The Practice of Recognizing Natural Awareness
This is a chapter based on the direct teachings you can see in the video attached. I am very happy I found this video. I think this is a very important video, showing how poor our mindfulness is and how rich meditation can be. I will comment later. Tulku Urgyen is a great and profound teacher! He explains:
In the moment of truly seeing one’s own nature—fully and without conceptual interference—everything becomes vivid and self-revealing. There is no separation between the observer and the observed, no effort to maintain this state, and no need to alter it. In that first instant of recognition, the mind halts its endless projections, and what remains is the raw, unfiltered essence of being.
Imagine the simplicity of this: a state where nothing is required, nothing is fabricated, and nothing needs to be explained. Even if it lasts for just a fleeting moment, this recognition surpasses anything the world can offer in its complexity. It halts the machinery of thought not by force, but by its sheer clarity. Nuclear explosions, profound events, or the chaos of life pale in comparison to this stillness—a stillness that doesn’t deny sound, sight, or sensation but embraces them as part of its vast, unobstructed nature.
Being Fully Present Without Fixation
In this state, the five senses remain active, but they are no longer grasping or rejecting. Everything is biblically vivid, profoundly clear, but untouched by fixation or conceptual overlay. Whether it’s the sound of wind, the sight of moving clouds, or the taste of food, all experiences arise and dissolve effortlessly. There is no need to investigate, no laboring to understand—just a natural flow, a seamless unfolding of presence.
When the mind ceases its habitual fixation on objects, even for a moment, it reveals the essence of the Dharma. Everything that appears—the world, beings, thoughts, and sensations—is seen as it truly is: empty yet luminous, arising and dissolving within the pure nature of awareness. This state doesn’t require effort; it is the natural expression of being.
The Empty Cognizance of Awareness
All sounds, sights, and thoughts are inherently empty, yet they resonate with meaning. The sound of wind, for example, is not separate from the emptiness that gives it space. In recognizing this, one hears not merely the wind but the voice of the victorious ones, the wisdom of the awakened. To understand this is to let go of the need to conceptualize or cling to arising phenomena.
Thoughts, too, are part of this dynamic play. By simply leaving them as they are—neither following nor resisting—they dissolve naturally, like waves receding into the ocean. There’s no need to fabricate stillness; it arises on its own. In the same way, there’s no need to cling to thoughts or reject them—they are part of the flow.
Training in Short Moments of Recognition
This natural awareness is not something to strain for, but rather something to notice repeatedly in short moments, many times over. Like the sound of a bell that continues after it has been struck, the recognition of awareness doesn’t require constant effort. Once seen, it sustains itself.
Of course, distraction will happen. Thoughts will arise, attention will wander, and the habit of conceptualizing will reassert itself. When this occurs, it’s enough to notice: “Oh, I forgot.” With that acknowledgment, you return effortlessly to the natural state of awareness. This is not failure but practice. Each time you recognize and return, you deepen your familiarity with the natural state.
Integration with Daily Life
This practice is not limited to sitting meditation. It continues throughout daily activities—while speaking, walking, eating, or even sleeping. Every moment becomes an opportunity to recognize the natural awareness that underlies all experience. When eating, for example, you might find yourself caught up in thoughts about the food or distracted by conversation. The moment you notice, “I got carried away,” is itself a moment of recognition, a return to the essence.
This is not about perfect concentration or avoiding distraction entirely. It is about training yourself to notice and return, again and again, until recognition becomes effortless and continuous.
The Unchanging Nature of Awareness
In the naked state of Dharma-dhatu (the all-encompassing reality), awareness arises from itself and dissolves back into itself. Whatever occurs—thoughts, emotions, sensations—is simply an expression of this awareness. When forgotten, these expressions solidify into fixed forms. But when recognized, they dissolve naturally, like mist evaporating in sunlight, revealing the essence once more.
This is the practice: to remain present, to recognize the nature of mind repeatedly, and to allow everything to arise and dissolve without interference. There is no other meditation project, no greater task, no need for elaborate constructs. Even the tiniest speck of distraction is enough to pull us away, but with training, this too becomes an opportunity to return.
Living in Recognition
As we navigate life, this practice transforms every moment into an opportunity for awakening. Whether lying down to sleep, engaging in work, or interacting with others, the essence of awareness is always present, waiting to be recognized. There is no situation where it cannot be found—it is as much a part of a chaotic moment as it is of serene meditation.
The Buddha’s teachings point to this simplicity: to recognize the nature of mind is to experience liberation. There is no need to fabricate, no need to strive, only the courage to relax and trust in the natural unfolding of awareness.
