Ascending the Spiral — My Cultivation at the Second Home of Lifechanyuan

jiejing

Ascending the Spiral — My Cultivation at the Second Home of Lifechanyuan

Jiejing Celestial

September 7, 2025

（Edited by ChatGPT)

In the mango orchard at dawn, the air is soaked with the scent of damp earth. I shoulder the heavy lawn mower, the straps pressing against my shoulders, its humming vibration resonating through my bones. Once the machine starts, it almost pulls me along. The grass grows wildly, patch by patch, seemingly endless.

At first, my breath is short, shoulders stiff, hands aching.
The mower’s roar urges me:
—Hurry up! Hurry up!
And my mind follows suit:
—Why is this so hard?
—Why does it seem easy for others?
—When will this labor end?

Thus, a “downward spiral” quietly begins:
Tense body → rapid breathing → restless mind → rough movements → more haste, more fatigue.

In the mundane world, this scene is all too familiar. Comparison in marriage, evaluations at work, anxiety about money—all are endless patches of grass to be cut. The pattern is the same: must be fast, must do more, must win; otherwise, failure. Body and mind ensnare each other, sinking deeper.

Yet, in the life program of the Second Home of Lifechanyuan, this spiral is rewritten. I remind myself: pause, take a deep breath. Breathing slows, movements soften, shoulders release. The grass remains lush, yet it no longer compels. The rhythm of mowing shifts from “chasing” to “practicing.”

Then the spiral reverses:
Relaxed body → calm mind → smooth movements → more effortless, more peaceful.

From a scientific perspective, attention shifts from “comparing outcomes” to “breath and action in the moment”; the sympathetic nervous system withdraws, the parasympathetic emerges, and the brain reorganizes. Psychology calls this “reappraisal,” while in practice, it is “mindful awareness.”

The same lawn, the same machine—why can the results be so different? I believe the answer lies in the “program.”

The Difference Between Two Programs

In the mundane world, the program I experienced was like this:
Goals — money, power, efficiency, face.
Rewards and punishments — fast is good, slow is failure.
Attention — constantly pulled by the outside: comparison, evaluation, gain and loss.
Relationships — based on roles and transactions, entangled in “who is right, who is wrong.”

The result: when something goes wrong, the body tenses first, and the mind quickly follows; when the mind panics, the body tightens even more. The two push and pull each other, like entwined forces dragging me into a downward spiral.

In the Second Home, however, the program of life is completely different, and the spiral changes accordingly:
Goals — cultivation, awareness, mutual well-being.
Rewards and punishments — awareness is winning; to lose is to lose awareness.
Attention — anchored in the present: breath, movement, cooperation.
Relationships — reflecting each other, practicing together.

Thus, when the body tenses, I am no longer pushed toward “failure,” but reminded to “see.” There is a chance to transform the downward spiral into an upward spiral.

An Epiphany While Swimming

At four in the afternoon, I had planned to go swimming with a  friend. When the time came, he still hadn’t arrived. It wasn’t until after five that Chanming couldn’t help but call him, only to hear: “My leg still hurts. Let’s do it another day.”

In that instant, my chest tightened: he hadn’t shown up as promised, and a surge of irritation and restlessness welled up within me. The whole afternoon of waiting hit me like a wave—this is a classic reaction of ego attachment.

In the program of the mundane world, it could trigger a spiral of resistance → complaint → lingering anger; my anger might burn into the night, even spilling over into the next day.

However, because of what I had learned from Lifechanyuan Values, I tried to face my emotions with awareness and ultimately followed the inner drive to go swimming with Chanming.

The experience in the water was completely different. I floated on my back, giving myself fully to the water, my body gently supported. Breathing slowed, the sky’s blue and the clouds’ white seemed to smile at me.

In that moment, a profound ease arose: if I could, like giving myself to the water, entrust myself to the Tao, might I then experience true freedom?

Yet in reality, I still often fail. I still get angry, still complain, still cling to others’ broken promises.

But that moment at least revealed another possibility: entrusting is strength; relaxing is true freedom.

It made me realize: cultivation is not linear, but spiral. Each time emotions are triggered, each time I release through the body, I find liberation. On the surface it seems repetitive, but each time is a deeper layer than the last.

The Mystery of the Spiral

Why speak of a spiral rather than a straight line? Because, in my view, LIFE unfolds more like a spiral. Just like the double helix of DNA, which offers a vivid metaphor for LIFE itself. My cultivation and growth follow the same pattern: seemingly repetitive, yet in fact ascending.

Anger, jealousy, and comparison arise again and again. But each moment of awareness reaches deeper than the last. It looks like circling back, but in truth it is rising layer by layer.

A spiral staircase is the perfect metaphor: you circle around, as if returning to the same point, yet you are already at a different height. Mountain roads are the same: they seem to wind far, but that is the only way to reach the summit.

In the past, I always thought I was “going in circles”: always angry, jealous, comparing—seemingly with no progress.

Now I understand—this is the spiral.

Yes, I still feel anger, but its duration is shorter. I still grow restless, but awareness comes sooner. I still cling, but I release more quickly.

It is like the rhythm of mowing grass: impatient in the first round, calmer in the second, and by the third, moving with ease.

It is also like swimming: at first, I entered the water full of agitation; then, I learned to relax within it; and finally, I could slowly begin to learn to trust the Tao.

The spiral, then, is not treading in place, but rising through each circle.

Where we choose to practice and cultivate ourselves determines whether we spiral upward or downward.

In the program of the mundane world, marriage, family, money, and power often trap me in a cycle: comparison → scarcity → blame.

The expectations of parents and a husband become a heavy burden;
the anxiety of money blinds me to my own breath;
the competition of the workplace makes me forget the existence of my body.
The result: the body tightens, the heart grows restless, the path gets heavier, and the spiral turns downward.

But in the Second Home, the values and the environment run on a different program:

Labor is a tool for cultivation, not a stage for comparison.
Emotions are material to work with, not sins to be condemned.
Slowness is allowed; awareness is the real victory.
And so, the spiral keeps turning upward.

I can clearly see my own transformation:
In the past, a storm of emotion would take two or three days to clear.
Now, it may be just one day—or even half a day.
The spiral’s momentum is becoming steadier; the downward time shorter; the upward force stronger.

Reflections

The body and the mind are like two intertwined threads, pulling and supporting each other. They do not move in straight lines, but rise in spirals—circle by circle, upward.

In the mango orchard of Lifechanyuan International Family Society Thailand branch, sweat falls into the soil; by the pool along the Johor Strait in Malaysia, blue sky meets white clouds.

I gradually come to understand: cultivation is not about eliminating emotions, but about learning—again and again within emotions—to observe, to release, and to move toward higher levels.

This, perhaps, is the rhythm of LIFE: like DNA, cycling endlessly, yet always ascending.

Grateful for the blessings of the Greatest Creator,
grateful for the arrangements of the Tao,
grateful for the wisdom and dedicated guidance of Guide Xuefeng.
And may I—
be a little clearer than yesterday,
a little gentler,
and one step higher.