Authors
Fishing as an act of devotion
For 85 days beginning on April 24, 2004, True Father offered a special condition while fishing day and night at the reservoir near Yeosu. Fishing was one way he expressed his single-minded dedication to saving fallen humankind.
True Father did not fish for the sake of fishing, but to make conditions of devotion for God's providence. As he fished, True Father focused his mind and meditated, contemplating how to fulfill God's Will.
He cultivated his mind-body unity, communicated with God, and engaged in deep conversations with Him, all the while keeping in contact with the spirit world. In addition, he taught the members who were with him his fishing techniques, acquired from his vast experience and study.
1. I do not fish for the sake of catching fish. I do it as an act of devotion, so that daylight shines on my path. I have to deal with global matters all by myself. I have no one in the outside world with whom to discuss them.
When I make conditions of devotion, I focus my mind and heart. The results are formidable. People who offer their utmost devotion and make the greatest efforts can reach the summit. (276-057, 1996/01/18)
2. The spirit world helps you only when you do things that other people in the world are unable to do.
You have to be different. Heaven cannot work through you if you are the same as the people in Satan's world. God can work through you only when you are different from them.
Do you think I am making conditions for no reason? I am determined to set a higher standard than anyone else who goes to the ocean or crosses the land or climbs tall mountains.
That is how I reach the level where God can cooperate with me. In order not to lose my resolve to meet that standard, I always carry a fishing pole with me. My ultimate goal is not the fishing itself. (285-317, 1997/07/13)
3. When I go out to fish in the ocean, I am fishing the world. It is for this purpose that I fish; it is a condition of devotion.
You, too, have to learn to love the ocean. The fastest way to focus your mind is by fishing. I can say this from my experience. After I cast my fishing line, I gaze at the summit of a mountain and think,
“How long did that mountaintop wait for the day when it could align with a person who offers devotion in the presence of heaven? Now is that time. I am focusing my spirit while moving this fishing rod to open a clear path for the salvation of all people. By aligning with me, you too can be liberated.” I think about this while relating to all creation.
While focusing on my resolve, I say to the seagulls flying by, “You need to cooperate with my standard, which is to be aligned with God and His desire to complete the providential Will. I am to be focused and will never allow myself to be scattered.
You need to become my object partners and act as the representatives of all things of creation as I offer these conditions of devotion.” It is not relevant whether it is raining or snowing. I fish even when gale winds are raging and lightning is striking around me. Amid my devotion, I forget about that. Such is the life I am leading.
I still remember when I went out from Gloucester on the New Hope and offered conditions for the success of the Washington Monument Rally. I sat on the upper deck of the New Hope and fished for 21 days.
I could not get even one fish to bite, yet I remained single-minded. I did not allow my thoughts to intrude. It was a time when everything was up in the air. We were in a dire situation. Yet with God's help, we witnessed a miracle. (289-122, 1997/12/30)
4. Sitting by myself on the boat in the middle of the ocean, there are times when I talk to myself. My mind listens to what I am saying. Without realizing it, I murmur to myself. As I listen to what I am saying, I realize it is a prophecy.
I find myself murmuring about things that will happen today and tomorrow. On the boat I utter words of prophecy, words of revelation. When I on the boat on the ocean, invariably my mind and body become friends.
When I am on the boat, there is just me, the boat, and the horizon. There is only my mind and body.
Where is the subject partner? If I find the 90-degree angle, I am immediately connected to God because that is what God wants as well. Once my mind and body are united, I am drawn to the place where I can connect directly with the spirit world. This happens when I am on the boat.
God only wants to visit us on earth when we are in a state of mind-body unity. That is where God begins to work. In the state of mind-body unity, we can begin to speak words of revelation.
This can happen wherever we are, but I think I reach this state faster when I am focused on fishing than when I am at home praying.
(262-293, 1994/08/01)
5. You can hear all sorts of sounds on land the sound of the wind blowing, the sound of tree branches swaying, the sound of people, and the sound of mice running around. But the only thing you hear at sea is the sound of water. Even though it is a sound, there is a sameness about it so it does not bother you.
When you go out some distance, you no longer hear flies buzzing. You no longer hear human sounds. There is no better place to practice spiritual discipline. Spiritual discipline is the practice of meditation and self-discipline.
Through spiritual discipline, we can enter a state of harmony in the world of the mind. That is why I do not stay at home but go out to sea where the wind blows on a small boat called the One Hope. It is not comfortable being on that boat. However, it helps me find the center of my inner mind. (262-293, 1994/08/01)
6. People tend to think about going out fishing on a boat when the weather is clear, and they feel good.
That is what ordinary people do. But to become a special person, you need to fish amid sudden downpours and lightning storms. Unless you fish in the driving rain and study how the torrent changes the water and affects the fish, you will not know how changes in the natural environment affect your fishing.
