Dharma 1
1. It is pathetic that humans lose sight of their own annihilation. They are blinded by the pursuit of property and profit.
2. What we do is promote the betterment of others. Should other people receive good fortune and we attain the remainder, that will be good enough. When Jeon Myeong-Suk (Jeon Bong-Jun) led the uprising, he intended to make men of low birth within the gentry (yangban) and to make men of the lowest class valuable. Therefore, he was assigned as the head of the Myeongbu (the spirit world) for Joseon (Korea) after dying.
3. Emperor-awaiting (Mangje) Peak and Mount Yeongju (Ocean Island) emerge prominently along Mount Bangjang (Temple Master) Range. The area at the foot of Mount Yeongju is a propitious landsite known in geomancy as a ´Quilt Spread by Immortals,´ a type of ´Myeongdang (luminous Court).´ Emperor-awaiting Peak continuously undulates across the landscape leading into Mount Steamer-on-Cauldron (Siru-san).
4. One who has the proper karmic affinity for three lives may follow Me.
5. You shall receive My trust only when you give Me yours.
6. Our work is to live as others die and to enjoy prosperity and blessings as they live.
7. Our works do not use others without due cause even for something so trifling as obtaining a bowl of water. Therefore, you should not depend on even your father or siblings without due thought.
8. Sangje said to Kim Hyeong-Ryeol, “If your house is on the verge of collapse, discard its goods, and plan for a new home. If you fail to let them go then, accordingly, even your body shall suffer ruin. Be well aware of that.”
9. Now is the era of grievance resolution. For pursuing the hierarchy, distinguishing between the gentry (yangban) and the low-born is the same as tormenting ancestral spirits, and it also draws the shadow of doom. Therefore, make haste and abandon the conventions of the gentry and treat lowly people courteously. Only then can grievances be resolved and a good era will soon arrive.
10. Sangje always used honorifics even to low-born people. Kim Hyeong-Ryeol, feeling quite uncomfortable that Sangje always used honorific language with his servant Ji Nam-Sik, asked, “This man is my servant, so please talk to him in the informal way.” At this, Sangje said, “The man is just your servant. Not mine. In this countryside, it may be difficult for you to break the habit because you have used those expressions since early years. But when you go to another village, respect all you meet. From now on, there will be no distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children and no discrimination between the gentry and the low-born.”
11. Even though Kim Gap-Chil was always obstinate and behaved like a spoiled child, Sangje never rebuked him but rather soothed him while smiling. As a result, he became so much more ill-mannered that he did not correct his own behavior. Not enduring his bad habits, Hyeong-Ryeol scolded him, “How rude you are!” Then Sangje said to Hyeong-Ryeol, “Your language is still stinging. All seems to be only weeds when you intend to eliminate because of hatred, and all becomes flowers when you look upon something with admiration [惡將除去無非草 好取看來總是花]. Words are the shouts of the mind whereas behavior is traces of the mind. If you speak well of a person, it shall be a virtue that makes the person stay well; the remaining virtue will grow more and more to become such great fortune that it will reach back to you. But if you speak ill of a person, it shall be a harm to the person; the remaining harm will grow more and more to become such a great disaster that it will reach back to you.”
12. Sangje treated even those who severely slandered and insulted Him very courteously. However, disciples did not think it was appropriate for Him to show good manners towards the impolite. Sangje said, “Their insolence comes from not knowing who I am. If they know Me, they will treat Me just the way you do. Why should I bother Myself with their slander, when they do not know who I am?”
13. Sangje would always pick up even a single grain of rice if it was dropped on the ground. He said, “The time at which cries for rice pierce the Ninth Heaven shall come sooner or later. How can we neglect it? Heaven watches over all, even a mere grain.”
14. Sangje said where disciples gathered, “A croaker in the sea of the Seven-Mountain (Chilsan) Islets is captured in a net after the person who will eat it is chosen; grains also ripen after the person who will eat them is chosen. Dying of hunger should not happen.”
15. Gyeong-Seok obstinately tried to drive away a flock of birds that was flying into the rice field. When He saw it, Sangje said, ‶If you do not allow a flock of birds to fill their stomachs, how could you fill the stomachs of people throughout the world?″
16. People say ´sumyeong-bokrok (壽命福祿, longevity and happiness)´ in that order, which means that they value longevity over happiness. However, if in having longevity but little happiness, they are extremely dishonorable and miserable, I would value happiness over longevity. Therefore, after one has spent all their happiness, death can occur.
17. As Sangje practiced the Reordering Works of Heaven and Earth for months in a tavern at the entrance of Guest-awaiting (Gaekmang) Village, a number of disciples gathered regularly there. Thanks to that, the tavern-keeper Oh Dong-Pal earned a sufficient amount of money. But afterwards, when he found out that Sangje ran out of money, he ostracized Him. When all the disciples became enraged by the man´s impoliteness, Sangje calmed and persuaded them by saying, “How can an ignorant man be aware of propriety? If I get furious over his rudeness, divine beings will bring him a disaster. If a great man does not spread virtue in his comings and goings but rather causes disasters, what will become of it?”
