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Eight Thinking Ladders (Internal Edition)

In Lifechanyuan terminology, LIFE (capitalized) refers to the ontological essence of existence — the soul/antimatter structure that persists across incarnations — while life (lowercase) refers to the experiential stage of human existence in this world.

Source: Lingzhougrass, PID 4590826, tid 71944, 2026-03-24

I. Overview and Definition

The Eight Thinking Ladders is the core framework in the Lifechanyuan theoretical system for describing the path of consciousness elevation — the first systematic revelation of the hierarchical structure of thinking in human history. The eight rungs, in ascending order, are: Material Thinking, Imagery Thinking, Associative Thinking, Illusory Thinking, Heart-Image Thinking, Taiji Thinking, Non-Form Thinking, and Hundun Thinking — each progressively more profound than the last.

The thinking ladders directly correspond to LIFE levels: the level of LIFE one reaches depends on the kind of thinking one possesses; conversely, whoever possesses a certain kind of thinking has reached the corresponding level of LIFE.

Core Definition One (New Era Human 800 Concepts, Article 87, full original):

The eight ladders of thinking, in ascending order, are: Material Thinking, Imagery Thinking, Associative Thinking, Illusory Thinking, Heart-Image Thinking, Taiji Thinking, Non-Form Thinking, and Hundun Thinking.

Core Definition Two (Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Section · "Non-Form Thinking (I)," full original):

The eight ladders of thinking are: Material Thinking, Imagery Thinking, Associative Thinking, Illusory Thinking, Heart-Image Thinking, Taiji Thinking, Non-Form Thinking, and Hundun Thinking. They advance progressively, each more profound than the last. The thinking of ordinary people is Material Thinking; that of artists and writers is Imagery Thinking; that of scientists is Associative Thinking; that of most religious practitioners is Illusory Thinking; that of shamans and those skilled in spiritual arts is Heart-Image Thinking; that of sages is Taiji Thinking; that of bodhisattvas and Buddhas is Non-Form Thinking; and that of gods and the Greatest Creator is Hundun Thinking. The level of LIFE one reaches depends on the kind of thinking one possesses — or to put it the other way: whoever possesses a certain kind of thinking has reached the corresponding level of LIFE.

Core Definition Three (Xuefeng Corpus · Soul Section · "The Thinking Ladders of Human Beings," excerpt):

Thinking has a ladder structure. I divide human thinking into eight rungs and invite all Fellow Academicians to ascend step by step: 1. Material Thinking; 2. Imagery Thinking; 3. Associative Thinking; 4. Illusory Thinking; 5. Heart-Image Thinking; 6. Taiji Thinking; 7. Non-Form Thinking; 8. Hundun Thinking. The highest realm of thinking is Hundun Thinking — thinking beyond the imagination of ordinary people; one might call it the thinking of gods. The realm reached by Sakyamuni is Non-Form Thinking; the realm reached by Laozi is Taiji Thinking; the thinking reached by Muhammad is Heart-Image Thinking; the thinking reached by people like Zhuge Liang is Illusory Thinking; that reached by Einstein and others is Associative Thinking; the realm reached by an artist like Beethoven is Imagery Thinking; the thinking of ordinary people is Material Thinking.

Core Definition Four (New Era Human 800 Concepts, Article 666, full original):

The highest realm of thinking is Hundun Thinking — this is the thinking of the Greatest Creator, thinking beyond the imagination of ordinary people; one might also call it the thinking of gods. The realm reached by Buddha Sakyamuni is Non-Form Thinking; the realm reached by Laozi is Taiji Thinking; the thinking of celestials is Heart-Image Thinking; the thinking reached by Zhuge Liang, Einstein, and others is Associative Thinking; the realm reached by an artist like Beethoven is Imagery Thinking; the thinking of ordinary people is Material Thinking; and that possessed by religious practitioners is Illusory Thinking.

II. The Nature of Thinking: Transport Vehicle of Consciousness and a Form of Spiritual Power

(I) What Is Thinking?

