Pointers

What is it, right now, that would also be with you in deep sleep?

*****

There are no awakenings on the level of "Body," "Mind," and "Soul." That's just poppy-cock. Self-knowing occurs when a body/mind entity recognizes not only that it is present, but that it is present as awareness!

*****

Certain recordings of "Om" are amazingly moving and even pause-inducing. Rather than simply chanting along with such performances, see or notice that "Om" is being uttered without cessation within you at that very moment. Allow the chanting to point you to that flawless and glorious fact.

*****

Just because something is spiritual or spiritual-sounding doesn't necessarily mean that it is an accurate pointer to your natural state. Does the phrase, comment, or teaching directly point to what you are? If it doesn't pause you in any significant way, chances are it does not.

*****

Nonduality is a timeless teaching that points to the fact that the totality of existence is nothing but awareness.

*****

One of the first things that anyone who has come to this understanding will tell you is that awareness was there all the time. Not a single, truly awakened person will say to you that self-realization requires virtues, practices, time, or meditation. The only people saying that are those who are not self-realized themselves and want you to hang onto them and their teachings.

*****

Awakening requires neither a "facing" your fears nor a "relinquishing" of your will or ego. There is a "doer" in both those undertakings, and that "doer" will automatically negate any substantive seeing or understanding from occurring. For your attention is still on this frequently appearing practicality (I, me, you), rather than the presence within which the I/me/you arises.

*****

The fundamental question in philosophy is "What is truth?" And nonduality is the answer to that question. For it is truth itself.

*****

Awakening is not progressive. As long as you are under that assumption, it will indeed be progressive. Why? Because you're giving credence to time being a factor is self-knowing, and it is not. Further, your progressive approach will never yield a final understanding because you are inferring that, through your practices, you aren't awareness already. And nothing could be further from the truth.

-----

News & Info

Tami Brady reviewed A Vastness All Around on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

"A Vastness All Around is, hands down, one of the best books out there on nonduality. Thank you for all of your writing." --Alex Taylor

~~~~~

Here's a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

"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 Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews, and powerful pointers. It 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.

~~~~~

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!

~~~~~

John Wheeler's site is no longer up. But earnest and serious seekers can reach him at: johnwheeler111@yahoo.com

~~~~~

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

Per Chance to Sleep

When I close my eyes to sleep, I don't know who or where I am. All that I know is that my hazel nakedness is making various points of contact with the bed and bed sheets. Peace and expansiveness are the pervading qualities.

Then I will hear, say, the sound of the air conditioner, and I will remember my name and where I am for a few moments. Those memories will disappear, and there will simply be the darkness that is within that ever-present limitlessness. A voice may then be heard passing my apartment's door, and once again "Rodney" and his persona will fleetingly appear.

My passage to sleep proceeds like that every night, with me disappearing and appearing--and then vanishing all together, when I fall into deep asleep, where there are neither dream objects nor waking objects (which we experience in our waking state)--just presence itself. And because there are no objects, nothing is perceived. You only remember or intuit your having received genuine rest and serenity during the night.

Oddly, I have to be careful not to think about anything related to nonduality when I'm slumbering. Otherwise, my brain kicks into auto-drive. Pointers, analogies, and entire paragraphs of words will emerge into that space we call the mind. One idea or clarification will rapidly set off another. That's why talking about this is just as easy for me as writing about it--the words are already there, welling up. It's merely a matter of my repeating and/or clarifying them.

Occasionally, I will reach for my digital recorder by the nightstand when some choice pointer appears. At other times, I won't, thinking that that particular fact or suggestion is so good that I'm bound to remember it when I wake. But I don't, of course. And that's a tragedy--for it might have been the key for someone to see that there isn't a single lock to open. Indeed, that isn't even a door! All there is is OPENNESS. And you-are-That.

-----

News & Info

Tami Brady reviewed A Vastness All Around on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

"A Vastness All Around is, hands down, one of the best books out there on nonduality. Thank you for all of your writing." --Alex Taylor

~~~~~

Here's a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

"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 Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews, and powerful pointers. It 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.

~~~~~

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!

~~~~~

John Wheeler's site is no longer up. But earnest and serious seekers can reach him at: johnwheeler111@yahoo.com

~~~~~

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

Pointers

You are looking away from your Self.

*****

Awakening is the sudden seeing and understanding of what has always been present.

*****

Stay with what you are at this very moment. What is it that is currently being overlooked? It is a felt-clarity that is without beginning or end.

*****

When you recognize your true self, you recognize the fundamental nature of the universe. Your apprehension is never less than that. So you can now see what this is sometimes called this final understanding. It is not that you stop learning. It's just the essence of life is now known.

*****

You cannot help but "be in the moment." The moment is all there is!