As the great masters have said, the entirety of the path can be summed up in this: Recognize, return, and remain.
Fuck yes! This is the best short summary ever I heard on explaining the essence. The recognition of the opportunity to remember yourself and the follow-up by silent watching. The grace that we are showered upon to be able to see this!
Because I myself am a pupil of the Gurdjieff work and was initiated in sanyasin by OSHO I want to expand this great talk by this context.
Self-Remembering and Watching: The Context of Awareness
The narrative of recognizing one’s natural state, as described in the above transcript, can be profoundly understood through the complementary concepts of self-remembering, as emphasized by G.I. Gurdjieff, and watching, as articulated by Osho. These two approaches—one rooted in returning to the self and the other in observing without interference—merge seamlessly in the journey of recognizing the essence of awareness and integrating it into daily life.
Self-Remembering: Gurdjieff’s Contribution
Gurdjieff’s concept of self-remembering revolves around the act of returning to oneself, particularly in moments when the mind is lost in distraction. It is not simply thinking about oneself but being aware of oneself in the present moment, of one’s thoughts, emotions, and physical state. In the context of the transcript, self-remembering happens when you notice that your thoughts have wandered—when you recognize, “Oh, I forgot,” and in that very recognition, you return to your natural state of being.
- The Process of Self-Remembering:
- Gurdjieff described the human condition as one of “sleep,” a state where we operate on automatic pilot, lost in habitual thoughts and behaviors.
- Self-remembering is a deliberate act of “waking up,” a moment of self-awareness where you break free from the mechanical flow of life and reconnect with your inner being.
- In Practice:
- When you notice you’ve been caught up in thoughts—about food, conversations, or distractions—and acknowledge, “I got carried away,” you are engaging in self-remembering.
- This act of returning is like striking a bell; the moment of clarity resonates and sustains itself for a while, even after the deliberate effort.
The transcript’s emphasis on “recognizing your natural face” and “arriving back at the essence” mirrors Gurdjieff’s teaching that returning to oneself is not about force but about consistently noticing and reorienting oneself to the present.
Watching: Osho’s Contribution
Osho’s concept of watching builds upon this foundation by encouraging the practitioner to observe all phenomena—thoughts, emotions, sensations, and external events—without judgment, attachment, or aversion. Watching is the practice of being a neutral witness to everything that arises within and around you.
- The Practice of Watching:
- Osho invites us to watch thoughts, emotions, and sensations as they arise, just as we would watch clouds moving across the sky. In doing so, we disidentify from them and realize that we are not the content of our experience but the awareness in which it occurs.
- He emphasized that watching requires no effort to change or control what is observed. The very act of witnessing allows thoughts to dissolve naturally, much like the transcript describes letting thoughts “be as they are” until they dissolve into their own essence.
- In Practice:
- Watching aligns with the transcript’s description of letting thoughts or sounds arise and dissolve, observing them without “getting involved in concepts.”
- The moment you recognize a thought as a thought, you have already shifted from identification with it to witnessing it. Osho would call this the birth of a meditative state, where you are fully present as the observer.
How Self-Remembering and Watching Interweave
These two approaches—self-remembering and watching—are not separate but complementary. They describe different aspects of the same practice: the art of waking up and staying awake in the moment.
- Self-Remembering Brings You Back:
- When lost in thought or distraction, self-remembering is the active process of recognizing that you’ve drifted. It is the return to awareness, the conscious reorientation to the present.
- Watching Sustains Presence:
- Once you have returned, watching takes over. It sustains the state of presence by allowing you to observe everything that arises—thoughts, sensations, emotions—without interference. It keeps the clarity of self-remembering alive by preventing new identification.
- A Continuous Dance:
- Life naturally pulls us away into distractions. Self-remembering catches these moments of forgetfulness and brings us back, while watching deepens and stabilizes the state of awareness. Together, they form a rhythm: returning and observing, forgetting and remembering.
Practical Integration
The transcript beautifully illustrates how these principles come together in practice:
- Recognition of Distraction (Self-Remembering):
- When the mind wanders into habitual thoughts or gets carried away by external stimuli, you notice and acknowledge it: “I forgot.” This simple act is self-remembering.
- Observing Without Fixation (Watching):
- Once you’ve returned, you simply watch. Thoughts, sounds, and sensations are allowed to arise and dissolve naturally, as described in the transcript: “Let being be in the continuity of sound and emptiness.”
