Cheonbugyeong & Heidegger

Cheonbugyeong (天符經)
[The sacred words corresponding to heavenly principle]

ONE emerged from Nil-zero, begins ONE,
which splits into Triune Ultimate yet undiminishes the Origin.

Heaven’s Monad First, Earth’s Monad Second, Human’s Monad Third,
Monad mounts up to Decad then descends.

No deficiency due to the harmony of Triune,
Heaven’s Dyad Triune, Earth’s Dyad Triune, Human’s Dyad Triune,

The great Triune united together brings Sextet,
which yields Heptad, Octad, and Ennead.

Heavenly movement proceeds with Triad and Tetrad,
and completes the cycle with Pentad and Heptad.

The Monad, subtle and pervasive, countlessly circulates,
the function transforms to be the immovable substance.

Origin is the mind rooted in the sun, that illuminates utterly.
In Human; the center of heaven and earth, is the greatest Monad.
ONE returned to Nil-ten, completes ONE.

-Personal translation on March 17, 2014-
Revised on September 02, 2014


天符經

一始無始一
析三極無盡本
天一一地一二人一三
一積十鉅無匱化三
天二三地二三人二三
大三合六生七八九
運三四成環五七
一妙衍萬往萬來
用變不動本
本心本太陽昻明
人中天池一
一終無終一

The worldwide scholar, Martin Heidegger invited Park, Jong-hong who visited France as a professor of philosophy in Seoul National University and after Heidegger entertained him a while said like this.

"The reason why I invited you is that you are a Korean philosopher. The philosophy which gave me such fame is the eastern idea of nothingness (無), and while studying the eastern philosophy, I found out that the ancient Korea was the cradle of the great Asian civilization. And I know there was an era of Dangun Joseon during which period, the vast Asian continent had been ruled over for more than 2,000 years most flawlessly and peacefully in human history. Thus I respect Koreans who are people of the suzerain state of eastern philosophy. I learned the idea of nothingness from the East, and I won fame by using one branch idea of the nothingness, but I still don't understand the Cheonbugyeong (天符經) idea from the founder of your nation; Dangun, Hanbaegeom, so could you please explain it to me?"

And he unfolded the Cheonbugyeong in front of him because he thought the professor may know it well because he is a Korean philosopher. But he could not answer anything.

Testimony by Moon, Sung-chul, Director of Korean Traditional Thought Institute
Roughly translated by Sangkyu Lee

Heidegger: Being-There (or Nothing)

German philosopher Martin Heidegger employed the methods of phenomenology in pursuit of more comprehensive metaphysical goals. In Heidegger's full-fledged existentialism, the primary task of philosophy is to understand Being itself, not merely our knowledge of it.

In the lecture, "What is Metaphysics?" Heidegger developed several of his themes in characteristically cumbersome language. The best way to exhibit the subject-matter of first philosophy is to pursue one actual metaphysical question; since all of them are inter-connected, each inevitably leads us into all of the others. Although traditional learning focusses on what is, Heidegger noted, it may be far more illuminating to examine the boundaries of ordinary knowledge by trying to study "what is not".

What is Nothing, anyway?

It's not anything, and it's not something, yet it isn't the negation of something, either. Traditional logic is no help, since it merely regards all negation as derivative from something positive. So, Heidegger proposed, we must abandon logic in order to explore the character of Nothing as the background out of which everything emerges.

Carefully contemplating Nothing in itself, we begin to notice the importance and vitality of our own moods. Above all else, Nothing is what produces in us a feeling of dread {Ger. Angst}. This deep feeling of dread, Heidegger held, is the most fundamental human clue to the nature and reality of Nothing. 


Cheonbugyeong (天符經) is the foundation of all eastern studies including all eastern philosophies which influenced the major religions; Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism. The idea is so profound that looks like bottomless. Using numbers, it explains the fundamental principle of this universe including nothingness.

Carefully contemplating Nothing in itself, we begin to notice the importance and vitality of our own moods. This is the most fundamental question of all. By knowing Nothing, everything could be understood as well.

Reference:
Being-There (or Nothing)