In the Original Image (God), there are the Universal Image, which consists of Sungsang and Hyungsang, and Yang and Yin, and the Individual Image. Resembling the Original Image, an original human being possesses the universal image of Sungsang and Hyungsang, and yang and yin, and also an individual image. Such a being is called a “being with Divine Image.” First, we will examine the aspect of Sungsang and Hyungsang.
1. A United Being of Sungsang and Hyungsang
The resemblance of a human being to God’s Sungsang and Hyungsang means that a human being is a dual being of mind and body, namely, a united being of Sungsang and Hyungsang. There are four kinds of Sungsang and Hyungsang in a human being. First, each person is an integration of the universe, or the encapsulation of all the elements of the universe. Hence every person has all the Sungsang elements of animals, plants, and minerals, in his or her Sungsang, and all the Hyungsang elements of animals, plants, and minerals, in his or her Hyungsang. Second, each person is a dual being of spirit self and physical self. Third, each person is a united being of mind and body. Finally, each person is a being with a dual mind consisting of the united spirit mind and physical mind.
Now, when we consider a human being from the perspective of having lost the original human nature, the relationship between the spirit mind and the physical mind (the fourth kind of Sungsang and Hyungsang mentioned above) is especially important. Thus, a “united being of Sung-sang and Hyungsang” refers to a “united being of spirit mind and physical mind.” I can explain the relationship between spirit mind and physical mind as that between Sungsang and Hyungsang, in spite of the fact that both spirit mind and physical mind belong to the mind. The reason is that the spirit mind is the mind of the spirit self (Sungsang) and the physical mind is the mind of the physical self (Hyungsang), and, therefore, the relationship between the spirit mind and the physical mind is the same as the relationship between the spirit self and the physical self. Next, let us consider the functions of the spirit mind and the physical mind.
The function of the spirit mind is to guide us in pursuit of a life of truth, goodness, beauty, and love, namely, a life of value. Love is the origin of life and at the same time the foundation for truth, goodness, and beauty. Therefore, a life of truth, goodness and beauty, centered on love is a life of value. A life of value includes the aspect of pursuing one’s own joy by seeking values for oneself; nevertheless, the more essential aspect of a life of value is the effort to please others through realizing values. Therefore, a life of value is a life of love, of living for the sake of others, namely, a life of love in which one lives for the sake of the family, tribe, nation, humankind, and ultimately for God. In contrast, the function of the physical mind is to guide us in pursuit of a life of food, clothing, shelter, and sex, namely, a material life. Material life is a life centered on the individual.
In the original order of things, the spirit mind and the physical mind exist in the relationship of subject and object, since the spirit self is subject and the physical self is object. Accordingly, the physical mind should be subservient to the spirit mind. The union of the spirit mind and the physical mind constitutes the “human mind.” The human mind in which the spirit mind functions as subject and the physical mind as object is called the “original mind.” That the physical mind obeys the spirit mind means that a life of values (namely, a life of pursuing and realizing values) should be given priority and a material life (a life of pursuing material satisfaction) secondary. This means that a life of truth, goodness, beauty, and love is the ultimate purpose, or goal, and a life of food, clothing, shelter, and sex serves as the means to achieving that goal. Once the physical mind obeys well the spirit mind and fulfills its proper function, the spirit self and the physical self can resonate well with each other. This is the state in which one’s human character is perfected. This is the way in which human beings should originally have lived.
Due to the human fall, however, human beings failed to actualize the original relationship between the spirit mind and the physical mind. As a result, the physical mind, which should have functioned in a subservient position, came instead to stand in the subject position; and the spirit mind, which should have been in the subject position, came to stand in an object position. As a result, a life of food, clothing, shelter, and sex became people’s primary objective, whereas a life of truth, goodness, beauty, and love became no more than a means to that end. Love for others and deeds of truth, goodness, and beauty came to be carried out for such purposes as one’s gaining wealth and obtaining position. This does not mean that there are no values in the fallen world: values do exist there, but in many cases these values have meaning only in the context of a self-centered, material life. The reason for this is that the physical mind has become the subject, and the spirit mind has become the object.
Thus, in the actual life of human beings the original relationship between the spirit mind and the physical mind has been reversed. Therefore, in order to recover the original state of human life, this relationship must be returned to its original state. This is the reason why human beings should necessarily lead a life of spiritual discipline, and why, throughout history, the various religions of the world have taught and encouraged people to win victory in their battle against their own selves.
Confucius, for instance, spoke of a “return to the observance of the rites through overcoming the self.” Jesus said, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 16:24-25), and “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). In order to achieve a victory over themselves, people have often chosen a monastic way of life, which includes such practices as asceticism, fasting and vigils.
Thus, unity between the spirit mind and the physical mind refers to a way of life in which one places priority on living a life of truth, goodness, and beauty, and makes the life of food, clothing and shelter secondary, through having the physical mind subservient to the spirit mind. However, due to the fall, human beings have come to lead a self-centered, material life in which their physical mind dominates their spirit mind, and it is from this that all the pains, suffering, and unhappiness of human beings have come into being.
