Who is Sangjenim?

Je (帝) is the historical title for God.

In the East, je originally meant “God the Ruler.”

Sang (上) means “above,” or “highest.”

Therefore, Sangje (上帝) means the “God the Ruler of Heaven.”

The term Sangje further signifies ‘the prime spirit of the universe who rules over nature, human beings, and spirits.’
Sangjenim is the Father of All Life.
He is the Great Teacher and He is the Sovereign Ruler of heaven and earth and all existence, and of humanity and the spirit realm.

A: I heard there are terms referring to God in different cultures. What other names do people in the world use to refer to God?
B: Well, Confucianism uses the term ‘Sangje’. Daoism refers to him as the “supreme being in the Jade City of heaven.” Buddhist teachings say the Lord of Tushita Heaven, the Maitreya Buddha, will save humanity. And Jesus Christ testified about the God the Father that have sent him, who is the Lord of Heaven.
A: So, in a way, they are different titles referring to the same entity?
B: Exactly!

A: This God the ruler has been known as Sangjenim throughout history but there are other terms that were used to refer to Him.
B: What other names are used to refer to the God the ruler, Sangjenim?
A: The formal title of Sangjenim is Okhwang-Sangje, meaning “Jade Emperor of Heaven.”
B: What about Samsin Sangjenim? I thought that was also the title for Sangjenim. Isn’t it?
A: That’s right. The title ‘Samsin Sangjenim’ has been used in Spirit Teaching, which predates Confucianism and Daoism. Sangjenim eventually came to be called Jeung-san Sangjenim when He incarnated into this world.
B: Where can I get more information on this?

What is Jeung San Do?

A: Why is Jeung San Do not a religion? Isn’t it a religion?
B: That's because its teachings are based on the principle of nature. The principle of nature is dao. That’s why it’s called the Jeung San Do meaning Dao of Jeung San, rather than Religion of Jeung San.
A: I don’t understand. What is the difference between religion and dao anyways?
B: We could say that a religion is a path to go up a mountain and dao is the mountain’s summit.

A: The cosmic change and transformation doesn’t solely rely on the cosmic principle itself. We must also know about Sangjenim.
B: Sangjenim? What is the relationship between the cosmic principle and Sangjenim?
A: Sangjenim rules the universe in accordance with the natural order of the universe.
B: Oh, I get it. God rules the principle that makes all the change and transformation happen in the universe. How interesting!
A: Right. Understanding about Sangjenim is the key to understanding the principle.

Sangjenim’s Culture of Renewal

Sangjenim stated, “It is not the Work of Renewing Heaven and Earth if even the spirit of a dead fly bears a grudge against it” (Dojeon

4:44:3). For the spirits of those killed by others before they could lead the life they desired, ①Sangjenim’s process will cure all beings of their bitterness and grief.

Sangjenim’s process entails that the inveterate bitterness and grief of spirits will be healed over a period of approximately one hundred years. ②His work of renewal aims to realize a peaceful paradise free of enmity and conflict.

③Sangjenim’s culture is not simply another culture, but rather the ‘culture of renewal’ or the “Gaebyeok.” This process is taking place at present.

Sangjenim’s Work of Renewal for Healing of Bitterness and Grief

The spirits must first be healed from all their bitterness and grief to help build a better world. Thus, ①those spirits who harbor bitterness and grief must first have their bitterness and grief cured because spirits are foremost in the founding of a new world.

Sangjenim assembled all the spirits and reorganized the spirit realm. This was the formation of the community of spirits. ②Sangjenim constructed this spiritual community in a form not wholly unlike a human community.

The currents of the present world are manifestations of Sangjenim’s work of renewal for the healing of bitterness and grief, as those entities unfold as historical events.

③The spirit world and the human world are like the interior and exterior aspects of an object, thus the community of spirits is realized in the human world.

Spirits Harboring Bitterness and Grief

Because the principle of mutual conflict and domination dominates the human world in the Early Heaven, ①nobody has ever actually lived a mortal lifetime as they truly wished. By nature, each person is born into this world to live a lifetime of freedom.

The history of humanity has been stained with blood and tainted with unrighteousness. It is a rare person who departs this world without bitterness and grief. Thus, there are many spirits harboring bitterness and grief in heaven and on earth.

