I. Individual Truth Being

1. Sungsang and Hyungsang

First of all, every created being possesses the dual characteristics of Sungsang and Hyungsang. Sungsang refers to the invisible, immaterial aspect of created beings, such as their faculty and nature. Hyungsang refers to the visible aspect of created beings, such as mass, structure, and shape. In minerals, Sungsang is physicochemical character, and Hyungsang is structure, shape, and so on, composed of atoms and molecules.

Plants have their own peculiar Sungsang and Hyungsang. The Sungsang peculiar to plants is life, and the Hyungsang peculiar to plants is their cells and tissues, which compose their structure and shape―in other words, the body of a plant. Life is the consciousness latent within the body, and it possesses purposefulness and directiveness. The function of life is the ability to grow while maintaining itself as an individual being. Therefore, it can be said that life has autonomy. While plants possess their own peculiar Sungsang and Hyungsang, they also contain the elements of Sungsang and Hyungsang of the level of minerals. In other worlds, plants contain mineral matter.

In animals, there are aspects of Sungsang and Hyungsang that are peculiar to animals and so they exist on a level higher than that of plants. The Sungsang peculiar to animals is instinct, and the Hyungsang peculiar to animals is their structure and shape which includes sense organs and nerves. Animals have both mineral matter, which contains the Sungsang and Hyungsang of the mineral level, and they also possess plant-level Sungsang and Hyungsang; all the cells and tissues of animals exist on this level.

The human being is a two-fold being of spirit self and physical self. Therefore, the Sungsang and Hyungsang of the human being are unique and are of a still higher level than those of the animals. The Sungsang unique to the human being is the “spirit mind,” which is the mind of the spirit self, and the Hyungsang unique to the human being is the spirit body. In a human physical self, the Sungsang is the physical mind and the Hyungsang is the physical body. Mineral matter is contained in the physical body, and in this sense the human being has mineral-level Sungsang and Hyungsang. The human physical body is also composed of cells and tissues, and therefore has plant-level Sungsang and Hyungsang as well. Like animals, the human being has sense organs and nerves, and hence the Sungsang and Hyungsang corresponding to animals. The animal-level Sungsang in human beings, namely, the instinctive mind, is called the “physical mind.” Thus, the human mind consists of the physical mind (instinctive mind) and the spirit mind. While the spirit mind pursues the values of truth, goodness, beauty, and love, the physical mind pursues a life of food, clothing, shelter, and sex. The original human mind (“original mind”) is the union of the spirit mind and physical mind.

Let us now discuss the spirit self of a human being. The physical self consists of the same elements as those of the natural world and has only a certain period of time for its existence. In contrast, the spirit self is made of spiritual elements, which can not be perceived with our physical senses; yet, the spirit self has an appearance no different from that of the physical self. When the physical self dies, the spirit self discards it―in much the same way as when we discard an article of clothing when it is old and worn out. Having discarded the physical self, the spirit self goes on to the spirit world, where it exists forever.

The spirit self is composed of the dual characteristics of Sungsang and Hyungsang. The Sungsang of the spirit self is the spirit mind, and its Hyungsang is the spirit body. The sensibilities of the spirit self are nurtured in its mutual relationship with the physical self. In other words, the sensibilities of the spirit self develop on the basis of the physical self. Therefore, when an individual dies after having practiced God’s love during life on earth, that individual’s spirit self will lead a life of joy-filled with love in the spirit world. In contrast, those who commit evil acts while on earth can not but experience a life of suffering after death.

It is evident that human beings possess the Sungsangs and Hyungsangs of minerals, plants, and animals and, in addition, they possess a Sungsang and Hyungsang of a still higher level. When seen in this way, the human being can be regarded as the integration of all things, or as a microcosm of the universe. From this explanation, it becomes clear that, as the levels of existing beings ascend―from minerals to plants, to animals, and to human beings―the Sungsangs and Hyungsangs become more substantial and elaborate layer by layer. This may be called the “layered structure of Sungsang and Hyungsang in existing beings,” and it is illustrated in fig. 2.1.

