The Cheon Bu Gyeong tells why and how the cosmos exists, the purpose and the process where human becomes the main character of the evolution on the Earth, and teaches that the cosmos, the Earth, and human are operated by one single principle. Originally human had never kept borders between nature and the world, God and human, or the cosmos and the Earth. Everything was connected to the single Bon (本, the Root) and path. In the myths of the world, the traces remain intact. It was possible for human to reach the end of the evolutionary path and finish. The Cheon Bu Gyeong is a scripture in regard to the existence and purpose of the cosmos, the Earth and human not in a myth form but as a complete principle. It shows the principle by which the cosmos and the Earth, God and human are connected through a single time and space without borders. It is possible because all of them are created with one single Mu. In other words, the single Mu has been established as a being, time and space corresponding to the purpose, which means the cosmos, the Earth and human. Therefore, the Cheon Bu Gyeong can teach that human evolves from a being of all creation into an earthly being and then evolves again into a cosmic being.
The Cheon Bu Gyeong is the greatest scripture of the Korean people. It is composed of eighty-one letters and contains the operating principle of the cosmos. According to tradition, the Cheon Bu Gyeong had begun in Hwan (桓) Empire era as Hwan Woong (桓雄) had commanded Shinji Hyeokdeok (神誌赫德) to write in ancient character, Nokdomun (鹿圖文), and it had been passed down in Jeon character (篆書) during Dangun (檀君) era. In the Silla era, Chiwon Choi (崔致遠) translated the passage on the Dangun stone tablet discovered in the Taebaek Mountain into Chinese character, and that is the current version of the Cheon Bu Gyeong. The ascetic Yeonsoo Gye (桂延壽) discovered the eighty-one letters carved on the stone walls of Myohyang Mountain in 1917 and imparted it to Dangunism (檀君敎, the religion of Dangun worship), thereby the Cheon Bu Gyeong became known to the world. Documents containing the original text or name of the Cheon Bu Gyeong are the Taebaekilsa (太白逸史), Samseonggi (三聖記), Dangunsegi (檀君世記), Dangigosa (檀奇古史), Samgukyusa (三國遺事), Cheoneuljingyeong (天乙眞經), Nongeunyujipbon (農隱遺集本), etc. There are various versions of the Cheon Bu Gyeong such as the Myohyangsan Seokbyeokbon (石壁本), Choigoun Sajeokbon (事蹟本), Taebaekilsabon (太白逸史本) and Nohsajeonbon (盧沙傳本). And Myohyangsan Seokbyeokbon is the accepted version.
Written by Sang-young Han
He is interested in the given opportunity as human rather than the picture of life. With the belief that filling by himself is the true discipline, he uses East-Asian classics such as the Yeok Gyeong (I Ching in Chinese) and the Do Deok Gyeong (Tao Te Ching in Chinese) as a means to study. He introduces teachings of scriptures as they are in plain language beyond borders so that everyone easily approaches the truth in the classics. He is also the author of 『Do Deok Gyeong, Insight beyond borders of and within life』
Translated by Seong-Uk Park
He is a professor of Korean Medicine at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. His educational background includes a professional doctorate and PhD in Korean Medicine from Kyung Hee University. He has conducted many researches and published over 100 papers on Korean Medicine and Integrative Medicine in peer-reviewed journals. He believes that Korean Medicine and East Asian classics share the principle. So he has interest in making the wisdom in the classics be used as life-changing insight in our daily lives, not just kept in books.
Translated by Kwang-Soo Shin
“The Cheon Bu Gyeong is
a scripture that teaches the existential purpose of the cosmos, the Earth and human by explaining the evolutionary stages in the existence of human and the standards for the stages.”
Humans must walk the original path where they kept the opportunity and the existential value, and pursue the cosmic divinity beyond the convenience of civilization and science. By pursuing ‘the reason why they have survived on the Earth’ rather than ‘surviving on the Earth’, human must correct the root of consciousness and the opportunity of survival according to the original purpose of human emergence. For this, the Cheon Bu Gyeong talks about human free from all civilization and religion, and the essence of God and the cosmic operation symbolized as Mu.
HongIkInGan (弘益人間) has a meaning not only as a role, ‘benefiting humans far and wide’, but also as a being, ‘people who benefit humans far and wide’. In the Cheon Bu Gyeong, HongIkInGan is the existential symbol of human with BonSim, and the role of HongIkInGan is to make other people have BonSim. JaeSeIHwa (在世理化) is to make the world correspond to the cosmic principle by letting human evolve into HongIkInGan, and the world filled with ‘HongIkInGan who benefits humans far and wide’ through this is IHwaSeGye (理化世界). The ancient Korean SinSi (神市, City of God) is a symbol of the world where HongIkInGan, the evolutionary outcome of human and IHwaSeGye, the evolutionary outcome of the world are realized.
