The practice of Dzogchen is like this. You do nothing, but you will never make any mistakes. This is called "effortless enlightenment." Do you want to be like this? It is difficult to do nothing. It can only be done on the basis of wisdom.
This "doing nothing" is not possible for everyone. As untrained individuals, we must engage in doings, and by doings, I mean practice deliberately and diligently. In our daily practices, we use constructive means to eliminate ignorance, but practice itself is a form of ignorance. Ultimately, regardless of what you practice, even if you are practicing Vajrasattva, it still is a form of ignorance. Some might hear this and doubt if I am a demon. If you do so, then you are undoubtedly a demon, and quite a foolish one at that.
In terms of practice, whatever you do is essentially a form of mental fabrication, but it is instrumental in eliminating things that have driven you through the cycle of rebirth in samsara since time immemorial. The ignorance generated by engaging in practice tools the mind to dismantle the ignorance accumulated from time immemorial —"Two fighting clay bulls plunge into the sea, and to this day, they vanish without a trace." Once the “practice-born ignorance” dissolves the “long-accumulated ignorance,” you let go of everything, and the essence reveals itself. Therefore, this practice of mental fabrications is demanding, and "doing nothing" is even more so.
Someone might say, "I'm done! I’ve had enough. I don’t want to work hard anymore. I want to be relaxed and carefree." But can you really do that? Stepping away from the relentless grind requires a firm foundation, not a whim. You need to eat at least. So, how can you truly retreat when basic sustenance hinges on your very actions? Lay idle, and your plate may remain empty. You will be forced to rejoin the fray, compelled to earn your survival. Quitting the rat race, in essence, is not about rejecting mere comforts as the media peddles; it is about securing the bare necessities. Yet, even that seemingly simple goal can prove arduous at times.
Even after achieving wealth, laid-back living remains elusive, driven by our innate desires and emotional needs. Picture this: you are alone in bed at night, and loneliness creeps in. You sense a hollowness within and strongly feel the need to address it: "I want to get married. I want to be in love. I hate waking up in the middle of the night to a cold pillow." Yet, all you need to do is to sleep on it to warm it up, and you'll be fine. But, in reality, you will continually grapple with it. This illustrates that people cannot truly lead a completely relaxed and carefree life; achieving that would indeed make you an enlightened being.
The key to Dzogchen practice is “doing nothing.” There is a practice known as "lying flat like a corpse" — once you understand it, your mind becomes completely free of constructions, and you experience a sense of liberation. Therefore, when the phrase "doing nothing" became a trend online, I was quite surprised, thinking that humans have reached a high level of realization! Of course, I know I am making a joke. The point is that the true “doing nothing” is very difficult.
