Saturday, March 24, 2012

Pointers

Just Knowingness and nothing else.


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A true teacher points to what is already present.


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You are limitless, featureless, cognitizing awareness. You are prior to any concept, belief, teaching, and practice. See the utter foolishness of trying to "reach" presence by pilgrimages and methodologies.


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You are beyond the mind at this very moment! So any attempt to "go" there would be counter productive and nonsensical. See that there has always been a stillness and clarity that were immediately present. Just an easy and subtle recognition is all that's needed.


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Can you say that you are not present, as you read these words? No, you are present. Now look even more attentively, and you will see that what is actually the case is that there is ONLY an ever-abiding presence of awareness, and that you are that awareness.


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"I am my body" and "I am my mind" are merely ideas you have about yourself, or things that you have been told. But if you carefully investigate those ideas and assumptions (with reason and personal discovery), you just may find that they aren't true at all. And that you are far greater than you ever could have imagined.


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Your natural and majestic state isn't the production of thought. You can't think or imagine your way to it. But when there is a natural pause in thinking or imagining, presence is there for the seeing. Awareness is never not there, of course. It only appears to be absent because your attention is on the thoughts and the imagining, rather than on what they are appearing within.


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You are what you are at this very moment. And what is that? Your are awareness proper. See, right now, that the body isn't aware of itself--but rather, there is an awareness of the body! The simplicity of this is almost without parallel.


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Some people and teachers speak of awakening as a kind of "inner revolution." But that's a bit strong. For nothing is changed, destroyed, or improved upon with this understanding. You are simply seeing something that has always been in existence. Thus, you can't "practice" your way to freedom. For you are Freedom itself. Full stop. Come back to this point again and again, if you feel an inclination to do so. Again, you are awareness itself. And you absolutely never move from that fact.


News & Info

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Fiona Robertson interviews Rodney on Nic Higham's NONDUALITY NETWORK!

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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.

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Fully Present is now on AMAZON! It can also be purchased at Barnes & Noble, and is available through bookstores nationwide.

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And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

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For Tami Brady's review of Fully Present in TCM Reviews, go HERE.

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"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.

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"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

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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.

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For the book's Press Release, click Here.

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

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Feel free to read a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.

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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.

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"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)


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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

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

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