What is Zuowang Sitting Forgetting?
Zuowang (坐忘), translated as “sitting in oblivion” or “sitting and forgetting,” is a foundational Daoist meditation technique aimed at achieving union with the Dao through the systematic abandonment of sensory awareness, intellectual activity, and self-identity. The practice involves sitting in stillness while progressively releasing attachment to the physical body, discursive thought, social conditioning, and ultimately all dualistic perception. Unlike concentration practices that focus the mind on an object, zuowang works through radical subtraction—practitioners forget rather than attend, dissolve rather than construct.
The term first appears in the Zhuangzi (莊子), one of the foundational texts of philosophical Daoism, where the character Yan Hui describes the practice to Confucius: “I smash up my limbs and body, drive out perception and intellect, cast off form, do away with understanding, and make myself identical with the Great Thoroughfare.” This description establishes zuowang as a practice of deliberate de-identification, where the ordinary operations of consciousness are systematically deconstructed.
Origins & Lineage
Zuowang emerges from the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) in China, codified in the Inner Chapters of the Zhuangzi (estimated 4th century BCE). While Laozi’s Daodejing emphasizes wu wei (non-action) as a philosophical principle, Zhuangzi’s text provides the first explicit instruction for zuowang as a somatic practice. The technique was later elaborated in Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) Daoist monasticism, particularly through the Shangqing (Supreme Purity) school.
The 8th-century Daoist master Sima Chengzhen systematized zuowang in his treatise “Zuowang Lun” (Discourse on Sitting and Forgetting), which outlines seven progressive stages: respectful belief, cutting off conditions, collecting the mind, simplifying affairs, true observation, settling affairs, and realizing the Dao. This text became the canonical guide for monastic practitioners within the Quanzhen (Complete Reality) tradition, which emphasized internal alchemy and meditation over ritual.
Contemporary scholar Livia Kohn has documented how zuowang influenced Chan (Zen) Buddhism’s “just sitting” (shikantaza) practice, and how Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE) neo-Confucian meditation borrowed its vocabulary. The practice remained largely within monastic contexts until the 20th century, when scholars like Isabelle Robinet and Louis Komjathy began translating source texts into European languages.
How It’s Practiced
Zuowang is typically performed seated on a cushion or stool with an upright spine, hands resting in the lap or on the knees. Unlike moving Daoist practices (qigong, taiji), zuowang is strictly stillness-based. Practitioners begin by settling the breath—not controlling it, but allowing it to become fine and subtle. This is sometimes called “fetal breathing” or “embryonic respiration.”
The core technique involves progressive “forgetting.” First, practitioners release awareness of the body’s boundaries and sensations—not through forceful suppression but by withdrawing attention until the body is no longer felt as separate. Next comes forgetting thoughts: rather than following conceptual chains or suppressing them, the mind is allowed to become so spacious that thoughts arise and dissolve without triggering identification. Finally, practitioners forget even the sense of being a separate perceiver.
Sessions may last 20 minutes to several hours. Advanced practitioners report states of profound stillness (jing 靜), where boundaries between self and environment dissolve entirely. Unlike Vipassana’s emphasis on noting mental phenomena or Zen’s koan work, zuowang offers no object of meditation and no analytical framework—it is pure subtraction.
Zuowang Sitting Forgetting Today
Modern practitioners encounter zuowang primarily through three channels: academic Daoist studies programs, traditional lineage teachers, and secular mindfulness adaptations. The Daoist Studies department at Boston University and the Daoist Foundation in Britain offer instruction rooted in textual traditions. Lineage holders like Eva Wong and Damo Mitchell teach zuowang within broader Daoist internal alchemy curricula.
Several retreat centers in China—notably on Wudang Mountain and Huashan—offer intensive zuowang training for serious students, though instruction is typically in Mandarin. In the West, zuowang is occasionally taught under the label “Daoist meditation” in yoga studios and mindfulness centers, though these adaptations often lack the philosophical framework of union with the Dao.
Louis Komjathy’s translations of classical texts, including his 2008 anthology “Cultivating Perfection,” have made primary sources accessible to English readers. Online platforms like Dao Labs and the Academic Daoist Society provide recorded lectures, though in-person transmission remains the norm for serious practitioners.
Common Misconceptions
Zuowang is not guided visualization, energy cultivation (qigong), or relaxation training. While it may produce calm states, relaxation is a byproduct rather than the goal. The practice is not about achieving blissful absorption states (samadhi) as in some Buddhist traditions; zuowang aims at complete dissolution of the meditator rather than refined states of consciousness.
It is also not nihilistic dissociation or trance. Classical texts emphasize “true observation” and clarity—practitioners remain lucid while forgetting. The goal is not to escape the world but to perceive it without the distorting lens of self-reference.
Finally, zuowang is not simply sitting quietly or “doing nothing.” The Zhuangzi and later commentaries describe it as effortful in its early stages, requiring disciplined attention to release attention itself. Only in advanced stages does genuine wu wei (effortless non-doing) emerge.
How to Begin
Prospective practitioners should start with textual study to understand the philosophical context. Burton Watson’s translation of the Zhuangzi (specifically Chapter 6, “The Great Master”) and Livia Kohn’s “Sitting in Oblivion: The Heart of Daoist Meditation” provide accessible entry points. Louis Komjathy’s “The Daoist Tradition: An Introduction” offers scholarly grounding.
For practice instruction, seek teachers trained in traditional Daoist lineages—Quanzhen, Shangqing, or Longmen schools—rather than eclectic “Daoist-inspired” classes. Eva Wong’s workshops and Damo Mitchell’s online academy (Lotus Nei Gong) offer structured curricula. If no teacher is available, begin with 10–15 minutes daily of silent sitting with the intention to “forget the body,” using Sima Chengzhen’s seven stages as a conceptual map rather than a rigid protocol.