Past Life, Present Life, and Future Life (Internal Reference)¶
I. Definition and Essence: The Three-Life Journey as One Continuum¶
Life is a journey. No matter how many times one reincarnates — even if cycling through the human world a thousand or ten thousand times — if memory is lost, then we effectively have only one life in the human realm. We know nothing of our past life, and nothing is clear about our future life. What connection or meaning could past and future lives have for us? Only those who clearly understand their own past and can see their own future are truly living with clarity — they alone can turn tragedy into joy, and step from the realm of necessity into the realm of freedom, savoring the finest beauty that the journey of LIFE has to offer.
(800 Values for New Era Humanity, Value 45)
Here lies the crux of the matter: if one cannot remember one's past life and has no clear sense of one's future life, then the past self, the present self, and the future self seem entirely disconnected. Since there is no thread of memory linking past, present, and future, why should we cultivate for some future self who feels like a stranger? The present me does not know the past me; the future me will not know the present me. What meaning does cultivating for our future self have?
This is what confusion looks like.
Why did the Buddha call us all confused, wandering sentient beings? Why does Lifechanyuan's founder Xuefeng call us "spiritually numb"? Because we neither clearly understand our past lives nor know our future lives. We are souls in a daze. We are sleeping souls.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Chapter · Response to the Question of User "Meili De Jingjing")
II. The Mechanism of Memory Erasure¶
Endlessly generating, ceaselessly cycling — past-life memories erased, reappearing in a specific space-time region as a "new self," tirelessly, hopefully, all living things flourishing, LIFE recurring endlessly, the drama forever unfolding, the game never stopping. This is the Life-and-Death Formation.
Birth, growth, decline, death — constant renewal, constant elimination — scene after scene, act after act; no eternal permanence, no final death; scenery forever ahead, receding scenery behind; wave following wave; seemingly bright then dark, dark then bright; an inexhaustible journey, reincarnation without end. This is the Life-and-Death Formation.
(Chanyuan Corpus · The Thirty-Six Bagua Formations · Life-and-Death Formation)
(Question:) Where are the memories of a person's past lives stored? When all past-life memories are opened, how does the person distinguish their own self?
(Xuefeng's answer:) In the negative universe. If all past-life memories were truly opened, the person would merge with the Dao and could no longer distinguish a separate self.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Chapter · Answering Questions, Part 2)
Drink a bowl of Mengpo's broth — all past lives forgotten — enter the ethereal realm, and set forth for the Elysian Islands. That is the homeland you have longed for in your dreams.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Famous Figures Chapter · Crossing the Bridge of Sighs, Drinking Mengpo's Broth — To Hu Yinmeng)
III. Past Life as Cause, Present Life as Effect: The Law of Karma¶
The fate-formation is the fixed number — the Dao's arrangement of rewards and punishments based on each person's past-life genetic information; it is the one-time final accounting of all merits and transgressions accumulated before birth. Everything in this life that one cannot choose or control is karmic repayment for the merits and wrongs of past lives — past life as cause, present life as effect.
(Chanyuan Corpus · The Thirty-Six Bagua Formations · The Fate Formation)
Everything the Patriarch Bodhidharma said was true. He said: "To know the causes of a past life, look at what one receives in this life; to know the fruits of a future life, look at what one does in this life."
"Receives" — to take in, to accept, to bear — implies no choice, an inevitable reckoning. This one word shows that everything in this life is the inescapable fruit one must eat. So: don't resent having no money in this life; face unreasonable people with equanimity rather than hatred; meet misfortune with composure. When blessings come, enjoy them; when hardship comes, bear it. What must come will come; what must go will go. There is no rushing it.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Heart and Mind Chapter · Cause and Effect Cycle, Everything Is Inevitable)
No one in all the world is unjustly treated. The reasons: First, the Greatest Creator is just and has never wronged anyone. Second, the Dao operates without the slightest deviation — "Heaven's net is wide; nothing slips through." Third, the rewards and punishments of cause and effect are precise to the last detail: "Misfortune and blessing have no fixed gates — only humans summon them." Fourth, reality is a projection of one's own consciousness. Fifth, to know the causes of a past life, look at what one receives in this life; to know the fruits of a future life, look at what one does now...
(800 Values for New Era Humanity, Value 74)
Everything in this life was determined by the thoughts, intentions, and actions of one's past and prior past lives. This is fate, and it cannot be changed in this lifetime — it was already fixed. The efforts of this life only take effect in the future life. Put simply: today is determined by yesterday and the day before; how tomorrow and the day after go depends on the efforts of today.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Transmission Chapter · Exploring the Mystery of the Life Script)
Character is the inherited trait of the past life's LIFE carrier. Character is absolutely not inherited from one's parents. Character determines the overall direction of a person's development. Character is one's original nature — a form of consciousness-potential that is very difficult for a person to overcome or control, which is why people say "easy to change mountains and rivers, hard to change fundamental nature." What kind of character one has shapes what kind of life one lives.
