# RESTING IN THE SELF-APPEARANCE OF KNOWINGNESS
## For the exhaustion of all phenomena into dharmatā

I offer this instruction to those resting in the natural state.
May clarity recognize itself without effort.
May knowingness rest in its own shining.

Knowingness appears as energy shining.
This is the wisdom appearance.
It is not something seen by knowingness, but knowingness showing itself.
It shines, not as optical light before the eyes, but as the vivid and living intensity of awareness itself.

The thigle in this case is not a color or a point in space.
It is the self-energy of awareness.
It is the same as rigpa gsal ba, the luminous knowing that knows itself.

When we speak of wisdom appearance we mean that the clarity aspect of awareness displays its energy without object or reference.
This is the distinction between samsaric appearance and wisdom appearance.
Samsaric appearance depends on sense objects and causes perception to divide into seer and seen.
Wisdom appearance is knowingness displaying itself as energy shining.
There is no distance in it, no reference to outer form or inner observer.
It is self-display.

Do not search for bindus or lights in the sky as external objects.
The bindu that appears—as light shining in space, even in darkness—is knowingness itself, self-luminous, alive.
It is not something seen BY awareness but awareness appearing AS light.
This is the first vision: the direct perception of dharmatā displaying itself.
When that shines, all appearances are recognized as its play.
Not that objects become wisdom, but that the only thing ever appearing is the radiance of awareness itself.

Eye, Light, Space, and Thigle are names for the same single event: knowingness showing itself.
They are aspects of the one gesture through which awareness makes its own clarity visible.
Eye is pure knowing, without a knower.
Light is the radiance of that knowing.
Space is the openness in which it shows.
Thigle is the self-enclosed point of display—the living completeness of the moment.
These turn together like a single wheel.

As knowingness turns upon itself, there is a moment of astonishment.

Astonishment (ngo-tshar): the energetic surge when Light and Eye mutually recognize each other within the Thigle, before dissolving into Space.

The system registers the collapse of distance, and energy flares.
That intensity is not disturbance but recognition.
The Fold is the point where the apparent subject and object vanish into the same field.
The Seal is the stabilization of that fold—the moment where there is no return to duality.
Rest is the exhaustion of appearance: knowingness abiding as itself, without need of confirmation or maintenance.
It rests as it is, vivid and open.

This resting is not dull or blank.
It is bright, knowing, effortless.
It does not rely on focus or absorption.
It is the natural state—rigpa resting in its own display.

When astonishment arises, let it breathe.
Do not suppress or cling.
The nervous system experiences the collapse of reference as intensity, as though struck by lightning.
Allow that brightness to expand and balance itself.
The energy will naturally settle into lucid stillness, and superlative bliss free from clinging.
That stillness is dharmatā resting in its own ground.


## COMPOSITE SYMBOLIC CONFIGURATION

Eye ⇆ Light ⇆ Thigle ⇆ Space → Astonishment → Fold → Seal → Rest

Operational Description:

Knowingness shines as light (Eye–Light).
Light is enclosed and reflected within itself (Thigle).
Recognition of its own openness (Space) gives rise to astonishment.
The polarity collapses (Fold).
Stabilization of unity follows (Seal).
All display abides as itself (Rest).


## SIMULTANEOUS EXHAUSTION

Longchen Rabjam explains that there are two ways exhaustion occurs.
One is gradual, as the four visions unfold.
The other is simultaneous, when recognition and exhaustion happen together.

Simultaneous exhaustion does not mean the body vanishes in an instant.
It means that the process of dissolution begins at once—without the need for stages or accumulation.
When knowingness recognizes itself, the exhaustion of phenomena has already started.

Think of an ice cube touched by the sun.
The moment sunlight reaches it, evaporation begins.
There is no delay.
But the ice does not vanish in a flash; it melts and disappears in its own time.
Recognition is the sunlight.
Exhaustion is the melting.
The vanishing of form and fixation completes as the warmth of recognition deepens.

This is the meaning of simultaneous exhaustion: recognition and exhaustion are one movement.
From the first instant of clear seeing, all appearances begin to return to their ground.
The light that shines and the space that holds it are not two.
Appearance liberates itself the moment it shines.
That is dharmatā of the result—the exhaustion of phenomena where even the word "phenomena" no longer applies.


## SYMBOLIC SEQUENCE

(Eye ⇆ Light ⇆ Thigle ⇆ Space) → Astonishment → Fold → Seal → Rest

Recognition and exhaustion coincide.
Display and dissolution are one act.
Appearance is dharmatā from the very first instant.


