Stories
- Reflections on Cao Dai and Daesoon Jinrihoe’s Precious Friendship (Canh Tran)
Canh Tran
On the eve of the New Year 2021 (Year of the Buffalo), on behalf of His Eminence Cardinal Thuong Tam Thanh, Chairman of the Cao Dai Sacerdotal Council at the Tay Ninh Holy See, as well as dignitaries in Tay Ninh and Cao Dai Overseas Missionary, we sincerely wish His Excellency Yun Eun-Do, President of Daesoon Jinrihoe, together with his family, the dignitaries of Daesoon Jinrihoe, and the wonderful readers of Global Daesoon GOOD HEALTH, HAPPINESS, LONGEVITY AND PROSPERITY, but above all else we pray you receive many BLESSINGS from the SUPREME GOD OF THE NINTH HEAVEN – GUCHEON SANGJE. For readers who may not know of us, Cao Dai is a world peace and unity promoting religion that originated in Vietnam in the mid 1920s. Like Daesoon Jinrihoe, Cao Dai worships a Supreme God from within a context of traditional East Asian religious thought spanning Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and a multitude of other influences. Cao Dai has a proud history of many decades of interreligious exchanges with other East Asian new religious movements such as Oomoto and Dao Yuan. These past five years, we have been blessed by new friendships with Daesoon Jinrihoe and Weixin Shengjiao, and this resulted in our orders meeting up a dozen or so times to celebrate, learn with one another, and propagate our teachings overseas. Unfortunately though, the past year of 2020, marked a period when we were unable to meet due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. We remain hopeful that we can all make it through this pandemic together and return to normal sometime soon. From my recollection, the journey of friendship between our orders began in July of 2016 when I, alongside a delegation from Cao Dai, went to Daejin University for that year’s CESNUR (Center for Studies of New Religions) Conference, “Religious Movements in a Globalized World: Korea, Asia, and Beyond.” After the conference concluded, we visited Daesoon Jinrihoe’s Yeoju Headquarters Temple Complex, and I remember thinking Daesoon Jinrihoe was probably five or maybe even ten times bigger than Cao Dai. Our delegation was touched by the warm hospitality we received and greatly impressed with all of the beautiful buildings, the traditional Korean design of the architecture, the marvelous landscaping, and the sheer scale of your compound. Likewise impressive was Daesoon Jinrihoe’s university, high schools, and multiple state of the art hospitals. It may take Cao Dai at least 50 more years to be like Daesoon Jinrihoe in that regard. On June 18, 2018, three religions, Daesoon Jinrihoe, Weixin Shengjiao, and Cao Dai, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Association of East Asian New Religions to engage in even closer coordination through ‘global exchange among member-groups,’ ‘joint attendance at international and global religious seminars and conferences,’ ‘the promotion of academic exchange for students and teachers among member-groups,’ and ‘encouraging youth participation in interreligious exchanges.’ In the years since, our orders have met many times and in numerous countries. We have come to feel incredibly close to wonderful friends such as Directors Lee Tae-yeol, Bae Kyuhan, and Kim Wook, Professors Lee Gyungwon, Kim Tae-soo, Ko Nam-Sik, and Park In-Gyu, as well as Jay Cha, Lee Jae-ho, Kim Dong-Hwan, and many, many more too numerous to mention here. We certainly wish to continue to work towards the shared goals stated in our MOU, and we hope that Daesoon Jinrihoe and Cao Dai will have a chance to meet again in 2021. In Cao Dai, God told us that there are no coincidences and that everything has been planned from day one. In our view, the relationship between Cao Dai and Daesoon Jinrihoe is a mission from God and not just a chance occurrence. I believe that despite the Association of East Asian New Religions starting out small, it is a stepping stone in the right direction for humanity’s future. World peace can actually begin with a small number of like-minded, peace-loving religions. Through our collective influence and continual growth, the faith-based movement for world peace that we have started together can grow larger and larger. No one should underestimate what we will be able to achieve together a half-century or full century from now. Until we meet again, my dear friends. Westminster, California, January of 2021 Reverend Canh Tran President, Cao Dai Overseas Missionary
2021-04-21
- Reflections on Daesoon Jinrihoe as a Gateway to Korea (Bernadette Rigal-Cellard)
