Own Nothing, Have Everything — Internal Reference¶
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I. Definition and Declaration¶
Own nothing, have everything — this is not a paradox, but one of the greatest secrets for journeying toward ever more beautiful LIFE spaces. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
- Own nothing, and you will have everything. (New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · No. 115)
"Own Nothing, Have Everything" is a portrait of life in the Kingdom of Heaven — when a person lives in the state of "owning nothing yet having everything," they are already living in paradise. (Guide's Other Articles · 2022 · "A Plain-Language Explanation of Own Nothing, Have Everything")
II. The Unified Teaching of Celestials, Buddhas, and Saints¶
Jesus Christ taught us not to store up treasures on earth, but to store up treasures in heaven — meaning that only by possessing nothing on earth can one enter the Kingdom of God.
The Buddha Shakyamuni taught us not to let our minds dwell on form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or phenomena; to generate a mind that abides nowhere; to have no notion of self, of other, of sentient beings, or of lifespan; to see all appearances as illusory and all conditioned phenomena as dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows. This means: possess nothing, and you can enter the Pure Land.
Laozi the Immortal taught us to practice non-action (wu wei), to place oneself last, not to contend, to hold the world as one's own body, to "produce but not possess, act but not claim," "to strive but when done, not to dwell upon it" — in short, to give without holding on.
The teaching of Celestials, Buddhas, and Saints, in one sentence: strive to own nothing.
Their teaching is the Way of LIFE, the Way of Light — the path to truly having everything. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
Muhammad conveyed the words of Allah: "Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter, We increase for him his harvest; and whoever desires the harvest of this world, We give him thereof, but in the Hereafter there is no share for him." Those who possess have already received their reward; there will be no share for them in the age to come. So: only give, and your future gains will be immense — the less you possess, the more you will ultimately have. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
III. Cosmic Law and the Logic of Cause and Effect¶
Taiji thinking has shown us that the sum of positive and negative energy in the universe is zero. Whatever you gain in one domain, you must lose in another, in order to maintain the zero-sum law of cosmic energy. The more fortune you accumulate in this life, the less remains for the next. Therefore, to enter a more beautiful future existence, you must give more and possess less in this one. Following the Buddha's teaching, practice formless giving — the merit accumulated through formless giving is immense and inconceivable. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
From nothing, something is born; from something, nothing returns. The more empty, the more full; the more full, the more empty. Own nothing and you can have everything; own everything and you will end up with nothing. The more you possess, the more hollow you become; the more empty you are, the more real you become. Walk into the realm of emptiness, clarity, and beauty — ten thousand colors bloom in abundance. Step into wealth, power, and pleasure — your body will be no longer your own, and suffering will be endless. Being and non-being give rise to each other; being and non-being accomplish each other. If you wish to have in the Kingdom of Heaven, achieve non-having here on earth. If you wish to have every day, practice non-having every moment.
"Being is useful; non-being is functional." If you wish to have, work at the level of non-having. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Eight Great Cosmic Dialectics")
Own nothing and you will have everything; through wu wei, you achieve everything. Hold to the illusory and you will possess the real; cling to the real and it becomes illusion. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "The Dialectical Relationship Between Reality and Illusion")
Many people are born into wealth — this is largely the fruit of virtue accumulated in previous lives. Many people are born into poverty — this is because they accumulated little virtue in previous lives, or none at all. Fact proves: to obtain blessings in the next life, you must accumulate virtue in this one; to become a celestial being in the next life, you must strive to own nothing in this one. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
IV. The More You Possess, the More You Suffer — A Mirror of Contrast¶
The more you possess, the more troubles multiply, the more complications arise, the more crises deepen, the more disasters loom — your body and mind will never find peace. You will spend your whole life haunted, scheming and straining to protect what you own; you will lie, compete, harm others, harm nature; you will invite the jealousy, resentment, envy, and plunder of others — and your LIFE quality will drift ever further from the Kingdom of Heaven, ever closer to the animal realm and the lower realms.
The more you possess, the further you drift from Heaven. The more desperately you try to own everything, the more certainly you will end up with nothing.
