Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Natural Meditation
Rest in open, choiceless present awareness — sustaining the natural, already-awake quality of the mind without manipulating experience — as a Westerner-accessible form of Dzogchen.
Natural Meditation: Sit at ease; bring awareness into the body and senses; then open the attention wide and let everything arise and pass in spacious, choiceless awareness. Don’t manipulate experience — rest in the mind’s own already-present, accepting awareness, and gently return whenever you get caught. Carry it into daily life.
What it is
Lama Surya Das (b. 1950) is one of the most senior American-born lamas in the Tibetan Dzogchen (“Natural Great Perfection”) tradition, and his life’s project has been making Dzogchen practice-able for modern Westerners.
His central method, which he simply calls “Natural Meditation,” is an open-awareness practice: rather than fixing on an object, you relax into the already-present, naturally aware quality of mind and let it remain open, spacious, and choiceless — “empty, open, natural and luminous.” It is less about doing meditation than about sustaining the essence of present awareness, which Surya Das says “includes all” the more elaborate Dzogchen explanations.
The emphasis is inclusive — encompassing rather than denying the body, the senses, and ordinary life.
The Method
A faithful outline of the publicly-taught form:
- Settle naturally. Sit comfortably and at ease. There’s nothing to fabricate; let the body relax and the breath find its own rhythm. Eyes may be open with a soft, spacious gaze.
- Come into the body and senses. Surya Das often begins by bringing awareness into the body — feeling sensation, sound, and space — grounding present awareness rather than withdrawing from the world.
- Open the attention. Instead of narrowing onto one object, let awareness be panoramic and inclusive — whatever arises (sights, sounds, sensations, thoughts) is simply allowed to come and go in open space. This is choiceless, open awareness, not concentration.
- Don’t manipulate experience. Make no effort to stop thoughts, hold states, or improve the moment. Let things be as they are and rest in the knowing that is already aware of them.
- Recognise the natural state. The instruction points to intrinsic openness, acceptance, and equanimity — the mind’s own radiant, present quality — and simply sustains it moment to moment.
- Return lightly. When you get caught in a thought-story, notice, relax, and return to open present awareness without judgement. Gradually extend this into daily activity. (Sourcing note: a faithful general outline of Surya Das’s publicly-taught Natural Meditation; authentic Dzogchen “recognition” is traditionally introduced by a qualified teacher.)
Source & Lineage
Surya Das trained for decades under Tibetan Dzogchen masters (notably in the Nyingma lineage) and founded the Dzogchen Center in the United States. He presents the central practice of the Luminous Great Perfection in plain, secular-friendly language for lay Western audiences, in books such as Natural Perfection and Dzogchen Meditation Training. → author node.
Common refinements
Turning “open” into “vacant.” Open awareness is bright and present, not spaced-out or dreamy.
- Secretly concentrating. If you find yourself gripping an object, soften and widen again — the stance is inclusive, not narrow.
- Trying to manufacture the natural state. Effortful “trying to be natural” is contrivance; relax the trying itself.
- Skipping grounding. Beginning with the body/senses keeps the practice from floating off into vagueness.
- Assuming book-only suffices. Genuine “recognition” usually wants a teacher; without one this remains a beneficial relaxation/awareness practice.