Fig.2.1. Layered Structure of Sungsang and Hyungsang in Existion Beings

It must be noted, however, that when God actually created the universe, in the sequence of minerals, plants, animals and human beings, He did not simply create human beings at the end by merely accumulating the previously existing and respective Sungsangs and Hyungsangs peculiar to minerals, plants, and animals, and then, adding to them the Sungsang and Hyungsang unique to human beings. Rather, in the process of creation, according to Unification Thought, God first formed or visualized, in His mind, the idea of a human being as a being of united Sungsang and Hyungsang. Only then did He form the ideas of animals, and then plants, and then minerals, one by one, by subtracting their specific elements from the Sungsang and Hyungsang of human beings and lowering their dimension. It must be realized then, that in the actual process of creation God followed the reverse order―that is, based on the ideas He had formed, He created actual minerals first, then plants and animals, and finally human beings. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the result, it would, indeed, appear that the human Sungsang and Hyungsang were made by simply accumulating the respective layers of the Sungsangs and Hyungsangs unique to minerals, then to plants, and finally to animals―but this is just a matter of appearance. That the human Sungsang and Hyungsang, diagrammatically, possess a layered structure, as was described earlier, has the following important implications.

First, such a layered structure implies that there is a certain continuity among the various layers within the Sungsang. Specifically, the human mind, which consists of spirit mind and physical mind, possesses continuity between these two minds; hence, a human being can control the physical mind through the spirit mind. Furthermore, the human mind is connected to life, or autonomy. Even though, through the conscious mind, one can not usually control the autonomous nerves, it is well known that such control can become possible through training. Yoga practitioners, for example, can, through meditation, change the pace of their heartbeats. ¹ In addition, the human mind is connected with the Sungsang of minerals within the body. Also, the human mind is externally connected to the Sungsang of animals and plants. It is known that a human being with his or her power of mind can influence even material beings, as well as animals and plants, outside themselves without using physical means. ²

In addition, it is said that animals, plants, and minerals respond to the human mind. In the case of plants, the Backster Effect, observed by Clive Backster, an American lie-detector technician, testifies to this fact. ³ Furthermore, it has been reported that there may exist a certain perceptive ability even in the realms of minerals and elementary particles. ⁴

Second, the layered structure of human Sungsang and Hyungsang provides important insights with regard to the question of life. Theists and atheists have continually argued about the existence or non-existence of God. Theists have always disagreed with atheists, claiming that life can not be created by humans, that only God can create life. No matter how much progress natural science may have made, it had not been able to present a reasonable scenario for the origin of life. Hence, for a long time the question of life had been the sole foothold on which theism could base its position. Today, however, that foothold is being threatened by atheists, since scientists now assert that they have reached the point where they can create life.

Can scientists then, indeed, create life? According to contemporary biology, the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) within the chromosomes of a cell contains four kinds of nitrogenous bases, which are adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. The way in which these four different bases are arranged form the genetic information of a cell, which can be called the blueprint of a living organism. The structure and functions of a living organism are determined by this genetic information. Therefore, it can be said that living things, ultimately, are made through their DNA. Scientists today have become capable of synthesizing DNA. Therefore, materialists have come to conclude that God is quite unnecessary in explaining the phenomenon of life. They assert that it is not necessary to hold that God has existed from the beginning.

But, is the synthesis of DNA by scientists the same phenomenon as the creation of life? From the viewpoint of Unification Thought, it is not. Even if scientists are capable of synthesizing DNA, they will merely have succeeded in producing the Hyungsang aspect of life phenomena. Life is, in essence, the Sungsang aspect of life phenomena. Therefore, what scientists have become able to produce is not life itself, but simply the carrier of life. In a human being, the physical self, which is Hyungsang, carries the spirit self, which is Sungsang. One’s physical self comes from one’s parents, while one’s spirit self comes from God. Likewise, even if DNA does come from scientists (that is, even if science may synthesize DNA), life itself comes from God.

