[003] Divine Principle - Introduction 3

[대태양/김현수]

Internal ignorance, in religious terms, is spiritual ignorance. It is ignorance of such questions as : What is the origin of human beings? What is the purpose of life? What happens after death? Do God and the next world exist? What is the nature of good and evil?

External ignorance refers to ignorance of the natural world, including the human body. It is ignorance of such issues as : What is the origin of the physical universe? What are the natural laws governing all phenomena?

From the dawn of history until today, human beings have ceaselessly searched for the truth with which to overcome both types of ignorance and attain knowledge.

Humanity through religion has followed the path of searching for internal truth, and through science has followed the path of seeking external truth.

Religion and science, each in their own spheres, have been the methods of searching for truth in order to conquer ignorance and attain knowledge. Eventually, the way of religion and the way of science should be integrated and their problems resolved in one united undertaking ; the two aspects of truth, internal and external, should develop in full consonance.

Only then, completely liberated from ignorance and living solely in goodness in accord with the desires of the original mind, will we enjoy eternal happiness.

We can discern two broad courses in the search for solutions to the fundamental questions of human life. In the first, people have searched within the resultant, material world.

Those who walk this path, believing it to be the supreme way, kneel before the glories of highly developed science. They take pride in its omnipotence and the material comforts it provides. Nevertheless, can we enjoy full happiness founded only upon external conditions that satisfy the flesh?

The advance of science may create a comfortable social environment in which we can enjoy abundant wealth and prosperity, but can that alone truly gratify the spiritual desires of the inner self?

The passing joys of those who delight in the pleasures of the flesh are nothing compared to the bliss experienced by those on the path of enlightenment, who find joy in the midst of simple poverty.

Gautama Buddha, who abandoned the luxuries of the royal palace and became enraptured in the pursuit of the Way, was not the only one who wandered about homeless while searching for his heart’s resting place. Just as a healthy body depends upon a sound mind, so also only when the mind is content does the body have complete satisfaction.

What of the sailor who voyages on the sea of the material world under the sail of science in search of physical comforts? Let him reach the coast for which he longs. He eventually will come to realize that it is nothing more than the very graveyard where his body will be buried.

3