Understanding the 3 Transitions of Life
Throughout our lives, we encounter many different moments of change and transition, such as entering adulthood, learning to live with a partner, and becoming a parent. Still, no other life change compares to the transition between this life and the afterlife.
Father Moon, founder of the Unification faith, serves as a prime example of someone whose physical life was lived to the fullest in love, and whose spirit can only live on, burning as brightly as ever. On August 12, we celebrated the eleventh anniversary of Father Moon’s ascension—or Seonghwa—into the next life.
The concept of an afterlife has long held the fascination of humanity, both religious and non-religious, leading to the creation of different beliefs, such as a spirit world or reincarnation. Unificationists believe that we are eternal children of God and that though our lives exist in phases that we must transition through, it does not end.
Just like a fetus who cannot possibly know what life outside the womb is like, we cannot know the full extent of the world that follows our physical life. Believing in the spirit world requires more faith since it’s much easier to scientifically prove the life stage we came from before than the one that follows.
We believe that we are given our physical bodies to mature into individuals with the capacity to love large. Our relationships with our families and with God during our physical time on earth prepare us for our transition into our eternal form in the spirit world; a form that is made up of love. Once our time comes to move on, we can let go of our bodies and transition into a world where the spirit exists freely with God, in love.
Because of this, we see the time of transition from the physical world to the spiritual world an event we call the seonghwa—ascension—as a time to rejoice rather than to mourn. We congratulate and offer to our Heavenly Parent the life of love led by the person, and celebrate their rebirth into a whole new, beautiful part of life. Though Father Moon’s passing marked a somber moment in our history, we cannot help but celebrate, because who better to embody the essence of seonghwa than someone who lived such a full life, dedicated to serving people and bringing the world closer to God?
It doesn’t mean that the feelings of loss and grief are not present, but this perspective fills us with the encouragement that, just as “death” is not an end but a transition, our relationship with our loved one is absolutely not over. We learn to let our love evolve and extend to an entirely new realm of being.