Neiguan (内观)

'Inner contemplation' — the Sui-Tang term for turning attention inward and settling the mind, which the tradition itself identified with sitting in oblivion.

中文: 内观 · nèiguān ·

PRIMARY SOURCETRADITIONAL / LINEAGE INTERPRETATION

The term

内观 (nèiguān) — 内 “inner” + 观 “to contemplate, observe.” A Sui-Tang term for the core contemplative move: turning attention from outer objects to the inner field, and resting it there. The term is often translated “insight” in modern Buddhist contexts (vipassanā), but in the Daoist texts this page documents it names the direction of attention, not a specific analytic method.

What the sources say

• The Neiguan Jing (太上老君内观经, attributed to Laozi, c. Sui-Tang): the program is stated in one sentence — 内观己身，澄其心也 (“contemplate your own body within, and clarify the mind”). The text’s claim is that the mind was originally clear and still (“神元清静，湛然无杂”) and becomes turbid through the six sense-gates; inner contemplation is the reversal — turning the light back in to settle what was stirred.
• The Dingguan Jing commentary (定观经注): 慧心内照名曰内观 — “the wise mind shining inward is called inner contemplation.” The image is of light turned back on its source, not of pictures viewed.
• The Daoshu (道枢, Song compilation): preserves the strongest identity claim in the tradition: when asked what inner contemplation is, the answer given is 内观即坐忘 — “inner contemplation is sitting in oblivion.” The tradition itself treats the two names as one practice.

Why the term matters

Neiguan is the bridge term between the classical sources and the later practice tradition:

1. It names the inward turn without prescribing content. Unlike visualization practices (存思, cunsi), which populate the inner field with images of deities and palaces, neiguan’s instruction is attention itself — and the Neiguan Jing explicitly pairs it with clearing, not with building.
2. It connects the meditation terminology to zuowang. The Daoshu identity (“inner contemplation is sitting in oblivion”) is the tradition’s own equation, and this site records it as the strongest single traditional warrant for treating the two practices as one lineage.
3. It is the term modern Chinese communities use loosely for “looking at your own mind” during sitting — usually without knowing the classical equation behind it.

Boundary note: the same two characters translate the modern Buddhist “vipassanā” (as 内观禅), which is a different tradition with its own literature. This page documents the Daoist term; the Buddhist usage is out of scope and flagged to prevent conflation.

Sources

• Taishang Laojun neiguan jing (太上老君内观经, Sui-Tang): '内观己身，澄其心也' — contemplate one's own body within, and clarify the mind
• Dongxuan Lingbao dingguan jing zhu: '慧心内照名曰内观' (wise mind shining inward is called inner contemplation)
• Daoshu, Chuandao chapter: '内观即坐忘' (inner contemplation is sitting in oblivion)