• Journal of Daesoon Thought and the Religions of East Asia
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.127-151
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• 2021

The core tenets of Daesoon Jinrihoe in Jeungsanism are encapsulated in the teachings of Eumyang-hapdeok (陰陽合德, Virtuous Concordance of Yin and Yang), Shinin-johwa (神人調化, Harmonious Union between Divine Beings and Human Beings), Haewon-sangsaeng (解寃相生, Resolution of Grievances for Mutual Beneficence) and Dotongjingyeong (道通眞境, Perfected Unification with Dao). Among them, the first three teachings eventually turn towards the prophetic thought of Dotong-jingyeong, which is the process of man becoming a divine figure. While these principles are considered crucial advice for overcoming an unstable life, there are many curious questions that help for better comprehension. What is the reality of Jin-gyeong (眞境) for their followers? How can one reach the ultimate stage under this belief system? Is this ideological concept different from similar perspectives of other major religions? How is this concept related to the idea of Jisang-cheonguk (地上天國, earthly paradise)? This paper analyses these issues of Jin-gyeong from the historical and social narratives of Haengnok (行錄, Acts), Gongsa (公事, Reordering Works), Gyoun (敎運, Progress of the Order), Gyobeop (敎法, Dharma), Gwonji (權智, Authority and Foreknowledge) and Yesi (豫示, Prophetic Elucidations) in The canonical scripture of Jeon-gyeong and also from the ontological approaches of East Asian faiths in order to identify alternative notions of Daesoon cosmology. The paper, based on the sayings of Kang Jeungsan, particularly his philosophy of the Later World, argues the insight that the Jin-gyeong world can be interpreted as created through the Cheonji-gongsa (天地公事, Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth) project in terms of Gaebyeok (開闢, Great Opening) and the earthly paradise as open only for those who achieve the condition of Sin-ingan (新人間, literally means 'new humans' but symbolizing 'being a human-god') by the personal cultivation of Dotong (道通, the unity with Dao).

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.48
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• pp.445-479
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• 2024

The ideological context of the Unity of Heaven and Humankind (天人合一) is useful as an approach to understanding the meaning of 'human affairs (人事)' in Daesoon Thought. In Daesoon Thought, the meaning of 'human affairs' occurs within the context of 'the Way of humans (人道)' being based upon 'the Way of Heaven (天道).' However, in Daesoon Thought, the characteristic of 'the Way of Heaven' originates from the Supreme God of the Ninth Heaven (上帝) and His Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth (天地公事). Specifically, this entails the principle of 'what is devised by humanity (謀事在人), is achieved by Heaven (成事在天),' which is inverted to become 'what is devised by Heaven (謀事在天), is achieved by humanity (成事在人).' This is the principle of 'human affairs' that is revealed as the relationship between Humanity and Heaven is newly defined. In addition, the newly changed relationship between Humanity and Heaven is presented as the principle of 'divine beings and human beings mutually guide one another (神人依導).' This principle clearly expresses 'human affairs' in the context of Daesoon Thought. Accordingly, the two directions in which 'human affairs' are completed are expressed as two stages: spiritual enlightenment (靈通) and the Harmonious Union between Divine Beings and Human Beings (神人調化). These two directions in which 'human affairs' pursues 'the Way of Heaven' show a depth beyond just encompassing transcendence and immanence. The relationship between 'the Way of Heaven' and the Supreme God of the Ninth Heaven, in particular, is a useful point for appreciating the how the meaning of 'human affairs' in Daesoon Thought differs from other uses of the term which occur elsewhere.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.33
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• pp.257-286
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• 2019