*****

There is nothing to be healed, awakened, or merged with. You ARE what you are at this very moment. The felt-presence of your ordinary, everyday awareness is the answer.

*****

There is absolutely no need for you to create some kind of "psychological ground" (compassion, forgiveness, confession, poverty, celibacy, spiritual names, etc) for self-knowledge to occur. That's just a ploy that teachers and organizations use to get you to utilize their practices.

*****

Self-realization is, quite literally, nonduality.

*****

You can't "cultivate" what you already are. And just "who" would be trying to do this anyway? It has to be some thought or notion telling you that you aren't awareness itself, that you have to attain it. Can that temporary and woefully incorrect idea possibly be your fundamental identity?

*****

Something is already present. What is that something?

*****

These pointers are directing you to your existing nature and not to some mystical or faraway state. You are awareness right now! At various times during the day, you may have a strong sense or inkling of this fact. Remain with that inkling and let it direct you to your own immeasurableness.

*****

Truth is not at the end of a road or journey. It's right here and now, as you read these words. The beginning is the end. Awareness recognized is all it is. You don't have to take a single step to anywhere discover that. And the notion that you have to employ techniques or go on some sort of spiritual excursion is simply the mind holding sway. See your own immediate truth, and have a good laugh--or cry.

-----

News & Info

Tami Brady reviewed A Vastness All Around on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

"A Vastness All Around is, hands down, one of the best books out there on nonduality. Thank you for all of your writing." --Alex Taylor

~~~~~

Here's a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

"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 Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews, and powerful pointers. It 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.

~~~~~

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!

~~~~~

John Wheeler's site is no longer up. But earnest and serious seekers can reach him at: johnwheeler111@yahoo.com

~~~~~

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

I Just Stopped to Say Hello

Question: Hi, Rodney. I trust all is well with you. In Los Angeles this morning, it is warm, cloudy, and drizzling. It feels wonderful. In fact, it's perfect!

Rodney: Thanks for taking the time to say hello. I've never been to California, but it's certainly on my list of places that I would like to visit.

Q: I enjoy walking the mile or two for coffee in my not-quite-suburban-not-quite-rural edge of the city. The rhythm of one step in front of the other in the quiet morning allows a parade of thoughts and perceptions to stride by with equal ease.

Rodney: That seeing of thoughts and perceptions "with equal measure" is very good. It isn't something that you are trying to do. You are simply taking note of what is happening. You're the witness without attempting to be the witness. It sounds as if you're really starting to see how awareness "presents" itself. I use the quotations because awareness doesn't act, really. It is simply ever-present. Your recognition of it appears to come from you because, as a sentient being, you have the ability to know not only that you exist, but that you exist--fundamentally--as awareness itself, and not just as a body and a mind.

Q: That is evident right now. Here I am, the individual moving through a scene; yet, the whole scene is also within me. Then, there is the true me--the stillness that encompasses the whole scene, with the perception of time ticking with each step within this eternity of now.

Rodney: Right, the stillness is the seer. The witnessing is coming from that. You are the spaciousness in which all of those things are occurring. There isn't this defined "I" within you that is continually doing the seeing, the knowing. The "I" is occasional, so it can't possibly be the knower. The knower has to be something that never changes. So just bring your attention to your ordinary, everyday awareness. See the peace and spaciousness with which it is magnificently imbued. Don't be overly-concerned about the witnessing. It will take care of itself, as it has always done! Just remain with the fundamental issue: What is it about yourself, right at this moment, that never moves from what it is? That is the question to deliberate upon, to be totally paused by.

Q: Exactly. You once told me that "whatever makes you stop" is all it takes. I am fully witnessing that thought right now, as I am filled with gratitude by my noticing what is always here--this non-dual reality. Thank you for offering me those words. They make all of this so clear and easy.

Rodney: You're most welcome. Your own beginningless Self is right there, right now. Whatever you are doing, you are looking at and through it at this very moment. It never moves from being fully available, and its recognition is just a matter of noticing that during a pause in thinking or feeling, there is an immeasurable presence of awareness that has always been there. We are merely distracted by a rising thought or emotion. But the truth of the matter is, we never move from this. We absolutely never do.

Q: I really love your blog, Rodney. Feel free to share our exchange, if you think it would be of any help or of interest to others.

Rodney: I'm sure it would, and thank you--on both counts!

-----

News & Info

RECENTLY IN: Tami Brady reviewed A Vastness All Around on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

"A Vastness All Around is, hands down, one of the best books out there on nonduality. Thank you for all of your writing." --Alex Taylor

~~~~~

Here's a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

"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 Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews, and powerful pointers. It 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.

~~~~~

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!

~~~~~

John Wheeler's site is no longer up. But earnest and serious seekers can reach him at: johnwheeler111@yahoo.com

~~~~~

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