Where is True Happiness Found?

Everyone must make that transition after they graduate from high school from living with their parents to following the visions they had for their life.

Almost everyone still lives with their parents until they hit the age of 20.  Their brothers and sisters get older and move out to attend college and get married and begin their own family .  You yourself have left your parents.  As we transition into adulthood and get married, we see that our friends begin to fade away as we get older.

Our emotions as we get older shift from just thinking about our own goals and our own wants and needs to our own family situations.  We see that things we used to hold dear to us also fade way or now have little value.

Then as we get even older, our parents may pass away and our relatives and friends who we have loved will also separate from us.  Even in our own homes, we may not experience a smooth and happy life at all times.  We may be at odds with our spouse and children. In other words, the path of life can be bumpy.

Those who are advent fisherman along the seacoast or riverbank are familiar with the different waves at the surface change many times.

At night while fishing we want to embrace nature in deep solitude and peace at such a time.  but then a gust of strong wind comes up all of the sudden and changes the waves.  The water can seem to be angry at you and come to the shoreline briskly toward you.  Nature can be wondrous, stormy and beautiful and peaceful to violent from moment to moment.

No one likes the fact that as we are deeply indebted for life, we want to mature, but we don't want to get older and closer to death.  

No one, no matter how rich or famous, stays in the prime of their life forever.  As they say, youth is wasted on the young as they do not know the blessedness of being youthful.  It is understandable, because if one always eats nourishing and lavish food all of the time, they lose appreciation for its value and goodness after awhile.

Our taste buds distinguish the different flavors between sour, salty, sweet and other taste.  The seasons change automatically from spring, summer to autumn then to winter.  What if these changes were not part of the natural order?

What if it was all of the sudden daylight for 24 hours, what would happen?  Well, in the Arctic, there are longer days and sometimes because they are positioned at a certain place on earth, they experience sunlight for three months or more.  This may seem like a dream for those who enjoy playing a lot of outdoor activities that require the sunlight.  But after awhile, it would be normal to long for the darkness of the night to come.

The beauty and wonder of nature come about when these kinds of changes occur.

The most difficult things that bring about change can also bring about joy.  For instance, one may join an organization with a new ideology that requires a lot of effort and change for them to keep up, yet they are happy at the end of the day after much work.

It is natural as we get older that we get set into a certain pattern or ideal and stick to it and are stubborn about disrupting the 'natural' order.  We as a people must shift our thinking to where we feel happy even though there are changes all around us.

Before one practices any faith, they were headed in one direction.  Usually it is a destructive path.  But after joining, they are headed in a more glorious direction toward God's will.

In the secular world, two people who experience a disagreement will separate and end the acquaintance.  But once joining a mission in your church, you have to mingle together to become one in harmony. However hard it may be, you must succeed in that.

When it comes to applying the teachings of the Divine Principle, the Completed Testament, there is a certain price of indemnity that must be paid in order to turn the wrongful history into the right direction.  In restoration, Gods providence, everything is turned around in the opposite direction of hell.

In order to pay the indemnity, you must search out your enemy first not your friends in order to pay the debt owed to God for our partnership in the sinful history of humanity.  How can this kind of mission and lifestyle be called happiness when paying indemnity can feel like a punishment?

The real question is:  Where is there any true happiness on earth?

The kind of happiness that is everlasting and can be enjoyed by God as well.  You want to put all of your effort into what you learn and put it into practice, but may not experience happiness there. True happiness comes  after the indemnity has been paid and victory is won in the Divine Principle.

Even though one finds the truth and it brings them happiness in the beginning, it does not mean that you will find it all the way through your journey in your mission.

Unless you actualize what you learn in daily life, you cannot feel happy.

Only after hard work and obtaining the goal will you feel real happiness and find yourself the victor.  You must be steadfast against any obstacles along the way and endure any difficulties which you encounter.  Obtain the goal and then look on the past and you will feel real happiness.

Then in conclusion, our happiness can only be felt after winning the victory. Isn't this true in any sport?  Athletes train everyday for long hours to perfect their ability and they find more unity and happiness with their teammates after winning a championship.  This is the goal in any competitive sport.

If this is the definition of happiness, then what is unhappiness?

It is when you are a failure.  There isn't some place built of happiness or unhappiness.  Your actions are the sole determinants of your happiness or lack of it.  This is where the boundary line between happiness and unhappiness lies.

