Discourse on the Dao and the Mysterious 道玄篇
Paul PengDiscourse on the Dao and the Mysterious
Written by Wang Daoyuan, a Taoist priest of The Quanzhen Dao in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties.
It consists of one volume and is included in the Taixuan Section of The Daozang.
Discourse on the Dao and the Mysterious
It elaborates on Laozi’s thought, integrates Confucian principles and Buddhist doctrines, and expounds the way of self-cultivation, governing the world, longevity and immortality, as well as the core ideas of Internal Alchemy.
Its theory takes the Great Dao as the foundation. It holds that the Great Dao is infinite, empty and formless; it moves and brings forth all things to establish its substance.
“Form is the abode of the Dao; spirit is the pivot of the Dao. All things have the movement and stillness of the Supreme Ultimate and never depart from the Dao.”
There is nothing without principle and no place without the Dao under heaven. All things differ in form but share the same spirit. Despite life and death, coming and going, gathering and scattering, their spirit shines brightly in emptiness, without birth or death, gathering or scattering.
“One who adeptly follows the Dao preserves its substance, accords with its function, calms motion back to stillness, returns emotions to nature, and lets empty nature unite with the Truth.”
Applied to governance, it follows non-action and naturalness, so that the people transform spontaneously. Applied to the body, it completes essence, qi and spirit, thus securing life naturally.
Only sages can practice the Doctrine of the Mean, conceal the mind in formlessness, handle affairs without attachment, act flexibly without clinging, uphold the mean, so that all things under heaven attain their proper balance.
The book also advocates loyalty, filial piety and ethical constants, assisting the ruler with an impartial mind. Ruler and minister should cherish each other like mother and child. When superiors and subordinates communicate, the family and state will remain peaceful and stable.
