Rodney: Well, I certainly appreciate that. Thank you!
Q: It is so moving, and it's simply brimming with texture and interleaved details, e.g., "Multiplicity has ceased, though [is] still appreciated--even reveled in." I loved it! You write so well--the piece is even Proustian in places! And your metaphors are always just right and throw light in the most unexpected ways (I especially liked "plumed with snow"). Thank you!
Rodney: I'm thrilled that you resonated with it...And speaking of snow, any white stuff in your part of the U.K.?
Q: Not even a whisper of a snowflake here; though it is very mild and raining at the moment. But as ever, I love the autumn colours, especially the burnt umber in the leaves. I was watching raindrops this morning, suspended so briefly on branches, catching and refracting the light from street lamps: appearing and disappearing in the steady glow.
Rodney: Very nice. :)
Q: What I love about your pointers is the way you keep bringing the subject back to what is essential, what cannot be missed. And the pointers are so radiant!
Rodney: The treasure lies in the essentials. For it's very easy to talk about nonduality or to utilize the terminology in an off-hand or breezy fashion. But you are not necessarily moving inwards during those times. And I use "moving inwards" conditionally and hesitantly. For coming to this understanding involves no movement whatsoever. You are merely seeing what you always have been: Your ordinary, everyday awareness. You just haven't noticed its fullness and actuality; indeed, its extraordinariness. And there is nothing that needs to be watched, purified, perfected, or attained. You are not your body or your thoughts. You are the that which is aware of your body and your thoughts.
Q: Right, and the issue never really moves from being, "What is that awareness"?
Rodney: Correct. But you have to be careful with all of this; for you don't want to remain with that question stringently. If you do, you're keeping it on a mindful and therefore conceptual level. Just forget the word "awareness" itself and focus on this innate presence of serenity and spaciousness that is directly within and before you. And I assure you, it is absolutely there for the seeing and understanding. And you never move away from this. And why would you? It's your nature! And the nature of things don't change. You aren't awareness today, consciousness tomorrow, and your emotions next week.
Q: So the question is, "What is it that I am never moving from?"
Rodney: Precisely. See the lightness and beauty of that query and pointer. You are naturally and inexplicably drawn to the direction in which it is pointing. And you also, no doubt, are moved by the stillness that--for however long--that it engenders in you. For the question is directing you to what all the great sages and anonymous authors of the Upanishads were pointing. Everyone from Buddha and Nisargadatta were signifying This. Ditto in the Bob Adamson present-day. But with that said, you have to be careful about giving an inordinate focus on the teacher. For he or she is simply a mirror that is radiantly reflecting your innermost nature.
Q: Yes, I can briefly but definitely feel the "This" that you are referring to.
Rodney: And that is your treasure-trove: Your ordinary, everyday state, seen in all of its glory and fullness. Now, all of this may sound like it is a muti-step process or operation, but it really isn't. It is all one seamless seeing and understanding. Also, it is nothing that you have to integrate yourself into. There are no dramas here, no strange asanas or imaging or esoteric chantings required. All that is necessary is a quick and simple understanding that you are awareness itself. You can call it God, Presence, Buddha-nature, or even Consciousness. The label doesn't matter. For awareness is there even before you can attempt to name or dispute it! So just see what is fully present, at this very moment--at this very moment. As I say in my talks, if I could hand this to you, I would. But it would take more time and energy for you to reach out to get it than it would for you to simply see it for yourself.
Q: Once again, Rodney, lots of great things to ponder. Take care, my friend.
Rodney: And you, as well!
-----
News & Info
This blog appears every other Sunday.
~~~~~
Fully Present is now available at the superb Powell's Bookstore, in Portland, Oregon.
~~~~~
Fiona Robertson interviews Rodney on Nic Higham's NONDUALITY NETWORK!
~~~~~
And click HERE to purchase Fully Present at Barnes & Noble.
~~~~~
And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.
~~~~~
For Tami Brady's review of Fully Present in TCM Reviews, 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 at www.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
~~~~~
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.
~~~~~
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 other Sunday afternoon, Eastern Standard Time.
No comments:
Post a Comment