The Words of the Powell Family
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The Words of the Powell Family |
WORLD WONHWADO today consists of members who are Unificationists and those who are not Unificationists. What does WONHWADO have to do with Unificationism? Father Moon, Great Grand-Master Han's spiritual mentor and guide, is the founder of Unificationism. The "Principle" as first taught by Father Moon, is the basis of WONHWADO theory, philosophy, and practice. Without the Principle or Father Moon, there would be no WORLD WONHWADO. We use the honorary name "Father Moon" because Father Moon is in essence the father of WONHWADO.
There are non-Unificationist members of WORLD WONHWADO today who try to deny the involvement of Father Moon in the establishment of WORLD WONHWADO, and attempt to explain away his involvement by saying that Great Grand-Master Han had already started to develop WONHWADO before his meeting with Father Moon in 1976. However, when one becomes aware of the previously difficult to attain yet now easily available information, it becomes obvious that Father Moon is the foremost person responsible for the establishment of WORLD WONHWADO.
Before their meeting in 1976, Great Grand-Master Han, who was then simply Mr. Han, started developing an unparalleled, revolutionary new martial art based upon his several years of profound spiritual experiences which included receiving direct WON-HWA tuition from Father Moon in spirit. At that time Mr. Han called the new martial art: "WonHwaSul", meaning: "Harmonious Circular Technique". But it was not until 1976 when Father Moon called Mr. Han to his home near Chung Pyung Lake in South Korea, that Father Moon gave Mr. Han the new name for the martial art, WONHWADO, meaning: "The Way of Harmonious Circular Motion". Thus, in name and in content as taught by Father Moon spiritually, WONHWADO originates with Father Moon.
Great Grand-Master Han has said that he did not create WORLD WONHWADO, rather, that it was revealed to him while staying in the mountains for several years far away from Korean civilization, a move that was inspired by his spiritual mentor and guide who entrusted him with the establishment of WORLD WONHWADO in order to draw cultivation of the body and especially that of the spirit to a higher value than any other system. In WONHWADO, physical conflict is regarded as a failure and should be used only as a last resort, as confirmed by the words of Great Grand-Master Han: "True harmony occurs then, when the enemy will become your true friend!"
In Father Moon's 2009 best-selling autobiography, he writes: "As I was changing my heart to conform to God's love, I also strengthened my body so that I could fulfill my mission. I wanted to be ready to go anywhere, anytime that God called on me. I played soccer, and did boxing, some traditional Korean martial arts, and WONHWADO, a form of martial arts that I developed. In WONHWADO the athlete moves his body in a smooth circular motion, almost as in a dance. It is based on the principle that greater power comes from circular motion than moving in a straight line."
Even though WONHWADO, harmonious circular motion, is an absolute, unique, unchanging and eternal principle of creation observable everywhere throughout the known living universe, which even Father Moon could not create, it was Father Moon who, already knowing WONHWADO, guided Great Grand-Master Han to master it in order to establish it as a unified worldwide system of thought and practice. The Principle, as first taught by Father Moon, and as received by Great Grand-Master Han as a Unificationist disciple of Father Moon, is full of terms relating to WONHWADO, for example: harmonious circular motion; spherical motion; spiraling motion; elliptical paths; give and receive action; vertical and horizontal; front and back; right and left; rising and falling; high and low; fast and slow; strong and weak; subject partner and object partner… etc. Without understanding the Principle, it is impossible to fully understand how WONHWADO really works. Great Grand-Master Han said: "Through the Divine Principle we learn about mind-body unity; through WONHWADO we can achieve it."
Reading a document of a recorded conversation from 1990 between Great Grand-Master Han, Father Moon, and Unificationist members of WORLD WONHWADO, the first recorded question asked by the members is: "Could you share how did you receive WONHWADO?" The member recording the conversation writes Great Grand-Master Han's reply to the question:
"All of us want to be victorious in the religious life. The same case is true with WONHWADO. Just like you pray all night and also fast, Mr. Han did for long time, too. Living this kind of life, Mr. Han one day experienced the spirit world. Please pay attention to that point. [Next, Mr. Han compares the experience with the spirit world]
Just like we came to Korea and now we are in this gymnasium, there is a very intimate relation; the same thing is true with the spirit world, a very intimate relation. In the world we live, there is a variety of jobs, activities, hobbies, and in the spirit world, too. Also, for example, when we make friends, automatically we select our friends. When we meet the spirit world, we only meet a part of it.
