"Fully Present" Excerpt

Saturday, March 13

I got a great email from my global friend Peter. I was wondering how he was and where he was. Whenever I begin to think about him, I always get an email within a few days. I don't know how that is, but that's the way it happens. He's been back in Switzerland for ten days, where he said it is still very cold and with no hints of spring. He knew I would love hearing that! 

Before Switzerland, he was in India for a short while, and then went down to Melbourne, Australia for two weeks to see Sailor Bob. It was Peter's first living contact with anyone whose understanding is clear and vivid. 

He truly enjoyed Bob's "simplicity and ordinariness, no guru trip, no superiority, just friends sitting together and talking it over." He loved Melbourne too, which he said is beautiful, "very open and friendly." The pictures I've seen of the place certainly echo Peter's words. I'm thoroughly happy that he got to spend time with Bob, with his direct pointing and down-to-earthness. That would be a joy for anyone.

Pointers

What is existing but is not changing in the least?

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I am not attempting to direct you to some higher spiritual level. What I'm pointing to is something that is subtle, immediate, and without beginning or end. If you look attentively within yourself, you can see that there is indeed something there that is all of those things. 

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Given that you don't even have to close your eyes to become self-realized (I certainly didn't), why then would it be necessary for you to meditate, practice a mantra, follow your thoughts, or sit in some agonizing posture for X-number of minutes or hours? Self-knowing requires absolutely none of those things!


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Even to say "Just be" is a directive towards some fruitless action. It would probably be more helpful to say that "Being" is already present. Just see that that is the case. But Being (or Beingness) is such a nebulous word that unless you zeroed in on the peace and spaciousness aspects of it, it would be of little help to you.

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Most spiritual seekers are after experiences. They want to be able to enter and re-enter some unusual and ecstatic state, so that they are able to say, "I did this!" Or "I attained this!" But who is doing the coming and going? That is the question that they should be asking themselves. Who, precisely, is doing the coming and going? Because if there is a "who" and a "coming-and-going," it isn't your natural state.

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Simply look at what you are at this very moment. You're seeing and knowing that any number of things are present, including your body, thoughts, and consciousness. Thus, you are that Knowingness. You are what knows that an appearance is there. And this Knowingness is the essence of all existence. So you already are what you are seeking. And that is the so-called understanding!

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News & Info

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.