Human Nature (Internal Edition)¶

This edition is for Chanyuan Celestials. Full primary-source citations are preserved, organized by theme.

I. The Essential Definition of Human Nature¶

"Honesty is the essential nature of human beings; dullness is the essential nature of objects; cunning is the essential nature of animals; transcendence is the essential nature of Buddhas." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Standards of Perfect Human Nature

"The expression of honesty is: seeking truth from facts, neither exaggerating nor understating, not knowing means not knowing, unable means unable, a deer is a deer, a horse is a horse — what the mouth says is what the heart thinks, without hedging, circling, trimming to the wind, or deceiving superiors while hiding things from subordinates." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Standards of Perfect Human Nature

II. Cosmic Holography: Eight Attributes in Every Person¶

"Cosmic holography — 'One flower, one world; one leaf, one Bodhi.' Every person carries the characteristics of all things in the universe: divine nature, demonic nature, Buddha nature, immortal nature, human nature, animal nature, material nature, and empty nature. When a person is in the world of gods, they are a god; in the world of demons, a demon; in the world of humans, a human; in the world of animals, an animal." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Human Nature Is Unfathomable

"Never assign a permanent judgment to any living person — only at death can a final verdict be reached." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Human Nature Is Unfathomable

"No one should define themselves as good or bad, virtuous or wicked — when the environment changes, you will change too. No one can determine in advance what kind of person they will become." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Human Nature Is Unfathomable

III. Human Nature Is Unfathomable: It Changes with Environment¶

"Whether a person is good or evil is determined by the environment they live in. A good environment leads to goodness; an evil environment leads to evil. Angels entering an evil environment will turn evil; demons entering a good environment will turn good." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Human Nature Is Unfathomable

"The historical record: when wars are constant, people tend toward belligerence; when hunger and cold prevail, people tend toward theft; when comfort and warmth abound, people tend toward licentiousness; when evil figures hold power, people tend toward corruption; when a sage governs, people tend toward virtue." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Human Nature Is Unfathomable

"If you want to become a beast, go live among beasts; if you want to remain human, spend your days among humans; if you want to become an Immortal, immerse yourself in the Immortal's environment; if you want to become divine, live entirely within the antimatter world." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Human Nature Is Unfathomable

"Approximately one in ten thousand people are the chosen — their nature is essentially fixed and does not change with the environment. They carry a specific mission and are set in place to maintain the dynamic balance of cosmic LIFE and the fairness of the cosmic law of cause and effect." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Human Nature Is Unfathomable

IV. The Core Values of Human Nature: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty¶

Truth — the source of all artistic forms

"Truth is the key component of the core values of human nature. If a person has no truth in their nature, they lack human nature. Such a person cannot possess perfect human nature, and their animal nature will erupt at any moment, causing harm to others and to nature." — Xuefeng Corpus·, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — The Core Values of Human Nature

"Truth is eternally unchanging — what changes is not truth. … In the universe there is only one truth; apart from the Greatest Creator, everything else is transformation, the artistic expression of the Greatest Creator." — Xuefeng Corpus·, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — The Core Values of Human Nature

Goodness — the mechanism of ordered harmony

"The will and behavior to maintain the harmonious mechanism of the great universe and to preserve ordered harmony between oneself and the surrounding life and the ecological environment that life depends on — that is goodness. Specifically: reverence for the Greatest Creator, reverence for LIFE, reverence for nature — that is goodness in attitude; maintaining the Greatest Creator, maintaining order, loving LIFE, protecting nature — that is goodness in action." — Xuefeng Corpus·, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — The Core Values of Human Nature (II)

"Goodness is the measure of whether a person has human nature. To see whether a person is good, look at whether they maintain harmonious relations with the surrounding world. Wherever there is disharmony, at least one party is not good — or both are not." — Xuefeng Corpus·, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — The Core Values of Human Nature (II)

"Goodness has two levels: great goodness belongs to the Greatest Creator and the divine; small goodness belongs to sages and the wise. … Humans can only preserve small goodness. If humans attempt great goodness, they will inevitably walk the path of evil." — Xuefeng Corpus·, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — The Core Values of Human Nature (II)

Beauty — harmonious proportion and symmetry

"The law of beauty is harmonious proportion and symmetry — from the arrangement of celestial bodies to the appearance of plants, from the structure of crystals to the form of animals, from the gradation of colors to the variation of light, all embody harmonious proportion and symmetry, giving the viewer boundless aesthetic sensation." — Xuefeng Corpus·, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — The Core Values of Human Nature (III)

