Their Ancestors Are Their God

Descendants must honor their ancestral spirits if these ancestors are to flourish. So, regardless of whether my ancestors may have lived their lives in lowly circumstances, I must esteem them most highly. If I faithfully honor them with offering rituals and ‘guide my ancestors to dao,’ my ancestors can resolve their bitterness and grief and fulfill their wishes.

For humans, their ancestors are the most incomparably important beings in the celestial realm of the universe. Why is this so?

For everyone, what is most precious in the world is none other than ourselves. Because I exist, my country, people, society, parents, siblings, spouse, and children—everything—exist. If I did not exist, heaven and earth, the sun and moon—nothing—could exist.

Who, then, gave birth to me, the most precious being? My parents, of course—my ancestors. I was born into the world through my ancestors, and so, for me, my ancestors are my God.

My ancestors are the foremost God! My ancestors, who bequeathed their bloodline and their genes upon me, are my foremost God, taking precedence even over Okhwang-Sangjenim.

Let me again emphasize: regardless of your lofty or humble status, your ancestors are—from your perspective—the most incomparably precious of beings. Therefore, one must faithfully honor their ancestors.

Ancestors devote themselves solely to the well-being of their descendants for days uncountable, caring for them.

Descendants Must Live for Their Ancestors to Live

In the coming time of the Autumn Gaebyeok at least one descendant must survive in order for all their ancestors to survive.

Consider an ancient millennium-old tree. The tree has completely rotted except for a sprout or two jutting from an exposed root. If this sprout is yanked out, the tree will not be able to produce another bud or shoot and will suffocate to death, for its ‘breathing hole’ has been cut off.

Just as a thousand-year-old tree will regain life if a single sprout survives and grows, a primogenitor forefather lives onward if even one of his descendants survives. As long as that descendant can produce at least a single child, his countless ancestors spanning hundreds of generations will live onward in the realm of spirits.

In the coming times, if not even a single descendant survives—in other words, if not even a single descendant dwells within Sangjenim’s truth—their ancestors will all perish as well. They will all disappear like so much smoke.

Descendants are the ‘breathing holes’ of their ancestors!

Just as we must breathe or we cannot survive, ancestors will have no place to turn if they lack descendants. For all people, their ancestors are their roots; and for all ancestors, their descendants are their sprouts, their breathing holes. In this way, ancestors and descendants are inseparably and absolutely joined together.

And so, in the heavenly realm at this very moment, the ancestral spirits of every family name are in an uproar about saving at least one of their descendants. Are not the seeds of humanity to be harvested during the summer-autumn transition, after the era of cultivation during cosmic spring and summer? In this era, when the &gaebyeok& of humanity will be waged in heaven and earth, the ancestral spirits of every family name are struggling desperately to save their descendants.

Autumn Is the Time of Recovering One’s Self

Autumn is the time of ‘seeking out the beginning and returning to the origin.’

‘Seeking out the beginning’ signifies ‘seeking out one’s original self.’ And so, ‘seeking out the beginning and returning to the origin’ suggests a return to one’s roots, one’s background, one’s original form.

When a seed is sown in spring, it grows throughout summer and bears fruit in autumn. This bearing of fruit does not occur because the plant wishes it. Rather, all the myriad forms of life in the world bear seeds in autumn. This simply happens, regardless of their will.

This bearing of seeds entails the passing on of the seed in its original form. Whether growing in the wild or grown in cultivation, a red bean dropped into the soil eventually leads to red bean seeds in autumn. This is the means by which the bean returns to its original form. Such is ‘seeking out the beginning and returning to the origin.’

Moreover, at the arrival of autumn, all vegetation sheds its leaves, and the essence—the sap—supplied to the leaves all returns to the roots. This, too, is an act of seeking out the beginning and returning to the origin. This holds true for the tiniest strand of grass to the stateliest tree. The roots are where they return!

Sap must return to the roots in this way to facilitate hibernation in winter. In other words, after the sap is stored in the roots during the winter sleep, new sprouts are sent forth from the roots in the new spring.

However, if the sap (i.e., the essence) becomes scattered, the tree withers away and cannot return to life. So it is with a human being as well. If people do not seek out their beginning and return to their origin—if they disavow or betray their ancestors, their roots—they will be severed from their roots and their life force will wither away.

