ACTS 1
1. Of all the surnames, the most ancient is the surname Kang (姜), which originated from Shennong millennia ago. The first member of this ancient line to settle in the Korean Peninsula was the great ancestor of the Kangs, I-Sik. Genealogical records of the Kang family-line of Guangzhou, China, reveal the background of Kang I-Sik´s life. Those records tell us that: ‶After Duke Kang, under the order of Emperor Wen of Sui, subjugated the whole country, his son, who later went on to become Emperor Yang, dethroned the emperor and Duke Kang resigned from his post.″ Another genealogical record of the Kang family-line of Forward Territory (Jinju), Korea, was written in the Eulchuk Year (1685) under the reign of King Sukjong. This record introduced Kang I-Sik as follows: ‶During the Sui´s Invasion of Goguryeo, Duke Kang became the commander of the Sui army and then reached the Salsu River. He realized that Sui would fall into disorder and decided to remain rather than return home to his country.″ Kang I-Sik, the progenitor of the Kangs of Jinju, moved to the Korean Peninsula during the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. Starting with the first ancestor, Kang I-Sik, the family-line continued to the 31st generation descendant, Kang Se-Ui, who retired to the village county (gun 郡) of Primordial Hill (Gobu). Kang Se-Ui´s descendants continued another six generations until the time of the three brothers, Jin-Chang, Wu-Chang, and Eung-Chang. All of whom lived there.
2. There are three mountains around Primordial Hill (Gobu) County: Mount Bongrae (Dense Forest), Mount Yeongju (Ocean Island), also known as Immortal (Shinseon 神仙) Peak (bong 峯), and Mount Bangjang (Temple Master). They are collectively known as the ´Three Sacred Mountains (Samshin-san).´
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. On the eastern field of Mount Steamer-on-Cauldron, Siru-san is Guest-awaiting (Gaekmang) Village (ri 里); over Lantern (Deungpan) Hill-Path (jae) which extends to the south of the mounts are many villages such as Inkstone Hamlet (Yeon-chon), Lecture Town (Gang-dong), Prostrating General (Baejang) Valley (gol), Persimmon Tree Town (Simok-dong), Residing King (Yuwang) Valley, and Calligraphy Brush Town (Pil-dong); the front fields of the east of the villages are Fertile (Gireum) Field. And on the north side of the field is the Virtue Stream (Deokcheon) Crossroads Village; from the village, over the hill path leading to Pear Plains (Yipyeong) Township (myeon 面) is Cauldron (Bujeong) Village; the valley beside the village is Gourd (Jjokbak) Valley.
5. Sangje, the Supreme God of the Universe, was incarnated on Earth at Guest-awaiting (Gaekmang) Village, near the auspicious mountain, Mount Steamer-on-Cauldron (Siru-san, Jeungsan 甑山). Sangje was born into the Kang family lineage, six generations after the time of Jin-Chang, who was the eldest son of the Kang family of Primordial Hill (Gobu). At the time of His incarnation, Sangje´s family name was Kang and His personal name was Il-Sun (一淳), His courtesy name was Sa-Ok (士玉) and His honorific name was Jeungsan (甑山, Steamer-on-Cauldron Mountain). The birthday of the incarnated Supreme God is recorded in history as the 19th day of the ninth month of the Shinmi Year, the eighth year of the reign of King Gojong of the Joseon Dynasty, or the Year 4204 of the Dan Era. The birthday of the incarnated Sangje fell on the Western calendar date of November 1, 1871 CE.
6. His birth village, previously called ´Sonbaraegi (Guest-awaiting),´ was officially known as ´Gaekmang Village,´ Superior Virtue (Wudeok) Township, Primordial Hill (Gobu) County, in Jeolla Province (Jeolla-do, perfectly spread the Dao), which has now been changed to New Settlement (Saeteo), New Moon (Sinwol) Village, Virtue Stream (Deokcheon) Township, Wellspring-Town (Jeongeup) County, in North Jeolla Province.
7. Before Sangje was born, Guest-awaiting (Gaekmang) Village was called Immortal-awaiting (Seonmang) Village, but after His passing into Heaven, people have called it New Moon (Sinwol) Village.
8. The first name of Sangje´s father was Mun-Hoe, with the courtesy name, Heung-Ju. With a tiger-like countenance and a booming voice, his knowledge of his great demeanor stretched from his neighbors to even the Eastern Learning (Donghak 東學) peasant militia.