(Chanyuan Corpus · The Thirty-Six-Hexagram Formation · "The Thinking Formation," full original):

Thinking is the dimension and process of thought, reflection, and contemplation. The broader and deeper the dimensions of thought, reflection, and contemplation, the stronger the ability to analyze, summarize, synthesize, reason, judge, infer, and find solutions to problems. Thinking is related to dimension: the thinking of a caterpillar is confined to a two-dimensional world, so its thinking capacity is low; the thinking of plants is confined to a static three-dimensional world, so its thinking capacity is lower than that of animals confined to a dynamic three-dimensional world; birds live in four-dimensional spacetime, so they are freer and more carefree than land animals; humans exist in a three-dimensional world but, because of their relatively rich imagination, can extend perceptual understanding to the rational realm — thus their thinking capacity surpasses that of birds; celestials live in worlds above four dimensions, making them higher LIFE forms than humans; Buddhas and gods move between thirty-six-dimensional spaces, and their thinking capacity is difficult to imagine; the Greatest Creator lives in hundun, and its thinking capacity is beyond imagination — unfathomable to gods and demons alike.

(II) Thinking Capacity Determines LIFE Level

("The Thinking Formation," excerpt):

A person's level of intelligence is primarily expressed through thinking capacity. One may say: strong thinking capacity belongs to higher LIFE forms; weak thinking capacity belongs to lower LIFE forms. The stronger the thinking capacity, the closer one approaches higher LIFE; the weaker it is, the closer one approaches lower LIFE. Clearly, plants' thinking capacity is lower than animals'; animals' is lower than humans'; humans' is lower than celestials' and Buddhas'; celestials' and Buddhas' is lower than gods'; and gods' is lower than the Greatest Creator's.

(III) Thinking Is the Transport Vehicle of Consciousness

(Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Section · "Reply to 'Wuzhe Wuye' on the Question of Thinking," excerpt):

The destination of LIFE is determined by consciousness. Whatever kind of consciousness one has, one achieves that kind of LIFE form and living space. Thinking is a component of consciousness, but thinking is dynamic while overall consciousness is static. The dynamic cannot determine direction; only the static can, because the dynamic cannot determine the nature of things — things' nature is determined by their static state. No matter what proportion of thinking at various levels a person's consciousness contains, the nature of LIFE is determined by the antimatter structure of LIFE. If the antimatter structure does not change, no matter what the thinking is, the nature of LIFE will not change — that is, a person remains a person and will not become a celestial. Thinking is like a transport vehicle of consciousness: whether the vehicle is an ox cart, a truck, a plane, or a rocket, the transport vehicle cannot determine LIFE's destination. To go to the Celestial Islands, one relies on consciousness and on LIFE's antimatter structure — not on thinking. That said, without thinking as the transport vehicle, one cannot reach the Celestial Islands either.

(IV) Thinking Is a Form of Spiritual Power

(New Era Human 800 Concepts, Article 315, full original):

Thinking is a form of spiritual power. Spiritual power is higher-level thinking information waves that bind lower-level thinking.

(V) Cultivating Thinking Is an Effective Path to Becoming a God, Buddha, or Celestial

(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Section · "Thinking Cultivation (I)," excerpt):

The form and environment of LIFE are determined by LIFE's antimatter structure, and this state is reflected in LIFE's consciousness layer … LIFE can gradually approach the characteristics of the Greatest Creator. The path of approach is to start from thinking and train thinking capacity. If a person wants to become a god, Buddha, or celestial, they must possess the consciousness of gods, Buddhas, and celestials. Cultivating thinking is the effective path for a person to become a god, Buddha, or celestial.

(VI) Changing Thinking Is the Most Important Thing in Life

(New Era Human 800 Concepts, Article 42, full original):

The most important thing in life is not to find ways to possess material things, but to find ways to change thinking.

