Stories
- EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION - Carole M. CUSACK
Carole M. CUSACK
EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION Carole M. CUSACK Read the EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
2022-03-06
- A Delightful Trip to Daesoon Jinrihoe (Mark Burman)
Mark Burman
Assistant Professor Mark Burman (College of Creative Future Talent, Daejin University) As an assistant professor at Daejin University, I have been fascinated by the teachings of the Daesoon religion for some time, and have often wondered what it would be like visiting the headquarters of Daesoon Jinrihoe in Yeoju. Until a few weeks ago, however, I hadn’t had the opportunity to visit nor learn about the religion firsthand. Fortunately, on a chance encounter at the university, I bumped into an American Ph.D. student, Jason Greenbergen, who specializes in East Asian Religions and as it happens is now doing his doctorate on the teachings and practices of Daesoon Jinrihoe. After becoming acquainted with Jason and expressing my interest in the Daesoon order, he contacted his colleagues in Yeoju and together arranged the most wonderful weekend trip to the Daesoon Jinrihoe’s Yeoju Headquarters Temple Complex in and the surrounding area for both my partner, Yujin, and myself. We left Seoul early on a Saturday morning and took the subway to Yeoju where we were met with the warmest welcome by the Manager of the International Affairs Team, Cha Ikje, and Jason at Yeoju Station. After friendly greetings, we were then taken to the spectacular Yeoju Headquarters Temple Complex where we formally met the Director of Religious Research & Edification Department, Director Lee Tae-yeol, for a brief introduction and overview of Daesoon Jinrihoe over tea and coffee. Whilst my Korean is certainly not fluent, we were able to have an enjoyable and relaxed conversation with some helpful translation from Cha Ikje and Jason. After tea, we were then driven to a nearby temple food restaurant named Geolgujaengi, which is famous for its nutritious and healthy vegetarian dishes. Upon arriving at the guest house, we left our suitcases in the room, and then got changed into traditional Korean attire, Hanboks, which had been kindly provided and made to measure by our kind hosts. Following a few customary pictures adorning the new Hanboks taken by the forever smiling and lovely Dahyeon, we entered the temple complex. Walking around the temples we felt as if we had not only acclimatized with the setting but even more so had gone back in time to a quieter, deeper, more spiritual place. We felt exceptionally privileged to be one of the very few people to roam around such a picturesque sanctuary, and even more fortunate to have Ikje as such a knowledgeable, informative, and accommodating guide. His explanations were extremely detailed and he was able to answer all the questions (and believe me there were many!) that we had. We were able to learn about the historical foundations of the religion from the incarnation of the supreme god, Sangje, as Kang Jeungsan to the Doju, Jo Jeungsan, and leading up to the principal leader, Dojeon, Park Wudang. Through Ikje’s meticulous explanations of the teachings of Kang Jeungsan, we could see how the scriptures have such a profound effect on the lives of Daesoon Jinrihoe followers. After the temple tour, we had the genuine honour of being the first visitors to the newly opened Daesoon Jinrihoe museum which had been translated into English by Jason. The museum gave us further insight into the teachings of Kang Jeungsan and how Daesoon Jinrihoe members coexist with others in today’s technologically advanced society. Jason had written the translations in such a clear and concise way that even visitors with no prior knowledge of the Daesoon religion or practices, could enjoy the exhibits and learn about Daesoon Jinrihoe in an interesting and easily accessible way. Time had literally flown by and as it was now reaching sunset, we had a short walk around the museum garden before going back to the guest house to relax, wash, and get ready for dinner. After a quick shower and change of clothes, we went to the guest house lounge to meet up with the International Affairs team for an informal dinner. After a few joyful hours of eating, chatting, and playing games, we decided to call it a night, as we had an early start tomorrow. On Sunday morning, we woke up at 8 am to a breakfast box delivered to our room containing a variety of tasty sandwiches and freshly brewed coffee. After getting ready and eating breakfast, we had our last short walk around the headquarters breathing in the fresh autumn air, before setting off to one of Yeoju's most famous attractions, King Sejong’s burial ground. King Sejong is revered as one of, if not, the most exceptional and influential of Korean rulers of the Joseon Dynasty. King Sejong reigned for over thirty years and has been credited with many important inventions, such as the rain gauge, sundial, water clock, and what is widely believed to be his greatest achievement, the creation of Hangul – the