Standards of Perfect Human Nature (Internal Reference)¶
This version compiles source texts in their original form, organized by the seven-step logical framework. For deep study and doctrinal reference.
I. Definition and Essence¶
Perfect human nature is the ultimate goal of cultivation practice and the sole passport to higher life realms.
Perfect human nature is, for the individual, the prerequisite for LIFE to enter the higher realms; for all humanity, it is the precondition for building a just, peaceful, and happy system of universal values. Without perfect human nature, the individual cannot obtain a happy and fulfilling life, nor have a beautiful future, and all humanity can only forever drift in competition, confrontation, and war.
Perfect human nature must possess eight conditions:
- Reverence for the Greatest Creator, respect for celestials and Buddhas, and respect for others;
- No sense of winning or losing, no fighting spirit;
- Love of nature;
- Modesty, trustworthiness, and honesty;
- Compassion and mercy;
- Ability to self-adjust and maintain calmness regardless of favorable or adverse circumstances;
- Compliance with natural laws, without seeking special powers;
- Love of LIFE and love of labor.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature)
The overall goal: attain perfect human nature. The highest goal: transcend space-time, journey toward eternity.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · 18 Factors That Constitute Inevitability)
II. Perfect Human Nature and the Hierarchy of LIFE¶
Those who meet the standards of perfect human nature are called "sages" (贤人) in the Lifechanyuan cosmological hierarchy, positioned between ordinary people and immortals (人仙/圣人):
Celestial Immortals (Buddhas) → Immortal Spirits → Land Immortals → Human Immortals (Saints) → Those with Perfect Human Nature (Sages) → Common People → Worldly People → Confused People
The Millennium Realm is the corresponding destination for those who attain perfect human nature:
The Millennium Realm is purely a world of truth, goodness, and beauty — a world of love, peace, and happiness, an elevated world of human nature. Any person who has attained perfect human nature can go there without question, and there is no limit on numbers.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Antimatter World Chapter · The Millennium Realm)
Those who have attained the standard of perfect human nature must go to the Millennium Realm; those who have attained the Tao go to the Ten-Thousand-Year Realm; those who have become Buddhas go to the Elysium Realm.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan Chapter · Opening an Era of Reason, Harmony, and Human Nature)
To send the sages among humanity who have reached the standard of perfect human nature to the higher life realms is the primary purpose of Lifechanyuan.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan Chapter · Ode on the Launch of the Lifechanyuan Website)
III. The Eight Standards in Detail¶
Standard 1: Reverence for the Greatest Creator, respect for celestials and Buddhas, respect for others¶
How to revere the Greatest Creator:
- Fear the Greatest Creator as if walking a tightrope or treading on thin ice.
- Do not disregard the Greatest Creator and worship other deities or worldly heroes.
- Maintain gratitude toward the Lord-Buddha-Greatest Creator from beginning to end.
- Do not distort the image of the Greatest Creator; do not blaspheme.
- Do not speak or act in the name of the Greatest Creator.
Revering celestials and Buddhas enables the elevation of human nature; revering them brings wisdom; revering them enables understanding of the negative universe; revering them enables the discovery of the life passage. Regarding the reverence of celestials and Buddhas as superstition is a great misunderstanding. The known world is small; the unknown world is vast.
As for respect for others: from the perspective of human nature, all lives are equal. There is no life more noble than ours, and no life more base than ours. A person with perfect human nature treats all lives equally — regardless of whether the person is a president or an ordinary citizen, healthy or disabled, wealthy or impoverished, elderly or infant, royalty or prisoner, Muslim or Jain — we must respect them all.
Respect means accepting others' beliefs, habits, preferences, and characteristics that differ from our own.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature)
Standard 2: No sense of winning or losing, no fighting spirit¶
The meaning of life lies in seeking the Tao and becoming a celestial, not in competing and winning. A person who spends their entire life and energy struggling to gain wealth, fame, status, and glory is getting things backwards.
The sole passport to the higher life realms is: perfect human nature. Everything else is burden and waste.
The person with the greatest prospects in human society is neither the president, the scientist, nor the national hero — nor the artist, the writer, nor the ordinary person — but the person who possesses perfect human nature.
The Buddha Shakyamuni revealed: "Attaining the samadhi of non-contention is the highest among humans, the first among those free from desire." This means: reaching the state of no winning-or-losing mind, no fighting spirit — this is the highest state of being human. Reaching this state enables transcendence of birth and death and an end to reincarnation.
A person without winning-or-losing mind or fighting spirit is a living Bodhisattva, an immortal, a great person of the world.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature)
Standard 3: Love of nature¶
Nature is the precious gift given to us by the Lord-Buddha-Greatest Creator; the Earth is our beautiful home.
