How can there be a path to what you already are?
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Where is the separation between you and awareness? There absolutely is none. All that happens (to take a very basic example) is that a thought or an emotion appears and disappears in this cognitizing spaciousness. And you are that spaciousness, not the thought or the feeling. The latter two change, but the former does not.
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This understanding can only occur suddenly--timelessly. There is no gradual seeing of this.
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Say to yourself, "I am...," but softly stop before saying your name. You are that presence of awareness that is prior to any thoughts or identifications. You have continuously overlooked this eternal antecedent. Once again, say to yourself: "I am...." But stay with the pause that has no name.
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The Tao Te Ching beautifully notes that "the gateway to all is understanding." And this understanding is beyond all paths, spirituality, and religions. Indeed, every single one of them culminate in this ultimate reality--pure awareness.
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You are what you are. There is nothing to be done other than to recognize the underlying truth of that stunning fact. Any doubts, concerns, or intellectual discord are just thoughts rising and disappearing in your pristine clarity.
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Note how much conceptualizing you are doing about nonduality. It's not that the topic isn't interesting (even fascinating) to speak and write about. It's just that there needs to be an understanding that only so much can be shared about it. The most potent and most elegant talk that I could ever give you would be for me to sit here, in complete silence. But it would not be the silence that is found at so-called silence retreats. That silence is forced and thoroughly unnatural. Why? Because there are assumed-individuals (seekers and teacher!) attempting to be silent.
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You say that you have stopped seeking, but that you have not yet discerned your natural and ever-present state. What now, you ask? Well, enjoy the not-seeking, for starters. For over 99% percent of the world's seekers have not stopped. So right away, you are in a very select group. You are to be commended for allowing yourself to pause, to take note of your abiding Reality, which is directly in front of you. Take some time ponder this, to see your Self for yourself. And remember, we are speaking about something that, while subtle, is one of the simplest things in the world to discern. Listen carefully to those who know, who have discovered this for themselves. For their every word, smile, gaze, pause, and utterance are saying more than you can ever know.
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The interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine, can be found at the following link: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm
If the link isn't highlighted (or is highlighted but won't open), simply copy and paste it into your Subject line, and click.
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2 comments:
It's fascinating to talk about, alright. The pointer about silence is interesting. I don't know what I think about that...so to speak. Different musings arise. There's an interesting discourse about shared silence here: http://www.nevernothere.com/forum/friendship-18-nicholas-powiull#comment-1751
in that particular comment, and the ones around it - Marcus has definite, consistent arising thoughts about exactly what is nonduality. Be interested to know what thoughts arise about it in "you"! Great post btw Rodney.
Rodney, your message is delivered so beautifully that I listened to the urban guru cafe interview at least 5 times. But the more important reason I write is that you say the recognition must happen in a certain way. This can set seekers back as they aim for the expectation you've set up. We all must remember that our experiences are just that, our experiences. Others may experience things differently. For some there is a "thinning" of the sense of self that precedes awakening, so that the awakening itself is not experienced as something abrupt. For others, there is a great deal of emotional energy in the body leading up to awakening, and there are all kinds of reports of "explosions" seeing of lights. As a body-centered psychotherapist, these differences in the holding and diffusing of emotional energy vary by person. So, bottom line, there may be those whose body's operate with very little pent-up energy, and these folks might not experience awaking as something abrubt and all-at-once. As a rule, I believe it does more harm than good to a seeker to describe your own experience as the only way the experience can happen. In fact, it is not helpful at all to set up expectations of what a seeker should expect, as it just becomes another conceptual barrier...anyway that's one viewpoint...dave trindle
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