Figuratively, this point may be elucidated by using the example of a radio. A radio receiver is a device that converts electrical waves into sound waves. It receives the electrical waves coming from a broadcasting station and converts them into sound waves. Therefore, the fact that scientists have made a radio does not mean that they have made sound, since sound comes from the broadcasting station, being carried by the electrical waves. Likewise, the fact that scientists have synthesized DNA does not mean they have created life itself; it means, simply, that they have made a device that is capable of catching life.

The universe is a life field; it is permeated with life, which originates from God’s Sungsang. Once there appears a device that is capable of receiving life, then, and only then, can life appear. The device in question is precisely the special molecule called DNA. Such a conclusion can be derived from the concept of the layered structure of Sungsang and Hyungsang.

2. Yang and Yin

2.1. Yang and Yin Is Another Dual Characteristic

We shall now discuss the yang and yin characteristics of the individual truth being. As stated in the Theory of the Original Image, Yang and Yin, another pair of dual characteristics in God, are the attributes of Sungsang and Hyungsang. This means that there are Yang and Yin characteristics in Sungsang and Yang and Yin characteristics in Hyungsang.

Let us first examine the yang and yin characteristics of the human Sungsang and Hyungsang. The human Sungsang is the mind, which possesses the faculties of intellect, emotion, and will. There are yang aspects and yin aspects in each of these faculties of the mind. The yang aspects of the intellect are clarity, good memory, distinctness, wittiness, and the like. The yin aspects of the intellect are vagueness, forgetfulness, unclear ideas, seriousness, and so on. The yang aspects of the emotion are pleasantness, loudness, joyfulness, excitement, and the like. The yin aspects of the emotion are unpleasantness, quietness, sorrow, composure, etc. The yang aspects of the will are activeness, aggressiveness, creative-ness, carefreeness, and other such qualities. Finally, the yin aspects of the will are passiveness, tolerance, conservativeness, carefulness, and so on.

With regard to the Hyungsang, or the physical body, protuberant parts, protrusions, convex parts, the front side, and so on, are the yang aspects; whereas sunken parts, orifices, concave parts, the back side, etc., are the yin aspects. These points are systematically arranged in table 2.1.

Table 2.1. Yang and Yin as Attributes of Sungsang and Hyungsang(in Human Beings)

In a similar way, in animals, plants, and minerals there are yang and yin in the Sungsang as well as in the Hyungsang. Animals sometimes behave actively and sometimes they do not. Plants sometimes grow and sometimes they wither; sometimes plants open their flowers, and sometimes they close them; trees grow upward into the sky and their roots grow downward into the soil. In minerals, physicochemical functions sometimes proceed intensely and at other times do not. These are yang and yin characteristics of the Sungsang. As for yang and yin characteristics of the Hyungsang, these include protuberances and orifices, high and low, front and back, light and dark, hard and soft, dynamic and static, pure and impure, hot and cold, day and night, summer and winter, heaven and earth, mountain and valley, and so forth. This is how we can understand yang and yin in the Sungsang and Hyungsang of the individual truth being.

An individual truth being is equipped with yang and yin as the attributes of Sungsang and Hyungsang. Further, each type of created being consists of a pair of individual truth beings, i.e., a yang substantial being and a yin substantial being: the former is equipped with relatively more yang characters than its partner and the latter is equipped with relatively more yin characters than its partner. We can find pairs of yang substantial being and yin substantial being at each level of beings. These are man and woman in human beings, male and female in animals, stamen and pistil in plants, cation and anion in minerals, and protons and electrons in atoms. It is said that there are male and female even in single-cell bacteria. ⁵

2.2. Yang Substantial Being and Yin Substantial Being in Human Beings

Yang substantial being and yin substantial being are concepts often used to refer to man and woman. Then, concerning human beings, in concrete terms what are a yang substantial being and a yin substantial being? Since this issue has already been explained in detail in the Theory of the Original Image, I will merely summarize the content here.

