Pointers

Presence is the most marvelous thing. See and recognize it for yourself. Nothing, I assure you, could be easier or simpler. And why would it not? You are That!


*****


The mind can never grasp Reality. That understanding occurs when the mind stops, such as during breaks in thoughts or when there is a pause due to some pointing or pondering. But during those times, we really aren't brought any "closer" to what we are. For we never move from this. It's just that during pauses and deep reflecting, our seeing is clearer, less foggy, and free of distractions.


*****


Your consciousness will remain only as long as you are living. There is nothing eternal about it. So it can't possibly be your fundamental reality.


*****


Thoughts, feelings, emotions, ideas, and images are not you. They are simply arisings in the immeasurableness that is you. And you never cease being this, so there is no need for you to strive to "reach" or "attain" it. But most seekers are trying to "conquer" presence so that they can exclaim that they have done so and then point to the travails that they have endured in order to acquire it. But the irony is that they will never reach it that way. They will, however, experience any number of sensations, manifestations, and conditions. So at least they can take "consolation" in that!


*****


Always be mindful of the point that something is being overlooked. That's all. There is unequivocally nothing to be "merged" with or to become "established" in. That kind of spiritual drivel will keep you in conceptual whorls for the rest of your days, which would be tragic, given that not only are you already free, you are Freedom itself!


*****


The answer that you're looking for is spaciousness. It is neither an experience nor anything that can be experienced. Again, the answer that you are searching for is bare, utter spaciousness. You're looking through it and into right here and now, as you read these words. Feel yourself being paused by what is blazingly before and within you at this very moment.


*****


Notice that the presumed entity--in the form of a thought, an emotion, a personality trait or cluster of traits--always changes. Ditto your body. But your essence never alters. Your knowingness Does Not Move. Even if you don't yet have a clear of understanding of this fact, you intuitively know it to be true. Listen to your heart--your wise and wily heart. Allow it to lead the way, and you may just suddenly see that there was never really any place to go.

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News & Info

"Loved the book, Rodney. Enjoyed it as much as John Wheeler's first book,Awakening to the Natural State. My favourite quote of yours was "you are no more your personal history than you are your toothbrush." I like the fact that you included little tidbits of your life and surrounds. It felt more like reading a book on travel or history than some of the other textbook style books on nonduality. I think for anyone serious about a direct approach, your book and John Wheeler's are the two to have." -- Ian

~~~~~

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

~~~~~

Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

~~~~~

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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Q&A: The Perfect Witness

Question: You'll be happy to hear that I've finally stopped meditating.

Rodney: Actually, I'm neither here nor there with your not meditating. If you feel comfortable doing it and you enjoy it, go right ahead.

Q: Well, I've taken your advice and stopped. It feels sort of strange not to be doing it.

Rodney: Stop meditating because you've come to fully see that it can't possibly be an avenue to self-realization. Don't just take my word for it.

Q: No, I feel really good about it, though I'm not at the point of totally seeing why meditation isn't working. But I'm really okay with no-more-sitting. I guess I didn't realize how much I was exhausting myself!

Rodney: No doubt. And you can rest assured that this understanding is neither time nor effort-dependent. It's not that there isn't something to do; it's just that that something is a simple recognition of what is directly before you.

Q: Unfortunately, I don't think I'm there either! (Laughter)

Rodney: Who doesn't think that they are there?

Q: "I" don't think that I'm there--this particular human being.

Rodney: Yes, but take a moment to see what is actually happening in the reply. A thought comes quickly up, saying that "I am not there yet." That response arises in awareness. The only way you can know that your "I am not there yet" is present is if it is being witnessed by something that is eternally there. And that witness is awareness.

Q: I guess I'm not seeing the difference between presence and consciousness.

Rodney: Consciousness is an arising in awareness, also. In fact, it's the first thing that emanates from it when you wake up in the morning. The sequence is roughly: "I am-ness," "I exists," and "I know that I exist" (which is sentience, an aspect of consciousness). Now, in all of these qualities, an "I-ness" is present. Awareness has no "I-ness" or "I am-ness" to it. Rather, it is a presence that is, at once, serene, existent, and limitless. And it never changes.

Q: But how do I get to the awareness?

Rodney: By seeing that you don't have to. It is everywhere around you. There is absolutely no place where it is not. It is perfectly witnessing and knowing the exchange we're having right now. But the images and concepts that you have about awareness (seemingly) obscure the fact that you are awareness.

Q: Right, I see what you're saying. Awareness isn't clear to me at this exact moment. But I see exactly what you're saying.

Rodney: So just sit with this, if you feel the inclination, and deliberate on the fact that the alleged emptiness from which thoughts and sentiments originate is actually a Completeness that gleams with clarity, consistency, and munificence. There is lots of good stuff there--simply see that it's being overlooked. That's all.

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News & Info

"Loved the book, Rodney. Enjoyed it as much as John Wheeler's first book, Awakening to the Natural State. My favourite quote of yours was "you are no more your personal history than you are your toothbrush." I like the fact that you included little tidbits of your life and surrounds. It felt more like reading a book on travel or history than some of the other textbook style books on nonduality. I think for anyone serious about a direct approach, your book and John Wheeler's are the two to have." -- Ian

