Pointers

There is nothing to do, other than recognize or understand what is subtly present.

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Becoming is the most vital thing in the world for seekers. But the emphasis on becoming--rather than on directly perceiving or understanding what already prevails--is precisely what keeps seekers on the unending road of attainment.


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Don't necessarily look for a meaning to life. You're still in the conceptual and spiritual realms when you take those routes. Nonduality--a teaching that points to awareness proper--is thoroughly beyond any philosophical or spiritual framework.


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All of your notions about Bliss, Moksha, Liberation, Enlightenment, and Transformation are keeping you from cognitizing your natural and ever-present state. By focusing on the aforementioned, you are centering on myths and inaccuracies, rather than on what is right here, right now.


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Thoughts are only a problem when you attempt to stop, slow, or monitor them.


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The "me," for the most part, is the imagined continuity thought. Instead of simply having a memory of previous ideas and emotions, you give them an aliveness, a reach, and--most important--a relationship. While thoughts are certainly central to our living and communicating with one another, they do not define us. What is the stillness from which all thoughts arise? Discover that glorious Quintessence for yourself.


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Don't give presence any religious or spiritual baggage. It can neither be categorized nor sanctified. Yet, it is Sanctification itself. And you can come to this understanding just as easily on the toilet as you can at an ashram or spiritual commune. Indeed, I would say that the likelihood is far greater with the former, than with the latter.


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This is key: The "I" or imagined person cannot get this. Self-knowing only happens in the absence of thoughts and concepts. That is why the pause is so vital when it comes to this understanding.


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When you truly love someone, the emotional component is only a small (but dynamic) part of the relationship. There is something else there that can only be hinted at, or expressed by a touch, a kiss, a caress, or a gaze. Then the words "I love you" are simply--and wonderfully--a pointing-to-presence. You are saying that you are magnificently attracted to that particular wave in the water, while fully knowing that every little thing---the lovemaking, the disagreements, the conversations, the laughter, etc--is just this one, big ocean of presence. What appear as separations are not. All is awareness, and you are That.


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In Mind Is A Myth, U.G. Krishnamurti tells how the search for enlightenment is akin to being lost in a jungle, in which there is little hope of finding your way out. "Night is fast approaching, the wild animals are there, including the cobras, and still you are lost. What do you do in such a situation? You just stop. You don't move." You stop by clearly understanding that self-knowledge is neither "attained" nor strictly found in exotic, faraway locations. It is your ordinary, everyday awareness seen in all its richness and subtlety. You do not move because you see, finally, that there is no where to go. This is what you are--peace and plenitude. Unerring sacredness.


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The interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine, can be found at the following link: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm

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Q&A: That Cognitizing Sheerness

Question: I would first like to say that I enjoy reading your blog and deeply appreciate your style of communication. There is a "sweetness" to your expression that I find disarming and am moved by very much.

Rodney: Happy to hear it. And thank you!

Q: I hope you will indulge my propensity to just communicate in the way most of us are used to doing. I find bringing in the advaita police to put a check on every little thing to be cumbersome and tiring.

Rodney: As do I. So we're in full agreement there. The only "checking" that will come from me is to correct or clarify any points after you have asked your question.

Q: Sounds good...It seems to me that the bottom line you and other respected teachers are pointing out is that the supposed separate "me" that I have long taken to be fact is, in fact, a fairy tale. I am not that supposed individual, but awareness itself. And if this truth is clearly seen, it is like removing the king-pin from a big-rig and the trailer of suffering are left behind forever.

Rodney: That is nicely-phrased and--for the most part--accurate. It's all about seeing who and what you actually are. And ultimately, there is not even a who, only the what. As to suffering, self-knowledge brings a definite diminishment of psychological suffering, but not necessarily physical suffering. Nisargadatta was clearly in a great deal pain and discomfort from cancer in his final days; yet, there was no sufferer, and he continued to say as much in his final discourses.

Q: I see. You're saying that the view that this understanding will bring about a complete end to suffering is--

Rodney: --is false and idyllic, however beautiful "the end of suffering" may sound. In life, situations and problems will certainly arise. But when your understanding is clear, those situations are met with the fullness of your Being, causing any malaise or adversity to appear nominal, inconsequential, and/or short-lived. In a word, very little overwhelms you.

