Question: I enjoy reading your blog. Please keep up the excellent writing.
Rodney: I appreciate that. Yes, the blog continues to putter along, though I can no longer actually see it (and other blogspot blogs) on my ancient iMac. So I go over to a friend's house on Monday or Tuesday to edit and post that week's piece on her PowerBook. That will probably be my modus operandi for the next year-and-a half. But that's perfectly fine. At least the blog is getting written.
Q: In the meantime, I'll send Steve Jobs an email and see if he's got any unused MacBooks lying around.
Rodney: Thank you!
Q: I have a question regarding a recent blog entry. Towards the end, you mention "a seeing with full awareness."
Rodney: Yes.
Q: I don't put too much weight into words, as they are only intended to work as pointers and are just concepts and can never be the real -- but that statement truly resonated with me.
Rodney: When you are genuinely paused by some pointer, piece of music, work of art, or everyday occurrence, you are often at a lost to explain it. The pause is there before you even realize it. Of course, this isn't like when pause yourself, which is a fine and "legitimate" nondual undertaking. But it sometimes isn't as potent as the former, where you are just, say, reading along and sudden-ly...Full Stop, as Bob Adamson rightly says. Again, you are brought to a halt. You haven't participated in it in any way. The mental cessation is suddenly there, and there is this apparent opening to your natural state, which--of course--is always open and "available" to you. In addition, the opening is the seeing; and the seeing is a simple recognition of what is already fully present. And what could be more beautiful than that?
Q: It's beautiful indeed. I used to have glimpses of what I thought was the Absolute, but I came to realize they were just experiences and that there was still a perceived separate entity there.
Rodney: Good man.
Q: And I have clearly seen that I am not a separate being. Now, there is a true knowing, innately, that there is no one home -- and that has brought untold freedom into this life (of course the appearance will still offer up different experiences, but they are all seen for what they are - non personal).
Rodney: Yes, non-personal arisings, all. And this doesn't change with the cognition of one's true identity. Thoughts, sensations, and emotions still to come up. You may even find yourself briefly identifying with them. But it's of little conse-quence. For you've come to know who and what you actually are. And when that is recognized, it is thoroughly recognized. That's why I would take issue with your saying that you have "clearly seen that I am not a separate being." When that understanding occurs, there are no more fundamental questions about the life, seeking, and the Absolute. But you are correct about your knowing "Innately that there is no one home." Indeed, your deep faith is quite apparent and comes through in your writing. I love that word, faith. Alas, it's be misused by religions and religionists. To a certain extent, faith is a belief. But even more, it is an unexplainable and inner-knowing that what is being pointed to is nothing but the bare and nonconceptual Truth.
Q: Yes, I see what you mean. Listening to John Wheeler, he mentioned that when you see beyond the "I Am", you are truly seeing that Conscious-ness is the play of life showing up on the Absolute (and made of the Absolute).
Rodney: Yes, that's correct. But don't just take John's beautiful words for it. See this for yourself. Don't allow your enquiry to wander into added quoting and conceptualization. And John would be the first to say this, by the way. For what he is pointing to is closer to you than your very own skin.
Q: So I'll just to stay with the fundamentals--that Presence is everything and can't be explained or known because that would imply I am separate from it. And that this Absolute is totally beyond the mind.
Rodney: And that you are the Absolute. That is key. Right at this moment, you are That. Those are the potent fundamentals that point to your radiant and ceaseless reality.
Q: Right now, I know what I am not. But I also do not know the bare truth of what I Am.
Rodney: All that is missing is a clear and solid seeing of awareness itself. This understanding comes quickly and of its own. And what you will come to understand is something so beautiful, so timeless, and so ordinary that you will absolutely marvel at how you have overlooked it for so long.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Pointers
Even the Psalmists urge, "Be still."
*****
Yet, even stillness, silence, and sacredness pale in comparison to nonconceptual awareness, which is Absolute and has neither nature nor form. It is utterly transparent and forever cognitizing. And never, for one nanosecond, have you not been That.
