Te Kooti Arikirangi, the founder of the Ringatu religion, had predicted before he died that he would have successor. Rua's statement that he was the successor to Te Kooti was first announced through an experience that he underwent on Maungapōhatu, the sacred mountain of Tūhoe. The oral narratives tell how Rua and his first wife, Pinepine Te Rika, were directed to climb the mountain by a supernatural apparition, later revealed to be the archangel Gabriel. There they were shown a hidden diamond, the guardian-stone of the land, whose bright light was shielded by Te Kooti's shawl. Rua, in his turn, covered it again to protect it. In some versions of the narrative Rua met both Whaitiri, the ancestress of Tūhoe, and Christ on the mountain. Rua would soon claim to be the Māori brother of Christ.