Korean alphabet. Our visit, therefore, to King Sejong’s royal mausoleum is of great interest to Koreans and internationals alike. Here you can visit the tombs of both King Sejong and his wife Queen Soheon. You can learn about the history of the life of King Sejong and can imagine what Korea was like during the early Joseon period. Actually, besides the historical significance of the burial site, the mausoleum is actually located in a spectacular part of Yeoju and is a perfect area to take a walk with your partner, family, or friends. Some of the scenery is quite stunning indeed. Jason and his family joined us for this part, and it was great to see not only the adults enjoying themselves but the kids, too. Unfortunately, the end of our trip was nearing. We had had such a splendid time, that we didn’t even realise it was almost time to go back to Seoul. The final item on our itinerary was, of course, lunch. Our hosts would never dream of sending us home on an empty stomach (even though I was still pleasantly full from such a delicious breakfast!). And so, we had finally come to the end of our Yeoju trip. Ikje and Jason dropped us off at the station and we said our goodbyes, but not farewells! I am sure we will be back again soon. It wasn’t just the generous hospitality we were shown, or the fascinating and ornate temples and museum, or even the beautiful setting of Daesoon Jinrihoe’s Yeoju Headquarters Temple Complex that had made our trip so magnificent. Yujin and I felt we had actually made such a strong bond and genuine friendship with Ikje, Dahyeon, and the others in the International Affairs Team and the Department of Religious Research and Edification who all had worked so hard and tirelessly to make our trip as unforgettable as it was. Ikje and Jason both know my love of the outdoors and hiking, so hopefully, in the new year, we will meet again and go on a hiking pilgrimage together to visit some of Daesoon Jinrihoe's more remote temples amidst nature and the mountains. Thank you Daesoon Jinrihoe for everything! A massive Kamsahamnida, and see you all again soon!
2022-01-06
- Daesoon Jinrihoe and the World of Scholarly Exchange (Edward A. Irons)
Edward A. Irons
Picture a world in which scholars come from all over the world gather to share research. Imagine how such interactions would help alter preconceptions and forge new directions in the field. Visualize also that all discussions are held in an environment free from government interference or surveillance, free from de-platforming, free from any kind of ideological pressure. Such a world was once taken for granted. It now recedes from memory, leaving crumbling chunks of recollection of a bygone time. One such recollection that has left a deep imprint is the CESNUR conference of 2016. The conference was held on the campus of Daejin University. Daejin is a medium-sized university of neat buildings reaching up a mountainside near Pocheon, a city some 50 kilometers south of the DMZ. Attendees made good use of the facilities—we stayed in student dorms and ate in the cafeteria. There were some 100 presentations, fully half by overseas visitors. It is no exaggeration to say that for me it was a life-changing trip because it re-introduced Korea to me. I had worked in Korea over the years, so I cannot say I was unfamiliar with the culture. But my understanding of Korea was inevitably filtered through a Chinese lens. I first lived in Taiwan when I was 17 and later went on to settle in Hong Kong for over thirty years. Born American, I became a long-term expat. As often happens when you live overseas for a long time, the surrounding culture—in my case, Chinese—becomes second-nature. This is both good and bad. Familiarity allows you to go about your days with little concern for your status as an outsider. You are accepted (or rejected) as a person, and the many cultural barriers become invisible. But you also begin to see things through that culture’s lens. In Korea’s case, the traits shared between Korean and other east Asian societies were so familiar that it was easy to overlook their differences. I knew about tofu and noodles, filial piety, and Confucianism. And I felt comfortable in Seoul and other Korean cities. I had visited South Korea for work throughout the 1980s. I’d been to the DMZ. I trudged through freezing Korean factories. And I was there on some momentous occasions—the day President Park Chung Hee was killed, for instance. So short of living there and learning the language, I could claim some familiarity with Korea. Or not. Easy assumptions are perhaps the most pernicious. And you cannot simply cast off the assumptions of your culture of birth, or the ideas you pick up as you go through life. Nevertheless, the Daejin meeting would help open my eyes to a deeper appreciation of the Korean world. Following the conference we visited a number of new religions, including the Unification Church’s Spiritual Training Center at Chung Pyung and the Won Buddhist Central Headquarters in Iksan. The group also spent a fruitful day at the Daesoon Jinrihoe Headquarters complex in Yeoju. The