Assumed, But Not Actual

The soft, wobbly ride on the "Rapid." It lurches from the bowels of the airport to the apocalyptic grim of downtown Cleveland. I gaze through the windows. Curiosity and sadness arise within me, and not a scintilla of aversion. Dark riders loll in the dusky seats. The only whiteness holds my hand.

Later, the talk at the aromatic Coffee House at University Circle. A handful of bright, hardy souls braving the frigid evening. I begin to speak. Words pour forth from a source I know all too well--and yet, not at all. For there is nothing but Presence, and no one to know it.

Afterwards, always the second-guessing: Was I specific enough in pointing out how pauses are wellsprings for creativity too? Were my examples accessible? Should I have reiterated how creativity arises in us similarly, but expresses itself differently in every person? And yet, it comes from the same source: Awareness itself.

Books are signed in my quick, indecipherable scrawl. I glance at my name. Who is this person that toiled at these svelte tomes? One can only point to a fleeting approximation, a beingness where individuality is assumed, but is not actual.

Long, tight hugs from those in attendance. Then the weighted silence during the quick stroll to the car. She glances at me, this former love, attempting to make sense of a "someone" that was never actually there in the first place. Her gloved hand touches my arm.

But we say nothing, as the sleet quickens. We gaze at the huge, neoclassic Cleveland Art Museum, with its white Georgian Marble. It's all a part of her storied life now--this sprawling, erudite, collegiate community. Her hand on my arm does not move. It says only one thing: Come back to me.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

NEW: The paperback version of Fully Present is now on AMAZON! It can also be purchased at Barnes & Noble, and is available through bookstores nationwide.

~~~~~

For the Kindle edition of Fully Present, go here: AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

Tami Brady of TCM Reviews has reviewed Fully Present. Go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

--Philip Goldberg, author of the best-selling American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation--How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Philip's Web site can be found at www.philipgoldberg.com.

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

EVENTS: I will be giving a weekend talk on nonduality at OneCircle in Silver Spring, Maryland on February 10-12, 2012. For the flyer, go HERE. I will also be signing books, as well as answering questions. Feel free to contact OneCircle for more information.

######

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

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

Check out Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

Feel free to read 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.

~~~~~

"I like your approach in A Vastness All Around. The stories, thoughts and vignettes of your life seem wonderful ways to make people stop and pay attention to where they actually are right now, rather than in some imagined past or future. They show that you don't have to be some specially qualified person, preferably with a title and a name in Sanskrit, to pursue the spiritual quest. Your message comes across particularly well in such pieces as 'Sheerness of Being.'"

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Pointers

See what it is that is not moving.

*****

The body, mind, emotions, personality, and consciousness--none of these things is you. So what is that remains? What is it that is in full view?

*****

Presence is not a void. Indeed, it is the only real thing that there is.

*****

You have to see yourself by yourself. No teacher can give it to you or structure some method or process with which this understanding will occur. Your immediate and unending spaciousness is the answer.

*****

There is nothing to be done and no one to do it. You can't GI-Joe your way to this so-called enlightenment.

*****

Stop trying to be free, and simply see that you are Freedom itself. How can awareness, which you already are, be in any way acquired or contained? More foolish still is to think that presence can somehow be "entered" or "maintained"!

*****

Who is dissolving what? There are too many characters in this play. The stage is all there is. See the beauty, silence, and unchanging vastness of it. Nothing has to be rehearsed, fine-tuned, or performed. You are what you are at this very moment. You always have been and you always will be awareness itself.

******

See or feel what the pointer is pointing to. The words are nudging you (directionally, not sequentially) towards a peace and silence that has been glaringly overlooked. You are that silence! You are that peace! And even those descriptions are concepts on top of the indescribable This-ness of presence.

*****

The "ego" can't be dissolved. So forget about that approach all together. For you are attempting to stop something that naturally occurs and then disappears. It's a practicality that helps you to function in life. Simply bring your attention to the spaciousness in which the "I-sense" comes and goes, and you will be on the right track.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

NEW: The paperback version of Fully Present is now on AMAZON!

~~~~~

For the Kindle edition of Fully Present, go here: AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

Tami Brady of TCM Reviews has reviewed Fully Present. Go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

--Philip Goldberg, author of the best-selling American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation--How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Philip's Web site can be found atwww.philipgoldberg.com.

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

EVENTS: I will be giving a weekend talk on nonduality at OneCircle in Silver Spring, Maryland on February 10-12, 2012. For the flyer, go HERE. I will also be signing books, as well as answering questions. Feel free to contact OneCircle for more information.

######

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

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

Check out Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

Feel free to read 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.

~~~~~

"I like your approach in A Vastness All Around. The stories, thoughts and vignettes of your life seem wonderful ways to make people stop and pay attention to where they actually are right now, rather than in some imagined past or future. They show that you don't have to be some specially qualified person, preferably with a title and a name in Sanskrit, to pursue the spiritual quest. Your message comes across particularly well in such pieces as 'Sheerness of Being.'"

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Q&A: Earnestly Seeking

Questioner: Hey, Rodney. I just saw on CNN that the Republican candidates are heading your way for the South Carolina primaries. So I thought I would drop you a line and see how you're holding up.

Rodney: Primaries? What primaries? It's news to me. I'm joking, of course. But as you might guess, I don't follow politics. I'm not advocating that sentiment for anyone. It's just me. I'm no example for anybody.

Q: I also wanting to let you know how much I'm really enjoying A Vastness All Around and Fully Present. Both have been very helpful on several issues.

Rodney: I'm happy to hear that. Thank you--and thank you for the purchases, as well!