Q: I have made an honest attempt to see if this separate individual is indeed a mere fairy tale. The weird thing is, it would seem to be the easiest thing in the world to see. The same applies to your pointers about awareness always being the same, always being present, even though its contents (experiences, etc) are always changing. But--

Rodney: Stay with that notion that this understanding is "the easiest thing in the world to see," because, quite simply, it is. Even intuitively knowing this takes the bluster and seeming solidity out of any idea, concept, or conditioning that there is a defined, individual "you" there. Yes, your body, personality, and physiology are quite singular. But fundamentally, you are awareness itself. And the universe and every single entity and occurrence in it arises from this Essence, this substratum of existence.

Q: Yes, but there's the rub. Even though this seems easy enough to verify, I still feel as though this awareness and this personal "me" are one and the same.

Rodney: Take note of what is happening: The "me"--in the the form of I and mine-type thoughts/ emotions--arise in awareness. That sense of "me-ness" is not always present, is it? They arise in what you already are. Presence is simply being overlooked because you are in the habit of focusing on thoughts, sensations, feelings, and your body. All those things are certainly there, but they are perceptions. They aren't you. You are what is aware of them, what knows that they are present.

Q: While "I" get this, it doesn't really clear anything up. I'm still the same stress case worrying about providing for my children, where the next check will come from, etc. In other words, I'm still feel a stake in the ever shifting world of experience.

Rodney: The "I" can't get this. Your natural state is only recognized or understood in the absence of any imagined "I" or "me". And that, by the way, is just one of the reasons why this recognition is so simple and unalloyed. Your feeling of having "a stake in the shifting world of experience" is simply an arising thought or sentiment that is not necessarily true. You certainly want to care and provide for your family. But continue to look closely into the issue of an individual you and whether awareness can, in any way, be bounded. How can that immeasurable spaciousness--directly before you and within you--be, in any way, limited?

Q: It cannot.

R: And nor can you. For you are that cognitizing sheerness. Again, stay mindful of the fact that this understanding is one of the easiest things to come by, that it only appears elusive because, among other things, it is the most obvious thing before you. Also, if necessary, take naturally occurring breaks from nonduality, so that you can come back to it freshly. For a clear-seeing of this is all that is really needed.

Q: Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, Rodney. I find your words and the words of a few others to be very helpful and encouraging.

Rodney: You're most welcome.


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The interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine, can be found at the following link: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm

If the link isn't highlighted (or is highlighted but won't open), simply copy and paste it into your Subject line, and click.

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Pointers

You are not what changes.


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In many classic nonduality/advaita texts, you will see the phrase "meditate upon" Self, Brahman, or Supreme Reality. Be suspect of translations. What the self-realized authors of these works were attempting to say is " pause with what is already present."


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You cannot be your thoughts or your body because you are aware of your thoughts and your body. You are That which recognizes that these things are appearing.


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"Awakened Mind" is an oxymoron (a figure of speech that combines contradicting terms) rather than an actual condition. For there is no defined mind. And how can thoughts and concepts (which are the mind) be awakened?


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Essentially, your daily experiences can be divided into thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions. But what is it that is none of these?


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Your existence cannot be denied. You are here, at this moment, perusing these words. But what else is present, besides your customary thoughts, physicality, beliefs, and emotions? If your pause is relaxed and significant enough, you will immediately discern a subtle-yet-undeniable peace and spaciousness from which manifest-existence arises.


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You can't stop the mind. The mind is a naturally occurring process. And who, precisely, is there to stop it? The "I" and "Me" are the mind! They are just thoughts coming up. And these thoughts are coming up in awareness, not in some defined and individual "you." The only "you" there is awareness. And you are That.


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You are already the watcher and knower. Thus, any practices related to increased observation, concentration, and mindfulness are totally without merit. You are what you are: Presence itself. The actuality of this fact should stun you with its clarity.


