Introducing the Unaltered Ground Just As It Is

Stages of Introduction to the Unaltered Ground Just As It Is

by Longchen Rabjam

Homage to glorious Samantabhadra!

Sovereign dharmatā, primordially expansive and unfathomable,
Non-conceptual, self-luminous equality, the dharmakāya,
The sovereign of mind, naturally arisen Samantabhadra—
To the original teacher, I pay homage.

As with a vast lake containing water and sediment,
If mind and arising perceptions naturally settle,
Ordinary thoughts will become the dharmakāya.
This is how we reach the ground of self-liberation.

1. Introduction to Settling

The introduction to settling evenly without altering this pure awareness, which is not something real and which is naturally unborn, like space, is as follows.

Lead someone who has turned their mind away from saṃsāra to a thoroughly isolated location. Then, after fervent prayer, adopt the seven-point posture of Vairocana and direct your gaze about an arrow’s length into the clear sky, and say:

Now, you should let your breath and consciousness flow into space.

Settle and completely relax your body, speech and mind.
Let your body remain natural: don’t fidget or move about.
Let your speech remain natural: don’t chatter away.
Let your mind remain natural: don’t get caught in thought.

Settling naturally without altering or corrupting
Will leave no possibility of faults or going astray.
Whoever meditates in an unaltered, unspoilt state
Will undoubtedly attain dharmakāya awakening.

In the ultimate space of the unborn nature,
Alpha-pure dharmakāya is there, without further ado.
So, without viewing this or meditating on that,
Vividly remain in undistracted non-meditation.

In free, unconstrained awareness,[1] effortless, vivid and undistracted,
Pure emptiness, unaltered, without fixation on anything,
And without drifting into a void of blankness,
Not rejecting, not thinking, unspoilt—it is vibrant and clear.

Without grasping at anything at all,
Without transformation, it is naturally blissful.
Without thought, it is fresh and lucid.
Unlocated anywhere, it is naturally present, pristine.

In a state without precise delineation, settle naturally.
Settle effortlessly and settle freely.
Settle like a mountain: stable and unchanging.
Settle like a great lake: clear and unmoving.

Settle without wavering from the experience of union, the single taste that underlies diversity, a state of natural bliss,
Primordially pure awareness, which is vividly awake and lucid, clear and empty.
Settle in an experience of the fundamental nature, comfortably, relaxedly, at ease.
Settle in dharmatā, extensive and pervasive.
Settle in an experience of the fundamental nature, open and exhilarating.
Settle in a state without source, undistracted without meditating, neither scattered nor concentrated,
Thought-free and unconstrained,
Uncultivated, free and easy,
Effortless, pristine,
Vivid and leaving no trace.
Phaṭ!

This constitutes the introduction to settling.

Through settling evenly in such a way, dualistic thought, constrictive mindfulness, and attachment and aversion remain pacified within the unborn state that is the primordially empty nature of mind, the fundamental nature that is groundless and without source.

Phaṭ!

In the wake of settling, look into consciousness unspoiled by thought, lucid awareness which does not involve conceptions and which is uncontaminated by ordinary thinking, whether good or bad. Recognize this lucidity that is non-conceptual, this non-conceptuality that is lucidly clear. Co-emergent wisdom, beyond conceptual elaboration, is seen with penetrating clarity, as when the sun rises in a clear sky.

That is the subsequent naked awareness,
Primordially pure, unsullied by mind,
Already free, unbound by clinging to experience,
Bare awareness that is firm and steady.

Phaṭ!

2. Sustaining Undistractedly

1. Directly Introducing the Face of Awareness

The present instant of consciousness, which suddenly arises from the primordially empty nature of mind, without ground or source, a state that resembles space, the stirrings of various thoughts, good and bad—all are here introduced as one’s own essential nature, dharmatā. Without trying to eliminate or block thoughts, to purify or transform them, or to direct them, and without pursuing them or suppressing them with an antidote, utter "Phaṭ!" and look directly with effortless mindfulness. When you look, there is nothing to see. Thoughts are not rejected but are purified into absolute space. Recognize thoughts as dharmakāya.

Phaṭ!

Look, movement is purified. It arises by itself and is freed by itself. Arising and liberation occur simultaneously. There is no delay—no before and after. Ordinary awareness dawns as meditation.

2. Deciding on the Indivisibility of Thoughts and Dharmakāya

This involves recognizing perceived objects and perceiving consciousness as dharmakāya, then trusting this to be so, deciding upon it, and gaining confidence. Consider, for example, how waves appear uninterruptedly in the ocean. The waves are the ocean. The ocean is the waves. Just as you cannot separate waves and ocean, you cannot separate thoughts and dharmakāya. Since there is no distinction between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, it is said that all that appears and exists dawns as dharmakāya.

The process of arising from the unborn state is not blocked. No matter what arises, the basis of its arising is unreal. Whatever arises is empty of essential nature. It is primordially empty. It has always been empty throughout beginningless time. It is devoid of real substance, empty of intrinsic nature. For instance, a horse that is born to a horse is also a horse. Emptiness that arises to emptiness is also emptiness. The unborn arises within the unborn. Union arises to union. The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom says:

All dharmas are non-dual. They are not divided in two. They are not separate, not distinct.

And:

The non-dual is empty of non-duality.
In reality, there is no duality or oneness.

It is said that what arises is liberated upon arising. Therefore, there follows:

3. Having Confidence in Freedom

• Since there is no fixity, there is freedom without grasping.

• Since there is immediacy, there is instantaneous freedom.

• Since there is self-arising, there is freedom through self-liberation.

• Knowing that any thoughts that might arise are by nature primordially free brings the confidence of not having to liberate repeatedly.

• Knowing that the nature is free by itself brings the confidence of not having to liberate by applying an antidote.

• Knowing that the dharmatā is directly free brings the confidence of liberating without the duality of apparent object and knowing subject.

• Knowing the characteristic of total freedom brings the confidence of liberation without effort.

Such is the instruction.

This is the introduction that strikes the crucial point.

Through thus explaining self-liberation in a state of direct freedom—
Genuine mind, without ground or source and freed by itself—
May all beings without exception be spontaneously freed in basic space
And attain the state of the all-knowing and victorious.

This concludes the method for introducing the unaltered ground just as it is, which was composed by the yogin Jarmé Long-yang, who experienced intense faith at the immaculate lotus feet of the sublime guru. May it be virtuous! Virtuous! Virtuous!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2025.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer. "gzhi ma bcos bzhin du ngo sprod pa’i rim pa" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 12: 253–259 (3.5 folios)

Version: 1.0-20250708