A brief description of Intrinsic Awareness

A brief description of intrinsic Awareness

(From the viewpoint of Tibetan Buddhism, a direct excerpt from Keith Dowman’s translation of “The Flight of the Garuda”. )

Introduction

The Tibetan language contains a “sacred scripture” in which the Sacred Teaching is written and therefore cannot be translated correctly as there are no corresponding terms.
For example, the word I refer to as “mind” means something else, not mind in the sense of mental. Difficult to describe the indescribable. (In parenthesis are my comments).

Here’s the article:

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When at rest the mind is ordinary perception, naked and unadorned; (it’s there all the time, so close, right in front of us, that we can’t grasp it and we search for it elsewhere).

when you gaze directly at it there is nothing to see but light;

as Awareness, it is brilliance, (the sharp clarity of Awareness)

and the relaxed vigilance of the awakened state;

as nothing specific whatsoever, it is a secret fullness; (it is “nothing” but at the same time complete, secret, as it is not obvious).

it is the ultimacy of non-dual radiance(-clarity) and emptiness.

It is not eternal, for nothing whatsoever about it has been proved to exist. (eternal in a sense of something of a subtle essence that can be eternal)

It is not a void, for there is brilliance and wakefulness.

It is not unity, for multiplicity is self-evident in perception.

It is not multiplicity, for we know the one taste of unity. (the one essence within multiplicity).

It is not an external function (like our ambient consciousness), for Awareness is intrinsic to the immediate reality.

The primal awareness of Awareness is mirror-like Awareness because of the manifest clarity of its unobstructed essence. (reflecting back the clarity of its unobstructed essence),

It is Awareness of sameness because it is all-pervasive.

It is discriminating Awareness because the entire gamut of diverse appearances is manifest from its creativity. (the entire play of creation appear in this all-pervasive basic ground as diverse appearances).

It is the Awareness that accomplishes all actions because it fulfills all our ambition. (our ambition when coupled with awareness allows everything to manifest).

It is Awareness of the reality-continuum, the Dharmadhatu, (absolute reality) because the single essence of all these aspects of awareness is Primal Purity. (summing up, all of the above aspects of Awareness have a single unifying essence: the primordial purity, so we refer to it as the Primal Awareness of Absolute Reality-Dharmadhatu).

Not so much as an atom exists apart from these which are the creativity of intrinsic Awareness. (The creativity of Intrinsic awareness expresses itself in the entire Cosmos, not excluding even one atom).

Awareness is unstructured, natural radiance, your own mind,

so how can you say that you cannot see the Buddha? (Buddha is not to be found elsewhere other than your own mind. See just your own mind and you will recognize its unstructured natural radiance).

There is nothing at all to meditate upon in it,

so how can you complain that meditation does not arise? (being your own mind, you don’t have to look for it in meditation, you already have it, so what do you expect from meditation?)

It is manifest Awareness, your own mind,

so how can you say that you cannot find it?

It is a stream of unceasing radiant wakefulness, the face of your mind,

so how can you say that you cannot see it?

There is not so much as a moment of work to be done to attain it,

so how can you say that your effort is unavailing?

Centered and dispersed states are two sides of the same coin,

so how can you say that your mind is never centered?

Intrinsic Awareness is the spontaneously originated three modes of being (?),

which is achieved without striving,

so how can you say that your practice fails to accomplish it?

It is enough to leave the mind in a state of non-action,

so how can you say that you are incapable of attaining it?

Your thoughts are released at the moment of their inception,

so how can you say that the antidotes were ineffective?

(thoughts, impulses, etc. come and go on their own. They arise and subside. But you instead, try to control them by interfering with “trying” to make them go away and you fail. So there is no need for an antidote. Let go of it).

Mind is the cognition of the here and now,

so how can you say you do not perceive it?