“Can you…find a Way that sees into your own nature, that sees into the Tao, immediately?” - Alan Watts
If you’re interested in a massive reduction in suffering, it’s worth trying the most immediate Way to Enlightenment: Dzogchen Pointing Out Instructions.
I was told once that hearing these instructions, even once, even if you don’t understand them, ensures eventual liberation, if not in this lifetime, then perhaps in the next.
Here’s an example of some pointing out instructions from the book The Nature of the Mind by Patrul Rinpoche:
“Ask yourself the question, ‘Where is my mind?” When you ask this question, you do not receive an answer. All the great masters say that no answer is the answer; that the speechless state is enlightenment. Now that you have arrived at the answerless state, which is enlightenment itself, simply relax. The mind is emptiness, so rest in emptiness…Simply be in the moment. When thoughts come, do not reject or follow them. Thoughts appear and disappear on their own - nothing should be done about them.”
Once you recognize the nature of the mind, it is simply a matter of recognizing it again and again until the View stabilizes and permeates your entire life.
Devoting as little as two or three minutes per day to this practice can be very powerful, and more is great too, if you have the time.
It’s that simple.
In closing, here’s a beautiful, guided meditation composed of the words of Patrul Rinpoche, as voiced by Samaneri Jayasāra:
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