You are present. You are aware of being present. You are awareness. Full Stop.
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"Full Stop" means exactly that: Stop completely and see the significance of what is being pointed to. I tend to capitalize both words to emphasize that there should be a total pause at that point. Optimally, you are halted by the clear recognition of nonconceptual awareness or by the sudden understanding that your body and mind has never been what you are.
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I call them the Three P's: Paths, Practices, and Purification. You require absolutely none of them to recognize your natural state. Indeed, you are the very essence of moksha and liberation. No awakening is required. Why are you looking beyond yourself, beyond your very own beingness, which holds the answers to all your questions?
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Your true Self has to 1) Be that which is aware of even the coming and going of consciousness; 2) Have no beginning or end; 3) Be ever-present; 4) And be peace itself. Does your thoughts, body, feelings, sensations, habits, or personality harbor even one of those qualities, much less all of them?
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Some seekers attempt a kind of nondual meditation where they try to be "open to their source" or "delve into the silence of their hearts." While all this sounds well-meaning and elegant, it is a froth of error. You are the "source," and you are the "silence." But because you are approaching it as an individual/meditator, you will fail to see what is directly in front of you.
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I love the title of Nisargadatta Maharaj's Prior to Consciousness. It is such a beautiful and effective pointer in itself. Few people can imagine that there is anything prior to consciousness. The very idea of that stops you in your tracks, gives you pause. In that cessation, go beyond any mental wrangling and allow yourself to see what is what. The simplicity of this is as compelling as Nisargadatta's title. See the present reality of what you are. For you have never been anything other than this radiant, immensity of peace.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Q & A: Without Hesitation
Question: I've been practicing mindfulness for a few years now. I can't say I look forward to it every single day, but there is something very centering about it. I guess nondual awakening (Oops, wrong word!) is a lot more than this.
Rodney: Considerably. It is utter peace and spaciousness. And it needn't be centered on or relaxed-into each day. At bottom, any form of practice or meditation is divisive, given that it is based on the premise that you are somehow separate from nonconceptual reality. Why struggle to be mindful of your body and breath when your own ever-present radiance is directly before you? And who, exactly, is attempting to be composed? The former question points to its own answer. As for the latter, it is thought that is saying that you are not centered (or more accurately, not centeredness). But is a thought capable of discerning who you are? No. So clearly the thought is wrong.
Further, just because an activity is "centering" doesn't mean that it is proximate to truth. That's the thinking, though: Engage in some sort of meditative discipline so that you can become calmer and calmer, and eventually "achieve" enlightenment.
Try looking at this without the Vispassana/nonduality labels. Simply see that right now, as you sit in your chair and read these words, there is--in brimming evidence--an immaculate presence of awareness within and before you. This is our natural state. It is who and what we are without the apparent complications of spiritual names and concepts. Heretofore, you have been attempting to gain some great and outer "thing," when, in fact, you were already that which you were seeking.
Question: Thanks for the reply, Rodney. Lots of good things to ponder. Maybe I should try not practicing for a while, huh?
Rodney: But there still would be this "someone" not doing something. Keep coming back to this until it is clear--that this person that you take yourself to be is only a reoccurring notion, an imaginative figment. You are that consummate grandness in which these thoughts and notions appear. The contents of your consciousness are not you. If there is anything to be mindful of, it is that. But don't turn it into a practice. This is a sudden seeing or understanding that takes you beyond the mind. Or to put it another way: The enormity and obviousness of your true reality brings you to a full stop. All this is done by the seeing. There is no "you" involved in any way. As Buddha said, events happen and deeds are done, "but there is no doer thereof."
Question: The practicing has ceased, and the enquiry has begun. And there was no hesitation! Thank you.
Rodney: Considerably. It is utter peace and spaciousness. And it needn't be centered on or relaxed-into each day. At bottom, any form of practice or meditation is divisive, given that it is based on the premise that you are somehow separate from nonconceptual reality. Why struggle to be mindful of your body and breath when your own ever-present radiance is directly before you? And who, exactly, is attempting to be composed? The former question points to its own answer. As for the latter, it is thought that is saying that you are not centered (or more accurately, not centeredness). But is a thought capable of discerning who you are? No. So clearly the thought is wrong.
Further, just because an activity is "centering" doesn't mean that it is proximate to truth. That's the thinking, though: Engage in some sort of meditative discipline so that you can become calmer and calmer, and eventually "achieve" enlightenment.