"The essential difference between the muddy person, the vulgar person, the ordinary person, the sage, and the Immortal lies in the differing proportions of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty retained in their human nature. The smaller the proportion, the more one exists in the state of the animal world; the larger the proportion, the more one develops toward sage and Immortal. Becoming a Celestial Immortal is not an absurd fantasy — as long as one's human nature possesses relatively perfect Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, what difficulty is there in becoming a Celestial Immortal?" — Xuefeng Corpus·, Truth, Goodness, and Beauty — The Core Values of Human Nature (III)

V. The Eight Standards of Perfect Human Nature¶

"Perfect human nature requires eight conditions: 1. Reverence for the Greatest Creator, respect for divine beings and Buddhas, and respect for others; 2. Freedom from the drive to win, compete, or fight; 3. Love of nature; 4. Modesty, trustworthiness, and honesty; 5. Compassion and sympathy; 6. The ability to adjust oneself and maintain equanimity in both favorable and adverse circumstances; 7. Compliance with natural law, without seeking the extraordinary; 8. Love of LIFE and labor." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Standards of Perfect Human Nature

"The only pass to higher LIFE spaces is: perfect human nature. Everything else is baggage and trash in life." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Standards of Perfect Human Nature

"The Buddha Shakyamuni clearly showed us: 'Attaining the samadhi of purity, first among humans, is the foremost Arhat free of desire.' This means: reaching the state of freedom from competitive and combative mind is the highest state of being human — one can transcend life and death and escape the cycle of reincarnation." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Standards of Perfect Human Nature

VI. Immortal Nature vs. Human Nature¶

"Immortal nature: not meddling in others' hearts, not managing others' affairs. Human nature: eyes fixed on others, wanting others to comply with one's own wishes. Immortal nature: if it's not one's own business, not worrying about it. Human nature: always wanting to stand out in a group and be noticed." — Guide's Other Writings·, When Human Nature Stirs, Thorns and Blades Appear

"Restrain human nature, reveal immortal nature. When human nature emerges, thorns and blades appear; when immortal nature shows, rain and wind are favorable." — Guide's Other Writings·, When Human Nature Stirs, Thorns and Blades Appear

VII. The Evils of Human Nature¶

"The first evil of human nature is the love of evaluating others. … The second evil of human nature is the love of managing others — whenever two or three people gather, everyone wants to manage the others, wants to stand out in the group. … At the core, they want to be king, to be above others." — Xuefeng Corpus·, The Evils of Human Nature

"Life is actually very simple — but human nature has made it complicated." — Xuefeng Corpus·, The Evils of Human Nature

VIII. The Smog of Human Nature and Its Purification¶

"The original nature is pure, luminous, uncontaminated, like a bright mirror. But humans must eat, clothe, shelter, travel, be born, age, fall ill, and die — they need safety, respect, the recognition of their talent — and so they become restless, striving for money, power, status, fame, and desire. Thus 'the bright mirror gathers dust.' Human nature becomes polluted, and anxiety, worry, resentment, anger, fear, conflict follow — the smog of human nature is formed." — Xuefeng Corpus·, Emerging from the Smog of Human Nature

"In places where the smog of human nature is heaviest, people paradoxically feel 'everyone else is asleep while I alone am awake.' But when the wave comes, they find they have been swept into the trap of 'cleverness undone by cleverness.'" — Xuefeng Corpus·, Emerging from the Smog of Human Nature

"To emerge from the smog of human nature … reduce desires, control impulses; do not take shortcuts, do not hurry; let the restless heart grow calm; observe the development of events steadily; trust that the sandstorm will pass and that light must follow darkness." — Xuefeng Corpus·, Emerging from the Smog of Human Nature

IX. Perfect Human Nature as the Foundation and Pass for Perfect Life¶

"To have a perfect life, one must first have perfect human nature. Perfect human nature is the prerequisite and guarantee of perfect life. A nature with defects inevitably produces a life with defects — like a mold: a defective mold cannot cast a perfect product." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Perfect Human Nature Is the Prerequisite and Guarantee of Perfect Life

"Where flowers are fragrant, butterflies come naturally; where the heart is pure, Immortals arrive naturally. What kind of climate and soil, what kind of plants grow; what kind of mindset and consciousness, what kind of people, events, and environments arise. External factors are secondary; the factor of human nature is primary." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Perfect Human Nature Is the Prerequisite and Guarantee of Perfect Life

"If our human nature grows ever more ugly, our future will inevitably be in hell. If our human nature grows ever more perfect, our future is undoubtedly in heaven." — Chanyuan Corpus·, Perfect Human Nature Is the Prerequisite and Guarantee of Perfect Life