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.