Where the Three Souls and Seven Spirits Reside in the Human Body

Looking through the books of antiquity, we find that acupuncture, medicine, fate analysis, astronomy, diet, cultivation and health preservation all speak of the five viscera and six bowels, the extraordinary meridians and eight vessels, yin-yang and the five elements, and breathing and expulsion-intake exercises.So is the human body really a miniature version of the universe?The universe demands balance, and among all things each has natural enemies that keep it in check; the weather has hot and cold, summer and winter; animals divide into yin and yang, and so on, all of it fascinating.Is this a coincidence?Of course, there are plenty of coincidences, and you may ask: "So what coincidences does our own body have?" Indeed, countless inconceivable coincidences occur, but the answer really lies in two words: balance.If there were no mechanism of mutual restraint among all things in heaven and earth, then everything on earth would fall ill just like a human body.For example: if any one of these basic phenomena (light, water, air, earth, wood, wind, fire, metal) were lacking, what would become of all things?What would happen to a creature that lacked food or natural enemies?In the human body you will find that most organs come in pairs.Why?Because a balance point must be found among the five elements, so some organs must come in twos in order to supply the energy required when the body is under too heavy a load.Basically, as long as the body is healthy, it does not need to use all of its organs.As introduced earlier, the three souls reside in the back of the brain (awareness-soul [spirit]), the heart chakra (principal-soul [qi]) and the root chakra (life-soul [essence]).The seven spirits are scattered throughout the five viscera and six bowels, interlocked with one another and linked to the three souls; the seven spirits connect with the three souls in order to draw spiritual power.Of the three souls, the one in the middle is the principal-soul, which balances the life-soul and the awareness-soul.Whenever the life-soul's demand becomes too great, the principal-soul must supply spiritual power to replenish the life-soul, and in the process, because the principal-soul gives spiritual power to the life-soul, it simultaneously draws on the awareness-soul to replenish the principal-soul.(The three souls draw on one another and complement one another in spiritual power.) Life-soul Principal-soul Awareness-soul Seven emotions Six desires The principal-soul restrains the expansion of the seven emotions and six desires The seven spirits revolve around the principal-soul, the seven emotions revolve around the awareness-soul, and the six desires revolve around the life-soul.When the seven emotions and six desires arise, the seven emotions consume the spiritual power of the awareness-soul and the six desires consume the spiritual power of the life-soul, and the principal-soul busily replenishes the spiritual power of both.When the principal-soul's own spiritual power begins to weaken from replenishing the other two souls, the seven spirits gradually lose their strength too, which is commonly called "losing one's soul and spirit" (a state of dejection and bewilderment).At the same time, because overall spiritual power has been overspent, the soul-light is depleted and weakened, and a person's wisdom drops along with it.Just then, karmic creditors and external spirits take advantage of your weakness, draw off your soul-light and disturb your seven spirits, and naturally nothing goes smoothly for you.