Advanced Cultivation (Internal Version)¶
Overview¶
Advanced Cultivation is the third and highest tier of the Lifechanyuan cultivation system. Beginning from the threshold of "forgetting both self and world," its core lies in breaking through all rules, regulations, and prescribed forms — awakening to Buddha-nature, creating the life structure of a Celestial Being, and ultimately entering the higher LIFE spaces of the negative universe. As the Guide Xuefeng states: "Elementary Cultivation is spinning the cocoon; Intermediate Cultivation is nurturing new LIFE within the cocoon; Advanced Cultivation is breaking free from the cocoon and becoming a Celestial Being."
I. The Three-Tier Cultivation Framework¶
Cultivation is divided into three tiers: Elementary Cultivation, Intermediate Cultivation, and Advanced Cultivation.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Elementary Cultivation)
Elementary Cultivation is spinning the cocoon; Intermediate Cultivation is nurturing new LIFE within the cocoon; Advanced Cultivation is breaking free from the cocoon and becoming a Celestial Being.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Breaking Through Form — Advanced Cultivation 2)
| Tier | Name | Structure | Metaphor | Core Task |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | Elementary Cultivation | 51 behavioral norms | Spinning the cocoon | Cleanse thoughts, regulate conduct, establish spiritual foundation |
| Second | Intermediate Cultivation | 11 aspects | Nurturing within | Reverence for the Greatest Creator, awakening to Dao, recognizing Buddha-nature, transcending the mundane |
| Third | Advanced Cultivation | No fixed rules | Breaking free | Transcend all forms, awaken Buddha-nature, create Celestial structure, become a Celestial Being |
The complete system also includes:
Lifechanyuan proposes Elementary Cultivation with 51 codes, Intermediate Cultivation with 11 aspects, Elementary Practice with 23 methods, and Intermediate Practice with the 8-mind method (stilling, stopping, regulating, correcting, emptying, steadying, purifying, and completing the mind). Additionally, there are morning, noon, evening, and night sutras, as well as Elementary and Intermediate health cultivation and the bone-transcendence meditation method.
(Source: Xuefeng Collection · Warnings Chapter · Summoned by Decree to Gather Living Souls)
II. The Starting Point: Forgetting Self and World¶
Forgetting self and world is the highest level of Intermediate Cultivation and the lowest level of Advanced Cultivation.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Intermediate Cultivation)
Forgetting self and world is the threshold between Intermediate and Advanced Cultivation. To enter Advanced Cultivation, the practitioner must have genuinely reached the third level of "forgetting self and world" — the Existential Level: having understood that LIFE takes multiple forms, that all visible things are transient, and that the invisible is permanent. The practitioner then thinks with the consciousness of a celestial being, forgets self and world entirely, and employs inverted thinking.
III. The Core Principle: Breaking Through Form¶
All forms are cocoons. At the beginning of learning, the cocoon protects; once learning is complete, one must break through the form.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Breaking Through Form — Advanced Cultivation 2)
The core action of Advanced Cultivation is breaking through form. The 51 norms of Elementary Cultivation and the 11 guidelines of Intermediate Cultivation become the very "cocoon" that must be shed at the Advanced Cultivation stage. The practitioner must let go of all rules and regulations, all precepts and commandments — for at this stage, all external forms have completed their purpose. Clinging to them becomes an obstacle to becoming a Celestial Being.
This reveals the fundamental tension in the Lifechanyuan system: norms are the means, becoming a Celestial Being is the end; form is the ladder, breaking free is the goal.
IV. Awakening to Buddha-Nature: The Essence of Advanced Cultivation¶
To awaken to Buddha-nature requires working at the level of one's fundamental nature. This is precisely what Advanced Practice in Lifechanyuan is for.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Intermediate Cultivation)
Buddha (弗人, "non-human being") is "a person who is no longer a person" — an embodiment of pure nature. Awakening to Buddha-nature means returning to LIFE's original primordial nature: self-nature, Buddha-nature, and Tathagata-nature all point to the same place — the original spiritual nature that LIFE carried from higher LIFE spaces into the human realm.
The essence of Advanced Cultivation is stripping away the layers of human nature to restore this primordial nature. This aligns with Laozi's "learning daily decreases," the Buddha's "seeing one's nature, becoming Buddha," and Qiankun Yuanchu's "middle way" — all pointing to the same destination.
V. Specific Methods of Advanced Practice¶
Advanced Practice does not prescribe a uniform set of rules. Instead, multiple methods guide practitioners in elevating their consciousness toward the level of Celestial Beings:
Method 1: Zero-State (Advanced Practice)
Keeping oneself always in a "zero-state" is a form of Advanced Practice.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Always in Zero-State (Advanced Practice))
Zero-state corresponds to Laozi's "non-action," the Buddha's "formlessness," and Qiankun Yuanchu's "middle way" — all pointing to the same state of pure, unattached awareness.