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Thoughts and ideas can only point to Reality, not describe it. Don't think for a moment that you can get even a modicum of an approximation of what Presence is by a term, expression, or description. And this fact, in itself, points to the eternal and numinous qualities of awareness, all of which are readily before you and within you at this very moment.


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In the Brihadâranyaka Upanishad, or the "Great Forest Secret Teaching" (a nearly 3,000-year old Sanskrit scripture), it rightly and beautifully declares, "The Self is taintless, beyond space, unborn, vast, and immovable. Let a wise aspirant directly realize this insight, not just reflect on tiresome words."


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Apropos meditation: You can't get Here, from there. You are absolutely always Here. The "there" is a fiction, a projection, an appearance that comes and goes. Your very nature is hereness, and yet you are missing it--not because it's abstract or abstruse, but because your scrutiny is given to concepts and sensations. Now, don't try not to give your attention to those things. That is just your projected-I sneaking in the backdoor. Rather, simply understand that this misplaced attention is happening. That's all that is needed.


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The interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine, can be found at the following link: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm

If the link isn't highlighted (or is highlighted but won't open), simply copy and paste it into your Subject line, and click.

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Q&A: From the Heart

Question: Hi, Rodney. My marvelous husband is out of town, and I'm enjoying some quiet moments alone, as well as reading some of my favorite nonduality books. The tree branches are moving slowly in the warm breezes outside. Their unhurriedness and the books (Robert Adams' Silence of the Heart, etc) all seem to slow my mental chattering a bit.

Rodney: I'm delighted that you're having some time alone. A lot of us need that, including myself!

Q: I know that Nisargadatta, Sailor Bob, and all the nonduality sages say that we are not the body or the mind, but the ineffable awareness that knows the body and the mind. And there are rare moments when this is a reality for me, and not just an idea or a belief or a theory. One sentence from a recent email of yours keeps coming back to me: "Because presence isn't clear to you, you readily identify with what is clear--thoughts, feelings, sensations, etc."

Rodney: Right, and that really goes to the heart of the matter, pointing out, as it does, an unexamined process that is causing you to assume that either this presence of awareness isn't really there or that this nondual understanding is difficult to "achieve." But the simple fact of the matter is that there is no difficulty or achievement whatsoever--only a simple seeing or apprehension.

Q: Over the years I have gradually put on a pound or two every year, so that now at age 53, my weight has climbed to 220 pounds. I feel very self-conscious, embarrassed, and ashamed of my appearance as someone who is obese. I also have a big aversion to exercise and dieting. So there is this sense of being between a rock and a hard place. I don't like being fat, and I don't like doing what is needed to lose weight. If I am not my body, does it mean it doesn't matter how much I weigh or whether I am heavy or thin?

Rodney: I'm sure you already know the answer to this.

Q: Oh, I do. The advaita teaching that "I am not my body" can indeed be used as an excuse for ignoring any concerns, especially those relating weight. Perhaps I just wanted to get your take on it, or rant about it for while to someone who has become a friend.

Rodney: Your body is an appearance. And by appearance, I mean that it is something that constantly changes. It is most certainly there, but it is not what you are. You are the cognitizing spaciousness that knows that your body is present. Still, it is only natural (even instinctive) to want to feel as physically comfortable as possible.

Q: And I do. But I also can't abide dieting or exercise. It's terrible, I know, but that's the case.

Rodney: Don't unnecessarily label or categorize the issue. That will only make the matter more off-putting. After speaking with your health provider about this (to insure that there is nothing medically causing your heaviness), you can look into ways to lose the weight that are more in synch with your particularly personality. If, for instance, you love watching certain TV programs--

Q: That would be medical dramas.

Rodney: Great. You could try watching them while walking slowly (at first) on a treadmill. Also, I have found--with numerous acquaintances who happened to be heavy--that when they lose a little weight, the chances are good that they will go on to lose a lot. Dieting, for its own sake, tends not to work because, quite frankly, your heart isn't in it. But after losing a few initial pounds, you are apt to feel lighter, healthier, and more attractive. Then, you will have a natural incentive to lose more weight. You will already be feeling better and more energetic, and you will want to continue to feel better and more energetic.

Q: Hmm, interesting.