CESNUR forum was followed by two World SangSaeng Forum International Conferences hosted by the Daesoon Academy of Sciences, in 2017 and 2018, for which I was grateful to have been offered the chance to participate. These were scholarly meetings not unlike CESNUR, with multiple presentations by Korean and international scholars, over several days. While hosted by the Daesoon Academy of Sciences and Daejin University, the discussions were not limited to topics on Daesoon Jinrihoe, and we discussed multiple issues in philosophy and Korean new religions. Participating in scholarly discussions is one thing. Another layer of meaning is offered by the people you meet at such events, both scholars and other Koreans. Through research visits to Korea, I’ve been able to deepen ties with several individuals very important to me on a personal level, something for which I’m grateful. Another layer of meaning is place, the act of being in a location of significance. After a year of ZOOM meetings and enforced isolation, we may be in danger of losing touch with this aspect of life. The sounds of the subway ticket machines, the touch of the seat cover on a Hyundai car, the feel of the winter sun bathing the countryside outside Incheon—these things move you into a sensual register. So when it was possible to visit, simply being in Korea put me face to face with a world I could finally begin to see as separate from the Chinese world I knew. I was, I found, ready to explore it on its own terms. Once I realized this I dove in. I read more on Korean history and literature. I began formal study of Korean. And I followed my gut in the way I’ve been trained, through research. I’ve now done a number of papers on Daesoon Jinrihoe, in areas I had no idea I would explore: food and healing folkways, organizational structure, and colonial history. For the last topic I used a Japanese colonial-era source suggested to me by the scholar Ingu Park, a bureaucratic report that summarized social conditions throughout Korea in the 1930s. It offers a unique, if slanted, primary source perspective on Mugeukdo, the early Jeungsanist religion that is a direct predecessor of Daesoon Jinrihoe. The Japanese and Korean writers were thorough, although still subject to mistakes. One of the side benefits of the study on Mugeukdo was how it revealed the large number of contemporaneous new religions then flourishing in Korea. It turns out that the 1920s and 1930s were a time of religious ferment in Korea, a topic I would love to study more. I also began to focus on understanding Daesoon Jinrihoe as an organization. And I felt comfortable in asking for the organization’s help. Daesoon Jinrihoe responded positively. I was able to spend a day visiting branch temples in the Seoul area with Bae Kyu-han, Jason Greenberger, Ingyu Park, and Kim Donghwan. Later, I requested and was allowed to interview key department heads in the headquarters structure. And in January of 2020—yes, on the eve of the pandemic—the headquarters staff arranged a trip to the holy sites of Daesoon Jinrihoe in the Gwangju area. In all these requests, I can honestly say the organization was always open and supportive. This last point is significant. I have not always had good luck getting into organizations I wanted to study. I suspect this is a difficulty common to almost all field researchers into new religions. In the context of Chinese religions I study, I have found that some groups, like Tzu Chi, are simply wary and so are open but only to a point. Others, like Ching Hai and Falungong, fiercely patrol their boundaries and do not often welcome outsiders. Still others are welcoming on the surface, but wish to promote only an official image. This is perhaps most common with middle and large-sized religious organizations which have become self-conscious about how they are portrayed in the media. I cannot say I don’t relate to this, especially in this social media-dominated age. At the same time, it is a problem for scholars seeking a less varnished version of reality. Daesoon Jinrihoe has not thrown up any such roadblocks. There has been no attempt to influence my research findings. Coming from a perspective where I was often denied access, this came as a pleasant surprise. In fact, I feel overwhelmed by the access given to me. Does this mean uncomfortable issues do not exist? Not at all. But Daesoon Jinrihoe has shown a true attitude of openness. Will meetings come back? I am confident they will, and that our old habits and assumptions will revive. All indications are that we will still have electricity and jet travel. The apocalyptic scenarios of 2020 will recede into the background. But they will still be there. When the meetings do come back we will partake with joy and, perhaps, a touch of Dionysian abandon. Why not? After all, we will have dodged a collective bullet. But the ominous unease will still be there. Maybe this is as it should be. Like Walter Benjamin’s angel of history, scholars of religion are fated to face the debris of the past while keeping a wary eye on the descending storms of the future.
