Pyeong Hwa Gyeong (070) BOOK 5. Absolute Values and a New World Order CHAPTER 4. Harmony among the Sciences and the Search for Absolute Values
1. The origin of humankind and all creation To discover absolute values, one needs to clarify the origin of the existence of human beings and the universe. Here we run across the question of whether the universe originated from something in existence or from nothingness.
As you well know, natural science, social science, philosophy and religion have not been searching for truth in the world of nonexistence. Instead, they have been trying to locate a causal being in the world of existence, and to discover the principles that have led to the existence and operation of the universe, including human beings, all proceeding from the origin itself. Ultimately, they have wanted to discover the reason for and value of any existing entity by clarifying its content or nature and by understanding the relationships between different existing entities.
If we consider the smallest unit necessary to constitute matter with a chemical identity, we may call it an “atom” and describe it as something in existence. If so, it would be logical to say that the atom definitely originated from something in existence, not from nothingness.
Modern science provides the view that the origin of the atom is a certain type of energy, which again must have had an origin. We can then draw the conclusion that this energy is also derived from some ultimate existence.
If we consider the vast universe as an amplification of the infinitesimal atom, and therefore also a result derived from an ultimate cause, we can clearly come to the realization that a human being is a resultant being and not the causal existence. Then there also needs to be a causal existence for human beings.
It is reasonable to set up a system of logic whereby all things were generated from an absolute causal existence and developed into more complex and higher beings. This system would need to refute the systems of scholars who insist that existence was generated from nonexistence. Thus, we can say that a certain Absolute Being that has existed from the beginning is the cause of the universe, resulting in all things from the smallest to the largest, connecting them and causing them to interrelate organically and initiating a variety of actions.
From this viewpoint, the established theory of evolution needs to be reexamined. In order for anything to progress to a higher level of being, some activity has to occur; and activity always requires energy. Can extra energy be created in the process of this activity?
No, because during this activity, energy is being consumed. Therefore, it would be absolutely impossible for more energy to be generated, which could be used to give birth to a being on a higher level. If, theoretically, energy is consumed in the process of activity, then why have living things evolved, instead of deteriorating? And why has the general tendency of evolution been directed toward the development of things of greater value and higher dimension? This is the question. |