¹As he was traveling to Jeongeup County with Bak Gong-u one day, Sangjenim ordered, “Gong-u, chant ‘Pung-un-jo-hwa,’ in your mind.”²Gong-u obediently chanted earnestly in his mind as he walked, but Sangjenim suddenly announced, “You are reciting incorrectly.”³Gong-u realized in surprise that he had indeed actually been chanting, “Cheon-mun-ji-ri.” He immediately corrected himself and chanted, “Pung-un-jo-hwa Pung-un-jo-hwa,” in his mind the rest of the way to Daeheung-ri Village.

⁴That night, the weather alternated between snow and rain. Sangjenim said to Gong-u, “You chanted incorrectly, so now the qi of heaven is inconsistent.”

⁵“How can a single person’s chanting influence the qi of heaven?” one of the disciples asked.

⁶“If I command you to undertake the Work of Renewing Heaven and Earth on my behalf, your words become my words,” Sangjenim revealed.

⁷Another disciple then said, “When we conduct a work of renewal in your stead, not even heaven and earth’s power of creation-transformation is beyond our reach.⁸Thus, we are filled with such supreme confidence that the affairs of the world suddenly seem trivial to us and nothing intimidates us, so much so that dukes, marquises, and counts seem nothing more than objects in the palm of our hand.”

⁹Beaming with joy, Sangjenim declared, “Is there not an old saying, ‘One sways the powerful in the name of the Exalted King of Culture?’ You wield authority in the name of heaven.

¹⁰“Presently, you cannot even oversee the affairs of a single village, but a time will come when the preeminent of the world will come before you and honor you as their teachers.”