2021-06-29
- An Unforgettable Yeoju Eco-Forum (Wang Zhihe)
Wang Zhihe
By Zhihe Wang, Ph.D Director of Institute for Postmodern Development of China Although more than one year has passed, the beautiful experience of the Yeoju Eco-Forum lingers as if it were just yesterday. To be honest, the great success of the Yeoju Eco-Forum exceeded my expectations, thanks to the hard work of Daesoon Jinrihoe, a main cosponsor and our host. It was a privilege to work with Daesoon Jinrihoe for the first time. I was amazed not only by the unique opening ceremony, which kicked off with the thunderous sound of drums performed by a vigorous group of female drummers dressed in red. Likewise remarkable was the hospitality which made us feel at home, and also the deep ecological insights demonstrated by President Yun Eun-do and his colleagues. There is no doubt that President Yun Eun-do and his team felt the urgency of ecological issues and recognized the extreme importance of a forum like Yeoju Eco-Forum. They realized that, although there had been many global conferences on interfaith dialogue and on ecological civilization, there have been few conferences that combined the two topics of interfaith dialogue and ecological civilization. The purpose of the Yeoju Forum was to bring leaders of different religious faiths and top scholars together, to facilitate a dialogue among different religions and spiritual traditions on ecological civilization, and to gather constructive wisdom from this dialogue in order to deal with the urgent ecological crisis and create a new civilization: an ecological civilization. It was such a sense of mission that made Daesoon Jinrihoe devote its whole organization to actively hosting this forum. I still remember the first time we discussed the original concept of the Yeoju Eco-Forum with the Daesoon Jinrihoe delegation represented by Director Lee Tae-yeol, Manager Jay Cha, and Professor Lee Gyung-Won in Toronto, Canada back in November of 2018. Less than one year later, Daesoon Jinrihoe made it happen. This was the first conference in the world that dedicated interfaith dialogue to ecological civilization. Some 500 leaders and top scholars from different traditions and faiths committed to ecological civilization participated in this historical event. That explained why Dr. John Cobb, a pioneer in promoting interfaith dialogue in the West, felt so excited about the forum. He regarded the Yeoju Eco-Forum as “a breakthrough in creating an ecological civilization.” In this sense, we indeed can say the Yeoju Eco-Forum was historically unprecedented. I also learned a great deal from the Forum, especially Daesoon Jinrihoe’s beautiful idea of Haewonsangsaeng (解怨相生), which aims to Promote the Betterment of Others and achieve eternal harmony. I felt very moved by this idea, which reminds me of the crucial role of harmony in traditional Chinese culture. Confucius emphasized, “harmony is what is most precious（和為貴）,” and a Chinese proverb states, “It is better to squash enmity than keep it alive（冤家宜解不宜結）.” Today, when we look back at the past year, at the devastating impact of Covid-19, a global ecological disaster, we have to pay respect to the wisdom of Haewonsangsaeng. This is the time to resolve the grievances of humanity and nature. Deeply influenced by modern mechanistic thinking, we have been abusing nature for such a long time. It is time to correct our mistakes. Also, we should pay a tribute to the Yeoju Eco-Forum for enlightening people’s ecological awareness and sense of ecological responsibility. The Forum reminded us that religion, spirituality, faith, and tradition all play crucial roles. There will be no ecological civilization in any particular setting without deep commitments from a multitude of spiritual traditions. For my part, I am glad that the institution I represent, IPDC (The Institute for the Postmodern Development of China) has made every effort we could over the past ten years to promote postmodern and ecological aims. Working closely with Chinese and non-Chinese partners, IPDC has organized more than 140 conferences, arranged more than 600 lectures given to China by non-Chinese experts, and established more than 30 research centers in China. All of these efforts ultimately aimed at helping China as well as the world to turn towards postmodernism and ecology to create an ecological Civilization. Whether ethnic nationalists like it or not, nature has no boundaries. Creating ecological civilizations is a way of addressing the many problems humans face today in a holistic way, knowing that they are part and parcel of a larger web of life that has beauty and intrinsic worth. Creating an ecological civilization in order to avoid the wide wreckage humans are inflicting on one another and the earth has become the most important task to be undertaken by every global citizen. According to Alfred North Whitehead, the founder of constructive postmodern philosophy or process philosophy, the true religion – the religion of shared humanity -- shares a commitment to the well-being of life itself. Religion at its best is “World-Loyalty”,[1] in which “the human spirit has merged its individual claim with that of the objective universe.” [2] It is the true religion that directs people to the end of stretching individual interest beyond its self-defeating particularity.” [3] True religion as well as true philosophy encourages us to broaden our sympathies, thereby enlarging our interest.” [4] I am convinced that if we all work together --whatever our religious or spiritual tradition -- we can actualize the dream of ecological civilization. History will remember us. Therefore, I cannot wait to work together again with Daesoon Jinrihoe, our ecological partners. I yearn for the next Yeoju Forum and look forward to visiting beautiful Yeoju again in the near future. (Director of Institute for Postmodern Development of China) ________________________________________ [1] Alfred North Whitehead, Religion in the Making, p. 59 [2] Alfred North Whitehead, Religion in the Making, p. 59 [3] Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, p.15. [4] David R. Griffin, Reenchantement without Supernaturalism, p.309.
