Teaching Sun Moon University professors Divine Principle & Unification Thought

Sun Moon University requires newly appointed professors to go through orientation on the university’s founding philosophy. The university has the professors attend lectures on the Divine Principle and on the Unification Thought. The professors, of course, come from a variety of fields — Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Engineering, etc. After each lecture, a Question and Answer session of unlimited duration takes place between the professors and the university president.

I answer questions about the lectures, the university and of course about the founders of the university, True Parents, and their activities and life achievements. The professors tend to ask questions from the viewpoint of their fields, so many types of questions arise.

Especially after the lecture about the True Parents being the Savior, Messiah and Returning Lord, which the lecturer strongly emphasizes, they ask a variety of serious questions. Out of those questions, “What was Dr. Moon’s life like?” comes up repeatedly and is the one about which the professors are most curious.

I reply confidently based on what I had acutely felt while attending True Father for a long time, “He is definitely not a person though he is person.” As I see everyone’s look of curiosity, I continue, “When we usually say ‘person,’ we mean someone who moves according to rational, reasonable judgment, and common sense. True Parents stand outside of that scope.”

For example, the Yeosu Project began with Father just going off to a small country village, where he fished with the village leader. He listened with interest as the man talked for days about the special characteristics and types of fish and the quality of fishing in the area. For the village leader, suddenly having to take care of a great elder was a bit difficult. However, Father made him feel comfortable, treating him as if he were a long-time disciple. After a few days like this, Father had a sudden overseas international meeting and had to go to the US, so he invited the village leader to go with him. This was the first time the village leader had been out of the country. He didn’t even have a passport. However, he made one quickly and attended the international conference alongside top leaders. He wondered many times if he were dreaming or if it was real.

I will give another example, which I experienced myself: After having two children, no more children came for over ten years. Then in the spring of 2000, just as we were getting ready for Hoon Dok Hae at Hannam-dong, Father suddenly asked me how many children I had. I replied that I had two. He asked why I had only two and said that I would have another. I am sorry, but I did not believe him at all, because we’d had no news of a child for more than ten years. Remarkably, the next month we learned that we were expecting. Our youngest was born twelve years after our second son. My saying that he was a person but not a person is based on numerous such experiences.

The professors then often ask where the focus of Dr. Moon’s interests was. I reply that under any circumstances, he never failed to do two things: The first is remaining true to his essence. He centered the start and finish of any decision on God. When he looked at humans, nature or history, he viewed them through the standard of their essential value from start to the finish.

Second, Father never forgot the providence. Even when he met people with absolutely no connection to the providence, he treated them like members, not disconnected from the Creation, the Fall or Restoration. When President Dae-jung Kim invited Father to the Blue House, I was part of his entourage. As soon as they met, Father said to President Kim, “I have heard a lot about you, but you have not heard anything about my philosophy, so today listen to what I have to say.” He focused only on the providence.

The professors’ curiosity is unabated. “Now that the founder (Father) has passed away, what is happening?” I explain to them about True Mother’s leadership. True Mother is one with True Father. Just as there is no stopping the advance of the providence, Mother’s leadership has gone from that of leadership of a “benevolent mother” to one of a benevolent Mother with the core of a stern Father, conveying True Parents’ complete leadership. She is steadfastly marching toward the liberation of God, the salvation of humankind and world peace. The professors’ expressions brighten as we finish the orientation.