What is Won?
Il Won (One Circle) is the Dharmakaya Buddha, the origin of all things in the universe, the truth that all buddhas and sages enlightened to, and the original nature of all sentient beings.
Sotaesan
Won or Il Won Sang is the origin of all things in the universe, our authentic true self to which all buddhas and bodhisattvas are enlightened.
Once, a painter in ancient times was asked by an aristocrat to paint a mural image of God. He had been asked to paint many pictures and had completed many pictures of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Last Supper and other religious subjects. Yet this was the first time that he was asked to draw the image of God. He pondered for a long time and eventually drew the image of God. It was a large, round circle.
Sotaesan, the founding master of Won Buddhism, attained supreme enlightenment in 1916 after many years of ascetic practice. Upon awakening he declared, “All things in the universe are of One Reality and all principles originate from one source, where the Truth of No Birth and No Death and the Principle of Cause and Effect operate on an interrelated basis as a single, clear and rounded framework.”
This single, clear and rounded framework is called Il Won Sang (One Circle Image) and in a Won Buddhist temple, the Buddha image is replaced by the Il Won Sang image.
Sotaesan said "That circular image is a model for teaching the true Il Won. It is like pointing at the moon with your finger: your finger is not the real moon. In the same way, a practitioner must discover the true Il-Won through the model of Il Won Sang, guard Il Won’s true nature and practice Il-Won’s perfect mind. Then, the truth of Il Won Sang and our lives will mesh perfectly."