Bernadette Rigal-Cellard
Daesoon Jinrihoe has been my miraculous key to the wonders of South Korea. In the pages that follow, I briefly will recall my fascinating discovery of Daesoon Jinrihoe. The starting point actually begins with my prior exposure to Korea. As a professor of American Studies, I have taught on US expansionism into the Pacific and thereby the Korean War. The next noteworthy instance of previous exposure came when Professor Bona Kim Lee (Korean Department), a scholar of Korean Buddhist poetry, asked me to publish Korean textbooks for French speakers. Despite some administrative resistance, I immediately accepted, and the books proved to be a great success. I almost met with Daesoon Jinrihoe in 2016 when CESNUR (Center for the Study of New Religions) held their conference at Daejin University, but sadly I could not attend it as I was undergoing surgery. In 2017, I finally had a chance to encounter Daesoon Jinrihoe while Visiting Weixin Shengjiao. The following year, Massimo Introvigne, Rosita Soryte, Gordon Melton, and I were invited by Grand Master Hunyuan Chanshi of Weixin Shengjiao and his daughter Fiona Chang to attend the Chinese United Ancestors Worship Ceremony on January 1st, 2017 in Taipei. A Daesoon Jinrihoe delegation was also in attendance, and this was when I started to learn about Daesoon Jinrihoe and their connection to Weixin Shengjiao. The following spring, representatives of Daesoon Jinrihoe, Weixin Shengjiao, and Cao Dai traveled to Europe to attend an international conference on Daoism. I invited all of them to present on their religions at my university, University of Bordeaux Montaigne. Lee Gyungwon, a professor from the Department of Daesoon Theology, and Taesoo, a research member from the Daesoon Academy of Sciences (DAOS), presented on Daesoon Jinrihoe. Chairman Bae Kyuhan chaired the delegation. My next encounter with Daesoon Jinrihoe came when DAOS invited us to participate in the first World Sangsaeng Forum titled, “Peace and the Path of Mutual Beneficence,” which was held at Daejin. For that forum, I offered a presentation titled, The Strategies Devised by Religions in Order to Promote Peace in the World: Christian and East Asian Dialogues and Interactions. The highlight of our stay was visiting Daesoon Jinrihoe’s Yeoju Headquarters Temple Complex. I recall being overwhelmed by its architectural and spiritual perfection. The dancheong woodwork, the uniqueness of the buildings, and the intense sacredness of Yeongdae impressed me profoundly. Cha Ikje gave a detailed theological explanation of the wall mural series, the Ox-seeking Pictures. I definitely rank Yeoju Headquarters Temple Complex among the most aesthetically satisfying sites I have ever visited. After returning home, I organized a joint lecture with my friend Stéphane Couralet, Chair of the Korean Studies Department, to share what I had learned. He supplemented my photos with his knowledge of Korean history and culture. In March of that year, I presented on Weixin Shengjiao and Daesoon Jinrihoe as two examples of the revitalization of religion in East Asia for Association Thot in Bordeaux. The following year, I was invited to participate in a conference organized by the University of Riga (Latvia) on “Dynamic Asia: Shaping the Future.” I spoke on Daesoon Jinrihoe: Reclaiming the Past to Improve the Future. Weixin Shengjiao hosted the 2018 CESNUR Conference from June 18-21 at their university in Nantou, Taiwan. Weixin Shengjiao, Daesoon Jinrihoe, and Cao Dai signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formally commit to the continual sharing of projects and friendship. Massimo asked me to give the plenary lecture in honor of the late Jane Williams-Hogan, our long-time friend. I spoke about the three MOU member-groups. I appraised their activities through the Revitalization Theory of Anthony F. C. Wallace. In 2018, DAOS invited us back to participate in the second World Sangsaeng Forum at Daejin from October 20-24. I spoke on The Navigatio of Saint Brendan, a narration of an Irish monk’s quest for an Earthly Paradise among the islands of the Atlantic Ocean. I entitled it, The Quest for the Earthly Paradise in Christian and Post-Christian Europe. Following the conference, we revisited Yeoju and also went to Geumgangsan Toseong Training Temple Complex. I paid my respects to Park Wudang, and it was so satisfying to finally see Daesoon Jinrihoe’s signature icon of Maitreya Buddha. The explanations by the chairman of the temple were likewise precious. At this