Abstract

Haewon-sangsaeng is a key idea of Daesoon Jinrihoe, which, as Professor Bae Kyuhan points out, "… has broad applications." Haewon-sangsaeng is not only congenial to Chinese Harmonism, but it also enriches this concept. However, many scholars understand Haewon-sangsaeng in a relatively narrow scope. For them, Haewon-sangsaeng is confined to pertaining only to human relationships. For example, Don Baker, the author of Korean Spirituality, states that "Haewon means relieving the resentment human beings past and present have felt because they were treated unfairly". Sangsaeng refers to "a spirit of mutual aid and cooperation" rather than "the spirit of competition and conflict that has dominated the human community up to the present day". This article argues that Haewon-sangsaeng not only has religio-ethical implications, but ecological implications as well. Specifically, it has relevance for the goal of creating an ecological civilization that aims at the harmony of humans and nature. In other words, Haewon-sangsaeng can be both "expanded for the global peace and the harmony of all humanity" and can be expanded for healing the relationship between humans and nature, including human beings and viruses. In order not to risk being "the first Earth species knowingly to choose self-extinction", an Ecological Civilization is urgently needed before it's too late. Alone with Chinese Harmonism, Haewon-sangsaeng can make great contributions to the cause of ecological civilization by transcending anthropocentrism, individualism, and the worship of competition as root causes of the predicaments faced by modern civilization.