Letting Go · Academic Version¶
Abstract¶
In the Lifechanyuan system, "letting go" (fàng xià 放下) is the foundational heart-method of cultivation practice and a structural prerequisite for LIFE-space elevation. Its content can be analyzed across three dimensions: (1) the inventory dimension — what must be released forms a complete sequence running from material attachments through emotional bonds to ideological fixations and ego-clinging (wǒ zhí 我执) itself; (2) the difficulty dimension — material things are easiest to release, affections next, while rigid thinking and ego-views are the hardest; (3) the teleological dimension — letting go is the non-negotiable condition for obtaining the "visa" to the Thousand-Year World, Ten-Thousand-Year World, and Celestial Islands Continent, with the core proposition being "relinquish the self, and the self is gained." The Second Home provides a concrete institutional framework that transforms the abstract ideal of letting go into a livable way of life. Xuefeng's response to Tongxincao further reveals that in the Lifechanyuan system, letting go is not a mechanical rule but a state that ripens naturally through cultivation.
Source Texts¶
| Code | Source | Key Content |
|---|---|---|
| T1 | Chanyuan Corpus · Revelation · Letting Go | Zen parable; fundamental meaning; specific fixations to release |
| T2 | Chanyuan Corpus · Celestial Cultivation · Reach the Celestial Realm with a Heart That Dwells Nowhere | Complete inventory list; Second Home as practical environment |
| T3 | Xuefeng Corpus · Friendship · Yaolin Grass | Buddha, Jesus, Laozi as historical models of letting go |
| T4 | Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A · Tongxincao's Questions on Letting Go (2016-1-27) | Complete list cited; Guide's special note (non-compulsory) |
| T5 | Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A · Compiled Answers to Visitor Questions on the Lifechanyuan Website | Three-tier difficulty of letting go |
| T6 | Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan · Let Go, Release, No Regrets | Relationship between letting go and celestial attainment |
| T7 | Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation · 181 Points of Buddhist Cultivation · Point 122 | Inner substance of letting go: removing the four minds |
| T8 | New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th ed., Concept 273 | Ego-clinging as the hardest mountain to cross |
| T9 | New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th ed., Concept 325 | "Relinquish the self, and the self is gained" |
| T10 | New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th ed., Concept 393 | Without releasing a burden, you cannot walk farther |
| T11 | New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th ed., Concept 486 | "Visa" metaphor; relinquish ego-clinging to enter Hundun state |
I. Semantic Structure of Letting Go: Three Readings of the Zen Parable¶
1.1 The Old Monk and the Young Monk¶
T1 opens with a Zen parable: the old monk carries a woman across a river, sets her down, walks on — his heart leaves nothing behind. The young monk, who never touched the woman, "carries" her in his mind for miles. The parable yields three structural meanings:
| Dimension | Content |
|---|---|
| Temporal | Heart empties once the moment passes — bamboo holds no sound, pond holds no reflection |
| Behavioral | Action and inner state are aligned — no residual image remains |
| Resultant | "No lingering attachment" (wú guà'ài 无挂碍) — the defining state of letting go |
1.2 Universalizing the Parable¶
T1 lists specific fixations to release ("I am old," "I was once a criminal," "I am a famous person," "I am very important"), all pointing to a single core: clinging to a self-narrative is the heaviest burden of all.
II. The Content System of Letting Go: A Sequence from Matter to Self¶
2.1 The Complete Inventory¶
The most complete formulation (T2/T4, Xuefeng's original words):
"Let go of ideals, morality, truth, -isms, family, ethnicity, nation, religion, political party, commandments and precepts; let go of life and death, honor and disgrace, worry and fear, cultivation practice, Heaven and hell; let go of good and evil, true and false, beautiful and ugly, right and wrong; let go of achievements! Let go of greatness! Let go of the self!"
Notably, the final three items form a progressive structure — achievements (accomplishments) → greatness (reputation) → the self (ego-clinging) — targeting the deepest layer of human identity.
