(It is) interesting is where padmasambhava, after listing all the titles given to it, says "some just call it ordinary awareness"

the intent of my upcoming practice will be to learn how to enter the inner states with more ease, how to navigate them, how to sustain them as long as desired, how to spread turiya like oil through all the states (as the siva-sutras put it)

up to now i feel that i've had glimpses, and i've learned a lot along the way of how to enter the states, but it is in no way a perfected understanding at all, so there's work there to be done

it's interesting that in that self-liberation text he talks about how when settling into the natural state of awareness thoughts and all mental movements are self-liberated as they arise, which has also been my experience - i see that he is teaching there a very high form of abstract yoga, where just by abiding in the natural state the whole thing unfolds, which is also the approach of Pratyabhijna.

for me, when i introvert (put a stop to my outward-turned activity and introvert the mind, relax body etc) then after only ten minutes or so it all starts unfolding, start dissolving into the inner nature

the obstacles to overcome there are unconsciousness and a subtle involvement with thought - you can sort of be in the middle between awareness of the inner nature and allowing mind to wander, and that's illusion here - so that has to be allowed to cease without falling into unconsciousness

i wrote this earlier



i love that, because i've known that state of sanity, entirely beyond mind's illusion, i feel remarkably grounded like a tree with roots deep in the earth knowing it, and knowing that i am only at the beginning in one respect, is very exciting!