Every moment that you spend on this boundary line, the moment you step to your right you become happy.  But the very moment you step to the left you fall into unhappiness.  So, it is very important that each step by step you walk on the path of life is propelling you forward.

When you want to step forward, it is always your mind that controls the direction.

When you are searching to be happy, you must look into your own mind because it is the subject to everything you do.  Here, you will decide where to go.  You know when and what makes you happy and you also know which direction to follow in order to gain that happiness.


Return for Tomorrow's Post: Reversing the Fall

This post was rewritten and derived from Opportunity for Happiness or Unhappiness.

Farming the Ocean For Peace

We discussed in the previous post how we can find the solution to the world-hunger problem through finding food resources in the ocean.

The problem is, not many people keep this dream alive by sacrificing their lives to learn the difficult trials to become a fisherman like in the olden days.

 Everyday, the life on the ocean becomes a smaller community as this generation does not choose to have careers as fishermen. 

Those who can conquer the ocean will be the leader in the world.  Those who take advantage of the opportunities to learn about the ocean's resource and incorporate it into their livelihood and business will be the leader in the coming age.

Our Future Is In the Ocean

Americans consume meat every day, some eat meat at every meal.  Yet owning and raising cows and pigs is expensive compared to the price of catching one large tuna which can yield more than $4, 000.  Fishing this way is a more lucrative business than raising cattle.  Another problem other than Americans are less interested in becoming fisherman is that we do not eat a lot of fish as a whole. 

The Japanese, however, are extremely fond of tuna. Back in the 1990s the author of "As a Peace Loving Global Citizen" began to look at options to introduce American's appetite to a more Eastern cuisine and raise money and teach about the hidden treasure of the ocean which can solve many of the world's suffering.

Here is an excerpt from his book that explains how his company brought raw fish to America.

"There were many Japanese living in the United States then, and expensive restaurants operated by Japanese sold raw tuna at a high price. Also, some Americans who were learning to enjoy raw fish enjoyed eating tuna."

The business grew and continues to grow as restaurants high-quality fish and his company is at the top of the suppliers list.
 

"The earth where we live is covered by more ocean than land.  All we needed was one boat, and we could go as far as necessary in order to catch fish. The ocean is filled with things to eat. Also, on the ocean surface, there is an active shipping industry. Ships carry things made in countries all over the world to be sold elsewhere.   When we can love and inherit the oceans, we inherit the future.
 

"We purchased several boats in the United States. These were not he large ships that might be seen in a brochure but boats about thirty-four feet to thirty-eight feet in length. They could pursue tuna with their engines turned off. They were fishing boats about the size of a yacht that would not have major accidents.

"These boats were placed in Washington, San Francisco, Tampa, and Alaska. We also purchased a ship repair facility. We did a lot of our own research. We placed one boat in each region and measured the water temperature. We checked to see how many tuna were caught each day, and placed the data on a chart.

"We didn’t just take data that experts had created previously; our members went into the water themselves to gather the information. The results of studies done by university-based researchers in the area were used as reference."


True World Foods, Good Example
 

While his business continued to grow, he made his company an example of how large industries should work with the environment instead of depleting it.  It is crucial for large companies to soon play a major role in protecting the environment which yields the very product that they sell.
This is another wide-spread issue that has also increased the world's suffering, and not preparing the earth for tomorrow. Here the author explains how his company worked using ethics while serving the purpose of the whole.

"We also developed new fishing grounds. If too many fish are caught in one area, it depletes the fish population. It is important to go to new areas. Within a short time, we had made a major impact on the U.S. fishing industry. We entered the business of catching fish on the open sea.

"Our idea was that one ship would go out to sea and catch fish for at least six months without returning to port. When the ship had all the fish it could carry, a transport ship went out to it, took its fish, and resupplied it with food and fuel. The ship had refrigeration facilities where it could store fish for a long time.

"The name of our ship was New Hope, and it was well known for being able to catch many fish. I took that boat out myself and caught tuna. People were often afraid of getting on boats. When I suggested to young people that they get on a boat, their first reaction was often one of fear. “I get seasick,” I often heard them say. “All I have to do is get on a boat, and I start getting woozy and feel like I’m going to die.

The author continues to tell how he is able to influence others to learn more about fishing and how it is ultimately important for the world's economy and future.

