Will You Follow Me, Even Through Water and Fire?

[Will You Follow Me, Even Through Water and Fire?]

On November 22, Taemonim asked the disciples, "Will you follow Me, even through water and fire?" The disciples pledged that they would. While making an offering of wine during a chiseong early in the morning of the twenty-fifth, Taemonim asked the disciples, "How many drops of wine have fallen on the table?"

They counted and told Her, "Twenty-three." She asked them again, and when they counted the second time, they found twenty-four.

When they told Her how many there were, She said, "It should be so."

[Taemonim Is Detained by the Police]

In those days, scandalous events beset Cha Gyeong-seok's organization every day, prompting constant surveillance by the regional police, which eventually led to the arrest of eighteen senior organization officials, including Cha Yun-chil, and their severe torture at the police station in Mokpo. At that time, Yi Sang-ho of Gyeong-seok's organization took the lead in resolving the incident and blamed everything on Taemonim. 

The police subsequently set out for Jojong-ri Village to arrest Her. On October 25, around noon, the policemen arrived in the village and questioned Gang Sa-seong about Taemonim's whereabouts. Alarmed, Eung-chil rushed to Taemonim and urged Her, "There is certain to be trouble. Please hide for a while."

"Why should I flee whatever comes My way?" Taemonim replied. Then, She took a sheet of paper bearing a talisman for expelling harm, and She wrote on it the Haemaju Mantra. "I already knew of this, but I must accept what is to come without reservation to prevent repercussions," said Taemonim as She sat in serenity. 

"Hiding is out of the question." Soon, the police came and asked for Taemonim. From inside, She called out for the followers to lead the police to Her. She and the policemen exchanged a few words and then, with Eung-chil, they all left for the Mokpo Police Station.

-JSD Dojeon 11:35-

[Persecution by Jang Hyo-sun]

On January 15, 1904, Sangjenim lay down half-asleep after drinking some rice wine. The young son of a man named Jang Heung-hae suddenly became critically ill and neared death, and the child's grandfather, Jang Hyo-sun, rushed to Sangjenim and begged Him to cure his grandson. Still lying on His back, Sangjenim replied, "Give the child some fresh, cold water to drink."

When Hyo-sun did as instructed, the child suddenly died. Hyo-sun, who was nicknamed 'The Tempestuous' because of his violent temper, grew enraged and conceived a grudge against Sangjenim, declaring, "My grandchild is dead because He instructed me to give the child the wrong prescription. I have seen one touch of His hand revive a dead man and one word from His mouth cure someone on the verge of death, so He must have killed my grandchild willfully. With that man's extraordinary dao mastery, a handful of earth, let alone a glass of water, could have cured the child."

Hyo-sun captured Sangjenim, bound His hands behind His back, and dragged Him toward the local officials' quarters. On the way, Hyo-sun, seeming to regret his action, unexpectedly untied Sangjenim and said, "I am the one at fault here. The child simply died of a sudden illness. How can I blame You?" Desiring to once again be on good terms with Sangjenim, Hyo-sun invited Him to stay at his house. Sangjenim declined the offer and went to stay at Seo Won-gyu's house, and the next day, He continued onward to Yi Jik-bu's house.

That day, Hyo-sun went to Won-gyu's house, expecting to find Sangjenim there, and he grew enraged when he discovered that Sangjenim had gone. "The murderer has escaped!" Hyo-sun roared in fury and then began searching for Sangjenim everywhere.

-JSD Dojeon 3: 44-

[The Suffering of Sangjenim's Family]

Knowing that Sangjenim's family had recently moved into a small room in Hwajeong-ri Village in Jeonju County, Hyo-sun and his family decided to travel there and cause an uproar. Sangjenim had gone to Jeonju and asked His father's concubine to brew some rice wine. Before He left, He repeatedly said to her, "No one should taste this wine."

But when the Sacred Father came home, the concubine forgot what she had been told and offered him a bowl of the rice wine. Before long, Sangjenim returned home and discovered that someone had been drinking the rice wine.

