The Practical and the Ideal — Internal Reference¶
This version compiles primary source texts for deep study. All quotations are rendered faithfully from the original.
I. Definitions and Essence¶
The virtual (虛) refers to the antimatter realm — intangible, invisible, inaudible, untouchable. It belongs to the domain of spirit and mind.
The real (實) refers to the material realm — tangible, visible, audible, touchable. It belongs to material existence and physical utility.
Pursuing the ideal (務虛) means seeking ideals and faith, upholding convictions and morality, attending to consciousness and spirit, and elevating character and quality.
Pursuing the practical (務實) means seeking use value — primarily the material conditions necessary for basic survival: food, clothing, shelter, mobility, sexual fulfillment, and safety.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Chapter · The Practical and the Ideal)
II. LIFE Levels and the Practical–Ideal Spectrum¶
The lower a being's level, the more it pursues the practical. The more it pursues the practical, the lower its LIFE quality. Pursuing the practical is for survival.
The higher a being's level, the more it pursues the ideal. The more it pursues the ideal, the higher its LIFE quality. Pursuing the ideal is for living.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Chapter · The Practical and the Ideal)
Think about it — are you toiling for survival or for living? If only for survival, that's a great waste.
(New Era 800 Human Concepts, 4th Ed. · Concept 223)
III. Dialectical Unity — Neither May Be Neglected¶
The ideal and the practical are dialectically unified; neither may be abandoned. Survival is the foundation — the better to live; living is the elevation — the better to survive.
To walk the path of the Greatest Creator, one must balance both: the practical secures survival, the ideal elevates LIFE quality toward higher existence. The practical creates conditions for the ideal; the ideal shapes the qualities of a celestial being.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Chapter · The Practical and the Ideal)
I am a person who values real results. I do nothing fruitless, nothing that leads nowhere. Whether pursuing the ideal or the practical, there must be effect. Pursuing the practical is for attaining a beautiful, happy life; pursuing the ideal is for elevating LIFE quality. If something accomplishes neither, I would rather sleep.
(Guide's Other Writings · 2006 · Casual Chat XII)
IV. Cultivation Significance — From Ordinary to Celestial¶
Ordinary people remain ordinary mainly because they spend their whole lives in the practical, neglecting the ideal.
Those whose cultivation goes to extremes — unable to properly resolve food, clothing, shelter, and safety — have mainly focused on the ideal while neglecting the practical.
A wise person is one who handles the practical–ideal relationship appropriately, neglecting neither.
A celestial being is one who has fully experienced human life, resolved the problems of survival, and then devotes large amounts of time to the ideal.
A person purely devoted to the ideal is either a god-buddha or a demon.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Chapter · The Practical and the Ideal)
Do not underestimate the work of pursuing the ideal, and do not seek quick results. Two people of the same age — one goes to school, the other works daily. The student earns nothing at first and even needs support; the worker earns every day. But the student's future is bright; the worker remains as they are for life.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Friendship Chapter · Together in the Same Boat — An Open Letter to a Chanyuan Celestial's Wife)
V. The Pig Parable: Pursuing the Ideal as the Path of Elevation¶
A pig was reading a book in its pen. The other pigs were puzzled: "Brother, we have plenty to eat and drink, our keeper feeds us, we live so freely — why bother with books?"
The reading pig replied thoughtfully: "Without reading and thinking, we will always be pigs. Without reading, we may have pleasure, but never happiness. Pleasure is short-lived; happiness is lasting. Pleasure comes from momentary satisfaction; happiness from enduring freedom from worry. Think about it — confined to this pen, a few square meters, our whole lives looking up at just a patch of sky. The worst is that once they fatten us up, the slaughterhouse is our only destination. Knowing this, I cannot be content with mere pleasure. To escape this fate, I must read."
"Come on, brother — enjoy each day as it comes. We are pigs; being slaughtered is our fate. Accept it!" the others said.
"Brothers, you go ahead and enjoy your practical life. I will pursue the ideal. I will not remain a pig — I will become human, because only as a human can there be happiness," the reading pig said with firm resolve.
"Can a pig really become human?" another thoughtful pig asked.
"Yes, absolutely," the reading pig replied. "When I have acquired human thinking, I will no longer be a pig — I will be human. The sages have said: whatever your mode of thinking is, that is what your life form will be. I have human thinking; I will have a human form of existence. In fact, the moment I recognized that I would be human in my next life, I already felt happiness — I sometimes even look forward to the ordeal coming quickly, to end this pig's life and begin human life."
The reading pig continued: "Brothers, in the next life you will remain pigs, and I will appear before you in human form."
"Brother, you make sense. I also want to be human — a pig truly cannot find happiness," the thoughtful pig said, seemingly awakened.
The reading pig whispered to it: "While we still have food and shelter, seize the time to pursue the ideal."
Without the practical, there will be no comfortable days — poverty is hard to bear. Without the ideal, the best outcome is staying exactly in place — pigs will always be pigs, humans will always be humans.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Wisdom Chapter · The Practical and the Ideal)
VI. Inverted Thinking: Pursuing the Ideal Is True Rationality¶
The teachings of Jesus, Shakyamuni, Muhammad, and Laozi are not difficult to understand — the difficulty lies in practice, because our minds are veiled with dust. Those who come to Lifechanyuan have relatively less dust on their minds. If the dust is very thick, they have no interest in Lifechanyuan — no time for fame and money, let alone time to "waste" on the ideal when they are barely keeping up with the practical.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Warning Chapter · Cherishing the Opportunity of Life)
Striving for faith through the ideal is regarded as foolishness and abnormality in a commodity-dominated society — but from the perspective of life's answer sheet, it is in fact entirely normal.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Friendship Chapter · A Sudden Revelation)
"The movement of the Tao is reversal." When the masses go west, hurry east; when they move to cities, hurry to the countryside; when they pursue the practical, hurry to pursue the ideal. Reverse their direction.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Humanity and Human Life Chapter · The Path of Brightness for Unemployed Graduates)
When faced with great resistance and widespread contempt, listen to how Laozi spoke: "The common people are bright; I alone am dim. The common people are sharp; I alone am dull." In plain terms: when everyone goes to the city, I go to the countryside; when everyone pursues the practical, I pursue the ideal. One must not let collective unconscious determine one's choices.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Miscellaneous Essays · The Relationship Between Collective Unconscious and Individual Conscious)
VII. The Guide's Vision: Pursuing the Ideal as Lifechanyuan's Direction¶
A person who pursues only the practical for a long time will inevitably be submerged in the material world, unable to elevate their perspective and level, unable to escape the thirty-six bagua formations, and life will be a tangled mess — far from reaching the Kingdom of Heaven. When I was occupied with mundane affairs every day, I felt this deeply. The busier people are with money, wealth, power, status, and fame, the more foolish they are and the dimmer their future — those who work for others can never get ahead, because they are bound by the affairs of survival, with no time or energy to think. The more one toils for material things, the more foolish they are and the less future they have.
The Guide must pursue the ideal. Otherwise, the whole of Lifechanyuan is foolish.
It is difficult to pursue the ideal while pursuing the practical, and difficult to pursue the practical while pursuing the ideal — each person's time and energy are limited. The more one is occupied with miscellaneous affairs, the harder it is to produce quality work.
(Guide's Other Writings · 2022 · Exploring the Road Beneath Our Feet)