Foreword

　　The Ultimate Realm is one of the most remarkable religious texts that I have ever encountered. While it is securely anchored in the Chinese past, it also soars confidently toward the future. I am not personally acquainted with any of the leading figures in T’ienti Chiao (“Lord of Universe Church”, more literally, “Doctrine/ Teachings of the Lord of Heaven”), but I am deeply impressed by this book, which is their chief scripture. What is most striking about The Ultimate Realm is the bold manner in which it combines science and religion. Indeed, these two vital aspects of modern existence are generally considered by adherents of both camps to be counterpoised, and this opposition constitutes a crisis for humanity.

　　The struggle between religion and science, in fact, is but one manifestation of a deeper division between mind and matter. The distinction between mind and matter, between body and soul, is one that has troubled our ancestors ever since they acquired the capacity for reflective consciousness. Rather than shying away from or glossing over this unsettling feature of the human condition, The Ultimate Realm confronts it directly and offers creative means not only for coping with this dichotomy but for transcending it. This is a scripture, then, that accepts neither an idealist nor a materialist view of the universe. Instead, it espouses a mutual coexistence and intersection of mind and matter.

　　The religious roots of T’ienti Chiao are unmistakable: key elements of its doctrine are derived from Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Yet, at the same time, this is an all-embracing faith: virtually any of the religions of the world can fit within it. The Ultimate Realm refers explicitly to the above three religions plus Islam and Christianity, and it refers implicitly to many other religions.

　　The Ultimate Realm is informed by a solid understanding of the history of world religions, as, for example, when it states that Buddhism arose to counter the rigid castes of Brahmanism and that Martin Luther founded Protestantism to resist papal oppression. T’ienti Chiao recognizes the profound implications that such changes in religion have for society and culture. As a result, it holds that the religion of each era should be attuned to each era’s needs. T’ienti Chiao is clearly a religion of the twentieth century that looks toward the next millennium with eager expectation.

　　One of the predecessors of T’ienti Chiao was the T’ien-te Sheng-Chiao (“The Holy Teaching of Heaven’s Virtue”), founded by Hsiao Ch’ang-ming. This new religion was very popular in China during the twenties, thirties, and forties with nearly four million adherents when the Communists took over the mainland. Hsiao Ch’ang-ming was a teacher of Lee Yü-chieh, the initiator of T’ienti Chiao. Some of Hsiao’s doctrines, such as the observance of twenty key watchwords (or precepts) and his emphasis on eclecticism, were adopted into T’ienti Chiao. But this new religion goes far beyond all of its predecessors in philosophical sophistication and in its brilliant, synthetic appropriation of science. To be sure, in this respect, The Ultimate Realm is quite unique among the hundreds of new religions that have appeared worldwide during the last century and a half. Some of these have even adopted the word “science ” or one of its derivatives as part of their names, but they usually are superstitious, irrational, or even actively anti-scientific. What is most refreshing about T’ienti Chiao is that it is a religious doctrine which is not afraid of science. Instead, it jubilantly joins with science to march forward to the establishment of heaven on earth, a heaven that will be built by human beings working in concert with God.

　　This leads to another perennial bifurcation which T’ienti Chiao rises above: that between God and man. In order to understand how it deals with this problem, let us examine in more detail the concept of godhead presented in The Ultimate Realm. T’ienti (usually rendered as “Lord of Heaven”) is composed of two syllables meaning “heaven” and “thearch”. Etymologically speaking, t’ien is related to European words such as Deus, divine, Jove, Zeus, Tyr, and deity, as well as the Turkic word Tängri, all of which go back to the prehistoric Indo-European root * deiw-meaning basically “to shine” and, in its derived forms, “sky, heaven”, exactly the same as t’ien. In the ancient Chinese religion of the Shang dynasty, the ti were deified ancestral kings. In other words, they were men who had become gods. Thus, the very name T’ienti constitutes a combination of the heavenly and the human. The Ultimate Realm is presented to us as the word of T’ienti communicated through an individual who was able to receive it because of his closeness to Nature (another translational facet of T’ien).

　　The problems facing us are not always solvable solely by the application of rationality, powerful as it may be. Sometimes we require a higher form of guidance and inspiration; The Ultimate Realm tells how this may be acquired through communication with Heaven, i.e., Nature. The most effective way for getting in touch with Nature is through quietude, and the most effective way to achieve perceptive tranquility is through meditation. The Ultimate Realm offers an elaborate and thorough disquisition on the importance of quietude and the purification that results therefrom. The methods it describes for engaging in meditation are based on both Buddhist and Taoist regimens. Through receptive stillness, we make of ourselves vessels into which Nature pours itself.