Rodney: And this could easily lead to your doing a bit of exercising, to build bones and muscles. You could also try eating less meat, which may reduce your weight a bit more, as well as make you feel less toxic and more vital. (Be sure to take a multi-vitamin/mineral tablet, though, so you'll be sure to get your needed nutrients). And again, be sure to do all of this in consultation with your primary physician or health provider--which I am neither. I'm just repeating--albeit compassionately-- what is coming up here. Perhaps some (or none) of it will be of help to you.

Q: Well, that actually all sounds good. I'm going to give it some serious thought--or non-thought!

Rodney: Excellent. Let me know how it goes.

Q: I keep telling myself I am not my body, but I don't truly believe this most of the time.

Rodney: Beliefs, one way or another, aren't going to help you. They are just varying thoughts coming up. And all of your attention is going to the preponderance of those thoughts, as well as to the discord (mentally and physically) that they are causing. Once you grasp the mechanics all of this (i.e., see how and why this mental chattering is happening), there is a quick and natural relaxing of everything. Suddenly, there is a calmness within you to which you can bring your attention. And that calmness could well turn into a pause, through which you can recognize your pristine and ever-present nature.

Q: And I'll bet losing this weight will be a lot easier then! (Laughing)

Rodney: Well, it may and it may not. All that can said is that your actions will be from the fullness of your being. When options present themselves, you will act without hesitation. And even when you find yourself having to deliberate over something, that deliberation will happen smoothly and on its own accord. The body will become less of an issue because you will finally see and understand that you can't possibly be your body. Your knowledge isn't theoretical then. You aren't "telling" yourself anything. You are simply living the truth. And then, of course, your Beauty will be both innate and extrinsic. Eternal even.

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The interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine, can be found at the following link: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm

If the link isn't highlighted (or is highlighted but won't open), simply copy and paste it into your Subject line, and click.

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Pointers

What is it that is already present?


*****


Understanding, in nonduality, is spontaneous and uncaused. It isn't dependent upon long and severe efforts, which lead only to experiences--which, in turn, lead not to Truth, but simply to the craving of those experiences.


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The end of misunderstanding is the end of a defined and individual you.


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U.G. Krishnamurti wisely pointed out that unlike saints, "sages don't depend on any authority; what they say is the authority." This is because they are speaking from the source of their beingness. And there is no higher authority than that.


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There is not even the potential of awakening within you. For you are already "awakeness" proper. All that you need to do is pause a bit and see your Self for yourself. You neither have to struggle for it nor wait for it to happen. For your treasure is directly in front of you.


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Nonduality is a penetrating inquiry into the ultimate Truth.


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The mind is perplexed and bothered by the notion that toil and time aren't needed for self-knowledge. These are just two of the numerous spiritual myths that need to be seen through, including the one that there is a defined and constant mind in the first place.


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Meditation, mantras, mindfulness, and even Kundalini yoga are all within the mental realm. Awareness is totally beyond that--so much so, in fact, that you can't use any of those activities or approaches as a stepping-stone to Presence.


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Don't be overly-concerned with the return of normal mental reactions after you have been to some beautiful and halcyon setting, such as a park, forest, mountain range, library, or resort. This understanding isn't dependent upon extended periods of tranquility; and it can just as easily be had on a bustling street corner as it can on a lone stretch of beach. So simply feel the pause and the pointing within the words that you are reading right now. Be attuned to any spaciousness within you. It is a peace and clarity that you have never noticed before. But now you see and feel it. Now you know: It's not even Oneness--but beyond.


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Note: An interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine can be found at the following link: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm

If this isn't highlighted (or is, but won't turn clickable), simply copy and paste it to your Subject line, then click.

Pointers

You are already what you are seeking!


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What is it, right now, that is not a thought, an emotion, a sensation, an appearance, or a sound? Be very still, as you sit with this, as you ponder this. What is present, but is none of the things that is listed above? What precisely is left?


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Even the Buddha tried concentration, piety, silence, quieting his mind, watching his breath, and self-mortification. But none of them lead him to recognize the essence of Existence.