The original mind, in which spirit mind and physical mind are united through give and receive action, resembles the inner four position foundation within God’s Sungsang. The primary function of the original mind is to guide us in living a life of love, pursuing the values of truth, goodness, and beauty based on the spirit mind. Thus, the human being can be characterized, fundamentally, as Homo amans, or a loving person. A life of value refers to a true life, a moral and ethical life, and an artistic life. The secondary function of the original mind is to guide us in living a life of food, clothing and shelter, namely a material life, based on the physical mind.
2. A Harmonious Being of Yang and Yin
Yang and yin in the Theory of the Original Human Nature refer to a husband and wife as a yang substantial being and a yin substantial being, respectively. The problems of how a husband and wife should live and what a family should be like have been important issues since ancient times. Animals, plants, and minerals all exist and multiply through the union between yang and yin. Yet, to regard the union between yang and yin in human beings, namely, the union between husband and wife, simply as a physical union would be equivalent to regarding it simply as a biological union. In advanced nations today, men and women easily get married and easily get divorced; as a result, the sacredness and eternal character of marriage are being lost. This is not the original way for the relationship of husband and wife.
No satisfactory answers have yet been given to such questions as why a man and woman exist or for what purpose they get married. Hence, people many times prefer not to get married at all. To these problems, Unification Thought offers clear solutions.
First, a husband and wife each, originally, represents one of God’s dual characteristics of Yang and Yin; accordingly, their conjugal union signifies the manifestation of God. When a husband and wife love each other horizontally, centering on God, His vertical love dwells there, and life is created through the multiplication of love.
Second, the union of a husband and wife represents the final stage of God’s creation of the universe; therefore, the unity of husband and wife signifies the completion of the creation of the universe. If Adam and Eve had not fallen away from God, the creation of the universe would have been completed upon the occasion of their perfection. Since Adam and Eve did not perfect themselves, however, the creation of the universe was never completed. For that reason, God has been conducting the dispensation of re-creation. To re-create fallen human beings means to lead them to become perfected individuals, and further to become perfected husband and wife couples. Human beings were created to be the rulers of all things, but neither a man alone nor a woman alone can become a ruler. Only by being perfected as a couple, that is, as a husband and wife, can they become the rulers of all things. Only then will the creation of the universe be completed.
Third, since a husband and wife each, originally, represents one half of humankind, their union signifies the unity of humankind. To explain further, the husband represents all the men of humankind, and the wife represents all the women of humankind. The population of the world today is over six billion people. Therefore, a husband and wife each possesses the value of representing over three billion people.
Fourth, a husband and wife each, originally, represents one half of the family; therefore, their union signifies the perfection of the family. The husband represents all the men and the wife represents all the women of the family.
From the above perspective, that a husband and wife love each other signifies the manifestation of God in their family, the completion of the universe, the unity of humankind, and the perfection of the family. We can see that the union of a husband and wife is, indeed, a sacred and precious union. 1
The harmony of a husband and wife is accomplished through the formation of the family four position foundation. The formation of the family four position foundation refers to the completion of the second blessing given to human beings by God when He created them. This is achieved when a husband and wife, who have perfected their personalities, centering on God, establish a correlative standard and engage in give and receive action of love and beauty. The unity of the husband and wife resembles the harmony of subject and object within the Original Image; in other words, it resembles the identity-maintaining four position foundation within the Original Image, while the multiplication of children by a husband and wife resembles God’s creation of human beings; in other words, it resembles the developmental four position foundation within the Original Image. Through these accomplishments, a husband and wife realize harmony, while living in accordance with their original mind.
When one lives fully in accordance with one’s original mind one resembles the inner four position foundation within the Original Image, and when he or she lives in complete harmony with another person they come to resemble the outer four position foundation within the Original Image. When a man and woman grow and mature as persons of character, resembling the Original Image, and then marry and perform a give and receive action of love, centering on the purpose of creation, God’s love dwells in them. Thus, a family is the place where the horizontal love of a husband and wife and the vertical love of God are completely united. When such families, which are based on God’s love, converge to form a society, then a nation, and then a world, this will be the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, a world wherein God’s ideal of creation has been fulfilled.
The world in which God’s ideal of creation is realized is a world of love that has been realized through the original order. Here, let me explain about order and love. A human being is a miniature of the universe, but so too, is the family. More specifically, a human being is a miniature of the universe seen from the viewpoint of constituent elements; in other words, a human being is the integration of all the elements of the universe. On the other hand, a family is a miniature of the universe, seen from the viewpoint of order.