Try looking at this without the Vispassana/nonduality labels. Simply see that right now, as you sit in your chair and read these words, there is--in brimming evidence--an immaculate presence of awareness within and before you. This is our natural state. It is who and what we are without the apparent complications of spiritual names and concepts. Heretofore, you have been attempting to gain some great and outer "thing," when, in fact, you were already that which you were seeking.
Question: Thanks for the reply, Rodney. Lots of good things to ponder. Maybe I should try not practicing for a while, huh?
Rodney: But there still would be this "someone" not doing something. Keep coming back to this until it is clear--that this person that you take yourself to be is only a reoccurring notion, an imaginative figment. You are that consummate grandness in which these thoughts and notions appear. The contents of your consciousness are not you. If there is anything to be mindful of, it is that. But don't turn it into a practice. This is a sudden seeing or understanding that takes you beyond the mind. Or to put it another way: The enormity and obviousness of your true reality brings you to a full stop. All this is done by the seeing. There is no "you" involved in any way. As Buddha said, events happen and deeds are done, "but there is no doer thereof."
Question: The practicing has ceased, and the enquiry has begun. And there was no hesitation! Thank you.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Pointers
In the next pause between thoughts, what is it that does not disappear?
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Your everyday wakefulness is your natural state. There is no person or entity there--just pristine spaciousness, with thoughts, emotions, and images sporadically appearing and disappearing. That is the luminous understanding to which we are pointing.
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Credible teachers, in addition to being self-realized, lay bare the assumption that non-conceptual awareness is not fully present, or that you, as an individual person, actually exists.
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You cannot recognize who and what you are intellectually. And neither can you do it through time, i.e., that if you devote 5 or 10-steady years to this, you'll get it. This Reality is so utterly beyond time, ideas, practices, and forms of meditation that it is almost grievous to observe people attempting to an end to their suffering by such barren means. It is seeing or understanding that gets you there.
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Enlightenment, Satori, Liberation, and Nirvana are all concepts. Don't look for what books or gurus say self-knowing is or is not. Rather, see that there is a palpable presence of awareness directly before you. It is at once vast, subtle, and penetrating. It is there between every thought and is itself the essence from which thoughts are formed. Take this moment to recognize who and what you are. For it is direct, first-hand knowledge that puts an end to all doubts, questions, and bewilderment.
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Here is a link to an essay/book appraisal I recently did for Advaita.org:
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/teachers/vastness_stevens.htm.
**********
Your everyday wakefulness is your natural state. There is no person or entity there--just pristine spaciousness, with thoughts, emotions, and images sporadically appearing and disappearing. That is the luminous understanding to which we are pointing.
**********
Credible teachers, in addition to being self-realized, lay bare the assumption that non-conceptual awareness is not fully present, or that you, as an individual person, actually exists.
**********
You cannot recognize who and what you are intellectually. And neither can you do it through time, i.e., that if you devote 5 or 10-steady years to this, you'll get it. This Reality is so utterly beyond time, ideas, practices, and forms of meditation that it is almost grievous to observe people attempting to an end to their suffering by such barren means. It is seeing or understanding that gets you there.
**********
Enlightenment, Satori, Liberation, and Nirvana are all concepts. Don't look for what books or gurus say self-knowing is or is not. Rather, see that there is a palpable presence of awareness directly before you. It is at once vast, subtle, and penetrating. It is there between every thought and is itself the essence from which thoughts are formed. Take this moment to recognize who and what you are. For it is direct, first-hand knowledge that puts an end to all doubts, questions, and bewilderment.
**********
Here is a link to an essay/book appraisal I recently did for Advaita.org:
http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/teachers/vastness_stevens.htm.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Q & A: This Living Reality
Question: I've been really moved by lots of your pointers. But I'm still not seeing it--this pure awareness that you and others are talking about. Help! What am I doing wrong?
Rodney: I can certainly empathize with your frustration, having spent 20-plus years seeking solutions to questions very much like your own. But try not to see it as a matter of right or wrong. That only mucks things up. And who needs that!?
Basically your answer lies in your question. You are assuming that there is an "I"--a person--there to perceive this presence. There is no such entity. There are simply thoughts and perceptions appearing in awareness. In your case, there are concerns arising about why "you" aren't recognizing the truth of your being. That "you" is just a construct. You are the awareness in which concepts are appearing. Again, you are the awareness in which thoughts are appearing. Full Stop!
