Zuowang: Sitting and Forgetting (坐忘)
Zuowang (坐忘) is one of the most sophisticated meditation methods in the Daoist tradition. The term appears in the Zhuangzi in a famous dialogue where Yan Hui describes sitting in meditation until he forgets everything — his own body, his senses, his distinctions between self and other — and merges with the undifferentiated Dao.
The Zhuangzi Source
Zhuangzi (莊子) records: 'I drop my limbs and my body, dismiss perception and intellect, separate from both form and mind, and merge with the Great Pervader. This is what I mean by sitting-forgetting.' This is not ordinary meditation — it is the progressive dissolution of the constructed self.
Sima Chengzhen's Seven Stages
The Tang Dynasty Daoist master Sima Chengzhen (司馬承禎) systematized Zuowang into seven progressive stages in his Zuowang Lun (坐忘論): (1) 敬信 — Respect and faith (foundation attitude); (2) 斷緣 — Cutting ties (withdrawing from distraction); (3) 收心 — Gathering the heart-mind; (4) 簡事 — Simplifying affairs; (5) 真觀 — True observation (direct insight); (6) 泰定 — Great stabilization; (7) 得道 — Attaining the Dao.
Practical Method
Zuowang practice begins with seated stillness. The practitioner does not try to suppress thoughts but allows them to arise and dissolve without attachment. Gradually, the sense of the body fades, then sensory experience, then conceptual mind. What remains is awareness itself — pure, undivided, identical with Taiji before its differentiation. This state is called 心齋 (Xin Zhai — Fasting of the Heart).
The Paradox of Effort
Zuowang cannot be achieved through effort — effort maintains the subject-object distinction that must dissolve. The practice involves a paradoxical 'effortless effort' (wu wei 無為) — establishing conditions for dissolution without forcing dissolution itself.