*****
There are no steps, stages, evolution, or spiritual "levels" to self-realization. Once this understanding occurs, it is fully known, in so far as it can be fully known. But what is readily perceived is the sheer-clarity and immediacy of your natural state.
*****
Smiling, Laughing, Loving, and Self-knowing all have one thing in common: No Thinking Required.
*****
If you give emphasis to the mind, you are bounded by mind. See that all thoughts, doubts, and questions arise within a subtle--yet magni-ficent--spaciousness that heretofore has gone unheeded. How unfortunate! For you are that! Just direct your attention there. Allow yourself to see and know the felt-presence of preeminent Reality.
*****
To be conscious is to be aware of your thoughts, environment, sensations, and existence. And you are that awareness, not consciousness. Why? Because consciousness--which, essentially, is a state of awakeness or alertness that includes dreaming, drowsiness, and deep sleep--changes. Thus, it can't possibly be who and what you truly are.
*****
Pause...and find out what it is that appears not to be there.
*****
There is, of course, no one to awaken. "Awaken-ing" is simply a term or locution with which we use to communicate and to point to the inexpressible. Don't get overly concerned with words. They are, after all, only that: Terms of expression. The only time such terms become a priority is when some compassionate soul is attempting to direct you to your inherent Reality.
*****
The mind can't be "emptied of the 'me'." That's one of those spiritually-bizarre statements that are bandied about by false teachers who want to sound authentic or impressive. The mind is the "me." Thoughts, concepts, reasoning, and the sense of being a separate self are all arisings of that function that we label the mind.
*****
Know what you are. You are awareness proper. Pause right now and look for it. You won't find a thing--that is, before the next thought or sensa-tion appears. But that no-thing was you! You...Are...That!
*****
Yet, even stillness, silence, and sacredness pale in comparison to nonconceptual awareness, which is Absolute and has neither nature nor form. It is utterly transparent and forever cognitizing. And never, for one nanosecond, have you not been That.
*****
There are no steps, stages, evolution, or spiritual "levels" to self-realization. Once this understanding occurs, it is fully known, in so far as it can be fully known. But what is readily perceived is the sheer-clarity and immediacy of your natural state.
*****
Smiling, Laughing, Loving, and Self-knowing all have one thing in common: No Thinking Required.
*****
If you give emphasis to the mind, you are bounded by mind. See that all thoughts, doubts, and questions arise within a subtle--yet magni-ficent--spaciousness that heretofore has gone unheeded. How unfortunate! For you are that! Just direct your attention there. Allow yourself to see and know the felt-presence of preeminent Reality.
*****
To be conscious is to be aware of your thoughts, environment, sensations, and existence. And you are that awareness, not consciousness. Why? Because consciousness--which, essentially, is a state of awakeness or alertness that includes dreaming, drowsiness, and deep sleep--changes. Thus, it can't possibly be who and what you truly are.
*****
Pause...and find out what it is that appears not to be there.
*****
There is, of course, no one to awaken. "Awaken-ing" is simply a term or locution with which we use to communicate and to point to the inexpressible. Don't get overly concerned with words. They are, after all, only that: Terms of expression. The only time such terms become a priority is when some compassionate soul is attempting to direct you to your inherent Reality.
*****
The mind can't be "emptied of the 'me'." That's one of those spiritually-bizarre statements that are bandied about by false teachers who want to sound authentic or impressive. The mind is the "me." Thoughts, concepts, reasoning, and the sense of being a separate self are all arisings of that function that we label the mind.
*****
Know what you are. You are awareness proper. Pause right now and look for it. You won't find a thing--that is, before the next thought or sensa-tion appears. But that no-thing was you! You...Are...That!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Q&A: Clarion Call
Question: Hello again, Rodney. I'm really glad that the "Falling from Error" posting has gone down so well with people.
