
An overview of the Dzogchen, or Great Perfection, view within Tibetan Buddhism, which critiques the ordinary mind as a perpetual "storyteller" that creates illusory narratives of self, time, and world. According to the text, these stories are fleeting appearances without inherent substance, and recognizing this constructed nature is key to liberation, as stated by Longchen Rabjam. Dzogchen aims not to silence thought, but to realize the true nature of mind, known as rigpa, which is a naked, non-conceptual awareness existing prior to the dualistic stories and interpretations. The teaching emphasizes that the error is mistaking the vivid appearances of life for reality due to the mind’s grasping and commentary, and liberation is achieved by resting in the open clarity in which all narratives arise and dissolve. Ultimately, the text defines awakening not as becoming a perfected character, but as the absence of mistaken identity with the mind’s narrative.