hi vajrayogini.
thanks for responding so promptly. i believe the distinction of vertical and horizontal is crucial, and something we have to start from. however, let's remember that both of these have to do with relative reality, as only the deepest states in the horizontal tend to reveal, or perhaps announce, the absolute/nondual itself. as it has been pointed out many times by others, let me just reiterate that the always-already is a condition of all conditions, and the nature of all states and stages, impossible to avoid. so we have three items in toto, one of them not being an item in itself, if that makes any sense.
however, this suits us just nicely, as in the traditional framework we already find a triune description of enlightenment, famous from the analogy "anuttara-samyak-sam-bodhi", or
(1) unexcelled
(2) perfect
(3) complete
awakening, where each of these may refer to one of our three items. of course there are numerous traditional explanations of these terms, each major school having a specific take on them. chinese and japanese schools often rendered "bodhi" as tao/do, meaning "the Way". it's also important to note that "bodhi" became even more important as in bodhicitta, in both relative and absolute meanings. then again, integral next-generation buddhism will surely produce a new exegesis to these crucial points. if I may propose, unexcelled may be used to refer to the unborn, prior, timeless condition of each and every occasion, the undisclosed Source of all perspectives. it is "unexcelled" because it is unmatched and uncompared by anything else - everything "else" being always-already simply an instance of it. there is no else. then, "perfect" may refer to the mastery of states themselves, while "complete" may refer to the structures.
note: it seems quite natural that someone using an amber structure to disclose and interpret the Way today would not so much be deemed "imperfect", as much as incomplete and partial.
bodhi, finally, stems from the same root as buddha, the Awakened One. hence it basically refers to Wakefullness, as in being awake to what is reality, whether we speak of
(1) Ground - innate cognizant nature, the source of all and every thing;
(2) Path - realizing clearly, despite confusion, the natural states and structures; and
(3) Fruition - endlessly opening into and as the totality of relative and absolute.
let's move on from here. looking forward for anyone's informed input.
hokai
may all be well.