Awareness is self-evident. So what is it that you are not seeing?
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Furrow through all self-indentification, whether it is the notion of your being a man, woman, spiritual person, enlightened, unenlightened, nondualist, you-name-it. Something is existing that is wholly beyond any of those categories. Allow that clarification to be swift, natural, and enlivening. Don't be overly demanding with yourself about this. For that would be the subtle "I" in operation.
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Buddha said, "In seeing, let there just be the seeing." How beautiful, that.
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You cannot "relax into awareness." The former is an action and the latter is an abiding reality. And because it is abiding, there is never a time when it is absent. Also, because awareness is all there is, just "who" would be "relaxing" his or her way into it?
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True happiness is not joy, but detachment.
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Any time you bring who, when, and how into a nonduality discussion, you are muddling things up. You are also being nonsensical. Those things are just not a factor in the direct recognition of your natural state. They may have a place in general spiritual discussions, though that could certainly be debated! But if your interest is in the immediate understanding of your actual identity, theological discourses will hold little or no appeal for you.
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"Awakening" and "enlightenment" are concepts. But you are unlimited freedom, even as you read these words. You do not become freer when this recognition occurs. You simply realize that awareness is your essence, and that it was never lost to you.
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The ego is a brief, sense-of-self that manifests many times throughout the day. It allows us to socialize and to function normally in our day-to-day living. Egotism, however, is the deep and repeated self-identification with aspects of our mind, body, or ideas.
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The "do-er" is a concept, as well as a mistaken notion. If you look carefully, you will observe that—for the most part—there are only thoughts and observations followed by feelings and actions. Indeed, you don't even know what your next thought will be! What is apparent, then, is that you are the witness to all of this, not the initiator or the driver. And no, that does not absolve you from hurting others (whether they be people or animals) or being rude or disrespectful. You live by the rules in the place or country that you are in, if you are comfortable doing so. When this understanding dawns on you, living becomes like a near-effortless balancing act with no signs of a juggler.
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Nonduality and certain aspects of Zen, Dzogchen, Buddhism, and Taoism are the only teachings that point totally beyond themselves.
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We habitually associate experiences with points of self-reference. We feel that they define us and that our fundamental reality is somehow made up of those experiences. But occurrences happen in awareness. They appear and disappear, and never touch or interact with presence.
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When you meditate, you are using an assumed and fictional "I" to achieve your so-called "enlightenment." But can a thought—much less a fictional one!—become self-realized? And is that thought going to be perpetually with you during your decades of practice (if you are fortunate enough to live that long)? The answers to these questions should be self-evident. So your attempting to reach something that you already are (and by a fictional "I" no less!) is utter denseness.
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Consciousness is an appearance in awareness. It is directly tied to the alertness and the functioning of our body.
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Consciousness is an appearance in awareness. It is directly tied to the alertness and the functioning of our body.
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Sentience is able to occur because of the presence of consciousness in our body. Sentience is the capacity to know that "I exist." But consciousness and sentience, while vital to our humanness, are changeable; therefore they are experiences and cannot be who and what we fundamentally are. With that in mind, the map (of sorts!) to self-knowledge is: "You exist" (this applies to living things that are not self-aware, e.g, bacteria, viruses, etc) > "You are aware that you exist" (sentience) > "You are awareness" (self-realization).
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News & Info
State of Wonder: Awakening to Presence can be purchased from Amazon by clicking on the above link.
And for the Amazon Kindle version, click HERE!
To buy the book directly from the publisher, go to Lulu Press
"I am still reading—and sitting with—the wonderful pointers in your new book. ALL of them are powerfully pause-worthy."—Colin Winborn, U.K.
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Feel free to check out Jimmy Dabrowski's beautiful and downloadable MixTape. Jimmy's a great guy, and I am honored to be one of the nondual authors in his collection.
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Fiona Robertson interviews Rodney on Nic Higham's NONDUALITY NETWORK!
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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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Check out Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."
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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 time.
