ZUOWANG
Sitting and forgetting
Based on the Taoist concept of wu wei (nonaction), Zuowang means “sitting in oblivion.” It asks you to switch off the mind, forget body and environment, and enter a space of inexplicable silence.
KEY FACTS
Essence Letting go of everything and resting in an effortless state of no-mind
Sensory channel Mind
Skill Awareness
Tradition Taoism
Similar practices Zazen, Self-Inquiry, Meditations from the Tantras
WHY CHOOSE THIS PRACTICE?
Zuowang is a challenging but direct practice that takes you to a place of no-mind, stillness, and spacious awareness. It is based on the understanding that the normal way that our minds function is artificial, dualistic, and distorted. By allowing the mind to quiet down, you are able to dissolve the sense of self and rest in the Tao. There are no concrete instructions for Zuowang, but the steps shown here can help you develop the right attitude for this practice.
01 Sit in a meditation posture, straight and unsupported. This helps to stabilize your mind and energy. Your breathing should be smooth, slow, and natural. Close your eyes.
02 Have the attitude of letting go of everything. Forget your surroundings, as if the dimmer switch of your senses has been turned down. Your body is motionless. No sensations are registering. Forget your body. You have no beginning or end. No anchor, support, or form. Forget all concepts or beliefs. Hold no frame of reference, no map of reality.
03 Whatever is arising in your awareness is empty. It is not your enemy and need not be rejected. Everything is allowed to arise and to be whatever it is—it is all part of the experience. The difference is that, internally, you are in a state of nondoing.
04 Don’t start any activity. Don’t engage with anything that is perceived. Hold no preference toward anything that arises. Hold no intention to do anything or to control or change anything.
05 Constantly release any tendency of the mind to think about things, to try to understand things, or to want to change things. Let it all slip away effortlessly. Allow the conceptual mind to lose all its supports and become empty on its own.
06 Simply sit in silence, doing nothing in particular, but resting in open and choiceless awareness. Let everything else drop away from you. Release the disturbance of likes and dislikes, of trying, and of knowing. Release the disturbance of a personal identity.
07 Don’t try to “do” nothing. Release all trying and nontrying. Just be here and now, present but empty of everything. Remain present and let the cultivation of this state happen naturally. By itself, the mind will become quiet, and you will feel grounded and one.
08 Immerse yourself in the unfathomable emptiness of the universe. Allow your being to permeate everything. This is your original nature, open and wide without any self-referencing.
09 When you are ready, bring your attention back to your body and breathing. Slowly move your fingers and head, then open your eyes.
“Zuowang is like the open sky, above all clouds: so vast that you aren’t even aware of the clouds.”