At that time, Mr. Han could meet with musicians, artists, and martial arts people. In the spirit world there is not a specialist of martial arts. In spirit world every person does martial arts. The first time Mr. Han had such an experience he couldn't understand, just he did the circular motion as we are doing now, but he couldn't understand.
He experienced this motion in the spirit world for several years. Later, he could see the martial art, after repeating and repeating many years. At that time Mr. Han didn't want to see the spirit world. He was church leader, and thought his duty was to expand church activities. Therefore, he disliked to see that kind of signals.
Mr. Han prayed to cut off the experiences with the spirit world, and also in prayer asked Father about the meaning of the circular motion. At that time, he had both experience and understanding. In September 1976, 20 days before the Washington Monument Rally [September 18, 1976], Father called Mr. Han to Chung Pyung Lake. Then Father checked if Mr. Han's experiences were correct or not.
About one hour Father asked questions to Mr. Han about his knowledge of spirit world and he also asked questions to Father. Then, Father approved everything Mr. Han knew. That time Mr. Han wanted to be church leader, but Father said that many people can be church leaders, but WONHWADO only Mr. Han can do.
Anyhow, Mr. Han was still afraid of this burden, and Father became angry and said: "This is from Heaven and you should obey Heaven's will!" Then Father gave instructions for the uniform: diamond shape with green and purple color. So WONHWADO started, end of August 1976."
This knowledge of the past which was safely hidden in history's back drawer until the time came for the children of history to take it out and look at it, examine its contents carefully, and share it with the world. It is now easy to understand, although maybe for some not easy to accept, that Mr. Han did not want to do WONHWADO in the beginning. He was afraid of the 'burden', and would have preferred to be a church leader in the Unification Movement instead. It has been made clear that Great Grand-Master Han fulfilled his role of establishing WORLD WONHWADO directly because of Father Moon's insistence that he do so, without which he otherwise would most likely have been a church leader in the Unification Movement instead.
Great Grand-Master Han followed the directions of Father Moon and pioneered a path that he had to fulfill first as a condition before passing it on to others. Even though Mr. Han was already praying to cut off his experiences with the spirit world, intending to stop them completely so that he could instead focus on church work, he went the way of WONHWADO in opposition to his own intentions out of his faith in the Principle and in obedience to the directions of his spiritual mentor and guide. His actions embodied the 'round mind' or 'public mind' so often spoken of in WONHWADO. The round mind, or 'harmonious mind', is one that is able to move in any direction at any time, with the body following closely behind.
We, as members of WORLD WONHWADO, whether Unificationist or not, are thus indebted to Great Great Grand-Master Han for establishing WORLD WONHWADO even though he initially would rather have done something else due to fear or dread of the burden of the future. His actions were both courageous and bold, and we, as disciples of WONHWADO, are in the position to be able to inherit his sacrificial heart and indomitable spirit by earnestly practicing WONHWADO with all of our heart, all of our mind and body, our spirit and our flesh.
At the same time, we are to be grateful to Great Grand-Master Han's spiritual mentor and guide, Father Moon, for the instructions, directions, and tuition that he gave Great Grand-Master Han. Father Moon knew the potential that lay within Mr. Han and encouraged him to release it to the world. Father Moon also knew the desire of Heaven that WORLD WONHWADO be established only through Great Grand-Master Han. Without Father Moon we clearly would not have WONHWADO as it is today and it might have taken another hundred or even a thousand years before it could be established through someone else.
In conclusion let us offer our thanks to Great Grand-Master Han and Father Moon for their involvement in the establishment of WONHWADO as we have it today: "Thank you Great Grand-Master Han and thank you Father Moon."
Kamsahamnida!
James – Red Dragon WonHwaDo