point in my reflection, it might be of interest to mention the human factor in researching and interacting with Daesoon Jinrihoe. Each time we visited Daesoon Jinrihoe, from the moment we landed, our hosts took care of us, translated, offered explanations, and took our queries. We were treated like royalty every minute of the day and not just because of all of the fine dining and memorable banquets. I have started to study Korean at the university here in order to better interact next time I go to Korea. In 2020, precautions regarding COVID-19 resulted in the Third World Sangsaeng Forum being held online. Meanwhile, a full lockdown in France meant more time than usual to write. Increasingly familiar with Daesoon Theology, I explored a poignant image from Daesoon Jinrihoe’s promotional video: the cosmic ball of fire that hits Korea to represent the incarnation of Sangje as Kang Jeungsan. Inspired by this, I composed a nuanced comparison titled, Incarnation and Divine Essence in Daesoon Thought: Their Specificity as Compared to the Christian Ones. I worked a full month exclusively on the topic as it was profoundly fascinating to me. More recently, in December of 2020, the Korean Studies Center of Riga University organized another online conference. Using my recently received copy of The Scriptures of Daesoon Jinrihoe and The Dao Constitution of the Dao, I developed some ideas from 2018 into a paper, Daesoon Jinrihoe Analyzed in Light of Anthony F. C. Wallace’s Revitalization Theory. Whenever writing about Daesoon Jinrihoe, I have two goals in mind: 1.) make Daesoon Jinrihoe more understandable to English-speakers 2.) Provide a European perspective on Daesoon Jinrihoe. The next time I conduct field research in Korea, I hope to revisit Daejin University to ask a million questions to Daesoon scholars to perfect my knowledge of the religion because texts alone are not enough. The crown of it all would be to spend more time in Yeoju Headquarters Temple Complex which, in my eyes, is a little piece of paradise already fully realized on earth in beauty and friendship. Bernadette Rigal-Cellard Professor Emeritus in American and Religious Studies- Université Bordeaux Montaigne, France
2021-04-21
- Preface of 『Daesoon Jinrihoe in Modern Korea』 (Donald L. Baker)
Donald L. Baker
Daesoon Jinrihoe is still a new religion, so it has had to endure the criticism that new religious movements usually receive. It has been labeled a cult, it has been called a purveyor of superstition, and it has been denigrated for supposedly lacking the qualities that define a genuine religion. True to its teaching that we should do nothing to cause others to get angry with us, Daesoon Jinrihoe has not engaged in arguments with its detractors. Instead, it has let its history prove its detractors wrong. Despite its critics, it has thrived and grown large and respectable enough to become a major component of Korea's religious landscape. Yet, up to now, it has not received much scholarly attention. Most scholars of Korea's religious culture focus on its four major components: shamanism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Christianity. Those are all deserving of academic examination, of course, but a focus only on those four relegates to the shadows some of the more interesting, and more distinctively Korean, features of Korean spirituality. Fortunately, David Kim has stepped up to help us gain a more comprehensive view of contemporary Korean spirituality with this survey of the scriptures, theology, philosophy, ethics, rituals and even the sacred art of Daesoon Jinrihoe. Early on in this book, readers will learn about a dizzying series of fissures in the community of those who believe that Kang Jeungsan was the incarnation of the Supreme God Above (Sangje). That will inspire questions about what is so special about Daesoon Jinrihoe that it was been able to rise above the fray and become the largest, strongest and most respected in the entire Jeungsan family of religions. Believers might answer that it is the result of Daesoon Jinrihoe sticking closer to the original message of Kang Jeungsan than other groups. Outside observers tend to give the credit to the organisational skills and charisma of Park Han-Gyeong, also known as Park Wudang. Evidence of Park's organisational skills can be seen in this study. Thanks to the example of Protestant missionaries who first began settling down in Korea near the end of the nineteenth century, for a religious organisation to be seen as respectable and modern, it should operate modem educational