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Your own inner stillness is the answer to which you are seeking. That is it. You feel that stillness any number of times throughout the day, but you give it very little heed or attention (not that it requires effort or concentration to discover). The next time you are paused by a passage in a book or a nature scene or by someone's beauty or kindness, stay with the pause just long enough to see that you actually never move from that pause!
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Fraudulent teachers go on and on about bliss and happiness. Real teachers point to peace.
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Why do you have to "practice" nonviolence? Why can't you just see that violence isn't necessarily the solution? Or that in certain situations, a stronger response may be needed. Let circumstances be your guide. Any time you begin to "practice" something (in spiritual terms), there is an imagined person doing the practicing.
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Gurus and non-realized teachers love to go on and on about how "long and arduous" one's "spiritual journey" has to be. But that is how it is for them! And they want you to join them so you can compare difficulties, experiences, and "new beginnings" in some expensive group setting. Stay clear of such people if you have any serious interest in self-knowing. You'll be all the better for it.
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Freedom is recognizing that you are Freedom itself. You don't have to become free from a single thing. That perceived individual that you take yourself to be is merely a concept that you have about yourself. But before that thought arises, what is it that is already there? Not who, but what. Just sit with that for a few moments, for it points to your very essence: Not who, but what.
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Freedom is recognizing that you are Freedom itself. You don't have to become free from a single thing. That perceived individual that you take yourself to be is merely a concept that you have about yourself. But before that thought arises, what is it that is already there? Not who, but what. Just sit with that for a few moments, for it points to your very essence: Not who, but what.
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To think of yourself as a "divine person" still entails an assumed separation from awareness. Just keep coming back to the point that presence is, and that you are that--or rather, That, as the sages orate. And even "That" is merely a term pointing to what you are, or to your natural state, whichever the case may be.
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There is no "shift" to the immeasurable. It's simply a matter of discovering--instantly and unequivocally--that awareness has always been fully present, and that you are that presence. And when you see this for yourself, it will be as clear and as evident to you as you very own breathing.
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How can a prolonged concentration on anything be good?
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Be careful about being overly enamored with any words, terms, or descriptions about Beingness. The map isn't the territory, and neither is any expression about your natural state. Presence is what you are, and the word is merely directing you to that fact. So allow your attention to follow the direction in which the descriptions and expressions are pointing. And you just may find clarity itself.
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You not only never move from being what you are, you never move period! Remain with the pause that that pointer instills. You are that which never alters in the least! So the recognition of this natural state of yours is simply a matter of discerning what it is, right here and now, that is Not Moving.
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News & Info
Fully Present is now available at the superb Powell's Bookstore, in Portland, Oregon.
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Fiona Robertson interviews Rodney on Nic Higham's NONDUALITY NETWORK!
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And click HERE to purchase Fully Present at Barnes & Noble.
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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.
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.
