Non-abiding

In Buddhism, especially the Chan (Zen) traditions, non-abidance (in Sanskrit: apratiṣṭhita, with the a- prefix, lit. ‘unlimited’, ‘unlocalized’) is the practice of avoiding mental constructs during daily life. That is, other than while engaged in meditation (Zazen).

Some schools of Buddhism, especially the Mahāyāna, consider apratisthita-nirvana ("non-abiding cessation") to be the highest form of Buddhahood, more profound than pratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa, the ‘localized’, lesser form. According to Robert Buswell and Donald Lopez, apratisthita-nirvana is the standard mahayana view of buddhahood, which enables them to freely return to samsara in order to help sentient beings, while still remaining in nirvana and being a buddha via the usage of nirmanakaya and sambhogakaya.

Here, is used to translate pratiṣṭhita, meaning "to be contained in [a locale]" or "situated", from the prefix prati- ('towards', 'in the direction of') and ṣṭhita ('established', 'set up').

To translate pratiṣṭhita, Chinese Buddhists used zhù (住), literally "to reside, lodge, remain". Both wúsuǒzhù (無所住 'no means of staying') and wúzhù (無住 'not staying') are used for apratiṣṭhita.

The Diamond Sutra, a classic Buddhist text, is primarily concerned with the idea of non-abidance. The concept seems to have originated with the 1st-century Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, whose version of śūnyatā, or emptiness, entails that entities neither exist, nor do they not exist.

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