~~~~~

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

~~~~~

Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

~~~~~

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

------

Pointers

Awareness is fully present. See what it is that you are not seeing.


*****


Existence is the manifested aspect of the Unimanifested. One is simply the other. Names, labels, and distinctions come up as thoughts and images in our so-called minds. Otherwise, no distinctions are present.


*****


The mystique of "enlightenment" induces you not only to overlook awareness proper, but to pursue spiritual experiences and imagined visions in hope of attaining some sort of dramatic Truth. But the full measure of what you are is already before you, and it is subtle, boundless, and unchanging. It is peace itself.


*****


If you have the opportunity to speak and be with someone for whom this is a living reality, take advantage of that opportunity. You may not come away with any immediate understanding (and then again, you just might); but at least the pointing will be consistent and spot-on. And there will be no wavering or half-measures--the truth will be fully articulated.


*****


In self-enquiry, when the "who" response arises (e.g., "Who feels that they need to be a better meditator?"), the pause after that response is the answer. Any conceptualization after that is merely the mind churning up doubt, ideas, and conjecture. Again, the pause following the response is the answer.


*****


No I/thought/ego can be awakened. When the transient nature of these things is clearly seen, presence naturally and very obviously remains.


*****

You cannot become "more awake." It's either game over, or the conceptual clock is still ticking.


*****

I have absolutely no interest in engaging in debates, conjecture, and conceptualization. My job is simply to point to the truth. That pointing can be done and articulated in innumerable ways. What never changes is that to which I am pointing, which is Reality itself.


*****


The purpose of nonduality is not to reach some imagined or mythical state, but to clarify your identity. And this clarification or understanding isn't difficult or time-dependent in the least. It is a simple seeing of what is immediately before you. It is that which is present before your next thought, feeling, or doubt arises. Ponder the following question: Your thoughts arise in what?...Notice that there is a pause directly after the question. But you are overlooking the pause because you think that is just an ordinary emptiness there, rather than a vastness that is rich with love and equanimity. Take a moment to see yourself as your Self. And perhaps you too will be exclaiming J.W. Work's enduring spiritual lyrics, "Free at last, Free at last! Thank God Almighty I'm free at last!"

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News & Info

Rodney will be speaking at the "Festival of Healing and Spiritual Awareness" in Columbia, SC, on January 23rd. For info, go to A Class Act!

~~~~~

"Rodney has a clear and simple voice that engages the spiritual dialogue with a profound sense of knowing. The truth of his words penetrates to the depth of our collective Being." -- Bruce Joel Rubin, screenwriter, GHOST, JACOB'S LADDER, THE LAST MIMZY, and THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.

~~~~~

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

~~~~~

Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

~~~~~

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

------

Q&A: That in Which Everything Arises

Question: Hi, Rodney. I recently discovered your blog, and I enjoy it very much.

Rodney: Thank you.

Q: If it's alright, I would like to share with you a few things that are currently happening.

Rodney: Sure.

Q: In the last couple of years, I have lived in London and attended meetings with Tony Parsons, Roger Linden, Richard Sylvester and others. I have recently moved to Sydney, Australia. I also read books, watch videos, and listen to online programs about non-duality.

Rodney: You've been busy! But I can relate.

Q: Yes, I figured that you could!...Apart from a brief "experience" after one of those meetings, all of the excellent words that I heard at those meetings remained very conceptual to me, so I knew I had to explore all of this further.

Rodney: That's good, because experiences are neither here nor there. But most seekers lap them up. And it also doesn't help if you take the opposite route either, where you attempt to squash mentation or even witness it, because in all instances there is this perceived meditator there struggling to do all of this. If you grasp the simple fact that thoughts and experiences are appearances in awareness, then none of the above is necessary.