Rodney: It has indeed. Your bright and polished insights about your own questions and seeking greatly moved a number of readers. My part was small: I just corrected a few issues, and re-focused your attention on that which has capti-vated you from the start: Awareness itself. You already have a strong and intuitive "feeling" for this. It's just a matter of your seeing it clearly.
Q: Yes, to see clearly--though at times, it appears (at least) a bit overwhelming. I'm just a Notting-ham housewife who, at moment, has a lot of time to herself. I've long had these spiritual questions and concerns. I rather enjoyed the works and residentials of Tony Parsons. But of late, I have been earnestly exploring your and John Wheeler's interviews and writings. And I must admit, this feels very much like home to me. I am really at a lost to explain it.
Rodney: There is no need to explain. When you resonate with someone's pointing, a deep and indescribable feeling is there. It's a connection, of a sorts, that is both pristine and eternal. In short, presence is caressing presence. This is one of the reasons for your occasional (and lovely) upsurge of tears.
Q: In last week's blog entry, you touch on a point that really resonates with me. You're right -- I have had the hope/expectation/imagining of an Event, a "Something" That Will Happen when I somehow stop being me or change into a better me or see the world entirely differently or become everything....I'm sure they are all the usual variants that our minds entertain.
Rodney: Yes, they are simply notions we have about this supposed event. We've gathered these assumptions through the years (even decades) from thoroughly incorrect spiritual books and teachers who claim that "Enlightenment" is, among other things, bliss, rapture, visions, catatonia, psychic powers, personality shifts, etc. It's none of those, of course. It's not even "enlightenment," which infers a condition or a non-natural occurrence that must be achieved or entered. On the other hand, a direct seeing or understanding of your natural and ever-present state involves not a single step away from who and what you are at this very moment.
Q: And yet, there is this apparent awakening that occurs, as with your silent, Big Bang-like experi-ence and Tony Parson's walk in the park.
Rodney: Yes, but it's much more of an appercep-tion (a perceiving with full awareness) than an awakening. But "awakening" is easier on the brain and tongue. So it is readily used, which is perfectly fine.
Q: Could you talk about that "non-event" a wee bit more? Not yours, personally, for I know you are loathed to speak about it much anymore.
Rodney: Everyone comes to this recognition differently. But nearly most agree on the hush-ness and the ordinariness of it. But it certainly has extraordinary aspects also: The peace, the translucency, the spaciousness, and the ever-present "OM" that reverberates through your Beingness (at least with this body/mind). I now see why it has been used as a mantra by seekers for thousands of years. One of the most common definitions of OM is that it is the name of God. When your seeing is clear, you will note not only how apt that name is, but how powerfully it points to both God and awareness, which ultimately are the same thing. A more accurate and telling definition of OM is that it is a primordial sound within--not of--awareness. But again, early seekers and facile teachers went the imitative route: Chant OM, and you will "become" OM.
Q: And, of course, nothing happened.
Rodney: Nothing but headaches, leg cramps, and chronic frustration. But if you were to take a moment to look deeply into your own stillness at this very moment, you might very well be privy to the utter obviousness of your innate and eternal "song." And though this is a little difficult to put into words, you will also find that there is no apparent difference between OM and your boundlessness. One could just as well be the other. But I digress...
Q: Actually, that bit of digression is apt -- for I just listened to the second-half of your interview on Urban Guru Cafe the other night, which made me really laugh in parts --especially the bit about people going to India to try to "get it" at Nisargadatta's place, as if by osmosis. For years, I've felt that going to India to "find oneself" is a kind of denial of one's own innate wisdom.
