Your own ever-present awareness is the teaching.
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What is your state before any thoughts or question are asked? Look into this with calmness and clarity, and clarity itself will be your answer.
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The closest a thought or expression can come to this understanding is, "I am."
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It's really funny to see how non-existent this personal "I" or self actually is. We are taking an appearance and re-occurring function to be what we actually are. That is why some of the great Zen masters laughed when they become self-realized themselves. I continue to find myself chucking, even years after having come to this understanding.
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There is really no future attainment or great event. You need to look at what you are right at this moment. That is where the answer lies. You are existing as awareness as we speak, and that fact merely has to be recognized.
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Nonduality repeatedly points you in the direction of your very own presence, not to your thoughts, body, and feelings. You see, there is something there, other than those things, those appearances. It's simply a matter of discerning what that something is. That is the beauty and the simplicity of this teaching.
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Practices aim at getting results. And because results would be something different from what you are right now, practices are inherently counter-productive.
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What is already free and completely present?
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What are you right now, and what is it that you have always been. Forget your name, body, thoughts, gender, nationality, etc. What is your fundamental and unchanging existence?
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When you come to this understanding, you shouldn't have a single question. Not one!
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It's natural for the mind to raise quibbles. But after a while, you will realize that any question regarding your natural state cannot and will not be answered by the mind.
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Something is prior to the thought. Can you take note of precisely what that is? It's there for the seeing and recognizing at this very moment. It is nothing that is at any kind of remove. Again, something is present prior to any thought or feeling. What is that something?
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The only Guru is your fundamental nature, your own presence of awareness. Any genuine teacher you meet will simply be a personification of that presence. So you don't have to wait for a teacher or go to some great distance to meet one to become self-realized. It's fine to do that if you want to. But keep this key point in mind: You already are what you are seeking. So there is absolutely nothing to attain.
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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 really enjoy your books and your blog. They are ever new."
— Lafcadio De La Rosa
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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 America 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.
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This blog is generally updated every other Sunday afternoon, Eastern time.
