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The Legend of Koguryo Rediscovered
Engraved on me were two different histories:
that of a glorious kingdom that flourished
under the light of celestial principles;
and that of a dark era hidden from the light of truth.
Everyone’s life was like a picture scroll
inscribed with sorrows, and with regret
for a past that was destined to repeat the same story
under different circumstances.
But the tide of life never stops.
The original nature of the human soul
is now reviving inside each one of us.
It is putting an end to the spread of this misery
inherited from the past
and is generating a sensibility
that will open up a new period of history for mankind.
In childhood
My mother and I were under a red evening sky.
Flowers and plants were waving in the wind.
I was filled with every creature’s breath of life.
The borderless sky made me wonder
why humankind came into this world,
what would happen in my lifetime,
and what would come after death.
I wanted to know the answer.
I started to desire endless life,
and believed in eternity.
At the age of 24
I was beginning to sense that the light of my life was fading out.
I dared not accept a meaningless death without knowing
why I was born, and why I should die so soon.
In a state of bottomless fear,
I was desperately in need of knowing the truth.
Encounter
The encounter with him has changed everything.
All that I have asked for since childhood is granted:
humanity, life,
eternity, love.
My life is saved.
Now it has meaning.
I continue to live on.
The truth
Humankind is laden with the sorrows of its history.
People alive now have inherited the anxiety of their ancestors,
who were prevented from achieving their true desires.
Depending on what you have inherited,
your character, way of life, and destiny are predetermined.
I am the direct descendant of the royal lineage of Koguryo,
an ancient Korean empire founded in 37 BC.
Just as history is inscribed on stone,
the very nature of the kings of Koguryo is engraved on me.
Acknowledging the hidden truth
by revealing what is engraved on my body
clarifies my own nature and what I should do in my life.
Then everything is transformed.
A new life is born.
It is giving me the strength to create the future.
The trinity of life, soul and spirit
I understood the true command of my soul and spirit.
By expressing it my life was transformed.
I was filled with hope.
Life seeks to live on, confronting critical situations.
Life is seamlessly paving the way for the future.
I followed what it demanded,
and the potential of my life was tremendously increased.
I knew no other word but that of the God who led me,
because the rest of my life was more perfect and beautiful
than I could ever imagine.
I will open the way to a new future for children all over the world.
I will tell everybody on earth about the power of this trinity.
Tan-gun
We were to meet,
one day that I had waited for so long.
At the edge of life and death,
the endless sky whispered encouragement to me,
telling me that I could live on,
in the restlessness of the rushing stream,
in the bright and shining greenness of the hills and mountains.
It was an arrow of light and hope.
You were the source of life from which my mind derived.
I had a feeling I could start to live a life of authenticity,
once I could see you.
Then I would dedicate myself to realizing
the peaceful and beautiful nation that you had wished to be.
On 17th June 1998, I have at last reached your birthplace,
Paektu mountain in North Korea.
I believed I had to overcome my personal pains, sadness and anxieties,
before I would be granted the chance to see you.
However, the truth was
that you always stayed with me from the beginning.
You are like my father and lover to live together with.
We shall give birth to a future nobody has ever seen,
together in the present, in the future and in eternity.
At the mountain of Wunushan castle
At the sight of the castle wall,
I am touched by the same breath of wind
and penetrated by the same light
as in ancient times.
I feel my life has long awaited this moment.
The wind and the light drive out the pain in my mind
caused by distorted history.
I know that the great power of nature,
and my ancestors,
will embrace and transform me.
They are here and there,
fighting and loving on this land,
mountain, hill and river, water and sunlight.
Everything I see I love.
The rushing stream of my bloodline drives me
to endeavour to build a good and peaceful nation
and to create a future of authentic humanity.
All of a sudden tremendous grievances hit me,
tearing my body apart.
I am seized by the sorrow of an ancestor.
It penetrates through all my body and makes me scream.
After a while they are gone
and a vision of the future comes into my sight.
They always give me strength and love me.
Being is loving.
I will live a life of eternity.
An illuminated life
Life is always creating the future.
The energy that built the ancient nation is still alive here.
In order to live on, it keeps on creating, and manifesting
a love with overwhelming power.
At the mountain of Wandu castle
There are woods, mountains, and a river.
The wind is blowing and the nightingale is singing.
I am staying here for a while,
enjoying a feeling of peace
that allows me to forget
that nearly 2000 years have elapsed
since this castle was built.
The flow of the river tells the story of the flow of life,
full of sadness, joy, and love.
One voice echoes another,
and my ancestors' souls are present.
Their voices echo each other,
saying that they created the circumstances
where their people could live a happy life.
At the stela of King Kwanggaeto’s inscription
This King created the largest empire in East Asia.
He shows me a vision of a world united
in which people can live in peace.
“We knew that a glorious future would come
because we lived in harmony with spiritual energy
to achieve it.”
He expanded his territory
in order for his people to live in happiness.
He fought a battle to protect all the people he loved.
Those who stayed at home,
and those who went out to fight,
both shared the same spirit,
desiring to achieve love.
The sorrow of King Changsu Wang
Taking care of his people,
listening to the words of heaven,
deliberate and honest in every moment,
His lifetime is dedicated to the ever lasting future.
He was destined to be born as a King and shaman.
People on earth became alienated from each other
because they failed to listen to the voice of heaven.
His failed attempt to achieve the will of heaven
led to regret,
that became engraved on generation after generation.
Since then, 1600 years have passed.
This grief has now been liberated,
resurrecting a life full of light.
Romance in the royal court
The beautiful princess was born
to be the symbol of a peaceful nation,
loved by all her people.
The gentle breezes of spring invited her
to ride her horse out into the fields, forests and mountains.
A young knight fell in love with her.