(276-071, 1996/02/04)
7. I built the boat named Cheon Seung Ho, “heaven's victory,” in Korea in 1963. I went to America to carry on that tradition and built a boat called the One Hope. It is not “two hopes,” it is “one hope.” With absolute hope, absolute love, and absolute oneness, I am journeying on the only way.
It is a journey based on a realm where there is unity among the elements of the trinity the Principle that I take pride in having discovered, God's purpose and Will, and the direction that I take.
I have been on boats for several decades. Invariably, I used to go out on the boat from 5:00 a.m. and stay on the water until sunset or later. After coming to Yeosu, sometimes I went out at noon, but then I noticed that all of you went out at that time as well.
It is okay to do that this time, but remember that in your life you need to inherit and carry on my tradition. It is a tradition of going out to sea at 5:00 in the morning and offering conditions of devotion even when there are no fish. (427-207, 2003/12/06)
8. When I was fishing in Alaska, the Coast Guard saw our boats going out in the early morning as if we were engaged in training exercises. They came to my boat and expressed their admiration and praise, saying, “How could you be so serious about fishing?”
At sea, I am the best fisherman. If I were asked to catch whales right now, I am sure I could catch a few whales in a single day. I have already caught practically every kind of fish, including giant Bluefin tuna.
I have been to the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea. There is hardly any type of fish I have not caught. This is why I can observe the affairs of the world. (211-062, 1990/12/28)
9. Many people think I am a man of mystery. It is true that I am good at talking about mysterious things.
Yet more than that, I do mysterious things. When I go out to the ocean on a boat, I am the king of fishermen. Other fishermen may think, “He's the founder of the Unification Church. What does he know?”
But when they see me take charge out there, people who have been fishing for 10 or 20 years marvel at me. If I go to a farm, I am also an excellent farmer. Scholars tend to think of themselves as having a certain aura, but when they meet me, they recognize that I am far beyond their level. What makes me such a person? It is true love. (205-140, 1990/08/12)
10. Fishermen regard fighting with a fish as the greatest fight of all. If a sharpshooter goes shooting with that mindset, his, or her shots will be on target every time. We truly need this kind of mindset.
Fishing has many good aspects. It feels wonderful to spend time at night gazing at the changing phenomena of nature, the waves, and ever-changing clouds. You need to spend that kind of time.
Yet as much as the clouds and waves change, your mind also changes from joy one moment to disappointment the next. While fishing, when you catch a fish you exclaim, “Yes! I got it!”
You especially appreciate the first fish you catch. That is because before you catch any you are so serious, thinking, “I am going to catch a fish with my hands. Let's see what fish I will catch.” The value that you place on your object, the fish, varies depending on your subjective idea and viewpoint.
Whether fishing pulls you down into a bottomless pit or lifts you to the sky depends on you. Your feelings can change dramatically. (152-345, 1963/08/18)
11. You should not remain ignorant of the ocean. The halibut at the bottom of the sea acts as if it were a king. It feeds while it lies on the seabed. Living on the ocean floor with its eyes protruding like antennae, it looks like a moss-covered rock.
While it keeps itself still, small fish follow its scent and gather around it. Then the halibut's body twitches and it swallows the fish. It feeds while lying on its belly.
When it bites the hook, and we start reeling it up, at first, it strives to remain unmoved as if it were saying, “Who in this world dares to touch me?” But before long it says, “Oh my, I'm in trouble!” It is as if it were struck by lightning.
That is what it is like catching halibut. In Kodiak, people rarely catch halibut weighing more than 80 pounds, but I caught several that weighed 200 and even 300 pounds. (206-274, 1990/10/14)
12. I like salmon. Why do I like them? Salmon are brave fish. These fish travel through all the five oceans. They are also tasty. Other fish you need to cook and add some seasoning to, but you can eat salmon as it is, even raw. There is no other fish that is that tasty.
I have another reason for appreciating salmon; it is the quality of their sacrificial love. Four to six years after they are born, they return to their birthplace. How do they know their way back?
As if they had promised each other long before when they were young, the salmon of both sexes meet each other and consummate their love within two weeks. It is as if Adam and Eve engaged in lovemaking after returning to the original Garden of Eden that they had left 6,000 years ago. And that is not all.
Those salmon then die for their young. As soon as they have mated, they die. Indeed, even in nature, love is greater than life. This is the path that Unificationists must follow in the providence of restoration. After all, Unificationists are the tribe of true love. (248-064, 1993/06/20)
13. When I went out to the ocean during tuna fishing season, I could not avoid my competitors. There were as many as 500 boats gathered on the water. I wanted to fish alone, but I hardly had such a chance.
One day, when storm warnings went up, I went out to the ocean alone. Everyone advised me not to go, but still, I went out. My destination was far off, more than two hours from port.