In the Hyungsang (body), the difference between man and woman in terms of yang and yin is very clear. It is a quantitative difference: man’s body has more yang elements than woman’s, and woman’s body has more yin elements than man’s. On the other hand, in the Sungsang, the difference between man and woman in terms of yang and yin is a characteristic difference.

As explained earlier, man and woman both have yang and yin in each faculty of intellect, emotion, and will. There are, however, characteristic differences between man and woman with regard to yang and yin. For example, man and woman both have clarity, which is a yang character of the intellect, but the character of this clarity differs between man and woman. Generally, clarity in man has a more comprehensive character, whereas clarity in woman is more analytic and is oriented more toward details. As for sadness, a yin character of emotion, man’s sorrow tends to have a more painful character, while woman’s tends to have a grieving character. As for activeness, a yang character of the will, the character of a man’s activeness gives an impression more of hardness, whereas the character of a woman’s activeness gives more an impression of softness. Such differences between man and woman are characteristic differences.

For the sake of better understanding, let me cite the case of vocal music. In vocal music, the male tenor and the female’s soprano are both high sounds, and so correspond to yang, but they are characteristically different. Likewise, masculine bass and feminine alto are both low sounds, and so correspond to yin, but they are characteristically different. As shown through this comparison, the differences between yang and yin in the Sungsang is a characteristic difference and, therefore, masculinity appears in man and femininity appears in woman.

Let us now consider how the functions of yang and yin operated in the process of the creation of the universe. God’s creation can be compared to the creation of a great work of art in which yang and yin are in harmony. That is, it can be said that God has been conducting a grand symphony entitled “The Creation of Heaven and Earth.” God started with the “Big Bang,” ⁶ and then created the galaxies, the solar system, and the earth. On the earth, He created plants, animals, and finally human beings. In the playing of a symphony, various yangs and yins are operating, such as high and low tones, strong and weak notes, long and short sounds, as well as yang instruments and yin instruments. In a similar way, in the process of the creation of the universe, various yangs and yins are considered to have been at work.

In our galaxy there are perhaps about 200 billion stars, arranged in a spiral. The areas of the galaxy where the stars are in dense concentration are yang, and the areas where the stars are sparse are yin. On the earth, lands and oceans were formed; the land is yang, and the ocean is yin. Mountain and valley, day and night, morning and evening, summer and winter, and so forth, are all expressions of yang and yin. Through the various yangs and yins operating in this way, the universe was created, the earth was formed, living things came into being, and humankind appeared. Human activities, also, are carried out through the operation of yangs and yins. Through the harmony between husband and wife, a family is formed. In artistic creation, harmonies between curved and straight lines, light and dark colors, big and small masses, and so on, are required.

In this way, both in the creation of the universe and in the activities of human society, yang and yin are operating in Sungsang and Hyungsang. The harmonious action and interaction of yang and yin is an indispensable factor in variety and development, as well as in the expression of beauty. Thus, we can come to a conclusion: God made yang and yin as the attributes of Sungsang and Hyungsang in order to express harmony and beauty through yang and yin.

3. Individual Image of the Individual Truth Being

In addition to the universal image of Sungsang and Hyungsang, and yang and yin, each individual truth being has unique attributes of its own. These unique attributes are the individual image of the individual truth being, and it goes without saying that this individual image originates from the Individual Image of the Original Image.

3.1. Individualization of Universal Image

The individual image is not an image separate from the universal image; rather, it is the universal image specialized, or individuated. Since the universal image is composed of Sungsang and Hyungsang, and yang and yin, the manifestation of these attributes in a different and unique way in each individual being is precisely the individual image of that particular individual being.