Chant the Taeeulju Mantra and Guardian Spirits Will Protect You

Continue meditating steadily. You should offer a bowl of fresh water and meditate, but do not stop there; chant the mantra whenever your have spare moments. If you chant the Taeeulju Mantra for one or two hours every day, guardian spirits will protect you. If your meditation continues today, tomorrow, one month, six months, or more, your guardian spirit will eventually come to you.

At the time between waking and sleep, you will see an incomparably handsome general of imposing appearance. Commander spirits wearing armor and helmets may circle around your house or even enter your room. People who devote themselves to Sangjenim and His work and do not allow themselves to be distracted will see these spirits while sleeping in bed.

Continuous meditation allows the meditator to experience a concentration of auspicious energy. A guardian spirit will be assigned to such a meditator. Once assigned, a guardian spirit remains with the meditator until death.

You should continue to meditate with sincerity. Offer fresh water, purify your body, and make meditation a part of your daily routine. Then, your physical constitution will change. Chant mantras for hours that way and you will feel completely refreshed. Practicing meditation is like sleeping; chanting will relieve your fatigue even if you do not sleep. Chanting the Taeeulju Mantra will also protect you from traffic accidents.

When One Is Spiritually Awakened, Brightness Opens

The key to making great progress in meditation and spiritually awakening yourself is to sit upright and chant the Taeeulju Mantra. If you do this for hours, you reach ‘the state of losing the self.’ This is the state of entrancement, ‘the state of losing the self’ or ‘forgetting shape, forgetting existence.’

When you reach that level, you will see something—yet, it is not just seen. Depending on the strength of their root energy, some meditators see bright light, others see blue light like that of a glowworm. You, my students here, may see these things when you chant the Taeeulju Mantra with your eyes closed. Most people can see the glowworm light or something similar. This light might look as large as a leaf and brighter than a glowworm.

What happens when you are spiritually awakened? At your spiritual awakening, all brightness opens like a brilliant autumn day—a brightness like the blazing of many electric lights. Then one’s eyes can see even a caterpillar boring into pine needles on a mountain four kilometers away. If you hold still—your eyes closed—you will even be able to see all the fine details of the caterpillar. All of this is possible in the brightness.

As you become spiritually awakened, your mind combines with the principle of nature and becomes penetrating, and then you can peer deep into the earth and even through the boundaries of heaven.

The Process of Spiritual Awakening

“Spiritual awakening,” or “opening the spiritual eye,” signifies the ability to see the world of spirits. This spiritual awakening is the first step toward enlightenment.

What is the process of this spiritual awakening? When you sit and chant mantras with one mind, you will first experience entrancement. What this means is that when you are sitting with one mind and one aim—when you are chanting the mantras with utmost sincerity—you will naturally forget about everything. People in the ancient past described this with a scholarly phrase, “forgetting shape, forgetting existence(忘形忘在).” In other words, you will become oblivious of your body—of your very existence.

My students, as you will know from your own meditation, many random thoughts surface during the process of meditation. These thoughts must be abandoned. Yet, during meditation, you remember everything, even the times when you suckled at your mother’s breast. As your mind becomes more and more lucid, you will continually remember forgotten memories—ten times, twenty times more than usual. But as time passes during meditation, these memories will gradually subside. This may be compared to a bucketful of water: if you leave it for one or two days, all the dregs settle to the bottom, leaving behind clear water. Similarly, when you pour water into a bowl, the water eventually becomes clear as its impurities sink to the bottom. Just like this, when you meditate, all your worldly, murky thoughts subside. Like dregs settling in water, these thoughts must subside within your mind.

Meditation Cultivates the Mind

Whatever religion or teaching people may practice, meditation is a means of cultivating their minds.

During His work of renewal, Sangjenim once spoke of a spinster who wanted to attain enlightenment. She visited a neighborhood couple who were meditators, but the couple were quarreling, so when she asked for a mantra, the annoyed husband only replied, “I don’t like anything.” Mistaking this for a mantra, the spinster from that day onward kept chanting with one mind, “I don’t like anything, I don’t like anything….” Imagine how annoyed her family must have been! Eventually, one day as the spinster carried a large jar of water on her head, chanting, “I don’t like anything, I don’t like anything,” her father grew exasperated and struck the jar from her head with a flail. The falling jar struck a rock, yet it did not break and no water was lost.

Sangjenim told this story to stress the importance of having one mind. The divine inspiration that so many people speak of (and all things related to it) does not stem solely from truth, for before truth there is one mind. Zen, meditation, contemplation—all practices, whatever their name, emphasize one mind. Only through one mind can one enter the realm of truth.

