Chan · The Unwritten Scripture · Divine Revelation (Internal Edition)¶
0. Opening: The True Dharma Was Lost; Xuefeng Relights the Chan Lamp¶
Xuefeng, transmitting from the Greatest Creator and Buddha:
"Time and space have now rotated to the point where I have understood the profundity of Chan. This is the grace and arrangement of the Greatest Creator. Because the true essence of the Dharma has been lost and people have lost confidence in it, the Greatest Creator has arranged that I proclaim the Dharma and Lifechanyuan's Buddhas spread it."
— Xuefeng, "Chan, Chan Principle, Chan Subtlety—Closing Chapter," 2005-04-03
Modern Buddhism has not found its way out of confusion. The teachings about "illuminating the mind and seeing one's nature" and the endless talk of emptiness and form can easily lead people astray. True Buddhism is not what it appears to be—"for example, the issues of eating meat, of sexual intercourse, and so on. I discovered Chan—I saw the Greatest Creator—through observing the beauty of great numbers of Western nude women. Some of Buddhism's precepts went to extremes."
However: "Buddhism remains a supreme path for cultivation. Buddhist texts are the finest catalyst for elevating LIFE. May all people practice the Dharma, attain Chan awakening, and ultimately reach the longed-for shore."
I. The True Purpose of the Tianqi Chapters: Cosmic Secrets Hidden Beneath the Surface¶
The Tianqi chapters are not ordinary essays. They are deliberate esoteric writing:
- Surface layer: Over one hundred observation-based essays drawn from daily life;
- Deep layer: Cosmic secrets and mysteries hidden beneath the surface phenomena.
"These essays directly involve cosmic secrets and mysteries. If those with bad intentions came to know them, the consequences would be endless trouble… Jesus warned me: 'Do not give holy things to dogs, and do not cast your pearls before swine.'"
— Xuefeng, transmitting: "Preface to the Tianqi Chapter"
A Chanyuan Celestial reading the Tianqi chapters and an ordinary reader reading the same texts are reading entirely different books—this is not a metaphor, it is literal. Those with spiritual sensing and wisdom extract cosmic secrets; those without spiritual sensing encounter entertaining lifestyle essays.
II. The Essence of Chan: No-Form, No Authority, No Idol¶
The core state of Chan is no-form (无相)—no attachment, no discrimination, no authority, no idol.
"Chan has no authority and no idol, because Chan is a method of awakening to the Tao. Pénglái (a Chanyuan Celestial) has already entered the state of Chan—so she dares to tease me by calling me 'little boy.' This has the same meaning as Shakyamuni raising the flower and Kashyapa smiling."
— Xuefeng
This is profoundly instructive: a person who has truly entered Chan does not cling even to Xuefeng as an authority. They understand that Xuefeng is the messenger of the Greatest Creator, a vehicle—not an idol to be worshipped. Clinging to any authority or idol cuts off Chan realization.
"When what's good and what's bad no longer exist as separate things—when that level is reached—Chan is understood, and thinking expands into infinite time and space."
III. The Unwritten Scripture Advanced: Reading Yourself Is the Hardest Book¶
Of all the texts in the Unwritten Scripture, the hardest to read is yourself.
"Reading people, reading objects, reading phenomena—this is reading the Unwritten Scripture." The first step of "reading people" is reading yourself.
Dongpo Su said Monk Foyin looked like dung because his own heart was full of dung. What you see in the world is a projection of your inner state.
Practical cultivation points:
- Observe your first reaction to other people—that reaction is Tianqi revealing your inner state;
- When you criticize someone or something, pause and ask: is this my own projection?
- When the same situation keeps recurring in your life, it is Tianqi—you haven't understood it yet, so it keeps repeating;
- "Saying good things about others proves you yourself are good; saying bad things about others proves you yourself are bad. A flower always gives fragrance regardless of surroundings; excrement always gives odor regardless of surroundings."