institutions and modern hospitals. Led by Park's skillful management in its first decades, Daesoon Jinrihoe has done both. But that is not the only reason for Daesoon Jinrihoe's rise to prominence. Daesoon Jinrihoe has provided guidance for Koreans seeking to navigate through the typhoon-force winds of modernisation. It has shown Koreans how to be both modern and Korean, how to adopt the positive features of globalised modern life without jettisoning those beliefs and values that are uniquely Korean so that they can maintain their Korean cultural identity. It has done that by being both a modern religion as well as a Korean religion with distinctive Korean elements. It is not just that Daesoon Jinri teaches that the Supreme God Above reincarnated on the Korean peninsula and lived as an ordinary Korean man for several years. It also teaches an ethical philosophy that draws on Korean ethical concerns from centuries past. And, though Daesoon Jinrihoe embraces elements from China's Daoist, Buddhist and Confucian traditions, those elements have been so Koreanised that few Chinese would recognise them. For example, both Daoists and Confucians in China believed that change in the cosmos was fueled by relations among five forces, to which were applied the labels of wood, metal, fire, water and earth. Those relations were dominated by mutual conflict, in which wood splits earth by growing out of it, metal chops wood, fire melts metal, water quenches fire, and earth dams water, followed by wood splitting earth again and so on (Yoke 1985, 11-24). This is a never-ending circle of destructive interactions. However, Kang Jeungsan and Daesoon Jinrihoe teach that the world dominated by mutual conflict is drawing to a close. Instead, we are about to enter an age of mutual production. Just as wood produces fire, fire produces earth (ashes), earth produces metal (mined out of the ground), metal produces water (through condensation), and water, in turn, produces wood, human beings will engage in mutually productive interactions with their fellow human beings leading to a world free of injustice, disease, and other problems, a world that Daesoon Jinrihoe labels a Sangsaeng (3, 194, mutually life-giving) world. It is the emphasis on harmony, harmonious interactions within the human community, as well as harmony between human beings and nature, and harmony between human beings and spiritual beings, that resonates with Korean tradition and gives Daesoon Jinrihoe such persuasive power in Korea. Moreover, its approach to achieving such harmony, by eliminating the resentment that injustice has generated over the centuries, also has broad appeal, for who has not felt that they have been treated unfairly in the past and resented that mistreatment? Daesoon Jinri promises a better world in the near future, and also teaches techniques, such as its rituals and its ethical principles, that promise to hasten the end of the old world of constant conflict and lead to the emergence of the new world of mutual cooperation, peace and prosperity. Another reason Daesoon Jinrihoe appears distinctively Korean is that, arguably, it shows less Christian influence than other Korean new religious movements. It doesn't have regular Sunday services with hymns and sermons. Moreover, unlike Christianity, it promises a paradise on this earth, not in heaven above. Even more remarkably, Daesoon Jinrihoe promises that soon human beings will not need divine assistance. Not only does it agree with Buddhism and Confucianism that human beings are capable of becoming god-like through their own efforts, it also teaches that once the old era of constant conflict is over, human beings will no longer need gods for anything since humans will have become like gods. This means Daesoon Jinrihoe is more in tune with traditional East Asian anthropocentrism than Western theocentrism. Daesoon Jinrihoe offers a fascinating glimpse into Koreans have coped with the challenges of globalisation and modernisation while nevertheless preserving a Korean core. There is much that scholars of Korea, not just scholars of religion in Korea but scholars of Korean culture and modern Korean history in general, can learn from this comprehensive study of Daesoon Jinrihoe. We should be grateful to David Kim for finally giving it the scholarly attention it deserves. Donald L. Baker University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada Reference: Yoke, Ho Peng. Li, Qi and Shu: An Introduction to Science and Civilization in China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1985.
