Journey to the West: Become a Disciple of Taishang Laojun and Practice Self-Cultivation Among the Five Gods

In the human body, there are five gods living in the five internal organs. The heart god Dan Yuan is named Shou Ling; the lung god Hao Hua is named Xu Cheng; the liver god Long Yan is named Han Ming; the kidney god Xuan Ming is named Yu Ying; the spleen god is always present, named Soul Stop. The five gods each perform their duties, and they are all asleep and yet to wake up. After the five gods, there are twenty-four gods in the body. After the twenty-four gods, there are thirty-six thousand gods. ... Qin Hanming traveled through two generations and fell into the Spring and Autumn Period. The past life is dead and gone, like dust thrown into the sea. In this life, he is determined to seek immortality! At Hangu Pass, Purple Qi came thirty thousand miles eastward, and saw the old man in purple robe riding a green bull upside down who was about to pass the pass. Qin Hanming bowed his head and said, "I am aspiring to the Tao. I hope the saint will accept me as his disciple!" I refused three times. Qin Hanming looked at the world with his heart and saw the happiness, suffering and destruction of mortals. Everything was false, but immortality was true. He knelt down and realized: "If I ask... I may not get it. But I still ask, because if I don't ask, I will definitely not get it." A glimmer of light flashed in my eyes, and I said, "You understand that 'if you don't ask, you won't get' - that's enough." … The Heart Palace, the Golden Palace, the Wooden Palace, the Water Palace, and the Earth Terrace—the five internal organs form the cave of heaven, and the body is the heaven and earth. The earthly immortal is immortal, but his "nature" is undetermined. The nature of gold is incorruptible, so it is a treasure of all things. The heaven and earth in the body are perfect, and the "nature" is like gold and will never be worn away. Thirty-six thousand gods have returned to their places, and the heaven and earth are everywhere in their bodies. ... There is a great enlightened person in Hezhou, Xiniu. Regarding the eight sufferings in life, not seeking is the most important. Lao Tzu said that one should enter the Tao through suffering and seek until the heart dies. The heart dies but the spirit lives. The paths are different, but the destination is the same. There is never more than one way!