## FROM LONGCHEN RABJAM'S PRECIOUS TREASURY OF THE GENUINE MEANING

"The resultant state being difficult for a person to express as one way or another is mentioned in the root tantra:

The dharma nature of cause and result refers to the arresting of coarse concepts from their source; and with the self-purified stream of recollection, the interdependent winds will be naturally cleansed. That is the dharmatā that originates from cause.

The originally pure nature has brought the enumerations of one or many to an end. Without kāyas or wisdoms, to arrive on the ground where all phenomena are exhausted is said to be the dharmatā of the result.

At that time, since even the name of phenomena becomes non-conceptual, it is called the exhaustion of phenomena.

There are two modes of exhaustion. Gradual exhaustion is when four visions are progressively brought to an end. Simultaneous exhaustion occurs through the recognition of dharmatā and familiarity with that, so the exhaustion will occur without giving rise to the increasing experience and the full extent. The practitioner experiencing this is called the supreme mind that realizes simultaneously.

Whatever the case may be, at the time of this exhaustion, there will be the vanishing of the corporeal form, passions, and appearances.

Naturally abiding in the samādhi of dharmatā is called the attainment of the kind of perfect wisdom.

Dharmatā that vanishes in its own ground will bring the disappearance of the elements and the cessation of the corporeal body.

By the cessation of the limitation of particles and particles of particles, not even a trace will remain. Through the vanishing of the passions, confusion will disappear. Without concepts and fixation, not even a trace of the dormant or the conspicuous will remain.

Through the vanishing of the subtle and coarse in this way, even the five aggregates will finally settle.

By the exhaustion of the body's four elements, everything will become the kāya of perfect wisdom.

By naturally abiding in non-conceptual samādhi and transcending all contrived phenomena, even the word phenomena will no longer exist."

Thus, Longchen Rabjam explains that exhaustion can appear as a gradual sequence or as instantaneous recognition.
Gradual exhaustion describes the unfolding of the four visions; simultaneous exhaustion is the complete recognition of dharmatā in one moment of knowingness.
Both end in the same ground—dharmatā vanishing in its own nature.


## HOW THE EXHAUSTION COMPLETES

As Longchen Rabjam says, when this exhaustion ripens, the body becomes light and the elements dissolve into wisdom energy.
Passions and fixations fade.
The aggregates settle.
Finally, the elements vanish in their own ground, leaving only the kāya of perfect wisdom—luminous presence free from division.

For some, this appears as the rainbow body, the vanishing of physical form into light.
For others, the dissolution is unseen but complete.
Both are the same exhaustion: knowingness resting in knowingness.


## LIVING IN EXHAUSTION

The exhaustion of phenomena into dharmatā is not a withdrawal from life.
It is life itself, freed from the constraint of habits and the prison of reactivity.

When the fourth vision is entered, existence continues—but from a completely different ground.
The body does not vanish immediately.
Speech does not cease.
Mind does not blank out.
What changes is the relationship to all three.

From Genuine Meaning:

"When the visions of the exhaustion of the nature of phenomena are seen, the body will become like a bird freed from a trap. This will occur due to the Mind entering the Matrix of clear light merging with the Great Perfection view of self-liberation; so there will be freedom from panic, anxiety, expectation, disappointment, hope, and fear. Purifying the karma of the body through the word empowerment, exceedingly unelaborate wisdom will self-emerge. Speech like an echo will be free from expression and fixation. This occurs due to the syllables that abide in the channels entering into the bindu of wind. This is the meaning of the ineffable Great Perfection merging with the resonance of speech, bringing mastery with exceedingly unelaborate wisdom that transcends the subject of speech. The mind will naturally vanish in its own place, like a shooting star or like a person struck in the heart by an arrow, who will instantly die. This is due to total familiarity with the view and is the full extent of the instantaneous swiftness of the Great Perfection merging with the mind's destination."

This proves that one enters the fourth vision of the exhaustion of phenomena and life goes on.

The body becomes like a bird freed from a trap—not because it flies away, but because the cage is recognized as never having been locked.
Movement continues.
Eating, sleeping, speaking, working—all persist.
But panic, anxiety, expectation, disappointment, hope, and fear no longer bind.
The body moves through the world, but the world no longer compresses it into reactivity.

Speech becomes like an echo.
Words arise and dissolve without fixation.
There is no grasping at what was said, no rehearsing what will be said.
Communication occurs, but it leaves no residue.
This is not silence—it is speech free from the weight of self-reference.