"So I got on the boat myself first. From that day, I went out on the boat almost every day for seven years. Even now, when I am ninety years old, I like to go out on the ocean whenever I have the time. Now, there are more and more young people who say they want to go out on the boats. More women say they want to do this. With any task, if the leader does it first, the people follow. As a result, I have become well known as a tuna fisherman.
 

"It would have been of little use, however, if we had only caught the tuna. We also needed to be able to sell it at the right price. We created a tuna-processing facility, and I even sold the tuna myself. We put the tuna in refrigerated trucks and went out and sold them.

"If selling was difficult, we started our own seafood restaurants and sold the tuna directly to consumers. Once we had our own restaurants, people could not ignore us. The United States has three of the world’s four largest fishing grounds.
"The longer a person spends on the ocean, the greater the spiritual aspect of his life will become.  The ocean, can be calm and serene one minute and the next moment change its face and send strong waves."
 
The reality is, the fishing industry is an extremely dangerous occupation.  Deep sea fisherman such as Rev. Moon have been featured on many reality shows and documentaries about the dangers and the excitement enticed through fishing in the depths of the oceans.

Here is one last excerpt to how Rev. Moon overcame this fear and how others can overcome their fear of the ocean and bring about a new age centered on the ocean's resources.


"Waves several times the height of a person will rise up above the boat, as if to devour it. A strong wind will tear at the sail and make a fearful sound. Think of this, though. Even when the waves have risen and a fearful wind is blowing, the fish in the water have no trouble sleeping. They give themselves over to the waves and don’t resist them.

"This is what I learned from the fish. I decided not to be afraid, no matter how strong the waves were. I let the waves carry me. I made myself one with the boat, and we rose with the waves.

"Once I started doing that, my heart was never shaken, no matter what kind of waves I came up against. The ocean has been such a wonderful teacher for me in my life that I created the Ocean Challenge program to give young people the leadership training the ocean provides.training the ocean provides."

Not only does the ocean solve the world food crisis, it can also solve the world's rising economic problem that makes people dependant on the government for their livelihood. 

To learn further about the Ocean Challenge program and how it  teaches leadership abilities by introducing all facets and challenges of the ocean.  This program is just the beginning of preparing the next generation for the new era about to take place centered on ocean activities, and take advantage of the exciting age we are now entering.

To learn more about the Ocean Challenge Program you can visit here and view the introductory video:  Ocean Challenge.


Return for tomorrow's post:  Can't Conquer Space Until Conquer Ocean


Photos courtesy of: freedigitalphotos.net


Note:

Today's text came from the textbook As a Peace Loving Global Citizen,     Chapter  "Our Future Lies With the Ocean" which is based on Dr. Rev.  Sun Myung Moon.

Solution To End Hunger Brings Peace

This picture makes you want to tell the woman to just pick up the food, just reach out and gobble it up.  What if food was out of reach?  Have you ever visited a restaurant and found out you left your wallet before you ordered?  Or have you went to get money out of the ATM and it was a negative balance.  Panic sets in of how in the world are you going to feed yourself and your family this week?

If we find ourselves in this situation, we will immediately ignore all other transactions in order to feed our family.  Food supplies is that important.  How about the ones who can't find relieve, the ones who can never find a way to feed themselves on their own without the aid of their friends and their loved ones?

 

Many affluent people wonder, "Why don't they just get a job?", "Save your money", "Budget, Budget."  I used to be that person.  But now I understand fully how it feels to not be able to do for yourself.  Even with all of the talent in the world, and religion and faith one person has, sometimes God just places people in a circumstance for a certain period of time in order to reach a higher purpose.

What if America was to go through that situation once more?  After the Great Depression, America was very, very affluent in all aspects of society and we were very giving to the rest of the world. 

Are we like this today?  Truthfully, are we like that as a country, ready to sacrifice for the greater good?

At the turn of the 20th century, after the two world wars, America's heart and sacrifice of its men for other countries made it rise to the number one spot in the world.  However, this position is not eternal or stable, it was based on a Godly foundation of thousands of American's sacrifice planting seeds of revival and a higher belief in God than any other country.  They served God in school, in the courthouse, and on their money.

Is America the same as it was in the 1950s?  Are we raised with traditions to care for the world's situation now?  Many liberation movements and struggles and diseases were fought and won by the 1960s and America was living up to the founding father's beliefs. 

