51 Elementary Self-improvement Practices
Xuefeng
1）Prayer: Wake up with the rising sun, open the window, clean the room, then sit quietly for three minutes. Once you feel refreshed, pray first to Allah, the Ancestor of Buddha, the Greatest Creator. Acknowledge that the Greatest Creator is the supreme being of the universe, ask for His forgiveness for your sins, and in your prayer, envision your future and the goals you want to achieve. Express your desires to the Greatest Creator and ask for His help in fulfilling them. Once the prayer is completed, it signifies that you have sent out a wave of intention to the vast negative universe. The negative universe will mobilize all its energies to provide comprehensive service to ensure a smooth day for you. If something doesn’t go well, it indicates that this matter should be postponed or not done at all, so don’t be anxious or angry. If you are interested, you can check out the reasons why many people didn’t go to work or were late to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and survived the disaster. Most of their reasons were due to seemingly unfortunate delays. Whether things go smoothly or not, as long as you have full confidence in Allah, the Ancestor of Buddha, the Greatest Creator, and follow the path of the Lifechanyuan, everything will have a definite arrangement.
2）Greetings: In the morning, greet your parents and inquire if they slept well or have any instructions for you. If your parents are not around, silently bless them with good health. If your parents have passed away, don’t forget to pay tribute to them.
Care and Educate Children: Daily, ensure that the children wake up on time and go to school or work. See if they have any requests. When the children return in the evening, it's best to listen to their experiences and thoughts over dinner, providing guidance and education through conversation.
Tolerance in Disputes: When handling conflicts among relatives, friends, or siblings, always speak gently. Avoid harsh words, rough behavior, or saying hurtful things. If faced with unreasonable behavior, be patient. If your interests are infringed upon, yield.
Respect and Honesty Towards Superiors: Always be respectful and honest with your boss or superior. Avoid being dismissive or hiding things. Obey their instructions and arrangements, and never criticize or slack off. Whether your superior is a wise leader, a mafia boss, a people’s hero, a rogue, kind-hearted or malicious, powerful or incompetent, as long as they are your superior or boss, you must act accordingly. If you dislike them, leave and find a different work environment. If you dislike them but don’t leave, using them while wanting to abandon and undermine them, the sin lies not with them but with you. You’ll always be a hypocrite and conspirator. There is no undeserved fortune or calamity; hypocrites and conspirators with improper mindsets will face endless troubles.
Farewells and Welcoming: Whenever you leave the house, if there are family members at home, always say goodbye. If you are home and family members return, get up to greet them and inquire about their well-being. Harmony in the family is reflected in these daily small acts.
Coexisting with Your Wife: The most important person in life is your wife, and she is also the hardest to deal with. If fortunate to marry a knowledgeable, reasonable, gentle, and virtuous wife, your life is half successful. If unfortunate to marry an unreasonable, slovenly, selfish, uneducated, lazy, and vain wife, life is half failed. If this misfortune befalls you, what should you do?
First, accept this reality calmly and embrace the hardship. Understanding the cause-and-effect relationship, you will know why, among so many good women, you ended up with this person. Karma will be repaid; to have a better next life, willingly endure the hardships of this life. The more hardships in this life, the better the next.
Second, don't try to change her. A leopard can't change its spots. After death, the soul goes its separate way; life is short, don't waste time on futile efforts.
Third, don’t pursue divorce. Bear your own sins, don’t pass them on to others. If you don't suffer this sin, you will suffer another. The process of suffering is the process of self-improvement and achieving fruition. Don’t give up the chance for the negative universe to test you. If she wants a divorce, happily compensate her and let her go with a smile.
Finally, don't argue or fight. When she is hysterical and unreasonable, just pretend there is an annoying frog croaking beside you. When she has an affair or seeks pleasure outside, pretend to be deaf and dumb, as if you are raising a pig. When she does no housework and expects to be served, silently endure without complaint. When she is addicted to gambling or dancing, inform relatives and friends, then live separately with her. When she uses violence or brandishes weapons, knock her out with one punch. When she seeks death, whether by electrocution, drowning, hanging, or poison, pretend not to know and walk away.
Coexisting with Your Husband: A man fears choosing the wrong profession, a woman fears marrying the wrong man. Marrying an ambitious, diligent, healthy, understanding, and affectionate husband makes a woman’s life 80% happy. If unlucky to marry a “dabbler,” what should you do?
