The Mysteries of Food and Diet · Internal Reference¶
Source text archive for deep study
I. Food and Life — Joy Comes from the Spirit¶
Guide's Other Writings · 2025 · Food and Life
Which of the following two scenarios would you choose?
Scenario 1: You labor hard your whole life, and finally sit down to a grand imperial feast, with every delicacy under heaven.
Scenario 2: You eat salted vegetables, corn buns, and plain boiled water — and spend your days playing games in the Second Home, scrambling over mountains and crawling through tunnels.
I believe that among Chanyuan Celestials, ninety-nine percent would choose the second scenario.
This shows that a person's joy, happiness, freedom, and delight do not depend on the richness of their food, but on the state of their spirit and soul.
Having lived in Western culture for more than twenty years, I have observed that Western diets are relatively simple — hamburgers, fried chicken and fries, pizza, steak, bread, and salad leaves smothered in something sticky; there is not much else (speaking of everyday popular food). By contrast, in Eastern culture, the range of dishes is dazzling, with thousands of varieties; even just Northern Chinese noodles come in dozens of preparations, while in the West, "pasta" basically means spaghetti. If you want to eat many different dishes in a single meal in the West, you have to go to a Chinese restaurant.
I have no objection to variety in food, nor to having a thousand ways of preparing the same ingredient. But I ask myself: for the sake of flavors and a full belly, is it truly necessary to make food so elaborate and grand? A meal with one dish, one soup, and one staple is enough to sustain life — there is no need to stir-fry many dishes and prepare multiple staple foods.
Simple and practical eating makes life lighter; complex and elaborate eating makes life heavy.
My own choice is: I would rather play and be free than spend time fussing over food. Whatever there is to eat — as long as the stomach is filled, that's fine!
Of course, if I can both play freely and eat with genuine enjoyment, I would not refuse that either.
But I would never let the question of food ruin my mood, and certainly would never labor sleeplessly for the sake of better eating.
My motto is: Rather than spending time and energy filling your stomach, spend that time and energy filling your mind.
2025-07-02
II. The Mysteries of Meat — Lifechanyuan's Principles¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Yangsheng Chapter · Should One Eat Meat?
Buddhism teaches against eating meat, because eating meat involves killing, which is the destruction of life — an act of unkindness. One who eats meat has no affinity with Buddha. Another perspective holds that the meat you eat may be that of a past parent or loved one, reborn in animal form — so meat must never be eaten. Later, some Buddhist teachers adapted these rules for laypeople and proposed "three-clean meat": not slaughtered for you specifically; not slaughtered by your own hand; not seen being slaughtered. Tibetan Buddhism accepts meat-eating because Tibetan herdsmen's primary food source is yak and mutton — abstaining from meat would make survival impossible.
Judaism, Christianity, Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy all permit meat-eating, but not the meat of animals that died of themselves — only slaughtered animals. The Old Testament specifies in detail which animal flesh may and may not be eaten.
Islam (the Muslim faith) places stricter limits on meat, rooted also in the Scriptures. Unlike Christianity, Muslims absolutely forbid pork and carrion, which are regarded as impure and defiling to one's spirit. Moreover, when Muslims slaughter animals, they recite scripture, comfort the animal, and send off its spirit — an act that reflects Muslim compassion and care for animal life.
Jehovah's Witnesses, basing themselves on the Scriptures, strictly limit the consumption of animal blood, holding that flesh is not life — blood is life — and therefore refuse blood.
Lifechanyuan's view is that life has levels. Lower-level life serves higher-level life. Through offering itself in service, lower-level life escapes its own predicament and plants the seed of a higher life to come.
Life mutually serves life and is mutually connected. One can only fulfill higher-level life through serving other lives.
Therefore, Lifechanyuan neither opposes nor promotes meat-eating. Whether to eat meat is entirely determined by conditions at the time — each person acts according to their own situation, following causes as they flow, moving with their nature, acting as the moment requires.
Lifechanyuan's principles regarding meat:
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Do not eat wild animal meat — this protects the chain of life from being artificially severed.
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When eating livestock or poultry, follow the Muslim method of slaughter as much as possible: recite scripture, offer comfort, and send off the spirit — minimizing suffering at the end of life.
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Have trained professionals do the slaughtering, not ordinary people — professionals cause less pain and work faster.
