The mode of existence of existing beings refers to the manner in which all created beings exist. In a nutshell, no created being can exist unless it engages in motion; hence, motion is the mode of existence of all created beings. God, who is the Absolute Being, (toes not engage in motion; therefore, it is impossible to think of a mode of existence in the Original Image. Created beings, however, exist in time and space, and so they have a mode of existence, which is motion.

When, in the created world, two elements in the relationship of subject and object engage in give-and-receive action, centering on purpose, then the result is that both union and motion appear simultaneously. Purpose itself is not an existing being, and the union is merely a state that arises as a result of the give-and-receive action; therefore, the participants in the motion of the give-and-receive action are the two beings in the roles of subject and object. To be precise, the center of the give-and-receive action lies not in some intermediary position between the subject and the object, but within the subject itself. Accordingly, the motion of this give-and-receive action cannot but become a subject-centered circular motion (Fig. 2-6). In an atom, for instance, electrons revolve around the nucleus; and likewise in the solar system, planets revolve around the sun.

Fig. 2-6. Circular Motion Through Give-and-Receive Action

What, then, is the reason why created beings necessarily engage in circular motion? The reason is found in the Original Image itself. In the world of God, there exists no time or space, and therefore, no motion. However, even though in God there is no mode of existence, or circular motion, still there must exist in the Original Image some prototype of the circular motion that exists in the created world. This prototype is the round and harmonious nature of the give-and-receive action between the Original Sungsang and the Original Hyungsang. In the Original Image, the Original Sungsang arid the Original Hyungsang perform harmonious give-and-receive action centering either on Heart or on Purpose. If the round and harmonious nature of the give-and-receive action in God were to be expressed in terms of time and space, it would become circular motion.

The world of created beings is the symbolic expression of God. For instance, the vastness of the ocean symbolizes the vastness of God's mind; the heat of the sun symbolizes the warmth of God's love; and the light of the sun symbolizes the brightness of God's truth. Likewise, circular motion in the created world symbolizes something in God, namely, the round and harmonious nature of the give-and-receive action within God. Harmonious give-and receive action centered on Heart is nothing but the expression of love. Love has no corners or angles, and is expressed in a circular form. Thus, if we were to express the Original Image in a diagram, such a diagram would be of a circular form or a spherical form.

God is formless and has no definite appearance; yet, God can appear in any form. In other words, God, who is formless, has a limitless number of forms. This can be compared to the form of water. If placed in a rectangular container, water becomes rectangular; if placed in a triangular container, water becomes triangular; and if placed in a round container, it becomes round. In other words, water can take on any form, depending on its container. Therefore, it has a limitless number of forms. Of all of these forms, however, which one is typical to water? The spherical form. We know this from the fact that when a drop of water falls, it assumes a spherical form.

Similarly, God can manifest Himself in the form of waves, in the form of wind, and so forth, but if we were to chose a typical form of God, that would be the spherical form. In this sense, the Original Image can be expressed in a circular form or a spherical form. These forms should be seen as symbolic expressions of the round and harmonious nature of give-and-receive action within God. That is why all things, in resemblance to the Original Image, have a basically spherical form. Atoms, the earth, the moon, the sun, stars, and so on, all have a spherical form. Even plants and animals can be said to have a spherical form. The starting point of the growth of a plant is a seed, and the starting point of the growth of an animal is an egg. These have a basically spherical form. When things engage in the motion of give-and-receive action, they move in circular or spherical paths, resembling the round and harmonious nature of the give-and-receive action within the Original Image.

There is still another reason why the motion performed when the subject and the object engage in give-and-receive action is circular. If the object did not turn around the subject, but instead moved in a straight line, then the object would ultimately depart from the subject. If that were to occur, the subject and the object would become unable to perform give-and-receive action. But if they could not perform give-and-receive action, the created being could not exist; for it is through give-and-receive action that the forces for existence, multiplication, and action come into being. Accordingly, in order for subject and object to engage in give-and-receive action, the object must maintain a continuous relationship to the subject-and in order for that to happen, the object must go around the subject.