2021-04-21
- Daesoon Jinrihoe in Modern Korea - Professor David Kim's Groundbreaking New Book (David William Kim)
David William Kim
Today I would like to introduce one of my latest books, Daesoon Jinrihoe in Modern Korea: The Emergence, Transformation and Transmission of a New Religion (2020). My initial contact with Daesoon Jinrihoe came when I met Professor Lee Gyungwon of Daejin University at an international conference on the study of New Religious Movements (NRMs) in Northwest Africa (Morocco) in around 2012. At that time, it occurred to me that although Daesoon Jinrihoe has been recognized as a well-developed religious organization in the modern history of Korea, its unique teaching and rituals had yet to be unveiled to outsiders including Western readers of Korean Studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and NRMs. By way of contrast, the study of Won Buddhism was already reasonably developed in many countries including the USA and Europe, but Daesoon Jinrihoe was still tragically under-researched. As such, I felt highly motivated to explore Daesoon Jinrihoe as an academic learner from the time teaching at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and Seoul National University. A couple years after that fateful conference with Professor Lee, my personal experience as a researcher of Korean religions began blossoming around 2014 when I started composing articles on my findings. This developed even further when I attended the 2016 Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) Conference which was co-hosted by Daejin University. Numerous personal and public visitations to Daesoon Jinrihoe sites followed, and I might very well be Daesoon Jinrihoe’s most frequently received outside visitor. It was roughly around that same time, that I committed myself to the project of composing a full-length book on Daesoon Jinrihoe due to my fascination with the globalization of native Korean religious beliefs. In writing, Daesoon Jinrihoe in Modern Korea: The Emergence, Transformation and Transmission of a New Religion, my hope was to inform readers that although the traditional religions of Asia played a significant role within each society of the continent by sustaining Asia’s unique regional culture within the history of humanity, the religious influence of those religions was soon challenged by the wave of colonialism that swept the region during the modern period of Asian history. When the global boom of European imperialism and the expansion of Christianity reached the Asian continent, local communities of East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan) experienced confusion but also transformation as well. Among the post-1860 movements, Daesoon Jinrihoe, a religion within the Jeungsan group that was transmitted by Jo Jeongsan and Park Wudang, became one of the most successful movements in terms of its size and social impact. Daesoon Jinrihoe represents an innovative voice that is recognizably distinct when juxtaposed against traditional religions in Korea such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, Christianity, and local folk religions. By reading the volume, scholars will be shown why Daesoon Jinrihoe is not just another syncretic religion, but rather a religion that succeeds at both innovating traditional religious thought and postulating theological explorations that are completely novel and unprecedented even in contemporary virtual society. David William Kim Australian National University Kookmin University, Seoul
2021-04-21
- A Review of the Concept of a Singularly-Focused Mind
Prepared by the Researcher, Hwang Hyeon-Ha Translated by Jason Greenberger 1. Introduction I once lived alone and tended to a farm in the middle of nowhere without any running water or electricity. One unusually cold winter day, it snowed over 30 centimeters which piled up all over the fields outside and the moonlight was remarkably bright and lush. I began reading a book under the candlelight to pass time, and suddenly a youngster from the neighborhood saw the light of my house, came by, and remarked, "You must be very lonely living all alone in a cold room." The youngster left after staying with me for a while, and I thought to myself I do not feel any loneliness at all, but, to him, I am sure that I looked rather lonely. I deeply pondered this word, ‘loneliness,’ and was hit by a sudden realization. “Loneliness is not an innately existent thing.” I awoke to the actual nature of loneliness, and discovered that it is something created by the mind through cognitive processes. Thereby, it is actually the case that, from within falsely perceptions of loneliness, humans create their own karma, and that karma propels them to be incarnated back into Samsara (cyclical existence). I deeply realized that all things and matters in the universe, the sum total of the phenomenal realm and furthermore, even all thoughts themselves, are merely what has been created by our own mind. Based upon this realization, now, I’d like to explore the concept of a ‘singularly-focused mind’ as contained in the teachings of Kang Jeungsan. 