Within the Dzogchen understanding, genuine progress is reflected less in spectacular experiences and more in the increasing stability and clarity of rigpa, the natural, unmodified awareness. Thoughts and emotions still arise, yet they are recognized as transient appearances and allowed to self-liberate without struggle. Awareness becomes vivid, open, and naturally clear, while dualistic fixation on a solid “self” facing a solid “world” begins to soften. This brings a gradual dissolution of rigid conceptual constructs and habitual patterns, so that experience feels more spacious and less constrained by fixed views. The sense of a subject in here looking at objects out there weakens, and moments of nondual presence—where seeing, seer, and seen form a single seamless field—become more frequent and less contrived.

Another hallmark of progress is non-distraction: an effortless presence that does not require constant correction. There is increasing continuity of recognition, not only in formal meditation but amid ordinary activities such as speaking, working, or walking. Even when distraction occurs, recognition of awareness returns more swiftly and with less drama. This continuity may extend into the “four times,” so that the natural state is not easily lost while eating, sleeping, dreaming, or in intimate union. Over time, the dependence on special meditative experiences diminishes, and there is less fascination with bliss, luminosity, or visions, which are seen as passing manifestations rather than the goal.

Ethical and emotional transformation provide further signs that practice is maturing. Reactivity lessens, and disturbing emotions lose much of their compulsive force, passing more quickly and with less “bite.” There is a marked decline in grasping at “me” and “mine,” and a corresponding ease and simplicity in conduct. Compassion, empathy, and kindness arise more spontaneously, without needing to be manufactured through elaborate reflection. This spontaneous compassion is inseparable from wisdom: seeing others’ confusion evokes care rather than aversion or judgment. Basic ethical commitments such as non-harming and honesty are upheld more naturally, as an expression of the view rather than as external rules.

As familiarity deepens, certain classical markers may appear. Practitioners may gain confidence in remaining in the natural state, in the liberation of arising thoughts, and in recognizing the empty, luminous nature of mind often described in terms of the three kayas: emptiness, clarity, and unobstructed manifestation. Experiences of clear light can arise, and for highly advanced practitioners, texts speak of phenomena such as the rainbow body and the spontaneous unfolding of the five wisdoms. Yet even these are understood as byproducts rather than trophies. The most reliable measure of progress remains the increasing continuity of recognition, the natural self-liberation of whatever appears, and the integration of this realization into every facet of life.