Zuowang Instructions

1. View of Zuowang Practice
2. Method of Zuowang Practice
3. Options for Sitting Comfortably
4. Posture, Stillness, and Clarity
5. Gaze
6. Breath
7. Traditional Supplementary Advice
8. Discipline and Zuowang
9. The Fruit of Zuowang Practice

View of Zuowang Practice

Zuowang literally means, "sitting and forgetting". The basic View of zuowang is that all truth is self-evident. There is no universally patterned path outside of our own experience. The "path" is Fate. Consistent daily practice unknots Fate. Zuowang is therefore not a religion or philosophy. Its View is inseparable from its Method and Fruition. It is something directly expe-rienced, not thought about or learned or developed. The practice of zuowang is not the search for or production of mental states. (These are sometimes lesser effects or side effects, but not fruition itself.) The "state" of zuowang is found in the totality of our experience.

Method of Zuowang Practice

The method of zuowang is primarily a seated bodily posture, and it is important to receive correct instruction. There is no particular instruction on "how to forget"-"forgetting" naturally occurs when the posture is assumed.

The posture may be described as follows:

• Base is like a mountain (legs crossed or folded-stable)
• Back is straight but not stiff; abdomen is hollow
• Head is drawn upward as the chin tucks in; the eyes a relaxed gaze, fixed
• Tongue touches roof of the mouth to gather the jade pool (saliva)
• Hands rest comfortably in the lap, thumbs touching, forming a circle
• Breath flows gently and is silent
• Practice for one hour a day for at least two years. Practice for two hours a day if you can. Be consistent in your practice; do not fail to practice for even a single day. If you fail in the continuity of daily practice, reestablish it as soon as possible.

Options for Sitting Comfortably

Chair Posture: Sitting in a Chair

Though common in various eras of Chinese history, this posture is often associated with those who begin zuowang later in life. Sit on the edge of a cushioned chair and place your feet flat on the floor. Your principle weight rests on the chair, but a small amount of weight can be put on the feet to reduce pressure on the hips and spine. It is beneficial if the chair is dedicated to meditation practice.

People doing sitting practice in an ordinary room of a modern house should not practice sitting on the floor if there is furniture (bed, desk) or high windowsills in that room. In those situations, a chair is preferable.

Zuojing Posture: Sitting on your Heels

This is a posture native to north Asia during the Tang dynasty, when furniture was not fashionable, and is still used in traditional everyday Korean and Japanese sitting. This posture creates an excellent base. A cushion or simple bench may be used to remove the pressure that would be placed on the ankles and to adjust the angle of the knees.

Lotus Posture: Sitting cross-legged

This posture is native to South and perhaps Central Asia and has long been associated with the practices of yoga that are native there. The full lotus posture requires considerable flexibility but creates an excellent base for sitting. The half-lotus and simple cross-legged postures are lopsided and thus less desirable.

Standing Posture: Standing Upright

This posture is often used in conjunction with neigong, qigong, or martial arts training, and is, in many ways, the most difficult to do properly. The key to the standing posture is to avoid the sense of being "stacked up" like a pile of books or cups. Weight should be evenly balanced, feet under the shoulders, and arms relaxed with palms turned slightly back.

Posture, Stillness, and Clarity

Through routine practice, the posture becomes comfortable, and stillness is established. The stillness that naturally occurs in correct posture is comfortable and complete in the truest sense. The correct posture does not invite stupefaction or trance. The relaxation inherent in the bodily posture is not pleasant or unpleasant, and yet it remains important to feel the body. Appreciate sensation without naming or seeking any particular feeling. Comfort is a facet of the practice, yet comfort should not be confused with pleasure; it is simply a jing/qi feeling of stability. We do not focus on the ordinary body's comfort, nor do we "forget" the body altogether (trance).

There are two types of stillness. One is made by intentional practice (outer) and has the taste of effort. The other is found to be self-existing (inner), without effort. The union of these two types of stillness is "true stillness."

The posture contains a profound understanding of the energetic dimensions of body and form. It is both physical and energetic (jing/qi). Let the jing/qi just be, and natural clarity appears. Unite the immediate environment of the breath going into the body and going out into space. Sensation is still present, but simply "pinned" to immediacy. This is clarity.

Gaze

The gaze of the eyes should rest in the center of an open space about two or three feet in front of your face. Your eyes should not look up or down, right or left. Your gaze should be about two feet out and level with your chin. If at first the eyes are uncomfortable, bring the gaze closer to your nose.

