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This post is a full guide to nonmeditation. Instead of striving for Awakening in some imaginary future moment, nonmeditation is about simply recognizing your True Nature right now, which is effortlessly peaceful, wise, and effective.
But effort is the only way you’ve achieved anything in life so far, and along comes this guy, telling you to abandon it. I know, I’m asking a lot. But I’m backed by 30,000 hours of study and practice, formal instruction from teachers both Buddhist and secular, my wife’s degrees in psychology, and my own stable, effortless wellbeing. Plus the remarkable results I’ve seen in around 100 close students to date.
In my last 2 posts, we established why effort is your problem, and how it’s reinforcing a self-identity that’s obscuring your True Nature.
This post will answer the final, practical question: how, exactly, do you give up your effortful practice of developing virtuous qualities? And how do you, instead, recognize your already-virtuous Nature?
I’m going to tell you—first, by pointing you to a glimpse of that nature right here, right now. And second, by giving you a loose 6-step framework you can use IF you need support in making that glimpse more and more frequently, until your already-enlightened Nature becomes obvious.
The Core Practice
Now, if you can simply apply the core practice I’m about to share with you in all the circumstances of your life, you will not need that 6-step framework. It is not another rigid technique to master. It is optional and it is loose.
The core practice is to simply rest as awareness.
That’s it.
If this seems too simple for you, read on...
There’s paradox here. Strictly speaking, it’s a stretch to even call that instruction a “practice”. Another way to phrase it would be simply “do nothing”. But when we’ve been habituated to efforting for decades, the possibility of doing nothing is way outside our range of experience. Thus, the teachings of nonduality across time and culture have—each in their own way—made varying degrees of provisional concessions to the thinking mind; to the “doer” we all take ourselves to be when we come to this practice.
Think of these concessions like a hand, made of nothing but pure space, reaching out and inviting you into that space, where both it, and you will dissolve, leaving you one with that space and, thus, at peace.
What is to follow in this post is my own synthesis of these concessions. This synthesis is uniquely suited to our time; our circumstances, and you’ll understand how as we move through it.
So, if you’re like every other practitioner was when they first heard the instruction to rest as awareness, your thinking mind will crave elaboration. Elaboration is to be abandoned. But I will elaborate to help you abandon elaboration.
More paradox!
Understanding Awareness And Nonduality
Awareness is like space. It is not a thing, but when we use words, we have no choice but to refer to it as such. Awareness is not made of anything, and its nature does not change. In your direct experience—free of speculation about what came from where—that which appears within awareness does so spontaneously, as if in a dream.
Awareness can be occupied by anything, but is affected by nothing. It is inherently clear, open, and without boundary. It is the means by which everything is experienced—both what you label “inner” and “outer”; what you label thought, emotion, memory, sense data or event. But awareness does not label: it is the space in which labels appear. Awareness does not interpret: it is the space in which interpretations appear. Awareness knows everything that appears, just as it is. It has no need to make sense of, elaborate, or change anything. Thus, it is inherently peaceful, content and wise.
Since awareness does not elaborate, it is free of the stories we tell that perpetuate stress, dissatisfaction, suffering. The moment we rest, we “unsubscribe” from these mental fabrications: they cannot continue. What we’re left with is bare sensation, data, phenomena, stuff. Now, instead of spiralling into patterns of grief, shame, guilt and anxiety, we merely rest as the awareness of a sensation in the chest or stomach—that perhaps we would typically label as some afflictive emotion. And by not investing it with meaning, we allow it to pass—as is its nature—without creating more “stuff” in reaction to it.
Again, awareness is not a thing. It has no substance or characteristics. Thus, you cannot see it, nor touch it, nor comprehend it as you would a concept. It is not an object. Thus, you cannot observe it. It is not a subject, for it is the space in which all subjects—all “selves”—appear. When you see this, the experience of a subject itself becomes an object! When this is recognized thoroughly, the mental process of subject/object relativity ceases, and what is called “nonduality” is realized.
Awareness can only be recognized in the same way that space is recognized, and this is what you are to do in this practice I encourage.
