' Knower and Known '...

In Dzogchen teaching, the totality of reality consists only of a consciousness that has a permanent and flawless capacity to know, and that which is known.

In Dzogchen that which is “known”, is the energetic potentials of the knower itself. There is no separation between the “two”.

The knower is “awareness” and the known is mind. Mind is the potential of all possible appearances of awareness and their active appearance.

Awareness can know only it’s own mind, because there is no other phenomena outside of its mental formations.

What we mistakenly call “externally existing objects” are actually immaterial “perceptions” generated by mind. There is no findable “external world”, besides mind generated perceptions.

Therefore what’s known is “mind”. Perceptions are occurring in the empty mirror of awareness, the “knower”.

To release any uncomfortable experience, just notice yourself to be the “knower” of that experience. It’s like suddenly “snapping out” of a daydream. What remains is the empty and aware knower without a known.

Longchenpa wrote in his "Choying Dzod":

"The method is directing attention ( awareness) upon attention or awareness. When any arising is experienced, especially thoughts, moods, emotions, or feelings of personal self-identity, one simply notices one’s present naked awareness."

"By directing the attention back to awareness, the arising (energetic formation) dissolves back into its origin and its essential nature, awareness." (the energetic formations dissolve)

The mind is like the “quantum wave function” which contains its infinite potentials to manifest. It’s the “knower” (a Buddha) that causes a particular “phenomena” to appear by an act of intention along with a “conceiving” of the characteristics of the appearance. That would be the “collapse of the wave function”.

For most, the entire process just described, has been put on automatic, where all things seem to appear from a subconscious or unknown source, unbidden; much like a dream at night. However, a dreamer can become a “lucid dreamer”, in full control of the dream’s contents.

Likewise the “knower”, a Buddha, can become a “lucid conceiver” of its world of self-generated perceptions. We create our “self” and world of perceptions, either through knowingly or unknowingly, “conceiving” the appearances and defining their characteristics.

It’s the “unknowing” creativity that causes a sense of “victimization”.

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The “Knower”:

From the Kunje Gyalpo Dzogchen tantra and its commentary:

“Then the All-Creating King, Pure Perfect Presence (rigpa), spoke about how he, the Creator, existed before any phenomenon.”

‘After explaining the way in which all phenomena of samsara and nirvana are encompassed by the five Perfections, then the All-Creating King, Pure Perfect Presence, spoke about how he existed as all-creating Pure Perfect Presence, rigpa, self- originated wisdom, the Source, the Creator of all, before any phenomenon included in samsara and nirvana existed.’


-Jackson Peterson