2. Body Section To achieve the goal of our spiritual cultivation, what is required first and foremost for all of us who cleanse ourselves through Dao is a singularly-focused mind. This singularly-focused mind can be described in many other ways, such as ‘one-mindedness,’ ‘a unified mind,’ ‘an unchanging mind,’ ‘a pure and pristine heart,’ and ‘true suchness (the true nature of all things throughout the universe).’ In The Jeon-Gyeong, a singularly-focused mind appears in the following teachings: “...At the time of Choi Ik-Hyeon's uprising, the reason that the divine beings actively helped him can only have been attributed to his sincere devotion...” (Reordering Works Chapter 1 Verse 24) "With only fire and water, you shall sustain your life even though you live on a stony peak." (Reorderings Works Chapter 2 Verse 18) “I am in charge of people's happiness and wealth, but I have no means to act upon it. How unfortunate this is! It is because there are none with singularly-focused mind who have awakened. I will immediately give bliss to whoever possesses singularly-focused mind.” (Dharma Chapter 2 Verse 4) “Now, the reason why one cannot succeed in every matter results from the fact that no one possesses singularly-focused mind. There is nothing you cannot do with it.” (Dharma Chapter 2 Verse 5) “Even Heaven is afraid of a man who believes in Me and keeps his mind right.” (Dharma Chapter 2 Verse 7) “Even though I stay in very remote and secluded places like West Shu (Seochok, 西蜀), I will, without exception, visit anyone who possesses one singularly-focused mind.” (Dharma Chapter 2 Verse 13) "The power of a singularly-focused mind is great. In the same barrage of bullets, Im Nak-An was killed while Choi Myeon-Am (Choi Ik-Hyeon) was left alive. His survival was made possible by his singularly-focused mind. A man with a singularly-focused mind can easily destroy a warship ten thousand ri away with a flick of a finger.” (Dharma Chapter 3 Verse 20) If you have a singularly-focused mind like that of the cases described in the above teachings of Sangje,[1] you will be able to move the deities of Heaven and Earth and whatever you apply your mind to will surely be realized. Maintaining a singularly-focused mind is actually the source of all blessings, and even the deities of Heaven and Earth are in absolute awe of those who keep a singularly-focused mind in their devotion towards Sangje. It is said that Sangje will exceptionally take care of those who possess a singularly-focused mind. However, maintaining a singularly-focused mind is said to be even harder than dying. Why exactly would maintaining a singularly-focused mind be even more difficult than dying? 1) Why Maintaining a Singularly-Focused Mind is so Difficult There are waves of greed, debauchery, hatred, and various other kinds of impure thoughts throughout the universe that house the realms of Earth and Humanity. In the Former World, there were divinities that dominated and led that world, and also ancestral spirits and grievance-harboring spirits. Each soul had its own destiny and all longed for grievance resolution. The human mind is such that people find themselves carried away by stray thought-waves and the karma of their ancestors. They lose their original minds through unwanted thoughts, mysteries, and delusions. Their minds end up divided and dispersed, and consequently, it is extremely difficult to maintain a unified mind free from both temptation and fluctuation. “Like day turned to night (joseok ji byeon 朝夕之變)” or “a resolution broken after only three days (jaksim samil 作心三日)” are among many Korean expressions that describe the how quickly and easily one’s mind can change. Sangje once said: “The mind is a pivot, gate, and gateway for gods; They, who turn the pivot, open, and close the gate, and go back and forth through the gateway, can be either good or evil. Instruct that which is good and rectify that which is evil. The hinged door, doorway, and road of my mind is more enormous than Heaven and Earth.” (Acts Chapter 3 Verse 44) In other words, the mind is like a central organ used by divinities, and the mind can even embrace Heaven and Earth. Hence, whatever we hold in our minds, will be responded to by divinities. This is just like how televisions and radios tune in set frequencies. Therefore, Dao cultivators have to carefully exercise control over their minds. By way of explanation, even though you may strive to act as the master of your own mind, supervise it with autonomy, and make proper use of it. If your efforts are insufficient, then many unwanted spirits that have some connection with you will invade your mind. Inner conflict and confusion will then arise from trying to regain control over your mind, and it will be extremely difficult to return your mind to its original state. 