The Head-Wing Thought

Every created being has the same attributes as those of the Original Image, namely, the dual aspects of Sungsang and Hyungsang. Sungsang refers to the invisible, immaterial aspects of created beings, such as faculties and nature. Hyungsang refers to the visible aspects of created beings, such as mass, structure, and shape. In minerals, the Sungsang is physico-chemical function, and the Hyungsang is mass, 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 the plant. Life is consciousness latent within the body, and it possesses purposefulness and directiveness. The function of life is the ability of a being to grow while maintaining control over itself. Therefore, it can be said that life has autonomy. While plants possess the Sungsang and Hyungsang that are peculiar to them, 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 exist on a level higher than that of plants. The Sungsang peculiar to animals is instinct, and the Hyungsang peculiar to animals comprises sense organs and nerves. Animals, also, have mineral matter, which contains the Sungsang and Hyungsang of the mineral level. In addition, animals also have tile plant-level Sungsang and Hyungsang, all the cells and tissues of the animals live on this level.

Tile human being is a two-fold being of spirit person and physical person. Therefore, the Sungsang and Hyungsang of human beings are unique and of a higher level than those of the animals. The Sungsang unique to human beings is the "spirit mind," which is the mind of the spirit person, and tile Hyungsang unique to human beings is the physical mind, which is the mind of the physical person. As it happens, mineral matter is contained in the physical body; in this sense, the human being has mineral-level Sungsang and Hyungsang as well. The human being is made of cells and tissues, and therefore, has the plant-level Sungsang and Hyungsang as well. Like the animals, the human being has sense organs and nerves, and hence the Sungsang and Hyungsang corresponding to animals. Tile animal-level Sungsang in human beings, namely, the instinctive mind, is called "physical mind." While the spirit mind pursues the values of trueness, goodness, and beauty, the physical mind pursues a life of food, clothing, shelter, and sex. That which is called the "human mind" is a combination of the spirit mind and the physical mind.

Let us now discuss the physical person and the spirit person of a human being. The physical person consists of tile same elements as those of the natural world and has a certain period of time for its existence. In contrast, the spirit person is made of spiritual elements, which cannot be perceived with our physical senses; yet, the spirit person has an appearance no different from that of the physical person. When the physical person dies, the spirit person discards it -- much in the same way as we take off an article of clothing when we no longer need it. And having discarded the physical person, the spirit person goes on to the spirit world, where it lives forever.

The spirit person is composed of the dual characteristics of Sungsang and Hyungsang. The Sungsang of the spirit person is the spirit mind, and its Hyungsang is the spirit body. Tile sensibilities of the spirit person are nurtured in a mutual relationship with tile physical person. Therefore, if an individual dies after having practiced God's love to a sufficient degree during life on earth, that individual's spirit person will lead a life of joy filled with love in the spirit world. In contrast, those who commit evil acts on earth cannot but meet a life of suffering after death. In the physical person, the Sungsang is the physical mind, and the Hyungsang is the physical body.

Thus, human beings possess the Sungsangs and Hyungsangs of minerals, plants, and animals; in addition, they possess a Sungsang and Hyungsang of an even higher level. When seen in this way, the human being can be regarded as the integration of all things, or the microcosm of the universe. From the above explanation, it becomes clear that, as the level of existing beings becomes higher from minerals to plants, animals, and human beings -- the Sungsang and Hyungsang become more substantial by layers. This is called "layered structure of Sungsang and Hyungsang in existing beings" and is illustrated in Fig. 2-1.

It must be noted that human beings were not created simply by accumulating the respective Sungsangs and Hyungsangs peculiar to minerals, plants, and animals, and then adding to them the Sungsang and Hyungsang unique to human beings. In the process of creation, God first formed the idea of a human being as a being of united Sungsang and Hyungsang. He formed the idea of animals, plants, and minerals by lowering the dimensions of, and subtracting specific elements from, the Sungsang and Hyungsang of human beings. In the actual act of creation, however, God followed the reverse order -- that is, He created minerals first, then plants, animals, and finally human beings. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the results, it would appear that the human Sungsang and Hyungsang were made by accumulating the layers of the Sungsangs and Hyungsangs unique to minerals, plants, and animals but this is just a matter of appearance.

That the human Sungsang and Hyungsang possesses a layered structure (See Fig. 2-1) has two important consequences: First, this layered structure implies that there is continuity among the various layers within the Sungsang. Specifically, the human mind, though it is made 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 with life, or autonomy. Even though, through the conscious mind, one cannot usually control the autonomous nerves, yet it is well known that such control becomes possible through training. Yoga practitioners, for example, can, through meditation, change the pace of their heartbeats or even altogether halt the pulsation of the heart. In addition, the human mind is connected with the Sungsang of minerals within the body. Also, the human mind is externally connected with the Sungsang of plants and animals. It is also known that human beings can influence Minerals (i.e., matter) outside themselves without using physical means.

Fig. 2-1 Layered Structure of Sungsang and Hyungsang in Existing Beings

In addition, it is said that animals, plants, and minerals respond to the human mind. That animals respond to the human mind is well known, but now it has come to be known that plants, also, respond to the human mind. ³ Furthermore, it has been reported that there may exist perceptive ability even in the realms of minerals and elementary particles. ⁴

Secondly, the layered structure of the human Sungsang and Hyungsang provides important suggestions with regard to the question of life. Theists and atheists have continually argued about the existence or non-existence of God, but in modern times, after the development of natural sciences, those who deny die existence of God (the atheists) have, in many respects, stood in a position of advantage. Based on natural science, which cannot prove the existence of God, atheists have asserted that God does not exist; nevertheless, in view of the question of life, not even atheists have been able to deny the existence of God with complete confidence. The reason is that they have not been able scientifically to explain the origin of life. Hence, the question of life has become the sole foothold on which theism can base its position. Today, however, that foothold is being threatened by atheists, for scientists now assert they have reached the stage where they can create life.

