Daoist Zuowang Meditation

The following article is a shortened version of my original article on Daoist meditation. Contact me for a free full version of this article.

Daoist Zuowang Meditation

Just watch out thatr
Above the concentrated mindr
Everything is free and open and coverless,
Beneath the concentrated mindr
Everything is wide and spacious and bottomless.
Zuowanglun
Introduction To My Current Daoist Meditation Practice

Now that I have filled you in on some of my Daoist wanderings, it is time to discuss where my present practice is focused. The overall focus is on zuowang meditation, looking at key principles of its practice, and examining some related Buddhist practices. I also make comments about drinking Chinese tea, as the way of tea is an important Daoist cultivation practice, past and present.
The Chinese and British Perspective

In this next section, I will present what two separate Daoist priests have said about zuowang. The material came out of the Dragon’s Mouth magazine, and they are all present day practitioners. ( Liu Xingdi has since died.) Liu Xingdi is a Daoist priest with many years of experience in Daoist cultivation practices. Shi Jing is the head of the British Taoist Association.

In the 2005, Issue 3 of the Dragon's Mouth, Liu Xingdi when asked in an interview about the importance of zuowang meditation in Daoist cultivation, replied: Zuowang is an ancient Daoist practice handed down within the Daoist traditions. Zuowang, or sitting and forgetting, is allowing everything to slip from the mind, not dwelling on thoughts, allowing them to come and go, simply being at rest. Liu stresses a good body posture which helps to quiet the mind. Otherwise, he says qi disperses, attention wanders, and the natural process is disturbed. Just remain empty and there is no separation from the Dao. Then wisdom will arise and bring forth light, which is the clear qi of a person. Lastly, he adds Don't think too much about the theory ... you are sure to disturb the heart-mind. Just trust in the inherent natural process.

Next, we have the comments of Shi Jing. He is one of the founders of the British Taoist Association and was ordained a Daoist priest in China in 1995. Shi Jing writes extensively about zuowang and leads retreats on it in England. Speaking at length about zuowang, he says Zuowang is a formless meditation-it has no techniques or methods in it, but if I was to ask you to sit here and say there is nothing you need to do, then your mind would slip into the habitual pattern of thought and wander all over the place. There are ways of introducing this practice to you. There are techniques, but we must realize they are not zuowang; they are ways to help you discover zuowang. Really zuowang is resting in a choiceless awareness which is not dependent on self reference. This is a natural state, not some transcendental experience. Thoughts arise from emptiness and dissolve back into emptiness. Thoughts become self-liberating if we can recognize that their nature is emptiness. Thoughts are arising, but we are not doing it, they are appearing of themselves. They are not our enemy. It's a natural process that is happening.
When thoughts dissolve into emptiness, it means they have returned to the source, which is non-being. By becoming familiar with this experience, gradually our activities become an expression of non-being. (Dragon's Mouth, 2006, Issue 1)

In an earlier issue of Dragon's Mouth, Shi Jing states very strongly about the place of zuowang in the Daoist tradition and then goes on to share important insights on the zuowang view:
Shi Jing is asked what he feels is the main practice of Daoism that people can follow.
His answer follows: “The original practice which is really the core of Daoism, regardless of what tradition, is zuowang, which means to sit and forget. When you sit you are actually freeing yourself up from the baggage that you carry. You forget about your persona, who you think you are. Things are gradually dissolved. Zuowang is the formless meditation, if you like. True zuowang has no form. It’s resting in the non-dual awareness, your original nature. There is actually no method or teaching or technique in this at all. And then he talks about the view:
“So how do we approach zuowang? The first step is the view. The view is that our dualistic state of being is a distorted reflection of the non-dual mind. We hold this view lightly in practice because in the beginning we apply it from a dualistic perspective. The view and the method [ eventually become one ] until they dissolve into emptiness and are forgotten. So zuowang is no more than resting in the non-dual awareness. (Dragon's Mouth, 2005, Issue 1)

Pu-erh Tea and Zuowang

Make a cup of pu-erh tea, and as you mindfully drink it, sit in meditation, and assume a comfortable posture, back straight, eyes open or slightly open, and gently gazing. Briefly recite or think of the view. And then just rest in open awareness. From this point forward, whatever arises is just it. You don’t need to count breaths, make mental notes of the kinds of thoughts/perceptions you are having. No self-judging of how you are doing. Basically, whatever happens you bring open awareness to it. This is actually the easiest of all meditations because no matter what you experience, as long as you are aware of it, is part of the experience. I know, easier said than done! The Zuowanglun is your scripture text to study to nourish this practice. You can also go back to the early Daoist classic, the Zhuangzi and find in Chapter six, the story of Yen Hui and Confucius, talking about making progress and Yen Hui says, I just sit and forget. I am not attached to the body and I give up any idea of knowing. By freeing myself from the body and mind, I become one with the infinite. This is what I mean by sitting and forgetting. Shi Jing refers to this passage as the original teaching on zuowang: The essence of Daoism. (Dragon's Mouth, 2005, Issue 1)

Conclusion to Zuowang

A very inspirational book I've recently read was Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind. It was written by a young Irish woman, Maura O'Halloran. It is her memoirs of living for three years in a traditional Zen monastery in Japan in the 1970's. Recognized as a Zen Master just before her tragic death, she tells the story of balancing effort and no effort. Her insight ties in very well with our discussion of wuwei and Zuowang:

“There’s nothing really to achieve, but until I really realize that, I must go on trying to achieve, though really realizing that there is nothing to achieve.

So, there we are again, back to our original discussion on wuwei. Yes, to fully grasp the meaning of zuowang, we have to live by the principles of wuwei. To be true Daoist cultivators, our actions must remain with our Original Nature. Liu Xingdi, in the Dragon's Mouth interview I quoted much earlier, said it all so clearly:

“Our cultivation is to remain with our original nature, then whatever arises is a natural activity of Dao. Every action is wuwei. In meditation you stay quiet and allow the mind to empty. So wuwei means to remain empty and be totally present with whatever you are doing.

This is my practice now: cultivating the present awareness of whatever arises in the moment, and maintaining the view of Original Nature. I make use of different disciplines in my sitting practice, like sitting in formless, open awareness, making no preferences, asking “who’s sitting forgetting, and occasionally sitting throughout the night in meditation.

I am aware of the way [Dao = Way] that lies before me, yet firmly keep my feet planted deeply in the wuwei of the earth. I am aware of the gradual process of the dissolving ego-identity; the ego that tries with all its strength to encourage me to give up these spiritual endeavors. And I am aware of the possibility that at any moment, a flash, a nuclear-explosion of sudden awakening can transform my being and I can say the same words as Maura O'Halloran.
Ten ni mo chi ni mo tada ware hitori.
In heaven and earth, there is but I, myself.
Everything is perfect. Everything is enlightening,
just as it is by virtue of being.
www.dragongateqigong.com
michaelrqi@aol.com
Qigong & Daoist Training Center