Intermediate Life Manual (Friendly Version)¶
What Is the Intermediate Life Manual?¶
If the Elementary Life Manual is about "the fundamentals of being human," then the Intermediate Life Manual is about "the journey from human toward celestial."
Xuefeng puts it plainly:
"Volume One contains the wisdom of celestials and sages — gaining this wisdom enables one to enter the Tao. Volume Two contains the language of prophets — understanding its meaning enables one to commune with divine spirits. Volume Three contains the wisdom of the Buddha — gaining this wisdom enables one to transcend space and time. Volume Four contains the wisdom of the divine — gaining this wisdom enables one to attain eternal life in the higher planes of LIFE."
Four volumes. Four steps. Each one higher than the last.
The Four Volumes — What Does Each Contain?¶
Volume One: Wisdom of Celestials and Sages — Entering the Tao¶
This volume draws mainly from Taoist classics — Laozi, Zhuangzi, and others — on the nature of the Tao, how to enter it, and how to become a celestial.
A few representative lines:
"The Tao is always without action, yet nothing is left undone."
The Tao doesn't force anything — yet everything is accomplished. That's the heart of Taoist wisdom.
"It is easy to know the Tao but hard to believe in it; easy to believe but hard to practice it; easy to practice but hard to attain it; easy to attain but hard to hold to it. If it were not hard, the streets would be full of immortals."
Knowing isn't believing. Believing isn't doing. Each step is genuinely difficult — which is precisely why immortals are rare.
"When the environment controls the mind, you are ordinary. When the mind controls the environment, you are a celestial."
If outside circumstances push you around, you're a regular person. If your mind stays free and unhindered, not gripped by anything — that's the state of a celestial.
"When human conduct is in accord with the human Tao, the celestial Tao is not far off."
Start by being a good human being, and the path toward the celestial realm opens naturally.
Volume One also gives a detailed description of the four grades of celestials:
| Grade | Where they live | Key characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Human celestials | Thousand-Year World | Have bodies; perfect humanity; no private property; act in accord with circumstances |
| Earth celestials | Ten-Thousand-Year World | Long life; can walk on water; fly; travel vast distances effortlessly |
| Divine celestials | Move freely | Can cloud-ride, become invisible; travel between yin and yang realms |
| Heavenly celestials | Elysium World | Unconstrained by space and time; sense the consciousness of the Greatest Creator |
Volume Two: Language of Prophets — Communing with Divine Spirits¶
This volume centers on faith in the Greatest Creator and the prophetic language of the Bible, teaching us how to align our spirit so it can resonate with divine spirits.
"The Greatest Creator is the source of wisdom; only by revering the Greatest Creator can one gain spiritual wisdom."
"Resonance of the same frequency; unlike natures do not gather. The divine is spirit — only your spirit can commune with divine spirits; without spirit, you will never see the divine."
The divine is spirit. Your spirit has to wake up first before you can sense it. If your inner world is filled only with money and material goods, that frequency will never match.
"In the end, place your hope in the Greatest Creator; hold fast to the Greatest Creator's hand — never place your final hope in any individual person."
Volume Three: Wisdom of the Buddha — Transcending Space and Time¶
This volume comes from the Diamond Sutra and the Chan tradition, teaching "non-appearance" — not clinging to any form or image, and giving rise to a mind that dwells nowhere — as the path to transcending the limits of time and space.
"The Buddha Dharma is the highest limit that human wisdom can reach."
"All appearances are illusions. When one sees all appearances as non-appearances, one understands the Tao; knowing the Tao, one sees the Tathagata."
When you see through all appearances as illusory, you approach the Tao — and in the Tao, you see the Tathagata (the Greatest Creator at the summit of the universe).
"Give rise to a mind that dwells nowhere."
Don't let your mind settle or stick anywhere — not to form, not to sound, not to any sensation. The mind that dwells nowhere is the pure mind.
Volume Three also preserves three generations of teachers responding to the same question:
"The body is the bodhi tree; the mind is a bright mirror-stand — always wipe it diligently; let no dust alight." — Shenxiu (keep practicing; maintain the mind constantly)
"The bodhi is fundamentally no tree; the bright mirror has no stand — fundamentally not a single thing; where can dust alight?" — Sixth Patriarch Huineng (sudden awakening; intrinsic purity)
"The mind holds the bodhi tree; the spirit is the bright mirror-stand — illusion gives birth to ten thousand things; illuminating one's nature transcends dust." — Hundun Yuanchu (Lifechanyuan's perspective: the spirit transcends)
Volume Four: Wisdom of the Divine — Eternal Life in the Higher Planes¶
This volume draws heavily from the words of Jesus, teaching us that the human world is only a transit station, and the true destination is the higher LIFE spaces (the Kingdom of Heaven).
"The 'food' Jesus gives humanity is antimatter: spirituality, spirit, thought, faith, morality. The 'food' Satan gives humanity is material: money, status, fame and profit, group, nation."
What you feed on determines what you grow into. Feed on the spiritual and your LIFE grows; feed on the material and your LIFE withers.
"You must pursue the perfection of humanity; otherwise it will be difficult to enter the higher LIFE space."
"Enter through the narrow gate; for wide and broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many enter through it; but narrow and confined is the gate and the path that leads to LIFE, and few find it."
How to Use These Four Volumes¶
Xuefeng offers a very natural suggestion:
"In leisure, listen to music to cultivate your temperament; from time to time take a few lines from the classic maxims and taste the wisdom and integrity of the sages; or contemplate the spiritual realm of divine spirits, Buddhas, and celestials through the Intermediate Life Manual."
These aren't for passing a test or impressing others. They're for contemplation — slow absorption over time, reading a little here and there, letting the wisdom gradually permeate the heart.
In Brief¶
The Elementary Manual keeps you safe. The Intermediate Manual guides you toward entering the Tao, connecting with the divine, transcending space and time, and stepping toward eternal life — these are four signposts on the road from human to celestial.