Life Unfolds from These Two Purposes

Xuefeng

Life unfolds from two purposes:

The first purpose is to make Life happy, joyous, free, and blessed.

The second is to allow LIFE to extend and develop into a higher space.

In order to make Life happy, joyous, free, and blessed, we must first differentiate between those factors which do not get in Life’s way of obtaining those objectives and those that do.

· Which factors do not keep us from being happy? Thriving grass, beautiful flowers, gurgling streams, surging rivers, free flying birds, the ever-changing clouds, the sun and the moon, the stars above and the stones below, the earth, and so on. The vast majority of phenomena of nature do not keep us from being happy. Pure friendship, sweet love, and selfless family affection do not keep us from being happy. Hard work, plain living with collective games, sound sleep, and so on do not keep us from being happy.

· Which ones do keep us from being happy? Chaotic disorder, jealousy, greed, quarreling and fighting, jostling against each other, paranoia and suspicions, imposing upon others, suppression and revenge, making trouble out of nothing, being capricious, unfaithfulness, deliberately showing off and other falsehoods, and wicked and ugly things keep us from being happy.

· Which factors do not keep us from being joyous? Learning, laboring, working, and resting do not keep us from joy. Communicating, researching, exploring, and adventures do not keep us from having joy either. Appreciation, praise, encouragement, and mutual aid do not keep us from having joy, nor do eating, drinking, exercising, or going out.

· Which ones do keep us from being joyous? Repression and humiliation of the human nature, dissatisfaction with the status quo, the endless pursuit of desires, the limiting and denial of our fundamental freedoms, the denunciation of human dignity, the lack of privacy, damage to our minds and bodies, and other factors keep us apart from experiencing our joy.

· Which factors do not keep us from being free? Nature does not restrict our freedom, nor does the Greatest Creator constrain it either. Difficulties and setbacks do not shackle us, and suffering and hardships do not interfere with our freedom either.

· Which ones do keep us from being free? It is the families, religions, political parties, and states that bind our freedoms. It is the moral preachment, all the repressions of the mind, the limitations of the five elements of space and time, the requirements to have ignorant opinions, our debts and favors, all the possessions, the frame and edge of the box section of the circle, and so on that keep us from being free.

· Which factors do not hinder us from being blessed? Pleasurable situations and sincere content in life life make us feel blessed. Yearning for beautiful things and the celestial world make us feel blessed. Being able to freely enjoy tranquility without interference makes us feel blessed. Being able to play, chat, flirt, and drink refreshing water make us feel blessed. Appreciating the beauty of things and feeling grateful make us feel blessed.

· Which ones do interfere with our experiencing blessing? It is the discontented psychology, the jealousy and resentful emotions, the dissatisfied thinking of reality out of time, the persistence of people, events, objects, ideas, the attitude of giving up the present to blindly pursue results, the anxiety caused by excessive possession, the contradiction between the ideal and the reality, and other factors that hinder our blessing.

· The pursuits of happiness, joy, freedom, and blessing are perfectly justified rights, and leading such a Life is the wish of the Greatest Creator and is always a paramount goal of Life. Planning Life and understanding Life around this goal is in accordance with the Way of the Greatest Creator. Therefore, under the principles of reverence to the Greatest Creator, reverence to nature, and reverence to Life, any outlook on Life, morality, values, means, and ways that can make our Lives happy, joyous, free, and blessed are both proper and acceptable, but any outlook that hinders them are wrong and are unacceptable. In this way, our Lives are clear, and we will always distinguish truth from falseness in everything, and we will enjoy them without regrets.

· The other purpose of Life is to extend LIFE to a higher level of space. Life is short, like a colt crossing the river. Centuries pass in the blink of an eye. If we are not sustained with a more ambitious ideal, if we do not aspire and pursue the celestial world, then we will be likely to lead befuddled lives, to commit sins, to become disillusioned and frustrated with the mortal world, will be prone to wander helplessly and grow dread, and end up going from bad to worse and unable to rise up after we fall. Therefore, when we go on self-refinement and self-cultivation and explore the mysteries of time-space and LIFE, we should also be moving toward heaven.

In guiding us to trek and climb to the highest realm of Life and LIFE, Lifechanyuan is essentially discussing centering around these two purposes. If our Lives center on these two objectives, then we will feel clear-minded and enlightened and the cloud will be lifted.