9. The surname of Sangje´s mother was Kwon, her personal name was Yang-Deok. One night when she visited her parents who had lived in Book Mountain (Seosan) Village of Pear Plains (Yipyeong) Township, she dreamed that the sky had been torn in half. From the fissure in the sky, north and south before her, a massive ball of flame emerged and covered her body. After that, she showed signs of pregnancy and after 13 months, Sangje was born.
10. On the day Sangje was born, the delivery room was filled with light; two celestial maidens descended to Earth from Heaven. They entered the delivery room, which was aglow with their presence, and the maidens attended the newborn Sangje. An effervescent, mysterious fragrance filled the entire delivery room. An auspicious vapor enveloped the entire house in which Sangje was born, and its light, extending up into the sky.
11. From His youth onward, Sangje exhibited a good-natured and generous personality and a remarkably brilliant mind. Even as a little boy, Sangje possessed the great virtue of respecting all life; for instance, He enjoyed planting trees but never broke off even a single branch or harmed any insects no matter how small. Sangje was loved and revered by all who knew Him.
12. Sangje visited a village school at the age of seven. He was asked to compose a verse in Chinese. After being given the prompt ´驚 (gyeong, frighten)´ by the teacher, He wrote: ‶Taking a great stride, I hope that I do not demolish the Earth. Shouting with a big roar, I worry I may frighten Heaven [遠步恐地坼 大呼恐天驚].″
13. When Sangje was a student at the village school, He immediately understood what He had been taught by the master and, as such, always ranked first. There is an amusing anecdote about Him: one day, the teacher intended to promote the second-ranked pupil to first place, feeling sorry for that pupil´s parents. To do this, he gave his class a test; however, Sangje received the highest score once again. Sangje had discovered the teacher´s plot ahead of time and altered His style of writing and lettering so His teacher would be unable to distinguish between Himself and the second-ranked pupil.
14. One day, at the age of 13, Sangje went to the open market held in Wellspring-Town (Jeongeup) County with His older neighbor, Yu Deok-Ahn. The brothers had gone to town to sell some rolls of ramie fabric which had been woven by Sangje´s mother. Deok-Ahn had some business of his own to attend to, so he left Sangje and the rolls of fabric behind. Though Sangje was standing right next to the fabric, when He looked away for just a moment, the fabric was no longer there. Deok-Ahn soon returned, and the brothers diligently scoured the market looking for the missing rolls of fabric. They searched all afternoon. As night approached, they still had not located the fabric. Sangje declined Deok-Ahn´s offer to accompany Him back home and instead sent Deok-Ahn back alone. Sangje did not want to give up on the lost rolls of fabric. He knew another open market would be held in the distant county of Stand High (Gochang) the next day. Sangje walked through the night to arrive at the market. There, while looking through various fabric stores, He finally came across a man selling the rolls of ramie fabric which He had lost in Wellspring-Town. Sangje came back home after fulfilling His task of retrieving the rolls of fabric and selling them.
15. In His youth, Sangje was an active, playful boy. Two of Sangje´s relatives, Kang Yeon-Hoe and Kang Gi-Hoe, were solidly built, powerful men. They enjoyed devising contests and measuring their strength against Sangje´s. For His part, Sangje enjoyed taking opportunities to display His strength. On one occasion, Sangje bit down on the metal joint-connector at the bottom of a millstone with His teeth and lifted the heavy stone off the ground. His remarkable feat startled nearby onlookers, who were spellbound. On another occasion, Sangje jump-kicked the edge of the eaves of the high roof from a standing position in the yard without even taking a running start. And yet another time, He threw from the ground heavy thatched roofing materials onto a house´s rooftop with one hand. Sometimes He would get down on all fours while a dozen or so strong men would attempt to hold Him down. The grown men completely exhausted themselves, but Sangje´s body did not move down, not even an inch. Kim Gwang-Mun passed on a story telling of a time he witnessed Sangje playfully amusing a group of children by putting a stone mortar on His head and spinning it so effortlessly that it looked like a streamer twirled from a hat (sangmo) when dancing.
16. Sangje´s brilliance became known to many people, and He was often invited to village schools, near and far, one after another. When He was asked to compose epigrams, He always left one or two empty spaces at the end of the final verse.