　　The Ultimate Realm posits an essential unity between Heaven and man, which it asserts grow closer together with the passage of time. The theology adumbrated in this book is, therefore, an enlightened one in which god is not an omnipotent authority, but a mediating force between matter and nature. Since they are both made up of the same elemental stuff, the sacred and the mundane are fundamentally equal. Because of its unusual concept of godhead, theists and atheists alike can derive intellectual and spiritual sustenance from this work.

　　On another, but related, plane, The Ultimate Realm shows the method for the mediation between physical objects and the metaphysical Tao (“Way” or, etymologically rendered, “Track”). As a translator of the Tao Te Ching and the Chuang Tzu (莊子), I find the explanation of Tao as universal cosmic force and Te as its manifestation in individual entities to be illuminating. The novel approach to Tao and Te (“virtue,” “integrity,” or “doughtiness”), like so much else in the teachings of T’ienti, is exhilarating. This book also includes the first discussion of ch’i (“material energy”) that is compatible with Western theories of the structure of the universe. Actually, ch’i–the basic substance of everything in the universe–is analogous to Sanskrit prana, Greek pneuma, and Hebrew ruwah. But it has never before been explained so lucidly in terms that are so readily comprehensible to people who are unfamiliar with Chinese cosmology.

　　I find parts of The Ultimate Realm to be reminiscent of Tao Ch’ien’s (陶潛) (365-427) philosophical poem on “Substance, Shadow, and Spirit”. Like it, they show how individuals relate to the universal flux. Similarly, there are resonances with the great neo-Confucian philosopher, Chu Hsi (朱熹) (1130-1200), who describes the ceaseless, recurrent aggregation and dissipation of material energy in the universe. Yet, the treatment of these subjects in T’ienti doctrine goes far beyond these traditional expositions into wholly new realms of discourse.

　　One of the most invigorating things about this book is that is so positivistic and optimistic instead of being negativistic and nihilistic as is often the case with earlier religious traditions. An instance of the positivist quality of T’ienti religion described in this book is that it unabashedly encourages striving– so long as that striving is directed toward ennobling self-cultivation and attainment of desirable social goals. At times, the optimism evinced in The Ultimate Realm spills over into a visionary quest as, for example, when space travel along interstellar “winds” (like hyper-jetstreams) is proposed.

　　The visionary quality of The Ultimate Realm is no mere fantasy, for it is based on a firm grasp of many different types of knowledge, including anthropology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, and (abnormal) psychology–all bound together through wisdom. In short, The Ultimate Realm represents a sort of unified field theory that brings together all scientific, social, and spiritual endeavors of mankind and molds them into a coherent whole.

　　Virtually every sentence of The Ultimate Realm reveals its eclectic underpinnings. The title itself contains the word “realm [of human intellection]” (Mandarin ching-chieh) which is derived from Sanskrit visaya. The Buddhist notion of karma, which has long since been domesticated in American linguistic usage, is also plentifully evident in the present work. The Ultimate Realm masterfully draws analogies between traditional Taoist categories such as hun and p’o (“animus” and “anima”, different constituents of the human soul) with Buddhist analytical terms such as alaya-vijnana (base-consciousness) and modern discourse based on scientific terminology. Amazingly, the present work is able to reconcile the view of Mencius (human nature is good) with that of Hsün-tzu (human nature is evil) by concentrating on different phases of the human constitution. Examining the physical heredity and innate nature of an individual, one can determine the sources of his/her character. On this basis, we are to comprehend the existence of good and evil in the universe as a whole. Even the Christian endorsement of love (like that of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Mo-tzu [5th century B.C.]) is readily assimilated into this system of thought because it is viewed as a je-chun of human behavior. Je-chun (“critical energy”) is a key concept in The Ultimate Realm, so we need to look at it in a bit more closely. This term is actually an abbreviation of tien-je he-chun (電熱和準, electrothermal harmonic level). It is immediately obvious that the first part of the term is modeled on ideas from thermodynamics and the second part is both acoustic and humanistic.