This study aims to explain theodicy in Daesoon Jinrihoe using established theodicies. Theodicy in Daesoon Jinrihoe can be described as follows: within the worldview of Daesoon Jinrihoe, the problems of evil and suffering are better addressed by analyzing the problem of mutual contention. Accordingly, theodicy in Daesoon Jinrihoe is a matter which should be discussed only in regards to the time period known as the Former World and the transition period after the Reordering Works that leads up to the Later World. The Later World does not operate under patterns of mutual contention. Consequently, there will be no suffering. Therefore, issues of theodicy are irrelevant in the Later World. Theodicy should be dealt differently as it pertains to the Former World and the previously mentioned transition period. Daesoon Thought posits that there is an underlying principle presides over the cosmos, and the divine beings act in accordance with it and perform specific duties in their own subdivisions. The cosmic principle is able to contain cycles of both Sanggeuk ('mutual destruction' in general usage, but 'mutual contention' in Daesoon Thought related to the Former World) and sangsaeng ('mutual generation' in general usage and 'mutual beneficence' in Daesoon Thought related to the Later World). Suffering came into being due to mutual contention. However, mutual contention was not set into motion maliciously, but was arranged instead to facilitate the realization of greater values such as growth and development. In other words, mutual contention are not products of a moral value the nature of which is bad or wrong. Yet, since the world has operated under mutual contention from time immemorial, a nearly incalculably vast multitude of grievances have accumulated. In addition, the divine beings who had operated under mutual contention often made mistakes and spread confusion. This extreme situation resulted in tremendous disasters breaking out all over the world. Perhaps this particular theodicy could be named "Dualistic Sanggeuk Theology (Dualistic Theodicy of Mutual Contention)." After the divine beings reported to the Supreme God that the world had fallen into a serious crisis, the Supreme God penetratingly examined the circumstances of the world and then descended to Earth as a human being named Jeungsan. As Jeungsan practiced the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth, the Great Opening was preordained by Him. As a result, the transition period started, and from that point onward, theodicy should be described differently. It is presumed that all creatures will be judged at the time of the Great Opening. This will result in the annihilation of all wicked beings including both divine beings and humans. There will also be the establishment of an earthly paradise as well as grievance resolution for all beings prior the Great Opening. This can also be called "The Eschatological Theodicy of the Resolution of Grievances." Theodicy in Daesoon Jinrihoe adopts the two theodicies mentioned above. In addition to that, various theodicies from other traditions such as Irenaean ("soul-making") Theodicy, Free Will Theodicy, Recompense Theodicy, Afterlife Theodicy, Karma Samsara Theodicy, theodicy of participation, and Communion Theodicy can all potentially be applied on a case by case basis.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.33
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• pp.219-255
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• 2019

'Dao' is an important research subject as it is the main term for 'ultimate reality' in East Asian religious thought. Understanding the concept of 'Dao' is essential to reach the state of 'Perfected Unification with Dao,' the ultimate aspiration in Daesoon Thought. The meaning of 'Dao' can vary such as 'Dao' meaning 'way', which was first introduced in Jinwen. There is also the 'Dao' of yin and yang, and Dao used to mean human obligation, or Dao meaning the way of Heaven. These can also be classified into five categories: Constant Dao, Heavenly Dao, Divine Dao, Human Dao, and the Dao of Sangsaeng. Every natural phenomenon of birth, growth, and death in the universe operates under the patterns of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, Constant Dao in Daesoon Thought is the ultimate pattern underlying human action and the operations of Heaven and Earth. These apply not only to the natural and the divine world but also to the human world. It can be said that 'Rather than natural law or moral symbol of the world, 'Heavenly Dao' means the great Dao that saves the world through the Daesoon Truth of Sangje, Supreme God of the Ninth Heaven. Divine Dao can be said to be 'the Dao by which man must complete his work according to the law and the will of God,' that is, 'the Dao by which God and man are united together by Sangje's heavenly order and teaching, which aims for humanity, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.' When the world is in a state of calamity and crisis, the request for the saint's Dao can symbolized by the kings, Yao and Shun, in The Canonical Scripture (Jeon-gyeong). The saint's Dao saves the dying world and people's lives and is called 'saving lives by curing the world (濟生醫世)'. It can be regarded as a characteristic of Human Dao in Daesoon Thought, which is the human obligation to follow Sangje's order, the great Dao to save the world. The Dao of Sangsaeng is the true dharma that rectifies the world full of mutual conflict through the ethics of the Later World, which is to promote the betterment of others and to practice the human Dao that saves the world and rebuilds the Constant Dao. Thus, The concept of Dao in Daesoon Thought is Daesoon Truth which applies to and operates throughout all realms of Heaven, Earth, Humanity, and the Divine world. Dao in Daesoon Thought was influenced by the historical background in which it emerged and this can be seen in its ideological features. It embraces the traditional concept of Dao, which refers to the Chinese classics and represents the main schools of thought in East Asia: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. And it is unique in that it implies the will of Sangje as a religious object, a supreme being. It can be seen that Daesoon Thought has developed through the process of defining the concept of Dao by harmonizing both the universality and specificity of modern Korean religious thought.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.394-400
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• 2005

