[Objective] This study examines the spirituality of Donghak in order to explore the meaning and direction of religion in an age of non-religion.
[Contents] The spirituality of Donghak can be seen as having developed through Choe Jeu’s concept of divine spirit (神靈), Choe Sihyeong’s notion of mind-spirit (心靈), and Son Byeonghui’s idea of spirituality (靈性). Choe Si-hyeong stated that ‘Hanul (天)’ is diversely manifested according to the organization of all things,’ and that ‘the spirit of the universe is the spirit of the multitude, the spirit of the multitude is my own spirit,’ which he identified as ‘my mind-spirit. Son Byeong-hui described this as ‘the expression of the spirit in the universe’ and ‘the wondrous activity of the holy spirit,’ introducing the new term Seongryeongchulse (性靈出世, the emergence of the spirituality). Lee Don-hwa further developed Donghak’s spirituality by presenting the direction of future religion through the concepts of ‘self-faith that trusts in one’s own spirituality (自神),’ ‘the theory of religious unification,’ and ‘the de-religionization of religion’.
[Conclusions] The concept of spirituality in Donghak refers to the sacred power of the cosmic origin that constitutes and permeates all things, as well as the human mind-spirit. Today, it offers the insight that spirituality is the very essence of the universe, guiding human beings to realize that they themselves are both ‘the history of the universe’ and ‘one body with the universe,’ and to transform the present world into a paradise on earth.