Journey to the West: Beginning with the Apprenticeship of Bodhi Patriarch

Chapter 54: Children Collecting Herbs
Before I knew it, nearly half a year had passed, and it is now the beginning of spring.

Jiang Yuan sat cross-legged on the mossy stone, but saw in front of him, withered leaves hanging with frost buds, and old pines hanging with frozen bells. He thought to himself, "It is said that there are three springs, three summers, three autumns, and three winters in a year. The first month of spring, the second month of spring, and the last month of spring are called the three springs. The first month of summer, the second month of summer, and the last month of summer are called the three summers. The first month of autumn, the second month of autumn, and the last month of autumn are called the three autumns. The rest of the first month of winter, the second month of winter, and the last month of winter are called the three winters. This makes up a year."

"But now is the beginning of spring, when the mild winds are about to arrive, but the cold winds never stop blowing."

The boy had first met the head of the Zuo family and learned that the first lunar month had just arrived, so he did his best to wait for the arrival of gentle breezes.

Unexpectedly, the north wind is so fierce and never stops. The reason is that the weather is changeable. As the saying goes, "There are unexpected changes in the weather." Teach the children to remember that they need to know the time to collect herbs. The ancestors said that they should collect herbs when the gentle wind rises and stop when the north wind stops, only then can they collect one or two herbs.

Jiang Yuan shook his head. He didn't know when the north wind would stop. He had never learned the ability to know the weather.

Just as I was thinking about it, a voice suddenly came.

"Guru, Guru!"

Jiang Tong'er looked carefully and saw that it was the woodcutter, the head of the Zuo family, who was coming. When the man came closer, he asked, "Boy, it's freezing cold, what are you doing here?"

The woodcutter held up a bowl of steaming hot soup and said, "I know that the master is a practitioner and is immune to cold and heat. I will boil some water at home and bring it to the master to warm him up."

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan took the bowl and drank it all, then said with a smile, "You are so polite, kid! Do you have enough firewood at home?"

The woodcutter smiled and said, "Why not? My family has been chopping wood for generations. I expect that one day I will return home and live a prosperous life. I will have as much as I want."

Jiang Yuan pointed at the woodcutter and said with a smile: "Your family business is incredible. This north wind is like a knife, don't hurt your body, you should go now. If there are demons that want to harm your life, go to the Sanxing Immortal Cave to find me."

The Zuo family had a close relationship with him. It was probably because he was the one who received the Zuo family's ancestor when he went up the mountain in the past.

The woodcutter nodded, bowed and left.

Jiang Yuan watched the woodcutter leave, then sat cross-legged on the mossy stone and closed his eyes to rest.

……

Time flies, and before I knew it, half a month had passed.

Halfway through the first lunar month, the north wind had just stopped. Jiang Tong'er finally felt a gentle breeze starting to blow. Not daring to delay, he entered into a state of meditation and called his monkey mind to come and collect herbs.

The black and white fish received the order and entered the heart palace to collect herbs. His mind followed his heart and led them into the heart palace.

When you enter the Heart Palace, you will see a mysterious red light swirling in the air in the middle of the Heart Palace. It is the "Black Essence".

The black and white fish swam to the red light and revolved around it. Their mouths opened and closed, as if they were collecting the red light. The black fish was fast, while the white fish was slow, and they complemented each other perfectly.

Jiang Yuan knew that the mind monkey could tell the difference between important and unimportant things and would never let it act recklessly, so he wanted his mind to leave the palace and wait until the right time to weigh the two. However, before his mind left, he saw the red light and black spirit following it and dispersing.

The reason is that this medicine is not that medicine. It is the medicine in the body, the innate medicine of the five internal organs. If it is scattered, it will be mixed seamlessly. If it is gathered, it will condense into medicine. This gathering requires the mind to lead it. If the mind leaves, the medicine will be invisible and traceless.

Jiang Yuan thought to himself, "Coming here like this, my mind must be drawn to the medicine and I cannot leave. How can I find the right time here? Do I need Master's help? No, the golden elixir is my way. If I ask Master for help, I will definitely be lacking in the future."

He thought calmly, without being impatient or anxious, and taught his monkey mind how to collect herbs.

After an unknown amount of time, he came up with a plan. He used his mind to communicate with the Niwan Palace and asked his soul to help him and keep watch for him.

When the Yuanshen received the order, the Ni Palace shook violently and responded.

Only after doing this did Jiang Yuan feel at ease and focus on collecting herbs.

…A gentle breeze blows, spring comes and flowers bloom, red flowers are plump and green flowers are thin. Jiang Tong'er sits cross-legged on the mossy stone, practicing meditation in peace and without anxiety. Time passes by in his practice.

