• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.141-194
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• 2018

The article is about Yong-Ho-Bi-Gyeol(龍虎秘訣), which is one of the most important Taoist text in Korea written by Jeong-Ryum, a Taoist and alchemist in the Chosun Dynasty. The article deals with the alchemical and psychological meanings of Yong-Ho (龍虎, Dragon-Tiger), the way of nurturing cinnabar (修丹之道), the closing of the qi (閉氣), the method of alchemical breathing, the Dantian (丹田, cinnabar-field), and the Mysterious Female's One Opening (玄牝一竅), in addition to the brief introduction of the life of Jeong-Ryum and the bibliography of the book. The Yong-Ho (龍虎) meaning the dragon and tiger is the archetype of transformation in the form of their opposites, rooted in the psychoid system of the human psyche. The unified Yong-Ho makes Dan and the Dan, literally indicating cinnabar, has many alchemical connotations such as Mercurius, the rubedo state of the alchemical process, and the philosopher's stone. In the book, Jeong-Ryum emphasized the slow and subtle way of breathing in and out of Dantian to develop neidan (内丹, inner cinnabar or inner alchemy). The refining of neidan begins by the closing of the qi, which symbolizes the radical introversion and withdrawal of all the projections on the outer objects. The Dantian located at the lower part of the abdomen has been known to preserve jing (精), the vital essence of life, which can be refined into qi and spirit (神). In Jungian perspective, the Dantian is a mandala where an individual's mind can stay and focus at the center of psyche detached from ego and related to the Self. The long-nurtured introverted energy makes the Mysterious Female's One Opening (玄牝一竅), a pit or cavity in the transcendental space, through which the meditator can have a relationship with the great female principle of the universe. The current article has introduced the contents of the Yong-Ho-Bi-Gyeol in the perspective of analytical psychology. However, it has not dealth with the remaining topics including Taesik (胎息, embryonic breathing) and Juchenhwahu (周天火候, the great Celestial circuit firing), due to the lack of author's sufficient knowledge and experience. The unexplored areas of Yong-Ho-Bi-Gyeol will be studied in the future.

• 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.