¹Bak Gong-u was a strong man of large stature with a stalwart sense of justice.²Once well-known as a marketplace enforcer throughout five counties, including Jeongeup, Gochang, and Heungdeok counties, he had also been a renowned wrestler never defeated in his prime.³Later, as a Christian evangelist, he converted scores of people. Eventually, he left Christianity to become a follower of Eastern Learning, dedicating himself to the seeking of dao so devotedly that he delayed marriage.⁴He was age thirty-two when he met Sangjenim, whom Gyeong-seok escorted to Gong-u’s place of residence.

⁵That night, as Gong-u was burning incense to keep away mosquitoes,⁶he confessed to Sangjenim, “Teacher, I believe it nothing short of a miracle that I have met you in the midst of my forty-nine days of prayer.”

⁷Sangjenim revealed to Gyeong-seok and Gong-u, “Those destined to meet have now met, so a spirit of perfect communion will come forth.⁸No one—not my parent, sibling, wife, or child—can fathom my work. I descended to the canopy tower in the Nation of Great Law in the West to travel and survey the world.

⁹“An Eastern Learning mantra says, ‘Si-cheon-ju Jo-hwa-jeong’—this speaks of my work.¹⁰I journeyed throughout the three realms, surveying them, to address the turmoil in the spirit realm and human world by establishing the Government of Creation-Transformation and renewing heaven and earth. ¹¹I finally came to your Eastern land to save its people first from the abyss of suffering and then to resolve all the bitterness and grief that has accumulated throughout the ages. ¹²Those who follow me will gain eternal bliss in the Paradise of Immortality. My dao is the true Eastern Learning.”