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Do not eat dog meat — dogs have high spirituality, and the higher the spirituality of an animal, the greater the damage to one's own spiritual nature from consuming it.
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Eat only livestock and poultry specifically raised for food. Do not eat animals raised as companions — they have formed emotional bonds with people, and the slaughter of such animals is harder to bear. I have seen oxen weep, seen the grief of sheep, seen the deep affection of chickens toward their caretakers — I cannot bring myself to eat them.
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Chanyuan Celestials may eat meat, but should never personally slaughter animals and should never watch slaughter take place.
I have said: Those who eat vegetables grow clear; those who eat meat grow clouded; those who eat grains grow wise; those who consume qi become spiritually radiant. The higher the spirituality of the animal or plant consumed, the greater the damage to one's own spiritual nature.
The slaughtered animal's flesh is no longer life — it is merely a form of energy. So eating meat is the taking in of energy. However, every food carries structure and information. Once consumed, it affects you. Poultry flesh carrying bird flu virus is still "meat" — but eat it and you become infected. Croton seeds are a form of energy — eat them and you suffer diarrhea. Chili peppers are a form of energy — eat them and you burn. Every food, to a greater or lesser degree, in some way, exerts an influence on us.
The deeper danger of meat: we eat the flesh of an animal, and it influences us. Its resentment is transferred to us. Its inherent nature comes to act within us. At the moment of slaughter, the animal's fury and resentment release a toxin that remains in the flesh. In eating it, we take that toxin into ourselves. The Muslim practice of reciting scripture and comforting the animal before slaughter is precisely aimed at reducing this toxin to the minimum. Each person can verify this for themselves: when you are filled with rage and resentment, your face turns dark — because your body has released such a toxin.
You become what you eat — it is only a matter of degree.
Why do I again and again emphasize that we should eat with a heart full of gratitude? Because only with gratitude can we transform the toxins in food, change the structure of food, and benefit our physical health. The Christian practice of giving thanks to God before meals runs deep — it is not mere ceremony, but serves a real purpose.
Eat when you want to eat, but eat with gratitude. When you do not feel like eating, do not eat — but do not feel as if you have missed out. When there is no alternative, eat. When you can avoid eating, avoid it, or eat less.
The higher secrets of handling meat await understanding of non-form thinking and Hundun thinking.
The best course of all is to eat nothing. "Those who consume qi become spiritually radiant" — absorbing directly the essence of sun and moon, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. I have already given you the key to opening the dharma eye: consciousness, structure, energy. Every food is a transformation of energy. Our purpose in eating is primarily to take in that energy. If we can take in energy directly, why eat at all?
Whether or not one eats meat is related to the structure of each person's life. Why does a sheep not eat meat? Why does a wolf? Their life structures determine it. A person who loves meat, through cultivation, will gradually lose the desire for it — will come to feel disgusted by it, may even feel nauseated at its sight or smell. Why? Because your antimatter life structure has changed.
Do not pretend. Do not force. Let it be natural. The key lies in perfecting the antimatter structure of your life — that is the crux of the matter, and the crux of cultivation.
Food is primarily a habit of thinking. Through abnormal thinking, one can transcend the need for food altogether.
When we speak of repaying our debts to the world, do not forget that we also owe debts to nature, to plants and animals. Why respect life, revere nature? Why protect life, protect nature? In order to repay those debts — not merely as a moral virtue.
The best way to repay those debts in this era is to build Lifechanyuan. The depth of this principle requires one's own insight and contemplation.
2007-3-28
III. Levels of Diet and the Essentials of Yangsheng¶
Chanyuan Corpus · Yangsheng Chapter · Elementary Yangsheng (Dietary Passages)
The causes of the weakening and death of life (outside of natural processes), ranked in order of destructive force: 1. Mental-emotional activity driven by the seven emotions and six desires; 2. Diet; 3. Sleep and rest habits; 4. Labor; 5. Wind, frost, cold, and heat; 6. Air quality of the environment; 7. Noise; 8. Cosmic forces (earth magnetism, gravity, radiation, various rays and waves).
Those who eat meat grow heavy-minded; those who eat vegetables grow clear; those who eat grains grow wise; those who consume qi become spiritually radiant.
Eat breakfast early and lightly; lunch fully and heartily; supper sparingly. Follow this consistently, and illness will not touch you into old age.