- Short Moments, Many Times:
- Both Gurdjieff and Osho emphasize the importance of repetition. The practice is not about maintaining awareness continuously but about returning to it repeatedly. Each return strengthens the habit of presence, making it more natural over time.
- Integration into Life:
- As the transcript suggests, this practice extends beyond formal meditation. Whether eating, walking, speaking, or lying down to sleep, there is always the opportunity to remember and watch. Even the mundane becomes a doorway to presence.
The Essence: Recognizing Natural Awareness
In the interplay of self-remembering and watching, we come to the heart of the practice: the recognition of natural awareness. This is the state described in the transcript, where the mind dissolves into its source, and thoughts arise and fall without fixation. Gurdjieff’s self-remembering ensures we return to this state, while Osho’s watching helps us sustain it.
Together, they guide us to live in the recognition of our natural essence—a state of being where we are fully alive, present, and free. This is not something fabricated or achieved but something uncovered, moment by moment, as we learn to dance between forgetting and remembering, between wandering and watching.
More on Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920–1996)
Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche (1920–1996) was one of the most revered Tibetan Buddhist masters of the 20th century, renowned for his ability to guide students to the heart of meditation with clarity, simplicity, and compassion. Born in the Nangchen region of Eastern Tibet, he was recognized at a young age as a tulku, a reincarnate lama, carrying forward the wisdom of past enlightened masters. Immersed in the rich spiritual traditions of the Nyingma and Kagyu schools, Tulku Urgyen was steeped in the practices of Dzogchen (Great Perfection) and Mahamudra (Great Seal), the pinnacle teachings of these lineages.
From an early age, he displayed a deep natural affinity for meditation and the profound teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. His training took place under some of the most accomplished masters of his time, including his father, Chime Dorje, and Khenpo Ngachung, a legendary Dzogchen master. This rigorous spiritual education shaped him into a guide capable of transmitting the essence of the teachings with directness and authenticity.
The political upheaval of the 1950s forced Tulku Urgyen to flee Tibet, leaving behind the monasteries and sacred sites that had nurtured his practice. He settled in Nepal, in the lush hills of the Kathmandu Valley, where he established Nagi Gompa, a hermitage that would become a sanctuary for both himself and his students. Despite the hardship of exile, this period marked the beginning of his role as a bridge between the ancient wisdom of Tibet and the emerging interest in Buddhism from the West.
Tulku Urgyen’s teaching style was strikingly direct and experiential. He had a rare ability to distill complex philosophical concepts into simple, clear instructions that pointed directly to the nature of mind. For him, practice was not about intellectual understanding or elaborate rituals but about recognizing the intrinsic clarity and luminosity of awareness itself. His teachings often centered on Rigpa, the innate state of pure awareness emphasized in Dzogchen. He guided students to this recognition not through abstraction but through pithy, practical advice that brought them face-to-face with their own true nature.
As Westerners began seeking the wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism, Tulku Urgyen became a pivotal teacher for many, including influential figures such as Lama Surya Das and Erik Pema Kunsang. His warmth, humor, and humility made him approachable, while the depth of his realization left a lasting impact. Students often spoke of the transformative power of his presence—how even a brief encounter could spark profound insight.
Tulku Urgyen’s influence extended beyond personal teaching. He played a central role in establishing key centers for practice in Nepal, such as Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Kathmandu. These places became vital hubs for the preservation and dissemination of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. Through these centers, his legacy continues to thrive.
In addition to his oral teachings, Tulku Urgyen left a rich literary legacy. Books like Blazing Splendor, a memoir of his life and the masters he encountered, offer readers a glimpse into the extraordinary world of Tibetan Buddhism. Works such as As It Is and Rainbow Painting distill his teachings into accessible formats, focusing on Dzogchen and Mahamudra as paths to recognizing the mind’s innate nature.
Tulku Urgyen passed away in 1996, leaving a profound imprint on the spiritual landscape. His sons—Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, and Tsoknyi Rinpoche—have carried forward his teachings, each becoming prominent teachers in their own right. Together, they have ensured that the clarity and simplicity of Tulku Urgyen’s wisdom continue to inspire and guide practitioners worldwide.
Through his life, Tulku Urgyen exemplified the seamless integration of profound realization and compassionate activity. He showed that the heart of spiritual practice lies not in complexity but in the direct and fearless recognition of the natural state of awareness. His teachings remain a timeless guide for those seeking to awaken to the truth of their own being.
We are most fortunate to have found this brief talk which is a absolute high level transmission of insight! The world becomes transparant, just as the drop of pool water below under my microscope!
Shunyam Adhibhu
breath4balance 