Q&A: Good Morning, Ms. Nottingham

Rodney: Good morning, Ms. Nottingham. And how are you today?

Question: Super, thank you. I'm sitting at my cozy desk, looking out onto the softly falling rain, and listening to podcasts. It has gone colder and darker here again, but the plants in my tiny front garden--which include a newly-planted apple tree--are looking quite fine.

Rodney: It all sounds very nice.

Question: It certainly would be if you were here, so that we could have a proper discussion about all of this.

Rodney: I'm on the next flight.

Question: You're such a love...I'm continuing to read and thoroughly enjoy John Wheeler's Awakening to the Natural State. I know the answer is there (this is my 2nd re-reading), but nothing has come of it yet, so to speak. Still, I continue to be brought to tears, at times, by both your writing and John's, as well as by my own intuitive "feel" for all this.

Rodney: Again, your tears are lovely.

Question: You're the only person that "gets" the tears.

Rodney: Oh, I "get" them completely.

Question: And that makes our friendship such a treasured one.

Rodney: Thank you!...Just a slight clarification on your statement, "I know the answer is there": The "answer"--or rather, the seeing or understanding--is not directly in the book, of course. It is the spaciousness that is within you. This is what John is pointing to. What happens is that you read some potent (or ordinary) phrase or pointer, and it halts your mental churning--i.e., thinking--in such a way that you directly perceive your immaculate and fundamental state.

Question: Yes, I see what you mean.

Rodney: Indeed, the best books, teachings, and teachers always point "away" from the ideas and concepts they are utilizing, however beautiful or dazzling those expressions may be.

Question: Well, as you once suggested, I'm continuing to explore other "credible" nonduality teachers. I still have my favourites, of course, though I rather suspect that everyone does. I'm currently enjoying Stephen Wingate and Suzanne Foxton, whom I believe you know.

Rodney: Yes, most people have teachers with whom they strongly resonate. There are numerous reasons for this: The teacher and seeker may have similar personalities, they may have a similar love for words, they may be in similar fields (art, science, business, health, medicine, etc), or they may simply have a gender kinship. So, as I have often said here, exploring other nondual writers and teachers is perfectly fine. Respected teachers don't demand your allegiance. And the persons you mentioned are certainly commendable. In fact, Suzanne and I exchange emails occasionally. I tease her about her being so hot, and how it's about time that nonduality had its own resident "Babe." She hates it and just wants to strangle me.

Question: [Laughing]: Well, as a woman, I can tell you that she may indeed want to give you a proper throttling, but only with a deeply appreciative inner smile.

Rodney: In all honesty, Suzanne is this adoring wife and mother, as well as a splendid artist and nondual writer. It's a wonder she has time to see to all of that; but she does, and we are all the better for it.

Question: As are we for "Radiance of Being."

Rodney: That's very kind of you. But the quality of a blog's readers, comments, and questions contribute, in no small measure, to the quality of the blog itself.

Question: Well, I'm just going to continue to follow through with this, pretty much as you did with John's book. Also like yourself, there is this complete absence of any kind of impatience or frustration. There is just this knowing, really, that this non-path is the right path, so to speak. I also see the total absurdity of trying to change ourselves, as well as how we cannot "meditate" our way to who and what we already are.

Rodney: Those are all resplendent points and a testimony to the depth and richness of your insights. There is not much more that needs to be added. Your earnestness, in combination with your lack of impatience and frustration, are especially winning. For self-exploration should be the most natural thing you can do. Any kind of stress and strain hints of there being a ghost in the machine, a seeker in some fantastical background, scurrying about in hopes of "attaining" his or her advaitic laurel. But it's all so much simpler than that. For your radiance is already shinning. And you are that radiance.

Question: Thank you so much, Rodney. Your words, explanations, and clarity have such a profound effect upon me. It's amazing, really, and such a gift.