②The spirit realm is one hundred times more resplendent than the human world. There is a saying: ③“An understanding as brilliant as a spirit.” Spirits perceive more because they are more resplendent than even the sun.

The Mind Is the Master of the Body

The Mind is the master of the body. My mind is the master of my flesh. My flesh is the outer casing, and the master of my flesh is my mind.

If my mind desires to travel somewhere, my body is simply taken along. ①If my mind wants to scratch an itch, then that spot on my body must be scratched. If my mind becomes enraged and resolves, “I must hit that person,” then my body strikes that person. The body is the servant of the mind.

During their lifetime, a person functions as a person through the union of the mind-soul and the flesh. In death, a person no longer possesses the flesh, yet ②their spirit still functions as an entity. What, then, is the difference between a person and a spirit? ③A person is “an entity with flesh”; a spirit is “an entity without flesh.”

Be Aware of the Tides of Time

People must live in concord with natural principles. In fact, ①those who live in concord with the principle of heaven and earth flourish, while those contravene the principle of heaven and earth suffer ruin.
The principle of heaven and earth, or nature’s order, cannot be pulled, pushed, or halted. Possessing billions of dollars is worthless; owning everything on earth would be futile. The principle of nature cannot be challenged by any means.

You must understand heavenly time, just as humans understand the rhythm of the changing seasons—sowing plants in spring, cultivating them in summer, and harvesting them in autumn. ②Now is the age when the seasons of heaven and earth are changing. ③Those ignorant of this have no choice but perish. There is only one time for bearing fruit: autumn. If you do not survive this era, all of your ancestors from the many past generations will meet the same destiny: they all will die with you.

Ancestral Spirits Truly Care About Their Descendants

Let us address the most important point first: who are the important Spirits for each familial community? They are the spiritual ancestors of each family. ①The ancestral spirits are not unlike gods to the descendants, with there also being Sangjenim, the Master of them all. I am not expressing some personal opinion, and ②even if it were not part of Jeung San Do’s message, I would still proclaim this truth, as a devotee of Truth. Who are the paramount Spirits for all of humanity? For all people, their own ancestors are the Ones.

The ancestral spirits from many generations “accompany” each of us. ②Ancestral spirits, even if their descendant is a thief, a burglar, or a murderer, always follow their descendant to protect and preserve them. ③However bad the descendant’s deeds, the ancestors want to get them out of trouble. Thus, ancestral spirits are intimately tied to the life and death of their descendants. You must know this. Your ancestors are your paramount Spirits.

Our Ancestors Within Our Bodies

Within an earth year, life arises in spring, ①what sprouts in spring grows in summer, and in autumn, the essence of life is gathered to enable fruition. All life bears fruit and perishes in autumn.

After a grass seed has fallen to the ground, it sprouts in spring, grows in summer, recovers its original form in autumn, and dies by the chill of autumn. Then the next year, a new sprout emerges to pass on the genes to the next generation. In this way, a lineage spans ten, one hundred, one thousand, or tens of thousands of years. ②No life form transcends the bounds of this principle.

Likewise, there exists a cosmic year. Within a cosmic year, the universe cultivates humanity.

Our founding ancestors from seven, eight thousand years ago passed their genes down to their children, their children to their children, all the way to us today. You carry the genes of your first ancestors.

At the time of the Autumn Gaebyeok the seeds of various human lineages are culled. If our ancestors fail to harvest good descendants, ③all their efforts will have been in vain.

In What Period Are We Now?

The principle of heaven and earth lies in the dynamic of giving birth to life in spring and bringing death in autumn. You cannot do anything about the principle of heaven and earth.

Spring insists upon life, and autumn insists upon death. ①Spring gives life in order for autumn to bring death, and autumn brings death in order for spring to give life.

②We have lived in the world of the Early Heaven—64,800 years of spring and summer. The coming world will be the period of autumn and winter, spanning another 64,800 years. We are approaching the world of autumn and winter. ③The world of autumn and winter will be one of a mature culture.

Now is the time of the summer-autumn transition. There will be a mature culture in which politics, economics, culture, religion, society, and many more such elements will be brought together into one. It will be an integrative culture of living for all people. The world will be united as one family under one government.