18. Perceiving all the empty ceremonies and formalities that have been passed down to the world as wrong, Sangje said, “They resulted from old Heaven´s improper scheming; the true dharma shall emerge sooner or later.”
19. There is a word, ´hwa-bok (禍福, misfortune and fortune),´ which has referred to undergoing adversity prior to good fortune. You must endure adversity to attain good fortune.
20. Sangje taught disciples about slander by saying, “Everyone plays his own role. How can a man tell others of their faults, if he does not first apply that reflection to himself?”
21. Happiness is bestowed upon those with a pure heart. A man who covets what others have shall always fail to acquire happiness due to having the thief´s energy in tow.
22. If a man hears a right word and does not carry it out, it is the same as pouring water on a rock.
23. When cultivating your mind, take after sages. When carrying out your work, use the strategy of heroes.
24. Sangje said, “The rich do not like poverty, the strong do not like weakness, and the wise do not like foolishness. Therefore, those who are poor, sick, and foolish shall become My flock.”
25. When achieving a good reputation with other people you can attain credit from divine beings. Only those who live on my rice carry out my work.
26. Even a snake can become a dragon by attaining good words from people. If you speak well to others, it will become a virtue.
27. Sangje said, “Those who do not know who I am, usually slander me. If I repay the same to them, I will become even more absurd and cowardly.”
28. Referring to a man who lets groundless misunderstandings and malicious gossip bother him, Sangje said, “The winds stop blowing at some time or other; thus, endure the complaints and condemnation of others. As there is a time to move and a time to stop, complaints and condemnation will be completely cleared away when the time comes.”
29. Divine beings will repel those who take an undeserved post greedily or handle work unfairly, by hitting them on the nape of the neck. Do not desire a post or perform work with bias. Put all your efforts into cultivating virtue and maintaining right-mindedness. Divine beings will then rush to designate you for a good post.
30. There is no untruth at all among the words that have existed in Heaven and Earth.
31. The energy-flow of Heaven and Earth could even be blocked by the grievance of a single person.
32. When people commit a great sin, they shall be punished via Heavenly penalties, whereas those who commit a petty sin shall be punished via divine penalties or via human penalties.
33. Do not commit transgressions for in The Songs of Suwun, there is a saying, ´How can the one who disrupts order and throws the Dao into disarray ever face me?´
34. Repaying evil with evil is the same as washing away blood with blood.
35. Keep in mind the words from The Songs of the Eastern Learning: The Later World seems far away but restlessness only lasts a minute.
36. Exercise caution, even moment by moment, as though you have committed a transgression even when you have not done so.
37. Sangje, knowing that Gyeong-Seok had recalled his past faults and was rather worried, said, “I already told you to think over every single one of your faults and resolve them. Why do some remain with you now? From now on, do not think about them again.”
38. Sangje said to Ahn Nae-Seong, “Do not tempt another man´s son with injustice. Do not have quarrels with others. Do not treat a man of low birth with contempt. Do not covet another´s treasure. The character ´狽 (pae, trouble)´ is contained within the character´ 寶 (bo, treasure).´”
39. One day, Sangje asked His father, “Please list, without exception, all the faults you have committed while living your whole life.” Sangje´s father listed each and every fault and had Yu Chil-Ryong give it to Sangje. After Sangje took a close look at every single one, He burned it and said, “Now his error-ridden past has been resolved, but he must make more straw shoes.” His father made straw shoes for eight years until the Imja Year (1912) as he had done before.
40. When Sangje visited Jeong Nam-Gi´s house, He observed Jeong´s younger brother´s impolite attitude towards his parents and had him repent for this fault. The brother reacted impolitely after being scolded by his father and he ran out of the house. Sometime later, when he tried to come inside again, he suddenly could not move and just stood stiffly in the front of the door, perspiring heavily, and screaming incessantly. The family was so surprised that they did not know what to do. After a while, Sangje turned to Jeong Nam-Gi´s younger brother and asked, “Why are you suffering from such trouble?” Only then did he bend down and recover consciousness. When his family asked why this happened, he said that he had suddenly felt faint and had been unable to breathe in and out and felt suffocated. Sangje said, “At that time you might have been stifled and congested, so it would have been hard for you to endure it.” He severely rebuked him by saying, “When you assumed a haughty attitude towards your father, how did your parents feel in their hearts? Repent of your sin and do not thoughtlessly speak such words ever again.”
41. When Sangje went over to Jang Ik-Mo´s home, He saw Jang excessively cherishing his little son. Sangje taught him by saying, “Good fortune comes from above, not from below, so you should first focus your care on your parents based on the Way of humanity.”