17. Sangje learned that His father had been agonizing over the debt of several hundred nyang which he had borrowed from a rich man, Park of Wellspring-Town (Jeongeup) County. Sangje wanted to relieve His father of his worry, so He asked His father for 50 nyang. With that, He visited Park, and paid back part of the debt. While He was there, Sangje made friends with the pupils studying at Park´s private school. While He was staying at the schoolhouse, the teacher had all the pupils write poems. Sangje also asked the teacher for a one-word prompt so He could compose a rhyme. His poem was so refined and exquisite; the teacher and the pupils greatly admired it. Park also felt very curious about Sangje and asked Him to stay for a while to study with his own children and nephews. Sangje reluctantly decided to stay there for a few days. After telling Park about His father´s difficulties, Park was deeply touched by His filial piety and canceled the debt by burning up the promissory note.
18. One day in the Jeonghae Year (1887), while Sangje was headed to visit His maternal grandparents at their home, Sangje encountered a drunken man who hurled abuse at Him for no reason. Wisely, Sangje did not react to the man. Suddenly and out of nowhere, a big stone mortar flew overhead and covered the drunken man´s head. Stuck in the mortar, he could not get away. Sangje turned from him and headed on his way.
19. Once, while Sangje was staying at Broad Pine Temple (Songgwang-sa), the monks who lived there treated Him rudely. Sangje rebuked them by saying, “These wicked men gathered in the mountain are deluding the world and deceiving people under the pretense of Buddhism. I will completely destroy this detrimental den threatening the world.” And at that moment, He tugged one pillar of the Buddhist sanctum, creating a gap roughly one foot-long. Seeing this, the monks, realizing how rude they had been, frantically begged for His pardon. It is said that the pillar could not be moved back to its original state despite the temple having undergone restoration several times.
20. In the Year of Gaboh (1894), the year He turned 23 years old, Sangje taught some pupils from the surrounding areas, at a private school which He opened in the house of His brother-in-law, Jeong Nam-Gi. Among His students was His brother, Yeong-Hak. Everybody in the region began offering high praise for His remarkable teaching ability. The school was located at Inland-Core (Naeju) Town of Turfplace (Chocheo) Township in Golden Ditch (Geumgu) County.
21. In 1894, the same year Sangje was teaching at His school, the political situation in the country became chaotic when Jeon Bong-Jun raised forces by gathering the followers of the Eastern Learning in Primordial Hill (Gobu) County. Jeon Bong-Jun and his men began raising a rebellion against corruption and unfair social practices. At this time, Kim Hyeong-Ryeol from Golden Ditch (Geumgu) County learned of Sangje´s scholarly reputation. Kim Hyeong-Ryeol visited Sangje to ask Him to join him in a secluded place where they might avoid the political turmoil and study the classics. Sangje agreed to close down His school and traveled to the Immortal-Learning Hermitage (Hakseon-am), located in the mountains behind Copper Valley (Donggok) Village of Rainforest (Wurim) Township in Jeonju (Perfected Territory) County. Since the hermitage was quite crowded, He soon left for somewhere else, but nobody knew where He had gone.
22. On a night in the fifth month of the Gaboh Year (1894) when Sangje was asleep, an elderly man appeared in His dream and said, “Like You, I am a Perfected Being (Jinin 眞人) of the Later World (Hucheon 後天). Because of this, I need to share a matter of great confidence with You. With You alone can I discuss the profound mechanism of Heaven and Earth and the present state of world affairs.”
23. Jeon Bong-Jun became outraged by the political tyranny taking hold in the country, so he organized a peasant militia of the Eastern Learning followers to combat it. As the political situation continued to deteriorate, the fury of the peasant militia was said to have soared to the sky. Jeon Bong-Jun´s militia was growing in strength every day. Then, on one summer day during those days of difficulties, Sangje foresaw a disastrous outcome for Jeon´s militia. Sangje recited a poem to the people: “As the moon falls dark and wild geese fly high, Chanyu will flee during the night. As the swift cavalry is about to chase after him, heavy snow will cover both the bows and the swords [月黑雁飛高 單于夜遁逃 欲將輕騎逐 大雪滿弓刀].” Sangje predicted that the Eastern Learning troops would be completely routed at the time of falling snow. Sangje advised people not to join the Eastern Learning movement. Just as He had predicted, the Eastern Learning peasant militia was annihilated by the government forces in the winter of that year; those who had taken Sangje´s advice were able to avoid the calamity.
