Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Resting in Awareness
Let thoughts settle and rest as the open, already-aware nature of mind itself — without grasping, fixing, or trying to attain anything.
Resting in Awareness: Sit, follow the breath, and let go of all effort — including the effort to hold a “self” together. Watch thoughts without reacting, notice the gap between them, and rest as the open awareness that is already aware. Don’t try to attain anything; when you get caught, soften and rest again.
What it is
Anam Thubten (b. Tibet, c.1960s), a Nyingma-trained lama and founder of the Dharmata Foundation, teaches a strikingly plain form of Dzogchen “natural meditation.” For him, meditation is the art of resting — not a technique you perform but a relaxing into the awareness that is already here.
As he puts it, this is a “deep rest, an inner rest in which we let go of all forms of mind’s effort,” including the subtlest effort: the effort to maintain the illusory self. The practice is to stop trying to produce any state, stop holding on to anything, and simply rest as the open, knowing quality of mind that is aware of whatever arises.
He frames the goal not as building something new but as noticing that “inner contentment is already there” when the grasping relaxes — which is why he calls awakened awareness immediately available rather than a distant attainment.
The Method
A faithful outline of his publicly-taught instruction:
- Sit and let the breath be. Take a comfortable posture. Pay gentle attention to the breath in silence; there is nothing to force or fix.
- Let go of effort. Release “all of mind’s effort” — including the effort to be a good meditator and the effort to hold an identity together. This is deep relaxation in which we are no longer trying to hold on to anything.
- Watch the mind without reacting. Notice that thoughts pop up. Don’t react to them, just keep watching your mind. Let each thought come and go on its own.
- Notice the gap. As you watch, “notice that there is a gap between each thought” — a small open space of bare awareness. Become interested in that openness rather than in the thought-content.
- Rest as the awareness, not in the content. Instead of riding the stream of thinking, settle back into the awareness that is already aware of it. Let attention be open and unforced — resting as knowing, not doing anything to it.
- Don’t try to attain. The instant you reach for an experience, you re-engage effort. Relax even the reaching. When you get caught in a thought-story, simply notice, soften, and rest again.
- Extend it lightly. Over time, let this resting carry into ordinary moments of the day. (Sourcing note: the “art of resting,” “letting go of all of mind’s effort,” and the breath / watch-the-mind / gap-between-thoughts instruction are drawn faithfully from Anam Thubten’s published teaching in No Self, No Problem and related talks; authentic Dzogchen “recognition” is traditionally introduced by a qualified teacher.)
Source & Lineage
Anam Thubten trained from childhood in the Nyingma tradition and presents the Dzogchen “natural awareness” teaching in deliberately ordinary, non-esoteric language for lay Western audiences.
The instruction appears across No Self, No Problem (2009), The Magic of Awareness, and Releasing the Knot of the Mind. → author node.
Common refinements
Turning “rest” into dullness. Resting awareness is bright and present, not sleepy or spaced-out. If it goes foggy, freshen the attention without tightening.
- Secretly trying to attain. The moment you chase a special state you’ve re-added effort. Relax the trying itself.
- Fighting thoughts. You are not suppressing thinking; you watch it without reacting and let the gaps reveal themselves.
- Gripping the gap. The space between thoughts is noticed, not manufactured or held — clutching at it collapses it.
- Assuming book-only suffices. Genuine “recognition” usually wants a teacher; without one this remains a beneficial relaxation/awareness practice.