Col Yat Sen was the chief astrologer in the court of Yan Li Jen, King of Mauan-Jiang. But he lost the favour of the King, when he fell in love with the King's daughter Ti Wu Yan, and she with him. Threatened with death, the couple fled south, taking refuge in the mountains of Korea. By the winter of 1364, their flight had taken them into the Goshu Valley.
In early 1364, Kyoru-Gyongan, a monk from Lhasa, Tibet, had a dream. A fish appeared to him, bearing in its mouth a golden ring. Two birds appeared, took the ring from the mouth of the fish and laid it on the ground in front of Kyoru-Gyongan. Smoke began to rise from the ring, and formed into a hand pointing to the East. Then the fish rose out of the water and flew away in the direction the hand was pointing. The two birds flew around Kyoru-Gyongan's head, and he heard their voice saying, follow the fish. And they flew in that direction too, pausing at times to allow him to follow. They led him down into a valley, where a woman was seated on a rock. She was naked, and had a small child suckling at her left breast. And from her right breast, drops of gold were cascading onto the ground at her feet.
When he awoke, Kyoru-Gyongan went to his guru, the head of his monastery, asking the meaning of this dream. His guru replied that the dream was a summons for Kyoru-Gyongan to go east to the sea to gain enlightenment. And so Kyoru-Gyongan set off to walk east until he reached the sea. And with him went Farid-Mahareh, his acolyte. It was many hundreds of miles, and the two had many encounters on the way, as are told elsewhere, but by the winter of 1364 they had reached the Goshu Valley.
Gerigo Con Shotiro was a Korean samurai. In 1364 he vowed to undertake a test of his hardihood by spending the winter in a cave in the high mountains, surviving only on what he could hunt. Carrying only his bow and his quiver of arrows, he walked north, climbing into the Goshu Valley just as the first flakes of snow were falling.
The winter of 1364 was hard. Snow came early, and stayed late. And the Goshu Valley is high and windswept. Gerigo Con Shotiro had one day only to find a suitable cave, and to gather or hunt enough food to last him the winter, before the snow turned to a storm. But in his cave he had lit his fire, and he knew he would survive.
And then his sharp ears heard two voices in the distance. Wrapping his cloak about him, he ventured into the storm, and found Cal Yat Sen and Ti Wu Wan, near death from hunger and cold. He led them back to the shelter of his cave.
And then his sharp ears heard two voices in the distance. Wrapping his cloak about him, he ventured into the storm, and found Kyoru-Gyongan and Farid-Mahareh, near death from cold and hunger. He led them back to the shelter of his cave.
So it was that the Five Founders of Kayon Din Wanil came to spend the winter together. Gerigo Con Shotiro and Farid-Mahareh hunted food, Cal Yat Sen and Kyoru-Gyongan cooked food, and Ti Wu Wan made clothes from animal furs to keep out the bitter cold. And they each spoke of their philosophy, each trying to persuade the others that their way only was the Way to Enlightenment.
But Ti Wu Wan spoke, and said: How can it be that just one of us knows the truth? None of us, I deem, is wise enough to know all paths, and perhaps all see some part of the truth, even where we seem to be in contradiction. Let us see what we hold in common, for that, I deem, must be the truth.
And so the Five Founders laboured throughout the winter, and wrote the precepts of Kayon Din Wanil. For each saw deep into the hearts of the others, and saw friendship and wisdom. And they wrote that there are many Ways to Enlightement.
And Ti Wu Wan lay with each of the four, and received the blessing of their Oma-bu-ki within her. And when winter gave way to spring, and the Five Founders descended to the lowlands, her belly was swollen with four children. And in her season she gave birth to Sen Bu Yi, the son of Cal Yat Sen; to Tao Bin Geshaid, the son of Farid-Mahareh; to Shamale Con Shotin, the daughter of Gerigo Con Shotiro; and to Kyara-Gyabilan, the daughter of Kyoru-Gyongan.
And thus began the first monastery of Kayon Din Wanil.