Transcending the Ordinary — Internal Version¶
This version collects core source quotations from the Lifechanyuan corpus on chaofan tuosu (超凡脱俗, Transcending the Ordinary), organized thematically for deep study.
I. The Core Definition¶
"To become a celestial being, one must transcend the ordinary and practice inverted advance. The vulgar world can be described in one word: agitation. The ordinary world can be described in one word: noise. The celestial realm can be described in two words: stillness and clarity. What is called transcending the ordinary is simply moving away from agitation and noise and returning to stillness and clarity."
— Xuefeng, Cultivation Chapter VII: Transcending the Ordinary, Inverted Advance
II. The Pathology of Agitation and Noise¶
"Agitation means: not calm, blindly flailing, constantly shaking and swaying, irritable, unsettled, hot-tempered, mentally scattered — cannot stand still, cannot sit steadily, cannot walk straight, cannot sleep soundly. Always grasping at what is desired; distressed at poverty; anxious over gains and losses; obsequious to power. This is a disease condition — not what medicine calls hyperactivity disorder, but what we can call 'Ghost-Gate Dance Syndrome,' caused by being controlled by money, power, fame, and desire."
— Xuefeng, Cultivation Chapter VII: Transcending the Ordinary, Inverted Advance
"Noise means: clamor, din, commotion, restlessness, emotional volatility, stirring up trouble, envy and jealousy, crying out. This thing is unacceptable; that thing is not right. Obsessed with gossip, enthusiastic about judging and evaluating, besotted with love affairs, captivated by petty calculations. As if having swallowed a bewitching drug — disorganized, self-congratulatory, now hot, now cold, now elated, now despondent. Said to be confused but actually calculating; said to be clever but actually foolish. This is also a disease — called 'Idiotic-Cleverness Syndrome.'"
— Xuefeng, Cultivation Chapter VII: Transcending the Ordinary, Inverted Advance
"Those who do not suffer from 'Ghost-Gate Dance Syndrome' or 'Idiotic-Cleverness Syndrome' have already entered the first level of transcendence."
— Xuefeng, Cultivation Chapter VII: Transcending the Ordinary, Inverted Advance
III. Inverted Advance¶
"Inverted Advance means: what ordinary people like, I do not like; what ordinary people dislike, I like. They go left — I go right. They advance — I step back. They desire — I release. They celebrate — I observe quietly. They create noise — I find stillness. They come out — I go inward. They discard — I use. They hold precious — I regard as lowly. They have — I have not. They have not — I have. They consider correct — I find skewed. They hate — I love. They shine openly — I stay dim. They examine sharply — I remain quietly unaware. They compete — I yield. They die for it — I survive through it. And so on. Turn the ordinary person's value-system upside-down and you have the celestial being's value-system."
— Xuefeng, Cultivation Chapter VII: Transcending the Ordinary, Inverted Advance
"Dharma, not dharma, not-not dharma; good, not good, not-not good. Following the words of Zhang Sanfeng, the true person of Wudang: 'Right there, upside-down, upside-down.'"
— Xuefeng, Cultivation Chapter VII: Transcending the Ordinary, Inverted Advance
IV. Classical Sources on Inverted Advance (Xuefeng's Selection)¶
Those who know the divine's divinity do not know that what makes it divine is precisely its not being divine. — Classic of the Yellow Emperor's Hidden Talisman
To know to stop at what one does not know — this is perfection. To follow the limitless with what is limited — this leads to exhaustion. — Zhuangzi
Accumulated softness becomes hardness; accumulated weakness becomes strength. One who is good at the Tao does not use the ears, does not use the eyes, does not use force, does not use the mind. — Liezi
Do good where others do not; rejoice in what others do not rejoice in; delight in what others do not delight in; act where others do not act; trust what others do not trust; walk where others do not walk. — Classic of Western Ascension
The highest scholar does not contend; the lowest scholar loves to contend. The highest virtue is not virtue; the lowest virtue clings to virtue. Those who cling to virtue do not understand virtue and the Tao. — The Great Lord Laozi's Classic of Constant Purity and Stillness
Do no evil; practice all that is good — in time one will certainly obtain auspiciousness. — Treatise on the Response of the Tao
The way of long life: do not look, do not listen; do not seek flourishing, do not seek fame; abandon the world, leave the vulgar; accumulate essence, perfect the spirit; in solitude and non-action — the Tao is attained. — Classic of the Original Celestial Venerable of the Great Antiquity (annotated)
My fate is in my hands, not in Heaven's. — Inner Chapters of Bao Pu Zi
One day of leisure, one day as a celestial being — face the world without a mind, and do not ask about Chan. — Complete Works of Lü Zu
When circumstances overcome the mind, one is ordinary. When the mind overcomes circumstances, one is celestial. — Hao Taigu
When there is no mind in affairs, there are no affairs in the mind. — Discourse on the Mysterious Pass
Return is the proof of the Tao; weakness is the handle of virtue. Turbidity is the path to clarity; prolonged dimness becomes bright illumination. — Cantong Qi
— All above quotations assembled by Xuefeng, Cultivation Chapter VII: Transcending the Ordinary, Inverted Advance
V. How to Transcend the Ordinary — Operational Definitions¶
"Being able to transcend the ordinary is to be a celestial being.