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You think you have to seek "enlightenment." But that is merely an assumption, and an incorrect one, at that. Further, the idea of enlightenment adds fuel to the fire that self-knowledge can be ambushed or aggressed, and that there must be the requisite period of time for all of this to take place.


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The task of the teacher is to remove misunderstanding. And this is done not by transmissions or by the giving of spiritual names, but by pointing to the immediacy of our natural and ever-present state.


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Emerson was correct: "Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." Look into what you are right now. Don't ever bother with the who, because the who is a fiction, an appearance. It comes up as a thought, a feeling, or a sensation, or a memory (which is simply another thought), and then is gone. Awareness is ever-there, and is precisely what you are. See, with ease and clarity, the astonishing obviousness of this fact.


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You cannot "bring more presence" into your life. It isn't something that can be parceled in. Either this presence of awareness is there, in toto, or it is not (or at least it appears not to be).


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Your natural state is already before you and within you. But you keep returning to the level of the mind when you attempt to meditate, watch your thoughts, or a repeat mantra. Ironically, it is the moment after doing any one of these things that you are back to your ever-spacious and pristine naturalness.


*****


If you want to take a vow of silence, that's perfectly fine. But if your intent is to use that vow as a means of "reaching" Truth, it's not going to happen.


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When you attempt to "be present," you--as a thought, an imagined entity--are trying to align yourself with presence. But how can a thought, which is a mere appearance, align itself with awareness, which is an actuality? Instead of attempting to "be present," wouldn't it make far more sense to bring your attention to the fact that you are presence itself?



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Put your trust in your own experience and understanding, and not in what was said or repeated in some ancient text. And don't waste time contemplating such vague notions as "life's impermanence," the "reconstituting self," and the "legitimacy of samsara." Simply see that thoughts, sentiments, and sensations come and go. But there is always something that fully remains: Awareness proper.

Book Review

You will certainly want to purchase The Life and Teaching of Sailor Bob Adamson (Non-Duality Press/£12.95 /$19.43). Compiled and edited by Kalyani Lawry, the book consists of two straight-forward sections: Part One ("The Life"), and the longer Part Two ("The Teaching").

Though Bob's life is covered in less than 75-pages and is "woven out of the fragments of memories and reflections" offered by him, there are plenty of captivating details relating to--among other things--Bob's becoming a sailor, his early and violent bouts with drinking, his meeting his lovely wife Barbara, his spiritual explorations (Methodism, Pentecostalism, Christian Science, TM, etc), and, of course, his encounters with Nisargadatta Maharaj (where, amazingly, we learn that "Bob realised the essence of what Nisargadatta was saying the first time he saw him").

The "Teaching" section is comprised of extracts from talks, interviews, and Question & Answer sessions, which were mostly held at he and Barbara's home in Melbourne, Australia. The industrious Gilbert Schultz, one of Bob's first students and the founder of the marvelous Urban Guru Cafe, transcribed and edited over 30 tapes from early talks and Q&As. And this became Bob's first book-- the nondual classic, What's Wrong With Right Now Unless You Think About it?

On meeting Bob for the first time, Gilbert writes, "He was so ordinary. It took me a while to realise that he was totally genuine. What he shared with everyone was not some philosophical view. He spoke from the immediacy about the immediacy." Indeed, the hallmark of Bob's teaching is the clarity and ease with which he points to our natural state. He puts little or no emphasis upon his words or phrases in his pearl-like responses. And thus, we get such luminous declarations as:

"The search itself is the problem. While you are seeking, there is a belief that there's something you don't have right now but will get at some future time if you do certain things."

"You see, we miss the simplicity of what is immediate."

"In that full stop, the presence of awareness is there in all its nakedness, unadorned by any concept."

"You'll never find the answer in the mind, so it's pointless looking there."

Only That is a gem of a work and is admirably reflective of Bob's own persona and teaching style. And though concise, the book feels fully-blossomed. For Lawry, who obviously sorted through reams of material, was careful to include information that was not always complimentary to her subject. But Bob prevailed, thank God. And the journey, in the end, was no journey at all: Just a direct recognition of his ever-present state. And that understanding was absolutely central to Bob, "because without that, I had nothing."