A Discourse on the Supreme Dao 大道论

Originally attributed to Zhou Gupu, whose life story is unknown. The book quotes Du Guangting’s Comprehensive Sage Meaning of the Dao De Jing from the late Tang Dynasty, suggesting it was compiled during the Five Dynasties or the early Song Dynasty.

The version in The Daozang is one volume, included in the Taixuan Section.

Based on the teachings of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Taoist scriptures such as Xisheng Jing (Scripture of Ascent to the West) and Nei Guan Jing (Scripture of Internal Observation), this book extensively discusses the philosophical principles of the Great Dao, the essence of cultivating the mind to embody The Dao, and the purposes of nurturing life and governing the state. The book is divided into eighteen chapters.

Its doctrines primarily follow the "Chongxuan (Double Mystery)" school, asserting that the Great Dao is empty, void, and natural, permeating all things and serving as the profound origin of all existence. Emptiness and voidness mean transcending names and abandoning definitions. Therefore, those who embody the Dao must not cling to emptiness or grasp at existence; instead, they should obliterate both existence and non-existence, forget both the mind and external circumstances—even forgetting the consciousness of seeking and realizing the Dao—so as to be in perfect harmony with the Dao.

It also states that there is no mind outside the Dao, and no Dao outside the mind; the mind itself is the Dao. All worldly phenomena arise and perish because of the mind: extinguishing the mind leads to alignment with the Dao, while indulging the mind endangers the body. Thus, cultivating the Dao is equivalent to cultivating the mind. The seven essentials of mind cultivation are: being mindless, stabilizing the mind, calming the mind, restraining the mind, rectifying the mind, purifying the mind, and emptying the mind.

Additionally, it discusses refining the body to preserve life, emphasizing the dual cultivation of spirit and Qi—refining yin with yang until yin is exhausted and yang is pure, thereby becoming an immortal and verifying the true nature. It also argues that non-action is the foundation of governing the state, and the Great Dao is the root of benevolence and righteousness—doctrines derived from Laozi’s teachings.