the  difference  of  Great  and  Small, followed  by  the
　　 difference  of karmic  retribution  of good and evil, and
　　 the clear manifestation  of the phenomena  with names and
　　 forms;  so that the three realms of ten directions appear
　　 as clearly  as a jewel  on the  palm.  Amongst  this  the
　　 providence   of  True  Emptiness   [chen-k'ung(k)  ]  and
　　 Marvelous  Existence  [miao-yu(l)] appears and disappears
　　 throughout   the  myriads   of  things  of  the  universe
　　 eternally. This is the truth of Irwonsang (K. 21).

This  is the  central  metaphysical  tenet  of Won  Buddhism.
Dharmakaya Buddha or Irwonsang is the object of its religious
worship.  This metaphysical  tenet reflects Mahayana Buddhist
idealism in the sense that numinous awareness  plays the role
of illuminating  the ultimate  reality  into  the  phenomenal
world.(23) Irwon thus refers to the ultimate  reality  of the
universe;  and  Irwonsang  to  the  harmony  of  noumena  and
phenomena arising from numinous awareness.

IV. SYNTHESIS IN THE PERFECTION OF HUMAN NATURE

　　 What  is the moral  relevauce  of the truth  of Irwonsang
which in Sot'-  aesan's view jields the Confucianistic  moral
norms,  to  the  ideal  of  "Right  Enlightenment  and  Right
Conduct"? Answering  how one could realize  in everyday  life
the truth of Irwonsang  as the standard  of moral discipline,
Sot'aesan said:

　　 You cultivate your moral character by taking Irwonsang as
　　 the standard  of moral  perfection  and by modeling  your
　　 mind after its truth. (I) By getting enlightened [prajna]
　　 to the truth  of Irwon  you are to know clearly  the real
　　 nature of all things

P.435

　　 in the  universe, birth, old  age, illness, and the death
　　 of human beings, and the principle of karmic retribution.
　　 (II) You are to nourish  [samadhi]  the perfect  original
　　 nature  which, like Irwon, is free from selfishness, love
　　 and lust, and  attachment.  (III) Or, you  are  to handle
　　 [sila] all human affairs rightly and perfectly like Irwon
　　 without  yourself  being  affected  by  pleasure,  anger,
　　 sorrow, and joy or by favoritism (K. 129).

Thus the three aspects of one's original  nature referred  to
by  Irwon  or Dharmakaya, namely, samadhi, prajna, and  sila,
should  be realized  in daily mundane  affairs.  The language
here  is unmistakably  that  of Huineng(ab);  but, it is also
that  of  the  Chung-yung.   Hui-neng  taught  that  the  six
consciousnesses, when passing  through  the six roots, should
not  be  colored  by  the  six  dirts  [liu-ch'en(ac) ].  The
Chung-yung taught that chung or equilibrium  lay in the state
of mind  before  the feelings  of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or
joy have arisen;  and yung or harmony  lay in the manifesting
of these  feelings  in due degree.(24) For Sot'aesan  the two
teachings were not incompatible. Irwonsang as the standard of
moral  perfection  was to remind  us of the truth  that one's
original  nature was perfect like Irwonsang, lacking nothing,
and utterly unselfish  as the mind of all Buddhas  and sages.
Hence  moral  discipline  aimed  at manifesting  that  nature
completely  in  daily  lives,  realizing  the  Buddha  dharma
without leaving one's family.
　　 Sot'aesan's  view of moral  discipline  presupposed  that
human nature in its substance  transcended  good and evil but
could be either  in its functioning  (K.  292).  This view is
found in Wang Yang-ming's(ad) (1472-1529) sayings: "1. In the
original  substance  of mind there is no distinction  between
good and evil. 2. When the will becomes active, however, such
a  distinction  exisls."(25) Wang,  however,  also  explained