Speaker A
What is there to do when there is nothing to do? Even when there is no need, nothing arising, still we always feel like we need to do something.
Explore the practice of 'no practice' in Dzogchen, embracing stillness, presence, and observing the mind without doing.
Key Takeaways
- True spiritual practice in Dzogchen transcends goal-oriented doing and techniques.
- Sitting silently with no agenda helps reveal the innate presence and nature of mind.
- The self or doer is an illusion that must be recognized and released.
- Distraction naturally fades when one allows the mind to settle without forcing.
- Presence and stillness are foundational and can be accessed through simple, unstructured sitting.
What the video covers
- The video explores the paradox of doing nothing and being no-one as a spiritual practice in Dzogchen.
- Stillness and movement are both intrinsic to our true nature, but our essence is fundamentally stillness.
- Modern society's goal-oriented mindset often clashes with the contemplative path of Dzogchen.
- Spiritual practice should not be reduced to techniques or tasks but lived and integrated into daily life.
- The illusory nature of the doer or self is emphasized as a key insight on the path.
- Preparation for Dzogchen practice can begin with 'no practice'—simply sitting silently without labels or goals.
- Observing the mind without judgment or analysis allows natural relaxation and presence to arise.
- Distraction and mental stories naturally subside when sitting quietly with no external stimuli.
- The moment of 'landing' back into presence after distraction is a crucial experience to notice.
- Integration of this presence into daily life is essential, starting from silent, simple awareness.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction: The Challenge of Doing Nothing
- 01:13Stillness and Movement in Our Nature
- 02:35Limitations of Goal-Oriented Spiritual Practice
- 05:17The Illusion of the Doer and Task-Driven Mind
- 06:16Preparation for Dzogchen: The Practice of No Practice
- 07:54Sitting Alone: Observing the Mind Without Labels
- 09:12Distraction, Mental Stories, and Returning to Presence
- 15:12Integration: Bringing Presence into Daily Life
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
It's very hard to stay still. But the real stillness is not about not moving.
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Stillness and movement are both part of our true nature. Intrinsic presence is not dependent on stillness or movement.
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But at its very essence, our nature is stillness because it is unmoving and not conditioned by anything.
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There is no stillness apart from the movement and no movement apart from the stillness.
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But until you really discover this, how do we approach the path of contemplation? So, all my videos and teaching is only about the contemplative life in the path of Dzogchen and the essence of the Buddhist path.
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When we are interested in entering these teachings, any spiritual teachings, actually, we take with us this idea.
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What do I need to do? We expect to receive techniques, methods. This is so much more relevant today in our modern society, I think, because we are educated and raised to see the world in that way.
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And sure, when it comes to building a house, for example, there are techniques and methods involved.
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Something that must be done in a very precise way. That is the measure of all of our lives.
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It's like we need to get this thing. So, what is the method? What are the steps?
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We learn the technique and then execute. But when we take this view in a very strict way into the spiritual path, especially a path like Dzogchen, this doesn't really work.
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We can find ourselves learning and focusing on all the technical and philosophical aspects of the teachings.
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And there are so many. And then, we apply this goal-oriented, task-driven, procedural mind into our practice.
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Normally, this will just lead to a very, a very intellectual, dry and barren experience.
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That's not to say that learning the specific teachings, methods, meaning, and terminology of the teachings is not important. That is all important also, sure.
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But, it's about how we live that. How we take that into our practice, into our life.
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Because in Dzogchen, we gradually need to release our fixations to discover our innate condition and to relax without losing our presence.
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And this is not about doing. That's why always at the start it is important to see clearly that the doer, the self, is totally illusory.
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Okay. So, we get some instructions for some practice or meditation. And immediately, our mind goes like, "Okay.
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Step A, step B, check this, check that, put the timer on, and go. Execute." Do you see this?
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Of course, we need to know very precisely what is the way of practicing and applying the path. That's not my point.
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I, I, you understand. But okay. Let me approach this from another angle. Very often there is this question about what is the necessary preparation practice before getting into Dzogchen practice.
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Hm. This can be a very hot topic. I don't want to get into those debates.
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In any case, in the Dzogchen teachings themselves there are many specific methods of preparation to discover our innate presence and how to clarify it.
