Chapter Fourteen : Prospects 8

Kim Kich’ŏn asked, “These days many people establish their own sects and insist that they are right, everywhere designating themselves masters. However, when I examine their qualifications, I see nothing that makes them worthy of being called masters. Can we call them true masters?” The Founding Master said, “Yes, they are true masters.” Kich’ŏn asked, “Why do you say so?” The Founding Master said, “Since you say you have learned about someone’s pretenses and truth through them, wouldn’t that be enough for them to be called true masters?” Kich’ŏn asked again, “Maybe so, but when would they qualify on their own as true masters?” The Founding Master said, “When pretenses are exhausted, substance returns; when one awakens to falsity, truth appears. By examining over and over again both pretenses and substance, truth and falsity, phony masters can thereby naturally transform themselves into authentic masters.”