Rodney: Right, our subjective Light and wisdom is already shining. Indeed, its radiance is so clear that one could easily overlook it. And that, precisely, is what is happening with seekers the world over. When I meet with people, I some-times give the following analogy between light and awareness: Light can only be seen when it strikes an object, such as tiny dust particles. Similarly, awareness can only know itself in conjunction with consciousness. When we recognize our natural state, awareness is recognizing itself. Thus, peace, clarity, and freedom are genuine, nonconceptual attributes of our natural state. But we wrongly think that we are our bodies, beliefs, thoughts, genders, ethnicities, occupations, and even souls (i.e, an eternal "me" that is destined for either Heaven or Hell). We are awareness proper, not the manifestations within it. Just sit with this and allow yourself to truly see the magnificence of this brief, straight-forward statement. Again, you are awareness proper, not the appearances within it.
Q: It shall be my clarion call for at least a fortnight! I'm joking, of course.
Rodney: I sort of figured you were...No, contemplating it with your next pot of red bush tea will suffice quite nicely, thank you.
Q: Or I will hear the kettle whistle, and that will be the end of it.
Rodney: And what a fine and proper end it will be.
Rodney: It has indeed. Your bright and polished insights about your own questions and seeking greatly moved a number of readers. My part was small: I just corrected a few issues, and re-focused your attention on that which has capti-vated you from the start: Awareness itself. You already have a strong and intuitive "feeling" for this. It's just a matter of your seeing it clearly.
Q: Yes, to see clearly--though at times, it appears (at least) a bit overwhelming. I'm just a Notting-ham housewife who, at moment, has a lot of time to herself. I've long had these spiritual questions and concerns. I rather enjoyed the works and residentials of Tony Parsons. But of late, I have been earnestly exploring your and John Wheeler's interviews and writings. And I must admit, this feels very much like home to me. I am really at a lost to explain it.
Rodney: There is no need to explain. When you resonate with someone's pointing, a deep and indescribable feeling is there. It's a connection, of a sorts, that is both pristine and eternal. In short, presence is caressing presence. This is one of the reasons for your occasional (and lovely) upsurge of tears.
Q: In last week's blog entry, you touch on a point that really resonates with me. You're right -- I have had the hope/expectation/imagining of an Event, a "Something" That Will Happen when I somehow stop being me or change into a better me or see the world entirely differently or become everything....I'm sure they are all the usual variants that our minds entertain.
Rodney: Yes, they are simply notions we have about this supposed event. We've gathered these assumptions through the years (even decades) from thoroughly incorrect spiritual books and teachers who claim that "Enlightenment" is, among other things, bliss, rapture, visions, catatonia, psychic powers, personality shifts, etc. It's none of those, of course. It's not even "enlightenment," which infers a condition or a non-natural occurrence that must be achieved or entered. On the other hand, a direct seeing or understanding of your natural and ever-present state involves not a single step away from who and what you are at this very moment.
Q: And yet, there is this apparent awakening that occurs, as with your silent, Big Bang-like experi-ence and Tony Parson's walk in the park.
Rodney: Yes, but it's much more of an appercep-tion (a perceiving with full awareness) than an awakening. But "awakening" is easier on the brain and tongue. So it is readily used, which is perfectly fine.
Q: Could you talk about that "non-event" a wee bit more? Not yours, personally, for I know you are loathed to speak about it much anymore.
Rodney: Everyone comes to this recognition differently. But nearly most agree on the hush-ness and the ordinariness of it. But it certainly has extraordinary aspects also: The peace, the translucency, the spaciousness, and the ever-present "OM" that reverberates through your Beingness (at least with this body/mind). I now see why it has been used as a mantra by seekers for thousands of years. One of the most common definitions of OM is that it is the name of God. When your seeing is clear, you will note not only how apt that name is, but how powerfully it points to both God and awareness, which ultimately are the same thing. A more accurate and telling definition of OM is that it is a primordial sound within--not of--awareness. But again, early seekers and facile teachers went the imitative route: Chant OM, and you will "become" OM.
Q: And, of course, nothing happened.