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And those methods are all very important. But the thing I would like to share here today is, honestly, I think especially these days for modern people like ourselves, I think the first preparation practice is no practice.
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Or I could also say to get to know our own mind. What I mean is just go and sit alone in a silent room in a simple chair.
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No meditation cushion, no meditation posture, just in a chair, whatever. Something normal. And just sit there alone in silence not doing anything at all.
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Even better, put the chair in the center of the room where it really feels out of context, out of place, unusual.
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No familiar setting. Also, no labels. It's not meditation. It's not contemplation. It's not spiritual practice.
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No. No labels. If anyone would ask, "What were you doing?" The actual honest answer would be, "I don't know.
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Nothing. I wasn't doing anything." To sit there, no goals, no objectives, no expectations, no rules, no techniques, nothing to achieve.
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Nothing to be and no one to become. This can seem so simple and plain, but this is so profound and so full of possibilities.
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So, what do I mean? First, of course, we try to be present in the sense of not just sitting there daydreaming, totally lost in thoughts, completely distracted.
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But, try to be present with ourselves without chasing after thoughts or lost in thinking.
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Just there. Bored, tired, restless, peaceful, calm, sleepy, whatever. Just sitting there. This is a very interesting thing to try to do, and much harder than it sounds.
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But, I really feel it's so important. There, in that time, we can notice our own mind.
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We can sit with ourselves, observe ourselves without judgment or analysis, whatever is arising. If we start to settle a little, we can start to observe.
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We look. Where do all these thoughts come from? What is it that is producing these thoughts?
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What is it that is there observing all this? No conclusions to reach right now.
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Just a genuine curious observation of our mind, of our condition. But, the most important at the start is to be able to just do this.
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And get to a point of actual relaxation and presence. And that is not something we can force.
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It is more something that is allowed, allowed to settle. As the turbulence of our mind starts to calm down.
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And we start to unwind. But let me take a step back about distraction. So at the start, for most people there will be distraction.
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After sitting for a moment, the mind, the mind will go into making stories. But if we are sitting there with nothing to do, with no external stimuli, not moving, then at some point all the mental stories will end by
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themselves. And we get to this point of just being there. It's like the distraction stories, they run for a while and suddenly we, suddenly we land back on that chair.
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Oh. I'm still here. What time is it? Mhm? What to do now? And there is a very, there is something very special in this.
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And this is, and this noticing. But let me give an example which I think most people can relate with.
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Often when going to some places, like at the dentist or some public office, we have to wait.
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You get there, they tell you, "Okay, please take a seat, and we will call you." And you go and you sit.
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At first, most people will look around. Then, okay. These days, most people will take out their phones and start scrolling.
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But, if we don't do that, and we just wait, so after a short time, the mind starts to wander, thinking of many things.
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But then, if you have to wait for a long time, at some point, the mind snaps out of the distraction stories by itself.
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And you land right there on that chair, on that moment. Like waking up from the stories.
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Oh, I'm still here waiting. This is taking a long time. So, right there, at that moment, the mind returned to the present moment.
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I'm still here. I'm here. If we notice this exact moment, the very fresh moment where we just land there, on that moment.
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This is a very important thing to notice. But, unless we have some clear experience, then usually after that very fast comes something like boredom, restlessness, or something else.
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But, just to notice that moment, the difference between these two states, the lost in distraction and that oh, I'm here moment.
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You usually, that doesn't last very long because the mind will start to project now deeper layers.
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Like boredom, annoyance, why is this taking so long, and other thoughts, etc. But just to notice that moment and to notice it always happens by itself.
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It happens by itself. But anyway, that's tangent, different topic. Okay, so the thing is we are not used to just being in silence, still and present.
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This is, this is something very basic. We don't need to learn any complicated techniques for this.
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We just need to try to observe ourselves and gradually relax, to unwind ourselves because we are so wound up most of the time.
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So, when sitting there doing nothing for no...
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Now, this is the interesting part. Or can also be the real hard part. So, we can see that we have so much agitation and tension in ourselves.
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There are many different levels of tension and agitation. The surface [laughter] surface level is thoughts, thinking, all the stories and and thinking. That is just surface level.
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Once we let that settle, we see a deeper level. And now energy manifests. This is harder, or it can be harder.
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So, what do I mean? So, it can be boredom. That's a very common first experience.