To say that the family is a miniature of the universe in terms of order means to say that just as there is vertical and horizontal order in the universe, so too there is vertical and horizontal order in a family, only in a more compact form. Vertical order in a family refers to the orderly positions of grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren, and so on, and horizontal order in a family refers to the orderly positions of husband and wife, and brothers and sisters. Love is realized through such order. Thus, there is a vertical love and a horizontal love. Vertical love refers to the downward flow of love from parents toward children, and the upward love from children toward their parents. Horizontal love refers to the love between husband and wife, and the love between brothers and sisters Based on these forms of love, family ethics, which is the foundation for both vertical value and horizontal value, can be realized. Vertical value refers to the affection of parents toward their children, and the filial piety of children toward their parents. Horizontal value refers to the conjugal harmony between husband and wife, and friendship among brothers and sisters. Thus, ethics is the norm of behavior that is to be observed by each member of the family. (The details will be discussed later in the Theory of Ethics.) By extending family ethics to a society, an enterprise, or a school, social ethics, business ethics, and school ethics can, in turn, be established. Love for one’s neighbors, love for one’s nation, love for one’s enemy, the conservation movement, and so on, all will be based on family ethics.
In sum, if we were to describe an original human being in one word, it would be that of a person of love (Homo amans). Due to the fall, however, Adam and Eve failed to perfect their personalities. Hence, they could not become the husband and wife that they should originally have become. They could not become united, centering on God’s love, and so they lost God. Thus, until today, the creation of the universe has remained unfinished.
Today, family problems and social problems abound everywhere. The cause of all of these problems is due to the fact that husband and wife do not have a proper relationship. This is why families break down, societies are in disarray, nations become disorderly, and the world is chaotic. Therefore, for husband and wife to harmonize and unite through conjugal love is an indispensable prerequisite for world unity. Stated succinctly, the harmonious union of husband and wife is a key to solving social and world problems.
3. A Being of Individuality
In creating the universe, God first envisioned the image of a perfected human being, and then, with that image as the standard, He created all things as substantial objects. Accordingly, all things are individual beings that symbolically resemble the Original Image of God, the causal being, while human beings are individual beings that directly resemble the Original Image. An individual being refers to an individual truth being that resembles the individual image in the Original Image.
An individual truth being refers to an individual being that has the universal image and the individual image. When we emphasize the individuality of the individual truth being, we call it a “being of individuality.” The individual image of a human being is, unlike that in the case of animals and plants, peculiar to each individual person. That is the reason why the faces and characteristics of human beings are clearly distinguishable from one another. Thus, in the case of animals and plants, the individual image differs according to each species, while in the case of human beings, the individual image differs according to each individual person.
God endowed each human being with such a particular individual image so that He might obtain, from him or her, a unique, stimulating joy. Therefore, a human being is a being of supreme value who gives supreme joy to God through his or her unique individuality. This individual image is another aspect of the original human nature, and it is manifested as unique human characteristics in three aspects as follows.
The first manifestation of human individuality is the uniqueness in a person’s appearance; though there are over six billion people in the world, no two individuals have exactly the same face. The second manifestation is in behavior, which is different from person to person. If we regard appearance as the unique characteristic feature of one’s Hyungsang, then one’s behavior can be regarded as the unique characteristic feature of one’s Sungsang, because behavior is a direct manifestation of the mind. The third manifestation is creative activity. Not only artistic creation, but any activity in which one’s creativity is expressed is included in the concept of creation. This creative expression will differ from person to person. In this sense, if one lives one day to its fullest, expressing his or her creativity in everything they do, the footprints of that day become a work of art. Furthermore, the footprints of one’s entire life course become a life work of Hence, God feels pleased when looking at the face, behavior, and creative activity of each human being with original human nature. That God becomes pleased by looking at each human being means that he or she gives unique beauty to God through his or her appearance, behavior, and creative activity. That is the beauty of a person’s individuality, which includes the beauty of appearance, the beauty of behavior, and the beauty of creative activity.
When parents look at their children, they perceive each child with his or her character as so beautiful and lovely, since children are the manifestation of their parents. In the same way, when God looks at human beings, He feels that the appearance, behavior, and creative activity of each human being is so beautiful and lovely, and He becomes pleased. Human indviduality originates from God, namely, it is God-given; therefore, it is very precious. This is why we should pay people the highest regard, and offer our utmost respect to their individuality.
Because of the human fall human individualities have largely been crushed or ignored, and human rights trampled upon, until today. This has been especially true in dictatorial societies. The paramount example of this is society under Communist rule. The reason for this is that Communism denigrates human individuality, regarding it as no more than a product of the environment―a viewpoint derived from materialism. In contrast, humanism put emphasis on the importance of human individuality. However, humanism had no philosophical answer as to why human individuality must be respected; therefore, humanism could not contend with Communism, which is an influential philosophy.
In this respect, Unification Thought offers a clear and much-needed theological and philosophical foundation. Viewed from the perspective of Unification Thought, human individuality is neither something accidental nor a product of the environment; rather, it is derived from the Individual Image of God. In other words, it is something that comes from God and, therefore, is very precious.