2. Understanding Death

On the earth we have parents, teachers and relatives, and in the course of our lives we make relationships with them. In the spirit world the situation is different.
In the spirit world, people are in different realms according to how much they live for the public good, with the most public-minded people closest to God who resides at the center. Those in a higher realm cannot descend to a lower realm, and it is difficult for those in the lower realms to ascend to the higher realms. Human beings were created to become complete while on earth and then pass over into the spirit world. Hence, there is no provision for returning to the physical world once we enter the spirit world. We live just one life, and then we must die.
Our lifetime on earth is too short. Life is too short. Even a lifespan of eighty years is too short. It is not even eight hours in spirit world time. That is why the power of true love is great. True love transcends time and space, and moves at a speed that is beyond our comprehension. (205-65, 07/07/1990)

Without a doubt, the spirit world exists. It surely exists. We were born from the spirit world, and when we die we must return there.
There is an interesting word in Korean, toraganda, which literally means “to return” but also means “to die.” Where do we return to? Not to the soil in the cemetery. To return means to go back to one’s place of origin, and we didn’t start out in a cemetery. To return means to go back through the vast expanses of history, back to its most distant origin. For a person to return does not mean that if he was born as a Korean he returns as a Korean.
Although you may be a Korean when you die, your path of returning is not a Korean path. We all return to the original world that brought forth the first ancestors of humankind. What does this mean? It means that since we were made by our Creator, we will return to the place where our Creator resides. That is where we originated, so that is where we return.
The universe is replete with things in circular motion. When the snow on the mountains melts, it flows through many streams down narrow valleys, into larger rivers, and then enters the ocean. Once in the ocean, it evaporates and returns to the mountains as snow, thus completing its cycle.
Everything circulates. In a similar way, we return. When we return, where do we wish to return to? We wish to go back to a place where we can be higher, a place where we can be happier.
No one wants to become smaller. Therefore, it would not do to return to the physical world, where the laws of motion dictate that all things diminish through activity, and where all motion slows and eventually comes to a stop. (141-269, 03/02/1986)

We live in this world, but it is not the only world that exists. There is also the spirit world. This earthly world and the spirit world are not two completely separate worlds. They are connected as one world.
Then, where is the place where we are to go, the place where we are to live? We are on earth now, living in our physical bodies, but we are moving toward the eternal world. Ordinary people are born into this world, pass through their youth, reach their prime, and begin the downhill slide into old age. They end their lives like the setting sun.
People who know the existence of the spirit world, however, realize that their lifetime on earth is but a fleeting moment compared to the eternal world that awaits them after death. Knowing this, they spend their lives on earth wisely, preparing themselves for the world of eternity. (140-121, 02/09/1986)

Death illuminates the meaning of life. Who knows the value of life? Not those who have lived comfortably. But those who have risked their lives know it well. When people are hanging at the intersection of life and death, they cling to God and implore Him, and many times they are shown the value of life. (74-242, 12/31/1974)

Should we or should we not welcome death? We should welcome it. If you are about to die, and someone asks you what you are dying for, you should be able to answer: “I die for the sake of God’s true love.” You discard your physical body to participate in the realm where God’s infinite love is always active. You leave the earthly world for God’s world of love.
To die is to be born in God’s love. Yet people clamor in their death throes, “Oh, I’m dying!” Death should be a moment of joy. It is the joyful moment when you pass from a realm of limited love to the realm of infinite love. Therefore, the moment of death is the moment of your second birth.
Which do you think God rejoices over more: the day of your birth in a physical body, or the hour of your second birth into the infinite world as a son or daughter of God whose every action is for the sake of love? You might wonder why I talk about such things. The truth is, you cannot establish a relationship with God unless you liberate yourself from the fear of death. (01/01/1982)