• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.31
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• pp.165-197
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• 2018

The purpose of this article is to investigate communal action in the Ox Seeking Pictures of Daesoon Thought as an expression of future prospects. The Ox Seeking Pictures in Daesoon Thought seeks out renewal of thought, renewal of life, and true living. Here, the Ox Seeking Pictures symbolize a world in which good fortune comes true according to faith in Gucheon Sangje. The correlation between searching for the ox and the supporting teachings of the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth in Daesoon shows the transformation of Daesoon prospects for achieving the renewal of thought. The correlation between Deep Contemplation Leading to Awakening and Finding and Following Heavenly Teachings shows the transformation of Daesoon reason into a practice implemented in daily life. The correlation between a human being's awareness and the heavenly paradise of the Later World shows transformation into true living based on everyday practice and the practical transformation of one's livelihood. In this investigation, we can say that the Ox Seeking Pictures of Daesoon symbolizes the realization of human dignity and respect for lives. No life should be destroyed or violated by another. Heaven, Earth, and Humanity can be changed and born anew. The visions of the realization of the heavenly paradise of the Later World show that this paradise in the world results from Daesoon principles. This provides a unique insight when compared to the bodhisattva ideal conveyed through the Ox Seeking Pictures of Mahayana Buddhism. Daesoon's Ox Seeking Pictures consist of a three-way interlocking of renewal of thought, implementation in life, and the practical transformation of one's livelihood. The communal spirituality based in Daesoon Truth connects and mediates among people and appears in three aspects. Firstly, it is thought to be a vision of the renewal of thought through the 'Virtuous Concordance of Yin and Yang.' Secondly, it is thought to be the vision of a new life based upon the spirit of Mutual Beneficence. Thirdly, it is thought to be a vision of true living through the realization of human dignity. Because of the appearance of the Ox Seeking Pictures of Daesoon Thought, this narrative picture shows the oxherd as searching for an ox which is the symbol of Daesoon Truth and Dao. Even though he catches the ox, he is still holds the rope to tie the ox to himself. He makes an effort to keep the ox steady. Finally, the oxherd's enlightenment becomes the source of responsibility to help unenlightened people in their struggles. In conclusion, it is necessary to interpret these paintings as the start of the Later World.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.31
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• pp.199-235
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• 2018

Most of the new religions derived from Jeungsan have claimed that Jeungsan's religious thought reproduced Dangun [檀君] Thought in its original form. However, Daesoon Jinrihoe is the only religious order out of the many new religions within the Jeungsan lineage, which has constantly kept its distance from Dangun Thought since 1909 during the earliest period of proto-Daesoon Jinrihoe. Even a mere trace of Dangun cannot be found in the subject of faith or the doctrinal system of Daesoon Jinrihoe. In this context, this study aims to examine possible connections between Daesoon Thought and Dangun Thought in order to determine why other Jeungsanist religions frequently exhibit Dangunist features. Specifically, a major part of this study will be devoted to comparing and analyzing the narrative structure of Daesoon Thought and Dangun Thought as well as their respective motifs. In fact, Jeungsan does not seem to have ever mentioned Dangun in his recorded teachings, therefore, after his passing into the Heaven, most of the religious orders including Daesoon Jinrihoe derived from him did not pay any attention to Dangun Thought for almost for 40 years. These orders did not originally perceive Dangun as an object of belief. After Korea's liberation, Dangun became widely accepted as a pivotal role among the Korean people. As Dangun-nationalism claimed to unify Koreans as one great Korean ethnic society, the religious orders of Jeungsan lineage also climbed aboard this creed and their faiths or doctrines were acculturated to reflect this change. The reason for this has been attributed to following modern trends to increase success in propagation. In the meantime, Daesoon Jinrihoe was the only order that did not accept Dangun-nationalism because it was not a teaching given by the order's founder. And the two systems of thought have more dissimilarity than parallelism in terms of philosophical ideology. These seem to be the main reasons why Daesoon Jinrihoe did not adopt Dangun into its doctrine or belief system.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.32
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• pp.175-199
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• 2019

