Claim. The Unification Church renames death “Seunghwa” — glorious soaring to heaven — and treats funerals as ceremonies of joyful ascension, not sorrow, because true love has overcome the realm of death.
Elaboration. SMM tied the practice to a specific event: “The Seunghwa Ceremony began with the death of my son, Heung-jin. It was established at that time” (2.4. Death is an ascension, 225-136, 1992.1.5). The reframing is doctrinal: “If human beings had not fallen, someone’s passing would have been a happy occasion. That is why I have taught the Unification Church not to greet death in sorrow. Hence, we speak of death as seunghwa (ascension)” (ibid, 199-353, 1990.2.21). The mechanism is overcoming: “Without the declaration that love had overcome death, the Seunghwa Ceremony could not have been established” (ibid, 212-96, 1991.1.2). The practical injunction is to push the departing person forward rather than holding them back — “with the power of love you have to push the person along. Do not hold him back, but push him” (ibid, 199-130, 1990.2.16). The funeral becomes a launch ceremony into a higher-dimensional world.
See also. csg-life-passes-through-three-worlds-womb-earth-spirit