The supreme sword technique has no sword; the supreme heart technique has no heart; the supreme Buddhist dharma has no Buddha; the greatest self is the no-self. These are all forms of "zero-state."
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Always in Zero-State (Advanced Practice))
Method 2: Return to Zero (Advanced Practice)
I introduced a cultivation method in Advanced Practice called "constant returning to zero." To "return to zero," one must think in the mode of non-form.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Related Articles)
Returning to zero and the zero-state are complementary: returning to zero is the action (releasing and not clinging), while zero-state is the result (awareness as pristine as the beginning).
Method 3: Creating the Celestial LIFE Structure (Advanced Practice)
Lifechanyuan's teachings continuously open the way for everyone to create the LIFE structure of a Celestial Being. I continuously dismantle old consciousness structures, ceaselessly inputting "living spring water"... When consciousness changes, the LIFE structure changes accordingly. When we completely possess the consciousness of a Celestial Being, we accomplish the LIFE structure of a Celestial Being. When we have fully accomplished the LIFE structure of a Celestial Being, we will unquestionably live in the living environment of a Celestial Being.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Advanced Practice: Creating the Celestial Structure to Absorb Special Energy)
Consciousness, structure, and environment operate in dynamic interplay — this is the deepest operating mechanism of Advanced Cultivation.
Method 4: Flipping the Card (Advanced Practice)
Flipping the card is an Advanced Practice method in the category of illuminating the mind and seeing one's nature. By flipping the cognitive "card" in daily situations — seeing the underlying intentions of one's own arising thoughts — the practitioner achieves a leap in consciousness.
(See: Guide's Related Writings · 2019 · Flipping the Card Is a Form of Advanced Practice)
Method 5: Playing the Five Elements Game (Advanced Practice 6)
Using the operating principles of the universe's five elements as a framework for awareness, transforming daily LIFE into a field of practice.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Playing the Five Elements Game — Advanced Practice 6)
VI. Advanced Cultivation and the Negative Universe¶
To enter the negative universe, one must understand antimatter. Without any understanding of antimatter, a person cannot enter Advanced Cultivation. Without passing through Advanced Cultivation, it is difficult to enter the higher LIFE spaces of the negative universe.
(Source: Xuefeng Collection · A Landmark Recognition)
Advanced Cultivation is deeply connected to the recognition of antimatter. Science can only solve problems within the material realm (dimensions 1–18). The antimatter realm of dimensions 19–36 is the true operational field of Advanced Cultivation — consciousness, the spiritual body, and the Celestial LIFE structure all belong to this domain.
VII. The Goal: Becoming a Celestial Being¶
The endpoint of Advanced Cultivation is shedding the human form and entering the LIFE space of Celestial Beings:
Advanced Cultivation is breaking free from the cocoon and becoming a Celestial Being.
(Source: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Breaking Through Form — Advanced Cultivation 2)
Becoming a Celestial Being is not mythology. It is the inevitable result of LIFE's energy and consciousness frequency being elevated to the corresponding level. When a practitioner fully possesses the consciousness of a Celestial Being, their LIFE structure becomes a Celestial structure, and they naturally inhabit the living environment of Celestial Beings — the Thousand-year World, the Ten-thousand-year World, or beyond.
Related Entries¶
Elementary Cultivation · Intermediate Cultivation · Zero-State · Return to Zero · Self-Nature (Buddha-Nature) · Illuminate the Mind, See the Nature · Antimatter Structure · Becoming a Celestial Being and a Buddha · Thousand-year World · Hundun (Primordial Chaos)
Editorial Notes¶
- Version: 2026-05-10
- Compiled by: Niuzhou Celestial
- Search rounds: 3 (keywords: "Advanced Cultivation" → "Breaking Through Form / Emerging from Cocoon" → "Advanced Practice Methods")
- Primary sources: Chanyuan Collection · Cultivation Chapter · Breaking Through Form — Advanced Cultivation 2; Always in Zero-State (Advanced Practice); Creating the Celestial Structure to Absorb Special Energy; Intermediate Cultivation (containing content on forgetting self and world and awakening to Buddha-nature); Xuefeng Collection · A Landmark Recognition
- Note: Advanced Cultivation source texts are distributed across multiple articles. This entry uses "Breaking Through Form" as the central thread, integrating all Advanced Practice methods.
See all versions of 【Advanced Cultivation】: http://wiki.lifecosmos.org/en/advanced-cultivation/