• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.34
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• pp.263-292
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• 2020

Among the various influences from other ancient cultures observable in Daesoon Jinrihoe, the reference to and the transformation of Feng-Shui is especially prominent. In The Canonical Scripture, Feng-Shui culture is mentioned frequently. Feng-Shui culture in The Canonical Scripture not only draws upon a great deal of traditional Feng-Shui Theory but also inserts many innovations. It is worth noting that the understanding of Feng-Shui culture through Daesoon Jinrihoe's doctrine makes The Canonical Scripture unique. Based upon the conscientious recapitulation of the relevant contents in The Canonical Scripture, this essay aims at dealing with the Feng-Shui Culture of Daesoon Jinrihoe in regards to three aspects: Terrestrial Energy, Mountain Shape and Luminous Courts (Mingtang). A better understanding of the profound contents and sacred significance of The Canonical Scripture can naturally be attained from applying a Feng-Shui culture perspective.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.19
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• pp.21-45
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to examine the establishment and development of Daesoon Thought Thesaurus. Specifically, this study examined the matters to be considered in the stage of Thesauri planning according to the Thesauri Construction process : presents the methods and standards of Thesauri Construction according to processes such as identification of the indexing policy, establishment of Thesauri system, collection of vocabulary, selection of preferred term, clustering of the terms, establishment of term relationships, overall adjustment, Thesauri test, proofreading by professional display, maintenance and updating. Since religion information is unique or totally different from the information in other areas, it is most important to construct the Thesauri suitable for system after carefully recognizing the concept of religion terms.

• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.161-163
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• 2022

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.34
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• pp.75-105
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• 2020

Previous scholars have studied Daesoon Jinrihoe mainly through its scriptures and doctrines; however, in this essay I have combined data from a questionnaire with interviews I conducted to observe women's religious engagement from their own perspectives. I conducted my fieldwork from October 23 to 26 at Yeoju Headquarters in Korea and received 81 questionnaire replies. This ongoing project will shed light on the niche for women in Korean new religious movements. This essay is divided into three parts. First, I reviewed 5 articles on general attitudes towards women within Daesoon Jinrihoe to serve as a doctrinal introduction. Second, I used the Ladies Club, the Women's Assembly of the Department of Social Welfare, and female students from the Inter- national Volunteers Association to better understand women's participation and education in Daesoon Jinrihoe on an institutional level. Third, I issued a questionnaire in order to learn respondents' sex, age, educational background, and birth place and used those data points determine patterns in how the above influence religious participation and positions in Daesoon Jinrihoe. My investigation showed that both the self-expectation and division of labor among the followers at Yeoju Headquarter were affected by and corresponded to social gender roles. Moreover, the emphasis on missionary work rather than centralized hierarchy contributed to a reduction in the influence of gender-segregation and led to relative coherence in terms of gender relations within Daesoon Jinrihoe.

• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.13-39
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• 2022

The author examines three new religious movements in South Korea: Jehovah's Witnesses, the Unification Church, and the Daesoon Jinrihoe, and aims to identify the factors that are conducive to the growth of each. All three organisations believe in a coming paradise, and the article explores their respective attempts to interest the populace in their appeal. Discussion is given to membership statistics and the problems of measuring allegiance and moves on to consider methods of propagation. Most obviously, evangelisation strategy is important: Jehovah's Witnesses and Unificationists have tended to engage the interest of strangers, while followers of Daesoon Jinrihoe are more inclined to evangelise family and friends. Additionally, there are other factors that determine an organisation's progress: cultural appropriateness, engagement in social and educational work, and attitudes to conflict and peace, the latter being particularly important in a society that has experienced war and occupation. Reference is made to the ways in which these three organisations finance themselves, and it is argued that financial resources merit greater attention in the scholarly study of religion, since monetary assets are needed to secure a spiritual movement's existence. Of the three organisations under discussion, the Daesoon Jinrihoe has been the most successful, being South Korea's largest new religion, while Jehovah's Witnesses are in steady state, and the Unification movement is experiencing slight decline.

• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.13-29
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• 2022

Daesoon philosophy has been described as a quintessential Korean philosophy. Given the great difference between traditional Western and East Asian ways of thinking, how can such a quintessential Korean philosophy be explained to people who have no background in traditional East Asian thought? After all, the Daeson Jinrihoe way of approaching such core problems as how to make this world a better place is not only very different from the way the West has traditionally approached such problems, Daesoon Jinrihoe uses terminology which most Westerners are not very familiar with. Translation into Western languages such as English helps, but a conceptual gap remains because of the differences in the way key Daesoon Jinrihoe terms are understood in the West. As a first step toward overcoming that gap, I discuss three key teachings of Daesoon philosophy and how their translations into English need to be amplified so that people in the West who are not well versed in East Asian philosophy can gain a more accurate understanding of what those terms and phrases mean in their original language. The three items discussed here are the tenet "virtuous concordance of yin and yang," the Essential Attitude of sincerity, and the precept "do not deceive yourself."

• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.39-60
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• 2021

This essay analyzes the meaning of "modern civilization" and the ways it relates to religion conceived as a "The Fellowship of Daesoon Truth (Daesoon Jinrihoe)." We take the expression "Fellowship of Truth" in the broadest sense as indicative of a human companionship with the true nature of the Real. We therefore understand the term to be practically equivalent with the concept of "religion" as connoting the ideas of bond, relationship, debt, and duty toward the Ultimate Reality, toward fellow human beings, and toward the cosmos in general. On this basis, our intent is to assess the nature and limits of the relationship between religion as a fellowship of the Truth and the tenets of modern civilization. Within this overarching perspective, the case of Daesoon Jinrihoe is particularly significant and fruitful for two sets of reasons. Firstly, this is so because Daesoon is typically branded a "new religious movement" open to modernity while it is also true that at least some of its representatives are wary of the negative implications of the modern world. Secondly, the significance of a study of Daesoon in light of the notion of religion as a "The Fellowship of the Truth" lies in that it asserts being rooted in tradition, which raises the question of its relationship with modernity.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.34
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• pp.323-351
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• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to reveal how Christian ideas are indicative of Theocentricity (God-centeredness) whereas Daesoon Jinrihoe ideas are indicative of anthropocentrism (human-centeredness). This task will be accomplished through comparing incarnation theology from the Bible and The Canonical Scripture. Both Christianity and Daesoon Jinrihoe affirm that there is another world above the human world that cannot be touched by human sense organs. And they both acknowledge a supreme deity who exists in that above world. Furthermore, they share the notion that the supreme deity came into the human world after being born from a woman. Where they depart is that in Christianity, this belief refers to Jesus, the one who was born in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, whereas in Daesoon Jinrihoe, it is instead believed to be Kang Jeungsan (secular name: Kang Il-Sun) who was born in Gaekmang Village in Korea more than 100 years ago. The Christian God came to the human world as an atonement for humanity and died on the cross; The God of Daesoon Jinrihoe came to the human world to help mankind settle all enmities. To this end, he traveled through the realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, to recalibrate the faulty Degree Numbers. The sin mentioned in Christianity means treachery against the supreme deity. It is implied that sin is not tolerated in the world of God. Due to this, the first man, Adam, was driven out of Eden after betraying God, and afterwards, there came to be an infranchissable boundary between the world of God and the world of man. By way of comparison the faulty Degree Numbers, mentioned in Daesoon Jinrihoe, were produced naturally. In other words, the faulty Degree Number existed not only in the human world, but also in the world of divinities, and those two worlds not only interact but also affect each other. Therefore, it can be said that the two worlds of Christianity are worlds in which order and systems are completely different, and that the two worlds of Daesoon Jinrihoe are worlds that operate under the same order and systems. Both explain via this two-part division to emphasize one part as more important than the other. Christianity regards the world of God as the ultimate source and ultimate concern of the human world and emphasizes the absolute faith and worship of God is the highest value in life. But Daesoon Jinrihoe, on the other hand, argues that the human world determines the value of the divine world, and that the co-prosperity of man and his surroundings are the core values of the human era (The Era of Human Nobility). Therefore, the root cause of Christianity's theocentricity is that among the two worlds that are completely cut off from one another, they believe in God's world as the ultimate source and purpose of the human world. The root cause of Daesoon Jinrihoe's anthropocentrism is that among the two worlds that interact and influence each other, they believe the human world determines the meaning of the divine world.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.26
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• pp.183-214
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to promote the understanding of the objective of Daesoon Thought through 'examining the Objectives of Daesoonjinrihoe.' The objective of Daesoon thought was set when Kang Jeungsan Sangje descended to human world, upon the plea of divine sages, buddhas, and bodhisattvas, and determined to save the world and relieve people far and wide. For building an Earthly Paradise with Daesoon thought, Sangje carried out the great work of Reordering of the Universe for nine years and passed into heaven. Cho Jeongsan Doju, who received the heavenly religious orthodox through divine revelation from Sangje, served the late will of Sangje and established Main Tenets, Creeds, and objective of Daesoon thought. The objective set by Doju was continued to Park Wudang Dojeon and formed the Objectives of Daesoonjinrihoe. The Objectives of Daesoonjinrihoe consist of three sets of objectives in sequential order, which are related in organic, mutual beneficient, and integrative with one another. The Objectives starts from individual cultivation and expand into worldly reformation: 1)one's Spiritual transformation through Guarding against self-deception 2)Renewal of human beings through Realizing Earthly Immortality 3)Opening of new world through Building of Earthly Paradise. Also, in these Objectives of Daesoonjinrihoe, Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity keep close relations to enter into new world. These Objectives are based on the 'thought of mutual beneficence' and are realized with Daesoon thought, which is the Dao of 'Crowned King' that goes beyond the previous thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Objectives of Daesoonjinrihoe have following details in each objective as following; (1) 'Guarding against self-deception-Spiritual Transformation' is for human nature. In Daesoon thought, human has the potential to restore conscience, which is true nature, and return to undefiled essence by 'guarding against self-deception'. In other words, it views that one can reach into the stage of spiritual alignment with the Dao once he recovers conscience through cultivation of Daesoonjinrihoe based on the idea of 'Guarding against self-deception'. (2) 'Realizing Earthly Immortality-Renewal of human beings' is for ideal human character. 'Realizing Earthly Immortality' in Daesoon Thought indicates the advent of ideal human beings called 'Dotong gunja'(virtuous beings who are aligned with the Dao). They are leaders who integrate politics and religion in helping people to renew themselves and make the world into Earthly Paradise. (3) 'Building an Earthly Paradise-Opening of new world' is for ideal society. Daesoon thought aims to making a peaceful world by creating an ideal society of heaven on this earth. Park Wudang Dojeon, who led Daesoonjinrihoe, emphasized the importance of Three Basic Activities: Spreading of Sangje's virtue, Edification, and Cultivation: and Three Major Activities: Aid and charity, Social welfare, and Education. Dojeon said "One should make effort to reach the utmost goodness through enlightening their bright virtue and cultivating their talent virtue." In this words, he made clear that the Objectives of Daesoonjinrihoe can be realized when people enlighten their bright virtue and cultivate themselves with their talent virtue. In conclusion, the Objectives of Daesoon thought were clarified of their meanings by Sangje, established into laws by Doju, and actualized by Dojoen in various activities of Daesoonjinrihoe.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.42
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• pp.1-44
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• 2022

