¹Even before offering the chiseong at Geumsansa Temple, Gyeong-seok had sworn to himself, “If I can secure a quiet room, I shall dedicate myself to meditation.”²After the August 1 chiseong, he was penniless, so he returned home and resourcefully obtained provisions to sustain himself for a time.³He then travelled to Guritgol Village and persuaded Hyeong-ryeol to meditate with him at Geumsansa Temple, and together they departed for the temple.

⁴Spending the next fourteen days at the temple, Gyeong-seok devoted himself to gaining answers to the question, “What principle underlay Sangjenim’s departure, when it was believed that He would always remain in this world?”⁵Even after he returned to his home, Gyeong-seok ignored all household affairs and immersed himself night and day in deep contemplation.⁶At night, he would remain immersed in thought under the willow tree in front of his house where Sangjenim had conducted works of renewal, until the dawn.⁷During the day, he would hike to the summit of Biryongsan Mountain, west of Daeheung-ri Village, where he and Sangjenim had climbed together on several occasions, and he would wail loudly, crying out toward the sky, “Okhwang-Sangjenim! Okhwang-Sangjenim!”

⁸One day as Gyeong-seok reached the summit of Biryongsan Mountain, he unexpectedly heard behind himself a voice calling, “Gyeong-seok!” He turned and beheld that it was Sangjenim, whom he had missed even in his dreams.⁹Stunned, Gyeong-seok fell to the ground and prostrated himself before Sangjenim, who declared, “I have not died.¹⁰Descend from this place and fulfill your duties faithfully. The day of My return shall arrive.” After speaking these words, Sangjenim vanished from sight.