In
Buddhism, especially
Zen and
Chan,
Non-abidance (
Apratisthita in
Sanskrit) is the practice of avoiding mental constructs during daily life. That is, other than while engaged in
meditation (
zazen). Some
schools of Buddhism consider
Apratisthita Nirvana ("non-abiding cessation") to be the highest form of
Buddhahood.
The Diamond Sutra, a classic Buddhist text, is primarily concerned with the idea of non-abidance. The concept seems to have originated with the first century Indian Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, whose version of Śūnyatā, or emptiness, entails that entities neither exist, nor do they not exist.