(800 Values for New Era Humanity, Value 390)
The wrongdoings of past lives affect this life… The conclusion is: what you did yesterday shapes your today; what you do today will shape your tomorrow. The karmic debts of past lives affect this life; what you do in this life will affect your future life.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Chapter · 18 Factors That Constitute Inevitability)
When others betray us, we understand: this is debt from past and present lives being repaid. When others humiliate us, we understand: this is the test of the drama, teaching us equanimity and poise. When hardship arrives, we understand: this is an opportunity for growth, a checkpoint for breaking through the self.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Civilization Chapter · The First Benefit of Purifying the Heart — Not Being Wounded by the Human World)
IV. Present Life as Effort, Future Life as Fruit: The Living Script¶
The script of this life is already set; the script of the next life is constantly shifting... The past script is fixed; the future script is alive — it updates in real time according to each person's thoughts and the quality of their role-playing.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Transmission Chapter · Exploring the Mystery of the Life Script)
This life's fate-formation is already set. One can only work toward the fate-formation of the next life. Each person's fate-formation differs, and it is entirely determined by the depth of their cultivation. The future life's fate-formation is completely decided and chosen by oneself. If a person continues to live in confusion, the next life's fate-formation will be little different from this life's — just one more reincarnation. If one remains confused forever, one has no choice but to reincarnate forever.
(Chanyuan Corpus · The Thirty-Six Bagua Formations · The Fate Formation)
To know the causes of a past life, look at what one receives in this life; to know the fruits of a future life, look at what one does in this life. The script of this present life was fixed by the words, deeds, intentions, and thoughts of our past life — there is no choice; one can only play out the drama as scripted. Our inner mental activity is not fixed. While earnestly playing the current role well, one can in one's consciousness envision the next life's role one would like to inhabit. This vision must remain constant and unwavering. The Dao of the Greatest Creator will, according to this LIFE's merits and the purity of its consciousness, arrange the script of the next incarnation.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Chapter · On the Confusion Regarding the Role One Should Play in This Life)
V. Cultivation Practice: Seeing Through the Three-Life Connection Is the Core of Awakening¶
The purpose of cultivation is to open spiritual awareness (灵觉) — to awaken from sleep, to clearly understand one's past life and future life. Otherwise, our life will always be a confused life, no different from that of animals and insects: born and immediately toiling; eat, sleep, wake to eat again, eat, sleep again, day after day in ceaseless cycles.
The importance of cultivation lies in using the steady, persistent effort of "dripping water wears through stone, a rope saws through wood" to find the connection between the past-life self, the present-life self, and the future-life self — thereby understanding the direction and goal of one's life, moving from darkness into light. "Finding a bright new village beyond the shadowed willows" — this describes the moment when a cultivator finally opens spiritual awareness and suddenly grasps the mystery of LIFE.
Some people say they have awakened — in reality they have not. A true awakening can only happen when one knows the mystery of LIFE and understands one's past and future lives.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Chapter · Response to the Question of User "Meili De Jingjing")
There's nothing particularly wrong with living in confusion — some find it quite comfortable. Like a single pig among a herd in a pig farm, not knowing why one is alive, laughing through life, not caring about past or future lives, not caring about karmic cycles — simple, and not bad at all. The only problem with being among the wandering masses is having no future...
(Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Chapter · See If You Belong to the Masses of Ordinary Beings)
VI. Ultimate Destination: Complete Three-Life Memory in Higher Realms¶
Those in the Ten-Thousand-Year World can clearly remember their past lives and know the conditions of the Thousand-Year World and the human realm.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Antimatter World Chapter · The Ten-Thousand-Year World)
Unconventional thinking is the supreme method for exploring the mysteries of the universe and understanding the true nature of reality — the best path for finding the meaning of life. If we proceed step by step, we will eventually enter a vast and open world. There, we will be astonished to discover the essence of the universe and the mystery of LIFE; we will be thrilled that we have a beautiful celestial future life ahead; we will love life and humanity even more, and cherish this present life even more.
(800 Values for New Era Humanity, Value 671)
Cause and effect cycle; everything is inevitable. Walking the Dao of the Greatest Creator, reaching the Thousand-Year World, the Ten-Thousand-Year World, the Elysian Islands and the Elysium Celestial World — this is inevitable.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Heart and Mind Chapter · Cause and Effect Cycle, Everything Is Inevitable)