First, recognize that no one is perfect, and there is no perfect husband in the world. Enjoy the good half of him and endure the bad half. For example, don’t expect a man with great ambition to take care of household chores; he won’t have the time and energy if he doesn’t exploit you. Don’t expect a multi-talented man to bring a peaceful life to the family. Don’t expect a handsome and charming man to be completely loyal and not flirt outside. Don’t expect a wealthy man to bring a regular and worry-free life. Don’t expect a man with a strong career ambition to have leisure time for romance. Don’t expect a man who brings you sexual pleasure every night to avoid physical labor and study deeply. Don’t expect a sedentary, pot-bellied man who reads and writes to bring sexual satisfaction. Don’t expect a rough, bold, and powerful man to understand your delicate emotions. Don’t expect a man who is always around, worried about your every frown or fever, to achieve great success. Don’t expect a man who is meticulous with housework to become prominent. Don’t expect a knowledgeable and scholarly man to avoid criticizing and directing you. Don’t expect a man who brings a peaceful and harmonious family atmosphere to be socially adept and responsive.
Whether a woman is happy depends on the type of husband she marries. Whether a man is successful depends on the type of wife he marries. The greatest damage to human nature and the biggest constraint on personal freedom comes first from spouses. There is no perfect marriage or ideal spouse combination. Once you recognize this, you can accept unpleasant realities calmly and sincerely. Women should start their self-improvement by learning not to depend on men emotionally to have hope of becoming a celestial being. The American sex symbol Marilyn Monroe committed suicide at 36 not because of lacking other things but because of lacking a man she could truly rely on emotionally. If she had turned her mind to other spaces, she wouldn’t have had that ending. Thus, women should begin their self-improvement by not relying emotionally on men.
Less TV, Idle Chat, and Newspapers; More Reading: In today’s world, with advanced communication and vast information, the more you know, the deeper you get involved, and the harder it is to calm your mind. Roughly analyze, and how many of the 100 pieces of information are valuable to you? Most information not only fails to benefit you but adds to your worries, fears, and anger. TV and newspapers are your main information sources and the culprits for your inability to stay calm, so it’s wise to watch and read less.
Idle chat, especially with common folks, has more harm than benefit. Idle chat is nothing more than gossiping about others, discussing trivial matters, praising some, criticizing others, talking about who got lucky, who had bad luck, whose wife had an affair, whose husband is unfaithful, where to make money, how to get promoted, who is scheming, who is morally corrupt, and so on. It’s often baseless, speculative, and detrimental to your mind. However, chatting with wise or celestial people is highly beneficial, akin to learning from ten years of study in one conversation. The key is that if you lack certain cultivation and qualities, wise or celestial people won’t waste their time chatting with you.
More reading refers to reading books beneficial to physical and mental health, enlightening wisdom, cultivating temperament, encouraging progress, and depicting the truth, goodness, and beauty of life. Generally, this means sage books, popular science readings, and books on spirit, physiology, and psychology. Avoid books that corrupt the mind, focus on schemes, incite desires, and spread bizarre tales. Magazines should be like “Reader’s Digest” or “Reader,” avoiding vulgar, obscene, privacy-invading, sensational, and flamboyant ones.
Filial piety is the foremost of all virtues, and lechery is the greatest evil. Men, aside from their spouse or a prostitute, should not touch any other woman. There are no women who come without consequence, especially those of different generations, significantly older or younger, or those from respectable families. Such actions not only bring bad karma in this life but will degrade your soul to the level of animals in the next life. If you have already committed such acts, immediately turn back and sincerely repent to Allah - the Ancestor of Buddha, the Greatest Creator with heartfelt remorse. Always remember, filial piety is the greatest virtue, and lechery the greatest sin.
Treat people with sincerity and without precautions. Imagine that everyone in the world is good. No one intentionally wants to harm you. Even if you have been deceived or taken advantage of before, maintain this mindset. It is better to be deceived a thousand times and remain sincere than to become distrustful. Do not doubt your parents’ love, your wife’s fidelity, your children’s respect, your friends’ loyalty, your subordinates’ intentions, your boss’ motives, your colleagues’ goodwill, your competitors’ strategies, your neighbors’ actions, or small vendors have deceitful schemes, and so on.
Do not compete with others. In public places, if there is a misunderstanding or conflict, regardless of who is right, always apologize first, be courteous, and do not argue. Take the blame upon yourself and concede the reason to others. For example, if someone on a bicycle collides with you, apologize for blocking their path, even if you are injured.
Do not expose others' secrets, point out their shortcomings, criticize their faults, or discuss their mistakes.
Do not seek advantages, and do not pick up lost items. Do not exploit others' misfortunes to gain benefits, take advantage of their unpreparedness to harm them, deceive the honest, or bully the kind-hearted. Do not opportunistically steal or fish in troubled waters. Do not buy items that are much more valuable than their price, do not touch what does not belong to you, and do not pick up valuables found on the road.
Seek a home that is well-lit, well-ventilated, clean, and tidy. Do not aspire for luxury or flaunt wealth. Refrain from hoarding treasures or money at home to prevent arousing jealousy, covetousness from thieves, robbery from miscreants, or envy from adversaries.
