Chen Zhixu’s Dual-Path Commentary on the Duren Jing

Tai Shang Dong Xuan Ling Bao Wu Liang Du Ren Shang Pin Jing Zhu (Commentary on the Supreme Mysterious Spiritual Treasure Scripture of Unlimited Salvation for All Beings, the Highest Grade)

Annotated by Chen Zhixu (courtesy name Guanwu), a renowned Taoist priest of the Yuan Dynasty.

Consisting of three volumes, it is included in the Yujue (Jade Commentaries) category of the Dongzhen (True Grotto) Section in the Daozang (Taoist Canon).

At the beginning of the book, there is a preface written by the author in the Bingzi year of the Zhiyuan reign (1276), outlining the essential meanings of the Duren Jing (Scripture of Delivering Beings). The author argues that the Lingbao path of saving beings is identical to the way of "Golden Elixir returning to truth"—a path that refines both body and spirit to the state of supreme subtlety. However, ordinary people only know how to recite the scripture and pray, without understanding the path of "Reverted Elixir and longevity" (huan dan jiu shi). Thus, the author interprets the scripture through two parallel frameworks: "Dao Application" (Dao Yong) and "Worldly Dharma" (Shi Fa).

The so-called "Dao Application" refers to the internal cultivation method of Golden Elixir (Jin Dan), through which practitioners of the Dao "cultivate in accordance with it and attain immortality."

The so-called "Worldly Dharma" refers to the external practice of reciting scriptures and offering prayers, through which ordinary people "recite diligently and seek blessings."

Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Tang, and Song dynasties, commentators on the Duren Jing have either emphasized Dao Application or focused on Worldly Dharma. In contrast, the author of this work synthesizes the theories of both schools, advocating that "practitioners should uphold both Dao Application and Worldly Dharma in parallel: conceal Worldly Dharma through Dao Application, and perfect Dao Application through Worldly Dharma—this is the dual cultivation of nature and life (xing ming shuang xiu)."

This viewpoint aligns with the Quanzhen Dao (Complete Perfection Taoism) doctrine of the Yuan Dynasty, which emphasized the integration of internal and external cultivation and the perfection of both merit and practice.