Pointers

What is it, right now, that you do not have to attain?

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You say that you are trying to "reach" or "merge with" the Absolute. But awareness/presence is the Absolute. And it is the only thing there is! The seeker is an idea, a notion, a falsehood. It has to be seen-through or understood in order for self-realization to occur.

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What is present before your next thought is present?

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You can never "align" with "the Now" (if by "now" you mean awareness, presence, Self, Brahman, the Ultimate, etc). You--the perceived person--will always be behind it, so to speak. Indeed, awareness is completely beyond space, time, and causality. So any teaching that advises or promises "alignment" just isn't going to work.

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Awareness is there--but not like your body, emotions, or sensations are there. These are manifestations that comes and go. Awareness is more of a background or presence. Focus on these two qualities within yourself that are fully in place right now. Thus, you aren't trying to "get" anything; you are merely recognizing something that has never not been directly in front of you.

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"Who am I?" is the wrong question. You're not a who. You are a what.


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Again, you cannot "free the mind from thinking." That is just utter nonsense. I don't care how lovely or spiritual it sounds. That is not going to happen--until you are dead or in some profound coma of some kind. And it's all beside the point anyway; for the mind momentarily and automatically frees itself from thoughts on a continual basis. For no thought is actually connected to another thought anyway. There is a natural space between each thought, and you are that space.

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You are on the lookout for a sheer and beginningless Backdrop that is ever-present and is ever-serene.

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There is no individual to "stay in the present moment." What is going to happen is that a thought or feeling or sensation is going to arise in that moment, and you are going to assume that it is you. But you--your true self--are that moment. You're the witness, not the manifestation. You're are the knowing spaciousness that you heretofore has overlooked.

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The "play of life" is actually the play of appearances--things that seem to exists for a certain while and then disappear (whether that duration is a nanosecond or 10 billion years). But anything that has a beginning and an end cannot, under any circumstances, be who or what you are. Remain mindful of that fact as you go about your daily activities or when want to sit in contemplation of some nondual issue.

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Self-realization is about seeing and understanding, not doing. Awareness is totally beyond all causality. Totally! So how can any action or ritual or practice take you there? If I could give you a glimpse--from my vantage point--on the complete non-relationship between awareness and practices, you would roar with laughter at your own actions. But then, a glimpse is all you would need to see and understand that Presence is your natural state.

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News & Info

This blog appears every other Sunday.

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Fully Present is now available at the superb Powell's Bookstore, in Portland, Oregon. 

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Fiona Robertson interviews Rodney on Nic Higham's NONDUALITY NETWORK!

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Click HERE to buy Rodney's Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality from Amazon.

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And click HERE to purchase Fully Present at Barnes & Noble.

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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 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.

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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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For the book's Press Release, click Here.

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Check out Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

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Feel free to read a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon. 

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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.

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

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This blog is generally updated every other Sunday afternoon, Eastern Standard Time.