*****
Talking with someone who has come to this understanding is an excellent way of clarifying nonduality issues. You may not come to a direct seeing, right then and there (then again, you may do precisely that!). Either way, you are bound to have some choice insights and ideas to ponder over.
*****
What is the presence of awareness that is present right now, as you carefully read these words?...Again, what is the presence of awareness that is present right now, as you slowly peruse this sentence?
*****
Yoga, music, and medicine are three things that can be beautifully and benevolently practiced. Self-knowledge cannot be practiced. The understanding is either there or it isn't. But there is much to said for the spiritual seeker who is unfazed by any apparent bafflement or perplexity on the advaita or nonduality. He or she innately knows or has been told by a credible source that that bafflement is indeed only a notion or impression, and that there is never a time when you are not awareness itself.
*****
What are want to be alert for is the presence of what appears to be ordinary stillness. Then take a timeless moment to notice that that stillness actually never moves. It is immeasurable and beginningless . And it is your true Self.
*****
What are want to be alert for is the presence of what appears to be ordinary stillness. Then take a timeless moment to notice that that stillness actually never moves. It is immeasurable and beginningless . And it is your true Self.
*****
There can be no "progressive dismantling" of the ego. It may seemingly take some time to directly see this for yourself. But the issue of the ego not being a defined entity (but rather the re-occuring sense-of-self) can be recognized at any moment. No specific duration is needed. Because you think time is required to do the dismantling, you are giving undue credence to it and an a fictional ego, both of which are not a factor in your understanding.
*****
Awareness is neither in some vaulted, architectural wonder nor around some corner. On the other hand, it is in those places also! There is, of course, no place where awareness is not. So the only pilgrimage that needs to be made is an inner one, and that automatically occurs when you naturally and knowingly come to a full conceptual stop.
*****
Phone Consultation Excerpt:
If I had had some knowledgeable source early on to say to me, "You don't have to do that," that person would be been absolutely priceless. Everyone was saying do this and do that. Do! Do! Do! And nothing work. Nothing. It didn't even work for them!! So right from the start, there was this tremendous waste of time, energy, and money -- money that I did not have. So to have had some kind and knowing soul tell me, "You don't have to do that" would have curtained an enormous amount of struggling and confusion. Fortunately, today, you have a handful of credible and accessible teachers (on the Web and doing talks) who are saying, in no uncertain terms, that methods, practices, approaches Do Not Work--that you are what you are before, during, and after any technique in which you may indulge. So how is any meditation session -- however long and meticulous -- going to bring closer to what you already are? It's not going to happen. It just isn't going to happen. Even the question of "how" do I see this or come to this understanding is a movement in thought, a rising wave of duality. Thus, your attention is shifting away from presence at the very start. So come back to some of the fundamentals of this issue. What is Self-realization? It is the simple recognition that you are awareness, itself--that you are the very thing that you are seeking! So just remain with that pointer and pause, and see where they lead you.
-----
News & Info
Fully Present is now available at the superb Powell's Bookstore, in Portland, Oregon.
~~~~~
Fiona Robertson interviews Rodney on Nic Higham's NONDUALITY NETWORK!
~~~~~
And click HERE to purchase Fully Present at Barnes & Noble.
~~~~~
And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.
~~~~~
For Tami Brady's review of Fully Present in TCM Reviews, go HERE.
****
"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.
****
"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
~~~~~
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.
Feel free to read a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.
~~~~~
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.
~~~~~
"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)
****
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
****
This blog is generally updated every Sunday afternoon, Eastern Standard Time.
No comments:
Post a Comment