Mahamudra points again and again to a very simple gesture: resting as the awareness that is already present, rather than constructing some new meditative state. One begins by allowing the body and breath to be at ease, setting aside any project of “getting somewhere” or producing special experiences. Whatever appears—thoughts, emotions, sensations, even dullness or agitation—is allowed to arise as it is, without suppression or indulgence. The key is to notice that all of these are known, and then to turn gently toward the knowing itself, without answering conceptually what that “knower” is. This bare knowing is not found as a thing with shape, color, or location, yet it vividly illuminates whatever appears. Recognizing this empty, cognizant, open quality, even for a brief instant, is already a taste of the mind’s natural clarity.

Resting in that clarity means refraining from adjusting or improving it. There is no need to make awareness more still, more bright, or more profound; such efforts only fabricate another state. Thoughts, emotions, and even meditative peace or bliss are treated like reflections in a mirror or clouds in the sky: they arise, display, and dissolve within awareness without acceptance or rejection. When attention wanders into their content, it is simply invited back to the knowing itself, not by force, but by a light touch of recognition. Over time, short moments of this direct recognition, repeated many times, allow the gap between recognizing and forgetting to naturally diminish, without strain.

A helpful way to discern fabrication is to notice when there is subtle manipulation: forcing the breath or posture, tightening the eyes or forehead, or seeking confirmation through special visions or energy. Even the inner commentator that proclaims “now it is clear” or “this is not it” is just another appearance within the same awareness. Rather than trying to get rid of such tendencies, they too are known directly as they arise, and their essence is seen to be no different from the clarity that knows them. In this way, thoughts self-liberate by dissolving back into the empty, cognizant space from which they came, without needing to be pushed away. Natural clarity is thus revealed not as a rarefied trance, but as the ordinary, unspectacular knowing that quietly pervades every moment before anything is named or judged.