2021-04-21
- We Are So Truly Alike! (Hiromi Yano)
Hiromi Yano
When others in Japan heard that I was planning to visit South Korea, many asked, “Are you sure you want to go there right now?” Many Japanese are under the impression we are poorly received in South Korea. My answer was pretty simple though: “Don’t be silly.” And I was right. Although I spent less than 72 hours in your country, I found members of Daesoon Jinrihoe and other Koreans, to be friendly, helpful, and interested in me and in Japan. The religious ceremony we attended was memorable. Eiichi Suzuki, then chief director of Oomoto, and I, were invited by Yoon- Eun-do, president of Daesoon Jinrihoe, to attend the monthly Devotional Offering Ceremony in April of 2019. We arrived at Yeoju Temple Headquarters on April 7th and left on the 10th. I vividly remember the traditional attire they gave us to wear for the religious ceremony. Oomoto and Daesoon both value the religious vestments, rituals, and other traditions. Jay (Cha Ikje), leader of the International Affairs Team, and his staff were so kind to help us put the clothes on before the ceremony. Standing through the ceremony was challenging, but when we had naorai or as you say in Korean, eumbok, I felt rewarded for my effort. In the Oomoto context, we usually translate naorai into English as “a post-ceremony feast,” and in Daesoon Jinrihoe, eumbok is translated as ‘blessed food.’ We learned that in Daesoon Jinrihoe, similar to Oomoto, eating together with the congregation is a part of the ceremony. I found other less fortunate commonalities between Oomoto and Daesoon Jinrihoe, but perhaps these are actually broader societal commonalities between Korea and Japan. Namely, when we attended executive meetings at the Yeoju headquarters, it was just like Oomoto. Most of the attendees were older men in black suits and ties. I have nothing against these men or their suits and ties. They were very distinguished, friendly, and cooperative. Oomoto is the same. Although we always have a woman as our spiritual leader, as mandated in the sacred Oomoto teachings, the vast majority of our directors are conspicuously men of advanced age, most often in black suits and ties. I am not involved at all in the feminist movement. But I do not think either of our teachings emphasize strict gender roles for men or women. I have become quite aware of these matters this past year because I have three married sons all working at their homes due to COVID-19 mandates. It is only now that they realize how exhausting household chores can be and how meaningful it is to care for their children. During our short visit, we visited Daejin Girls’ High School where we spoke to three brilliant students. In the future, I hope these girls will take the helm of their nation. Regardless of conservative or liberal leanings, Daesoon Jinrihoe and Oomoto should continue to keep our good old traditions while also examining societal conventions that warrant reconsideration. Personally, I disregard politicians, but we should honor the official decisions made between countries. Sentiments should be set aside. To overcome our misunderstandings, Oomoto and Daesoon Jinrihoe should engage in more interfaith exchanges like Daesoon Jinrihoe’s World Sangsaeng Forum and Oomoto’s IRUHA (the International Network of Universal Love and Brotherhood Association). Koreans and Japanese are similar in both positive and negative ways. Our cultural bonds, which nearly make us family, ironically make our interactions harder than they would be with complete strangers. As everybody knows, K-Pop is popular among Japanese youths and Japanese anime is popular with young Koreans. I emphasize youths because their mindset predicts our future. I have seen this directly with joint Israeli and Palestinian youth programs in Japan over the past two decades. Participants often remark they never realized how similar Israelis and Palestinians were until they came to Japan to live and travel together. Through IRUHA, youths from Daesoon Jinrihoe and Oomoto shared important teachings from their respective religions with one another. I believe this kind of sharing among the young bodes well for future relations between both our religions and our nations.
2021-04-21