Any individual being engaged in circular motion is actually performing two kinds of simultaneous motion, namely, rotation and revolution. The reason is that every individual being is both an individual truth body and a connected body. This is so because each individual being engages in internal give-and-receive action as well as external give-and-receive action. As a result of these two kinds of give-and-receive action, two kinds of circular motion come into being. The circular motion produced through internal give-and-receive action is rotation, and the circular motion produced through external give-and-receive action is revolution. For example, the earth revolves around the sun while rotating around itself, an electron revolves around the atomic nucleus while rotating around itself Rotation and revolution, then, are the results of the internal and external motions of things, and the reason these two types of motion exist is that they resemble the round and harmonious nature of the inner give-and-receive action within the Original Image and the round and harmonious nature of the outer give-and-receive action within the Original Image.

All created beings are in circular motion; in reality, however, not all beings make circular motion in the literal sense. The basic form of the mode of existence of all created beings is circular motion, but there are other forms of motion, which are modifications of it.

Basic circular motion refers to the typical form of circular motion. It can be of two types, namely, "circular motion in space" and "circular motion in time."

a) Circular Motion in Space

The earth revolves around the sun while rotating on its own axis; electrons revolve around the atomic nucleus while rotating about themselves. These are types of circular motion in the literal sense, and since they practically always maintain the same orbit, their motion can also be called "repetitive motion."

b) Circular Motion in Time (Spiral Motion)

The growth and multiplication of the living things and the succession of generations can be regarded as a kind of circular motion, that is, spiral motion. Let us consider the growth of plants. A seed puts forth a new sprout, which grows into it plant; the plant blooms, bears fruit, and produces numerous new seeds. The new seeds, greater in number than the initial one, again sprout, grow, and bear new fruit. A similar process occurs in the development of animals. A fertilized egg grows; the young are born; the young grow to maturity, engage in reproduction, and again new fertilized eggs are made. The new fertilized eggs, greater in number than the initial one, again grow, the young are born and engage in reproduction. Thus, both plants and animals preserve the species by repeating the cycles of life (life history).

The succession of generations, which is intended for the preservation of the species, is a kind of circular motion, and its characteristic features are that it possesses purposeful ness, it grows with time, and it has the nature of proceeding in distinct stages. This is called "spiral motion" (Fig. 2-7). For example, art apple seed lilts the purpose of bearing the apple fruit, which it fulfills through a process that takes a certain period of time. A complete stage (cycle) of growth comes to an end when new seeds are produced within the new fruit.

Fig. 2-7. Spiral Motion

Let us consider now the significance of living things making spiral motion. The physical person of a human being is not an eternal being. When the spirit person becomes perfected, the physical dies, and the mature spirit person goes on to live eternally in the spirit world. (Yet, because of the Human Fall people have died physically with their spirit persons still unperfected.) The realization of the purpose of creation means that human beings grow, perfect their individuality, get married, bear children, and have dominion over all things-in other words, they fulfill the three great blessings (Gen. 1:28). Accordingly, human beings have been created to live during a certain period of time on earth and to multiply through the succession of generations. Therefore, all living things, which exist as objects to human beings, preserve their species through the succession of generations, and multiply in order to become the object of dominion by human beings on earth.

Fundamentally, an individual truth body exists by engaging in circular motion. However, due to the particular requirements of the whole purpose at the time when individual truth bodies exist as connected bodies, the circular motion cannot but be transformed. In such cases, circular motion becomes transformed circular motion. There are two kinds of transformed circular motion, namely, motion with a fixed nature, and motion with an alternating nature.

a) Motion with a Fixed Nature

The atoms forming a being are firmly connected with one another, and each atom maintains a fixed position. In the case of the earth, for instance, if the numerous atoms forming it were to move about randomly, then the earth would revert to a gaseous state, and human beings would not be able to live on it. If the earth is to be a dwelling place for human beings, the atoms that constitute it must be fixedly united to form a solid ground. Therefore, the atoms forming the earth perform transformed circular motion whereby they maintain fixed positions in order to form the dwelling place for human beings.