This paper aims to define Kang Jeungsan's Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth through the Hegelian concept of 'labor (arbeit),' which is the fundamental medium in which humans substantialize their own absoluteness in an existentialist context. The Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth performed by Jeungsan enabled Heaven, Earth, and Humanity to communicate with each other through the harmony of Sangsaeng (Mutual Beneficence). As Hegel found the possibility of freedom and emancipation of human subjects through labor and Jeungsan exercised His will to free and emancipate human beings, comparative thinkers are led to recognize a relationship between His Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth and the Hegelian concept of labor. The key point of this paper centers around articulating the meaning of the precise situation wherein labor occurs for the Supreme Being. Labor is a concept that occurs for real-live humans. Human beings can be said to exist between the ideological world and the natural world, or between Heaven and Earth, and this dichotomy creates a specific product given the interplay of infinitude and finitude that it entails. In other words, labor is not a passive deployment but is instead a subjective development. From the point wherein this labor occurs for the Supreme Being, a paradigm shift towards unity begins throughout the universe. The occurrence of God's labor happens at a time of great transformation. These occurrences of God's labor form the communication among Heaven, Earth and Humanity and form a qualitative equality. In other words, the fact that God is far from the world of ideology and has come into the world of finitude means that God conveys His absoluteness to the world of finitude. Therefore, the work of God on Earth builds the world of Heaven on Earth. This can also be seen as the Sangsaeng of Heaven, Earth and Humanity.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.21
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• pp.99-156
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• 2013

This paper is to indicate research tendencies of faith in Daesoonjinrihoe and controversial points of those, and to consider the outlook on Sangje after defining it as theological understanding and explanation for Gu-Cheon-Sang-Je (High-est ruling Entity that is the object of devotion in Daesoon-jinrihoe). As the first introduction to the work, various descriptions for Sangje are arranged and the meanings of those are analyzed. In brief, first, the name of Gu-Cheon-Eung-Won-Nweh-Seong-Bo-Hwa-Cheon-Jon, expresses the fact that the authority of Sangje (the Supreme Entity) is exposed by spatial concept Sangje dwells in Ninth Heaven. This fact can be compared with the doctrines Allah in Islam and Jehovah in Christianity each are dwelled in Seventh Heaven. And the name shows Sangje is the ruler who reigns over the universe by using yin and yang. Second, the name, Gu-Cheon-Eung-Won-Nweh-Seong-BoHwa-Cheon-Jon, is imported from China Taoism because it has been in Ok-Chu-Gyeong (the Gaoshang shenlei yushu). But in fact it's root is in Korea because Buyeo and Goguryeo, the ancient Korean nations, have the source of the name. While the name is not the Supreme Entity in China Taoism, it is the Supreme Entity in Daesoonjinrihoe. This fact is a important difference. Third, arbitrarily or not, the name, Gu-Cheon-Eung-Won-Nweh-Seong-Bo-Hwa-Cheon-Jon, is put on the image of 'resolution of grievances'. The reason is that many peoples in Korea and China has called the name for about 1,000 years ago to help their fortunes and escape predicaments. Forth, not only Gu-Cheon-Eung-Won-Nweh-Seong-Bo-Hwa-Cheon-Jon but also the name, Three Pure Ones and Ok-Cheon-Jin-Wang (Yuqingzhenwang) in China Taoism used as the Highest ruling Entity in Daesoonjinrihoe. But the relations between three Pure Ones and Ok-Cheon-Jin-Wang and Gu-Cheon-Eung-Won-Nweh-Seong-Bo-Hwa-Cheon-Jon in Dae-soonjinrihoe are different from that in China Taoism. Fifth, Sangje is associated with the Polaris divinity of Tae-Eul, view on God in Oriental Cosmology. The description Tae-Eul as well as Gu-Cheon-Eung-Won-Nweh-Seong-Bo-Hwa-Cheon-Jon is indicated Sangje is linked to the faith of Buyeo and Goguryeo. Sixth, Sangje is not only Mugeuk-Sin (The God of The Endless) who supervise the Endless but also Taegeuk-Ji-Cheon-Jon (The God of The Ultimate Reality) who supervise the Ultimate Reality. These descriptions directly display the fact Sangje is a creator. Seventh, in case explaining Sangje, the point of view is necessary that grasps the whole viewpoints Sangje 'was' Hidden God(deus otiosus) and 'is' Unhidden God after Incarnation. Eighth, Sangje is Cheon-Ju in Donghak, but different from that. Cheon-Ju in Donghak has both transcendence and immanence in tightrope tension, but Cheon-Ju in Daesoonjinrihoe emphasize transcendence than immanence. That difference is the result of the fact Cheon-Ju in Donghak was a being having revealed a man and Cheon-Ju in Daesoonjinrihoe was a being having incarnated after revealing a man. Ninth, Sangje is Gae-Byeok-Jang who is the manager of the transforming and ordering the Three Realms of the World by the Great Do which is the mutual beneficence of all life and Hae-Won-Sin who is the God of resolution of grievances.

