Pointers

Any form of spiritual gradualness is simply the mind in full operation.


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"How do I attain enlightenment?" is the wrong question. It's the wrong question because your ideas about enlightenment are incorrect. Also, enlightenment, per se, does not exist. So these false notions about the issue are distracting you from seeing what is directly in front of you. Thus, a far better question would be: "What is the presence of awareness that is cognitizing my body and thinking right here and now?"


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Meditation can give you some calmness--but never peace, which only comes with the recognition of your natural state. Meditation isn't natural. It's an endeavor that has to be done again and again and again. Self-realization, on the other hand, happens only once. Boom! Game over.


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You are not your body, thoughts, and emotions. They are certainly there, but there has to be something that knows that they are there, and you are that something--awareness itself. And you can't get more liberated than that!


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However poetic it sounds, the "dissolution of the ego" is a meaningless and non-ending aspiration. Any teacher who has you doing that is just wasting your time and money. The ego, which is just another thought, is going to continue to come up (and disappear) as long as your body is being lived. Why not investigate the assumed-reality of the person who is attempting to get rid of the ego? Or you can simply take U.G. Krishnamurti's ever-diplomatic words to heart: "Don't be a damn fool!"


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God, Presence, Awareness, Adonai, Jehovah, Theos, and Emannuel are just a handful of the many names of That which is beyond all words. Another name for it is Brahman, which is often defined as "Supreme" or "the Greatest." But perhaps my favorite rendering of it is the slightly less elegant, "the All." And all the names are pointing to what you are at this very second.


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Go beyond any feelings of goodness or happiness or sadness or even bliss. Even the universe depends upon your existence! You are Supreme Reality. How is it that you could ever be separate from That which is without beginning or end?


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The Upanishads were right (and brilliant!) to point out that aum is a vibration that underlines all existence. For if we were to give presence a phonetic component, aum would most definitely be it. But those Upanishadic authors and commentators who say that it must be chanted or mentally repeated (as a mantra) to attain self-knowledge were wrong. Just ponder a-u-m carefully and silently, and allow it to show you what is already there, which is bare spaciousness and peace. Aum is one of those rare and wonderful words that both points to presence, as well as approximates it.

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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

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"I found A Vastness All Around to be a nice presentation of the essence of awakening from within a modern nondual perspective. I found it particularly accessible due both to your refreshingly relaxed perspective, and the format of the great variety of types of presentations; short essays, dialogues, poems, interviews, even book reviews. A very nice multi-pronged approach, easy to dip into without having to necessarily wade through a more involved and convoluted presentation. I wish you good fortune in its popularization. It ought to be of benefit to many people."

--Peter Brown
http://www.theopendoorway.org

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

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

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

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If you would like to meet Rodney, have him to discuss nonduality, sign books, or read, you can email him at: writerguy@fastmail.fm. Such events are self-organized, so funding is key, with groups and universities that can cover travel expenses getting priority. And much appreciation!

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This blog is generally updated every Monday afternoon, Eastern Standard Time.

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