Today, can God look at America's situation, the lifestyle and its homes with happiness? Are we fulfilling our mission as a country that the forefather's planted hundred years ago?


Planting Seeds

To solve the problem of hunger we must have a heart that is willing to plant seeds. Seeds are planted and wait unseen under the soil until they are able to germinate and break through their outer cover.

Similarly, it is better to teach a person how to plant and harvest wheat and then turn it into bread, than it is to give a piece of bread to a person who is about to die.

The former may be more difficult and not result in as much public recognition, but it is the only way to arrive at a fundamental and sustainable solution to the world's hunger situation. We need to begin now to study the climate, the soil, and the character of the people in areas that suffer from hunger.

In Africa, there is a species of tree called manchuka. The people in Congo feed the leaves of this tree, which are high in nutrition, to their cattle to fatten them up before taking them to market. They also pound the leaves of this tree on a stone mill, add some oil, and fry them in batter.

If a society was to plant many manchuka trees and make powder out of the entire tree after throwing out the poisonous root, that powder can be turned into bread!

Also, Jerusalem artichokes, which resemble sweet potatoes, grow very quickly once they are planted

in the soil. The amount that can be harvested is three times greater than that of other famine relief crops.

Planting a lot of Jerusalem artichokes is another way to contribute to resolving the hunger problem. In Jardim, a large earthworm is used in farming, and this makes the soil quite fertile. This earthworm's natural habitat is Campana, but perhaps we can study its ecology and use it to help agriculture in other areas.

Koreans are working in the Mato Grosso region to study silkworms.  If the cultivation of silkworms is successful there, it will be possible to make silk cheaply and sell it to buy food. There is no quick fix to the problem of world hunger.

People in each country have different tastes for food and different customs, and the plants and animals are different.
It is as important to teach the skills needed to become self-sufficient in producing food as it is to distribute food directly to those in need.

To teach such skills, we need to build schools in remote areas to combat illiteracy.

Technical schools will need to be established in order to give people the ability to support themselves. The Westerners who conquered Africa and South America did not provide technology to the people who were already there. They only used the people as laborers as they needed to dig up and take away the resources that were buried in the ground. They did not teach the people how to farm or how to operate a factory to provide their own resources.

This was not right.


Providing More Than Just Supplies

Another problem faced by people suffering from hunger is that they cannot afford proper medical treatment when they become ill. On the other side of the world, developed countries are seeing an overuse of drugs, but people who are hungry often die because they cannot afford simple medicine for diarrhea or a cold.

Therefore, as we work to eradicate hunger we must also provide medical support. We must establish clinics and care for those who suffer from chronic illness.

The solution is to "teach a man to fish".  New Hope Farms was created in Brazil’s Jardim region as a model to show how humanity can live together in peace.

It tilled a wide expanse of land to make farmland, and there is a cattle ranch in the higher elevations. New Hope Farms is in Brazil, but it does not belong only to the people of Brazil. Anyone who is hungry can go to New Hope Farms, work, and be fed.  Some two thousand people from all races and from all over the world can always eat and sleep there.

Schools will be established there from elementary school to university. People will be taught how to farm and how to raise cattle. We will also teach how to plant and raise trees and how to catch, process, and sell fish. We do not have only a farm. We use the numerous lakes in the vicinity of the river to create fish farms and fishing grounds.

Here is an excerpt from Korean World Peace Leader Reverend Moon's autobiography explaining more:

"Paraguay’s Chaco region occupies 60 percent of that country’s territory, but it has been a neglected land. The Chaco region was formed when the sea rose to cover the land, and even now you get salty water gushing up when you dig into the ground. I was in my seventies when I first went to Paraguay.


"The lives of the people living in this long-neglected land were impoverished beyond words. It caused me great pain in my heart to see them. I sincerely wanted to help them, but they were not prepared to accept me, a person of a different skin color who spoke a different language. I did not give up, however. 

"I traveled the Paraguay River for three months, eating and sleeping with people from the area. At more than seventy years of age, I was taking on a task that people said was impossible. I taught the people I met what I know about fishing, and they taught me their language. We were on the boat like this together for three months and became friends. 

"Once they began to open their hearts, I talked to them again and again about why the world must become one. At first their reaction was indifferent. Year by year, though, the people of Chaco began to change. After ten years, they changed so much that they held a global peace festival with great enthusiasm.

