- The Heavenly Soul
- 1 Sahng-jeh-nim rarely woke anyone abruptly.
- 2 Once, while the disciples were sound asleep in a room at Hyung-yul’s house, Sahng-jeh-nim sat and observed them.
- 3 Ho-yun asked, “Why are You watching them sleep?”
Sahng-jeh-nim gestured for Ho-yun to approach. He pointed at a sleeping disciple. “Look at his nose. Look at that little mouse going in and out.”
- 4 Ho-yun’s spiritual eye opened and she saw a small body of spiritual qi the size of a mouse going in and out of each disciple’s nose.
- 5 Sahng-jeh-nim said, “For him to wake up, it has to go back into the nostril. If it does not go back in, he will die.
- 6 If, when the mouse is outside, you try to wake him up by hitting him, he could go mad or die. That little mouse is his heavenly soul. It is the same for everybody.”
- 7 He continued, “If only one mouse is going in and out, a person can act according to that person’s true mind. If there are two, the person will be covetous and will jump over walls to rob others. One of them should be struck dead. Otherwise, the person will eventually commit a crime.”
- (JSD Dojeon 2,100)