III. The Eight Ladders: Corresponding LIFE Levels and Representative Figures

(I) The First Four Rungs — Conventional Thinking (Addition Phase)

Material Thinking: Ordinary people / animals / the spiritually blind. Based on surface phenomena of nature and human society, making value judgments about life in a direct, one-sided, linear way: 1 is 1, 2 is 2, without investigating deeper causes.

Imagery Thinking: Artists and writers. Can elevate material images to concepts, symbols, melodies, and artistic forms — moving from the concrete into the abstract, from the material world into the spiritual world, transcending the constraints of time and space.

Associative Thinking: Scientists (Newton, Einstein, etc.). Can see through phenomena to observe patterns — for example: apple falls → universal gravitation; linking the visible to the invisible.

Illusory Thinking: Religious practitioners, prophets, shamans, and sorcerers. Every step moves forward, but the end is back at the starting point; every theory and every statement is correct, but after going round and round in a great circle, one returns to where one began.

(Article 667, full original):

The greatest characteristic of Illusory Thinking is that every step moves forward, but the end is back at the starting point; every sentence of every theory is correct and unassailable, but after going round and round in a great circle, the end is back at the starting point.

(II) The Last Four Rungs — Profound and Wondrous Thinking (Subtraction Phase)

Heart-Image Thinking: Celestials, Muhammad, those skilled in spiritual arts. The heart-mind produces real images; possessing Heart-Image Thinking allows one to understand the great Way of LIFE, to know the path to higher LIFE spaces, and to escape the bonds of time and space.

Taiji Thinking: Sages, Laozi, great philosophers. Can use the wisdom of celestials to discern the principles of the great universe, to clearly see the goals and purpose of life and LIFE, and to move freely within yin-yang energy.

Non-Form Thinking: Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, Sakyamuni. Departing from all appearances, pointing directly to the ultimate source of the universe and the essential nature of things; "seeing through phenomena to their essence"; transcending the material world to enter the antimatter world; observing the world with the eye of the Buddha. Reaching Non-Form Thinking is essentially awakening to one's original nature, entering the realm of empty luminosity, and possessing the soil and conditions for the 64 spiritual powers.

Hundun Thinking: Gods, the Greatest Creator, Jesus. The arcane mechanism for creating all things in heaven and earth; everywhere is a divine mystery, every drop is a spiritual power; thinking that creates the universe at will — this is the highest realm of thinking.

(III) Comprehensive Overview

(Xuefeng Corpus · Soul Section · "Abandon the Self and Enter the Primordial," full original):

The eight kinds of thinking are eight layers of reality. Material Thinking, Imagery Thinking, Associative Thinking, and Illusory Thinking are shallow; but Heart-Image Thinking, Taiji Thinking, Non-Form Thinking, and Hundun Thinking are profound and wondrous. Within Heart-Image Thinking there is a secret of LIFE: possessing Heart-Image Thinking allows one to understand the great Way of LIFE, to know the path to higher LIFE spaces, and to escape the bonds of time and space. Once you understand and comprehend the wonder of Heart-Image Thinking, you will cry uncontrollably and tremble with excitement. Taiji Thinking goes a step further … Above Taiji Thinking is Non-Form Thinking … Jesus said: "Tell this mountain to move from east to west, from land into the sea, and the mountain will obey you." Jesus could cure a leper instantly because he had mastered the wonder of Hundun Thinking — though what Jesus said and demonstrated was merely a minor trick of Hundun Thinking. The ultimate of Hundun Thinking is the thinking of the Greatest Creator: thinking that creates the universe at will.

IV. The Thinking Ladders and the Route Map to Heaven: Thinking as Necessary Tool for Higher Spaces

(I) Understanding the Eight Thinking Ladders Is the Guarantee for Reaching the Ten-Thousand-Year World

(Xuefeng Corpus · Miscellany Section · "Route Map to the Heavenly Kingdom," full original):

The human world → following Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, Laozi, science → entering Lifechanyuan → learning and understanding Lifechanyuan content → becoming a Chanyuan Celestial → unconventional thinking → washing away the dust of the soul → transforming thinking, changing LIFE structure → entering the Elysian Fields: 1 → Thousand-Year World; 2 → understanding the 8 kinds of thinking → Ten-Thousand-Year World; 3 → understanding LIFE's 8 great mysteries → Elysium–Celestial Islands Continent.

