Unborn and unceasing.

Inconceivable, inexpressible perfection of wisdom, 

Unborn and unceasing, with a real nature like the sky,

Experienced as the wisdom of our own awareness,

I pay homage to the mother of the Buddhas of the three times. 

Prajnaparamita Prayer

As a Dzogchen practitioner, it is important to understand the meaning and significance of this verse. As indicated in this verse of praise to Prajnaparamita, or the perfection of wisdom, when we understand the real nature of our own awareness, we come to realize the very womb that gives birth to awakening. The Tibetan for unborn is ma-skye, which means not-born, not-produced, unborn. The Tibetan for unceasing is ma-'gags, which means not-stopped, not-interrupted, not-blocked, unceasing. 

The Buddha first introduced the concept of anatta, not-self or selflessness, in the common Hinayana tradition of the first turning of the wheel of dharma. Here the self or phenomena were shown to be selfless because they were compounded or composite. Just as a wagon depends on many parts and pieces for its being, so too we are compounded individuals with no true identity or personhood separate from our aggregates. The ego or self as we know it is a fabrication of past experiences, self-narratives, and projections about who we think we are or who we would like to be. Egotism keeps us trapped in a repetitive loop, operating under a cycle of ingrained habits and beliefs about who we are and the world around us. 

We already know this self or ego is subject to change and impermanent, but we are so conditioned that often times we simply do not see opportunity available to us or our underlying potential. The Buddha saw how much this cycle makes us suffer and sought to teach a method to break out of that cycle of confusion by teaching dependent origination and no-self, or empty of self. 

The teachings of self being a compounded entity were further refined in the second turning of the wheel of dharma, where dependent origination and the two truths give rise to a more profound understanding of emptiness. This understanding takes the form of a simply logical analysis:

If things arise dependently, then they lack an independent existence. 

Conditioning, cause and effect, dependent origination all point to the true reality that nothing in this world inherently exists of its own accord. Everything is interconnected, dependent on other phenomena as support for its being. We can say that relatively, phenomena do arise and exist conventionally based on cause and effect, but ultimately phenomena do not inherently exist. The relative truth of their appearing does not mean that they truly exist in their own right.  

This may seem like semantics, but the implications of this understanding are dramatic and profound. 

When we feel stuck or trapped in a situation, we don't see the power of our own thoughts and actions. We hand over power to our negative thoughts and perceptions, and to the actions of others or the world around us. Our perception at that time is that things aren't going to change, things won't get better, and that there is nothing that we can do. This is the trap of confusion, confusion about who we are and the nature of the world around us. Seeing that this current reality is dependently arisen, means also seeing that it is malleable and subject to change. In fact, right now at this very moment it is unfolding and changing. 

This is an outer level of understanding dependent origination and emptiness. We should examine the world and our experience in this way. This is what the Buddha means when he encourages us to understand the human condition and the predicament that we find ourselves in. We should don the hat of a scientist and really examine who we are and the nature of the world around us. From a Buddhist perspective we should study the prajnaparamita sutras and Madhyamaka philosophy, particularly as set forth by Nagarjuna. We can also use modern scientific principles  to augment this understanding, using the theory of relativity and quantum physics to understand the physical world, as well as the science of the mind to understand our conception of the self. 

The inner level of understanding dependent origination and emptiness becomes more subtle and profound. Here we understand the union of the relative and ultimate truth, or the union of dependent origination and emptiness. Experiencing this union of dependent origination and emptiness we can start to understand what is meant by unborn and unceasing. 

Whereas before we separated the relative and ultimate into two buckets and used logical reasoning to establish emptiness, here we see that the relative and ultimate are indivisible. It is useful here to think of dependent origination as an infinite play of phenomena or appearances. 

Look at the world around you. Right now. Don't look at it as a static world, the world you are used to. See it as the infinite play of dependent origination. Because it is dependently arisen, it is empty. We've already established that dependent origination means that phenomena are empty of inherent existence. You know that what is dependently arisen is empty, form is emptiness, emptiness is form. So when you look out and see the infinite play of dependent origination, you are witnessing the illusory play of emptiness in which no thing ever comes into true existence. Phenomena, appearances, are never truly born, never truly exist, but they are also unceasing, uninterrupted. Reifying a subjective consciousness or objective phenomena is to establish a self where there is no-self. Unborn and unceasing does not mean that nothing exists, rather that the entire world of appearances and possibilities exists as the play of dependent origination. The great Dzogchen master Longchenpa says, "Not existing as anything at all, they can appear as anything whatsoever." We can learn to recognize this state and rest in it, which leads us to the secret level of understanding. 

The innermost or secret understanding is secret because it is right in front of us and yet we do not see it. The secret understanding of unborn and unceasing is that it is the nature of our own mind. This is our primordial state. This is what we mean when we say the natural great perfection, Dzogchen. This is the very ground of enlightenment, our primordial buddhahood, in which there is no enlightenment because we have never wavered from this authentic state of being. All thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and appearances are but the illusory play of emptiness in which nothing has ever come into being, and yet appears as the diverse world. 

When we recognize and learn to rest in this unborn and unceasing pure presence (Tib. rigpa), then we actualize our true nature which is like the sky. Without center or limit, completely open and unobstructed, inconceivable and beyond expression, it is the wisdom that gives "birth" to all Buddhas. Whatever appears to that awareness is like the clouds in the sky, unborn and unceasing, coming and going without a trace, ornamenting the sky but never separate or distinct. Such is our primordial state, ultimate bodhicitta, awakened mind.