Vol. 68 Finding the Traces of Sangje (4):

Sangje Descended to the Cheongyetap Tower in the Land of Great Law in the West due to the Request and Petition of Divine Sages, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas

All the divine sages, buddhas, and bodhisattvas, who had existed since the remotest ages (since the dawn of time?), pleaded and petitioned to God (=Sangje) of the Ninth Heaven to save and rectify the world where Normal Ways of Heaven and People collapsed and which was on the brink of annihilation. In response, Sangje descended to Cheongyetap Tower in the Great Land of Law in the West with the Great Authority over the Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and People, and closely examined the whole world, which is called the Great Itineration of the Three Realms of Heaven, Earth, and People.

Two things must be addressed here. The first is who Sangje of the Ninth Heaven is. “Chonmun(Heaven’s Door)” written by Gul Won (BC. 343∼289), the greatest poet  during the Warring States Period in China, says ‘The Heaven is composed of nine-layered sub-Heavens, so who can calculate its circumference and who made it for the first time? Oh, such enormous nine-layered Heaven.’ This record shows that heaven consists of nine leayers, and the highest heaven in it is the Ninth Heaven. Therefore, God in the Ninth Heaven refers to the Lord of the universe who is the highest in the celestial world, so divine sages, buddhas, and bodhisattvas pleaded and petitioned the catastrophe of the world to the highest god in the universe.

The second is that where Cheongyetap Tower in the Great Land of Law in the West that Sangje descended to make a Great Itineration over the whole world is. First, since the words ‘the West’, ‘The Land of Great Law’, and ‘descended’ are all enough to remind of the human world, the expression that he ‘descended to Cheongyetap Tower in the Land of Great Law in the West’ can be easily understood as descent of Heavenly God to the earth. Accordingly, there is a view that Cheongyetap tower is located in ‘St. Peter’s Cathedral (completed in 1626)’, the Catholic headquarters that worship ‘God,’ the one and only god, considering that the Great Land of Law (daebupguk, 大法國) is in(삭제) the Vatican City State in Rome where the Pope (bupwang, 法王) is. Another view is that Cheongyetap Tower is in Notre Dame Cathedral (completed in 1163),’ the representative of French Catholicism. Crucially, however, these cathedrals do not have anything which may be described as a tower.

There is a drawing of Cheongyetap Tower in the holy paintings in the Great Authority Church of headquarter temple complex while Dojeon was living in this world. The drawing Cheongyetap Tower in the shape of four-horned multi-story tower on the top of steep mountain dense with clouds and fogs. When examined closely, it is highly probable that Cheongyetap Tower is a tower in the celestial realm, not the human world, and thus‘the Land of Great Law in the West’ is considered to be an area in the celestial realm. Therefore, it seems the expression ‘Sangje descended toCheongyetap Tower in the Land of Great Law in the West’ does not always mean thatSangje descended to the earth. Of course, the possibility thatCheongyetap Tower in the Land of Great Law in the West is associated with some place of the earthcannot be completely excluded. ‘As the deities of civilization’ of the East are the deities of civilization related to the ‘East’ of the earthly realm, it is difficult to deny that ‘Cheongyetap Tower in the Land of Great Law in the West’ existing inthe celestial realm is related with Europe, the Western part of the earthly realm. In this sense, whether it is Vatican City of France, some place of the earth can be associated with Cheongyetap Tower in the Land of Great Law.

→However, there is a drawing of Cheongyetap Tower among the holy paintings in Daesoon Seongjeon at Yeoju Headquaters temple complex, which were enshrined while Dojeon was living in this world. The Cheongyetap Tower in the drawing is in the shape of quadrangle multi-story tower on top of steep mountain dense with clouds and fogs. When examined closely, it is highly probable that Cheongyetap Tower is a tower in the celestial realm, not in the human world, and thus 'the Great Land of Law in the West' is considered to be an area in the celestial realm. Therefore, it seems the expression 'Sangje descended to Cheongyetap Tower in the Great Land of  Law in the West' does not always mean that Sangje descended to the earth. Of course, the possibility that 'Cheongyetap Tower in the Great Land of Law in the West' is associated with some place of the earth cannot be completely excluded. As the 'Deities of Civilization’ of the East are related to the ‘East’ of the earthly realm, it is difficult to deny that 'Cheongyetap Tower' in the Great Land of Law in the West existing in the celestial realm is related with Europe, the Western part of the earthly realm. In this sense, it is possible that, whether in Vatican or France, some place of the earth can be associated with Cheongyetap Tower in the Great Land of Law.