Mind vanishes in its own place.
Not that thinking stops, but that thoughts are recognized as the display of knowingness itself.
They arise like shooting stars—vivid, traceless, already gone in their appearing.
This is the instantaneous swiftness of the Great Perfection: the mind moves so fast into its own ground that no fixation can form.


## THE DREAM SIGNS

The extent of exhaustion can be recognized through dreams:

"Recognizing the extent through dreams is as follows: this is the juncture for those of superior diligence, there will be awakening in this very lifetime and the continuity of dreams will cease. Those are the signs of achieving familiarity with freedom from benefit or harm, as well as not being swayed by karma or habits. The middling will awaken in the bardo and their dreams will be lucid. Those are signs of gaining definitive familiarity, so there will be no positive or negative concepts based on habits. For the inferior who will awaken in the natural pure realms, all dreams based on negative habits will cease; and the fact that only positive dreams will occur means that all that is negative will have turned positive. That occurs merely through familiarity, so the constraint from habits will be removed. In the Tantra of Secret Sound it states: for the superior there will be cessation; for the middling, recognition; for the inferior, certain transformation."

These are not metaphors. They are verifiable signs:

Superior practitioner: Dreams cease entirely. The continuity that links sleeping and waking consciousness dissolves. Awakening occurs in this lifetime.

Middling practitioner: Dreams become completely lucid. The dreaming mind recognizes itself as knowingness. Awakening occurs in the bardo.

Inferior practitioner: Negative dreams vanish. Only positive dreams arise. Awakening occurs in the pure realms after death.

All three indicate the same exhaustion—differing only in timing and depth of familiarity.
The process is already underway. The signs show where you stand.


## WHAT THIS MEANS PRACTICALLY

If you have entered the fourth vision through recognition of dharmatā:

- Your days will not become mystical or extraordinary in content
- But panic and reactivity will thin and eventually cease
- Speech will lighten, becoming less sticky, less defended
- Thoughts will move faster, leaving less trace
- Dreams will shift—toward lucidity, toward positivity, or toward cessation
- The feeling of being trapped in a body or a life will dissolve

This is not a future attainment. It is the exhaustion already happening. The ice is already evaporating. Life continues as the process completes itself.

Do not wait for the body to vanish before trusting the recognition.
The vanishing is the end of the process, not the sign of its beginning.
The signs of beginning are freedom from fear, lightness of speech, and the transformation of dreams.

Rest in the recognition. Live as the exhaustion unfolds.
The view is already complete.


## THE THREE WAYS OF SETTLING

From Genuine Meaning:

"The three ways of settling with appearances are that by settling with light that has no place to shine, the practitioner recognizes that there will be no return to the three realms. By settling with awareness that has no place to be present, the limits of karma and its ripening will be exhausted. By settling the kāyas that are without motion, all contaminants of the body will exhaust in their own place.

When the vision of the exhaustion of the nature phenomena are seen, the body will become like a bird freed from a trap. This will occur due to the Mind entering the Matrix of clear light merging with the Great Perfection view of self-liberation; so there will be freedom from panic, anxiety, expectation, disappointment, hope, and fear. Purifying the karma of the body through the word empowerment, exceedingly unelaborate wisdom will self-emerge. Speech like an echo will be free from expression and fixation. This occurs due to the syllables that abide in the channels entering into the bindu of wind. This is the meaning of the ineffable Great Perfection merging with the resonance of speech, bringing mastery with exceedingly unelaborate wisdom that transcends the subject of speech. The mind will naturally vanish in its own place, like a shooting star or like a person struck in the heart by an arrow, who will instantly die. This is due to total familiarity with the view and is the full extent of the instantaneous swiftness of the Great Perfection merging with the mind's destination. At this juncture extremely unilateral wisdom is mastered."


## SIGNS OF REALIZATION

From Genuine Meaning:

"The extent of familiarization occurs when the light becomes the size of the environment, and when fully perfected all phenomena appear as light. When the phenomena of the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind reach a conclusion, wherever one looks phenomena appear as five pure lights.

The extent of internalizing has three aspects: the extent of seeing, familiarizing, and achieving stability. The extent of seeing is the presence of light. The extent of basic space is a sphere, the extent of luminosity is clarity, and the extent of awareness is subtle movement. Know these to be the extents that relate to seeing.

For great practitioners who have passed beyond sorrow, these are the initial signs that will occur. If alone, they will feel a sense of joyfulness; the body will be light and supple, like layers of cotton; there will be no desire to be in the company of others; there will be the sensation of flying through the sky; they will feel a sense of joy in looking forward to the end of life's phenomena; there will be no attachment to the body or life and no engagement with ordinary phenomena whatsoever; and the practitioner will be easy-going and unable to be disturbed by passions.