24. During the spring season of the Eulmi Year (1895), Confucian scholars in Primordial Hill (Gobu) County held a poetry festival at Mount Duseung to celebrate the restoration of peace in the country. Sangje attended the festival. An elderly man asked Sangje to join him in a secluded place, where he gave Sangje a book. Sangje read through the little book.
25. The rebellion was temporarily suppressed, and the Confucian scholars advocated for peace to prevail throughout the land, but in fact, disorder increased steadily throughout the nation. Thus, He decided to rectify the faults of the world and save it from itself.
26. In the fifth month of that year, Sangje left His home, but no one knew where He had gone. Because His father was very worried about this, one of His neighbors, Yu Deok-Ahn, went in search of Sangje on His father´s behalf; donning formal attire, Yu prepared for a journey, and set out from Guest-awaiting (Gaekmang) Village. By the time Yu Deok-Ahn reached Three Rivers (Gangsam) Village of Great Benevolence (Taein) County, government soldiers had captured two peasant militia members. When they saw Deok-Ahn, whom they considered to be an Eastern Learning soldier, they captured him and tied him up as well. The government soldiers dragged the captured men over to the temporary execution grounds on the Dragon Head (Yong-meori) Hill-Path in Jeonju (Perfected Territory) County. The two peasant militia members were executed first, but when the time came for Deok-Ahn´s execution, the sky darkened, thunder rumbled and lightning struck, and a downpour ensued. The sudden storm scared away the soldiers, but the rain did not abate whatsoever. When Deok-Ahn regained his composure, it was late at night. He could see nothing in the darkness except for the bodies of the two executed militia men. Terrified, he dragged himself towards a lamp shining some distance away. The dawn was just beginning to break. It was only then that, Deok-Ahn realized that he had been led to the middle of the mountain where there could not have been any light. In time, he was able to calm himself down and free himself from his bonds. Deok-Ahn finally arrived back at his home, happy to be alive. He believed he had been brought back from the brink of death and that this rebirth had been made possible by a tiger whose glittering eyes had guided him to live once more. Shortly after these momentous events, Sangje Himself returned to Guest-awaiting Village. When He saw Deok-Ahn, He consoled him, saying, “You suffered a great deal of adversity under dangerous circumstances in troubled times.” Sangje´s words gave him great comfort, and Deok-Ahn was thrilled and reflected on his survival, having no doubt that it was thanks to Sangje. In those violent days, many people were executed mercilessly and without any legitimate due process.
27. In the Imihn Year (1902), Sangje spent some time in a village near Golden Mountain Temple (Geumsan-sa) with Kim Hyeong-Ryeol. One day, Sangje asked Kim Hyeong-Ryeol to fetch a copy of the New Testament for Him. A man named Kim Gyeong-Ahn who lived nearby possessed a copy. Kim Hyeong-Ryeol went to Paulownia Pavilion (Odong-jeong), where Kim Gyeong-Ahn lived and borrowed the book from him and brought it to Sangje who then burned it.
28. Then, one day, Hyeong-Ryeol took Sangje to Paulownia Pavilion (Odong-jeong) to serve Him food. Gyeong-Ahn came to them and asked Hyeong-Ryeol to return the copy of the New Testament that he had borrowed a few days before. Hyeong-Ryeol just sat, baffled how to respond. Sangje realized the situation and said to Gyeong-Ahn, “You shall have it back soon.” At that moment, a writing-brush peddler was passing by. Sangje called the peddler over to join them in their meal. He asked the man to open his writing-brush box. When the peddler opened it, there was a copy of the New Testament inside it. Sangje said to the peddler, “You don´t believe in Jesus. Thus, this book is likely useless for you. Why don´t you give it to Me?” The peddler, who had already been treated to food, was willing to do so. Sangje returned the book to Gyeong-Ahn and everyone was amazed by the scene.