Then, can scientists, indeed, create life? According to contemporary biology, the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) contained in the chromosomes of a cell contains four kinds of nitrogenous bases, namely, adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. The arrangements of these four kinds of bases 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 the DNA. But scientists today have become able to synthesize the DNA. Therefore, materialists have come to conclude that God is quite unnecessary to explain the phenomena of life.

But is the synthesizing of the DNA by scientists the same as the creation of life? From the viewpoint of Unification Thought, the answer is no. Even if scientists can synthesize the DNA, they will merely have succeeded in producing the Hyungsang aspect of life phenomena. Life, properly speaking, is the Sungsang aspect of life phenomena. Therefore, what scientists have become able to produce is not life itself, but simply the carrier of life.

Figuratively, this point may be elucidated by using radio. A radio receiver is a device that converts electromagnetic waves into sound waves. It seizes the electromagnetic waves coming from a broadcasting station and converts them into sound waves. Therefore, the fact that scientists have created a radio does not mean that they have created sound. Likewise, the fact that scientists have produced the DNA does not mean they have produced life itself, it means, simply, that they have produced a device that is capable of carrying life.

The universe is a life field; it is filled with life. Life originates from God's Sungsang. When there is a device that is capable of seizing life, then, and only then, can life appear. What corresponds to that device is precisely the special molecules called DNA. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the layered structure of the Sungsang and Hyungsang.

We shall now discuss the yang and yin characteristics of the individual truth body. As stated in the theory of the Original Image, yang and yin are attributes of the Sungsang and Hyungsang. This means that there are yang-yin characteristics in the Sungsang and yang-yin characteristics in the Hyungsang.

Let us first deal with the yang-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 the faculties of the mind (i.e., intellect, emotion, and will). The yang aspects of the intellect are clearness, good memory, power of recall, distinctness, wittiness, and so. The yin aspects of the intellect are vagueness, forgetfulness, power to absorb in memory, unclear ideas, seriousness, and so on. The yang aspects of emotion are pleasantness, loudness, joy, excitement, and so on. And the yin aspects of emotion are unpleasantness, quietness, sorrow, composure, and so on. The yang aspects of the will are activeness, aggressiveness, creativeness, carefreeness, and so on. And the yin aspects of the will are passiveness, embracing nature, 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 part,;, orifices, concave parts, the back side, and so on, are the yin aspects. The details of these points can be arranged as in Fig. 2-2.

Fig. 2-2 Yang and Yin as Attributes of the Human Sungsang and Hyungsang

In a similar way, in animals, plants, and minerals there are yang and yin in the Sungsang as well as yang and yin in the Hyungsang, Animals sometimes behave actively and sometimes do not. Plants sometimes grow and sometimes do not; sometimes plants open their flowers, and sometimes they close them. In minerals, physico-chemical functions sometimes proceed intensely and other times do not. Those are yang and yin characteristics of tile Sungsang. As for the yang and yin characteristics of the Hyungsang, these are protuberances and orifices, bulges and hollows, front and back, light and dark, strong and weak, pure and impure, hot and cold, day and night, summer and winter, heaven and earth, mountain and valley, and so forth.

Thus far I have explained yang and yin in the Sungsang and Hyungsang of individual truth bodies, whereby yang and yin are the attributes of Sungsang and of Hyungsang, Besides, at each one of the levels of human beings, animals, plants, and minerals, we can find a yang substantial being and a yin substantial being. 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 has been said that there are male and female even in single-cell bacteria. ⁵

As stated earlier, the Sungsang and Hyungsang of human. beings each possess the attributes of yang and yin. This applies both to man and to woman. Then, what kind of difference is there between man and woman?

In the Hyungsang, man and woman are clearly different from each other; as is evident from the difference that exists in tile chromosomes within their cells. Man's body has more yang elements than woman's, and woman's body has more yin elements than man's. With regard to the Hyungsang, the difference between man and woman is a quantitative difference.

In contrast, the difference between man and woman with regard to the Sungsang (i.e., intellect, emotion, and will) is a qualitative difference. As explained earlier, both man and woman have yang and yin in the intellect, yang and yin in the emotion, and yang and yin in tile will. There are, however, qualitative differences between man and woman with regard to yang and yin. For example, men and women are different in their expression of joy, which is a yang aspect of emotion, and they are also different in their expression of sorrow, which is a yin aspect of emotion. Figuratively speaking, this difference can be compared to that of vocal music. In the high vocal ranges, tenor (male) and soprano (female) correspond to yang; in the low vocal ranges, bass (male) and alto (female) correspond to yin. In each of these cases, there is a qualitative difference. As shown through this comparison, tile difference between yang and yin in the Sungsang is a qualitative difference, and therefore, masculinity appears in man and femininity appears in woman.

Let us now examine how the functions of yang and yin operated in the process of the creation of the universe. We can compare the creation of the universe to the playing of a symphony. That is, it can be said that God has been playing a grand symphony entitled "Tile Creation of Heaven and Earth." God started with the "Big Bang," ⁶ and then created the galaxies, the solar system, and the earth. On 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 sounds, 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 about 200 billion stars, which are 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 earth, lands and oceans were formed; the land is yang, and the ocean in 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 functions of yang and yin. Through the harmony between husband and wife, a family is formed. In artistic creation, harmonies between strong and weak 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 functioning in Sungsang and Hyungsang. The harmonious action of yang and yin is an indispensable factor in variety and development, as well as in the expression of beauty.