This study aims to determine the significance of the devotional offerings held in Daesoon Jinrihoe Temple Complexes (道場 dojang) and to interpret their identity. Firstly, the existing research insists that the significance of these rituals implies that offerings held by Daesoon Jinrihoe embody the order's religious purpose. However, this paper argues that the purpose of devotional offerings is not limited thereto. The reason is that the primary sources of Daesoon Jinrihoe defines the devotional offerings as practiced for purposes of worship, celebration, commemoration, the expression of gratitude, the dissemination of information, and to humbly beg pardon from divine beings. Additionally, the offerings are meant to express the solid faith of devotees. Considering the various purposes of practicing devotional offerings, rather than mostly being about prayer to divine beings, the meaning of the offerings could be better understood as forms of communication and exchange of unique ideas and intentions. Secondly, in the light of Korea's history of rituals, the devotional offerings of Daesoon Jinrihoe obviously differ from the rituals of Confucianism or the ritual for Heaven and Earth (圜丘祭 hwanguje). Indeed, the rituals of Daesoon Jinrihoe are rather alien to both of the aforementioned rituals. Accordingly, the identity of the devotional offerings in Daesoon Jinrihoe do neither succeed to the religious and cultural tradition of Korea nor transform it. It is rather the case that Daesoon Jinrihoe's devotional offerings should be identified as having been newly invented. In this regard, the devotional offerings of Daesoon Jinrihoe should be understood as an invented tradition that began in modern times. In other words, they are 'invented rituals to Heaven.'