The Eight Prisons of Human Existence | Internal Reference¶
This version presents the source text for deep study.
I. Born into Eight Prisons¶
To be born into the human world is to spend one's entire life confined within eight prisons. The Prison of the Mind, the Prison of the Physical Body, the Prison of Emotion, the Prison of Blood Ties, the Prison of Clan and Ethnicity, the Prison of the Family, the Prison of the Nation, the conventional Prison. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
II. The Prison of the Mind — The Largest and Most Powerful¶
The Prison of the Mind is the largest and most powerful prison a person has. The ten thousand phenomena give rise to the mind — the ten thousand phenomena enter human consciousness through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, and thus give rise to the mind. Once the mind arises, it generates jealousy, discrimination, greed, the drive to outcompete others, and so on, firmly imprisoning a person within the ten thousand phenomena and denying them freedom. Without reaching non-form thinking, a person will be forever confined within the Prison of the Mind. Even if a person becomes wealthy and honored, even if they are sent into heaven, they still live inside the Prison of the Mind and still cannot enjoy LIFE's freedom. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
III. The Prison of the Physical Body¶
The Prison of the Physical Body is the second-greatest prison. The physical body is material; its activity requires the input of material energy. Food, clothing, shelter, transportation, aging, illness, and death are the physical body's requirements. A person is confined and tormented by these needs their entire life. Without transcending the Prison of the Physical Body, LIFE cannot enjoy freedom. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
IV. The Prison of Emotion¶
The Prison of Emotion is the prison formed by a person's emotional bonds. The moment a person has emotional connections and considerations with another person, they are held hostage by emotion. The Prison of Emotion is simultaneously the most solid and powerful of the thirty-six Bagua Formations. Without escaping the Emotion Formation, a person will be confined by the Prison of Emotion for their entire life and will be unable to enjoy LIFE's freedom. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
V. The Prison of Blood Ties¶
The Prison of Blood Ties is the prison constituted by relationships of blood. Parents, children, grandchildren, siblings, relatives — everyone connected by blood collectively forms a prison. The majority of people are bound for life to parents, children, and others, and find it very difficult to escape the torment and shackles of responsibility, obligation, morality, and ethics. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
VI. The Prison of Clan and Ethnicity¶
The Prison of Clan and Ethnicity refers to the constraint formed by clan and ethnic identity. Although this constraint is not as strong, it nonetheless limits through clan ethics and ethnic sentiment. Even a person who emigrates abroad cannot avoid the subtle, pervasive influence of clan customs and ethnic culture that leads them to say foolish things and do foolish things — presenting such behavior as dignified and righteous, feeling proud and justified, when in fact they are working for the prison. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
VII. The Prison of the Family¶
The Prison of the Family: the family is in fact a prison. Every family has scriptures that are difficult to recite. The reason those scriptures are difficult is that the family itself is a prison that confines LIFE. This prison has been praised and celebrated; it is protected by ethics, morality, and law. To be born in a sea of bitterness yet to sing praises of the sea — the blindness, falsity, hypocrisy, and helplessness of people is nowhere more fully on display than on the subject of the family. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
VIII. The Prison of the Nation¶
The Prison of the Nation: the nation-state is a large prison. Without a passport, a person cannot exit the prison of the nation-state; without a visa, they cannot pass through. Is a place that does not allow people to come and go freely not a prison? (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
IX. The Conventional Prison and the Fundamental Distinction¶
The conventional Prison refers to the place where a state confines criminals according to its constitution and laws — the most widely understood place that restricts physical freedom. Yet in truth, the conventional Prison restricts only physical freedom; the Prison of the Mind is what restricts LIFE's freedom. Therefore, the greatest fear in life should be the Prison of the Mind, not the conventional Prison. Yet people have it backwards — they dread the visible, while remaining completely unaware that the invisible is the prison that truly confines LIFE's freedom. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)
X. Awakening — The Eight Prisons Dissolve¶
These eight prisons in fact cannot truly confine LIFE. Without awakening, the eight prisons confine a person. But the moment awakening arrives, the eight prisons dissolve. Even if the body is confined in a prison cell, it does not matter — as long as the mind can transcend the ten thousand phenomena, the cosmos everywhere is a place of practice, everywhere is paradise. (Lifechanyuan Corpus · Preaching Chapter · The Eight Prisons of Human Existence, 2025-09-01)