Follow the main path and do not learn petty skills. The main paths include professions like farming, commerce, academics, military, and politics. Petty skills include matchmaking, fortune-telling, astrology, face reading, counseling, massage, magic, Taoist practices, gambling, martial arts, sorcery, performing arts, stock speculation, stamp collecting, theft, and begging. Do not learn these petty skills yourself but do not belittle or mock those who practice them. Respect others' choices.
Treat the world as one family and spread love globally. Do not discriminate against any ethnicity, and do not let race, skin color, history, social systems, or economic status dictate your attitude. Similarly, do not harbor resentment towards people from developed capitalist countries because you feel compassion for those in poor areas. This way, you can peacefully enjoy life anywhere in the world. As long as your existence does not harm others, animals, or plants, no disaster or misfortune will befall you.
Treat everyone equally. Do not harm the disabled, the poor, or those who are widowed and lonely. Do not treat people differently based on their status or wealth.
Do not participate in any form of subversive conspiracy. Be open, honest, and unselfish in all matters, and do not harbor deceitful intentions.
Do not engage in or promote any form of superstition.
Do not believe in, create, spread, or propagate rumors.
Do not withhold wages or benefits from subordinates or servants, and do not obstruct others' career advancements.
Do not be jealous of others, and do not curse your rivals or enemies.
Keep promises and be punctual. If an unavoidable situation causes a delay, promptly notify the other party and apologize for the inconvenience.
Be realistic in all matters. Do not exaggerate, understate, or lie.
Dress, behave, and conduct yourself in a manner consistent with common people.
Do not be picky about food, do not be extravagant, and do not waste.
Avoid places of conflict and disputes, and do not inquire about bizarre or abnormal matters.
Return borrowed items promptly. Compensate for any damage and repay borrowed money with interest.
Avoid cunning words, obscene language, and vulgar behavior.
Mind your own business and do not meddle in others' affairs. Do not offer help if someone does not ask for it.
Repay kindness, forget grievances, and do not seek revenge. Do not keep track of the favors you have done.
Do not indulge in banquets or parties, and do not stay too long at friends' or relatives' homes.
Do not abuse domestic animals, and do not kill animals indiscriminately.
Maintain personal and public hygiene. Do not spit, urinate, defecate, or litter indiscriminately.
Avoid smoking, drink less alcohol, do not use drugs, minimize medication, do not donate blood, avoid blood transfusions, do not consume blood or blood-containing meat, and do not commit suicide or self-harm. Do not celebrate birthdays, indulge in ostentation, gamble or steal.
Respect heroes but do not aspire to be one. We are all ordinary, humble people who are often overlooked and forgotten. Do not have aspirations of becoming a hero.
Do not rely on others, including family members. Live independently and face death without fear if living becomes impossible.
Do not desire, covet, scheme, or fight for benefits that do not rightfully belong to you.
Do not strive to be a good person, a bad person, a saint, or a villain. Live according to your nature, not according to societal value standards.
Do not take on burdens beyond your strength, and do not advise others if your words lack weight. Do your best in all things without being extreme.
Do not blame heaven and earth, parents, children, siblings, or friends, and do not hold grudges against those who have harmed you.
Avoid borrowing money, unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Appreciate and praise all the beauty around you: the weather, scenery, people, attire, sounds, language, music, singing, objects, homes, and environments.
Regardless of the severity of harm or grievance, don’t resort to litigation lightly. Try to resolve matters personally.
In formal settings, dress appropriately. Men should avoid exposing their chests or wearing only underwear in the presence of women. Women should express their beauty, elegance, and grace through their temperament, appearance, and stature, without inciting sexual desire in men.
If you have a contagious disease, make sure to isolate your utensils, food, and space to prevent transmission to others.
Commit to working eight hours a day. Whether the work is physical, mental, or a combination of both; whether it’s for earning money or for leisure; whether you are wealthy or poor, you should engage in work (or be active) for eight hours each day. Work is not only a means of survival but also an effective way to maintain health and vitality. It is essential for achieving a perfect character.
Rest on Sundays. This is not only necessary for rejuvenation, maintaining health, and enjoying life, but it is also a commandment from Allah - the Ancestor of Buddha, the Greatest Creator. On Sundays, relax both your body and mind, and spend the day leisurely with family and friends. Couples should not restrict each other; if the wife likes to watch movies while the husband prefers to read at home, they should follow their own preferences. If the husband likes to invite friends over while the wife wants to visit her parents, the husband should not force the wife to stay at home to serve the guests. Sunday is a day of freedom for everyone, and no one has the right to take away this freedom. Not only should couples respect each other’s freedom, but so should parents and children, friends, and colleagues. There is no need to sacrifice freedom to accommodate anyone insincerely on Sundays. No matter how important a matter is, it should be postponed until the following week.
