Within the Dzogchen understanding, spontaneous presence (lhun grub) names the natural, effortless manifestation of the nature of mind and reality. It is spoken of as inseparable from primordial purity (kadag): kadag points to the utterly pure, empty essence of awareness, while lhun grub points to the dynamic, luminous display of that purity as appearances, experiences, and enlightened qualities. These are not two separate things, but two complementary ways of describing the same ground—empty in essence, yet expressive as unceasing display. In this sense, spontaneous presence is the way the ground shows itself as wisdom, compassion, and activity.

Because of lhun grub, the qualities associated with awakening are not regarded as something to be fabricated or produced over time. They are already fully and inherently present, though usually unrecognized. Practice in this tradition does not aim to construct or improve the nature of mind, but to reveal what is spontaneously and completely there from the beginning. Enlightened activities and compassionate responses are understood as arising naturally from primordial awareness, without deliberate effort or conceptual planning.

Spontaneous presence also describes how all phenomena—thoughts, emotions, sensory appearances, even confusion—arise as the effortless display of the ground. They appear vividly and clearly, yet lack any solid, independent existence, illustrating the inseparability of emptiness and appearance. From this perspective, there is no need to accept some experiences and reject others, since whatever appears is recognized as the self-display of awareness itself. When this is directly recognized, experiences are allowed to arise and dissolve in their own place, without interference or manipulation.

The fruition described in Dzogchen is the complete recognition of this unity of primordial purity and spontaneous presence. The empty, unobstructed essence of awareness and its unceasing, spontaneously present manifestations—such as wisdom and enlightened activity—are seen as a single, indivisible reality. Resting in that recognition, the path becomes one of allowing what is already self-perfected to reveal itself, rather than striving to transform something lacking into something complete.