　　The Ultimate Realm is an intellectually stimulating philosophical treatise and thus commands respect even apart from the faith that it elicits. It discusses with scintillating percipience the origin and organization of the universe; the notion of chaos; how order emerges out of chaos; the formation of stars and other astronomical bodies; the structure of matter; the evolution of minerals, plants, and animals together with the reasons for their varying degrees of complexity; and so forth. These explanations do not exactly coincide with and reproduce scientific reasoning. They may be seen, rather, as metaphors closely founded upon the laws and theories of science which serve to bridge the longstanding gulf between reason and faith. As science, many of the formulations in this book are hypothetical, particularly those that are expressed quantitatively. Their suggestiveness, however, is quite likely to lead to productive results in scientific investigation and experimentation. For example, according to the system of thought outlined in The Ultimate Realm, one of the basic units of everything in the universe is the electropon. Now, electropons may be regarded as analogous to subatomic elementary particles such as quarks and, like them, may be described as having “charm”. (It is because of the author’s sensitivity to the metaphysical properties of the elemental building-blocks of the universe that he is able to bridge the gap between matter and spirit in such an effective manner). Or, as another example of the productive use of metaphors from science employed in this text, the notion of spiral harmony system that are positioned triangularly and rhomboidally is firmly grounded in the most advanced concepts of electrochemical geometry and quantum mechanics. At the same time, it is an esthetically attractive device for imaging fundamental issues in cosmology. In a very real sense, we may view this book as applying the laws of quantum electrodynamics to spirituality and the intuitions of spirituality to quantum electrodynamics; the mutual reinforcement is symmetrically satisfying. No other religious treatise would attempt to grapple with the thorny cosmological conundrum of the relationship between entropy and negentropy. Yet, in The Ultimate Realm, we find productive hints toward a solution.

　　Within the covers of this book, there are many such happy surprises. One that pleased me particularly is the rational explanation of reincarnation that it offers, something that has eluded me for decades. Having explained reincarnation in simple, straightforward terms, it goes on to show how men and women can become divine beings through attaining increasingly higher levels of spiritual refinement and by striving for goodness throughout many transmigrations of the soul. Yet this is not simply a matter of discipline, for it can only be accomplished through sincerity (borrowing a term that was favored by certain neo-Confucians).

　　Aside from all of those which have already been mentioned, there are many other valuable lessons that may be learned and insights that may be gleaned from The Ultimate Realm. Here we find a convincing explanation for human greed and anger on one hand and compassion and kindness on the other. The gentle tough-mindedness of this scripture may also be seen in its declaration of the sacredness of labor, an advocacy with which I heartily concur. In an age of rampant elitism, the resolutely democratic principles of T’ienti Chiao are further cause for celebration. Finally, The Ultimate Realm provides real assistance in facing existential tribulations. Death, for instance, is viewed with equanimity as a kind of release and freedom.

　　Based largely on the spiritual experience of a singular man, The Ultimate Realm exhibits the sagely vision of the prophets. It is prophetic, however, in an unusual way. Not only does it address the question of humanity’s future spiritual development, it also predicts fundamental refinements in our understanding of the structure of matter.

　　A synthesis of philosophy, science, and religion, The Ultimate Realm is neither sentimental nor soporific. Quite the contrary, this is the only scripture I am aware of that is based squarely on an acceptance of the principles of nuclear physics and atomic chemistry. At the same time, however, it is not ashamed to speak of such humanistic principles as harmony and love.

　　The Ultimate Realm conveys ancient, universal religious truths expressed in a modern idiom. Its careful composition and fresh language makes it read smoothly, yet it is definitely not an easy book. This is a work that invites us to return repeatedly to ponder the implications of the elaborately interwoven set of concepts that fills it. If we do so, we shall attain ever deeper levels of understanding, both of ourselves and of the universe.

　　For its intellectual adventuresomeness and spiritual sensitivity, this is a book that I recommend enthusiastically to anyone who yearns for answers to personal problems and difficult questions facing the world. As revealed in The Ultimate Realm, the Teachings of the Universal Lord hold great potential for healing the world’s wounds. This is a scripture that is acutely conscious of political and economic realities and proposes sensible solutions for dealing with them. It is striking that, although the revelation was received while the world was in the throes of a massive conflagration (the Second World War), its focus was already presciently on such matters as international economic cooperation that would be necessary to restore prosperity to humanity after it was over. The Ultimate Realm projects a situation in which federations of nations will guarantee collective security and remove from earth forever the scourge of ethnic wars.

　　The Ultimate Realm is here presented in an eloquent English translation that grasps the inner significance and ethos of the text, and conveys it clearly and vividly. The reader of this version is consequently enabled to participate in the stimulating flow of ideas that runs through its pages in the same fashion as those who study them in Chinese. The translation is preceded by an informative introduction that tells of the life, thought, and times of the man who served as the vehicle for bringing this radically new dispensation into the world. The Ultimate Realm has already had a major impact on Taiwan and China. Now, with this wonderful translation, it is bound to strike a resonant chord in America and the rest of the English-speaking world.

　　　　　Bosat Man (Victor H. Mair)
　　　　　Professor, Department of Asian&ME Studies
　　　　　University of Pennsylvania
　　　　　May 13, 1994