This was the beginning of a love
that would wound her heart,
because it was impossible.
She felt her heart flaming
with yearning for the brilliance of his eyes.
It was as if another creature were inside her body,
burning, dominating and squeezing her heart.
The impossibility of this love affected her more and more.
Her life was dedicated first of all to her nation and her people.
She was not allowed to give herself to any person.
She wept every night and endured the torments of the heart.
One night she bitterly resented her destiny as a princess,
and felt the torment of the heart.
Another night she dreamt of fulfilling her love,
but in vain.
She suffered from a feeling of emptiness.
In the daytime,
she wished that the wind would carry her passion to the knight.
She could hear his voice as if it were carried by the wind.
The thoughtful princess suffered.
If she killed her love, she herself would die.
And still her love was impossible.
As she understood more deeply the feelings of the knight
that were carried by the wind,
she also came to understand
that he would continue to suffer
as long as she remained attached to him in her thoughts.
She knew that she loved Koguryo as much as she loved him.
As she looked up at the endless blue sky,
the green of the plants consoled her deeply.
She came to understand
that the love she felt for Koguryo and its people
was connected to her love for the knight.
And even now the sun rises,
and the rustling of the water whispers to the princess
and the birdsong shares her sorrow and consoles her.
The princess looks at herself
in the mirror of the river reflecting the sunlight,
and takes her decision.
A final teardrop rolls down her cheek and drops into the river.
The river flows on, slowly and elegantly.
As long as this river continues to flow, my spirit lives on.
She still longs for fulfilment of her love in some future.
Everything she does is for the nation, for its people.
May they live in happiness forever.
Knight in battle
So far as we respond to the will of heaven
its power shall stay with us and never be defeated.
In the midst of battle
a wind leads our way,
light strengthens our energy.
At Paektu Mountain
Wishing to go back to the origin of life
finally I came to Paektu mountain.
Its beauty beyond imagination wipes away
all the grievances of the past,
and now,
I am filled with joy that my life has been saved.
I became aware that beauty is the core of life's energy.
Hereafter I will create beauty
and dedicate myself to building a society
where what people have been longing for
will be realised.
Beauty generates life and soul.
At Huanren town near Mt.Wunushan
Alongside a road, a woman is selling fruit.
She is energetic and reminds me of my mother.
I wonder if Japan, before I was born,
when my mother was still young, used to look like this.
Knowing she is not in this world anymore,
I go around town chasing the trace of my mother till evening,
only to find myself lying in bed in my hotel,
my eyes filled with tears.
I hear the voices of townspeople from afar,
telling me I am a stranger here,
and that there is no way I can see my mother anymore,
now that she is dead.
The morning sun light and noise coming through the window
wake me up at five o’clock.
People are moving about and seem to be exercising
to the loud sound of a radio.
Again, it is like going back to a past that I have not lived through.
The border between past and present,
and that between life and death, have disappeared.
I am talking with my mother.
I am talking with my ancestors who built the nation 2000 years ago.
They tell me that they want me to understand,
Deeply and in my soul, why I am alive and here in Huanren.
I inscribe onto my mind
the realisation that these difficulties I am facing at present
will turn out to be a step towards future fulfilment.
I will leave Huanren today for Japan, but swear to come back again.
Father
In my childhood, my father always told me that I was a descendant of the kings of Koguryo. Riding on his broad shoulders at sundown, I believed he would always be there to protect me. One day in autumn when I was 19, and the olive was in bloom, and at the height of its fragrance, I felt despair and could not find the desire to continue living, so I felt like going to Kyoto. I told my father of my intention, and he merely nodded, saying only "by the time you return, the fragrant flowers of the olive will have fallen". He never asked for reasons or explanations. He merely responded to my conclusions. That was the nature of our relationship.
Ten years ago he had a stroke. Since then, he only responds to things related with his ancestors from Koguryo, to conflicts in the world, and to initiatives to open up the future. He becomes happy whenever I do something to help others or contribute to the well-being of society. If I could not transform the society of the present into a newly born one, my father's life and mine would be meaningless. As an inheritor of the traditions of Koguryo, and also as a private person, I swear to dedicate myself to achieving the long cherished desire of mankind.
Eight heavenly angels
There used to be a country with a lake inside a mountain
where people lived in peace.
As if there were lights shining everywhere,
so there were flowers:
red, yellow, purple, pink, blue, green, white,
and flowers the colour of water.
Unable to resist their beauty, angels in the sky flew down to earth.
An angel clad in red light talked with the biggest tree in the land.
The tree was happy.
It was at the center of the earth,
and connected the earth with the large sky.
An angel clad in yellow light came down gently onto the grass.
The grass was smiling.
Nobody had ever paid attention to it
and now it was touched by the angel's warmth.
The yellow angel became a wind and blew through the valleys.
A purple angel with a calm and solemn countenance
came when people felt sorrow or pain,
to share their feelings with them.
She was the light of peace.
An angel clad in pink light was always dancing freely through space.
When people were sad so was she,
and when people were happy she was happy.
When people did not understand each other
her light faded away and became invisible.
Feeling lonely, she wept and wept
until her tears finally filled a blue lake.
An angel was born out of that lake
who would wipe away people's sorrows.
She was clad in such a beautiful blue light
that it taught people to be strong.
When veiled in that pure blue light,
people found hope for life.
An angel clad in green light became the messenger of God.
Her light worked to bridge heaven and earth,
and to unite the earth.
Another angel was born out of her green light.
She was misty white and almost transparent.
She became a mirror of one's mind.
People were able to see their state of mind
and gradually to understand themselves more clearly.
The minds that had been dark were also getting clearer and clearer
until they were filled with beautiful light.
Then, on top of the mountain with the lake,
the eight angels prayed for peace.
Human life has the same origin: Love.