God’s Dual Characteristics

Learning Objective: Understand that God has both masculine/yang and feminine/yin qualities that manifest in His Original Internal Nature and Original External Form and are the root cause of all other internal natures and external forms.

Divine Principle Reading:

Probing deeper still, we search for the Ultimate Cause which brought this energy, with its elements of internal nature and external form, into existence. This being would be the First Cause of all the myriad things in the universe. As the First Cause, it must also possess the dual characteristics of internal nature and external form, which stand in the position of subject partner to the internal natures and external forms of all beings. We call this First Cause of the universe God, and we call God’s internal nature and external form the original internal nature and original external form

Activity: God’s Original Internal Nature & External Form

1. Explain:

  • God’s Internal Nature and External form do not appear in creation and so we differentiate them from other internal natures and external forms by calling them the “Original Internal Nature External Form.” God’s Original Internal Nature & External Form are the root causes of all other internal natures and external forms we observe in nature
  • God’s Original Internal Nature is made up of His emotion, intellect and will relating with His concepts, ideas, principles and laws. It is reflected throughout creation.
  • God’s Original External Form is the source, origin, and root cause of all matter and energy in the physical world. We distinguish it by calling it “pre-energy”.
  • An analogy from Unification Thought: Water itself has no definite shape of its own. However, it takes various shapes according to its container. In a circular container, it appears as circular; in a rectangular container, it appears rectangular; and in a tall container, it appears columnar. It is because water itself is shapeless and has the potential for a limitless number of forms and can accommodate into any shape possible. In other words, water exists in countless shapes. God’s Original External Form has no specific form of its own, and yet it possesses the nature of adjusting itself to any image, or adapting itself to countless forms.

2. Have a brief discussion or pair share together:

  • How do you sense God’s Original External Form in creation?
  • If this question is too difficult to grasp, focus on where you see God in the external forms of creation?
  • What part of your internal nature stems from God’s Original Internal Nature?

Concluding Point: God’s Original Internal Nature and External Form are the root causes of all other internal natures and external forms.

[Presenter’s Note: this content can be quite challenging and theoretical to explain, so it’s important to keep it simple for high school students. At this point we just want them to be familiar with the idea that God’s dual characteristics are called Original Internal Nature and Original External Form]

Divine Principle Reading:

It is only natural to surmise that God, the First Cause of all things, also exists based on the reciprocal relationship between His dual characteristics of yang and yin.

God’s original internal nature and original external form each contain the mutual relationship of original yang and original yin. Therefore, original yang and original yin are attributes of original internal nature and original external form.

In summary, God is the Subject in whom the dual characteristics of original internal nature and original external form are in harmony. At the same time, God is the harmonious union of masculinity and femininity, which manifest the qualities of original internal nature and original external form, respectively. In relation to the universe, God is the subject partner having the qualities of internal nature and masculinity.

Activity: God as a Father and Mother

1. On a board/piece of paper, have the group brainstorm a list of God’s qualities and characteristics.

2. Have the group distinguish between which qualities are masculine/yang and which qualities are feminine/yin.

3. Explain:

  • Just as we have internal nature and external form, so does God. They are called the Original Internal Nature and Original External Form.
  • God also has yang and yin attributes just like the rest of creation. These attributes are revealed through his masculine and feminine nature.
  • Yang: Energy
  • Yin: Heart & Love

4. Discuss together (Everyone may not have personal experiences to share yet, but open the floor to see what they think! You can also share your own personal experiences with God here. Keep in mind that both Father’s and Mother’s have masculine and feminine qualities. The point of this discussion is to discover that God is not just our Father, but also our Mother)

5. Share a time where you have experienced God’s love as Fatherly love.

6. Share a time where you have experienced God’s love as Motherly love.

7. What would the world be like if God was only a Father or only a Mother?

Concluding Point: A unique teaching of our church is that God is not just a father/king, but also a mother/queen. That’s why we are able to see both masculine and feminine qualities in the universe and experience both a motherly and fatherly relationship with God.

section-oneManish Saluja