In the early 1970âs, I was training in Chinese Internal Martial Arts under a Daoist Master from Taiwan. As my teacher began to explain the deeper âsecretâ teachings of the Daoist Internal Neigong System, I suddenly found myself in a state of deep internal conflict over something that he had said.
My instructor explained that his teacher Master Ho, had taught all of the senior disciples that inside the human body are various âgods.â If you know their Secret Names and their True Forms, and pray to them, you will receive their hidden internal powers and will be able to use this magical energy for both healing applications and combat.â
It is important for the reader to understand that up to this point in my life, I had been raised in a strict Christian Household. I had been a pastor of two Half-Way Houses, was a Song-Worship Leader in a "spirit-filledâ Pentecostal Church, and was leading Bible-Studies every Wednesday night. Therefore, my immediate âfundamentalistâ response was to leave the class and never return.
After a week, I was approached by one of the senior disciples, and questioned as to my absence. I explained to him that I could not accept Master Hoâs Theology, and the belief in certain âgodsâ living within the human body. He suddenly laughed, and then explained, âNo, Jerry, that is not what the Master was speaking about. What he meant was simply inside the body are various internal organs. When you understand their energetic form, and speak their proper sounds, these special organs will vibrate. Once they begin to vibrate, you can access and draw upon the Qi and Shen that maintains and supports that internal Organ System.â I immediately responded, âWell, why didnât he say that?â To which the senior disciple responded, âHe did. It is simply the ancient Chinese custom of repeating esoteric teaching in the exact same way that his master taught him. This is part of the cultural transmission you receive as a disciple of a Daoist lineage.â
I eventually came to understand that when the imagination begins to construct mental images of certain energetic patterns, the Shen (Heart/Mind) will suddenly be able to access the energy of these forms. For example, once my Tibetan Nyingma teacher was instructing students, when a violent thunder storm suddenly arose and began to quickly approach where he was teaching his disciples. He looked at the storm and told his disciples that the storm was a little child throwing a temper tantrum. Therefore, he immediately gave the storm a âname,â and asked his disciples to speak to the child, call it by its name, and simply ask it to calm down. As all of the disciples began to call the storm by its name, and speak gently and lovingly in order to calm the âdisruptive child,â to their amazement, the storm suddenly vanished.
Figure 1: Essence Spirits of the Brain
In the same manner, according to ancient Daoist alchemical teachings, the internal organ energies can be suddenly transformed from a disruptive negative state to a balanced energetic state, depending on how the individual approaches the Qi of the internal organ system. All thought forms, whether benign or malignant, are composed of internal belief structures that create and mold energy. As the energy of the created thought form continues to gather, it begins to coalesce and mold, causing and forming energetic clusters. An energetic thought cluster is considered to be a condensed form of energy. That is, the thoughts and emotions fuse within the cluster, condense, and form an energetic mass.
The belief that formulates the thought form, is created through the emotional charge existing within the individualâs mind at the time of its creation, and initiated through conscious or unconscious intention. The initial thought form is then constructed from energy that has been gathered and created within the bodyâs internal energetic fields. The energetic field surrounding the charged belief eventually manifests into âwhat is and is notâ in alignment with the individualâs internal belief structure.
Throughout my many years of training, my teachers have always reminded me that, âThe imagination leads the Mind, and the Mind leads the Qi.
With this esoteric understanding in mind, it is important to note that after performing the "Purification Stagesâ of Daoist Alchemy (i.e., cleaning and activating the various internal channels), a disciple was then taught how to energetically fuse with each of the internal organ icon deities. For example, the Essential Spirit of the Brain is known as âNiwanâ (âMud Ballâ). According to the Yellow Court Classic (Huang Ting Jing - éŧåšįŧ), all spirits that are expressed on the face have their origin in the âNiwan Palace,â which is located in the center of the Upper Dantian and governed by the True Lord Taiyi.
My teacher explained that when the Nine Spirit-Souls of the True Lord Taiyi [âGreat One"âi.e., Divinity, or God] change form, they become Sacred Spirits (Ling Shen), and have the names "High, Supreme, Great, Void, Immortal, Mysterious, Upper, Spiritual, and Heavenlyâ (see figure 1). They are known as the âNine Perfected Lords,â and symbolically represent the spiritual energies of the Nine Chambers of the Upper Dantian. When energetically combined, they become the spiritual form of the True Lord Taiyi, manifesting within the human soul.
In ancient China, because each of the internal organs could be energetically manifested as a spiritual form, healing was sometimes addressed to the deity responsible for overseeing that specific organ system (see figure 2).
Figure 2: The Organ Spirits of the Body