IV. The Layered Reading of Tianqi¶
The same phenomenon yields different Tianqi depending on one's level of spiritual sensing:
| Level of Thinking | What One Reads in a Falling Leaf |
|---|---|
| Material thinking | Time to sweep |
| Imagery thinking | Autumn has come |
| Associative thinking | Life is impermanent |
| Heart-Image thinking | Feeling the rhythm of the life-death cycle |
| Taiji thinking | Life and death are one—falling is also birth |
| Non-Form thinking | The leaf's falling and not falling, you and the universe, are not two different things |
| Hundun thinking | Even the concept "falling leaf" dissolves—only the Tao flowing |
Cultivating the ability to receive Tianqi means cultivating the ascent of thinking levels.
V. Practical Methods for Receiving Tianqi¶
5.1 Stillness Is the Prerequisite¶
If the heart-mind is like turbulent water, the signals of Tianqi are drowned by one's own thoughts. If the heart-mind is like still water, Tianqi is clearly visible.
"Do not wait until the torrential rain falls to build your ark… The key to opening the gates of Heaven lies in your own hand. Simply sense quietly, and listen to the guidance of the spirit within."
— Xuefeng
5.2 Release Expectation; Let Tianqi Come Naturally¶
Pursuing Tianqi deliberately blocks its arrival. When you let go of grasping for Tianqi and simply live in the present, it flows naturally into awareness. "When the flower blooms, butterflies come naturally; when the heart is pure, celestial beings arrive"—butterflies are not summoned; they come because the flower has opened.
5.3 Daily Practice: Write Tianqi from the Ten Thousand Things¶
Xuefeng wrote: "I planned to write only one hundred Tianqi chapters—but in truth they could be written in thousands upon ten thousands; even writing every day for ten thousand years wouldn't exhaust them… The rest is for readers to write themselves."
A daily cultivation practice for Chanyuan Celestials: observe one ordinary thing or event each day and write out the Tianqi it reveals. This is not composition practice—it is a Chan awakening exercise.
5.4 Respond to Tianqi; Adjust Your Life Direction¶
Once Tianqi is understood, the crucial step is responding. Tianqi not responded to is Tianqi not truly understood.
"Respond to Tianqi, step out of the maze."
VI. Xuefeng's Description of the Chan State¶
Xuefeng describes the state of consciousness that opens through Chan realization:
"Once you understand Chan principle and Chan subtlety, you no longer need to go to school and read books—because heaven and earth and the ten thousand phenomena are themselves a book. At any time, in any place, whether our eyes are open or closed, whether we are asleep or awake, we can read the great book of heaven and earth's ten thousand phenomena. Knowledge recorded in human books—you know it. Knowledge not recorded in any human book—you also know it."
"The Dharma is the most profound science. To understand its subtle profundity, current scientific methods cannot penetrate it—this is where Chan awakening is needed. Once you understand Chan, the scenes within a million light-years in either direction are right before your eyes. This is why I dare to say I am the messenger of the Greatest Creator, the incarnation of Jesus and Shakyamuni—because I have reached the state of Hundun thinking. Anyone would find it difficult to refute me. But if you dared to make the same claim, a few questions from me would demolish your argument."
"From nothingness I came; to nothingness I return. To know the wonder within nothingness, you must understand the Chan subtlety of nothingness."
— Xuefeng, "Chan, Chan Principle, Chan Subtlety—Closing Chapter," 2005-04-03
References¶
- Xuefeng, transmitting from the Greatest Creator and Buddha: "Preface to the Tianqi Chapter"
- Xuefeng: "Chan, Chan Principle, Chan Subtlety—Closing Chapter," 2005-04-03
- Xuefeng: "Let Us Read the Unwritten Scripture," 2014-03-05
- Xuefeng: "Tianqi Can Be Received in Daily Life," 2020-12-01
- Xuefeng: "All Phenomena Give Birth to the Mind; the Mind Transcends All Phenomena"
- Xuefeng: "Respond to Tianqi, Step Out of the Maze"