Q&A: A Single, Floating Leaf

Q: I'm really enjoying A Vastness All Around. I read how one of your readers purchased the paperback and the e-book, and I decided to do the same thing. That way, I can easily carry it around in my Kindle when I'm traveling. And when I'm at home, I can flip through the book itself, which I sort of prefer.

Rodney: Thank you!

Q: It's really easy to read your book over and over again, which definitely isn't the case with a lot of spiritual works I've bought. And I've got quite a library!

Rodney: I'm happy the book resonates with you.

Q: As I said, I'm just reading and re-reading, letting everything percolate. That seems to be the way it worked for you. So I'm hoping that that will happen here too, of course.

Rodney: It may, and it may not. There is really no predicting it. Yes, you may be reading one of the pointers or essays in the book, and the understanding will occur. Or you may put the book down, look into the distance at a single, floating autumn leaf--at which time your thinking might be momentarily paused enough (depth-wise, not length-wise) that presence reveals itself. But let's be clear, there is no action or movement from awareness. There is just a seeing or recognition of its existence. For the answer is in you, not the book.

Q: This is probably a silly question, but what do I do then?

Rodney: I wouldn't move, until you are confident of what you are seeing--or rather, of what is being seen.

Q: Just let it sink in, so to speak.

Rodney: Let the actuality of it "sink in." There is nothing that needs to be enhanced, integrated, or maintained. And it's there forever more. But then, it was there all the time, only now it is being finally apperceived--which is not just knowing something, but a total knowing, where previously held thoughts or beliefs are shown to be false or limited.

Q: Would it be okay if I jumped up and started dancing?

Rodney: Sure. Presence would be fine. But your body would be winded!

Q: And there is nothing I can do to speed this along?

Rodney: Who is asking the question? The imagined "I" that is raising the query is just that: A temporary practically--a thought. It won't and can't become self-realized in the least. And neither can your body, which is just a marvelous piece of intricate machinery. It, in itself, isn't sentient. So what is left? Your own state of natural awareness, of which you have taken insufficient notice. But the great news is that all it takes is a little direct attention or pondering of the issue to cognitize your innate clarity. That's all.

Q: And like you said in your blog, it can happen any time. I really laughed when you said that someone can even be eating a piece of pizza!

Rodney: Yes, but only if it's deep dish. Just kidding.

Q: Too late, I'm phoning in a 2-for-1, 16-inch right now!

Rodney: Hey, go for it.

Q: I really appreciate your help on this. And I love your blog--and the YouTube video! I definitely would like to see more of those.

Rodney: Thanks, and keep in touch, if you're moved to do so.

-----

News & Info

RECENTLY IN: Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

I am now scheduling teaching events. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy@fastmail.fm

I am also doing one-to-one phone consultations for anyone who is vitally interested in self-knowledge. Each conversation will take an hour or so, and donations of around $25 will be greatly appreciated.

~~~~~

Non-duality America published an excerpt from A Vastness All Around.

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness 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.

~~~~~

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

Pointers

See that you are the seeing--awareness itself.

*****

To perceive presence is to understand presence. And to understand it, is to perceive it.

*****

Your ordinary, everyday awareness is utter peace and limitlessness. Take a moment to see this sacredness before you, if you are pulled to do so. Nothing could be simpler. For you are That, right here and now.

*****

There is no liberation or attainment--just a seeing or understanding of what has always been present.

*****

You don't have to hold onto awareness until it "becomes" your natural state. Once recognized, it fully and unequivocally is there.

*****

Self inquiry needn't be a prolonged endeavor. As you are reading these words, what is it that doesn't come and go? What is it that is there right now, as well as yesterday at this very time? Don't make this an effort or a drudgery. See the beauty and blessedness of the question. Allow the pause that it occurring right now to reveal itself. For nothing could be simpler than seeing what you are at this very moment.

*****

You are Absolute Reality. But your attention is going to everything that changes and that appears to be more immediate. But what could be closer than the awareness from which all of those things arise?

*****

It's meditation that's difficult, not nonduality!

*****

You are not merely free, you are Freedom itself. You are the substratum of all existence! The universe--with all its grandeur, mysteries, and light-years distances--pale in comparison to your natural and ever-present state. This isn't hyperbole, but the bare, utter Truth.

*****

Self-inquiry can't be practiced. It comes up naturally during the day or evening when questions arise, and you effortlessly pause to reflect upon them.

*****

Existence, Consciousness, and Presence are three aspects of sentient beings. If our attention (through consciousness) overly focuses on Existence, there is pain, pleasure, and changeability. If that attention is properly brought to awareness, there is peace, stability, and limitlessness. Further, nearly all questions and concerns about Existence and Consciousness are then readily resolved.

-----

News & Info

RECENTLY IN: Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

I am now scheduling teaching events. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy@fastmail.fm

I am also doing one-to-one phone consultations for anyone who is vitally interested in self-knowledge. Each conversation will take an hour or so, and donations of around $25 will be greatly appreciated.

~~~~~

Non-duality America published an excerpt from A Vastness All Around.

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness 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.

