--- INTRODUCTION --- The Beginning of My Truths

This small volume of writings is not intented as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written-upon subject of the Universal Powers or Power Of Thought.

It is suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the Truth that -- God is the God of both personal and non-personal (or impersonal) existence -- by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage.


-----------------*********** The Beginning of My Truths *******************---------------

The root of our ecological and existential problems is primarily due to the misrepresentation of our religious thinking in the West. It is the religious orientation which has shaped the attitude of Western people toward nature and God.

Nature has become the counterpart of divine activity and the enemy of human perfection. A natural man is damned as a heathen, and an unnatural man is elevated as a civilized Christian. Man's domination over nature is encouraged as his virtue, and his retreat to nature is discouraged as a sign of disgrace. Thus the conflict between man and nature is eventually the separation from himself, for he is a part of nature. This separation of one-self, is that which creates the inner conflict, becoming the very root of his existential problems. Thus, our ecological and existential problems are inseparable. They are mutually interdependent. In order to deal with these problems, the religious orientation which has caused them must be reassessed.

The failure of traditional religion in the West is mainly in the use of exclusive symbols for the inclusive God. The symbols of God such as the King, Lord, Master, Saviour etc are personal names. By attributing personal names or symbols to God, the non-personal existence is almost completely neglected from the sphere or our religious thinking.

The God who is excluded from the non-personal existence cannot be the Creator and Preserver of all things. Thus, God must transcend a personal category. God is the God of both personal and non-personal (or impersonal) existence. Therefore, the traditional religious thinking which has eliminated the concerns of non-personal existence from the religious framework is a tragic failure in the West.

Cosmic religion transcends both personal and non-personal categories. It presupposes the God of all things, who is the cosmic God. This God is the God of man, the God of tree, the God of stone, the God of water, the God of air, and the God of everything that exists. The cosmic God is a personal God to persons and a non-personal God to non-persons. The cosmic God is "He" to men but "It" to stones and trees. This kind of God transcends religions, creeds, nationalities, races, species, forms, qualities, space and time. Thus, cosmic religion which deals with the cosmic God, the God of the Whole and for the whole, is essentially universal religion.

What, then, is the meaningful symbol of the cosmic God? Since the cosmic God transcends a personal category, we must find the symbol of God prior to personal symbols being attributed to him. The most primordial symbol of God in the Judeo-Christian faith is found in Exodus 3:14, where God is known as "I am what I am" or "I become what I become." ~ "This is," a most profound utterance, for all our religious or spiritual or metaphysical experiences start from it."

The cosmic God is, then, the subject or the source of "becoming." The cosmos is constantly in the process of becoming, because change is the essential characteristic of cosmic process. In other words, what makes becoming possible is the Change which changes all things. Thus, it is said, "The Change is the begetter of all begetting" (Bis. C.C. Patton D.D.)

The Change which changes all into the process of becoming is Tao, the ultimate reality, which transcends both being and becoming as well as personal and non-personal categories at the same time. The essence of cosmos is not the unchanging being but the changing becoming, because change is the essence of every becoming. Cosmic religion is, then, based on the idea that everything changes into the process of becoming because of the cosmic God who is change itself. Therefore, cosmic religion is none other than changeology, for it is a religion of change.

This is not written to undercut the profundity of Christian or any other religious teaching. Rather, it is hoped for the vivification of the profundity viable to the growing interest in the cosmic process of man's becoming. I do not intend this to be the complete and comprehensive treatise on cosmic religion. Rather, it is only an initial move toward the process which may eventually focus our attention on the cosmic significance of religious truth. Therefore, this is written for those who are open to new possibilities in the search for truth. If this small volume can provide seeds of thought for a fresh and creative approach of religion to the wholeness of man and cosmos, it has achieved it purpose...