The idea that the body is created by attention is typically Buddhist,
but it is also found in the schools of Taoism influenced by Buddhism. In
this text, the "lower soul" simply means the feeling of being a solid body
physically present in a solid world. As long as this feeling persists, the
state of the lower soul (which includes visceral emotions) is subject to
random environmental influences. Therefore the text speaks of
"interrupting consciousness" in the sense of withdrawing attend on from
the feeling of solidity in order to free it from the bonds of external
influences, making it less sticky and more fluid, unbounded by temporal
events.
11. In colloquial Chinese usage, "liver and heart" means what is essential.
In a human being, the liver is associated with courage and conscience. This
passage illustrates the Taoist awareness of the connection between waking
and dreaming experience.
12. The nine heavens and nine earths stand for the whole universe of
experience, from the most exalted to the most profound.
13. This passage connects the last three: the process of the exercise is to
turn attention around to the source of awareness to refine the higher soul,
thus preserve the spirit, thus control the lower soul, and thus interrupt the
conditioned stream of consciousness. The purpose of interrupting the stream
of consciousness is described in the following passage.