"Who drank this rice wine?"

"Your mother," the concubine lied.

"Disaster approaches," Sangjenim warned. "Flee from this place immediately!" And Sangjenim Himself then left the house.

A short time later, Hyo-sun and his family burst into the house. They made the Sacred Mother kneel down and violently beat her until she was soaked with blood. Suddenly, an old man with white hair entered the house and rebuked the intruders, "Of what transgression is this woman guilty? How can you beat her for the actions of her son?" These words drove Hyo-sun and his family away.

Later, Sangjenim returned to visit His mother and learned what had taken place. He said to her, "Crush some raw foxglove and apply it to your wounds." She did so and completely recovered within a day.

The trouble caused by Hyo-sun's family forced Sangjenim's family to flee to Gulchi Village in Taein County.

-JSD Dojeon 3: 45-

[Sangjenim Accepts the Qi of Strife to Dissolve It]

Meanwhile, unaware of the uproar that Hyo-sun was causing, Hyeong-ryeol went to Hwajeong-ri Village to seek out news of Sangjenim. Hyo-sun's family promptly captured Hyeong-ryeol, bound him, and took him to Won-gyu's house, where they tried to coerce him into revealing Sangjenim's whereabouts. Unable to obtain any information from Hyeong-ryeol, they became enraged and beat both him and Won-gyu. It was not until late at night that Hyeong-ryeol escaped.

Unable to tolerate the harassment occurring day after day, Won-gyu closed his herbal medicine shop and took his family to hide in Iksan County.

The campaign of persecution by Hyo-sun caused Hyeong-ryeol to lose track of the whereabouts of Sangjenim and His family, and Hyeong-ryeol searched for them everywhere. Eventually, he found Gap-chil in Gobu County, and Gap-chil told him that Sangjenim was staying in a small farmhouse at the foot of Duseungsan Mountain. Hyeong-ryeol immediately visited Sangjenim and returned home after arranging to meet again.

One day, a disciple asked Sangjenim, "You have limitless power, so why did You tolerate Jang Hyo-sun's persecution?"

Sangjenim explained, "Strife within the family of dao or within your own family brings about disorder in the governance of the spirit realm, and such strife, left unchecked, would lead to mighty disasters worldwide. So I, Myself, embraced the qi of strife to dissolve it. It is for these reasons that I have always counseled you to insist on peace."

-JSD Dojeon 3: 46-

[Jang Hyo-sun's Death]

In June, Sangjenim visited Hyeong-ryeol and told him, "Go to Gim Byeong-uk in Jeonju County and arrange for him to visit Me later." Carrying out Sangjenim's order, Hyeong-ryeol made an appointment for Byeong-uk to see Sangjenim the following night. On his way back, he heard that Jang Hyo-sun had died.

When Hyeong-ryeol arrived home, he informed Sangjenim about the appointment and Hyo-sun's death, adding, "That man should have died at our hands. It is a shame that he died of natural causes. How can we say that heaven is just?"

"What are you saying? The dead are to be pitied." Sangjenim remonstrated. "Everyone's fortune or misfortune, superiority or inferiority, strength or weakness all depends upon their mind."

The next day, instead of seeing Byeong-uk, Sangjenim left for Gobu County with Hyeong-ryeol. Hyeong-ryeol thought it strange for Sangjenim to break His appointment and inquired about the reason for this, but Sangjenim simply laughed without replying.

-JSD Dojeon 3: 51-

[The Power of the Taeeulju and Unjangju Mantras]

One day, Sangjenim revealed to the disciples, "I have tested the Taeeulju Mantra and the Unjangju Mantra. Chant them repeatedly. Gim Byeong-uk's tribulation was resolved by the Taeeulju Mantra, and the Jang Hyo-sun's uproar was resolved by the Unjangju Mantra. The Taeeulju Mantra will open the prison gate even if you have committed treason, and the Unjangju Mantra will open the prison gate even if you are convicted of murder."