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Or restlessness. Maybe first boredom, then restlessness. It can also appear something like sleepiness. Or we can feel anxious all of a sudden.
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Many different experiences like this can arise. If we remain still and present, open and aware, just sitting, then more layers become visible.
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All the inner tensions, conditionings, all the knots we have have in our mind and energy start to become more visible.
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And this can be hard. But this is actual progress. And in any case, if it's too much, we we can always stand up and walk away.
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But little by little, we learn to sit and relax in the experience while being present.
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Then gradually some peace maybe starts to arise that is beyond the movements of the mind.
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All the exact Dzogchen teachings on the ground, path, and result, and so on, the precise instructions, all of that in the end will merge into what I'm describing here.
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Even if we are already doing some uh more formal meditation practice and following some specific instructions, there are important points here to explore and observe in ourselves.
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So, we don't we don't have to sit there without any thoughts or experiences arising. So, that's the point.
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We are not doing anything. We are not meditating. We are not trying to focus.
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No, nothing. Just being there. That's it. Present there. Present this moment. So, once the initial wave of surface distraction passes, and it will pass, then we settle in presence. And now we feel restless, uh maybe hungry all of a sudden.
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Oh I I should go and eat something or something else. Something will arise. So, all these movements like thoughts or restlessness and so on, all of it is just moving within our own presence state.
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And we just sit there. We don't turn these into some mindfulness practice. This is no practice.
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It's just being there. Present. It's also not about labeling the experience. It's not trying to observe.
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There is no attempt to control, reject accept change, or do anything with our experiences.
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Just noticing we are present there together with all that is moving. Or to be really clear, whether there are some experiences and thoughts, or if the mind is still and calm, either way, we are present there in both
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cases. You just needed to notice this presence that is always there, like space. [snorts] You see, when we get some practice framed as practice, as I said, there are methods and expectations of results.
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What will we What will we get from it? Immediately, we get into this doing mode.
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I am the yogi. I am the practitioner. And I am doing this practice to get this result.
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This feeds right in with our normal way of functioning in this like dualistic deluded existence.
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[snorts] It is much easier to get a sadhana and a mantra and sit there rolling the fingers over the mala and reciting a mantra.
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That's actually not that hard if the person has a a liking for such things.
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I noticed this myself on my own path. So, I I'm I'm I'm speaking here a lot from my own experience.
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And like this, we can go on for years thinking we are doing great progress, great practice.
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But then, can we sit alone in a silent room for 30 minutes doing nothing and actually be at peace and present?
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This is grounding ourselves. The contemplative life, this life of the Dzogchen path, is not about just learning some mystical philosophical teachings and some special techniques and then go execute.
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That doesn't lead to anything authentic. This path is an entire way of life. It is not just about the times we sit in formal practice in a cushion.
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Yes, that is important, but it's not just that. It's the entire way of life.
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Each moment. A big topic is always integration. How do we take these teachings into daily life?
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It is a big and important topic. There are so many aspects to explore here.
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But just briefly connecting to this topic. Taking into daily life, what are we taking?
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What do we have to take? What we take into daily life is that presence and peace. That aware presence that we have or we find while sitting alone in an empty room being no one, doing nothing.
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That's what we take with us everywhere. But it has to start somewhere. It starts in that silence. It starts in this discovery of this present being.
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Then that gradually connects with the more specific and precise instructions and teachings. And then that moment of silence turns into actual contemplative practice in the natural state.
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And then that starts to travel with us outside the room. Doing nothing. being no one, becomes everything.
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The totality of pure awareness, it becomes the contemplative life. And in that, together with the teachings, the pointing out instructions and clarifications and all the methods, it all arises as the discovery of our fundamental nature, the ground of being, the pure
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presence that is beyond silence, beyond movement, beyond being or non-being. From doing nothing, all arises.
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From being no one, all is present. The Dzogchen way of life is a complete turnaround from the habitual way of being focused outside on doing and being something.
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It is releasing our dualistic fixations, our inner tensions, which ultimately is the self-grasping released into open presence.
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The self-grasping released into open presence. Then, all the specific instructions, methods, and so on have a solid foundation and make sense.
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This, I think, is a good foundation. I hope this helps.
Topics:Dzogchenspiritual practicecontemplationstillnesspresencemeditationmindfulnessno practiceBuddhismselflessness
