 | This article contains too many or overly lengthy quotations. (December 2021) |
| Zuowang | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 坐忘 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | sitting forgetting | ||||||||
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Zuowang (Chinese: 坐忘; pinyin: zuòwàng) is a classic Daoist meditation technique, described as "a state of deep trance or intense absorption, during which no trace of ego-identity is felt and only the underlying cosmic current of the Dao is perceived as real."[1] According to Louis Komjathy, this is one term for Daoist apophatic meditation, which also goes by various other names in Daoist literature, such as "quiet sitting" (靜坐 jìngzuò), "guarding the one" (守一 shǒuyī), "fasting the heartmind" (心齋 xīnzhāi), and "embracing simplicity" (抱朴 bàopǔ).[2]
Zuowang instructions can be seen in classic Taoist texts from as early as the Chinese Warring States Period, such as the Zhuangzi. The term also appears in the title of an influential manual from the Tang dynasty (618–907), the Zuowanglun, and continues to inform Daoist contemplative practice today.[3]