The school's doctrine is related in the works of the school's founders: "Common Teachings of Immortals and Buddhas" and "True Principles of Heavenly Immortality" by
Wu Chongxu; and also in "Book of Understanding Life" and "Confirmatory Teachings of Golden Immortals" by
Liu Huayang. The school puts its main emphasis on the practice of internal alchemy, in order to realise
Tao, thus achieving a status of "an immortal and a
buddha". A distinctive trait of the school is its postulated identity of Taoist principles with those of early
Chan Buddhism. As E. A. Torchinov noted in the foreword to his translation of
Zhang Bo-duan's "Chapters of Understanding Life", "With time the immortals came to be regarded as taoist counterparts of Buddhas, which have led to creation of syncretical schools (albeit dominated by Taoism) of Immortals and Buddhas (xianfo) in 16th-17th centuries; in these schools tenets of Buddhist doctrine were only perceived through the lens of taoist tradition." ==Translated canons==