Everything we strive to accumulate in this human world will ultimately dissolve into illusion. A life spent chasing possessions is a life spent chasing dreams and shadows. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
This is our country's; this is our company's; this is our family's; this is mine — and so, public resources get seized one by one. One day, every mountain and river will be parceled out, and even breathing air will cost a fee. When everyone is driven to possess, everyone ends up embattled and desperate. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
V. Models and Metaphors — Birds, Jesus, the Buddha, Celestial Beings¶
Look at the birds that fly and rest in the forest. What do they own? They own nothing — yet they have sunlight, forests, meadows, streams, insects, and branches to perch on. They lack nothing.
Jesus owned nothing during his earthly life, yet he had everything.
After the Buddha's awakening, he owned nothing — yet he came to possess the Pure Land.
The celestial beings of the Thousand-Year World and Ten-Thousand-Year World own nothing — yet they lack nothing.
The heavenly celestials of the Celestial Islands Continent own nothing — yet they have whatever they desire. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
VI. A Plain-Language Portrait of This State¶
What does the state of "owning nothing yet having everything" actually look like? Here is a plain-language account.
You have no husband, yet husbands surround you everywhere. You have no wife, yet wives fill the world around you.
You have no blood relatives, yet people who cherish you are everywhere.
You have no home, yet wherever you go, everything you need for living is provided.
You have no money, yet everything money can buy is freely available to you.
You have no fixed job, yet there is always something to do anywhere, and you are never unemployed.
You hold no power, yet wherever you go, everyone treats you with boundless respect.
You have no stage of your own, yet you can radiate your beauty, passion, gifts, and charm anywhere and in any setting.
You have no status, yet you are honored as only an emperor is honored.
This picture is a bit earthly in its imagery, but it conveys the state of "owning nothing yet having everything." To attain this state, there is one condition: you must develop the inner state of heart and consciousness that corresponds to this way of life. And there is only one path to that state: uphold the Lifechanyuan values and walk strictly along the Tour Guide's route map. (Guide's Other Articles · 2022 · "A Plain-Language Explanation of Own Nothing, Have Everything")
VII. The Practice of Consciousness — The Art of Non-Possession¶
The boundary between the ethereal and the real is no boundary at all; it all depends on the state of our own consciousness. "Form is emptiness; emptiness is form." From nothing, something arises; within something, there is ultimately nothing — all that exists is emptiness. The key is to master the method of consciousness. What I require of Chanyuan Celestials is to "not possess, yet have everything." The more you desire to possess, the more emptiness you court. The more you maintain emptiness, the more you come to have. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Xuefeng Propagates the Dao, Parts 1–8")
To have nothing at all — that is the highest state of LIFE; to have nothing at all — that is the path to paradise, the world of freedom. Own nothing and you will have everything; the more selfless you are, the more you gain for yourself; the more you possess, the more not only do your troubles multiply, but the further you drift from Heaven; the more you practice wu wei, the more you achieve without doing. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "The Meaning and Distinction Between Wu Wei and You Wei")
The sage has no private heart; the sage's heart is the heart of all people. The celestial being owns nothing; the celestial being's "having" is the having of the Heavenly Way. Own nothing and you will have everything. The moment you possess something, your heart becomes entangled; you will generate inverted fantasies; you will feel fear; you will experience troubles and suffering; you will not attain true fruition. Therefore: give ceaselessly, without generating the heart of possession — then you will be blameless, carefree, and you will ascend to the Celestial Islands Continent. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Only Create and Give — Never Mind Gain or Success")
VIII. Connection to "Self-Coherence" Cultivation¶
How does one cultivate the quality of Self-Coherence? … Fifth: Own nothing, have everything — transcend time and space, roam free as a heavenly horse. (New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · No. 494)
IX. The Non-Ownership System — A Social Dimension¶
The Way of the Greatest Creator is neither private ownership nor public ownership, but non-ownership (无有制): resources are shared, no one holds them; people take what they need without accumulating. Only in this way can the human world become the ideal place, and the beautiful aspirations of humanity be realized. (New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · No. 536)
Those who prefer private ownership are ordinary worldly people. Those who prefer public ownership are virtuous people. Those who prefer non-ownership are celestial beings. (Guide's Other Articles · 2007 · "Compilation of the First 80 Gems · No. 59")
What kind of LIFE structure you have, that is the kind of space you inhabit. Animals scramble on the ground; birds soar through the air; bees weave through flowers; flies circle around refuse. Ordinary worldly people bustle about in a world of family and private ownership; virtuous people move freely in a state of public ownership; celestial beings dwell at leisure in a non-ownership environment; heavenly celestials roam freely in their own worlds. (New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · No. 468)
X. The Second Home — A Living Model of Heaven on Earth¶
Lifechanyuan built the Second Home for precisely this purpose: every person who enters the Second Home owns nothing individually, yet has everything available to them.
