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Everyone is looking, but few are actually seeing. But that lack of recognition is due, in large part, to the obviousness of awareness and not to its obscurity.
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"You do not need to meditate." ~ H.W.L. Poonja (aka, Papaji)
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Gaze into your own emptiness. And by gaze, I mean to simply take a calm and direct look at it. If you do it just right, you will see a presence of peace and expansiveness that you have simply neglected to notice up to now. Further, that presence, once fully discerned, never disappears--whether you are raking the leaves, having a disagreement with your partner, or enjoying a cup of tea or coffee. In a word, take a look at that which is never lost.
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If you have an opportunity to talk with someone who has come to recognized his or her natural state, by all means do so. Chances are, you will feel a hushness and quietude within yourself as you are conversing. You may not be able pinpoint exactly where that quietude is, but that's not important. The important thing is that you are tuning into your very own vastness.
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If you were in deep sleep right now, there is something from your waking state that would still be present. What is that something?
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How can you "journey" to what you already are? That pointer stops you cold. Or rather, it halts the mind from thinking that I must do something to get enlightenment. Now there are four things that are in error there: The assumed "I", the action of the assumed "I", the notion that you are in bondage, and the belief that enlightenment is something that is attained. So come to the question calmly, and allow it to fully answer itself, right here and now: How can you journey to what you already are?
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At this particular moment, what is it that is knowing that your body is present? And again, that is a "what" and not a "who." And that whatness appears as--among other things--unchanging peace and spaciousness. You can't even say that it is teeming with space and equanimity because those are quantifiable terms. And your natural state is wholly without measure. Just a little clear-seeing here is all that is needed.
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Only the mind, ego, or sense-of-self causes you to think that a process or practice is needed for self-realization. But nothing could be further from the Truth, literarily speaking. This understanding comes suddenly and quietly (though it may occur in the most frantic of times and places). And no preparation, duties, or code of morals are necessary for the seeing. And why would there be? For you are what you are, as you read these words. And what you are is nothing less than awareness itself.
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What is it that you aren't seeing?...Let this be question that you reflect upon throughout the day or evening, whenever the question naturally arises...What is it that you are not seeing? The question pauses you, and you are the pause--the eternal pause that is without beginning or end. And that pause is never not there...What is it that you are not seeing?
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"There is a stillness / simpler than silence / a peace deeper than calm." ~ Svein Myreng (Plum Poems)
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Only the mind, ego, or sense-of-self causes one to think that a process or practice is needed for you to be become self-realized. But nothing could be further from the Truth, literarily speaking. This understanding comes suddenly and quietly (though it may occur in the most frantic of times and places). And no preparation, duties, or code of morals are necessary for the seeing. And why would there be? For you are what you are as you read these words. And that essence is nothing less than awareness itself.
This blog appears every other Sunday.
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News & Info
This blog appears every other Sunday.
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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 other Sunday afternoon, Eastern Standard Time.
