Research Trends and Problems on Cultivation Practice of Daesoonjinrihoe

대순진리회 수행 연구의 경향과 과제

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.