"Resolving the food situation does not mean that peace will follow immediately. After the hunger issue has been resolved, it is important to carry out educational programs on peace and love. I have built many schools in places such as Jardim and Chaco.

"At first people didn’t send their children to school but instead had them help raise their cattle. We worked hard to convince them that the children and young people needed an education. As a result, we now have many students.

"We built a light industrial factory where they could produce items using simple technologies, and the students became more interested in attending school so they could work in the factory. We are all responsible for the people around the world who die of hunger.

"We need to take action to help them. We need to feel a clear sense of responsibility and find a way that they can be fed and saved. People who live well should come down to a slightly lower position and raise up those who live poorly, to bring about a world where all people live well."


End Hunger Through The Ocean

The author of the "As a Peace Loving Global Citizen" believes that the way to end hunger is through catching and teaching how to fish.  He has one large fishing company and he is the reason why Americans were introduced to the term "sushi" in the first place with his True World Foods fishing company.

He is an advent fisherman who learned the trade in order to bring about world peace through it.

Here is what he has to say:







 

"It was clear that catching tuna would be a much better business endeavor than raising cattle. One problem was that Americans did not eat much fish.  The Japanese, however, were extremely fond of tuna.

 

"There were many Japanese living in the United States then, and expensive restaurants operated by Japanese sold raw tuna at a high price. Also, some Americans who were learning to enjoy raw fish enjoyed eating tuna."

Furthermore when we take a look at any map, we can see that the United States has two oceans which yields plenty of fish to eat.  Also, outside the boundaries of two-hundred miles from land, no country can claim the ocean.  Anyone can go out and fish.  In order to raise cattle, first must buy land, but the ocean is free for anyone to farm fish with just one boat.

 

It is clear to see that the ocean is a treasure trove that guarantees humankind a bright future.  If we look at God's ideal at the point of creation, it is only reasonable that he created the ocean as another source for food.  The author continues:

 

"That is why I teach that those who are concerned with the future of humans must be concerned with the oceans. When we can love and inherit the oceans, we inherit the future. We purchased several boats in the United States."

 

On Rev. Moon's boat the New Hope, he and crew members conducted a large amount of research on how to care for fish and many other elements.  They gathered the information and instead of keeping it to themselves they shared it with local fisherman and the fishing industry making a huge impact.

Another point that may be difficult for Americans to choose the fishing industry as a career chose is a simple matter of seasickness.  Also, fisherman traditionally do not see land for six months at a time as replenishing ships continue to supply the crew with their necessities.

Three-quarters of the world’s fish population live in waters near the United States. Yet, the United States has relatively few people to catch fish, and its fishing industry is extremely underdeveloped. The government has taken many measures designed to support the fishing industry, but they have not had a major impact.

The government offered to sell boats at a big discount on the condition that buyers use them for two and a half years, but few people took advantage of the opportunity.  Reverend Moon tells how this reality frustrates efforts of relieving hunger through the fishing industry.

"When we started to put money into the fishing industry," he continued, "it caused a stir in each port where we went. This was not surprising, since communities prospered wherever we invested. Our work, ultimately, was to pioneer new worlds.

"We were not simply catching fish. We were taking paths not taken by others. How exciting it is to pioneer new paths!  The ocean changes constantly. They say people’s minds change morning and night, but the ocean changes moment to moment. That is why the ocean is both mysterious and beautiful.

"The ocean embraces everything in heaven and earth. It can come together at a particular spot and form clouds or become rain and fall back down. I am very fond of nature, because it never deceives. If it is high, it becomes lower; if it is low, it becomes higher. In every instance, it adjusts its height to become flat."

It may be an extreme ideal that many people would flock to the fishing docks demanding to learn how to be fisherman, but if this industry would increase instead of decrease, then distribute more of the food that is in the ocean, this would be the beginning of solving the world's food problem.

Realistically, I don't want to go out for months at a time to live on a boat, but it may be necessary with the current economy.  This could boost and open up a whole new job market for people out there.  Unfortunately, it does not look like Americans are jumping on this opportunity bandwagon of farming the ocean.  Time will only tell.

 

Return for tomorrow's post: Farming the Ocean For Peace

Photos courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net



Note:

Today's message was taken from "A peace loving Global Citizen" Chapter  7  "More Than Giving Bread, Teaching How to Make Bread".  To learn more about Reverend Moon's community, please visit www.familyfed.org.