Understanding Dzogchen and Mahamudra

Dzogchen and Mahamudra are nondual traditions in Tibetan Buddhism that focus on recognizing the nature of awareness itself. Rather than prompting changes to your experience, they help you notice the spacious, centerless quality already present before thoughts, emotions, or sensations arise.

What Defines Dzogchen and Mahamudra?

Dzogchen and Mahamudra are closely related traditions from different schools of Tibetan Buddhism—Nyingma and Kagyu, respectively. They both point directly to awareness. Instead of working step by step to improve concentration or alter mental states, they invite you to practice “nonmeditation,” to notice what it’s like to already be aware.

These practices ask: What is it that knows this moment? By looking directly, you can begin to see that awareness is not something you create; it’s already here, open and unencumbered, even when the mind feels busy or unsettled.

Conceptual Pillars of Dzogchen and Mahamudra

Nature of Awareness

Awareness is open, present, and clear—before the appearance of any thought or emotion. Dzogchen and Mahamudra train you to notice this directly, as something you can experience at any waking moment.

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Naked Awareness

Nonduality

It’s the dissolution of the sense of being a separate observer, someone inside your head looking out. It is the absence of the feeling that thoughts and sensations are separate from the very capacity to know them: awareness.

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The Selflessness of All Things

Self-Liberation

It’s the recognition that thoughts and emotions are fluid, transient appearances in awareness—that they pass on their own, without needing to be controlled or replaced. This makes them less powerful, and frees you from their grip.

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The Mind According to Dzogchen

Key Teachers of Dzogchen and Mahamudra

Joseph Goldstein

Joseph Goldstein has been leading meditation retreats since 1974. He founded Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and remains a guiding teacher. He was introduced to Buddhism as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand in 1965 and has studied and practiced Buddhist meditation since 1967.

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The Eightfold Path Unfolding Insight The Path of Insight The Stages of Enlightenment What Is Nonduality?

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Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo is a bhikṣuṇī (fully ordained nun) in the Drukpa lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. She is an author and teacher, best known for having spent 12 years living in a remote cave in the Himalayas, three of which were spent in strict meditation retreat.

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Seven-Point Mind Training A Spacious Mind Effort and Freedom

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Sam Harris

Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, five-time New York Times bestselling author, and creator of the Waking Up app. He has practiced meditation for over 30 years and has studied with Tibetan, Indian, Burmese, and Western meditation teachers across the world.

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5-Minute Meditations The Eightfold Path Fundamentals Mind & Emotion The Illusory Self Mysteries & Paradoxes

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