Q: In your diary, for example, you cleared away the doubts and fears that came up when reading--many years ago--Krishnamurti's Notebook. You show that this understanding can be something natural, and that the family does not have to suffer from dramatic changes.

Rodney: And neither did J. Krishnamurti, I imagine. Still, I found his writing vague and dualistic. But he appears to have been a lovely and immensely compassionate person. And I, like many former seekers, have several of his books in my library.

Q: I'm in my late 50's, and deeply saddened over the fact that after years of earnest looking and direct pointing from credible teachers, there is no final understanding here. And I know that it may happen soon, or it may not.

Rodney: Yes, but just to be clear: Awareness has happened! Awareness is all there is. In fact, it is so in evidence that you are overlooking it. And I'm not pointing you out here. This "by-passing" of presence is going in all spiritual sectors, with seekers the world over. That timeless and marvelously concise nondual gem "You are That" points us to an immediacy to which you have never given your attention. And when you do come to your clear seeing, you will certainly perceive that there never was a who, but always a what--awareness itself.

Q: Yes, I see what you're saying. And I'm certainly not asking you what can be done because that would be a practice or a path, which would be a separate "me" operating at some level.

Rodney: Right--there can be no path or process to what you already are.

Q: I'm not even interested in a career and material things. I just want to know the truth of who I am.

Rodney: Food, clothing, and shelter are paramount. Once you have the essentials, then it's a personal decision as to the quality and quantity of those things. Your forging ahead is commendable. Just keep in mind that there is no "ahead" and no place to go. Presence is ever-present. And you are That. You never move from being what you are right at this moment. Any pause or pointer can "take" you there--that is, point you to something that is supremely present. And time is not a factor in that recognition. So what is it, right now, that you need no time to see?

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

The Kindle version of Fully Present is now available on AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

RECENTLY IN: Tami Brady of TCM Reviews has reviewed Fully Present. Go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

--Philip Goldberg, author of the best-selling American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation--How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Philip's Web site can be found at www.philipgoldberg.com.

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

EVENTS: I will be speaking to the Create-A-Ways Meetup Group in Cleveland, Ohio on January 25th at 7:00pm. We'll be meeting upstairs at The Coffee House in University Circle. I will be discussing creativity and nonduality. I will also be signing books. Anyone in the area is welcome to join us.

######

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

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

Check out Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

Feel free to read 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.

~~~~~

"I like your approach in A Vastness All Around. The stories, thoughts and vignettes of your life seem wonderful ways to make people stop and pay attention to where they actually are right now, rather than in some imagined past or future. They show that you don't have to be some specially qualified person, preferably with a title and a name in Sanskrit, to pursue the spiritual quest. Your message comes across particularly well in such pieces as 'Sheerness of Being.'"

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Pointers

You are awareness itself. You can't possibly be anything but That.

*****

The body, mind, personality, and consciousness are all appearances in presence. You aren't any of those arisings. You are That that knows that they are momentarily there. Bring your attention to the spaciousness around the thought or emotion.

*****

You are the sumptuous and un-altering background to your apparent and ever-changing life. Your very own peaceable kingdom resides immediately within you. And that stillness is without end. For the space inside of a jar is the same space outside of the jar. The jar is largely inconsequential. The space is not.

*****

Even an ongoing "acceptance of all things" can be the "me" in muffled operation. There are no positions to be taken by any apparent "I" when it comes to self-knowing.

*****

Earnestness, graciousness, and purposefulness are qualities that I see, time and again, in seekers who have any measure of success in nonduality. I don't exactly know why that is, but it's a commendable circumstance.

*****

Right now, what you are is prior to any doubts, questions, and imaginings you might have about nonduality.

*****

Don't turn self-knowing into a process. If you do, it will certainly be a never-ending one. Why? Because then your focus and attention is on the methodology, rather than on what is fully and radiantly present. No process can "take" you to awareness. You are awareness! Thus, the use of any method to "reach" your natural state is simply idiotic.

*****

There is no separate self. You are awareness proper. If you reflect upon this, quietly allowing the accuracy of that statement to come to you again and again (naturally and spontaneously) throughout the day, you just may come to see the actual and living Truth to which the statement is pointing.

*****

Just because some people assert that they have no more questions, doesn't mean that they have come to a true understanding of who and what they are. This applies to seeker and teacher alike. There has to be a complete seeing of how life is apparently appearing and dividing itself into subjects and objects, forms and no-forms.

*****

We talk a lot about understanding in nonduality. But actually, self-knowing is totally beyond any conceptual, psychological, or spiritual apprehension. And it is certainly beyond any names or labeling we might attach to it. Understanding, by most credible teachers, simply means a recognition of the presence of awareness within you. And by knowing that it is fully evident, you immediately perceive that there is nowhere where It is not. And that there is nothing that It is not. There never was, and there never will be.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

The Kindle version of Fully Present is now available on AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

JUST IN: Tami Brady of TCM Reviews has reviewed Fully Present. Go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

--Philip Goldberg, author of the best-selling American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation--How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Philip's Web site can be found atwww.philipgoldberg.com.

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

EVENTS: I will be speaking to the Create-A-Ways Meetup Group in Cleveland, Ohio on January 25th at 6:30pm. We'll be meeting upstairs at The Coffee House in University Circle. I will be discussing creativity and nonduality. I will also be signing books. Anyone in the area is welcome to join us.

######

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

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

Check out Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

Feel free to read 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.

~~~~~

"I like your approach in A Vastness All Around. The stories, thoughts and vignettes of your life seem wonderful ways to make people stop and pay attention to where they actually are right now, rather than in some imagined past or future. They show that you don't have to be some specially qualified person, preferably with a title and a name in Sanskrit, to pursue the spiritual quest. Your message comes across particularly well in such pieces as 'Sheerness of Being.'"

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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