Those who meditate should have a right mind. You would be better not to start at all if you will pursue meditation with bad motives. If meditators do not practice meditation correctly, they can easily become seduced by spirits. Is this not worse than not meditating at all?

Survive by Knowing Nature’s Order

Heaven, earth, sun and moon exist to cultivate human beings. You have to understand all of this at this time of Autumn Gaebyeok’s approach. All of the world’s seven billion people can survive only by understanding the cycle of nature. In cosmic spring and summer, all life forms are born and raised; in cosmic autumn and winter, all life bears fruit and perishes. These two eras are completely different.

The present era of the cosmic year is the time when the cosmic summer is giving way to the cosmic autumn. In order to complete the work of heaven and earth at this time of human gaebyeok, the True God must come to this world to save the seeds of humanity and to build a new world. Jeung San Do is the body that acts on behalf of Him.

The coming of the True God had been predicted by many sages. Shakyamuni Buddha said, ‘Three thousand years from now, Maitreya Buddha will incarnate into the world.’ Jesus Christ stated, ‘It is not I but God the Father who will come. I came to the world because I was sent by God the Father.’ They were speaking of Jeung-san Sangjenim, the root of Jeung San Do, known throughout history as the Jade Emperor of Heaven who resides in the Jade City of heaven. This very Sangjenim once walked this land.

The Organization That Works on Behalf of Heaven and Earth

It is an unchangeable principle that heaven and earth cultivates humanity for thousands or tens of thousands of years. Who, then, acts on behalf of heaven and earth? It is human beings who represent heaven and earth, which have no voices, hands, or feet. Human beings cultivate plants and trees each year on behalf of heaven and earth. At the coming time when heaven and earth select human seeds, it is also human beings who will help heaven and earth to finish their cosmic-year-long labor of cultivation.

Jeung San Do is the organization that harvests human seeds on behalf of heaven and earth. In another sense, Jeung San Do—the dao—is the fruition of heaven and earth.
If there were no sun or moon, heaven and earth would be empty shells, unable to give birth to or raise anything. Likewise, heaven, earth, sun, and moon would be empty shadows if there were no human beings. The human is the principal being among all life. Without human beings, heaven and earth and the sun and moon would have no use.

Speaking Exercise
① If there were no + 명사 (만약 ~이 없다면 ~할텐데)
Heaven, earth, sun, and moon would be empty shadows if there were no human beings.

What would happen if there were no human seeds?

② on behalf of / on one’s behalf (~을 대신[대표]하여)
Jeung San Do is the organization that harvests human seeds on behalf of heaven and earth.

Sun and moon act on behalf of heaven and earth.

I shall now suffer all diseases on humanity’s behalf.

Human Seeds Are Harvested at the Autumn Gaebyeok

You may wonder, “Given that humans live only, at the most, one hundred years, how is it possible for humans to be cultivated throughout the boundless cosmic year?” The answer lies in the fact that, thousands of years ago, human seeds were planted, and their genes have since been passed down from generation to generation, all the way to us.

Your ancestors are your root of existence. You were born with your ancestors’ genes, passed on to you through your parents, your grandparents, your great-grandparents, your great-great-grandparents, and your ancestors of one hundred, two hundred, or even three hundred generations ago. In other words, this lineage has been passed down all the way to you.

Talking of plants and trees, spring and summer exist for the sole purpose of producing fruit in autumn. If not for this fruit, spring and summer would not be necessary processes at all. Similarly, at the time of the Autumn Gaebyeok, if human seeds are not selected, everything will be meaningless. If heaven and earth and our ancestors fail to harvest good human seeds—good descendants—all their efforts will have been in vain. You see countless trees and plants that fail to bear fruit in autumn perish and leave behind only empty husks.

Speaking Exercise
① have[has] + been + 과거분사 ( ~ 되어오고 있다)
Since human seeds were planted thousands of years ago, their genes have been passed down from generation to generation, all the way to us.

We have been trapped under the reign of mutual conflict and domination since the Early Heaven Gaebyeok.

② will have + 과거분사 (~하게 될 것이다)
If heaven and earth fail to harvest good human seeds, all their efforts will have been in vain.

③ If not for + 명사 (만약 ~이 없다면 ~할텐데)
If not for autumn fruit, spring and summer would not be necessary processes at all.

If not for you, we would all die.