Awakening (Internal Edition)¶
I. Definitions¶
Definition One (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · Thirty-Five: Awakening)
Jué (觉): the timely response of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind (spirit) to external stimulation. Wù (悟): to awaken into understanding.
Awakening means that a person, through the response of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and spiritual intuition to external stimulation, has thoroughly understood the original nature and significance of that stimulation — thereby moving from confusion to clarity, from muddled perception to lucid awareness, from ignorance to civilized wisdom, from death to eternal life.
Definition Two (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · The Eight Great Awakenings from Human to Celestial Being)
Jué (觉): to sense, to perceive.
Wù (悟): to think through what has been sensed and perceived.
Awakening: moving from confusion to understanding, from vagueness to clarity, from disorder into order, from darkness into light.
Definition Three (Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · See Whether You Belong Among the Common Masses)
"Awakening" means taking what you have perceived through sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and spiritual intuition (intuition) and reflecting on it until you understand the underlying principle. When you understand it — that is awakening.
II. The Levels of Awakening¶
Awakening has levels. The lowest is understanding that survival requires food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. The highest is becoming a buddha.
Therefore, the ultimate expression of awakening is buddhahood — or conversely, what "buddha" means is awakening.
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · Thirty-Five: Awakening)
The meaning of awakening encompasses profoundly vast philosophy. The purpose of all cultivation practice is awakening. "The boundless sea of suffering — turn back and find the shore" is one form of awakening. "Learning is endless; become a buddha right where you stand" is another.
(Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Volume · Responses to Questions (11))
Once awakened, one knows that everything operates within the Tao. Simply follow the Tao in all things. Any deliberate forcing is opposing the Tao, moving against it.
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming Celestial Volume · When There Is Nothing to Do, That Is the Celestial-Buddha State)
III. The Awakened and the Unawakened¶
The awakened are like grain and rice; the unawakened are like weeds and chaff. The awakened are like light and fragrance; the unawakened are like darkness and stench. The awakened ascend one floor with every step; the unawakened fall into a new ditch with every step. The awakened are lanterns of light; the unawakened are tangles of confusion.
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · The Eight Great Awakenings from Human to Celestial Being)
A person who has awakened is a buddha — like a blazing sun, like a crescent moon, like a flower in full bloom, like a refreshing breeze, like a stream murmuring over stones, like fruit ripened to perfection, like a bird soaring in the blue sky, like a sailboat gliding serenely across a boundless emerald lake.
(Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Warning Volume · Without Awakening, All Is Wasted Time)
Once awakened, one becomes a celestial being or a buddha. If one has not yet become a celestial being or a buddha, that is proof of not yet being awakened. Guide Xuefeng's path is the path of awakening.
(Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Volume · Responses to Questions (11))
A person who does not awaken cannot distinguish right from wrong, truth from falsehood, beauty from ugliness; cannot find direction forward or understand the value and purpose of life; does not understand what cultivation practice is for; remains forever trapped in ordinary human perception, cycling through reincarnation in the lower realms, never knowing that heaven exists, never tasting the true joy of LIFE.
Without awakening, one lives in darkness — no matter how frantically one struggles left and right, one never sees the light; no matter how diligently one practices cultivation, one never reaches the Kingdom of Heaven.
(Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Volume · Responses to Questions (11); Xuefeng Corpus · Soul Volume · Break Free from Chains, Race Toward Freedom)
IV. The Rarity of Awakening¶
Those who perceive are many; those who reach understanding are few. Those who attain the supreme, complete, profound awakening are as rare as phoenix feathers and morning stars — they are treasures of the world.
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · Thirty-Five: Awakening)
Profound awakening is not hard to achieve — the difficulty lies in perceiving without following through to understanding. A gentle breeze drifts past; you feel it. But how many people stop to ask why the breeze exists, why it blows, why they can feel it at all?
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · Thirty-Five: Awakening)
Those who awaken are few; those who wish to reach the shore are few; those who drift downstream are many.
People shout loudly about wanting to know the truth, wanting to pursue it — but how many genuinely wish to know the truth, how many genuinely pursue it? Lord Ye's famous "love of dragons" was purely decorative, purely self-deception: when the actual dragon descended, he fled.
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · Thirty-Five: Awakening)
V. The Purpose of Awakening¶
The purpose of awakening: liberation from affliction, permanent departure from the sea of suffering, stepping out of the realm of necessity, and arriving directly at the shore of freedom.
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · The Eight Great Awakenings from Human to Celestial Being)
The most important thing in life is joy — one day of joy is one day as a celestial being. What does joy require? An expansive outlook. Awakening.
(Source: New Era Humanity Eight Hundred Concepts, Fourth Edition · Article 700)
VI. The Best Shortcut to Awakening¶
The best shortcut to awakening: board the dharma vessel created by the Buddha Shakyamuni, sail in the direction pointed by Christ Jesus, follow the route of Guide Hundun Yuanchu, and advance toward the Kingdom of the Buddha-God — the Elysium Realm.
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · The Eight Great Awakenings from Human to Celestial Being)
For a person to awaken, relying solely on one's own knowledge, experience, and wisdom can never be sufficient — life is too short, time and energy too limited. One must draw on the wisdom of all humanity, especially the wisdom of divine beings, buddhas, celestial beings, sages, and saints — Jesus, Shakyamuni, Laozi, Muhammad, the sages of all ages — and on the laws discovered by scientists. Only by first comprehensively absorbing and integrating this wisdom, then applying it with a Mahayana aspiration and an unwavering heart that seeks truth, can one awaken.
(Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Soul Volume · Break Free from Chains, Race Toward Freedom)
Awakening is a profound study of life and LIFE. Awakening requires spiritual intuition. Awakening requires adhering to the truth, insisting on scientific reasoning and scientific methods, staying logical. Awakening requires deep contemplation. Awakening requires understanding the 20 parallel worlds and 36-dimensional space. Awakening requires grasping the meaning of time and space. Awakening requires understanding the origin and evolution of the universe, LIFE, and humanity. Awakening requires knowing one's position in the universe and clarifying the purpose, value, and meaning of life. Awakening requires understanding what LIFE is and the scientific principles of its reincarnation and transformation.
(Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Soul Volume · Break Free from Chains, Race Toward Freedom)
VII. The Eight Great Awakenings from Human to Celestial Being¶
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · The Eight Great Awakenings from Human to Celestial Being; New Era Humanity Eight Hundred Concepts, Fourth Edition · Article 474)
The journey from the human realm to the Kingdom of Heaven — from being human to becoming a celestial being — requires eight great awakenings:
One: Awakening to LIFE
LIFE is a spiritual antimatter structure — ever arising and ceasing, cycling through reincarnation and transformation, never extinguished.
Two: Awakening to Birth and Death
Birth and death are appearances, not substance; they are form, not foundation. "The grass on the vast plain — withers each autumn, flourishes each spring; wildfire cannot burn it out; spring wind blows it back to life." The boat reaches the far shore; you leave the boat and step ashore.
Three: Awakening to Cause and Effect
"Plant melons, harvest melons; plant beans, harvest beans." "Heaven's net is vast — its mesh may be wide, yet nothing slips through."
Four: Awakening to Space
The universe contains 20 parallel worlds and 36 dimensions of space; there is heaven, there is hell. Heaven is arranged for those of perfect quality; hell for those with flaws. Whatever quality of LIFE you possess, that is the space in which you will live.
Five: Awakening to Karmic Affinity
Everything is karmic affinity. Form karmic ties with ghosts and you go to the nether realm; form karmic ties with celestial beings and you reach the celestial realm. If debts are unpaid, you cannot leave suffering behind; if merit is insufficient, you cannot reach the celestial realm.
Six: Awakening to Heart-Nature
Reality is the projection of consciousness; consciousness creates reality. All phenomena arise from the heart; the heart surpasses all phenomena. The three realms are mind-only; the ten thousand dharmas are consciousness-only. Fragrant flowers draw butterflies; a purified heart draws celestial beings. A heart that abides in nothing is thus-come. Nature is the characteristic of structure. Nature is buddha.
Seven: Awakening to the Cosmic Arrays
The universe contains 36 cosmic arrays — the source of all games, endlessly fascinating. Power, wealth, fame, profit, desire, emotional attachment — each is a cosmic array. Deeply entrapped in them, escape is nearly impossible. Only by attaining supreme, perfect, complete enlightenment can one "transcend the three realms, stand outside the five elements."
Eight: Awakening to the Original Truth
Everything has a source; the source is the Original Truth. Consciousness, structure, and energy are the three essential elements of the universe; everything else is "dream-stuff and illusion, like dew and lightning — so should it be regarded." The Buddha-God is the source of all things, the Original Truth. Know the Buddha-God, walk the path of the Buddha-God: all eighty-four thousand dharma gates become open pathways. Do not know the Buddha-God, do not walk that path: all eighty-four thousand dharma gates end in sheer cliffs.
VIII. How to Awaken (Inner Conditions)¶
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · The Eight Great Awakenings from Human to Celestial Being; New Era Humanity Eight Hundred Concepts, Fourth Edition · Article 475)
If one corrects body and mind, then true vitality and true spirit dwell within, and great talent and great virtue emerge from within. Without giving rise to a Mahayana aspiration, it is difficult to penetrate the mysteries of the universe, difficult to awaken. If one can "embrace the One" and "guard the One" — selfless and egoless — and with one's whole being revere the Buddha-God, revere LIFE, revere great Nature, walk the path of the Buddha-God, and devote oneself entirely to pioneering for humanity a world where "no worthy is overlooked, all under heaven is one family," "the path sees no litter, doors need no locks at night," all things in harmony, seasons in their rhythm, all people joyful, free, and happy — then the lamp of the heart grows ever brighter, the spirit-awareness ever clearer, and awakening will come.
IX. Obstacles to Awakening¶
To reach heaven, two great mountains must be crossed: one is the programs created by humanity; the other is "the Egypt of the heart."
The programs created by humanity include: family, ethnicity, nation, religion, and political party — the existing order and way of life of human society. To reach heaven, one must step outside these programs. Those who cannot step outside them cannot reach the Kingdom of Heaven.
"The Egypt of the heart" includes: jealousy, comparison, complaint, arrogance, anger, possessiveness, domination, hatred, doctrines and dogmas, precepts and commandments, contention, greed, laziness, deliberate forcing, and so on. Without clearing these pollutants from the heart, one cannot reach the Kingdom of Heaven.
(Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Soul Volume · Break Free from Chains, Race Toward Freedom; New Era Humanity Eight Hundred Concepts, Fourth Edition · Article 489)
X. Characteristics of the Awakened¶
A truly awakened person is never lonely or isolated. If someone feels lonely and isolated, that is proof they have not yet awakened.
(Source: Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Volume · Thirty-Five: Awakening)
An awakened person: thoroughly understands the myriad phenomena of the great world; knows the priorities, sequence, weights, and urgencies of life; handles any problem or matter without obstruction and with effortless mastery; brings only joy and happiness to those around them and to the world. Living is for the pursuit of joy, freedom, and happiness — striving to escape the bondage of the realm of necessity and race toward the realm of freedom.
(Source: Xuefeng Corpus · Warning Volume · Why We Live and How; Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Volume · Responses to Questions (11))