(II) Upgrading Thinking Is the Core Work of Elevating LIFE Frequency

(Chanyuan Corpus · LIFE Section · "Eight Pathways to Elevating LIFE Frequency," excerpt):

The most foundational work for elevating LIFE frequency is building the Soul Garden; next is upgrading thinking — ascending in sequence from Material Thinking, Imagery Thinking, Associative Thinking, Illusory Thinking, Heart-Image Thinking, Taiji Thinking, Non-Form Thinking, to Hundun Thinking — ultimately reaching the highest LIFE realm of selflessness, egolessness, and non-attachment.

(III) Whatever Kind of Thinking One Has, That Is One's Form of LIFE

(Xuefeng Corpus · Soul Section · "The Thinking Ladders of Human Beings," excerpt):

An ordinary person who does not change their conventional thinking will still be an ordinary person even if they live a thousand years on earth. But if their thinking changes, they can develop toward the mode of existence corresponding to that thinking. That is to say: if a person learns from animals, in time they will descend to become an animal; if a person learns from sages, in time they will ascend to become a sage. Therefore, the most important thing in life is not to find ways to possess material things, but to find ways to change thinking.

(IV) To Judge One's Destination, Look to the State of One's Thinking

(Xuefeng Corpus · Soul Section · "The Thinking Ladders of Human Beings," excerpt):

To judge where a person comes from and where they are going, the key is to look at the state of their thinking. If a person's thinking throughout their life is roughly like that of an animal, one can conclude with certainty that after death they will reincarnate as an animal. If at the moment of death their thinking is in the state of a sage's thinking, one can conclude that they have gone to a higher LIFE space.

V. The Thinking Formation: Thinking as One of the Thirty-Six Hexagram Formations

(I) What Is the Thinking Formation?

(Chanyuan Corpus · The Thirty-Six-Hexagram Formation · "The Thinking Formation," full original):

Confining LIFE at every level, kind, and category to a certain dimension so that its thinking can scarcely transcend the time and space of its existence — thereby presenting the splendid variety of the great universe and maintaining the orderly hierarchy of LIFE levels — this is the Thinking Formation.

(II) How to Escape the Thinking Formation

("The Thinking Formation," full original):

The Thinking Formation can never be escaped from within its own level; the only way is to elevate our lower-level thinking to a higher-level thinking. As a human being, if one thinks with the thinking of a celestial — discarding human thinking — one can escape the Thinking Formation assigned to humans and enter the world of celestials; at that point, the suffering and worries of being human disappear.

(III) Eight Approaches for Escaping the Human Thinking Formation and Entering the Domain of Celestial and Buddha Thinking

("The Thinking Formation," full original):

  1. Thoroughly understand the principles of LIFE and the mystery of reincarnation. Know that LIFE is indestructible — it merely transforms. Therefore do not fear death; consider death the greatest blessing.

  2. Escape the Time Formation; find your true self; look upon the self that plays an actor's role in this drama as a play, a dreamlike illusion.

  3. Frequently allow consciousness to enter the Thousand-Year World, Ten-Thousand-Year World, and Elysium–Celestial Islands Continent; imitate and emulate the way of life and mode of thinking of celestials.

  4. Strengthen Heart-Image Thinking; freely and uninhibitedly imagine beautiful things, beautiful scenery, and beautiful people.

  5. Escape the bondage of the Heart Formation, Desire Formation, Emotion Formation, Ethics Formation, Attribute Formation, and Intelligence Formation — become alive and active.