What you are doing, unfortunately, is attempting to perceive your fundamental nature with a thought! Can an idea or notion recognize anything? No, it is merely an object in presence. It is there one moment, and gone the next. It's like a desert mirage: It can no more provide you with water or relief than the sand around you.
Awareness, however, is your living reality. Give your attention to the immediacy of that fact. For this isn't something you get or achieve in the future. Such thinking throws you right back onto the conceptual slag-heap. Why? Because time and space are just mental inventions to help us live in the physical world. Concepts certainly serve their purpose, but they aren't your essence. You are the awareness in which they manifest. Look no further than this very moment to see who and what you are. Then you'll discover that what once was not discerned is now shimmering in plain view. And more vital still, that you are That.
Rodney: I can certainly empathize with your frustration, having spent 20-plus years seeking solutions to questions very much like your own. But try not to see it as a matter of right or wrong. That only mucks things up. And who needs that!?
Basically your answer lies in your question. You are assuming that there is an "I"--a person--there to perceive this presence. There is no such entity. There are simply thoughts and perceptions appearing in awareness. In your case, there are concerns arising about why "you" aren't recognizing the truth of your being. That "you" is just a construct. You are the awareness in which concepts are appearing. Again, you are the awareness in which thoughts are appearing. Full Stop!
What you are doing, unfortunately, is attempting to perceive your fundamental nature with a thought! Can an idea or notion recognize anything? No, it is merely an object in presence. It is there one moment, and gone the next. It's like a desert mirage: It can no more provide you with water or relief than the sand around you.
Awareness, however, is your living reality. Give your attention to the immediacy of that fact. For this isn't something you get or achieve in the future. Such thinking throws you right back onto the conceptual slag-heap. Why? Because time and space are just mental inventions to help us live in the physical world. Concepts certainly serve their purpose, but they aren't your essence. You are the awareness in which they manifest. Look no further than this very moment to see who and what you are. Then you'll discover that what once was not discerned is now shimmering in plain view. And more vital still, that you are That.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Pointers
Drop all the questions and ponderings (even of these pointers!) and realize what is present at this very moment. It's all about what is happening now.
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There is nothing keeping you from seeing who and what you are. You are simply looking beyond yourself--at a thought, a sensation, or a prevailing view of what you think awakening is supposed to be like. Notice that when your attention is on no particular thought or concept, there is something still there, something remaining. Don't move from this. See that what is immediate and present has always been been in evidence--felt clarity and spaciousness.
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Some teachers say that the recognition of non-conceptual awareness is a descent into not-knowing. It would be more accurate to say that it is a plunge into Knowingness.
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All of the finest advaita/nondual teachers--Shankara, Ramana Maharshi, Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, "Sailor' Bob Adamson, etc --say that the ultimate spiritual state is neither rapture nor samadhi. Both of these are experiences (and therefore temporary), and are achieved with great effort. That which beyond all states is classically known as Turiya, which Nisargadatta called "pure witnessing, detached awareness, passionless and wordless. It is like space, unaffected by whatever it contains." Turiya, of course, is just another name for the natural state.
**********
There is nothing keeping you from seeing who and what you are. You are simply looking beyond yourself--at a thought, a sensation, or a prevailing view of what you think awakening is supposed to be like. Notice that when your attention is on no particular thought or concept, there is something still there, something remaining. Don't move from this. See that what is immediate and present has always been been in evidence--felt clarity and spaciousness.
***********
Some teachers say that the recognition of non-conceptual awareness is a descent into not-knowing. It would be more accurate to say that it is a plunge into Knowingness.
***********
Over 99% of spiritual people emphasize becoming. Most are even fearful of the arrival because it infers an end not only to who they believe themselves to be, but to the all-important quest that they have given themselves. So they go on and on about the joy being "in the journey." Unfortunately, the only journey you can make is away from yourself.
**********
All of the finest advaita/nondual teachers--Shankara, Ramana Maharshi, Sri Atmananda Krishna Menon, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, "Sailor' Bob Adamson, etc --say that the ultimate spiritual state is neither rapture nor samadhi. Both of these are experiences (and therefore temporary), and are achieved with great effort. That which beyond all states is classically known as Turiya, which Nisargadatta called "pure witnessing, detached awareness, passionless and wordless. It is like space, unaffected by whatever it contains." Turiya, of course, is just another name for the natural state.
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