Dispelling Doubts - A Guide to Inner Nature 析疑指迷论

Composed by Niu Daochun, titled Xiaoyaozi, a Taoist priest in the Yuan Dynasty.

It was roughly completed in the third year of the Dade reign period (1299), consisting of one scroll and included in the Alchemy Category of The Dongzhen Section within The Daozang.

Dispelling Doubts - A Guide to Inner Nature

The book is divided into two parts: Resolving Doubts and Pointing Out Delusions. The former expounds on the mind, nature, the Dao and all things, while the latter discusses the cultivation of nature and life and the practice of Internal Alchemy. Its essential purpose is to elucidate the principles of cultivating nature and life and the order of practice in the Quanzhen school, so as to dispel the doubts and delusions of practitioners—hence the title Resolving Doubts and Pointing Out Delusions.

The author holds that the human mind and nature "are originally empty of all things, identical to the great void, and inherently pure and tranquil". As the foundation of all dharmas, it is named "Quanzhen" (the true self in its entirety). The mind and nature take emptiness and quiescence as their essence and intuitive awareness as their function; essence is inseparable from function, and function is inseparable from essence. "When both essence and function are forgotten, only the true self remains."

The key to illuminating the mind and perceiving the nature lies in suddenly turning inward to introspect at the moment a thought arises, thus returning to the origin and the primordial state. The way of Internal Alchemy also regards cultivating the mind as the supreme pursuit: "If a single thought ceases to arise, one immediately transcends life and death."

It also states that if a practitioner calms their mind in the realm of utmost emptiness and stills their worries in the domain of non-action, with their mind abiding in utter stillness and motionlessness, essence will naturally be preserved and transformed into Qi, Qi into spirit, and spirit into emptiness.

The entire book elaborates on the Quanzhen school’s doctrines of nature and life, and is regarded as a relatively important alchemical text of the Yuan Dynasty.