The purpose of this study is to investigate historical background which uses and characteristics of Korean traditional incense and how to use it in clothes. Incense was at first introduced to Korea in the period of King Nulji of Shilla dynasty. First introduction to this nation, incense was already regarded as divine. It was then developed with five main uses, tribute, fragrance, purification, anti bacteria, and cure. Incense used by fragrance and anti-bacteria in clothes. It make emit a fragrance from the clothes or decorate clothes with ornaments. Incense was also to prevent clothes or books from being damaged by insects and maintain them over a long period. It used one of the factor for beauty of costume.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.379-392
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• 1994

One of the historical origins of the modern science education was investigated in this paper. From the view point of the pansophistic educational philosophy which emphasized "man should teach completely all things to all mankind(Omnes, Omnia, omnino)", J.A.Comenius proposed in his book "Didactica magna"(1658) that 'physica' should be learned as one of the most important school subjects. He suggested the completion of human being as a wholeness of the universe could be achieved through the physics teaching. His ideas of science education was, however, directed not to the 'rational konwledge' about the natural world, but to the 'divine wisdom'. His main thoughts and influences on science education can be summarized as follows: 1) The human being as a God's image should know the divinely created nature, because the invisible God's existence can be sensorially recognized in the nature. 2) Physics or science should be regarded as more important objects than verbal learning in general school education. 3) The cognitive union between the words('representative' or 'das Dargestellte') and things('presentative' or 'das Dargebotene') can be achieved through the objects lesson ('Anschauungsunterricht') 4) The realistic and sensor-cognitive learning theory of the object lesson is yet very important especially in the science education of elementary school, even though the inquiry learning process has became more important in the last years. 5) The religious aspect of his idea could not satisfy the social needs of industrialization and the development of professonal technics in the 18 to 19th century.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.98-112
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• 2018

In order to find out policy and practical implications to support recovering drug addicts in a holistic way, This study conducted in-depth interviews with five research participants using Giorgi's phenomenological study method to understand the meaning of spiritual experience of recovering drug addicts. According to data analysis, these spirituality experiences appeared as two thematic themes: 'experience of relationship with a divine being' and 'experience of inherent transcendence'. Three sub-themes of 'fear and scary existence', 'hanging object' and 'embracing existence' were derived from the essence theme of 'experience of relationship with a divine being' and 'immanent transcendental experience' was conceptualized into four sub-themes: 'facing existence', 'psychological reconstruction', 'mental maturity', and 'a way to go alone'. Based on this, spiritual experiences of recovery drug addicts showed that religion itself exerted a considerable influence on their spiritual experience and their spiritual experience was closely related to the recovery of humanity. Also, 'intrinsic transcendental experience' suggested that two essential themes of spiritual experience were closely interrelated in a mutual cyclical relationship. Based on the results, We discusses the major intervention plan for the recovery drug addicts that the social welfare system can consider.

• (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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• no.32
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• pp.245-278
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• 2008

The purpose of this paper is to create an inter-religious dialogue between the Western Christian concept of the spirit and Eastern ch'i philosophy within the category of panentheism. The Hebrew term ruah means 'moving air' and 'wind' which derive from the particular experience of the ancient Hebrew people living in the desert. The Greek pnuema also means 'life' and 'wind' which denote the natural power. Both ruah and pneuma consist of the main idea of the spirit exploring the symbol of relationality of the divine in Western tradition. Eastern ch'i philosophy indicates a vital force for keeping the body and soul alive, which is unconscious and spontaneous. Ch'i as a vital force constitutes cosmogony and cosmology with the constant movement of yin and yang. Yin and Yang as representing earth and heaven are dynamic breaths, blending harmoniously to become all existence. The ethical implication of the inter-religious dialogue between the spirit and ch'i would be the integration and interconnection of heaven, earth, and human beings. The dialogue suggests becoming one body with nature and human community through embodying the non-dualistic spirit of life. The inter-relationality means that since all modalities of existence are made of the cosmic life, human beings are part of the divine cosmic process. This is related to degree of spirituality in the entire chain of being: rocks, trees, animals, humans, and goods represent different levels of spirituality based on the varying composition of the spirit and ch'i. All beings that internally embody with the spirit and ch'i are organically inter-connected, and they are integral part of a continuous process of transformation of life towards holistic liberation of human and nature community.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.393-398
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• 2022

Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) uses Iphigeneia in Aulis written by Euripides, one of the three great Greek tragedies writers, as the archetypal narrative. Thus, Lanthimos introduces a mythical world stained with 'blood violence by a divine being' within the cinematic diegesis of a modern American metropolis. And the mythical motifs of curses and scapegoats are varied. This thesis tried to read the scapegoat mechanism, the oldest mechanism of escape from the crisis of collective sacrifice, and the imitative and mutual characteristics of desire and violence through René Girard through the mythical world built in the modern time and space of the film. Martin places a cursed oracle on Steven when his desire to place him in his father's place is thwarted. The 'good' reciprocity between two people is rapidly transformed into a 'bad' reciprocity. The Killing of Sacred Deer is an excellent portrayal of how the scapegoat mechanism works through Steven's family. The selection of the scapegoat by lot gives the sacrificial lamb a sacred character thanks to its divine nature, and the scapegoat becomes a sacred being, and the family order is re-established.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.27
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• pp.79-132
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• 2016

The view of life and death in Daesoonjinrihoe includes all the gods of Heaven and Earth, and the human heart is taken as the foundational key. Practitioners can realize their value according to how much they have cultivated themselves. This is regarded as the mythical use of a singularly focused mind (full dedication of one's heart). In other words, it focuses on the potentiality of humans who are able to enter a transcendental area of divinity through their self-cultivation. This view of life and death in Daesoonjinrihoe was established by the religious mission known as "Samgye Gongsa (the Reordering of Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity)." Samgye Gongsa indicated a new opening of the Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. This new opening is a return to the original principle of Heavenly operation and also a new order for the universe. Heaven and Earth have their own underlying principle by which they operate. This act was directly initiated and manifested from Dao. Daesoonjinrihoe diagnoses that the underlying principle by which Heaven operates was damaged by human misconduct, and as a result, the human observance of that principle fell out of common usage. Therefore, Daesoonjinrihoe gives priority to the reestablishment of Dao as it existed originally and tries to bring about reconciliation between Heaven and Earth and Humanity. In short, it resolves the grievances accrued since time immemorial by correcting the order of Sindo (Divine Law). Furthermore, it shows that the Dao of Sangsaeng (mutual beneficence) was created by reordering the arrangement of Heaven and Earth so that human beings and divine beings could reach a state of perfection through self-realization. Humans not only communicate with Heaven and Earth, but also communicate with divine beings. Divine beings are transcendent living beings capable of communicating with humans through their heart-minds. In Daesoon thought, human beings are not swayed by the power of divine beings, but instead are able to control divine beings through the transcendent power of their heart-minds. Given this view, the aim of Daesoonjinrihoe lies in participating in the harmony of Heaven and Earth through the cultivation of the human heart. Also, it sees that the human heart-mind can be united with the universal Dao, and thus it is able to be united with the deities of Heaven and Earth. In order to actualize this, one does not rely on exterior rituals or magic but has to focus instead on cultivating the moral ethics of the heart-mind to reach perfection. In other words, one can reach a transcendent level in one's heart-mind through the cultivation of a singularly focused mind and be free from the contradiction of life and death and other such torments. Life and death is an inevitable process for humans. So they do not have to be happy for life and sad for death. They can rather be free from the fear of death by fulfilling the energetic zenith of the human heart-mind via training themselves to transcend their physical bodies. No aging and no death is not a pursuit of radical longevity or immortality for the physical body, but rather a pursuit of the essence of life and the realization of eternity on a spiritual level. Daesoonjinrihoe pursues the state of being unified with Dao by developing "Jeong·Gi·Sin (精·氣·神 the internal energies of essence, pneuma, and spirit)" and trying to reach the transcendent state of non-aging and radical longevity by spurring the practice of self-realization and the discovery one's own innate nature. Through the practice of human ethics, they can access the creative functions of Heaven and Earth and become one with Heavenly Dao thereby achieving harmony between temporal existence and eternity. In this way, humans transcend the life and death of their physical bodies. When "Doins (trainees of Dao)" reach the true state of unification with Dao through singularly focused cultivation, they not only realize self perfection as human beings, but also enable themselves the means to do away with all disasters and forms of suffering. They thereby attain ultimate happiness in their lives.