The Cosmos

    Among Chondogyo canonical writings containing the word "Cosmos?is "The Song of Heungbi?in the Songs of Yongdam, which offers the line "this limitless enclosure.?That is to say, the Cosmos is that which is infinite, having no beginning or end. This Cosmos is completely filled with the "ultimate energy?jigi, 至氣) that is the vital force of Hanulnim. There is no place where this "ultimate energy?does not interfere and command. That is to say, the "ultimate energy?of Hanulnim constitutes the substance and very foundation of the Cosmos.
    Thus the innumerable manifestations of Nature in the Cosmos are in us and all around us, with everything ultimately brought together in one organic whole by the "ultimate energy?of Hanulnim. Ultimately all is bound up in the limitless Cosmos as "one vast life.? Thus the Chondogyo view of the Cosmos is that of a vast spiritual organism linked by the "utimate energy?of Hanulnim.
    It follows, therefore, that the myriad things of the universe in the infinite Cosmos, commanded by the "ultimate energy?of Hanulnim, ultimately share identical roots and comprise one existing whole. Chondogyo does not stop at a humanity-centered "dignity of man?construct in which human beings stand alone as the most noble entity in the Cosmos, but takes "honoring the three thought,?namely honoring God, honoring human beings, and honoring all things, as its nucleus. That is to say, because the Cosmos is viewed as one vast living organism, all existing things in the Cosmos are from the same source and are, therefore, to be uniformly respected, becoming respect itself.
    This Chondogyo view of the Cosmos promises to be the fundamental principle by which to sagaciously sweep away the afflictions of our modern era, such as the danger of bringing disorder to the universe through the destruction of the environment, and over-development due to the human-centered consciousness that holds sway in the world today.
    In a word, the core Chondogyo view of the universe is one in which the Cosmos is "one vast living organism,?by which all the myriad things of the universe are organically linked and are, therefore, all brethren sharing the same roots. Therefore in such a Cosmos the myriad things of the universe together form a cosmological unity. This is expressive of the ultimate religious ideal of Chondogyo, namely, that we must live in conformity with the cosmological order. In other words, the Cosmos is where all the myriad things of the universe live, while at the same time it represents order in the lives of the myriad things of the universe, and is the fundamental life supporting all other lives. In this lies the fundamental meaning of Chondogyo's view of the Cosmos.