What are the norms of heaven? They are to give priority to public matters. Private matters belong to Satan, and public matters belong to God. You must work for public matters. While you are on this course, you may receive opposition. But if you do not get damaged from the opposition but go over the difficult path with vitality and prowess, you will become a heavenly person and welcome the spring. (47:272)

In the marketplace, if you are greedy, you don't have customers. People don't come and buy things from you. If you are greedy, nobody likes you. All of us know this. There is no one who does not know the secret of how to manage one's life concerning the distinction between private and public matters. Therefore, if you are unable to go to the Heavenly Kingdom, you cannot use the excuse that you did not know how to manage your life. Do you come to know the distinction between public matters and private matters only when someone else teaches you about it? You know it yourself, without being taught.

Suppose your mother divided a delicious rice cake evenly between you and your sister. You ate yours and your sister kept hers without eating it. Suppose you woke up at night and secretly ate your sister's cake, which she had set her heart on. When you tried to eat it, wouldn't your mind say, "You fool!" Doesn't your mind tell you so? Do you feel what your mind is telling you, or not? If you don't feel it, you are not a human being. You should feel it. Why? Because your mind pursues public matters. If you follow private desires, you will perish.

For those who follow the norms of heaven, there is a mind that protects them from destruction. Because there originally existed such a mind in God, human beings come to have the same mind with its original characteristics. It is not an artificial, man-made law. Can you say, "Conscience! Be that way, because I want you to be so for my sake," Suppose you gave a command, "You conscience! You should be this way because I think so," Does your conscience act in the way you desired? We don't know where the command of the conscience comes from, but we receive it from somewhere other than ourselves. When we see how such a feeling in fact controls us, we can see it does so centering on the issue of the public and the private. (31:241)

Today, we stand on the turning point between good and evil and the public and private, centering on one's own everyday life. There are many cases when we mix up the priority between these two and finally fall into a self-centered, private lifestyle. But if one lives that way, one will perish. Therefore, one must repent for one's past self-centered, private life and push oneself into the public-centered life, no matter how hard it is. But then one cannot tolerate the public-centered life and returns to the old private-centered life again. In this way, one goes back and forth between these two lifestyles. When one remains in the private-centered lifestyle more often, one lives a lifestyle that keeps a distance from the public good. This has been the life of even most religious persons until today. Therefore, you must realize that all private-centered people must repent for their lifestyle. (31:241)

Everyone, do you wish to receive good fortune? Do you wish to live an eternal life? To do so, you must become a public person. When you educate children, don't love your sons and daughters alone. You must become parents who love their children as offerings for the sake of the people of the world. When you hold your babies to your breast and feed them with milk, you must think of yourself as if you are a mother who represents all the human race on the earth, and your baby is a representative of all the human race. You must feed the baby milk with this kind of heart. When you feed your baby with milk, don't cherish your child alone. Please become a mother who can cherish others' children with a loving heart as if they were yours. A baby who grows up with the milk of such a mother will certainly become a great person. You may not get an immediate result, but after the first and second generations, you will have a great heir who can lead the world. This is the formula. This will surely happen that way. (31:168)

Now, do you want to devote entire your life to indemnifying private matters? Or do you want to devote your life for the purpose of indemnifying public matters? These two kinds of life are both devoted to some purpose. What do you want to do? The one who stands up at the risk of his life to devote his entire life for public matters and public indemnity must be a great person. A new history will be created by a group of people like this.

Now we stand before the question of how to control one's life. Facing this question, how shall we spend the rest of our lives? This is the challenge of the course of your life. When you manage your life, the issue is whether you live an individualistic life or a public life. This is the question. In your everyday life, when you eat, buy, sell, and do other things, the issue is for what you do all these activities, that is, for whom do you do them. Do you do all these activities for the sake of yourself or for the sake of God? This is the problem. And another issue is whether you have a private feeling or a public feeling in doing all these activities. Your feeling is another issue.

Shouldn't we pursue the position in which we can pledge to go the public path? Anyone who has the mission to indemnify history must advance to the stage that everyone hopes and wishes for. Therefore, in the course of everyday life, how to transcend private feelings and embody public feelings is the important issue that all people of faith must concern themselves with. You should know this and keep it in mind.

What is sin? Sin arises from the private place. Perishing also takes place on the private level. Evil is the same. When private matters are pursued beyond a certain standard, this situation appears evil. Private matters have a certain limit. When they go beyond the limit, they appear evil. The one who pursues them comes to commit sins and perish.

Now, then, what is the position that can be eternally good and eternally prosperous, that can receive blessing and good fortune eternally? Where is the position that can avoid peril, avoid sins, and avoid becoming evil? It is the public position. When you eat, you must eat in the public position. When you work, you must manage with the public position. When you speak, you must digest the situation with public words. In this way, you must live your life connecting all aspects of your life with public matters. The person who lives this way cannot go to hell even if he tries to. (31:164)