¹One summer, Taemonim had Go Min-hwan, Jeon Seon-pil, Gim Su-yeol, and many other disciples seat themselves near Her, then She announced, “Today, I shall conduct a work of renewal for spirits of perfect communion.” ²Taemonim then said to Min-hwan, “Reflect upon every good deed and misdeed you have committed since childhood and relate them to Me.”

³“I have not committed any good deeds or misdeeds of note,” Min-hwan replied.

⁴Taemonim declared, gravely, “How could someone who has lived in this world never have performed good or evil deeds?⁵Even Sangjenim, for all of His authority, revealed to Me of His own accord everything He had done since childhood, concealing nothing, and asked to be forgiven for each of His misdeeds. Now, think hard and speak.”

⁶Min-hwan still hesitated, unable to answer. Suddenly, Taemonim seized his topknot and pushed it down to the floor, demanding “You wretch! Surrender your sins before Me.”⁷Meanwhile, not only was Min-hwan in pain from having his head struck against the ground, Taemonim’s sudden rebuke had left him absolutely bewildered and at a loss.

⁸Taemonim then removed the coral pin from Min-hwan’s topknot and demanded, “Do you not remember these incidents?”

⁹When Min-hwan looked on the pin, he was reminded of San-ok and Seon-ok, whom he knew in Gunsan.¹⁰Min-hwan had lured these two women into adulterous affairs, and these incidents had caused him to be summoned to the Gunsan Police Station. ¹¹He had also engaged in an affair with a woman named Chun-ja, who had separated from her husband due to their quarrelsome marriage. Min-hwan had seduced her and had even officially registered her as his concubine.

¹²Moreover, Taemonim specifically recited numerous other incidents of Min-hwan’s immorality and declared, ¹³“Confess all your misdeeds to Me to receive forgiveness, for there is no other path to receiving forgiveness.”