太極老母與無極老母、皇極老母合稱三極老母，祂是嵩山特有的神，供奉于嵩山無極洞內(nèi)。

“無極”是指太古時代，“太極”是指上古時代，“皇極”是指人類社會。三者合稱為“無生老母”或“無生圣母”（無生：指境界）。

據(jù)《新編仙真寶誥丨三極老母寶誥》記載：三極老母是萬天萬物始祖母，十方三界人神祖，至極，是三界三境的主宰，合稱為“創(chuàng)世救世始母元君三極祖母圣天尊”。Abstract：Thebreakthrough of Chinese philosophy was a reflection of thespiritual tradition of the Xia (夏), Shang (商) and Zhou (周)Dynasties (三代). Centered on heavenly mandate (天命), regalia (王權(quán)),and virtue (德), the concept of “supreme ultimate” (皇極) in TheFundamental Law of Ruling (《洪范》) set up the highest criterion forthe world that encompasses both myriad things and numerous people.Also, it was a concentrated expression of the classical politicalthought, thus exerting a profound influence on the later Confuciantradition. Meanwhile, based on the principle of “freedom from” (無)and the value of nature (自然), Laozi (老子) advocated freedom fromvanity (無名), freedom from doing anything without careful thinking(無為), freedom from the lack of true knowledge (無知), freedom fromselfish motive (無心) and so on. Upon a reexamination of Dao (道) andvirtue, Laozi affirmed the independent existence of the myriadthings and disapproved of judging them from one specific criterion.The concept of “no-ultimate” (無極) was a key component of theabove-mentioned world of thought. Moreover, from the perspective ofthe intellectual history, “supreme ultimate” evidently had aneffect on the concept of “no-ultimate”, and they each symbolized adistinct principle. “Great ultimate” (太極) which appeared in thestudy of the Book of Changes (《易經(jīng)》) was closely related to “supremeultimate”. Later, the expression “no-ultimate or great ultimate”(無極而太極) in The Explanation of the Diagram of Great Ultimate(《太極圖說》) written by Zhou Dunyi (周敦頤), sparked the far-reachingdebate between “no-ultimate” and “great ultimate”.