)

Do you women realize how much you are tempting men? If you are attractive, you should think, “I don’t want to have a pretty face.” (116:18, December 1, 1981)

You must deplore the reality that your body is the Devil’s dance hall. Your body is the Devil’s love nest. Having been defiled by the Devil’s love, your body inherited the Devil’s blood lineage.

You should recognize that based on this blood relationship, Satan’s realm of power is controlling you in order to trample upon your original character. Furthermore, Satan desires through this lineage to dominate you for millions of years to come.

What can you do about this alarming fact? Your country cannot remove Satan for you. You have to do it yourself. (214:285, February 3, 1991)

Satan’s blood flows in my veins. Satan’s greed and Satan’s selfishness are in me. Recognize this fact, and always consider that Satan’s love, Satan’s greed, and Satan himself occupy your very self. Pull out this Satan!

Pull out Satan’s blood lineage, Satan’s desires, and all self-centered satanic elements. With what can you pull them out? For this purpose God set up religions and has been leading the providence of restoration and salvation. (115:42, October 28, 1982)

There are two types of love: love that is pleasing to Satan and love that is pleasing to God… But if you are going about seeking temporary love, you will arrive at death.

Whenever you feel an urge for temporary love, you should whip yourself and pray single-mindedly to strive only for eternal life, while thinking of the darkness of death that awaits you if you gratify that urge. (Blessing and Ideal Family 1.4.3)

Many times Eve was left alone. When she made a fuss, crying out loud under the shade of a tree, the archangel was there to comfort her. Sometimes he carried her on his back. Sometimes he sat her on his lap.

When she was sitting on his lap face-to-face, his sexual organ would almost be touching hers. They had often seen animals mating and knew it was how they came to have their young. Under those circumstances, all the archangel had to do was push his organ into hers, and she would feel, “I like it!”

Man and woman feel pleasure when their sexual organs touch. The thing was bound to happen sooner or later, and that is exactly how the Fall took place.

You men, if a woman comes to you, sits naked on your lap, and touches your sexual organ, would you accept it? Suppose she were very attractive; when she touches your organ, would it be erect or not?

Your love organ should not be hard and erect. No, it should remain limp. If you ever face such a temptation, know that it is an opportunity to restore through indemnity the action of the Fall.

Therefore, even if a very attractive woman tries to force your organ into hers, you should push her away with such force that she tumbles to the ground, and chase her away to a far off place where you will never see her again. (285:201, May 4, 1997)

Turn the Other Cheek
Jesus teaches us to turn the other cheek—to bear insults and abuse without complaint and putting aside all thoughts of revenge. The discipline of non-resistance, even to the point of death, has great value for self-conquest. If we respond to evil in kind, the evil can attach itself to