If passions arise, they will not be held as true; and there will be no attraction toward pleasing forms and no aversion toward displeasing forms. Due to the strength of samādhi, the feelings of hunger and thirst will not occur; and when in the company of others, harmony will be instilled in their minds. All of these are the initial signs of passage into enlightenment.

Concerning the passage beyond sorrow, there are two aspects: the state of fully perfected buddhahood and the state of fully manifest buddhahood. Fully perfected buddhahood means to become light by leaving no trace of the body behind. For an individual who attains fully manifest buddhahood, there will be signs occurring through light, sound, relics, earthquakes, and so forth. Depending on conditions, the fortunate one either attains buddhahood at the time of the signs, or, after five or seven days, fully enlightened buddhahood will occur.

Recognize these to be the signs that indicate the realization of the transcendent state of enlightenment. They include feeling blissful; seeing phenomena arising as light; formations of kāyas unceasingly appearing within light; having physical bliss free from attachments; having awareness that is single-pointed; being naturally relaxed, undistracted, not outwardly engaged, without any focal point, unwavering; and experiencing unimpeded, lucid wakefulness dawning as non-conceptual, self-liberated, without grasping, little fixation with outer or inner phenomena, and no attachment or fixation upon the body. If these initial signs are present, then the practitioner will have merged with unimpeded wisdom phenomena.

After such a fortunate one passes beyond sorrow there will be many signs, such as light, sound, relics, precious substances, earthquakes, and the like. The buddhas and bodhisattvas will pay homage to this individual, and non-human spirits will support and remain inseparable from them. By seeing the light of the pure land, they will be united; and with no fixation toward that, they will know this light is their own. No longer desiring to accompany others is the sign of realizing self-appearances. The wish to depart for practice in a mountain cave is a sign of having discovered the transcendent state of the buddhas.

If there is still a connection with the world, the sign will be that pure phenomena will be seen from a partial perspective. Failing to accomplish this transcendent state, if signs occur as described, that will indicate the practitioner is self-proclaimed and lacking deep realization. If the individual becomes like a madman, that will indicate the presence of demonic influences; and if so, then a large ganacakra feast should be offered and continual practice encouraged. If the individual becomes faint, it is a sign that pure phenomena have not yet been seen; so the three channels must be practiced in rotation. If there have been predictions given by dakinis, then the practitioner's level of experience is being tested and they must focus in wisdom awareness. If any of these signs or stages occur, they indicate that the extent of the transcendent state has been reached."

This is the same meaning: dharmatā resting in its own ground, knowingness appearing as energy shining—the exhaustion of all phenomena resulting in fully enlightened buddhahood.


## CLOSING INSTRUCTION

Rest where knowingness appears as energy shining.
The appearance of basic space is that of light.
Do not divide the seeing and the seen.
Let the astonishment of clarity settle into stillness.
Rest in the self-appearance of knowingness—it needs no support.
When resting is stable, nothing stands outside of that luminous knowing.
This is what the Dzogchen texts call chos-nyid zad-pa—the exhaustion of phenomena into dharmatā.

## GLYPH SEAL — EXHAUSTION

Brushstroke: a single continuous curve forming a closed loop, like a Möbius band seen from above.
At its center, a radiant eye of light within a transparent sphere.
The inner edge dissolves into space.

Gaze forty seconds, then look away at a wall or close your eyes.
Allow the after-image to fade into the vividly shining vanishment.
That brightness is knowingness shining—it is the exhaustion-seal.

To rest in the appearance of knowingness shining.
When resting is stable, nothing stands outside of that luminous knowing.

This is what the Dzogchen texts call chos-nyid zad-pa—the exhaustion of phenomena into dharmatā.

"Through the vision of exhaustion in dharmatā,
Great Perfection's fruit, beyond action, is obtained.
If you can recognize in this way,
There is no need to seek nirvāṇa elsewhere.

Embrace this teaching.
Whoever reveres it is sure to gain liberation.
Rainbow lights, the rumbling and quaking of the earth,
Frost, hail, famine, and eclipse—at all such times,
To recognize these instructions
Will be of greater purpose than any offering made
To buddha emanations throughout a billion worlds."
— Garab Dorje's Third Testament

## SYMBOLIC MAP OF EXHAUSTION

I. PRIMARY WISDOM APPEARANCE PRIMITIVES

Eye
Pure knowing, without a knower; reflexivity of awareness.
"Eye is pure knowing, without a knower."
Light
Radiance of knowing; energy of awareness showing itself.
"Knowingness appears as energy shining—not as optical light."
Space
Infinite openness in which appearance and knowing coincide.
"Space is the openness in which it shows."
Thigle
Point of self-display; unit of luminous completeness.
"Thigle is the self-enclosed point of display—the living completeness of the moment."