• 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.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.27
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• pp.135-169
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• 2016

While examining the religious ideas implied by Jeungsan's Great Works of the Reordering of Universe, we find special ideas which cannot be found in any other religions, and these ideas are presented in diverse ways. Most of all, the representative idea is that of human nobility; a distinctive idea which makes Daesoonjinrihoe different from other religions. Thus, this research focuses on the following questions: when was Human Nobility concretely realized? What kind of organic relationship does human nobility have between the divine world and the world of humanity? In light of the forthcoming Era of Human Nobility, what are some concrete images which can be drawn from the interaction between the realms of heaven and humanity wherein preordinations are plotted in heaven and then carried out by humankind? Prior to formulating my own sense of the subject matter, I consulted 43 previous discussions and dissertations and arranged them chronologically so as to examine their correlation. From these sources and my own insights, I was able to gain a sense of the starting point of the era of human nobility and its tenor. I have found the following problems in previous research on the uniqueness and distinctness of human nobility: ①The conceptual undertones of human nobility have not been adequately gleaned. ②There do not seem to be any dissertations which examine the way in which human nobility is connected with the doctrines of the creative conjunction between yin and yang, the harmonious union of divine beings and human beings, and the resolution of grievances for mutual beneficence. ③In most dissertations, not only is the starting point of the Era of Human Nobility regarded as concurrent with the start of the 50,000 years of earthly paradise in the Later World, but also the point of division between the former world and the later world is widely disputed. ④In-depth and fully realized studies dealing with the subject of human nobility are not easily found. ⑤There is little sense of progression in the research on human nobility because scholars are not sufficiently engage with one another to achieve common consensus. Therefore, in this dissertation, I have provided answers to the problems I discovered in previous research. I have developed my own tenor as follows: ①By giving priority to the Jeongyeong, I have closely investigated the period which divides the Former World and the Later World. Then, I produced a chronological timeline to demonstrate the progression: the Former World → the Era of the Resolution of Grievances → the Later World. This aids in the comprehension of human nobility. ②The Era of Human Nobility was preceeded by the opening of the Era of the Resolution of Grievances of human world which began in 1901. Human nobility is stipulated as a regulatory system for the universe set in motion by the opening the Era of Resolution of Grievances. ③While synthetically examining the aspects of transition which enable the Ear of Human Nobility to be realized, the period to be studied is stipulated as beginning from 1901 and ending at the start of the Later World. The subjects are defined as the flowing from Jeungsan, the first leader of human nobility, to the noble individuals empowered by Dao and the noble populace. In the Era of Human Nobility, studying the transition process by which human nobility is realized requires delving into the resolution of grievances. Although this method is essential to understanding Daesoon ideas, in actuality it does not hinge upon speculative exegetical theorizing but instead it was gained through eisegetical rigor.