In the case of human beings, the personality (Sungsang) and physical appearance (Hyungsang) of individuals differ from one another. Furthermore, the yang and yin of the Sungsang and the yang and yin of the Hyungsang of individuals differ from one another. For example, joy (a yang emotion) is expressed differently by different individuals, as is sorrow (a yin emotion). The nose (a yang part of the body) differs in size and shape from individual to individual. The ear canal (a yin part of the body) also differs in size and shape from individual to individual. Thus, the individual image can be understood as an individualization of the universal image.

3.2. Specific Differences and Individual Image

Those characteristics which a group of beings has in common are called taxonomic characteristics (Merkmal), and those taxonomic characteristics peculiar to a certain specific concept are referred to as the “specific difference” of that being. For example, “human being,” “dog,” and “cat” are all specific concepts, and are grouped together, under the more generic concept of “animal.” The specific difference then, of human beings is “reason” since it is unique to the human being. (From the viewpoint of Unification Thought, both taxonomic characteristics and specific differences are connected to the individualization or the particularization of the universal image.)

The taxonomic characteristics of a particular living being are a combination of the specific differences of the different levels. Consider, for example, the case of a human being. As a living being, the human being has the specific difference of an animal rather than that of a plant. Furthermore, as an animal, the human being has the specific difference of a vertebrate rather than that of an invertebrate. As a vertebrate, the human being has the specific difference of a mammal rather than that of a fish or a reptile. As a mammal, the human being has the specific difference of a primate rather than that of a carnivore or a rodent. As a primate, the human being has the specific difference of Hominidae rather than that of a long-armed ape. As Hominidae, the human being has the specific difference of Homo rather than that of an ape-man. Finally, as Homo, the human being has the specific difference of Homo sapiens rather than that of a primitive man.

In this way, the taxonomic characteristics of a human being include the specific differences from seven different taxonomic levels, namely, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Upon the foundation of the specific differences from each of the seven levels, the special and unique characteristics of an individual, namely, one’s individual image is established. Thus, it might be said that the individual image of a human being consists of those characteristics determined based on the set of specific differences taken from seven different levels.

In actual fact, however, the specific differences of each of these seven levels in human beings are only classifications created by biologists for the sake of convenience; God did not create human beings by successively piling up layer after layer of these various specific taxonomic differences. It is written in the Divine Principle that “Prior to creating human beings, God created the natural world by expressing partial reflections of the internal nature and external form He had conceived for human beings” (DP, 34). Thus, in creating the universe, what God first thought about was the complete and unified human being; yet, the human being was the last to actually be created.

Taking the image of the unitary human being, which He had envisioned in the very beginning, as the standard, God subsequently formed the conceptions of animals, plants, and minerals. In other words, in the process of conceptualization, God first developed the conception of human beings, and then that of animals, then plants, and finally minerals and heavenly bodies, proceeding downward. Then, with regard to the actual creation, the order followed was the exact opposite: God first created minerals and heavenly bodies, and then plants, animals, and finally human beings, proceeding in an upward fashion.

In conceptualizing, the way in which God visualized the conception of a human being was not by separately collecting together specific differences; rather, He immediately and comprehensively formed the conception of a human being as a complete, unitary whole, with all the relevant attributes (i.e., Sungsang and Hyungsang, and yang and yin). Moreover, the conception that came to God’s mind was not that of a man and a woman in the abstract, but rather that of a specific man (Adam) and a specific woman (Eve), with their concrete individual images, namely, the very ideas of Adam and Eve. Next, God subtracted, or abstracted out, certain pertinent qualities and elements from the unitary conception of the human being and transformed them, whereby He could create the conceptions of the various animals. In like fashion He subtracted certain qualities and elements from the conception of animals and transformed them, whereby He could create the conceptions of the various plants. Subsequently, He subtracted certain qualities and elements from the conception of plants and again transformed them, whereby He developed the conceptions of the various heavenly bodies and minerals.

