Listen to what Vairocana has to say ...

One the earliest and greatest Dzogchen masters and translators, Vairocana, a contemporary of Padmasambhava, left his personal instruction manual for his student Nubs Sangye Yeshe. Nubs was the author of the earliest compendium of Dzogchen and related teachings called the “Samtan Migdron”.

Here are some quotes from Vairocana’s instruction manual:

“Regarding the settling of our minds in their natural state, there is nothing that is in our view, so there is nothing that we must think of as our meditation. We settle ourselves down without thinking of anything at all. The Tantra itself states: Things to think about are not to be thought of. Do not think about not thinking, either. Not thinking about things is the equanimity of thusness. It also says: In the way things truly are, there are no thoughts at all.”

“No matter what you do, don’t think of anything at all.”

“Because this is so, we must not think of anything at all while we are practicing the enjoyment of moving, sitting, sleeping, or standing, regardless of whether they are pleasant or painful. We practice in the absence of anything that must be done. The Tantra proclaims: Don’t think of anything at all. Don’t even think that this is the way things are. Do not meditate on the Buddha. Get rid of everything that is the concern of the fields of the gods. Do not seize the vajra. Do not carry any implements of mantra at all. Do not throw out anything as a torma offering, or any item of generosity, at all. Do not dedicate. Who would you dedicate to? Do not practice any disturbing rites, including the rituals. The Great Perfection is the true nature of all things. It is the heart-essence of all things, Yet there is nothing here at all.”

“So, when we are meditating, we determine that there is nothing to think about, and we do not think. This is the supreme method.”

“For the Great Self (Dagnyid Chenpo) that is in all things, there are no dharmas or persons, so there is no one to be the meditator.”

“When the state of not thinking about anything at all, falls on us, that is the Mahāyana.”

“At the moment we feel a thought, we do not let the thought carry us away. It will, by itself, become brilliantly clear as being a wisdom, and we will return to peace.”

“Do not visualize a reality that is in some other place than where we sit. Don’t look for it. However you may do your practice, you will be happy. Don’t think. Sleep. Enjoy not thinking, without thinking about it! Move, sleep, and sit, whether you are happy or you are suffering. When we do not think of anything, we naturally have no thoughts.”

“We sit, naturally without thought, so there is nothing for us to work on.”

“The desire for enlightenment is a major disease.”

From the “Reverberation of Sound Tantra”:

“Our yoga is to stop the river of conceptualizations.”

“There is no Dharma. There is no Buddha. And there are no sentient beings. There is no I. There is no self. There is nothing to take in or hold onto.”

“And however we designate things, that is how they will appear. The basis for the designation is the variety of names.”