Seth: Hi, Rodney. I hope your holidays were great!
Rodney: Thanks, Seth. They were fine. And yours?
Seth: Terrific. I ate a lot and did a loads of reading. And speaking of reading, I have just finished your new book, The Only True Life: Living from the Natural State. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. In fact, I'm on my second re-read!
Rodney: I'm happy that its resonating with you.
Seth: I love the title. Would you like a little more about that.
Rodney: Not really. Besides, I go into all of that in the Introduction.
Seth: Oh, okay. No problem. But having read it already, I can say conclusively say that it is another collection of pointers, essays, and conversations.
Rodney: Right. The main new thing about this book is the beautiful and perceptive Foreword by Collin Winborn, my friend in West Yorkshire, in the U.K. I am thoroughly honored and pleased that he agreed to do it. And, of course, Tim Taylor (also from the U.K.) provided a ton of self-publishing assistance. I also want to thank the brothers Purushottam and Nishant Tyagi. Their gracious emails and generous donations have been simply amazing, and I wish to give warm and hardy hugs to them both.
Seth: You mentioned to me that this may be your last nondual book for a while. Now that is just downright depressing!
Rodney: I can't afford wi-fi. And it's getting harder and harder to balance work and getting to the Hot Spot room in the neighboring apartment building—especially now that it is winter and my treks to the building are usually at 4:00am, when it's cold or even freezing! So the blog will probably be monthly now, instead of every two-weeks. But I'm going to look into this a bit more. I may be able to find a super-cheap plan that works for me.
Seth: Yeah, getting up every morning and walking to that other building and back must be getting really old. I can understand that. Still, I'm going to miss your bi-weekly blog.
Rodney: Well, thanks. But the answer to all your nondual questions resides solely within yourself—not in anyone's Web site. You don't have to wait for another blog entry from me (or anyone else) to discover who and what you actually are. I can encourage you to have a good look at yourself and make clarifications. But mainly, that's it. It's not even a matter of pointing you in the right direction, because there is no specific direction! You are what you are at this very moment. That "whatness" simply has to be seen or noticed, that's all.
Seth: I know. But fewer teachers seem to be updating their blogs and Web sites anymore.
Rodney: I have no idea what others are doing. None. And I don't correspond with any teachers or writers. So it's all news to me. But again, what you are looking for is awareness itself, and you are precisely that! So there is nowhere to go or nothing to do except recognize what is presently within and before you.
Seth: And your new book points to exactly that fact—though I know that the answer is in you, and not in the book!
Rodney: Precisely.
Seth: Congratulations on The Only True Life anyway. Is that okay? :)
Rodney: That's okay. And I hope you continue to enjoy it. If not, pass it along to someone, if you like.
Seth: Thanks, but I'm keeping my book, Rodney! I love every single page of it, and I can't say that of any other nonduality book that I've read. So we're going to end the interview right here, so that I can have the final say here. Sorry about that. :)
Rodney (laughing): Thanks, Seth. And happy holidays!
News & Info
The Only True Life: Living from the Natural State can be purchased from Amazon by clicking on the above link.
To buy the book directly from the publisher, Lulu Press
"I just can't get enough of your books and pointers. Keep up the amazing work!"
— Leif Watson
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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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And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.
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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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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.
