• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.27
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• pp.245-282
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• 2016

Currently, the whole world is being swept away by spiritual movements seeking divinity in oneself. Yet there are terror attacks, religious disputes and other conflicts continuously taking place on larger and larger scales as well as expanding further and further throughout the world. Interreligious harmony seems like a distant ideal. What is the ultimate cause of religious conflicts? Is interreligious communication truly that difficult? Even among different cultures, said cultures' varieties of ritual expressions, and various religious doctrines, there are points of general common to be appreciated if a deep perspective is adopted. When we find the common ground and understand each other's difference, it will be easier to communicate since everyone will be learning from each other. What could serve as common ground for different religions? Many scholars speak about the state of 'oneness' that is claimed by mysticism throughout a large array of religions. This state of oneness is typically not achieved overnight, but it serves as a prospective state which is pluralistically inclusive. This "religion of enlightenment" emphasizes the process of reaching comprehensive interreligious agreement would be characterized by a deep religious perspective. If superficial religious perspectives focuses only on faith to attain blessings and engage in blind belief, then, by contrast, deep religious perspectives emphasize inner divinity, the true self, orthe higher self. The words, 'superficial religious perspective' and 'deep religious perspective' were defined for personal convenience by O Gang-nam, a scholar of comparative religion. Consequently, this classification is a relative binary concept lacking hard and fast rules with regards to distinctions. But the concept of superficial religious perspectives and deep religious perspectives has its advantage in allowing clearer and easier discussion about religions because it could embrace all aspects of religious life and the development of various religious sentiment. In this way, the terms surface religious perspectives and deep religious perspectives will be used in limited framework. I both borrow this concept and reconsider it by referring to other scholars' methods of classification. From that point, I explore and these views in relation to religious experience. How does religiosity develop, maturity of religious faith take place, deep awareness of truth reveal itself, or an attitude of open-mindedness arise? After these states are realized, is interreligious agreement possible? Most religious studies scholars point out 'religious experience.' They say people could develop their faith from superficial religious beliefs into a more mature and deeper faith through religious experience while continuously aspiring towards enlightenment and practicing their religion in daily life. This study will try to examine aspects of superficial religious perspectives and deep religious perspectives represented in each religion and also explore criticism of each religion. With this view of superficial religious perspectives and deep religious perspectives, some cases documenting the religious experience of Daesoonjinrihoe disciples will be analyzed to see how their religiosity develops from superficial religious perspectives into deep religious perspectives through certain religious experiences. The characteristics of those experiences will also be investigated.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.24_1
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• pp.315-349
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• 2014

This paper was carried out to bring the researches on Cultivation Practice of Daesoonjinrihoe which have been at a standstill after analyzing the directions of studies on Cultivation Practice and diagnosing its problems, in addition to that, the paper was also conducted in a way of discussing the research directions in the future. This work enables scholars who have interests in Daesoon Thoughts to easily comprehend over the length and breadth of Cultivation Practice of Daesoonjinrihoe as well as help them understand what level of researches regarding Cultivation Practice has been demanded. Furthermore, this paper will be a step-stone for scholars to ponder how and on what perspective they approach a wide variety of studies on Daesoon Thoughts. The problems reflected on the previous researches on Cultivation Practice are summarized as follows: first, except a few researches in general, problem recognition, research target, style, method, and content are not diverged from the frame defined by Jang Byeong-Gil, who set it up in Daesoon Religion and Thought (Daesoon Jonggyo Sasang) in 1989. Proliferating overlapped researches without developing problem awareness is of great concern. And such researching climate has gradually set in. Secondly, there are numerous researches intending to reveal the researcher's forceful attitude implying faith. Thirdly, most of the previous researches neglect to focus on defining the range of researches. Fourthly, when defining concepts, more thorough insight is needed. Lastly, the researches on analysing symbols and attempting signification analysis are relatively few, only to find many errors. To solve these problems, this paper suggests to develop theories which back up Cultivation Practice by researching on the fields of theory of mind-nature(心性), theory of mind-qi(心氣), theory of pain, Religious Ethics, viewpoint of God/gods, and psychology. Secondly, all the symbols and meanings of elements shown in Cultivation Practice need analyzing more elaborately sophisticatedly and more in-depth. In order to fulfil this goal, by adapting the recent trends of historical studies, it is essential to attempt to engraft Cultivation Practice of Daesoonjinrihoe on cultural phenomena, to analyze thick layers of meanings beneath its surface, to interpret differently, utilizing various perspectives such as focusing on the gender problems, and to extract true meanings out of Cultivation Practice by analyzing everyday events which can occur in real cultivation practices. Thirdly, the terms and concepts regarding Cultivation Practice base the principle themselves. Fourthly, by utilizing methodology of comparative studies on religions, the comparative researches on cultivation practice of different religious traditions are also needed. Lastly, the history of aspects on Cultivation Practice such as transition of mantras, processes which have been conducted through proprieties of prayer and training should be collected and classified. In this context, this work is very important since it helps understand the aspects of transition of originality and characteristics in Cultivation Practice of Daesoonjinrihoe according to passage of time.