Heaven and Earth Cultivate Humans

Why does the universe observe the cycle of four seasons?

The universe does not blindly follow a cycle; it has a definite purpose. This purpose is the cultivation of people. Consider a calendar year. What sort of changes occur on earth in accordance with the four seasons? Plants are born, raised, bear fruit, and then rest. Likewise, the universe—based upon its cycle of four cosmic seasons—gives birth to, grows, and harvests humans, and then rests. In other words, the universe cultivates people.

But why do heaven and earth cultivate humans? Because humans are heaven and earth’s very reason for being, humans being born in the image of heaven and earth. It is said that humans are the most majestic of beings, and as a matter of fact, humans possess all five elements as do heaven and earth, and humans also possess the ability to travel wherever they wish. Therefore, humans are the lords of all creation. Moreover, humans are the offspring of heaven and earth, they carry out heaven and earth’s vision, and they shall build a paradise on earth. Why do heaven and earth give birth to humans and diligently cultivate them? Because heaven and earth will have humans build a harmonious and ideal world at the time of cosmic autumn. It is for this reason that humans are called ‘the fruit of heaven and earth.’ Just as farmers grow plants every year to sustain a household, heaven and earth cultivate humans continuously throughout the process of birth, growth, harvest, and rest for the purpose of enabling humans—the noblest beings in the universe—to exist forever.

Heaven and earth cultivate humans—this is the starting point of Jeung San Do’s cosmology.

It is hard to conceive of humans as the fruit of heaven and earth.

In spring, farmers sow seeds in the field and grow them throughout summer. Do these plants not bear fruit in autumn? The farmers then harvest and store this fruit. This fruit serves as ‘seeds.’ When the winter passes and spring arrives once more, the stored seeds are sown in the field, and thus the annual cycle of farming starts anew. In this way, farming continues year after year.

The cultivation of humans by heaven and earth is the same. Human beings are born in cosmic spring and continue growth and development through cosmic summer. When cosmic autumn comes, heaven and earth harvest them. Just as in farming, heaven and earth select only the ‘ripe’ when harvesting humans. These ‘ripe ones’ are mature people who have attained an awareness of the cosmic principle and have led their lives in accordance with this principle. Only those chosen by heaven and earth are allowed to enter into the coming world of cosmic autumn, the world of the Later Heaven. When cosmic spring returns once again after the winter and the ice age, heaven and earth sow the ‘seeds’ and start anew in another cosmic year’s cycle of birth, growth, harvest, and rest. What would happen if there were no human seeds? That would mean that heaven and earth could not cultivate people and that the prior cosmic year was a mere waste of labor.

This is the inner meaning of the statement ‘humans are the fruit of heaven and earth.’

So,in what time of the cosmic year does current humanity live?

People are not aware of the present era. They do not know the season. Their ignorance of the season in which they live is their fatal flaw. In short, they have no idea of the cosmic seasons or of the cosmic season in which they presently live. This is also the weak point of modern civilization. Modern people rely on science and technology and live in an age when space travel is becoming possible, yet people are not even aware of the cosmic seasons. Speaking bluntly, human beings are approaching the dawn of the cosmic autumn. It is a revolutionary period when summer’s division and growth comes to an end and autumn begins, a season of maturity, unification, and convergence. The Later Heaven’s world—the world of convergence and unification—is indeed drawing near, yet people do not realize this. They should know of the seasonal change and prepare for it, but yet they do nothing.