2.2 The Difficulty Sequence¶
T5 organizes difficulty into three tiers:
| Difficulty | What Is Released |
|---|---|
| Easiest | Material possessions |
| Intermediate | Affection, friendship, romantic love |
| Hardest | Rigid, entrenched thinking; ego-clinging and ego-views |
T7 (181 Points of Buddhist Cultivation) provides the inner-substance definition: letting go is the removal of four minds — the discriminating mind, the mind of right-and-wrong, the mind of gain-and-loss, and the clinging mind.
T8 (Concept 273) uses a powerful metaphor for ego-clinging's difficulty:
"If ego-clinging and ego-views do not die, a piece of rotten wood cannot be carved. The highest mountain and the widest river that is hardest to cross is ego-clinging and ego-views."
III. Letting Go and LIFE-Space Elevation¶
3.1 The Prerequisite for Celestial Attainment¶
T6 (Let Go, Release, No Regrets) specifies that the threshold for the Thousand-Year World and Celestial Islands includes not only freedom from worldly entanglements but also a perfected consciousness and abundant spiritual provisions; heavy private desires mean being "cut off from the Kingdom of Heaven."
T11 (Concept 486) expresses the same structure through the "visa" metaphor:
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Relinquish the self, enter Hundun state | Obtain visa for Thousand-Year/Ten-Thousand-Year/Elysium worlds |
| Cling to ego | Unable to depart |
3.2 The Core Dialectical Proposition¶
T9 (Concept 325) encapsulates the paradox of letting go in a single antithetical sentence:
"Relinquish the self, and the self is gained; cling to the self, and the self is ultimately lost."
This proposition is structurally isomorphic with the Taoist "wu wei yet nothing left undone" and the Buddhist "no-self is the great self."
3.3 Historical Corroboration¶
T3 (Yaolin Grass) cites three historical figures as models: Shakyamuni Buddha, Jesus Christ, Laozi — each "attained" their fruition because they could let go, forming a historical template for the letting go → attainment sequence.
IV. The Practical Framework: Second Home¶
T2 identifies that the contemporary path to living well after letting go of everything is the Second Home:
"You will own nothing, yet you will be able to possess everything. You will no longer need to worry about food, clothing, shelter, transportation, aging, illness, or death."
The Second Home translates "a heart that dwells nowhere" from an inner cultivation goal into an external institutional structure, giving letting go a concrete, livable foundation rather than leaving it as a suspended ideal.
V. The Practice Tension: Non-Compulsory and Naturally Ripening¶
T4 (Xuefeng's reply to Tongxincao) is the most dialectically rich statement about letting go in the system:
"Dear one, you have been tormented by 'letting go.' If letting go is not easy, then just hold on. As long as holding on makes you happy, at ease, and free — that is fine."
This statement reveals an internal dialectical structure:
| Level | Content |
|---|---|
| Theoretical | Letting go is the necessary prerequisite for celestial attainment; it must ultimately be achieved |
| Practical | It is not a mechanical rule; forced letting go actually diminishes value |
| Temporal | "When the right time and the right space form, you will feel it naturally" |
T10 (Concept 393) provides a structural expression of the same principle:
"Without putting down one bundle, you cannot walk farther; without transforming one view, you cannot experience the light beyond the willows."
VI. Key Quotation Index¶
- "If I were to teach you the Dharma, the very first thing I would ask of everyone is to 'let go.'" (T1)
- "Relinquish the self, and the self is gained; cling to the self, and the self is ultimately lost." (T9 · Concept 325)
- "What is called 'letting go' is the removal of your discriminating mind, your mind of right-and-wrong, your mind of gain-and-loss, and your clinging mind." (T7 · 181 Points of Buddhist Cultivation)
- "Life is a journey — travel light." (T3 · Yaolin Grass)
- "You will own nothing, yet you will be able to possess everything." (T2 · Reach the Celestial Realm with a Heart That Dwells Nowhere)
- "Dear one, you have been tormented by 'letting go'… then just hold on." (T4 · Tongxincao's Questions on Letting Go)