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In Lifechanyuan terminology, LIFE (capitalized) refers to the ontological essence of existence — the soul/antimatter structure that persists across incarnations — while life (lowercase) refers to the experiential stage of human existence in this world.

Illusory Thinking: Every Step You Take Is Correct — And You're Heading Back to Where You Started

"Step by step correct, but the outcome wrong; forever correct, yet forever lost — this is Illusory Thinking."

— Guide Xuefeng, Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation Chapter · Illusory Thinking

Lost in the Desert

Imagine you're trapped in a desert. The sky is grey, no landmarks in any direction, no compass, no GPS.

You say: No problem. I'll just walk steadily, one step at a time, straight ahead. I will get out.

Logically, you are completely right — every single step is forward. How could you not get out?

But the result is: you cannot walk out of the desert.

The scientific explanation: because your left foot and right foot differ very slightly in size, your two legs are minimally unequal in length. Over ten million steps, the tiny deviation compounds. You feel you're walking a straight line; you're actually walking an arc. And so you return to the starting point.

But Guide Xuefeng says: even that scientific explanation is still just logical reasoning — not the real cause. The real cause is your Illusory Thinking.

What Is Illusory Thinking?

In one sentence: the nervous system is anesthetized by some material or antimatter substance, producing hallucinations and visions, which in turn generate a state of illusory thinking.

Its defining characteristics:

  • Every step is forward, yet in the end you return to the origin
  • Every sentence is correct, yet after a great circling loop, you arrive back at the start
  • From your own perspective: clever, rational, each step without error
  • From the perspective of the outcome: absurd, the opposite of what you wished for

This is not ordinary "getting it wrong." This is a high-level illusion operating through antimatter energy — even great scientists cannot refute it through logic. "Like trying to chew the sky — no place to bite."

Why Is It So Dangerous?

Three qualities make Illusory Thinking impossible to guard against:

1. It is higher than the first three rungs — it draws on antimatter energy, has genuine insight, can sometimes prophesy, perceive, exorcise. This makes people feel they've already "entered the Way."

2. It is enormously captivating — Guide Xuefeng's analogy: like encountering an enchanting beauty of ten thousand charms. A brief conversation is fine — but once you go to bed with her, "your little life is finished." She is Bao Si, Daji, a painted-skin demon.

3. Once ensnared, eighteen oxen cannot pull you back — especially senior intellectuals, religious leaders, government officials, entertainment celebrities. Once their thinking becomes Illusory Thinking, the harm is immense, because everyone imitates them.

Three Archetypal Cases

Case One: Seth and Orin's "New Age Thinking"

In 1960s America, a "New Age thinking" movement emerged with Seth's theory at its core. Read their writings: at first you're stunned — every sentence so profound, transcending time and space, soul immortality…

Go deeper, and bewilderment sets in: transcend to where? If the soul is immortal, then what? After studying it all, you still find no exit. You return to the starting point.

This is the complete experience of Illusory Thinking: the more you brush at the spider web, the tighter it clings.

Case Two: Ká¹£itigarbha Bodhisattva's Great Vow

"Until the hells are emptied, I vow not to become a Buddha."

Every step of this is forward: save all sentient beings → then the hells will be empty → then achieve Buddhahood. It looks supremely noble, logically irrefutable.

But — when will the hells ever be empty? After the great circle, one returns to the starting point. This is Illusory Thinking.

Case Three: All of Human Civilization, Macroscopically

Guide Xuefeng says: all of humanity exists within an illusory maze — they simply don't perceive it. Humanity believes itself to be developing and advancing, but without someone without illusion to lead the way, it will ultimately return to the starting point.

This is the most macro expression of Illusory Thinking: civilization 2.0 itself is the product of humanity's collective Illusory Thinking.

The Switch That Activates Illusory Thinking: Self-Attachment

The trigger for Illusory Thinking is one simple thought: "I am right."

If you firmly believe your cognition is completely correct, perfect and flawless, then you will be step-by-step correct and ultimately wrong — entering Illusory Thinking, never able to walk out of the LIFE desert.

And even more distilled:

When you believe yourself to be right, you are already wrong.

The daily practice key to breaking Illusory Thinking is just one line:

Now and then reflect: "Am I walking the wrong path?"

How Do You Get Out?

Breaking free from Illusory Thinking does not come through more logical argumentation — because you cannot logically refute it.

The only exit is: enter the next rung — Heart-Image Thinking.

Heart-Image Thinking doesn't rely on brain reasoning, doesn't depend on antimatter anesthesia. It directly uses consciousness to create reality — that is the door through which one truly exits the illusion.

The direction for practice is not to circle more gracefully within Illusory Thinking — it is to step through that door.