Consider three aspects—cutting through conceptual thinking, resting in awareness, and working with adherence to self—are deeply connected, but each has its own texture. When you look closely, they form a kind of three‑part cycle that keeps looping until the mind naturally settles into the Middle Way view.
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1. Cutting through conceptual thinking
Essential point: Thoughts are not the problem. Believing them is.
In Tibetan traditions, “cutting through” (khregs chod, or simply prajñā) doesn’t mean stopping thoughts. It means seeing their nature so clearly that they lose their power to bind.
What this looks like in practice:
- A thought appears.
- You recognize it as a thought.
- You don’t follow it, fix it, or fight it.
- It dissolves by itself.
The “cutting” is the moment you see the thought as empty appearance—like a rainbow, like a reflection, like a dream.
When this becomes familiar, conceptual thinking loses its solidity. Thoughts still arise, but they don’t create the same chain reaction.
This is the beginning of freedom.
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2. Resting in awareness
Essential point: Awareness is not something you create. It’s what remains when you stop manipulating experience.
Resting in awareness is the natural continuation of cutting through. Once you stop chasing thoughts, the mind settles into its own clarity.
This resting is:
- effortless
- open
- uncontrived
- not focused on an object
- not spaced out
- not “trying to meditate”
It’s simply the mind recognizing itself.
In Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen, this is called:
- rigpa
- ordinary mind
- non‑meditation
- the natural state
When you rest here, even briefly, you taste the meaning of Dharma directly—not as a philosophy, but as lived experience.
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3. Working with clinging to self
Essential point: The “self” is not something you get rid of. It’s something you stop believing in.
Clinging to self is the root of suffering. But it’s subtle. It shows up as:
- “my practice”
- “my progress”
- “my identity as a spiritual person”
- “my opinions”
- “my story”
- “my emotions”
- “my understanding of emptiness”
The self hides inside everything.
Working with it doesn’t mean destroying the sense of “I.” It means seeing that the “I” is a mental construction—useful in daily life, but empty of inherent existence.
How this unfolds in practice:
- You notice the tightening around “me.”
- You look directly at the one who is tightening.
- You find nothing solid.
- The clinging relaxes by itself.
This is the Middle Way: not denying the self, not affirming it—seeing its empty, dependent nature.
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How the three work together
They’re not separate stages. They reinforce each other:
- Cutting through thoughts weakens the illusion of a solid self.
- Resting in awareness reveals the natural clarity beyond concepts.
- Seeing through the self makes resting effortless and stable.
Together, they form the path to the unmistaken View.
dharmasnonabiding 