Similarly, the cells forming the tissues of living beings are united with one another. For example, the cells forming the heart of an animal are fixedly united with one another, which enables the heart to contract and expand to perform its function. If the heart cells were to move about independently, the heart would not be able to perform its function.

Plants remain stationary, with their roots firmly set under the ground. They remain stationary so that human beings can watch their blossoms and harvest their fruits. These are examples of "motion with a fixed nature."

b) Motion within an Alternating Nature

in animals, instead of cells making circular motion, the blood and the lymph circulate in the body, connecting the cells, and thereby having the same effect as if the cells themselves were performing circular motion. In plants, also, water and minerals absorbed by the roots circulate throughout the body of the plant through the xylem vessels and tracheids, and the food which has been manufactured in the leaves, through phloem tubes (sieve tubes), thus connecting the cells. The result of this is the same effect as if the cells themselves were making circular motion. In the earth, also, there are the convection currents in the mantle, the movement of the plates (called tectonics), and so on, which manifest the effects of circular motion.

The give-and-receive actions in human economic life consist of give-and-receive actions between entrepreneurs and enterprises, between enterprises and enterprises, between enterprises and consumers, and so forth, in which the circulation of money plays the role of circular motion.

Those are some examples of "motion with an alternating nature."

The give-and-receive action between the spirit mind and the physical mind in human beings is not a physical kind of circular motion, but rather a spiritual kind of circular motion in the sense that the physical mind responds to the desires of the spirit mind. Accordingly, this is spiritual circular motion, or circular motion on the Sungsang level. Also, in the sense that the object behaves as the subject desires, the harmonious give-and-receive action between one person and another in the family or society is circular motion on the Sungsang level, or spiritual circular motion. For example, if parents love their children and instruct them well, the children will come to obey their parents well. This, also, falls into the category of spiritual circular motion.

1. On Development

Living beings are endowed with life. Life refers to the autonomy and dominion of the Principle, or the conscious energy latent in living beings. The growth of living beings is based on the autonomy and dominion of the Principle, and it is the motion of life itself performed by the unity of consciousness and energy latent in living things. Autonomy is the ability to direct one's own motion without being forced by other beings. The earth revolves around the sun, and it does so by following a law in a merely mechanical manner. Living things, however, do not just follow laws mechanically. They are able to control themselves as they grow and as they cope with various kinds of situations in their environment. This is the meaning of "autonomy of the Principle."

On the other hand, "dominion of the Principle" refers to the function of exerting influence on the surroundings. ¹⁰ For example, when a seed is sown, a sprout emerges, and leaves come out. At the same time, plants have an influence on their surroundings. Life, then, when viewed from the aspect of growth, is autonomy, and when viewed from the aspect of influencing its surroundings, is dominion.

This kind of growth of living things is a developmental motion. Development has a definite purpose and direction. Purpose and direction are factors that are determined by life. That is to say, there is life- within the seed of a plant, and it is life that makes the seed grow toward the goal of a tree and fruit. Also, there is life within a fertilized egg of an animal, and it is life that makes the egg grow toward the goal of becoming an adult animal.

Let us now consider the case of the development of the universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the universe started as a mass of energy, of extremely high temperature and density, concentrated in one point. A great explosion took place, and the universe began to expand. This supposedly happened 15-20 billion years ago. After the initial explosion, the hot, swirling gases eventually cooled and condensed to form the galaxies. In each galaxy, numerous stars came into being, many of which were surrounded by planets. One of the stars with planets was the sun, and one of its planets was the earth. Life came into being on earth, and finally human beings appeared.