42. When Park Gong-Wu had a quarrel with his wife and visited Copper Valley (Donggok) Village, Sangje suddenly rebuked him, “When venomous, I have all the venom of the world; when good, I have all the goodness of the world. How could you conduct such a wrong deed while under My wing? Now divine beings in Heaven and Earth shall test everyone´s capabilities and magnanimity by coming in and out of each person and each household to determine their positions in the Later World. Those of an ungenerous nature, whose homes lose peace and harmony, shall be sneered at by divine beings; they will not consider entrusting such people with great work, and the divine beings will leave, leading one another away. How dare a man who aspires to great work neglect alertness even for a second?”
43. Sangje said to Kim Bo-Gyeong, giving him a piece of writing, “Burn it in front of your concubine.” Afterward, when Kim contracted a sexually transmitted disease, he was forced to come back to his family´s house and stay for about a month. In the meantime, his concubine, who lived in Bear-Port (Wungpo) Village, ran away somewhere else. Sangje said to him, “Do not betray your wife again.” Then He cleared up his disease.
44. People called Yu Shun (虞舜, Shun) a man of great filial piety, but he could not remove the disgraceful nickname of Gusou (瞽瞍, Blind Man) that had been attached to his father. How could he not feel regretful?
45. Sangje said to Gong-Wu, “The reason why I take you with Me is that you have a great deal of sense and reason in your nature. A woman who has a great deal of sense and reason will also produce more descendants.”
46. Sangje said of a young widow who takes her own life in order to maintain marital fidelity, “A malicious and rigorous ghost has murdered the innocent.” And He wrote on a piece of paper and burned it. The writing was as follows: Loyalty, filial piety, and chastity are the basis of a country. However, should a country perish, it is due to loyalty, should a family perish, it is due to filial piety, and should one bodily perish, it is due to chastity. 忠孝烈 國之大綱然 國亡於忠 家亡於孝 身亡於烈
47. To gratify disciples´ curiosity upon whether it is right to have compulsory wailing for the dead, Sangje said, “It is permissible to wail at a funeral for a spirit who encountered a bitter death, but it is not permissible to have compulsory wailing for a spirit whose case was not like that.”
48. As for ancestral rituals, delicious and clean offerings are best, but the location where they are set is not important. Ragged mourning clothes are made by the ghosts of dead beggars.
49. Spirits partake of sacrificial offerings as they are eaten by humans.
50. When Kim Song-Hwan asked Sangje about the afterlife, He said, “There is a spiritual soul (hon 魂) and a physical soul (baek 魄) in a person. When a person dies, the person´s spiritual soul ascends to heaven and becomes an ancestral god and receives a memorial ritual from the descendants. And after four generations pass, it becomes either a spirit or an immortal. A physical soul returns to earth, and after four generations pass, it becomes an apparition.”
51. Having forced sexual relationships with a married woman distorts the basis of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, I do not intervene on behalf of those who have committed this most heinous sin.
52. Sangje always designated a due date when He instructed disciples to do work, and He ordered them not to exceed that date. Sangje said, “Why would I choose days which would not go well?” Things were never unfavorable on the days that Sangje had chosen.
53. You should always stick to peace. If you have an internal quarrel among yourselves, there will be an external turmoil as well.
54. Quarrels among men cause fights among ancestral gods in Heaven. Thus, only after the end of a fight in Heaven, shall the result of human feuds be determined.
55. Those who can appease their anger against a person who quibbles with them and then yield to that person are superior and blessed. Those who are unable to control their anger and who are then drawn into quarrels are inferior, and divine beings will not bestow favors upon them. How could they possibly entertain any hope for good fortune?
56. Resolve the grievances against your foe and love your foe as your benefactor. Doing so will become a virtue and bring you bliss.
57. Do not deceive others. Even an empty matchbox in which all the matches have been used up must be broken and thrown away.
58. Gambling is one of the greatest transgressions. This is because gambling requires the temptation of others and the goal of gambling cannot be attained without the players deceiving one another; whereas, other transgressions are committed individually.
59. If someone asks you for advice, answer truthfully, but do not dwell on whether the person does as you have recommended.
60. There is a saying, “Do not talk about eating. Do not speak about sleeping.” It refers to “Do not speak about the unbecoming actions of others.”
61. The one who neither learns nor works is outside the four categories of scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant. Therefore, he is of no use.
62. In the Former World, Heaven alone had been respected but Earth had not. This resulted from people not comprehending the tremendous virtue of Earth. From now on, Heaven and Earth must be equally revered.
63. In the Former World, money, which has poor eyesight, followed unjust people. But from now on, I will brighten the eyes of money so that it may follow good people.
64. Money is an object that emerges in a circulation system and is used. Therefore, it is not worth obtaining and spending as though obligated to do so. ´What you amass through 100 years of greed will one morning crumble away to dust [百年貪物一朝塵].´
65. There is no man with knowledge of the future in this age. Do not have your face read or your fortune told.
66. Christianity, which treats gods miserably, shall not succeed.
67. Now is the era of grievance resolution. A man of petty stature shall attain power and fortune and abandoned land shall gain energy.
68. In the Later World, a woman´s accomplishments shall also be acknowledged depending on her cultivation. Because of this, the custom of the predominance of men over women, which has existed from the ancient times, shall be abolished.
