釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 8.59

8.59

Third, explaining the correct governance of the royal law within the body. Practitioners, through the power of knowledge based on aspiration within samādhi, then further perceive that within the body, the heart is the great king: because it possesses righteousness above and benevolence below, it resides within a hundredfold enclosure, and when going out, it has officials and attendants guarding it in front, behind, left, and right. The lungs are the minister of war; the liver is the minister of education; the spleen is the minister of works; and the kidneys are the great sea, within which is a divine tortoise, inhaling and exhaling original qi, moving the wind and bringing the rain, and circulating qi to the four limbs. The four limbs are the common people and children; the left is the Director of Destinies and the right is the Director of Records, who are in charge of recording human life. Lord Taiyi in the navel is also the master pillar of the person, the Heavenly General-in-Chief, the Specially Advanced Lord King, who presides over the twelve thousand great spirits within the body. Taiyi has eight emissaries, which are the eight trigrams; together they form the nine ministers. The triple burner and the guanyuan [point] are the altars of the soil and grain on the left and right, dealing with treacherous thieves. The upper burner circulates qi, entering the head as the ancestral temple, where the king governs and transforms. If the heart practices the correct Dharma, all subordinates will follow, and governance will be upright, clear, and peaceful; therefore, the five viscera are harmonious, the six bowels flow comfortably, the four great elements are peaceful and happy, there are no ailments or distresses, and one preserves life and longevity to the end. If the heart practices what is contrary to Dharma, the officials will make rebellion and mutually harm each other; therefore, the four great elements will become disordered, the faculties will become darkened and blocked, and one will hold afflictions leading to the end, all because the heart practices evil dharmas. A sūtra says: 'Losing the ethereal soul brings disorder; losing the corporeal soul brings madness; losing the mind brings confusion; losing the will brings forgetfulness; losing the spirit brings death. One should know that establishing the royal way of governance externally is entirely the method within the body.' Such meanings are fully explained in the Sūtra of Trapuṣa and Bhallika.