Humanity — to live a truly beautiful life; every individual — to reach the Kingdom of Heaven — the only path is to live according to Lifechanyuan values. In doing so, you can own nothing and yet have everything. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
Eight features of the Second Home (New Oasis for LIFE): I. The Way of the Greatest Creator, Hundun management; II. Own nothing, have everything; III. Contribute by ability, take by need; IV. No marriage, no family; V. The elderly are cared for, the young are nurtured; … VIII. Fluid adaptability, boundless transformation. (New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · No. 628)
No. 629: The Second Home's core content includes: I. Implement the non-ownership system — everyone owns nothing individually, yet has everything; II. No marriage, no family, no distinctions of closeness — relationships are those of brothers, sisters, loved ones; III. Contribute by ability, take by need — no extravagance, no waste; IV. All food, clothing, shelter, transportation, birth, aging, illness, and death for all members are collectively borne by the community… (New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · No. 629)
Every individual has no private property — they own nothing, implement the non-ownership system, and have their basic personal needs met. (Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan Essays · "A Replication of Life in the Thousand-Year World")
The Thousand-Year World operates under a non-ownership system for the means of production: resources are shared and belong to no individual or collective. Men and women neither marry nor are given in marriage — just as Jesus revealed: "In the Kingdom of Heaven there is no marrying or giving in marriage." (Chanyuan Corpus · Antimatter World · "Two Glimpses of the Thousand-Year World")
XI. Xuefeng's Personal Testimony — Carefree After Owning Nothing¶
After I donated every last bit of my assets to the Lifechanyuan Second Home, I owned nothing. Before coming to Canada, I had no personal bank account, no savings, not even a needle and thread. I had truly achieved owning nothing — and from that moment I had no fear of thieves, no worry about currency devaluation, and wherever I went, that place became my home.
Since owning nothing, have I lacked for anything? Not once. I never went hungry, never went cold, was never stranded. Not only did I lack nothing in daily life — life became richer and more vivid than before. No mental pressure, no psychological burden, free as the wind, carefree and at ease.
When I was a small business owner living in a villa, earning money every day, I felt sorry for those without a house, money, or car. Today, having tasted the flavor of owning nothing yet having everything, I find those who cling to private property and accumulate many things far more pitiable. (Xuefeng Corpus · Miscellaneous Essays · "Owning Nothing and Having Everything Sets You Free")
XII. When Everyone Owns Nothing, Everyone Has Everything — A Social Vision¶
In the human world: as long as everyone gives more and possesses less, nothing will be lacking and nothing will be scarce. Only when no one possesses anything can everyone have everything.
First, if no one possesses a family, 80% of society's problems dissolve. Second, if no one possesses a nation, 90% of problems are resolved. The remaining 10% are problems of spiritual and inner cultivation.
The consciousness of "possessing something" is the single greatest barrier between us and the Kingdom of Heaven. All who wish to go to the Kingdom of Heaven must clearly recognize this point and put the consciousness of owning nothing into practice. (Chanyuan Corpus · Propagating the Dao · "Own Nothing, Have Everything")
If one day every person on earth owns nothing — no individual holds any private property, not a single cent sits in a personal bank account — that will be the era of Great Harmony. The earth will become a paradise for humanity. Every person will enjoy the blessing of having everything; everyone will be an angel, a bodhisattva, a celestial being or a buddha. Upon leaving this world, they will proceed to the Kingdom of Heaven. That is the most beautiful human life, and the most ideal path of LIFE. (Xuefeng Corpus · Miscellaneous Essays · "Owning Nothing and Having Everything Sets You Free")