Becoming a Buddha (Academic Version)¶
Conceptual Framework¶
In the Lifechanyuan system, becoming a buddha (chéng fó, 成佛) is one of the two ultimate goals of cultivation practice, complementing "becoming a celestial being" (chéng xiān, 成仙). The distinction is: the celestial path centers on freedom and joy; the Buddha path centers on wisdom and awakening. Both lead to the same destination — the Elysium World and higher-dimensional life-spaces.
The core pathway to buddhahood is illuminating the mind and seeing one's original nature (míng xīn jiàn xìng, 明心见性). "Mind" (xīn) here refers to the arising of consciousness in response to external conditions — it has no fixed location, arising when conditions are present and absent when conditions are absent. "Nature" (xìng) is the original nature: cosmic principle, the operating law of the Dao, the antimatter life-structure — synonymous with Tathāgata, Buddha, and Self-Nature (zì xìng).
Lifechanyuan's approach to buddhahood is distinguished by three methodological moves: (1) returning to the Diamond Sūtra as the sole unsullied source of wisdom; (2) positioning its teaching against both Shenxiu and Huineng through Xuefeng's own verse; (3) replacing institutional Buddhist practice with a direct, phenomenologically accessible framework built on two negative claims — "having a self, you cannot become a buddha" and "grasping at appearances, you cannot become a buddha."
I. Eight Characteristics of a Buddha¶
From "Bodhisattvas and Buddhas":
| # | Characteristic |
|---|---|
| 1 | Only original nature (tiān xìng); no conditioned character, habitual disposition, human nature, animal nature, demonic nature |
| 2 | No coming, no going; undivided Hundun; "thus-thus unmoving" (rú rú bú dòng) |
| 3 | No appearance: no self-appearance, other-appearance, being-appearance, lifespan-appearance, dharma-appearance, or non-dharma-appearance |
| 4 | Nature pure and clear as sky, empty and luminous as one; manifesting in ten billion forms; wisdom without limit |
| 5 | Neither real nor empty, neither form nor void, neither tainted nor pure, neither honored nor disgraced, without fear or dread, without obstruction or hindrance |
| 6 | Heart with no fixed abode and also no non-abode; the dharma-body pervading all realms; boundless merit |
| 7 | Formless and imageless; compassion as light; always mindful of sentient beings; the dharma-boat sailing on |
| 8 | Possessing the dharma-eye and buddha-eye; traversing all times and spaces |
These eight characteristics constitute the precise structural target of cultivation — the map of where the path leads.
II. Three Marks of Becoming a Buddha¶
From "Illumine the Nature, Transcend the Mundane — Become a Buddha Right Now":
1. Seeing the Tathāgata
The Diamond Sūtra: "All appearances are illusions. If you see that all appearances are non-appearances, you see the Tathāgata."
The Tathāgata is original nature — formless, sizeless, beginningless, endingless. The key phenomenological exercise: systematically recognizing that no identifiable attribute — house, clothing, teeth, hair, eyes, limbs, organs, blood — is the true "I." What remains when everything is stripped away: "I am the Tathāgata."
2. Reaching the State of Non-Action
The Diamond Sūtra: "All sages differ only in degrees of non-action (wú wéi)." The life-level taxonomy (from low to high): driven by instinct → desire → emotion → reason → spiritual sense. Non-action (wú wéi) is the domain of the highest — not passivity, but action without ego-attachment, without "for-the-sake-of-I."
3. Heart With No Fixed Abode
The Diamond Sūtra: "Let the mind arise without dwelling anywhere." A heart that is not captured by any object of the six senses (form, sound, smell, taste, touch, mental objects) generates the pure heart necessary for seeing one's original nature.
III. The No-Self Thesis: Having a Self, You Cannot Become a Buddha¶
The Diamond Sūtra's doctrine of the four appearances (self-appearance, other-appearance, being-appearance, lifespan-appearance) underpins Xuefeng's central claim: "Having a self, you cannot become a buddha."
The exhaustive structure of "having a self" covers virtually every orientation of ego: - Teleological ("I want to become a buddha," "I want to serve humanity") - Possessive ("This is my country," "These are my children") - Evaluative ("I believe this is right," "I believe that is wrong") - Identity ("I am humble," "I am wealthy," "I am important")
Every instance is an instance of "I" creating a fixed structure that blocks original nature from manifesting.
The resolution is paradoxical but precise: "Let go of self, and the true self appears; cling to the self, and ultimately there is no self. Reach the state of no-self, and everywhere there is self — for in no-self, you see the Tathāgata."