Rodney: Nothing but headaches, leg cramps, and chronic frustration. But if you were to take a moment to look deeply into your own stillness at this very moment, you might very well be privy to the utter obviousness of your innate and eternal "song." And though this is a little difficult to put into words, you will also find that there is no apparent difference between OM and your boundlessness. One could just as well be the other. But I digress...
Q: Actually, that bit of digression is apt -- for I just listened to the second-half of your interview on Urban Guru Cafe the other night, which made me really laugh in parts --especially the bit about people going to India to try to "get it" at Nisargadatta's place, as if by osmosis. For years, I've felt that going to India to "find oneself" is a kind of denial of one's own innate wisdom.
Rodney: Right, our subjective Light and wisdom is already shining. Indeed, its radiance is so clear that one could easily overlook it. And that, precisely, is what is happening with seekers the world over. When I meet with people, I some-times give the following analogy between light and awareness: Light can only be seen when it strikes an object, such as tiny dust particles. Similarly, awareness can only know itself in conjunction with consciousness. When we recognize our natural state, awareness is recognizing itself. Thus, peace, clarity, and freedom are genuine, nonconceptual attributes of our natural state. But we wrongly think that we are our bodies, beliefs, thoughts, genders, ethnicities, occupations, and even souls (i.e, an eternal "me" that is destined for either Heaven or Hell). We are awareness proper, not the manifestations within it. Just sit with this and allow yourself to truly see the magnificence of this brief, straight-forward statement. Again, you are awareness proper, not the appearances within it.
Q: It shall be my clarion call for at least a fortnight! I'm joking, of course.
Rodney: I sort of figured you were...No, contemplating it with your next pot of red bush tea will suffice quite nicely, thank you.
Q: Or I will hear the kettle whistle, and that will be the end of it.
Rodney: And what a fine and proper end it will be.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Pointers
How can you hope to attain something that you already are?
*****
One of the reasons that you are struggling with nonduality is that you are thinking of it in terms of an occurrence or an event. Or even as a feeling or an experience. But it is completely beyond the pinnacle emotions of joy and happiness. It's even beyond love. So any attempts to utilize or "align with" specific sentiments or conditions will be of no help to you.
*****
Deep sleep is far superior to any blissful or ecstatic experience. For deep sleep is deep rest. And it is completely natural. During deep sleep, awareness is still present. But there is nothing to witness: No thoughts, no dreams, and no bodily perceptions or sensations. We literally die a sweet death every night. We even crave it, because it is the only thing that gives us such peace and rest. But you can know that which never sleeps or dies at this very moment. Discover it for yourself.
*****
You are both employing a false perspective and giving an undue weight to life when you say that everything is perfect or that everything is terrible. Events are simply occurring as they are occurring.
*****
When you start your spiritual exploration with yourself (as opposed to suspect notions and hear-say), you end with yourself. For there is literally nothing in between: No path, no person, no process, and no journey. It's just a deep and instantaneous perceiving of your natural and nonconceptual essence. This recognition is, at once, no-frills, hushed, and extraordinary. It can only be pointed to or hinted at, and never fully described.
*****
You are a living embodiment of Truth itself. You are simply overlooking your natural and ever-present state. But that's not your fault, entirely. You have been taught by family, mentors, teachers, and spiritual counselors to see yourself not only as an individual, but as individual with an X-kind of car, y-kind of job, and z-kind of subur-ban life, all of which go to only increase your sense of indivi-dualism. But the good news is that you are awareness proper. All you need to do is see this for yourself.
*****
There is no Original Sin -- just Self-forgetfulness.
*****
In your daily activities, take a moment to note this sheer-like presence that is already in the forefront of your life. Allow this moment to come of its own. And it surely will, given that your natural state is nothing but that unbounded peace and capacious-ness. Heretofore, it has simply been passed over by cursory thoughts and shifting emotions, which you imagined were immediate and vital, but were not.
*****
Clarity and contentment are nonduality. This great teaching is nothing less than a felt-reality from which you are never absent. It only appears that it is something for which you have to search or attain. But nothing could be further from the Truth -- which, ironically, is the very same thing that could be said about yourself at this very moment.
