Bliss is generated

by coming into the natural state.

Just being what is truly found at the core of our being
generates compassion.From this perspective,
awakening is simply freedom from past patterns
of blocking Reality -- or, an experiential recognition
of the relativity of all things.

This does *not* mean, however, that relative things disappear,
or even that they are suddenly and mysteriously transformed.

All the teachers and buddhas and sages who
said, "IT is here and now" really weren't kidding! IT *is*
here and now, with things exactly as they are! And, this
includes *all* of who we are within the present moment --
including all the "putzy" and idiosyncratic aspects of
being human.

This is what is so amazing and heartening and liberating for
each of us, i.e., the recognition that we don't need to do
or fix *anything* in order to "achieve" Buddha-hood! Our
innate nature -- this state of exquisitely pure, awakened
and naked Awareness -- is already inherent within our
ordinary, immediate experience.

Perhaps the best reminder of this is the clear insight of
Garab Dorje, the first Dzogchen master:

Directly discover your state.
Don't remain in doubt.
Gain confidence in self-liberation.

The moment of awakening may be marked
by an outburst of laughter,
but this is not the laughter of someone
who has won the lottery or some kind of victory.
It is the laughter of one who,
after searching for something for a long time,
suddenly finds it in the pocket of his coat.

-Thich Nhat Hanh
Zen Keys