Normally, I would leave port at 1:00 a.m., which I had to do to arrive by 4:00. Yet on this day I departed at midnight. I knew that if a storm blew in, it would take twice as long to get there. I have faced many other similar incidents in my life.
The experience of wild nature is priceless; you cannot purchase it for millions of dollars. Because of the weather, there was not a single boat on the ocean that day. As soon as I cast my fishing line, many fish rushed over to bite it.
Usually, only a dozen or so fish bite on the countless fishing lines that are cast from the boats. But because mine was the only line that day, the hungry fish came rushing to my bait.
The moment I cast my line, immediately a fish took the bait. I thought, “If a storm is going to come, bring it on! Am I a man who worries about storms?” I just fished and fished, drenched in sweat. (233-306, 1992/08/02)
14. People may think they can catch fish just by casting a line, but they are mistaken. For one thing, different fish live in different water temperatures. Fish of different sizes live in different places depending on the temperature.
During the summer, the water is warmer near the surface, so you see small fish near the surface. Fish migrate depending on the temperature of the ocean water. They dislike moving vertically and constantly try to move laterally.
If you want to fish, you need to know about these things. If you want to catch salmon, you have to know where to fish for them. Therefore, you need to become a professional in fishing. If you want to become a professional, you need to study.
If you cannot become a professional, you cannot be good at catching fish. I fish according to the water temperature. I know the places where the water is at certain temperatures and what kinds of fish live there. (263-138, 1994/08/21)
15. When people like us go out to fish, we already know where the fish are. Fish seek food in the morning and evening. During our lunchtime, they swim about for fun because they have already eaten their breakfast.
We go to places where the depth of the water is not uniform, where one place is deep while another place nearby is shallow. Fish take refuge in deep places to hide. When they are enjoying themselves in shallow water, they prefer a place with a flat bottom. I am talking about the morning hours.
In the late afternoon, the fish again have to seek food. I know where to look for different kinds of fish, depending on the depth of the water.
(221-084, 1991/10/23)
16. When you fish, you need to know how far your hook has sunk below the surface of the water. One foot above the seabed is a good area where fish go for the bait. That is where they feed and live, and they do not go much above two feet from the bottom. If you cast your line at this depth, you can catch fish all the time.
If you feel a little tug on your line, you need to immediately pull it up. It is a technique that you need to learn. The tuna is a type of fish that lives freely in the ocean, as if it were the king of the world.
It does not fall for a small bit of bait. You have to find a way to make it go for your bait. For this, you need to study. (221-082, 1991/10/23)
17. If you want to catch bigger fish, you have to drop your line near the bottom of the ocean. Small fish sometimes jump out of the water, but big fish do not jump. They think, “What's the point of jumping?”
You need to cast your line so that the bait falls to about one hand span above the seabed. If you keep it there and let its scent spread, the fish will slowly approach the bait. A fish has to move its fins to swim.
That is why you have to keep the hook one hand span above the seabed so that the fish will have enough room to maneuver its fins. You need to calculate all these factors when you cast your line; then you can almost certainly catch a bigger fish.
The salmon I caught most recently weighed 15.3 pounds. It was the largest salmon we had caught up to that point, and it was my last catch of the season. You have no idea how strong it was.
We had to use a scooping net to lift it, but we could not see the salmon clearly because the water was reflecting the sunset. About two-thirds of its body was in the net, but it had incredible strength, enough that if its head were free, it could have jumped out of the net. If we had not been careful enough, the fish could have cut our line. (205-322, 1990/10/01)
18. Occasionally, a fish bites as soon as a line is dropped. If you immediately begin pulling the line, you will lose it. You have to let your hook sink further until you know it is in deep water. A real fisherman does not pay attention to the small fish that nibble on the bait.
He or she waits for the biggest fish to come, even though it is more distant, thinking, “I know you are biting; never mind the small ones that gather here.” You have to catch that big one that is in the distance. That is how to fish well. I fish like that. Once I fished day and night for more than 40 days. (152-033, 1963/03/03)
19. Hunting is not as ethical as fishing. A hunter has to wait out of sight to shoot the target animal.
However, fishing is different. The fish comes to you and bites the bait. You can fish from the age of five until the day you die.
Even if you think you are a champion at fishing, if you go to a different region, you have to change the way you fish because there are different fish there. If you keep on applying your style of fishing instead of fishing the way it is done in that region, the fish will not bite.
That is why wherever you go, you have to learn how to fish all over again. At the same time, wherever you go you should be able to teach others how to fish. Anyone can be a teacher or a student. That is how fishing makes people equal.
Location makes a difference even if you are fishing for the same species of fish because they will eat different things depending on the location. That is why fishermen in different regions use different bait.
When you move to another region, you have to learn their ways. It is different in each part of the world. This diversity is part of the fun of fishing.