I don't know when, the gentle breeze quietly stopped, the fragrant wind started to blow, the plum rain fell, and the four seasons rotated silently.

Before I knew it, the north wind finally arrived, and I waited for it to stop.

Jiang Yuan's mud palace shook violently, which was a reminder from his soul that the north wind would soon stop. He immediately ordered his mind monkey to stop collecting herbs. When the north wind stopped for a moment, he would get one or two ounces of black essence.

He saw the black essence turn into red light and fly into the hand of Huang Po in the spleen. He waited for Huang Po to gather the medicine and put it into the golden tripod and jade furnace before he could complete the task of collecting the medicine.

Jiang Yuanfang opened his eyes, breathed a sigh of relief, and thought to himself, "The way to collect herbs is not easy to say, but it is not difficult to say. It is easy because the five of us are united, but it is difficult because the timing is hard to predict."

There is no gentle breeze here, so he has free time. If the gentle breeze blows, he needs to concentrate his mind and the medicine will be collected by his mind, and he will not be able to return to his mind.

The boy thought about it and had thoughts in his mind. It is really difficult to make the golden elixir in the right way. The Monkey King, the Golden Man, the Will Horse, the Wood Mother and the Yellow Woman gathered together. Then they set up the tripod, collected herbs, controlled the fire, refined them, warmed them, and had sex. After nine transformations, the golden elixir was made.

How difficult is this path? Compared to it, the unconventional methods are very easy.

While Jiang Yuan was thinking, there was a sudden earthquake in his Mud Palace. All his thoughts were gone, and his original spirit came to help him. He then woke up and understood what happened. It turned out that it was the two gods who came to disturb him.

Compared with the previous ones, these two gods were actually more powerful. They influenced his mood invisibly and made him make mistakes. It was probably because the two gods were afraid that he would collect the herbs and the golden elixir would be formed.

Jiang Tong'er picked up the whisk and waved it, saying, "There is a saying that goes 'When the mind arises, all kinds of demons arise; when the mind ceases, all kinds of demons cease'. I will calm my mind and not let the two spirits penetrate my mind."

Now all five boys are present, their primordial spirits are undisturbed, they sit firmly in the Niwan Palace, waiting for them to guard their hearts, how can the two spirits cause any trouble.

Jiang Yuan calmed his mind, cultivated his character, and waited for the gentle breeze.

Not many days later, a gentle breeze blew, and he entered the Heart Palace again, causing the Heart Monkey to collect one or two ounces of black essence.

It is not difficult to collect herbs from children. Three liang of black essence is stored in the heart palace, three liang of rabbit marrow is stored in the kidney pavilion, two liang of wood liquid is stored in the liver palace, and two liang of gold essence is stored in the lung palace. Without the ability to keep the mind focused and calm the heart, you cannot collect herbs.

Jiang Tong'er had practiced alchemy for hundreds of years, and he knew that if he lost his temper, the two spirits would disturb him and his progress in alchemy would fail, so he concentrated on collecting herbs and did not dare to slack off.

Before he knew it, eight years had passed and the boy had collected three liang of black essence, three liang of rabbit marrow, and two liang of wood liquid, but was still short of one liang of gold essence.

One day, Jiang Yuan sat cross-legged on a mossy stone, waiting for the gentle breeze to come.

When collecting herbs here, he finally knew what the herbs he collected were for. These herbs can be found within the body and cannot be collected from outside. This is because the four herbs are innate herbs, which means that the herbs were already there before the body was born, but have been integrated into the invisible form, so they cannot be found.

If you don’t get the right way, you will never see this medicine in your life. If you learn the right way, when collecting medicine, use your mind as the guide, and you will see this innate medicine.

Jiang Yuan had been setting up the cauldron for a long time, and was about to succeed in collecting herbs. He knew that the golden elixir was not the mud pill in the abdomen that was cultivated, but the body and the soul that were cultivated. When the immortal body was formed, the golden elixir would be formed, and when this orifice was opened, all orifices would be opened.

This right way is absolutely different from the unorthodox ways. The right way cultivates one's own body, has roots and affinity, and can lead to longevity. The unorthodox ways cultivate external methods, which have no roots and affinity, and will lead to death if the methods are broken.

He was delighted in his heart and did not dare to be careless. He was still short of one or two ounces of gold essence, which he needed to collect. When he was successful in collecting the herbs, he would meet the master and share his joy with him.

The boy thought about it, closed his eyes and rested, waiting for the gentle breeze to blow again, then he collected one or two ounces of gold essence.

The golden essence was in the lungs. Wherever his mind went, the golden essence manifested. A white light appeared in the palace. Mr. Jin was ordered to collect herbs. He collected them for a year before stopping...

(End of this chapter)