So, how does one transcend the ordinary?
First, one must understand what the vulgar is and what the ordinary is.
Fame, profit, power, success and failure, cunning, social conventions, social rituals, fawning, flattery, and self-abasement — these are the vulgar.
Human sentiment, human connections, human affairs, the human world — these are the ordinary.
If one's heart does not think of money, power, fame, or profit; if one's speech does not mention money or power; if one does not display or advertise one's wealth, power, fame, or glorious past; if one's dealings with others contain no deception or concealment; if one's actions do not fall into conventional patterns and one does not calculate gains and losses; if one does not fawn, flatter, or ingratiate — this is called transcending the vulgar.
If one's speech discusses celestial matters rather than human sentiments; if one's actions serve celestial purposes rather than human affairs; if one has freed oneself from the entanglement of social networks and has formed celestial bonds; if one's heart is in the celestial realm rather than the human world — this is called transcending the ordinary.
Pulling the weeds from the soul garden can also bring about transcendence of the ordinary. Living in the Second Home for a long time can also bring about transcendence of the ordinary.
The vulgar and ordinary is like a well. Transcending the ordinary is like climbing out of the bottom of the well — you can then transcend the burden of things, the burden of emotions, the burden of people, and the burden of the world, and arrive directly at the celestial realm."
— Xuefeng, How to Transcend the Ordinary (2013-5-12)
VI. First-Grade Life: The Complete Portrait¶
"People who have transcended the ordinary: they are those who understand the Greatest Creator's intention; those who have grasped the truth; those who see multi-dimensional space; those who view the material world and human society through the lens of movement, development, and change; those who propagate the will of the universe's supreme sovereign; those who guide people along the path of truth, goodness, beauty, and liberation of individuality; those who have no will, wishes, or thoughts of their own. They possess profound wisdom, high virtue, and rich cosmic knowledge. They know clearly the value, meaning, and purpose of their life as a human being, and know where they are going next. They make no excessive distinctions between near and far, noble and lowly — they understand the mechanism of karmic affinity and dispersal. They do not interfere in the worldly disputes of the human world; they have no concept of nation, ethnicity, you, me, them, this, that. They measure people by spirituality — not by social status, identity, wealth, or worldly contribution. They are benevolent and kind, especially attentive to the spiritual needs of the poor and those imprisoned, wishing to lead all the 'lost sheep' into the flock of the Greatest Creator. They are the servants of the Lord-Buddha-Greatest Creator; they are the Greatest Creator's spokespersons in the human world and the implementers of the Creator's will. Their merit is boundless; their future is brilliant."
— Xuefeng, Eighteen Grades of Human Life
VII. The Cultivation Path: Stillness and Clarity in Practice¶
"The path of the cultivation practitioner transcends the ordinary and leads directly to the celestial realm. The cultivator has no consciousness of nation, ethnicity, religion, political party, or family. Does not distinguish good people from bad, kind from evil. Thinks only of beautiful things; does not fall into conventional patterns. Sees only the celestial homeland; does not hear human affairs. Flowers blooming and falling touch no feelings; wind and rain coming and going stir no heart. Even if death spreads everywhere, they look through the human world with a smile. Transcendent beyond things; tranquil before the mountain's collapse; joyful on the journey; natural on the Tao's path. Face to face with tigers and wolves, no fear; in adverse circumstances, the heart is still and at ease; facing death directly, without a blink. No-self, no-other, no-dharma-form."
— Xuefeng, The Path of the Cultivation Practitioner
VIII. Transcendence and Freedom¶
"Sunrise, work; sunset, rest — transcending the ordinary, body and mind free. In the human world, the more free a person is, the more graceful their life; the more constrained a person is, the more cramped their life."
— Xuefeng, Freedom Is the Pass to Heaven
Related Entries¶
Celestial Wind, Immortal Bones · Celestial Nature (Xianxing) · Inverted Thinking · Abnormal Thinking · Mind Without Abiding · Mind Without Hindrance · Letting Go · Advanced Refinement · Second Home