Jing Zuo - Confucian Meditation and Buddhist Meditation

Confucian Meditation and Buddhist Meditation

The concept of meditation was not a major aspect of the Confucian life until the Neo-Confucian era. At this time Buddhism and Daoism had begun to expand into China and started to influence some aspects of Chinese culture. Even though there are some similarities, there are also some fundamental differences. Confucian meditation, unlike Daoist and Buddhist meditation, does not require the stopping of rational thought, but instead relies upon disciplined attention to one's current situation and mental phenomena. Its purpose is to develop as an individual in order to find full realization. (Johnston 2006) As Zhu Xi notes in : "Whenever you have to attend to your daily affairs, or undertake any matter, always spend some time in meditation and everything will be all right" (Zhu Xi, 4:25).

A central aspect of Confucian meditation is Jing zuo or quiet sitting. Again, there is a fundamental difference between Neo-Confucians and Buddhist or Daoist meditation, in respect to Jing zuo (quiet sitting). "Neo-Confucians argued that quiet sitting was oriented to this world and aimed at perfecting one's self, whereas Buddhist and Daoist meditation focused on forgetting the world and abandoning one's self." (Yao 2000, p. 222). Furthermore, "Neo-Confucian scholars take quiet sitting (Jing zuo) to be only a way to help understand one's gain in self-cultivation and they do not see it as a means to isolate oneself from human affairs. They believe that it is only within this world and among worldly affairs that one can progress in the path of spiritual cultivation." (Yao 2000, p. 223).