6. Training Ground of the Heart

We cannot live disregarding the heart. Even if you were the president of a country or possessed all the authority in the world, you could not live without a place to express the joy in your heart.
The president has people under his command, government ministers to serve him and followers to meet his every need, but they cannot fulfill the desire of the heart. Only in the family can you experience such fulfillment. Hence the president returns to his family, where he and his spouse can rejoice with each other and with their children. You should be able to boast to others about this joy. It is a joy that can only be experienced directly, not secondhand.
The same is true for God. Even if the whole world were restored, God could not be happy without a family. Therefore, God must have a family of His own. (25-85, 09/30/1969)

In the family, parents should be at the center. In educational institutions which represent society, teachers should be at the center. Your parents raised you from infancy and helped you develop physically and emotionally.
What is school, then? It is a place where you are trained for your future role in society. As the family is the training ground of the emotions, school is the place where you can try out different roles and prepare for your future role in society.
But society is not the ultimate end. It is a stepping-stone to the nation. The nation has a leader. Why is it that people want to see the president and be near him? Once people have learned all they can in the family and then in society, they desire to go on to the next level.
The president is the fruit of the third stage, following on the stages of formation and growth. A seed is planted and sprouts (formation), begins its cycle of growth, and finally the elements come together to produce a flower and bear fruit (completion). In the course of our growth, we attend school to be educated to become people who can become important pillars of society and talented people who are needed by the nation.
What is the purpose of our studies in school? It is training. The school is a place for training and experimenting. With training, you are not in the actual situation; it is a time of preparation. Be sure to prepare well.
What sort of training happens in the family? It is cultivation of the heart. Your heart is cultivated by the love at the center of the family. This prepares you in school to relate to your classmates with the same affection as you have for your own siblings. In the nation, too, you should relate to others with affection. The education you receive from your parents will be important for you in school and in the nation.
Parents should create a foundation of heart for their children and bequeath to their children everything having to do with the heart. Then they should teach their children to live as they have lived, giving them specific guidance on how to live in the family, in society, and in the nation. (180-130, 08/22/1988)

A family is not necessarily good just because it lives in a nice house in an affluent neighborhood. Even a family that lives in a humble house in a poor neighborhood can be a good family. A good family affords peace to all its members, who view their family as the center to which they want to link all aspects of their lives. In a good family, parents and children have a relationship of heart such that they live for each other. Their family serves as the original homeland of their dreams. It is the source of their motivation in all that they do in life. It is the foundation for their lifelong happiness. (29-16, 02/15/1970)