The "gaze" aspect of the practice is vitally important to avoid trance and stupor, both of which are commonly misconstrued as meditation. When you "pin your gaze," you are letting your external stillness join your internal still-ness. When this occurs, dullness is vanquished. This is sometimes called "rip-ening," or the end of strenuous effort. Clarity naturally arises with the gentle maintenance of a fixed gaze.

Breath

The instruction to have a straight but not-stiff back and a hollow abdomen allows the breath to establish a natural, unobstructed rhythm. The method called "counting or following the breaths" can also be used. Count ten exhales and then relax the counting. You may count to 100 or to 1,000, and then relax-the numbers do not matter. The breath may be felt going in and out (zuowang) and/or up and down (neidan), or both. The breath and posture become a single and primary point, a collecting point of sensation. Never mind your mind!

Traditional Supplementary Advice

1. In the evening bathe and retire early.
2. Wake early (before dawn).
3. Rinse your mouth with warm water and/or drink some weak tea.
4. Practice neigong. Stretch tendons and regulate breathing. Do not sweat.
5. Qi bathe-rub the surface of the body with warm hands.
6. Sit in a clean, dry place with some fresh air. An enclosed garden is ideal.
7. Sit comfortably on a cloth, cushion, or chair.
8. Take 9 deep breaths. Exhale thoroughly through nose and mouth.
9. Rock the body to right and left and then in a diminishing spiral to center.
10. Follow or count the breaths for a few minutes. Pin your gaze.
11. Remain "unmoving" and sit for 50-60 minutes (an incense stick).
12. Conclude by reversing 09 and then 05.
13. If you wish to resume practice, stroll about briefly and begin again at 05.

Discipline and Zuowang

When comfort and clarity are established, subtle distractedness and struggle may yet remain. In your daily practice, you may notice a great torrent of inspired thoughts or floods of qi. Your usual reaction to these thoughts and floods is to follow this and reject that. Though some sort of effort (discipline) has served you to this point, effort itself is a hazard to complete fruition. Effort may cause visions and fantasies. Discipline is a great start, but militancy is not!

The teachings you have received may be easy to recall, but they may also form an obstructing focus. You may become articulate in the Dao, yet cultivating eloquence is not required or recommended as such; eloquence and vivid awareness can become cherished, precious. Do not imagine that heightened awareness is fruition! Awareness is not important. Ordinary seeing and transcendental visions are actually not different--neither one is precious.

Let go of preciousness. Letting go of preciousness is relaxing the distinction between formal practice and daily life. For this, complete isolation is recom-mended. Whether in isolation or not, you will recognize the continuity of your established disciplines and your spontaneous responses to daily life. This non-dual continuity is an aspect of practice and fruition. You will see and know without obscurity.

Being open to the totality of experience is called Returning to the Source. Returning to the Source is also called the body of light (hongshen). At Source, the body is experienced as-it-really-is, a kind of flow of bubbly spring water. One may observe the arising, resolving, and returning of all phenomena unobstructed. This observation is repeatedly referenced throughout the Daodejing.

Beneath the compulsion to sort out your thoughts is a calm and gentle stream. Sit calmly by the stream and let the water flow by unnoticed. This is true zuowang practice.

Gather up your legs.
Pin your gaze.
No effort-relax.
Let go of preciousness and
You will see and know without obscurity!

The Fruit of Zuowang Practice

The body in the true practice of zuowang is not merely a basis, it is also Fruition. What is Fruition? Fruition is the posture and the whole of our experience that includes jing/qi (body) and its totality (shen). Fruition is the trust that comes from the direct experience of Reality (Dao). This experience leaves us open to that which is non-conceptual-it lends us freedom! The deepest sense of Fruition is not the discovery of a ground or a peak, not a transcendental idea, but a limitless freshness of faith and trust.

The Adept assumes that the nature of one's life and path is found in our natural inclination to "return." There exists an inherent urge that naturally implies a coherent path. It is the constant reunion of self-nature (de/shen) and Nature itself (Dao). The patient and consistent practice of meditative sitting erodes the patterns of dualism, the struggle to create and maintain feelings and thoughts of separation. Ultimately, the formal sitting practice, along with ordinary life, show themselves to be a single, undifferentiated, processional flow. The path itself, the practitioner, and all beings/things are various manifestations of qi. In practicing stillness, the Adept observes the dual world arising and resolving itself in undifferentiated qi. Adepts actually feel this. This sensation is anything but distraction. This sensation is Dao.