When you remove all the furniture from a room, it seems like there is more space in the room. But this space was never diminished, no matter how cluttered it was. The key point, here, is recognition. Truly, there is nothing stopping anyone from recognizing that awareness is the basis of all their experience, whether they’re in a meditation hall or a war zone—though we can certainly say that, in the latter environment, it would be wiser to run than to contemplate this.
This is why, to someone who insists that they cannot recognize awareness, I recommend they simply continue practising a deliberate meditative technique. This is yet another concession. It isn’t that awareness is somehow not present for that individual—that would be impossible: they could not be having an experience at all if they were not aware. Rather, it’s simply that they are preoccupied with the clutter in their “room”, and thus do not appreciate the space in which the clutter exists. I can stand alongside this person and tell them, “there is plenty of space in here, it is only occupied temporarily”. But they are so attached to their clutter that there is simply no convincing them. Due only to their own insistence, they must first clean out the room—to some degree, at least—and only then they will appreciate the space. This is a metaphor for using a deliberate meditation technique to “calm the mind”.
Now, having given a thorough pointing to what is to be recognized, let’s get practical.
How to Recognize Self-Knowing Awareness
Can you be aware of your left hand?
Don’t look for any special experience: we’re talking about the most ordinary experience you can have. Just be aware of your left hand, exactly as it is—in your direct experience—right now. Don’t think about it. Don’t try to locate it. Just be aware of it, however it appears.
Now, in the same way, be aware of being aware.
Again, don’t look for anything special to occur. Any image you’ve ever had about what it might be like to glimpse Awakening is, itself, just more “stuff”. The basis of that image is awareness. The basis of your left hand is awareness. Recognize that basis of everything; that ever-present space by which you “know that you know”.
If you question whether you “got it”, that question is arising within awareness.
If you try to imagine it, that image is arising within awareness.
If you doubt that you’re doing it correctly, that doubt is arising within awareness.
If you experience that you “got it” but then “lost it”, that getting and losing is arising within awareness.
There is no experience that occurs outside of awareness. That is impossible.
Now, again—be aware of your left hand.
Now, again—be aware of being aware.
Now, again—be aware of anything that arises in response to your attempt to recognize awareness as, itself, arising within awareness!
Take a break and play with this a while if you need.
And if you experience that this just isn’t working for you, don’t worry—you just need a further concession, and we’re going to get into it in a moment.
If this pointing did work for you, congratulations! You just won the cosmic lottery. To experience even a glimpse of this recognition is a privilege no material victory can match. Recognition is typically accompanied by a sense of relief, spaciousness, ease, clarity, of “returning home”.
“Returning home” is apt because what you’re recognizing is not something new, but something that has always been. The more we recognize that Awareness is what we are and always have been, the more we see that all the mental/emotional processes we’ve run that cause stress, dissatisfaction, suffering were only ever like ripples in water. They never truly harmed us.
All there is to do, now, is to make this recognition more and more frequently. Rest as awareness—just for a brief moment—whenever you remember. Rest as the space in which all is—as it is—without interpretation, judgment, label or description. Rest in that comfort and ease that is beyond harm. Do you see how this process is subtractive, not additive?
The more you practice this nonmeditation, the more absurd it will seem to you that you ever lived any other way! Those afflictive mental/emotional processes will, themselves, look more and more absurd. Thus, you will run them less and less, you will relax more and more, and when this is the mode in which you live, you have Awakened to your True Nature; you’ve put down the burden; you are Enlightened. Not by struggling to develop virtuous qualities, but by recognition of what is and always has been so. Now, those virtuous qualities for which you strived manifest spontaneously, and all there is to do is allow the unfolding of naturally arising beneficial intent. (More on this in future posts.)
Now, for many students I’ve worked with, the simple recognition we just walked through simply doesn’t give enough to grab onto. So I make a further concession. There is no shame in needing this concession. Relatively speaking, we each come to this practice with different conditioning, and we must start where we are. Honestly, if you’ve stuck with this post to this point—even if it didn’t make much sense—you’re already among rare and privileged company.