  6. Do not use people of the same kind as your reference point; do not always see yourself as a human being in your consciousness; do not think there is no solution when you face difficult problems; do not apply conventional thinking rigidly; do not be bound by traditional moral teachings and scientific knowledge so that you dare not think; do not be influenced and constrained by your own appearance, gender, race, physique, culture, or environment so that you dare not enter the microcosmic or macrocosmic world; do not think that because you have a body and no wings you cannot fly; do not think you must have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body or must eat, drink, defecate, and sleep.

  7. Fully recognize and understand that all phenomena are illusory; emptiness is not different from form, form is not different from emptiness; consciousness creates reality; time and space cannot stop consciousness.

  8. Follow the nature spontaneously. (The "nature" here refers to the original nature of the Tathagata.)

(IV) To Elevate LIFE, One Must Break Through the Constraints of Former Thinking

("The Thinking Formation," excerpt):

To elevate LIFE quality and travel to higher LIFE spaces to live freely and gracefully, one must break through the constraints of former thinking. One must not follow old rules rigidly. There is nothing impossible; there are only things that cannot be imagined and things thinking capacity cannot reach. The miracles Jesus displayed are beyond our imagination; our thinking capacity cannot reach them — this is the difference caused by the contrast between human and divine thinking. The celestials in the Elysium–Celestial Islands Continent can manifest 64 kinds of spiritual powers and can transform all things at will; this too is beyond our imagination and beyond the reach of our thinking capacity.

VI. Thinking and Cultivation: The Core of Practice Is Working on Thinking

(I) Cultivation Must Focus on Thinking, Not on Sitting Meditation

(New Era Human 800 Concepts, Article 455, full original):

Our cultivation should be concentrated on comprehending, seeking, obtaining, and practicing the Tao — not on being attached to skills, methods, techniques, and rituals. We should emphasize substance, not appearance and form. The core of cultivation is to perfect the antimatter structure of LIFE, not to acquire wisdom and special abilities. We must work hard on thinking; we must work hard on transforming consciousness. We must not work hard on sitting meditation and qigong.

(II) Only Non-Form Thinking Can See the Tathagata and Become a Bodhisattva or Buddha

(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Section · "Non-Form Thinking (I)," full original):

Buddha Sakyamuni has already told us clearly and unambiguously that we must be formless to see the Tathagata, to become a bodhisattva or Buddha … "All phenomena are illusory. If one sees all phenomena as non-phenomena, one sees the Tathagata." "The mind that is produced should have no dwelling." "To depart from all appearances is called being a Buddha."

(III) Cultivating the Heart Method and Transforming Consciousness

(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Section · "The Buddha Manifests to Reveal the Pathway," excerpt):

In my cultivation I primarily practice the heart method and transform consciousness — quieting, stopping, healing, correcting, emptying, stilling, purifying, and releasing the heart-mind — while simultaneously practicing unconventional thinking, gradually departing from animal consciousness and human consciousness, and establishing celestial-Buddha consciousness.

(IV) Heart-Image Thinking Is the Secret of the Heart-Mind Producing Real Images to Become a Celestial

(Chanyuan Corpus · Celestial Cultivation Section · "The Heart-Mind Produces Real Images," excerpt):

The real image comes from your heart-mind. Becoming a celestial requires the purity of the heart-mind. Heart-Image Thinking is the activity of the heart-mind; the result of this activity is the secret of becoming a celestial.

(V) Addition and Subtraction: The First Four Rungs Are Addition, the Last Four Are Subtraction

(Xuefeng's reply to Wuzhe Wuye, full original):

(Question): From rational thinking to Illusory Thinking is the practice of addition in cultivation — getting better at understanding the world. From Heart-Image Thinking to Non-Form Thinking is the practice of subtraction — diminishing and diminishing again until reaching non-action. (Answer): The understanding of addition and subtraction makes sense.

VII. Thinking and Human Classification: The Eight Thinking Levels and Their Correspondence to Different Types of People

(I) Thinking Characteristics of Different Types of People

(Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation Section · "Material Thinking," excerpt):

Material Thinking, Imagery Thinking, Associative Thinking, and Illusory Thinking are purely products of the brain and can be achieved through intensified learning, thinking, and a series of training methods. The four levels of thinking above Heart-Image Thinking involve LIFE's spiritual body and can truly be entered only through purification of the soul and perfection of LIFE structure.

