The Three Objects Purpose

In the last article, I had explained that the Universal Prime Energy is endowed to the universe by God and it allows the universe and everything and everyone in it to exist, to act, and to multiply. The next sections in the Principle of Creation are “The Three Object Purpose” and “The Four Position Foundation”. As is often the case, the literal rendering of these Oriental characters into English doesn’t always yield the most self-evident meanings. But the notion of the Three Objects Purpose is actually a marvelous idea, and so we’ll turn the lens of Unification Thought on it.

On page 25 of Exposition of the Divine Principle, we read this paragraph on the Three Objects Purpose:

“As a result of origin-division-union action, four positions are formed: the origin at the center, the subject partner and the object partner…, and their union. Any one of the four positions may assume the position of subject partner and engage the other three as its object partners, forming a communion of three object partners. When each of the four then acts as the subject partner and enters into give and take with the other three revolving around it, they fulfill the three object purpose.”

And a following paragraph on the same page introduces the Four Position Foundation:

“…The four position foundation is realized by God, husband and wife, and children… Furthermore, each of the four positions in the four position foundation takes on three object partners in fulfilling the three object purpose. In total there are twelve object partners…“

For the sake of simplicity, we’ll bypass the metaphysics of this understanding of how every created thing exists, acts and relates. We’ll instead focus on its direct and practical effect on our human relationships.

So let’s look at the first paragraph. It states that “four positions are formed” and that when any one of these assumes the subject position, the other three are engaged as its object partners. The next paragraph then substitutes “God, husband and wife, and children” for these four positions. It starts getting personal here.

And now we can pull in further information from Unification Thought. On page 281 of New Essentials of Unification Thought, we read:

“…Since grandparents stand in the position of God in a family, a family four position foundation can also be seen as consisting of father, mother, and children, all centering on grandparents.”

So the three object purpose is expressed in this way:

• the three objects of the grandparents are the father, mother, and grandchildren
• the three objects of the father are the grandparents, and his wife and their children
• the three objects of the mother are the grandparents, and her husband and their children
• the three objects of the children are their grandparents, their father, and their mother

Having clarified that, Unification Thought goes on to say: “for human beings, the purpose for being created is fulfilled within the family by one’s loving these three object partners.” Why is that? Well, Unification Thought explains that the Three Object Purpose allows God’s Love to flow through each subject partner, directly into the life and heart of the three people they are relating to in a loving, affectionate, and devoted way.

The great, grand, infinite, cosmic Love of God becomes immediate, personal, and intimate not just through a breathtaking sunset, or a rare mystical vision, but rather through the day-to-day, arm-in-arm, face-to-face, mouth-to-mouth spiritual and physical touch of the ones in your life who are closest to you and who love you the most and the longest: your own immediate blood kin.

Unification Thought puts it this way:

“Parents’ love is a downward love, from parents to children; conjugal love is a horizontal love between husband and wife; and children’s love is an upward love, from children to parents. …the person in each of the four positions has a different kind of love for each of the three object partners, respectively. Consequently, various kinds of love, with different nuances, come to appear…” – New Essentials of Unification Thought, p. 281-282

So you see, there’s many expressions (“nuances”) of God’s Love that we could experience, daily. I used to think that God’s love was far beyond and above human love; that it was an otherworldly, supernatural experience that saints could feel, but that was beyond the normal experience of regular folks, like me and everyone I knew. Anything else was a lesser love, for lesser people. As Paul conceded in 1 Corinthians 7:

“I say to the unmarried and to the widows: It is good for them if they remain even as I am; but if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry… I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord — how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world… this I say for your own profit… that you may serve the Lord without distraction”

So that’s how I felt for much of my life: that my hope for human love arose out of my imperfection and weakness; so I was shadowed by feelings of apology and guilt. But through the Divine Principle and Unification Thought (and other teachings of Father Moon), I’ve come to know that God doesn’t want to be far away and “worshiped from below” by “His creatures”.

But rather that God – as the father whom the New Testament reveals and the heavenly parent whom the Principle reveals even further – intended to be fully known by us, fully loved by us, and experienced daily by us through those very ones whose daily life and home and flesh and blood we share: my four grandparents, giving their special expression of Grandfather’s and Grandmother’s love, my Dad and Mom, each giving their own very special expressions of love, my spouse, giving the love of intimate, total companionship, and my children, bringing an innocent and endearing kind of love to parents and grandparents.

So my former feeling that marriage and family was God’s concession to my human weakness was transformed. Marriage and family have been elevated to the most sacred place for encountering God. The Principle reads:

“…God’s love is manifested through the various loves of the three object partners. God’s love is the underlying force which breathes life into the four position foundation… – Exposition of the Divine Principle,” p. 39.

So this oddly worded notion of “three objects purpose” is in fact deeply connected to our direct experience and knowledge of God and our happiness in life. Ideally, my “three objects” are how I can get to meet, feel, and know God’s Love, every single day. And through me, they ideally can receive the same. So I try to work towards that beautiful ideal every day. It’s worth the effort…