2. Understanding Does Not Take Root without Properly Cultivating the Self

World Scripture

Jesus said to them, No one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.²³
Luke 5.37-38

First take up the words, Ponder their meaning, Then the fixed rules reveal themselves. But if you are not the right man, The meaning will not manifest itself to you.
I Ching, Great Commentary 2.8.4 (Confucianism)

If there is no host on the inside to receive it [the Tao], it will not stay; if there is no mark on the outside to guide it, it will not go. If what is brought forth from the inside is not received on the outside, then the sage will not bring it forth. If what is taken in from the outside is not received by a host on the inside, the sage will not entrust it.
Chuang Tzu 14 (Taoism)

There is the man who sees but has not seen Speech [the words of the Vedas]; there is the man who hears but has not heard Her, but to another She reveals her lovely form like a loving wife, finely robed, to her husband.
Rig Veda 10.71.4 (Hinduism)

Hear then the parable of the sower. When any one hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in his heart; this is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the delight in riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the word and understands it; he indeed bears fruit, and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
Matthew 13.18-23

When the man of highest capacities hears the Tao He does his best to put it into practice. When the man of middling capacity hears the Tao He is in two minds about it. When the man of low capacity hears Tao He laughs loudly at it. If he did not laugh, it would not be worth the name of Tao.
Tao Te Ching 41 (Taoism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Why did God send me into situations that were very difficult to tolerate, like prison? Looking back on it, I know it was to broaden my heart. Why should you broaden your heart? God wants to enter and live in you. He tries to step in with his [right] foot, but your heart is closed and He cannot put it in. Then He kicks you with His left foot again and again to enlarge your mind. God keeps on kicking until He can fit one foot inside; then two feet. Next He would put His hands inside, and then put His head in. [Bending over to demonstrate.] God can enter because your heart has enlarged. Eventually, it can become really big.
I observe True Mother²⁴ when she becomes pregnant. In the beginning her belly is small, but as time goes by it grows bigger and bigger. It increases until the baby is born; then it decreases again. It is the same with her womb: it starts out small, but look how it expands! A ten-pound baby can grow within its watery bag. I thought, “How much can her womb stretch? The sac of my heart should stretch even more.”
Ladies, have you ever thought that the baby in your womb might die because your womb could not stretch enough to accommodate it? Then what about your heart? When God’s seed is planted in the sac of your heart and starts to grow, it should grow to be as big as God Himself. But what if the sac of your heart cannot expand enough to contain God in all His immensity? What would happen to God, who is growing inside? If something goes wrong with the baby in your womb, you have a miscarriage after three months. Would God like to go into the sac of your heart if He thought it would miscarry in the middle of His growth? Would God want to plant His seed there?
(110:325-26, January 4, 1981)