At the animal stage, furthermore, in God’s downward formation of conceptions, God started from the conception of the higher and most complex animals and, by eliminating certain qualities and elements from it, and transforming it, gradually developed, step by step, the conceptions of lower and simpler animals. The same can be said of plants. Accordingly, if one observes human beings only from the phenomenological point of view of the actual creation, one may be left with the impression that the specific differences of progressive animal orders have simply been accumulated, layer upon layer; but it is important to realize that this is just an appearance. One needs to understand God’s conceptualization process, which preceded the actual creation process.

With regard to the microscopic world (e.g., molecules, atoms, and elementary particles), it should be noted that the individual image in this case is the same as the specific difference of the species to which the individual belongs. For example, every water molecule has the same shape and the same chemical character. The same thing can be said about atoms and elementary particles. Thus, in the microscopic world, the individual image is identical to the specific difference. The reason for this is that atoms and molecules exist as component elements of beings of higher levels. In the case of non-living beings, each being made of minerals (e.g., a mountain, a river, and a heavenly body) has its own individual image; with regard to the mineral elements, however, the individual image of each element is the same as its specific difference.

The same thing can be said for plants and animals. Their particular characteristics are their individual images. For example, the characteristics of a Rose of Sharon become the individual image of all Roses of Sharon, and the characteristics of a certain kind of chicken become the individual image of all chickens of the same kind. Thus, the individual image of all things differs from species to species, whereas the individual image of a human being differs from individual person to individual person.

3.3. Individual Image and Environment

The individual image of a human being is that special and unique character that each person possesses by nature, but included in it there is also an aspect of being able to change according to one’s environment. This is so because in every being―just as in the Original Image―there is an identity-maintaining aspect and a developmental aspect, in its existence and development. In other words, a human being exists and grows as the united being of an unchanging aspect and a changing aspect. Of these two, the unchanging aspect is essential, and the changing aspect is secondary. From the viewpoint of genetics, it can be said that the individual image corresponds to one’s inherited hereditary traits. In the course of growing, the individual image of a human being undergoes partial changes through its continual give and receive action with the environment. That portion of one’s individual image that is changed is called the “changed individual image.” That portion of the individual image that is changed can be regarded, in genetic terms, as one’s acquired character.

T. D. Lysenko (1898-1976) conducted experiments to transform autumn wheat into spring wheat through a process called vernalization, and claimed that the characteristics of living beings could change with the environment. Furthermore, he dismissed as mere metaphysics the genetic theories of Mendel and Morgan, according to whom there exists in living beings an unchanging character, which is inherited through genes. Lysenko ignored the unchanging aspect of living beings and emphasized only the aspect of being able to change through interaction with the environment. Lysenko’s theory was received with favor by J. V. Stalin (1879-1953), so much so that in the Soviet Union the Mendelist-Morganian scholars were ostracized. Later, however, Lysenko’s theory, through further experiments by scholars abroad, was found to be in error, and the Mendel-Morgan theory was reinstated as the correct one. In the end, it became evident that Lysenkoism had been a theory fabricated under the banner of the Soviet government, and had been intended simply to justify the materialist dialectic. Therefore, we can discount that point of view and confidently confirm that everything exists as a unity of unchangeability and changeability.

With regard to one’s individual image, there still remains the question of whether or not the environment determines human nature. Communism claims that the human being is a product of the environment and insists, for instance, that a leader such as V. I. Lenin (1870-1924) could have been born only in the circumstances of the Russia of his time. From the perspective of Unification Thought, however, the human being is the subject and ruler of the environment. In this view, a person who has been endowed at birth with an outstanding individual character can emerge as a leader (i.e., a subject) in order to bring the environment under control. Therefore, in the case of the Russian Revolution, it should be understood that Lenin, who was endowed at birth with an outstanding ability, appeared when the conditions inside and outside the country matured, and he led Russia to the Communist revolution, bringing the environment under control. If we understand the concept of the individual image, we can say that the environment influences only the changeable aspect of the individual image, but not the whole individual image.