IV. The No-Appearance Thesis: Grasping at Appearances, You Cannot Become a Buddha¶
The no-appearance principle extends to all perceptual and conceptual categories. Xuefeng identifies six categories of "practising the wrong path" through grasping at appearances in traditional Buddhist practice:
- Constructing temples, casting statues, burning incense, wearing robes → grasping color-appearances
- Establishing doctrines, hierarchies, institutional structures → grasping form-appearances
- Precepts, rules, prescribed methods → grasping dharma-appearances
- Sects, lineages, denominations → grasping identity-appearances
- Claiming dietary or behavioral requirements for buddhahood → grasping dharma-appearances
- Expounding dharma while attached to the form of teaching → grasping speech-appearances
The "invisible robe" thesis: the subtlest appearance-grasping is clinging to personal achievement, reputation, wisdom, and accomplishment. "Removing the robe is what it takes to become a buddha." The robe of recognized sainthood is the hardest to remove.
Critical qualifier: "No-appearance is not empty-appearance. Clinging to emptiness as a state is itself grasping at an appearance — and falling into an extreme." This prevents a nihilistic misreading.
V. The Three-Verse Coordinate System¶
From "Shenxiu, Huineng, and Hundun Yuanchu: Three Verses, Three Departures":
| Figure | Verse | Orientation | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shenxiu | "The body is the bodhi-tree / The heart is like a bright mirror-stand / Diligently polish it at all times / Let no dust alight" | Cultivation-practice angle; material-world emphasis | First awakening; foundational; long road |
| Huineng | "Bodhi is fundamentally no tree / The bright mirror is likewise no stand / Originally there is not a single thing / So where can dust alight?" | Direct pointing at original nature; antimatter-world emphasis | Complete awakening; risks nihilistic emptiness |
| Hundun Yuanchu (Xuefeng) | "The heart holds the bodhi-tree / Spirit is the bright mirror-stand / Ten thousand things arise from transformation / Illumine the nature and transcend all dust" | Unites both worlds; opens spiritual sense | Transcendent awakening; allows buddhahood while fully living |
The coordinate-system value: Shenxiu shows where to begin; Huineng shows where to arrive; Xuefeng shows how to get from one to the other without losing either.
VI. The Dialectic of "No Shortcuts" and "The Shortcut"¶
Two teachings appear to contradict each other:
"Becoming a buddha has no tricks." Cultivation proceeds through accumulation in each word, deed, thought, and intention. "Step by step without accumulation, you cannot travel a thousand miles. Without accumulating small streams, no great river forms." Seeking a trick is itself a manifestation of the ego's impatience — "all those who seek tricks are not honest people."
"The shortcut is illuminating the mind and seeing the nature." The resolution: "One's accumulation must first reach the critical threshold; only when quantitative change reaches the boundary can qualitative change — awakening — occur in an instant." The "shortcut" is not bypassing accumulation but rather correctly orienting it so that effort is not wasted on peripheral pursuits.
The result: "At any moment and any place, a flash of spiritual light (líng guāng) may appear. Seize that instant — you have become a buddha." The buddha-moments accumulate: one instant, then two, then minutes, then hours — until the state becomes continuous.
VII. The Emptiness-Nature Equation¶
From "Emptiness-Nature Is Ultimate Nirvāṇa" (2023-08-03):
Emptiness-nature = No-form = No-self = Ultimate nirvāṇa = Elysium World = Dao = Buddha = Heavenly Celestial
Xuefeng argues that the Heart Sūtra is properly the Nature Sūtra (Xìng Jīng, 性经): it describes states of xìng (nature/sexuality), not states of xīn (heart/mind). The famous "form is emptiness, emptiness is form" is a description of the nature-state (xìng zhuàng), not a description of the mind-state.
This emptiness-nature is not dead emptiness: "This is the state of great freedom and great perfection after all suffering has been removed — resonant with the Dao." The Heart Sūtra does not describe the Elysium World itself — it describes the passage, the gateway, the mode of transit: "Go, go, go to the far shore; go together to the far shore" (揭谛揭谛，波罗揭谛，波罗僧揭谛).
Related Entries¶
Becoming a Celestial Being and a Buddha · Becoming a Celestial Being · Celestial Being · Heavenly Celestial · Buddha · Illuminate the Mind, See the Nature · Self-Nature (Buddha-Nature) · No-Self, No-Form · Wu Wei (Non-Action) · Mind Without Abiding · Mind Without Hindrance · Advanced Refinement · Awakening