29. Sangje´s holiness was growing in renown and word of Him had reached Summer-Cloud (Hawun) Hamlet as well. The parents-in-law of a man named Lee Seon-Gyeong lived there. Sangje visited Lee Seon-Gyeong´s father-in-law and gave him an order: “Talk to your wife. You must discuss with her whether she can put all her efforts into sincerely and wholeheartedly preparing for a Reordering Work (Gongsa 公事) for 49 days.” The man talked about it with his wife as Sangje had instructed him to do. His wife had also heard of Sangje´s holiness, so she made a firm resolution and accepted His offer. After Sangje once again asked the man to have his wife pledge, He proceeded with the Reordering Work. The woman prepared for the Reordering Work by making a steamer (siru) of rice cake after combing her hair and bathing each day. However, she soon became exhausted by this repetitive task and began harboring resentment. That day, even though she burned through a whole bundle of firewood, the rice cake remained completely uncooked. The woman became terribly frustrated, and she did not know what to do next. Sangje called her husband and said, “Your wife has lost her resolution and is quite worried that the rice cake has not been cooked. Therefore, let her beg Me for forgiveness. I intend to pardon her, whereas the divine beings would have gone on punishing her.” The husband told his wife what Sangje had said. She was startled and repentant, and, as instructed, she entered the drawing room (sarang-bang) and begged for His mercy. After doing this, she found the rice cake was well cooked when she opened the steamer in the kitchen. From that point on, she sincerely offered her dedication every day until the 49-day period had come to an end. At the end of the 49 days, when Sangje entered the kitchen Himself and praised her dedication, she regretted her inadequate devotion. Sangje consoled her by having her look at the magnificently colored clouds around the moon, which he assured her were evidence that her sincerity had impressed the divine beings.
30. Whenever coming from Wellspring-Town (Jeongeup) County, Sangje always took the most direct route possible regardless of whether the route took Him through mud fields or rice fields. Seeing this, one of His neighbors named ´Ryu Yeon-Hoe´ asked Him, “Why are You walking through areas without paths?” Then Sangje just left saying, “I am busy working.” Several years after this exchange of words, Yeon-Hoe, who became a land surveyor, took measurements for a new road to be constructed; it turned out to be the path Sangje had randomly walked across. Now, the road that leads to Wellspring-Town from the Virtue Stream (Deokcheon) intersection is actually that very same road.
31. One day, while Kim Hyeong-Ryeol was serving Sangje, he told an old story about Master Jin-Muk: “A poor low-ranking official (ajeon) in the Jeonju (Perfected Territory) Government Capital (bu 府) had a close relationship with Jin-Muk. The poor man once asked Jin-Muk how to get out of poverty. Jin-Muk advised him to become a prison officer, but the official said that such a worthless post was easy to acquire and not worth the trouble. After saying this, the poor official left. Afterward, however, he did go on to become a prison officer and took good care of the confined, wealthy prisoners from Perfected Territory. At the time, Jin-Muk started to hide the Seven Stars of the Northern Ladle one by one every night. When, at last, he finally completed hiding them all, seven days had passed. A taesagwan (太史官), a government official in charge of astrology, advised the Royal Court that this ominous phenomenon signified a disaster from Heaven. He recommended that an amnesty be issued to set almost all the prisoners free as an act of obedience to Heaven´s will. The Royal Court agreed with him and granted an extensive amnesty. Thus, the wealthy prisoners were released from prison; they were so impressed with the prison officer´s hospitality that they gave him considerable material rewards. Because of the generosity of the wealthy, released prisoners, the official was able to escape from poverty.” Listening to the story, Sangje said, “Indeed, it would be true. I shall follow this example and hide the Seven Stars of the Northern Ladle for a month as a test to see if they can still be seen.” From that night on, He hid all the Seven Stars for a month. During that entire month, no one was able to observe them.
32. Kim Hyeong-Ryeol said to Sangje, “The sages in the past taught people with trivial words and obscure stories; they never instructed them with precise words.” Sangje asked him to give an example, so he replied, “Yulgok told Yi Sun-shin to recite Du Fu´s poetry 1,000 times and told Lee Hang-Bok to prepare red pepper powder wrapped in cloth to induce tears, but he did not specify that these preparations would be used during the Imjin War (1592-1598), the Japanese Invasion of Joseon.” After listening to Hyeong-Ryeol, Sangje said, “You´re right. If anyone so gifted were present here, I too would teach him.”
33. After the launch of the organization, the Iljinhoe (Progress Fellowship), Sangje wore a satgat (cone-shaped hat) instead of a gwan (hat for formal attire), black underwear, and a white outer garment. He said, “As that organization, the Iljinhoe, wears black, then so do I.” And He came outdoors and said, pointing at the sky, “Inwardly black but outwardly white, those clouds are just like Me.”
