Following Causes Freely · Roaming at Ease · Internal Reference¶
Guide Xuefeng's original texts, for deep study
I. Core Essay — Following Causes Freely · Roaming at Ease¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Immortal Cultivation · "Following Causes Freely · Roaming at Ease"
What distinguishes the Celestial Path from the Buddhist path, the Christian path, and the path of ordinary humanity is that the others all involve constraints, shackles, prohibitions, and reservations — whereas the Celestial Path has none. The Celestial Path is: following causes freely, roaming at ease.
Buddhism speaks of the "Five Precepts, Ten Virtues" and "precepts, concentration, and wisdom." Christianity speaks of original sin and redemption. The human path has an entire system of social ethics and moral codes. But the Celestial Path pursues the bare expression of one's original nature — free, joyful, following causes freely, roaming at ease.
Laozi understood the Celestial Path deeply: "Return to the infinite" and "return to the state of the infant" — these are among the secrets of the Celestial Path. An infant has no accumulated knowledge, no wisdom-constructs, no precepts, no reservations. It cries when it wants to cry, laughs when it wants to laugh. It doesn't weigh up power, money, reputation, or desire. Its nature is pure, its original self intact. That is why an infant resembles a celestial being. Jesus also said: "Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." The Buddha's teaching of "not generating thoughts from form, not generating thoughts from sound, scent, taste, touch, or concepts" is also, in effect, the infant's state — which is the celestial being's state.
Becoming a celestial being is the easiest thing in the world — simply become like a small child.
Becoming a celestial being is the hardest thing in the world — because it requires inverted thinking, the abandonment of all accumulated conventions, and a return to one's true nature.
The Celestial Path doesn't concern itself with the Five Precepts, Ten Virtues, or concentration and wisdom. It doesn't concern itself with original sin and redemption. It doesn't concern itself with any tangle of social ethics or moral codes. It only: maintains love, is grateful for everything, expresses the original nature, follows causes freely, and roams at ease.
If we find life exhausting, we are far from the Celestial Path. If we grow ever more joyful, free, and at ease, we are drawing near.
II. New Era Human 800 Concepts — Core Passages¶
New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · Concept 464
Mind without abiding, mind without hindrance, following causes freely, roaming at ease. Act when it is time to act, stop when it is time to stop, even in the midst of things, remain roaming at ease.
New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · Concept 470
Buddhism speaks of "Five Precepts, Ten Virtues" and "precepts, concentration, wisdom." Christianity speaks of original sin and redemption. The human path has a system of social ethics. But the Celestial Path is: the bare expression of original nature, free and joyful, following causes freely, roaming at ease.
New Era Human 800 Concepts, 4th Edition · Concept 497
The three-step path to becoming a celestial being: First step — saying farewell to worry, pain, sadness, anxiety, and fear, living in joy, happiness, freedom, and bliss — one has already become a celestial being. Second step — mind without abiding, mind without hindrance, following causes freely, roaming at ease, dwelling in delight at all times — one already is a celestial being. Third step — no mind, everything arises from innate nature, fluid adaptability of exceptional sensitivity, possessing 64 kinds of spiritual powers. Mind without abiding, mind without hindrance, no-self, no-form, self-coherence. Following causes freely, roaming at ease, united with the Tao, free and graceful.
III. The Nature and Expression of the Celestial Path¶
Other Articles · 2023 · The Principle of Elimination in the Way of Nature
The core of the Celestial Path is following causes freely and roaming at ease — absolute freedom without any tether, carefree spontaneous expression, casual ease in every encounter and moment. If on our journey we feel tired, weary, uncomfortable, or disheartened, it signals that we have departed from the Celestial Path and from the Way of Nature.
Other Articles · 2021 · Entrusting Life and Death to the Greatest Creator
Chanyuan Celestials are cultivating immortality. Their style is following causes freely, roaming at ease. No matter if the sky falls and the earth sinks, no matter if the world is in chaos — as long as a Chanyuan Celestial is alive, they remain like a fisherman sitting calmly on a boat in a storm. Still romantic, optimistic, free, and graceful.
Chanyuan Corpus · Immortal Cultivation · "A Still Mind Is the Mind of a Celestial Being"
The state of a celestial being is: mind without hindrance, free and easy, acting when it is time to act, stopping when it is time to stop, in the midst of things, remaining roaming at ease. "The sky is wide — let birds soar; the sea is vast — let fish leap." Feeling is in the mountains and rivers, love is scattered across the cosmos. Going along with each encounter, flowing with each cause, moving with one's nature, acting with each moment. Non-acting yet nothing is left undone. No grasping, no obstruction, no stagnation. Free and graceful.
IV. The Three Realms of Celestial Beings¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Immortal Cultivation · "The Three Realms of Celestial Beings and Three Steps to Becoming One"
The three realms of celestial beings are: First — worldly affections and relationships have faded. One has achieved going along with each encounter, flowing with each cause, moving with one's nature, acting with each moment. No longer obsessed with money, power, status, fame, beauty. Able to follow causes freely, roam at ease. Second — no more worldly bonds, no more attachments, no more debts. No-self, no selfishness, no clinging. United with heaven and earth, united with the Tao. One has achieved "own nothing, have everything" — no home yet home everywhere, no kin yet love everywhere. Third — thought has transcended the boundaries of heaven and earth. Consciousness has gone beyond the human realm. Body, mind, and spirit have reached a high degree of freedom. Possessing boundless spiritual powers and transformations.
V. Why the Red Dust Makes This So Difficult¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Immortal Cultivation · "In the Red Dust, Becoming Celestial and Buddha Is Difficult"
The celestial being is nature itself — following causes freely, roaming at ease, united with the Tao, free and graceful.
In the red dust, becoming celestial and buddha is difficult because there is no way to achieve mind-without-abiding and mind-without-hindrance, no soil or conditions to enter the realm of no-self, no-form, self-coherence. People are occupied all day with food, clothing, shelter, transport, birth, aging, sickness, and death. They are entangled in worldly affairs. They cannot follow causes freely. Their consciousness is constrained by conventional ideas and moral codes. They cannot reach the state of union with the Tao, freedom, and grace.
Following causes freely and roaming at ease is the basic condition of celestial beings and buddhas. In the red dust, a person must rush about, worry, and be anxious for survival. They are bound by property, relatives, beliefs, and laws. They cannot follow causes freely. Even if someone travels to the ends of the earth, their heart holds countless attachments — how can they roam at ease?
VI. As a Quality to Cultivate¶
Xuefeng Corpus · Encouragement · "Eight Methods for Chanyuan Celestials to Elevate Their Character" (Method 7)
Method 7: Roaming at Ease, Following Causes Freely
Speaking with ease and vitality, roaming at ease. Flirtatious banter, following causes freely. Broad-minded and optimistic in adversity, free and graceful in good fortune. "Toward others, not half a trace of deceit or concealment. In affairs, only one flavor: calm and unhurried." Retreat a thousand miles without self-pity, advance ten thousand without arrogance. Going and coming with ease, never falling into convention.
Other Articles · 2023 · Rules for Survival When the Epidemic Rages
As someone cultivating immortality, maintain an attitude of roaming at ease, romantic and optimistic in any circumstances. The sky is falling — ha, wonderful! The earth is sinking — hey, interesting! No road ahead — wow, so that's how it is! The earth is disappearing — let's go, off to the Thousand-Year World! This way, there is no moment without joy, no place without romance.