Labor as the First Need of Life (Friendly Version)¶
An Idea That Turns Common Sense Upside Down¶
In most people's life logic, the goal is to study hard, find a good job, and eventually reach a point where you don't have to "get your hands dirty." Physical labor is often seen as a last resort — something associated with low status and limited options.
Lifechanyuan turns this completely on its head.
The Second Home (Life Oasis) has one iron rule: labor is the first need of life. No matter who you are — the guide, the dean, a PhD, or a newcomer — if you live in the Oasis, you must participate in physical labor. No exceptions.
The Labor Threshold: If You Can't Pass It, Your Soul Garden Can Never Be Perfect¶
Xuefeng wrote an article with this as its title: If You Can't Pass the Labor Threshold, Your Soul Garden Can Never Be Perfect.
The "labor" he refers to is not writing articles, posting online, or sitting in meetings. It is real, physical work:
Cooking, washing clothes, cleaning, haircuts, mending, nursing care, vegetable gardening, fertilizing, watering, tilling, pruning fruit trees, bricklaying, mixing cement, hauling carts, construction, leveling land, cutting grass, composting, harvesting crops, drying grain, pickling vegetables, raising chickens and ducks, tending pigs and sheep, keeping dogs and pigeons, planting flowers, trees, and grass…
Passing the labor threshold has two dimensions. First, embrace it in your mind — respect laborers, establish the belief that "the laborer is the most beautiful." Second, show up in action — participate willingly, joyfully, of your own free will.
Why Does Physical Labor Matter So Much?¶
It Dissolves Arrogance¶
If you never do physical work, you will never truly understand the hardships of those who do. Unconsciously, you will feel yourself to be superior. Arrogance takes root. And arrogance is a weed in the soul garden — as long as it grows there, the soul garden cannot be perfected.
It Grounds You¶
Physical labor has many benefits: it makes you nimble and skilled, strengthens your body, builds confidence, develops independence, and above all — it grounds you in the earth and elevates your character.
Many university graduates in modern society cannot perform basic household tasks. They lack practical self-care skills. Lifechanyuan considers this equivalent to being "semi-disabled" — and takes it very seriously.
It Creates Real Equality¶
In the Oasis, there is no class division between mental and physical laborers, no hierarchy of managers and managed. When everyone labors, genuine equality and mutual respect become possible.
The Hearts of Laborers Are the Most Beautiful¶
The New Era Human 800 Concepts (Concept 636) puts it this way:
The hearts of laborers are the most beautiful. They may not be able to write brilliant articles; they may lack debating skill; they may seem too plain to show off their cleverness. But their hearts are the most beautiful — their conduct itself proves they have honored the teachings of Jesus, Shakyamuni Buddha, Laozi, and the sages.
Labor isn't just getting work done. It is cultivation, it is living proof of truth, goodness, and love. It is the most grounded path toward the celestial life.
Labor and creation are the source of joy. True joy lies in the process of selfless labor and creation. (Concept 270)
Laziness: More Dangerous Than Not Working¶
Lifechanyuan's judgment on laziness is unsparing:
Laziness is the greatest enemy of the Second Home. Diligence symbolizes beauty; laziness represents ugliness. Laziness can destroy everything — it corrodes will, spirit, soul, and body, can bring down a diligent community, spreads like a virus, and ultimately causes everything to wither and collapse. (Concept 635)
The Second Home is not a resort where you pay and then relax. It is a place for repaying karmic debts across lifetimes and accumulating heavenly treasure. It is a place for cultivation toward higher life spaces. Only by taking on hardships we have never faced can we hope to achieve our deepest wishes.
New Era: Art and Labor Side by Side¶
Even as AI grows more capable, the Oasis's view of labor does not change. Concept 638 (New) says:
In the Second Home, art and labor go hand in hand — the most complete way for human beings to blossom. The person tilling the soil can be a painter; the person cooking can be a poet; the person sweeping the courtyard can be a dancer — in a life freed from the burdens of marriage and family, every person has the time and space to become their most complete self.
In the Oasis, labor is not a means to earn a living. It is how life fully blooms.