34. Sangje traveled from Copper Valley Village to Added Mountain (Iksan) County, stayed there for over a month, and then went to Immortals-Gathering (Hoeseon) Town. He stayed in the drawing room directly outside the house of Kim Bo-Gyeong who lived in the town. At the time, Bo-Gyeong told Sangje that his mother was seriously ill. Listening to him, Sangje said to him, “Tonight, emissaries from Myeongbu (offices of the afterworld) will break into the room to harm the patient while My emissaries look away. Therefore, do not leave the patient´s room and make sure that one person stays awake all night, keeping an eye on her.” Taking Sangje´s advice, Bo-Gyeong and his family members took turns staying awake all night. However, after many days had passed, the family became increasingly sleep deprived and began to ignore Sangje´s advice. One night, when Bo-Gyeong fell asleep for just a moment while keeping guard over his mother, Sangje suddenly shouted out loud from the drawing room. Bo-Gyeong woke up with a start, and he saw that his mother had already passed away. It turned out that when Sangje had said ´My emissaries,´ He was referring to the family members who were nursing the patient. Unfortunately, however, Bo-Gyeong and his family members did not realize what Sangje had meant.
35. That night, a thunderous noise was heard in Stream-Reach (Dalcheon) Village, which stands in front of Guest-awaiting (Gaekmang) Village. As a result of the great noise, the structure that served as Oh Dong-Pal´s house suddenly collapsed. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the collapse. For some time thereafter, whenever Dong-Pal attempted to rebuild his house with the pieces of wood from the collapsed building, it would collapse again, each and every time. Dong-Pal had to close down the tavern portion of his house. Instead, he built a simple dugout hut, gave up tavern-keeping, and became a farmer. One day as Dong-Pal was busy with his farm, a stranger observed the meager life he lived on his farm and in the little hut. The stranger built a house by himself in only half a day and, after completing it, disappeared without a trace. People were absolutely astonished that the stranger had finished the work just in less than a day, a job that would have taken other people dozens of days to complete. Dong-Pal´s neighbors began to believe that it was Sangje who, taking pity on Dong-Pal, sent a divine general to build the house for Dong-Pal to inhabit. Neighbors repeated this story and followed Him with more respect.
36. Kim Hyeong-Ryeol wholeheartedly served Sangje, even during the coldest days of the winter. One day, after listening to Sangje, Hyeong-Ryeol said, “It is said that Song Si-Yeol was a man born imbued with some numinous energy from Heaven and Earth, and snow would not gather on the roof of the house in which he lived.” Sangje said to him, “Is that so? Now, look at the roof over Me.” Hyeong-Ryeol immediately got up to do so. Outside, he found that there was not a single flake of snow on the roof over Sangje even though the weather was so cold, and snow was piled up in the surrounding area. Instead, on the roof, Hyeong-Ryeol observed a clear stream of energy extending to the blue sky, not hidden by the clouds. Afterward, at any time when Hyeong-Ryeol looked up at the sky, he found that no clouds were seen over the place where Sangje was staying.
37. By and by, Venerable Kim Hyeon-Chan of the Blue Lotus Hermitage (Cheongryeon-am), which was located in Golden Mountain Temple (Geumsan-sa), heard of Sangje´s growing reputation. Hyeon-Chan desired to meet Sangje, and when he was finally able to do so, Hyeon-Chan told Him that he would like to acquire a myeongdang (luminous court). Sangje replied, “Just keep believing.” After meeting Sangje, Hyeon-Chan, gave up monasticism to return to secular life, married, and had a son. When Kim Byeong-Wuk told Sangje that he would like to have a myeongdang as well, He also answered, “Just believe in it.” Later, Byeong-Wuk had a son just as he had hoped. After a few years, he asked Sangje again since He had not mentioned it, “When can I have the luminous court that You promised to give me?″ In response, Sangje said, “You have already been given the luminous court when you had the son you had hoped for.” He added, “In the Former World (Seoncheon 先天), people held funerals by burying remains, in the Later World, there will be no need to bury remains and hold funerals.” Before long, Hyeon-Chan visited Sangje to ask for a myeongdang. Sangje replied to him, “The myeongdang has already borne fruits quite clearly.”
38. Although the precise date of the pronouncement is unknown, Sangje once said, “Some of My relatives living in Primordial Hill (Gobu) County are higher on the family tree than I am. They are supposed to use informal language with Me according to the order in the family tree. Since it is an ethical tradition, it does not matter to Me. However, all other divine beings, thinking their impious language wrong, count it a transgression without fail. Given the complexity of this situation, I make less contact with these relatives.”