Sunday, also known as the Sabbath, is a day for everyone to stop working and go to church to praise and thank the Greatest Creator, and to listen to teachings. My suggestion is to follow your heart; if you want to go, then go; if not, don't. As long as your faith is firm, you have the Greatest Creator in your heart, and you practice the requirements of Allah - the Ancestor of Buddha - the Greatest Creator, in your daily life, it is enough.
About eating meat: Buddha does not advocate eating meat. The Bible mentions that meat is permissible, but some animals’ meat is unclean and should not be eaten, including camel, rock badger, rabbit, pig, mouse, dead birds, dead animals, animals with wings and four legs, water creatures without fins and scales, birds like eagles, vultures, ravens, ostriches, storks, herons, bats, reptiles like lizards, geckos, snakes, centipedes, and millipedes.
The view of Lifechanyuan is that if you want to become a Buddha, you must resolutely not eat meat. If you want to go to the Thousand-year World, meat is permissible.
Eating meat is a manifestation of unkindness and cruelty, but life is hard, and we must survive. It is acceptable to eat meat when necessary. Eating meat and killing life are two different things (previously, I mentioned that eating meat is akin to harming life from a spiritual perspective). Life consists of both physical and spiritual parts. Once an animal is killed, its spiritual body leaves, and the remaining meat is just a substance, no different from fruits and vegetables. The difference is that eating vegetables, fruits, and soy products makes people kind, peaceful, and calm, while eating meat can make people violent, selfish, and cruel. Observe the people around you, and you will find a significant difference in character between those who often eat vegetarian food and those who eat meat regularly. The reason is that all meat contains toxins. While the meat itself is not toxic, the resentment animals feel when slaughtered causes structural changes in their bodies, similar to how human bodies change when angry. Eating their meat will inevitably lead to poisoning. Although this poison is hard to observe clearly, eating too much will gradually erode one’s spirituality, making people more animalistic unconsciously over time.
Muslims recite prayers before slaughtering animals to persuade the animal not to harbor resentment and to comfort its soul. The essence of this practice is to "remove the poison."
Regarding whether animal meat has toxins, interested scientists should conduct molecular structure analysis. The molecular structures of meat from animals that died of old age, accidents, prayers before slaughter, and forced slaughter are different. The toxicity of anything lies in its molecular structure, not its appearance.
Everything has a spirit. When your body is weak, and your physical exertion is high, and food is scarce, do not be afraid to eat meat, and do not feel guilty because Allah, the Ancestor of Buddha - the Greatest Creator, permits it. But when you are strong, with little physical exertion and abundant food, eat less meat or none at all. Extend your compassion and love to poultry, livestock, wild birds, animals, insects, plants, mountains, rivers, and even stars, the sun, and the moon. Integrate yourself with nature and the universe.
Be grateful. We live in a wonderful universe, constantly bathed in the care and attention of Allah-the Ancestor of Buddha, the Greatest Creator, so we should always be grateful.
For three meals a day, whether it is a feast or simple food, as long as it fills your stomach, be grateful.
When we safely finish a busy day and have a place to sleep sheltered from the wind and rain, be grateful.
When our parents are alive and still care for us, and our children are healthy and lively, be grateful.
When we look in the mirror and see symmetrical features and a healthy body, be grateful.
When we turn on the tap and see water flowing, use it to wash our face and brush our teeth, or scoop water from a stream to quench our thirst, be grateful.
When we enjoy the sweet and delicious taste of watermelon on a hot summer day, be grateful.
When we see blue skies, white clouds, sunrise, sunset, beautiful mountains, and flowing rivers, hear birds singing and cicadas chirping, be grateful.
When we are in the fields, feeling the gentle breeze and feeling delighted, be grateful.
When light rain nourishes the earth, flowers bloom in the wild, and vegetation thrives, be grateful.
When we joyfully harvest the fruits of our labor, be grateful.
When we gaze at the night sky, see twinkling stars and a bright moon, be grateful.
When standing by the shore, feeling the sea breeze, hearing waves crashing, watching the sea undulate, with white sails dotting the horizon, invoking endless imagination, be grateful.
When we wake up in the morning, breathe fresh air, see dewdrops, and watch early risers busy with life, be grateful.
When snowflakes fall, covering the land in silver, and we chat by the fireplace, be grateful.
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What more could we be dissatisfied with? How could we not be grateful!
All of this is given by Allah – the Ancestor of Buddha, the Greatest Creator. We dedicate all our gratitude and glory to the Almighty Greatest Creator.
Sustained elementary self-improvement will surely enable us to achieve a relaxed, satisfying, peaceful, happy, and solidly ordinary life.
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