(252-206, 1993/12/30)
The end of starvation
True Parents continue to be concerned about the people who suffer from hunger and face starvation in places like Africa. This became much of Father's motivation for training members in fishing.
He said that our missionaries in developing nations should be experts at fishing and setting up fish farms, to teach the people the skills they need to develop fish as an abundant food supply.
This heart of wanting to save people from starvation bore fruit with the development of fish powder products that food aid programs are now utilizing as a protein supplement.
True Parents want to create model communities where people will inherit the fruit of the ocean providence and treasure it for hundreds or thousands of years. These will be communities whose residents dedicate their hearts and souls to fishing, with the same level of devotion that True Father offered when he went fishing, and where they live happily and share everything equally, without discrimination against anyone.
20. There are many wild animals in the tropical regions. We need to know how to hunt. We also need to be able to fish. If people know how to fish, they will never starve. Teaching people how to hunt is teaching them how to survive.
In the past, the high priest performed rituals that included the offering of animals as sacrifices. I hunt wild animals to help make our members into high priests. It is a sacred task.
Once you learn how to fish and hunt, I will make teams that can go into the wilds. I will send people on hunting and fishing missions to help those living in more difficult circumstances. We have to spread this idea throughout the world: wherever you go in the world, fishing and hunting are means to prevent serious food shortages. (262-255, 1994/08/01)
21. Fishing is simple. Even in the remotest areas of Africa, women have sewing needles. You can make fishing hooks by heating and bending a needle with the flame of a candle. Long ago, I made hooks in this way. You do not need to buy a fishing line either. You can find nylon thread anywhere.
Nylon thread works much better than silk thread. You can make weights by carving out bits of lead and hanging them in the water. You can make a float by cutting sorghum straw and attaching it to the line. Even without a fishing rod, all you need to do is to bait the hook and cast your line into the water. Fish are in abundant supply.
Where there are bodies of water it is not a problem to find fish. The problem is that people do not know the best ways of fishing. I have felt that until now, there was not a leader to teach them. That is why I have been fishing.
(263-045, 1994/08/16)
22. People in developing countries may not know the best ways of fishing. When they know how to fish more effectively, they will never go hungry. In many places, there are lakes and other bodies of water where fish are in abundant supply.
We have to teach people about our advances in catching and farming fish. I have already begun doing that. All you need to fish is a line. You can find a needle anywhere. You can make a fishing hook by heating the needle with the flame of a candle.
Then you can go fishing. You can find bait anywhere. It should not be a problem for one person to feed ten children every day. You can line up the fish end to end so they are as long as a person.
Natural resources are abundant, but without good leadership, it is difficult to develop fully. (262-103, 1994/07/23)
23. Around the world, 20 million people die of starvation each year. How can we save them from dying? I do not go fishing for fun. When I fish, I gaze at the ocean and think about those 20 million people who live across that great ocean.
I have to open the way to save them even if it means offering my flesh and blood. No one has ever considered this. Fishing is my strategy to take time to think about them. That is why I am trying to catch a lot of fish from the ocean and distribute them. Without the ocean, there is no way to save starving people.
Although I am almost 80 years old, I still make time to go fishing, even in rain or snow. All the church leaders try to run away, making excuses and doing whatever they can to prevent me from going fishing.
They do that because they do not understand why I am doing it. Suppose I were to rest; how many people would die while I rested?
Someday the places where I fished with the church leaders will become holy grounds, simply because of the reason that we were fishing.
If many people come forth in the future to inherit that spirit of fishing through my teachings, I believe they will inspire and motivate future generations, expanding the road to world salvation into an expressway. I am doing these things while thinking ahead a hundred or even a thousand years into the future.
(278-319, 1996/06/23)
24. As missionaries, you need to develop your business sense. By doing so, you can save the lives of the more than 20 million people around the world who starve to death each year. Where there is land, you can teach people how to farm; where there is water, you can teach them how to farm fish, so that people do not die of hunger.
If everyone, including the women and children, knew the best ways of fishing, why would anyone die of starvation? Why would people die, when there is water and through fish farming,g they can produce as many fish as they need? That is why I go out fishing.
You need to teach others how to fish well. You also need to teach them how to hunt. You do not know how many alligators and other wild animals might be lurking out there.
I founded the Sightseeing and Hunting Federation for World Peace for the sake of the world. Why am I doing all this? It is because, as a True Parent, I want to take responsibility for those suffering from hunger. My heart is not to give up on anyone in the world. They are all our brothers and sisters.
Think about how it would be if those 20 million people, instead of starving to death, became Unificationists each year.
How many people do you think we can save if the Unification Church takes the lead in doing these things on a global scale?
That is why I am telling you to learn how to farm and fish and build fish farms as quickly as possible. The purpose is to save the people dying of hunger. I am telling you to go and pass on these skills to them. (253-109, 1994/01/09)
Sun Myung Moon