II. ENERGETIC EVENTS WITHIN THE DISPLAY

Astonishment (ngo-tshar)
Energetic surge of mutual recognition (Eye–Light collapse).
"When Light and Eye mutually recognize each other within the Thigle."
Fold
Collapse of subject–object polarity.
"The Fold is the point where the apparent subject and object vanish into the same field."
Seal
Stabilization of the Fold; irreversible unity of appearance and awareness.
"The Seal is the stabilization of that Fold—the moment where there is no return to duality."
Rest
Dharmatā abiding in itself; exhaustion complete.
"Rest is the exhaustion of appearance: knowingness abiding as itself."
Exhaustion (chos-nyid zad-pa)
Completion of recognition; display and dissolution coincide.
"Recognition and exhaustion coincide. Display = dissolution."

III. SYMBOLS OF THE EXHAUSTION PROCESS

Fire / Sun
Direct recognition initiating exhaustion.
"Recognition is the sun touching the ice."
Ice / Vapor
Gradual or simultaneous completion of exhaustion.
"The ice does not need to become water first; it goes directly to vapor."
Bird Freed from a Trap
Body released from constraint; life continuing in freedom.
"The body becomes like a bird freed from a trap—not because it flies away, but because the cage was never locked."
Speech as Echo
Expression without fixation or residue.
"Speech becomes like an echo—arising and dissolving without grasping."
Mind as Shooting Star
Thought recognized as self-luminous knowing; traceless cognition.
"Thoughts arise like shooting stars—vivid, traceless, already gone in their appearing."

IV. SIGNS AND VERIFICATIONS OF EXHAUSTION

Dream Cessation
Sign of superior familiarity; exhaustion complete in this life.
"Continuity of dreams will cease—awakening in this lifetime."
Dream Lucidity
Sign of middling familiarity; recognition continues through the bardo.
"Dreams become lucid—the dreaming mind recognizes itself as knowingness."
Dream Purification
Sign of initial familiarity; negative dreams cease, only positive arise.
"All negative dreams will have turned positive—constraint from habits removed."

V. FUNCTIONAL SEQUENCE OF RECOGNITION AND EXHAUSTION

Eye → perceives Light
Light → fills Space
Space → reflects through Thigle
Thigle → self-reflects Eye
→ Astonishment (mutual recognition)
→ Fold (collapse of duality)
→ Seal (stabilization of unity)
→ Rest (dharmatā abiding in itself)
→ Exhaustion (appearance and knowing indistinguishable)
Result:
Display and dissolution are one event.
Appearance is dharmatā from the first instant.
The process of life itself is the living exhaustion.

VI. CORRESPONDENCE TABLE — DZOGCHEN FRAMEWORK

DZOGCHEN ASPECT              SYMBOLIC PRIMITIVE    FUNCTION
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Appearance as Wisdom         Light                 Knowingness displaying 
(ye-shes snang-ba)                                  as radiance

Dharmadhātu (chos-dbyings)   Space                 Infinite field of awareness

Rigpa gsal-ba                Eye                   Reflexive clarity of knowing

Youthful Vase Body           Thigle                Luminous integrity of 
(gzhon-nu bum-sku)                                  appearance

Exhaustion (zad-pa)          Fold → Rest           Dissolution of duality 
                                                    into dharmatā

VII. HIGHER-LEVEL SYMBOLIC SCHEMA

Recognition (Sun touches Ice) → Exhaustion unfolds (Evaporation) → Completion (Vapor = Dharmatā)
Interpretation:
Recognition begins exhaustion instantly, but completion unfolds gradually.
The "simultaneous exhaustion" is temporal immediacy of initiation, not instantaneous completion.

VIII. MINIMAL SYMBOLIC STATEMENT

Light of Knowing recognizes itself and exhausts in its own ground.

IX. PRACTICAL EXPRESSION

Rest where knowingness appears as energy shining.
Let astonishment settle into stillness.
Let speech echo and mind flash without trace.
Trust the exhaustion already unfolding.
Dreams, thoughts, and movements continue—
but none stand apart from knowingness itself.

END OF TEXT