How to love nature: Do not wear animal skins or furs; do not wear animal leather shoes; do not use animal-derived accessories or bags. Do not eat wild animal meat. Do not hunt or harm wild animals. Do not cut trees recklessly. Do not participate in any activities that pollute the air, earth, rivers, or otherwise damage nature. Love and protect nature, and nature will love, protect, and nurture us in return.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature)
Standard 4: Modesty, trustworthiness, and honesty¶
True modesty is being factual: neither exaggerating oneself nor diminishing oneself.
A truly modest person can reach this state: all things are equal, and I am nothing special; the mysteries are infinite, and I know only a little. Beyond the mountain lies another mountain; beyond the sky lies another sky.
Trustworthiness is one of the most important hallmarks of perfect human nature. It means fully assuming one's responsibilities and obligations; it means "what is said will be done, what is done will bear fruit"; it means not talking carelessly or deceiving others.
Honesty is the essence of human nature; woodenness is the essence of object-nature; cunning is the essence of beast-nature; transcendence is the essence of Buddha-nature.
Regardless of how treacherous the path of life or how capricious fate may be, to possess perfect human nature and obtain a beautiful eternal future, one must be honest. Keep your eyes fixed on the more distant, more valuable ultimate goal of life.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature)
Standard 5: Compassion and mercy¶
Compassion and mercy — love — is the higher level of human nature, the bridge and necessary path to Buddha-nature.
Compassion means compassion for the bitter fate of all humanity; mercy means mercy for the tragic outcome of each individual.
Compassion and mercy elevate our character. Without compassion and mercy, we become no different from plants and animals. Holding compassion and mercy makes us wiser, more intelligent, more rational.
But note: for people with strong self-respect, being pitied is a form of humiliation. Do not casually show compassion in expression or action. If someone is starving but has not asked for your help, do not offer it; if someone has suffered misfortune but has not asked for your assistance, do not intervene.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature)
Standard 6: Self-adjustment and calmness in all circumstances¶
In favorable circumstances, do not become arrogant — attribute all good fortune to the blessings of the Greatest Creator and maintain gratitude, so you do not become reckless or let joy turn to sorrow. In adverse circumstances, do not give up — attribute all misfortune to your own errors and karmic debts, so you do not end up resenting heaven, earth, society, and others. As long as there is no resentment, no regret, and no hatred, the mind can remain calm, and circumstances can be turned around.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature)
Standard 7: Compliance with natural laws, without seeking special powers¶
Everything in the universe that operates according to natural laws lives; whatever violates natural laws dies.
The ultimate goal of life should be positioned at the pursuit of perfect human nature and at extending LIFE to higher realms. Achieving this goal does not require special powers at all. Any attempt to take shortcuts will ultimately waste time. The desire for speed will prevent arrival.
Transcending the ordinary does not necessarily require special powers. Cultivation practice is not for the purpose of obtaining special powers.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature)
Standard 8: Love of LIFE and love of labor¶
The physical body comes from one's parents; the spiritual body comes from the Greatest Creator. Therefore, loving LIFE primarily means protecting the body to honor one's parents, and loving the spiritual body to revere the Greatest Creator.
LIFE is above all else. Loving LIFE means honoring one's parents and loving the Greatest Creator. Harming LIFE means scorning one's parents and opposing the Greatest Creator.
Labor is the only correct path to maintaining health, sustaining LIFE, obtaining happiness, and seeking survival. Labor is the most noble activity of humanity. All human achievements are the result of labor. Despising labor or diminishing its value is a hallmark of deficient human nature — the philosophy of parasites.
To work eight hours each day — regardless of whether the work is physical, mental, or a combination; regardless of whether for earning a living or for recreation; regardless of wealth or poverty. Work is not only a means of survival, but "an effective means of maintaining health and vitality, and a necessary condition for attaining perfect human nature."
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Standards of Perfect Human Nature; Elementary Cultivation Practice — 51 Articles)
IV. Cultivation Pathway¶
Advanced cultivation practice is the cultivation of those in human society who are rare — those who have basically attained perfect human nature — the cultivation leading to the Ten-Thousand-Year Realm and the Elysium Realm.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Cultivation Practice Chapter · Advanced Cultivation Practice)
Time is short. You must develop toward the standards of perfect human nature. Lifechanyuan has given "eight standards of perfect human nature." To achieve this goal, Lifechanyuan has put forward 51 articles of elementary cultivation practice, 11 articles of intermediate cultivation practice, 23 methods of elementary refinement, and the 8-heart method of intermediate refinement: calming the heart, stopping the heart, governing the heart, correcting the heart, emptying the heart, settling the heart, purifying the heart, concluding the heart.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Warning to the World Chapter · Called by Heaven to Gather Living Souls)
V. Perfect Human Nature and the New Era¶
People are divided into five types: confused people (instinct-driven), worldly people (fame-driven), common people (emotion-driven), sages (reason-driven), and immortals (spirituality-driven). Those with perfect human nature are sages — the most exemplary people in the world.
Those who have spirituality and have attained perfect human nature can be saved.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Chanyuan Chapter · Lifechanyuan Q&A)