Q: Well, I may be seeing more of that now. In the last few weeks, the words I read and videos I watch about non-duality suddenly resonate more than before. I have become more aware that all my thoughts, sensations, and perceptions seem to be made out of the same thing, so to speak. I know that sounds weird, but--

Rodney: No, I get it. And that's a splendid observation. For at bottom, all appearances are the very stuff of awareness, But to fully "awaken" to our natural state, we need to recognize presence at its source, and not overly focus on any arisings from it.

Q: Well, right now I'm at the stage where I realise that my perceptions and sensations can be experienced beautifully without being corrupted by thoughts. Although the thoughts keep arising as before, they are seen and discarded. This "realisation" is sometimes more acute than other times, especially when I am alone and calm. My agitated mind is still running the show most of the time.

Rodney: Your mind only appears to be "running the show." It is simply appearing in something that is far, far greater than itself, and that is your ordinary/extraordinary everyday awareness. Give your attention to that rather than to any incidental thoughts or feelings that you may be witnessing. It's easy to get caught up in ideas and reactions. But that is more out of habit, than any thing else. And on realizing this fact, you naturally give awareness an attention that you never had before.

Q: So I should just "extend" the calmness when it is there?

Rodney: A calm mind is still a mind. You're giving solidity to something that is only a function, an appearance. Also, even if you discard every single thought with unparalleled abandon, there would remain this supposed "you" getting the job done. And that is not what this understanding is about. It is the full seeing or recognition that there is an eternal actuality of awareness in which no separate and abiding entities are present. It is the vastness in which everything arises. And when this is recognized, thoughts, notions, and feelings are just flotsam in a limitless sea. And this immenseness is yours for the seeing. And how could it not be? For you are That.

Q: Thank you for your time and pointing, Rodney. I deeply appreciate it.

Rodney: Sure thing. And Happy New Year!

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News & Info

Rodney will be speaking at the "Festival of Healing and Spiritual Awareness" in Columbia, SC, on January 23rd. For info, go to A Class Act!

~~~~~

"Rodney has a clear and simple voice that engages the spiritual dialogue with a profound sense of knowing. The truth of his words penetrates to the depth of our collective Being." -- Bruce Joel Rubin, screenwriter, GHOST, JACOB'S LADDER, THE LAST MIMZY, and THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.

~~~~~

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

~~~~~

Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

~~~~~

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

------

Pointers

Just take a moment to see yourself as you truly are. Nothing could be simpler.


*****


Because the "I" and "me" repeatedly come up throughout the day, we assume that there is a separate person present. But repetition doesn't necessarily infer essence. What is it that does not arise and disappear? That is your treasure.


*****


Self-enquiry fails for most seekers because they attempt to inquire into who they are, instead of into the whatness of their existence. And this whatness appears to us as utter peace and spaciousness. It is without beginning or end, and no terms, concepts, and descriptions can't even begin capture its fullness and fragrance.


*****


Apperceiving means seeing through the formations of the "I" with such clarity that your thinking is halted, and you find yourself as Presence itself. It is both a new understanding and a final one.


*****


Be the witness? You already are the witness! Who is this added watcher that you are bringing into the equation? If you examine the issue carefully, you will see that this appended "me" is just a thought or idea about who you are. It is not Self, itself. It is not the whatness of your existence.


*****


Understanding leads to direct, natural, and even intuitive actions. There is no person present during such activity, just the actions and responses themselves, in the full sweep of life.


*****


The richness and spaciousness within seekers is overlooked largely because their attention is given to their thoughts, practices, and seeking, rather than to awareness proper. Such seekers are attempting to attain awareness, rather than simply recognizing it.


*****


The first step of ninety-nine percent of all meditators is to focus on the mind (or some aspect of it). Then they attempt to either control what is there or to witness it. But any attempts to "tame" the mind or to add yet another perceiver to Reality will, by default, only lead you to a lifetime of striving and disappointment. And by focusing, in the very first instance, on the mind is a supreme error. Your focus should be on presence, and how your feelings, self-concepts, and even consciousness arise within it.

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News & Info

"Rodney has a clear and simple voice that engages the spiritual dialogue with a profound sense of knowing. The truth of his words penetrates to the depth of our collective Being." -- Bruce Joel Rubin, screenwriter, GHOST, JACOB'S LADDER, THE LAST MIMZY, and THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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