2) The Reason Why Nothing is Impossible for Those Who Possess a Singularly-Focused Mind ① All existent phenomena throughout the universe is nothing more than manifested mental phenomena. Early on, thousands of years ago, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva entered into a state of meditative concentration (禪定 dhyāna)[2], and the The Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (般若心經 Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya Sūtra), details Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva’s discovery of the original substance of all phenomena in the universe. This sutra contains the verse "Form is emptiness and emptiness is form (色即是空。空即是色)." 'Form (色 rūpa)' means everything that is visible, has a shape, and has emptiness (空 śūnyatā) as its original material substance. In modern day physics, this theory could be reworded as follows: Matter can be broken down to a single molecule which is the smallest unit for measuring a chemical substance. When the molecule is broken down even further, atoms are revealed. Atoms are composed of an atomic nucleus and electrons. Atomic nuclei are made up of protons and neutrons. When, in turn, they are also broken down, the smallest of all known particles are revealed and these are called ‘quanta.’ When quanta travel in space as light, they are called light quanta. This form of quanta is also energy. The following diagram depicts this in an easily understood manner: ※Matter → Separates into → Molecules → Separate into → Atoms Atoms → ① Electrons → Separate into (Electrons and a Nucleus)→ Quanta → Energy Atoms → ② Nucleus → As shown in the diagram above, matter is energy (氣 ki), and energy is also emptiness and can be referred to as a mental phenomenon. Therefore, the universe is a condensation of mental activity; a universal or collective mind. As Sangje taught: “The proper usage of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity all depend on the mind.” (Acts Chapter 3 Verse 44). Namely, Heaven, Earth, and Humanity depend on the action of a unified mind. Likewise, the Buddha also said 'all phenomena are created by mind-only.' These statements support the observation that all existent phenomena throughout the universe are nothing more than manifested mental phenomena. This principle can be applied, not only to the three dimensional material world, but also to all the spirit realms which formlessly exist in four, five, or even limitless dimensions. ② Human life is recorded in the universe. It is said that all past actions that accumulate over the course of one’s life are recorded in space throughout the universe. If you look to the scripture of esoteric Tibetan Buddhism known as The Tibetan Book of the Dead, the option of lying one’s way out of a postmortem judgement scene does not exist because all the events from the life of the deceased were recorded just as they took place. When the judge plays back those scenes before the deceased after they attempt to lie, the images flash by, all the faults are exposed, and the dead feel overcome with guilt and shame. They attempt to flee from the scene; however, since the screen before the dead is nothing more than accurately depicted past actions, it will not disappear from their eyes. When the deceased grow tired of running away, they will instead try to hide and seek refuge. They will eventually enter into the womb of a human or animal. This is the nature of reincarnation and cyclical existence. However, reincarnation and cyclical existence are only a small part of the larger picture. As we can see from what is presented above, all great historical figures still exist throughout space and time. Therefore, to discover paths traveled by great figures that are not well-known historically, you can enter into deep meditation and match the wavelength of your heart with the wavelength of that person's life. In doing so, you can discover details about the lives of various figures that were not recorded in the history. In the past, a yogi (master of yoga) in deep meditation discovered historical events regarding Jesus during the period of his life from ages 13 to 29, which were not recorded in historical texts or the Bible. ③ Making decisions in one’s mind is just like taking pictures with a camera. As mentioned earlier, the universe is a manifestation of mental activity. In other words, the realization of anything can be realistically achieved so long as it has been properly assigned to one’s mind. Hence, this process is like snapping photos. If you decide upon something in your heart and in your mind, it is like the opening and closing of a shutter that imprints upon film and is later developed into photographs. These photos are imaged through a light source and appear before you the same as they truly were after the film has been developed. Consider the following verses from The Jeon-Gyeong: “A great man's words reach the Ninth Heaven. Not even a word of Mine will ever vanish in vain. Therefore, have good faith in My words.” (Dharma Chapter 2 Verse 2) “...Whatever I do, even if it's just a small joke, all of it is related to Degree Numbers and spreads to Heaven and Earth.”