Ilgiyae Ch.6-3

Change

"The harmonious composition of Samjae; Haneul, Tang, and Saram is change, however, since the Samjae is originally only one all changes are same as one."(Ch.13) Therefore, the fundamental principle of every martial art is nothing but only TAEKWONDO. And since all changes are same as one, it is called "Ilgiyae". This Ilgiyae "has neither outward appearance nor its substance, neither its beginning nor its ending and it has neither up and down nor all directions; its both inside and outside are empty so that you can see nowhere it is not, or nothing it doesn't embrace."¹⁾

"Thus you, when enlightened, put all of yours in a change through swift footwork hiding under naturality of the world and erases your opponent in your sight. At the same time, you should keep everything of yours in the calmness like darkness with nothing disheveled, so that you put yourself in immutability of the world up to your nonbeing, which refers to following the way of Sky, stated above. On the other hand, you, when enlightened, can get supremacy over the strong opponent with less power because you soak into the change he intends, not fighting it, controlling it from inside, so that his own changes destroy himself. That is, he is destroyed by his own power, which is the following the way of Earth. All of these are to be found in the not losing yourself with coming back to your own position, which means the very following the way of Man. You can begin these three kinds of following in concentration of your mind into one with no idle thought."(Ch.13)

Confucians said of this, "the way of Heaven and Earth may be completely declared in one sentence. - They are without any doubleness, and so they produce things in a manner that is unfathomable."²⁾ Since it is just one it is without any doubleness, and at the same time, since it also has manyness it produce things in a manner that is unfathomable. To say it differently, "the one moves thousand times with its use changeful yet its substance unchangeable."³⁾ It is exactly the meaning of Ilgiyae. This true figure of TAEKWONDO has been since the oldest time although its name has ever been changed. Thus, for the instruction of this truth, it has been said "How great the god's true principle is! As it is one yet also three its substance is what cannot be better and its use is what cannot be exhausted."⁴⁾

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<footnotes>

1) 「三一神誥」, 1 하늘 가르침[天訓]: 天無形質, 無端倪, 無上下四方, 虛虛空空, 無不在, 無不容. In the text of Sam Il Sin Go(三一神誥), its subject is "Haneul", which though doesn't mean that of Samjae but the <Do> of Lao Tzu or <Beop> of Tathagata.
2) The Doctrine of the Mean, 26-07 天地之道 可一言而盡也 其爲物 不貳 則其生物 不測.
3) 「天符經」, 一妙衍 萬往萬來 用變不動本.
4) 「셋을 모은 글(會三經)」, 1 세검: 大哉, 神之道也, 卽一卽三, 體之, 而達無上, 用之, 而窮無倪.