Q&A: That in Which Everything Arises

Question: Hi, Rodney. I recently discovered your blog, and I enjoy it very much.

Rodney: Thank you.

Q: If it's alright, I would like to share with you a few things that are currently happening.

Rodney: Sure.

Q: In the last couple of years, I have lived in London and attended meetings with Tony Parsons, Roger Linden, Richard Sylvester and others. I have recently moved to Sydney, Australia. I also read books, watch videos, and listen to online programs about non-duality.

Rodney: You've been busy! But I can relate.

Q: Yes, I figured that you could!...Apart from a brief "experience" after one of those meetings, all of the excellent words that I heard at those meetings remained very conceptual to me, so I knew I had to explore all of this further.

Rodney: That's good, because experiences are neither here nor there. But most seekers lap them up. And it also doesn't help if you take the opposite route either, where you attempt to squash mentation or even witness it, because in all instances there is this perceived meditator there struggling to do all of this. If you grasp the simple fact that thoughts and experiences are appearances in awareness, then none of the above is necessary.

Q: Well, I may be seeing more of that now. In the last few weeks, the words I read and videos I watch about non-duality suddenly resonate more than before. I have become more aware that all my thoughts, sensations, and perceptions seem to be made out of the same thing, so to speak. I know that sounds weird, but--

Rodney: No, I get it. And that's a splendid observation. For at bottom, all appearances are the very stuff of awareness, But to fully "awaken" to our natural state, we need to recognize presence at its source, and not overly focus on any arisings from it.

Q: Well, right now I'm at the stage where I realise that my perceptions and sensations can be experienced beautifully without being corrupted by thoughts. Although the thoughts keep arising as before, they are seen and discarded. This "realisation" is sometimes more acute than other times, especially when I am alone and calm. My agitated mind is still running the show most of the time.

Rodney: Your mind only appears to be "running the show." It is simply appearing in something that is far, far greater than itself, and that is your ordinary/extraordinary everyday awareness. Give your attention to that rather than to any incidental thoughts or feelings that you may be witnessing. It's easy to get caught up in ideas and reactions. But that is more out of habit, than any thing else. And on realizing this fact, you naturally give awareness an attention that you never had before.

Q: So I should just "extend" the calmness when it is there?

Rodney: A calm mind is still a mind. You're giving solidity to something that is only a function, an appearance. Also, even if you discard every single thought with unparalleled abandon, there would remain this supposed "you" getting the job done. And that is not what this understanding is about. It is the full seeing or recognition that there is an eternal actuality of awareness in which no separate and abiding entities are present. It is the vastness in which everything arises. And when this is recognized, thoughts, notions, and feelings are just flotsam in a limitless sea. And this immenseness is yours for the seeing. And how could it not be? For you are That.

Q: Thank you for your time and pointing, Rodney. I deeply appreciate it.

Rodney: Sure thing. And Happy New Year!

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News & Info

Rodney will be speaking at the "Festival of Healing and Spiritual Awareness" in Columbia, SC, on January 23rd. For info, go to A Class Act!

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"Rodney has a clear and simple voice that engages the spiritual dialogue with a profound sense of knowing. The truth of his words penetrates to the depth of our collective Being." -- Bruce Joel Rubin, screenwriter, GHOST, JACOB'S LADDER, THE LAST MIMZY, and THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.

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A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

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Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

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And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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