When eating does not stop, the body will not grow light. When sensory desire does not stop, the spirit will not grow clear. When thought does not stop, the mind will not grow still. When the mind is not still, the spirit is not luminous. When the spirit is not luminous, the Way cannot be attained.
Moderation in food, regularity in rest, no excessive exertion. No overburdening of the mind within; no overexertion of the body without.
Remain unruffled in honor or disgrace, and the liver-wood will settle naturally. Act with respect in movement and stillness, and the heart-fire will stabilize naturally. Eat with moderation, and the spleen-earth will not leak. Regulate the breath and speak seldom, and the lung-metal will be whole naturally. Rest in serene detachment without desire, and the kidney-water will be sufficient.
Eat before you are hungry; stop before you are full. Overeating injures the spleen; hunger injures the stomach. Excessive thirst injures the blood; excessive drinking injures the qi. When eating and drinking, never go to excess, lest swelling and bloating harm the heart and lungs.
When the spirit is full, one does not crave sleep. When the qi is full, one does not crave food. When the essence is full, one does not crave desire.
Chanyuan Corpus · Yangsheng Chapter · The Dao, De, Fa, and Shu of Yangsheng (Dietary Passages)
Moderation in diet: do not eat carelessly or randomly. Eat what should be eaten; absolutely avoid what should not be eaten. Do not binge or gorge, nor go hungry or starving. Eat in measured portions at regular times.
IV. New Era Human 800 Concepts — Dietary Entries¶
New Era Human 800 Concepts Fourth Edition · Entry 743
In the new era, everyone needs to practice yangsheng, minimizing illness to the greatest possible extent. Yangsheng centers on cultivating essence, qi, spirit, and form. Nourish the heart before all else in yangsheng; nourish virtue before the heart; enter the Way before nourishing virtue. One who truly nourishes life heals the disease before it manifests. Few words nourish inner qi; restraining the heart nourishes spirit-qi; delicate flavors nourish blood-qi; restraining anger nourishes lung-qi; moderate eating nourishes stomach-qi; few worries nourish liver-qi; few cravings nourish heart-qi; few lustful desires nourish essence-qi. To cultivate the body, first still the will. No scattered confusion, no vexations, no clinging, no delusive imaginings, no greedy love, no looseness. Make the spirit settled within; remove desire without.
New Era Human 800 Concepts Fourth Edition · Entry 744
When eating does not stop, the body will not grow light. When sensory desire does not stop, the spirit will not grow clear. When thought does not stop, the mind will not grow still. When the mind is not still, the spirit is not luminous. When the spirit is not luminous, the Way cannot be attained. When the heart overexerts, it collapses. When the form overstrains, it falters. When the spirit is overinjured, it empties. When qi is overlost, it ceases. Abstain from excessive thought and the spirit is whole; abstain from excessive speech and the qi is whole; abstain from sensual desire and the essence is whole. Those who eat meat grow heavy (clouded); those who eat vegetables grow light (clear); those who eat grains grow wise; those who consume qi become spiritually radiant.
New Era Human 800 Concepts Fourth Edition · Entry 749
Remain unruffled in honor or disgrace, and the liver-wood will settle naturally. Act with respect in movement and stillness, and the heart-fire will stabilize naturally. Eat with moderation, and the spleen-earth will not leak. Regulate the breath and speak seldom, and the lung-metal will be whole naturally. Rest in serene detachment without desire, and the kidney-water will be sufficient. Eat before you are hungry; stop before you are full. Overeating injures the spleen; hunger injures the stomach. Excessive thirst injures the blood; excessive drinking injures the qi. When eating and drinking, never go to excess, lest swelling and bloating harm the heart and lungs. Do not sit or lie where the wind blows against the back of the head — a wind-struck head shortens life.
New Era Human 800 Concepts Fourth Edition · Entry 750
Anger injures qi, and weakened qi invites illness. Thought drains the spirit, and a fatigued spirit wearies the heart. Let neither sorrow nor joy reach extremes. Keep eating and drinking consistent and even. Guard repeatedly against late-night drinking. Above all else, forsake morning anger. Let the eyes not wander to improper sights; let the ears not hear filthy words; let the mouth not turn toward poisonous or piercing tastes; let the heart not scheme deceitfully. Keep the heart pure and desires few. Remain serene and empty. Find stillness within movement; settle the mind and nourish the kidneys; live out the months and years in leisurely calm.