In martial arts the Origin of harmony, if discussed at all, would be traced
to the Confucian notion of Heaven or to the Taoist notion of the Tao. The predominant
trend currently is the latter one, since the Confucian influence on the martial
arts is more felt than explained. Thus, a discussion of the Origin of harmony
such as the following one is rarely brooked in the contemporary martial arts.
In Wonhwa Do however, this is one of the most crucial points of all, for it
is the basis of establishing one's identity, position and responsibility in
life. Without knowing these things, human conduct becomes completely relative
and it is almost inevitable that the student will miss the point of studying
Wonhwa Do. One may misuse the technical knowledge contained in it and worse,
one would fall short of fulfilling the purpose of Wonhwa Do. And if many students
would fall short, this would have an adverse cumulative effect on the entire
association.
As mentioned earlier, the purpose of Wonhwa Do are self-defence, the achievement
of original human nature, the promotion of a new ethics and the unification
of martial arts. To fulfill the latter three purposes especially, it is necessary
to discover the Origin of harmony.
As we have already mentioned in our discussion of the Law of Give and Take Action,
the ultimate Purpose for all existence originated within the Original Being,
or simply the Origin. That means that the creation appeared because the Origin
had a Purpose for it, and its continued existence depends upon this. Man himself
is one of the Origin's creations, and he must become consciously aware of it
in order to achieve harmony with the Origin and the creation.
In order to achieve that harmony, some knowledge of its Origin is needed. This
is one of the most unique aspects of the Principle of Harmony, for it offers
an understanding of some general aspects of the nature of the Original Being.
A. Correlativity
Correlativity is one of the basic characteristics of the universe. This is due
to the fact that the relationship of subject-object is a reflection of correlative
attributes within the Origin's own being.
The first of these attributes is called the "Original Sung Sang" and
it can be said to represent the Origin's "mind". It contains the intellect,
emotion and will, at the root of which is Shimjung. It is the Original Sung
Sang which causes all created things to exhibit some level of intelligence.
Thus, the mind of man, the instinct of animals, the vegetative function in plants
and the physico-chemical nature of minerals are all derived from the Original
Sung Sang. Like it, they serve to govern the behaviour of each created being.
The correlative attribute of the Original Sung Sang is called the "Original
Hyung Sang" and it represents the external "energetic" aspect
of the Origin. Both the matter and ki of the universe is caused by the Original
Hyung Sang. Thus, men, animals and plants have bodily forms and minerals have
forms made of molecules.
These attributes of Sung Sang and Hyung Sang within the Origin are modified
by two "secondary" attributes called "yang" and "yin".
Yang is akin to "positivity" and masculinity, whereas yin is akin
to "negativity" and femininity. They account for the correlativity
of man-woman in people; of male-female in animals; of stamen-pistil in plants;
and of positive-negative charges in minerals.
B. Divine Character
Though many characteristics such as omniscience and omnipotence have been attributed
to the Origin, the Principle of Harmony identifies three essential characteristics,
which account for all the others. These three are Shimjung, Logos and Creativity.
They will be mentioned briefly here, and then explained more fully in the chapter
of the Wonhwa Do view of man.
1. Shimjung
As explained previously, Shimjung (or "heart", roughly put) is the
irrepressible impulse to experience enjoyed from relationship. This is the most
essential aspect of the Original Being's character: it was Shimjung which impelled
the Origin to create in order to establish a give and take relationship with
man and creation. Thus, life was created because Shimjung requires an object,
which can be related to, in order that enjoyment can be experienced.
Most traditional faiths contain an implicit understanding of Shimjung and make
either direct or indirect references to this aspect of the Divine Character:
In Buddhism, the greatest virtues are related to heart. A Boddhisettva (enlightened
person) possesses the essence of "Bodhicitta" which means "intelligence-heart".
The Buddha was the perfection of Bodhicitta.
In Confucianism, the stress on the four main virtues of compassion, righteousness,
propriety and wisdom are all related to the heart.
In the Torah, instances of Shimjung are indicated in Gen. 6:5-6, 18:22-23, Ex.
32:7-14, and in the prophets, Is 2-3, Hos 2-4, Jon. 3:3-10. The Hasidic movement
also stresses "heart" as the essence of inner life.
In the Gospels, there are parables of the prodigal son, the lost sheep, the
lost coin, etc. From such passages, some modern "process theologians"
especially have stressed the notion of Shimjung. And in Catholicism, the notion
of the "Sacred Heart" shows an awareness of this aspect.
Mystics from other faiths (Hinduism, Islam and the Eastern Orthodox) have also
stressed the heart.
In all of these cases, the reason that man's inner life centres on Shimjung
is that human character is inherited from the character of the Original Being
who created him.
2. Logos
Logos refers to the reason and law within the Origin. The root word of "logic"
is the same as that of "logos"; thus they refer to the intellectual
capacity to think. Through reason and law, things can be conceived or imagined
within the Original Sung Sang (mind), just as man also reasons about things
while obeying the natural laws which govern them. However, unlike man, the Logos
within the Origin is completely governed by Shimjung. This will be discussed
in greater detail in succeeding chapters.
3. Creativity
Creativity is the capacity to create new things. It depends upon the reason
and law of Logos. Once Logos acts to conceive or imagine something, the Origin
can create that thing through the energies caused by the Original Hyung Sang.
Analogous to this is the way in which a human conceives a plan within his mind,
and then proceeds to arrange materials in order to create that plan substantially.
(This is a brief summary of the metaphysical principles behind creativity. The
actual physics of creation however is an area of study which quantum physicists
are presently deeply involved in researching.)
All of these attributes and characteristics are totally harmonized within the
Origin's nature. We have isolated them here only for the sake of identification
and understanding. Based upon this understanding, Wonhwa Do sees the Origin
as the cause of correlativity and the forces within the universe. But most importantly,
the Principle of Harmony clarifies the internal nature of the Origin as possessing
Divine Character, at the root of which is Shimjung. With this, the Wonhwa Doist
has a basis to establish the proper awareness of his identify, position and
responsibility in the universe: he originates from and is responsible to a creative,
living and feeling Original Being as well as to other human beings and things
which are created.
Because of this, an understanding of reality (and the Principle of Harmony within
it) would be incomplete without explaining the Origin of harmony in the universe.
For all things exist, act and develop in relationship to the Origin, including
man. And in Wonhwa Do - the Way of Harmony - a fundamental purpose is to achieve
harmony with the Original Being.