The 6-Step Framework For Practising Nonmeditation
What follows is a 6-step framework you can use as “training wheels” for your practice of nonmeditation. Importantly, you are on the same bike. You’re still “pedalling”, still “moving”, still doing the basic recognition I described above. All these training wheels do for you is provide stability.
This is not another technique to master. And the students I’ve taken through this framework each find that they can remove their training wheels at different times: you do not have to see this through like a rigid methodology. Think of the steps not as a march but, rather, as a dance. You can move forward and backward as you please. You can take breaks. You can do another dance entirely sometimes, if you prefer (for example, your previous meditation practice—if it still brings benefit).
The goal is to remove the training wheels as soon as possible, and you’ll know when they’re no longer necessary—just as when a child is learning to ride a bike, it can be seen that their training wheels no longer touch the ground.
Step 1: Resting In Seclusion
You’ll be comfortable here because this is somewhat like ordinary meditation. The difference is that you’re not applying a technique to achieve an altered state of consciousness or to change anything about yourself. You don’t have to sit a particular way; you don’t even have to close your eyes. Rather, you’re just being in a distraction-free environment, and giving some dedicated time to the practice of natural rest.
Here are the instructions:
- Sit comfortably, alone, and kill your phone.
- Rest as awareness, accepting what is, as it is—without interpretation, judgment, label or description.
- When an interpretation, judgment, label or description arises, rest as the awareness of it, and allow it to pass like a ripple in water.
- Each time you remember to rest, acknowledge this as successful practice.
- Repeat steps 2 to 4
The next video on my YouTube channel will be a long guided practice you can use to aid you here, so look out for that. (If you're reading this post long after its publication, search for "guided nonmeditation".)
Now, if you’re like most people, your first question at this point is “how long should I do this for?” You might be used to setting a timer for your meditations. We don’t do that here. Rather, the instruction is to enjoy the practice. If you only enjoy it for 30 seconds the first time you do it, fine.
When you enjoy something, you want to do it.
When you want to do something, you do it a lot.
When you do something a lot, you get the benefit.
This is not about discipline: that’s just more “stuff”.
Once you’re enjoying this step, you can try the next.
Step 2: Resting In Motion
Now you’re going to take your practice for a walk. The instructions are exactly the same—except for the sitting part, of course. Importantly, you must choose a relatively quiet spot at this stage: a beach, a wood, a hiking trail. The less people are around, the better.
See, all we’re really doing with this step-by-step practice is slowly introducing more “stuff” into your experience as you practise. At this step, you’re going to have nature in your field of vision, sounds of wildlife in your ears and, of course, the sensations of walking. That’s quite a lot, compared with sitting at home. But again, the practice is the same.
If, when you try step 2, you find that you remember to rest any less than once per minute, I recommend hopping back to step 1 and continuing to enjoy your recognition there. Be playful: treat this like a game; dance these steps 1 and 2 with curiosity. What happens when you try step 2 again? What happens if you alternate them? What happens if you dedicate another week to step 1 alone? Experiment.
Step 3: Resting In Public
This may seem much more challenging at first. The setting, now, is somewhere a lot of strangers are amassed: a city centre, a mall, a café, a restaurant. Again, the practice remains exactly the same, but the challenge now comes from the fact that there will be much more “seductive” phenomena. You will judge people; you will interpret words you hear as they pass; you will speculate on what they think of you. These are all ripples on the surface of the water of awareness.
But you’ll know how to practice by now. The challenge is, of course, continuing to make your recognition in the midst of these more seductive phenomena, which seem to demand that you invest them with meaning; that you reify them.
As before, dance between the steps as necessary. Step 1 is still useful here: the more stable your rest is at home, the easier you’ll find it to rest in nature and, in turn, in public.
Step 4: Resting In Temptation
Relatively speaking, this is where things get really challenging. Yet, still, on the absolute level, awareness remains perfectly clear, right here to be recognized as you now practice while scrolling your social media feed. You know the drill by now. You know the practice. We’re just introducing yet more seductive phenomena into the picture.
