INTRODUCTION
🌌 In this profound writing, Master Woo Myung reflects on Descartes’ famous assertion, “I think, therefore I am,” and reveals its fundamental limitation. While Descartes sought Truth through doubt, he never addressed the source of thought itself.
✨ This teaching explains that existence does not arise from thinking. Thought is not the origin of being; existence simply exists as it is, independent of the mind’s activity. Only by realizing this can one move beyond conceptual philosophy and encounter the living Truth taught by Master Woo Myung.
ORIGINAL WRITING BY MASTER WOO MYUNG
Beyond “I Think, Therefore I Am”
In his book, “The Discourse on the Method”, Descartes asserted that Truth is that which cannot possibly be doubted and sought a way to Truth by employing methodological skepticism. He arrived at a single principle, “I think, therefore I am”. He became the father of modern philosophy but what are the limitations of his philosophy?
The conception of “I think, therefore I am” is only Descartes’ thought, because it does not mention what the source of thought is.
The conception that thought is existence may seem correct at first, but thought does not equal existence. Existence does not reside in thought; it is simply that which exists just as it is. Therefore, it is not right to say that one exists because he thinks. Man’s existence does not reside in his thoughts. He is an existence that simply exists as he is. It is also the same for all creations.
— Woo Myung
🌿 REFLECT AT SANTA CLARA MEDITATION
At Santa Clara Meditation, practitioners are guided to go beyond concepts and discover the source of existence itself, rather than clinging to thoughts. 🌠
Through this process, one realizes that Truth is not found in thinking, but in being as one truly is, as taught by Master Woo Myung.