If, when considering the development of the universe, we look at that process over a comparatively short period of time, we can only find physico-chemical laws at work. If, however, we look at that process over a longer period of time-say, several billion years-we find that the universe, in addition to the following physico-chemical laws, has also been developing in a definite direction. This tells us that there has been a goal in the development of the universe. That goal was to produce heavenly bodies to be the living environment for human beings, who were meant to have dominion over the universe. What has given this kind of direction to the development of the universe is the function of consciousness, or reason, latent behind the universe. It can be called the "consciousness of the universe," or the "life of the universe."

Just as in the development of a plant there is a seed that grows and bears fruit, so in the development of the universe we can consider that, in the beginning, there was a "seed of the universe," which has been growing until today. The human being is the ultimate fruit of the universe. Accordingly, just as the fruit is the goal of the plant, so the human being was the goal of the development of the universe. It was stated earlier that growth is a phenomenon that exists only in living things, but seen from the perspective of so vast a period of time as several billion years, one realizes that the totality of the created beings, including the mineral world (in other words, the entire universe) has been growing.

Development is an irreversible, purposeful motion that proceeds toward a definite goal. Yet, Communism never describes development as motion proceeding toward a goal. Communism merely admits lawfulness and necessity. Why does it deny purpose (goal)? The reason is that, if purpose is admitted, the question as to what entity has established that purpose is raised. Only will, or reason, can establish a purpose. From this it follows that God has established the purpose of the universe. That is why Communism has never admitted purpose.

In contrast, Unification Thought, in addition to describing development in terms of necessity and lawfulness, asserts that there is purposefulness in development. For example, when seeds are sown, they necessarily germinate. This is the necessary result of their proceeding toward the purpose of bearing fruit. Lawfulness is also at work in created things, so that they will realize their purpose, namely, the purpose of creation. As stated in the Theory of the Original Image, within God's Sungsang, centering on purpose, the Inner Sungsang (reason) and the Inner Hyungsang (law) engaged in give-and-receive action, whereby Logos was formed. Logos is the united body of reason and law. Law already existed within God's Inner Hyungsang, even prior to God's creation of the universe and it existed there for the realization of the purpose of creation. In other words, law had been prepared, from the very beginning, for the realization of the purpose.

Communist materialism denies purposefulness in the development of the universe. This view implies die human being is a purposeless being, born through the necessity of law. If the human being were an accidental being, without purpose, what kind of world would result from that? It would be a world where there was no place for values or morality. A world without values or morality cannot but become a world where the strong prey upon the weak, and only the strong can survive.

Communism comprehends matter as "matter in motion." Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) said, "motion is the mode of existence of matter. Never anywhere has there been matter without motion, nor can there be. . . Matter without motion is Just as inconceivable as [notion without matter". ¹¹ For what purpose does Communism make such a statement? Its purpose is to deny the existence of God. Newton considered the universe as an enormous machine and recognized God as the Being who had made the machine and had caused it to start moving. In that kind of framework, if we think of matter and motion as separate realities, we cannot but admit that motion must have been started by something other than matter itself-ultimately, by some being like God. Thus, in order to prevent such a metaphysical interpretation of motion, Communists defined motion as the mode of existence originally inherent in matter.

From the Unification Thought viewpoint, things exist and move through the give-and-receive action between subject and object. Accordingly, motion is the mode of existence of all things. Here, the give-and-receive action between subject and object is an action intended for the realization of the purpose of creation. Ultimately, then, motion exists for the realization of the purpose of creation. For example, the earth engages in give-and-receive action internally and externally in order to realize its purpose of creation-that is, to provide the environment in which human beings can live-and therefore engages in rotation and revolution.

Communism asserts that motion is the mode of existence of matter, but it says nothing at all about the reason why matter has such a mode of existence or about the kind of motion it performs whether such a motion is linear or circular or in some other form. Communism merely asserts that things move through the struggle of opposites.

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