Levels of LIFE · Friendly Edition¶

The Cosmos Is Not Flat¶

We often hear that "all beings are equal" — and in one sense, Lifechanyuan agrees: before the Greatest Creator, every LIFE has the same opportunity for elevation. But that is not the same as saying every LIFE currently exists at the same level. The cosmos, in Lifechanyuan's view, is more like a tall building: every floor exists, every floor matters, but the view, the light, and the freedom are different depending on where you are.

What differs between levels is not moral worth, but something more concrete: the degree of spirituality woven into the antimatter structure of that LIFE — and with it, the degree of freedom, love, and ease of existence.

Sixteen Levels, from Highest to Lowest¶

Level 1 — The Greatest Creator A perfect, flawless antimatter structure. Its spiritual energy permeates all matter and all spaces without any obstruction.

Level 2 — Gods An antimatter structure with slight imperfections. Spiritual energy permeates nearly all spaces, but cannot enter the highest realm (the Cool-Clear Realm) and cannot match the Greatest Creator.

Level 3 — Celestial Beings and Buddhas Celestial beings and buddhas occupy the same level of existence, differing only in "lineage." Celestial beings are subdivided into five types by the degree of their spiritual powers:

Heavenly Celestials: Unconstrained by time and space; can sense subtle changes anywhere in the cosmos and respond to the consciousness of the Greatest Creator and the gods; can appear in countless forms simultaneously across different LIFE spaces. Their home base is the Celestial Islands Continent of the Elysium World.
Divine Celestials: Cannot manifest in countless forms, but possess spiritual powers — they can soar through clouds, pass between the visible and invisible realms, perceive past and future, and travel instantly across vast distances. They are solitary beings, roaming freely wherever they wish.
Terrestrial Celestials: Long-lived, eat little, have no illness or worry, can walk on water, pass through walls, and fly at treetop level. Mainly found in the Ten-Thousand-Year World.
Human Celestials: Still have a physical body, but their consciousness has transcended ordinary human awareness — they know the structure of the cosmos, the thirty-six-dimensional space, the mechanisms of karma, and the laws of reincarnation. They hold no private property, enter no competition, and live entirely by flowing with nature. Death holds no fear for them. Concentrated in the Thousand-Year World.
Ghost Celestials: The physical body has died, but consciousness remains in the human world — typically produced by exceptionally clever people who reached too fast in the wrong direction.

Buddhas are divided into ten grades, from the highest at the Supreme Enlightenment Continent down to the lowest at the Lotus Continent. There are no true buddhas in the human world — only the buddha-nature latent within each person. Once someone cultivates their buddha-nature to its fullness, they immediately depart the body and arrive at the Lotus Continent.

Level 4 — Demons A manifestation of buddhas who temporarily go to an extreme during their cultivation. Their power exceeds that of buddhas and approaches that of gods — which is why, when demons proliferate, the Greatest Creator personally constrains them within the Negative Pole Black Hole.

Level 5 — Humans Beings who live on Earth through six senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and spiritual sensing. Humans have no special spiritual powers and depend on food to survive. Within the human level, there are five inner tiers (see next section).

Level 6 — Birds Their range of movement exceeds that of humans, but their wisdom is lower. They live in groups, in family-based communities. The red-crowned crane is the highest-grade bird; domestic poultry is the lowest.

Level 7 — Flowering Plants Plants that flower but bear no fruit. Their spirituality is remarkably high — described as near-replicas of flowering plants in the Ten-Thousand-Year World, placed in the human world specifically to awaken and remind people of higher spiritual aspiration. Peony is the highest-grade flower.

Level 8 — Livestock Managed and protected by humans, directly serving human life. Lower in freedom than wild animals, but also lower in existential risk. "Wild animals only take; livestock only give."

Level 9 — Land wildlife and aquatic creatures

Level 10 — Trees

Level 11 — Insects

Level 12 — Grasses and crops Lingzhi (reishi mushroom) is the highest-grade grass; ordinary grass is the lowest.

Level 13 — Microorganisms and fungi

Level 14 — Ghosts and spectral beings of the Underworld

Level 15 — Beings in the Ice-Freezing Realm

Level 16 — Beings in the Fire-Refinement Realm

The Five Kinds of Humans¶

Humans at Level 5 are not all equivalent. Within the human level, there are five inner tiers, ranked by the quality and degree of their spirituality:

Primal People — live by instinct. Life is disordered, reactive, ruled by impulse. Previous lives: trees or lower-order animals.

Worldly People — live for desire: money, status, reputation, physical pleasure. Calculating, short-sighted, willing to sacrifice anything for advantage. Previous lives: higher animals, livestock, or birds.

Ordinary People — live by feeling: family, friendship, belonging, nation. The most internally conflicted of the five — they feel and think enough to sense how constrained they are, but not yet free enough to rise above it. Previous lives: worldly people or ordinary people.

Wise People — live by reason: clear-headed, principled, largely free from the grip of fame and money. The backbone of civilized society. But they remain bound by time and space — without spiritual cultivation, they cannot enter higher LIFE spaces. Previous lives: celestials or wise people.

Celestials among humans — live by spirituality: they have seen through the mysteries of the cosmos, are free from all attachment to status and possession, and experience life as a light, joyful journey. Death, for them, is something to look forward to. Reaching this level means the Thousand-Year World is waiting. Previous lives: celestials or Human Celestials of the Thousand-Year World.

Three Things That Change with Level¶

Conflict decreases: "The higher the level of LIFE, the fewer conflicts LIFE has with its surrounding environment; the lower the level of LIFE, the more conflicts." (New Era Human 800 Concepts, Concept 366)

Love increases: "The core component of a higher LIFE's consciousness is love. The higher the LIFE, the higher the love content in its consciousness; the lower the LIFE, the lower the love content." (New Era Human 800 Concepts, Concept 367)

Heaven and hell are defined by this: "The lower the level of LIFE, the more it lacks love and affection. What is hell? A place with no love and affection. The higher the level of LIFE, the richer its love and affection. What is heaven? A place filled with love and affection." (New Era Human 800 Concepts, Concept 585)

How to Check Your Own Level¶

Xue Feng offers a practical self-test: examine the nature of your qing — your emotional and affective life.

Does qing bring you pain and anxiety? → Ordinary human feeling
Does qing bring you joy and warmth? → Celestial feeling
Must you possess or control the people you love? → Ordinary human
Can you give them complete freedom and still feel sweet? → Celestial

"If your qing is ordinary human feeling, you can only remain human. If your qing is celestial feeling, you are no longer human but a celestial — and when your human journey ends, you can proceed to the celestial realm."

The Path Forward Is Clear¶

"The road of LIFE is very clear. Speaking in terms of spaces: people in the human world should strive toward the Thousand-Year World; Human Celestials of the Thousand-Year World should strive toward the Ten-Thousand-Year World; Terrestrial Celestials of the Ten-Thousand-Year World should strive toward becoming free-roaming Divine Celestials; Divine Celestials should strive toward the Elysium World, becoming Heavenly Celestials. Reaching the Elysium World is the peak of LIFE's ascent. Humans cannot become gods; they certainly cannot become the Greatest Creator."

This is not a ranking that makes lower levels worthless. It is a map. Knowing where you are and where the next destination lies is the beginning of a purposeful journey.