~~~~~

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

No Doubts Whatsoever

Question: Hello Rodney. I want to thank you for the many clear and simple pointers you have offered on your blog and elsewhere.

Rodney: You're certainly welcome.

Q: Having read your interview in Nonduality Magazine, I feel a resonance not only with what you are pointing to, but with the aspects of your life story.

Rodney: I'm happy about the resonance being there. When you feel it with someone, it's unmistakable. There's an automatic slowing-down of all physical and mental stratagems when you are reading that teacher's words or you are in his or her presence.

Q: I have been in and out of college for a few years now because I have not been able to maintain the focus and motivation necessary to pursue any particular subject. I ended up studying psychology before taking a leave of absence.

Rodney: Psychology was an early interest of mine, also.

Q: Well, that leave-of-absence occurred because I began to have trouble relating to many of the subject's concepts, which seem so focused on analyzing and fixing this apparent self.

Rodney: Psychology is a greatly beneficial science. But yes, there is that issue.

Q: After years of seeking and eventually coming to terms with my inability to find a seperate self anywhere in experience, I still alternate between an intuitive knowing that life is living itself and to seriously worrying about what I am going to do with my life. But how will I earn a living, and what can I do about my compulsive thought/behavioral patterns, etc?

Rodney: Well, any compulsive thoughts and behavioral patterns should be looked at by a mental health professional. And earning a living should also be given serious consideration; for food, clothing, and shelter are the basics for we humans. Once you have the shelter, clothing is optional, of course! But seriously, self-inquiry necessitates a reasonably sound body and mind. To forsake either is nuttiness indeed. Even the Buddha saw that self-neglect was not the way to go.

Q: Yes, I now remember you writing about that.

Rodney: With the above in mind, allow your heart to lead the way. It's obvious that nonduality is an earnest concern of yours. Continue your inquiry, ponderings, and explorations, all the while making sure that you have a roof over your head and nourishing food to eat. Things tend to sort themselves out, and that certainly may be the case with your situation. The bottom line--nondual wise--is that Presence is your very state of being. So you don't need to attain a single thing. It is simply a matter of recognizing your unceasing sky-like nature, which can be easily be done with a bit of gentle focusing and/or deliberation.

Q: Could you give me an example of the deliberation?

Rodney: Almost any of the above sentences could be used. Or you could ponder the fact that, in your seeking, you are looking for something that you...already...are. That beautiful and startling fact both pauses you and directly points to your ever-present grandness.

Q: Thank you, Rodney. For I truly want to know what I am, without any doubts whatsoever.

Rodney: And awareness is your answer. Right here and now, you are That.

-----

News & Info

RECENTLY IN: Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

I am now scheduling teaching events. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy@fastmail.fm

I am also doing one-to-one phone consultations for anyone who is vitally interested in self-knowledge. Each conversation will take an hour or so, and donations of around $25 will be greatly appreciated.

~~~~~

Non-duality America published an excerpt from A Vastness All Around.

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness 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.

~~~~~

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

Pointers

There is something that is already present. What is that something?

*****

Begin with what you are before any particular thoughts, feelings, or sensations appear. That immediacy is what is being passed over.

*****

In nonduality, you aren't mastering a technique. You are directly understanding who and what you are. With practices, you can never go beyond the methods themselves; for a practice necessitates someone who imagines that he or she isn't awareness already.

*****

There is nothing to still. For you are Stillness itself.

*****

Nonduality is a completely different direction of seeing. But what you are looking for is directly in front of you! Indeed, what could be more immediate than your everyday and (seemingly) ordinary awareness? All that is needed is for you to recognize that this cognitizing spaciousness is laden with limitlessness and clarity.

*****

Your imagined self is just a reoccurring practicality. It can help you with functioning in life, but not with self-knowing.

*****

Only your direct experience of your natural state can clarify all of your questions. And that understanding can easily be had with just a bit of calm reflection and accurate seeing. Some periods of the day will, no doubt, be more conducive than others for self-inquiry. So avail yourself of those times, if you are drawn to do so, and discern what it is that, heretofore, has gone unseen.

*****

What is it, right now, that is completely untouched by your body, mind, and situation?

*****

Thoughts and emotions are appearances in consciousness; and consciousness (sentience, state of alertness, etc) is an appearance in awareness. Return to presence. See what it is that is always in evidence. And with that seeing, your attention will continue to be on various things during the day; but you will discover that you never really move from this abiding peace and pristine spaciousness.

-----

News & Info

NEW: Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

I am now scheduling teaching events. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy@fastmail.fm

I am also doing one-to-one phone consultations for anyone who is vitally interested in self-knowledge. Each conversation will take an hour or so, and donations of around $25 will be greatly appreciated.

~~~~~

Non-duality America published an excerpt from A Vastness All Around.

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness 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.

~~~~~

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