(II) The Consciousness Transformation of Chanyuan Celestials

(Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan Section · "40 Checkpoints from Human to Chanyuan Celestial," excerpt):

  1. Conventional thinking → Unconventional thinking

  2. Admiring skills and methods → Admiring Non-Form and Hundun

— From conventional to unconventional thinking, from admiring spiritual skills to admiring Non-Form and Hundun: this is the direction of consciousness transformation from ordinary human to Chanyuan Celestial.

(III) The Stronger the Thinking Capacity, the Closer One Approaches Celestials, Buddhas, and Gods

(Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Section · "Enrich Your Own Substance," excerpt):

The difference between person and person lies in thinking capacity. I divide thinking successively into eight kinds: Material Thinking, Imagery Thinking, Associative Thinking, Illusory Thinking, Heart-Image Thinking, Taiji Thinking, Non-Form Thinking, and Hundun Thinking. Each kind of thinking is a realm; the stronger the thinking capacity, the closer one approaches celestials, Buddhas, and gods. But to reach a higher realm, the best approach is first to enrich one's own substance — without cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, star anise, Sichuan pepper, cassia, cloves, lesser galangal, and pepper, it is difficult to create a fine dish.

VIII. The Historical Significance of the Eight Thinking Ladders

First: The first time in history that thinking has been divided into precisely eight levels — never before has anyone described the hierarchical system of thinking with such precise completeness, with each level having a corresponding LIFE realm and representative figures, giving the abstract concept of "thinking cultivation" a route map that can be ascended rung by rung for the very first time.

Second: The first time thinking has been directly linked to LIFE's ultimate destination — not the vague concept of "spiritual practice," but a clear revelation: mastering the mystery of the 8 kinds of thinking guarantees arrival at the Ten-Thousand-Year World; understanding LIFE's 8 great mysteries leads to the Elysium–Celestial Islands Continent. The level of thinking becomes the direct basis for LIFE's destination.

Third: The first revelation that thinking is "spiritual power" — Article 315 explicitly states: thinking is a form of spiritual power; higher-level thinking can bind lower-level thinking. Thinking is not only a tool of cognition but a real energy structure in the universe — a revolutionary cognition in the history of human thought.

Fourth: The first systematic framework of the relationship between conventional and unconventional thinking — the first four rungs are "addition," accumulating knowledge; the last four are "subtraction," diminishing again and again until reaching non-action — perfectly aligned with Laozi's "for learning, add daily; for the Tao, subtract daily," but concretized by Lifechanyuan into an operable ladder.

Fifth: The first statement that celestials find humanity "truly stupid" — a profoundly insightful observation: just as humans find animals dumb, celestials find humans equally dumb — for example, why have humans spent thousands of years trapped in the suffering of marriage and family, struggling and weeping? Why not change the way of life? This is Hundun Thinking's bird's-eye view of the human predicament, and also the thinking-theory basis for the existence of the Second Home.

Sixth: A clear coordinate for the cultivation of Chanyuan Celestials — no longer uncertain about "how to cultivate." The Eight Thinking Ladders is the explicit cultivation route map; each rung has its own characteristics, representative figures, and corresponding realm. Chanyuan Celestials can at any moment check which level they are at — the direction is clear, the goal is definite.

Xuefeng's most concise summaries:

The eight ladders of thinking, in ascending order, are: Material Thinking, Imagery Thinking, Associative Thinking, Illusory Thinking, Heart-Image Thinking, Taiji Thinking, Non-Form Thinking, and Hundun Thinking. (Article 87)

The most important thing in life is not to find ways to possess material things, but to find ways to change thinking. (Article 42)

Thinking is a form of spiritual power. Spiritual power is higher-level thinking information waves that bind lower-level thinking. (Article 315)