Step 5: Resting In Conversation
This can be thought of as the “final boss”. You’re now faced with a real human being, who will seem to demand all kinds of interpretation, judgment and reification from you. But again, you know what to do. Certain conversations may seem more difficult than others. That’s fine, but remember: awareness is the only way you’re aware that any conversation is occurring. This is what you are to recognize.
Continue dancing among all these 5 steps until they are easy. At some point, you’ll stop being concerned with how long or how frequently you’re practising. The entire notion of “practice” will begin to seem absurd to you. And that’s when you’re finally ready to come full circle.
Step 6: Resting As Awareness
We’ve looped right back around to the first recommendation I made in this post—before I introduced the framework: to simply rest as awareness in any and all circumstances. This is the removal of your training wheels. Now you need no support. Nonetheless, you may find there are some circumstances in which you wobble a bit. That’s fine. Again, some of us are able to practice in this undirected way from the beginning—without the training wheels. Others of us need one or more of the steps I laid out. All that matters it what works for you.
When I give direct guidance to a student, the process is more dynamic. We begin with the possibility of practising with no training wheels, then discuss which of the circumstances of their life seem difficult to rest in; to accept as they are. Then we place our attention there, usually inventing a supportive practice that’s tailored to them and their situation. Sometimes, though, we just talk about the circumstance that’s bothering them and apply to it the nondual view. We do this as much as is required for them to let go of their interpretations, and then they recognize that they were, in fact, always free in that circumstance—it was only those mental/emotional processes they were running that were obscuring their wide open nature.
Now, there are two common struggles people have with all this...
2 Common Struggles
The first is the “am I doing it right” trap. We’ve all heard fantastical spiritual teachings that present Awakening as some kind of mystical experience. But guess what? All mystical experiences occur within the basic space of Awareness—just like everything else. Are you interested in mystical experiences? Or are you interested in fundamental Truth?
Trungpa Rinpoche said, “Enlightenment is the ego’s ultimate disappointment”. The ego wants magic. It wants stuff it can post on spiritual Reddit communities that will get hundreds of upvotes. And it wants to use these to verify that it is, in fact, “doing it right”. But the “you” who wants to “do it right” is the very thing that must be seen through. It never existed as anything outside of awareness. It came and went within that basic space just like all other “stuff” does: impermanent, temporary, fleeting, empty. Seeing this is “doing it right”. But there is no fanfare. You won’t get a halo. Just stop asking, “am I doing it right?” The moment you do, you’re back to engaging in speculative thinking. You’ve reverted to the old, striving-based model. The only way to do this “wrong” is to try too hard—because awareness is the most obvious “thing” there is; the ultimate expression of “hidden in plain sight”. It cannot be found elsewhere, so stop searching!
The second common problem in this practice is the problem of “forgetting”. You will forget to rest; you will forget to recognize. The antidote to this is to become fascinated with the practice and enjoy it. Please do not blame yourself when you forget. This, again, reinforces ego. And do not wish you were remembering more often. This, again, reinforces ego. But, of course, if blaming or wishing arises, you know what to do.
There is an aid you can use to help you remember if you wish. Download an app called Insight Timer and set the meditation bell to sound at regular intervals. When you hear the bell, rest as awareness. Play with the frequency to find a setting that suits you, then make it more and more frequent until you no longer need it. Of course, you can use this in all steps of the practice framework I’ve explained. If you struggle to get the bell set up, let me know in a comment and I’ll reply with instructions.
If you read this far, friend, well done. I am enormously glad that you did, and it’s been a great privilege to walk you through this detailed guide on the practice of nonmeditation.
We’ve come through the core practice of resting as awareness, the 6-step “training wheels” framework, and we’ve cleared up the most common problems people have it all. This framework is for you to use as a tool. As soon as you’re ready, let it fall away, then simply rest as awareness in any and all circumstances, recognizing more and more the inherent clarity, peace and contentment that is your True Nature.
The best way to get personalized guidance is to complete my 1-minute quiz. It'll tell you where you are in this whole picture, and how to progress through it. I'll then send you some advice relative to your results and, if appropriate, an opportunity to connect with me for a casual chat about your situation.
With love from my sofa,
Dan 💙
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