(Acts Chapter 4 Verse 15 ) As you can see from Sangje’s teachings above, He possesses a singularly-focused mind, and consequently, His words are instantly realized in the spirit realm by the great deities of Heaven and Earth. However, in the human realm, His words can be achieved through a process of effortless and natural transformations throughout space and time. He is the Supreme God of the Ninth Heaven and the great ruler of the Three Realms. He is the host over all with the authority to perfectly implement His own will. For instance, He could even raise the dead, suspend the activities of the sun, and control and administer all heavenly bodies and phenomena such as the sun, moon, stars, celestial bodies, wind, clouds, rain, dew, frost, snow, thunder, and lightning. When He existed in human form as Kang Jeungsan, He was the greatest figure among all great figures. Even when He told jokes, they echoed throughout Heaven and Earth and resulted in the recalibration of Degree Numbers. The true intention of these jokes instantly manifested in the spirit realm, and then in the phenomenal realm, they were realized via effortless transformation affecting humans, times, and locations. However, the people of the world are cloudy, diffuse, divisible, and easily subject to change, and hence, if thought of in terms of photography, this film is unclear and it is hard to know what will develop. Therefore, it is only possible to achieve one’s aim after continually strengthening one’s mind and maintaining singular focus; free from miscellaneous thoughts that distract from one’s ultimate goal. In addition, from the following verses we can know that the principles behind mental phenomena move in accordance with the utterly impersonal and strict rule of karmic causality, and thereby, the direction of a wrongful mind of is destined to bring about its own destruction: “Happiness will be brought to you when you have a pure heart. A man who covets what others have, shall fail to acquire happiness due to having the thief's energy in tow.” (Dharma Chapter 1 Verse 21) “When people commit a great sin, they shall be punished via Heavenly penalties, whereas those who commit a petty sin shall be punished via divine penalties or via human penalties.” (Dharma Chapter 1 Verse 32) “...If a true mind is adamantly guarded, blessings are that which comes first.” (Dharma Chapter 2 Verse 3) “There is a saying that 'mu-cheok jal sanda (one lives very well),' which can also be interpreted as people can live happily only without cheok (grudge). Do not provoke grievances from other people, or those grievances will turn into a cheok that will come back to you. Furthermore, do not hate others. Even if that hatred is not consciously known, their spirits will notice it first and return it upon you back as a cheok.” (Dharma Chapter 2 Verse 44) Therefore, Dao-cohorts should always strive to maintain a singularly-focused mind devoted to Sangje. 3. Conclusion So far, it has been shown that the singularly-focused mind is the center of both the universe and also the spirit realm. In truth, those who possess a singularly-focused mind can exert its power freely over themselves and the universe, which is itself a kind of collective or universal mind. However, since the vast majority of people have utterly no means to solve problems involving the dominant divine spirits that led the Former World and other negative spirits such as resentful ancestral spirits or grudge-harboring spirits, only the disciples of Sangje's Dao will be able to cultivate themselves according to the principle of ‘Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence’ and thereby reach the state of truly possessing a singularly-focused mind. In addition, Sangje has designed the complete blueprints for constructing the Earthly Paradise of the Later World during His nine-year Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, the Later World has been built in the spirit realm. As Sangje proclaimed: “If all things, no matter how large or small, are dealt with by the Dao of gods, profound and inscrutable accomplishments shall be gained. This is a natural resolution without need for action. With the Dao of gods, all things can be performed in accordance with righteousness. By doing so, I will determine the destiny of boundless paradise. A new foundation shall be opened when the Degree Number reaches the right time.” (Prophetic Elucidations, Verse 73) In other words, Sangje came into the world and laid down the blueprints for the Earthly Paradise of the Later World, and thereby, there can be no doubt that this world will emerge. All Dao cohorts will have to increase their involvement, cultivation, and propagation throughout the world so that all the people can join us in the coming earthly paradise of the Later World. [1] Sangje (上帝): The Supreme God of the Ninth Heaven who descended into the world as the historical figure, Kang Jeungsan. [2] The phonics in this paragraph are the original Sanskrit words that were translated into Chinese in this Buddhist scripture.
2019-05-22