*****
When you are told to look for your mind, what is the first thing you see? Stillness. Spaciousness. Nothingness. A wayward thought or idea comes up a few seconds later, and that precisely is the mind (or at least an aspect of it; for the mind is simply a group of functions which include memory and reasoning). Now, go back to the stillness. Allow it to present itself, as it were. This does not actually happen. For awareness does not move, and it is already fully in place. But its sudden recognition can sometimes feel like a kind of "shift" into something. But really, you attain noth-ing at all. This is just an instant understanding or apperceiving (i.e., a seeing with full awareness) of that which has always been in noble evidence.
*****
One of the reasons that you are struggling with nonduality is that you are thinking of it in terms of an occurrence or an event. Or even as a feeling or an experience. But it is completely beyond the pinnacle emotions of joy and happiness. It's even beyond love. So any attempts to utilize or "align with" specific sentiments or conditions will be of no help to you.
*****
Deep sleep is far superior to any blissful or ecstatic experience. For deep sleep is deep rest. And it is completely natural. During deep sleep, awareness is still present. But there is nothing to witness: No thoughts, no dreams, and no bodily perceptions or sensations. We literally die a sweet death every night. We even crave it, because it is the only thing that gives us such peace and rest. But you can know that which never sleeps or dies at this very moment. Discover it for yourself.
*****
You are both employing a false perspective and giving an undue weight to life when you say that everything is perfect or that everything is terrible. Events are simply occurring as they are occurring.
*****
When you start your spiritual exploration with yourself (as opposed to suspect notions and hear-say), you end with yourself. For there is literally nothing in between: No path, no person, no process, and no journey. It's just a deep and instantaneous perceiving of your natural and nonconceptual essence. This recognition is, at once, no-frills, hushed, and extraordinary. It can only be pointed to or hinted at, and never fully described.
*****
You are a living embodiment of Truth itself. You are simply overlooking your natural and ever-present state. But that's not your fault, entirely. You have been taught by family, mentors, teachers, and spiritual counselors to see yourself not only as an individual, but as individual with an X-kind of car, y-kind of job, and z-kind of subur-ban life, all of which go to only increase your sense of indivi-dualism. But the good news is that you are awareness proper. All you need to do is see this for yourself.
*****
There is no Original Sin -- just Self-forgetfulness.
*****
In your daily activities, take a moment to note this sheer-like presence that is already in the forefront of your life. Allow this moment to come of its own. And it surely will, given that your natural state is nothing but that unbounded peace and capacious-ness. Heretofore, it has simply been passed over by cursory thoughts and shifting emotions, which you imagined were immediate and vital, but were not.
*****
Clarity and contentment are nonduality. This great teaching is nothing less than a felt-reality from which you are never absent. It only appears that it is something for which you have to search or attain. But nothing could be further from the Truth -- which, ironically, is the very same thing that could be said about yourself at this very moment.
*****
When you are told to look for your mind, what is the first thing you see? Stillness. Spaciousness. Nothingness. A wayward thought or idea comes up a few seconds later, and that precisely is the mind (or at least an aspect of it; for the mind is simply a group of functions which include memory and reasoning). Now, go back to the stillness. Allow it to present itself, as it were. This does not actually happen. For awareness does not move, and it is already fully in place. But its sudden recognition can sometimes feel like a kind of "shift" into something. But really, you attain noth-ing at all. This is just an instant understanding or apperceiving (i.e., a seeing with full awareness) of that which has always been in noble evidence.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Q&A: Falling from Error
Question: Rodney, thanks for your writing. I discovered your blog a few weeks ago, and I love reading it. There is a clarity and simplicity to it that I really appreciate, and feel touched by.
Rodney: Thanks for your lovely words. And I'm delighted, of course, that the blog resonates with you.
Q: I live in The Midlands too, but it is in Nottingham, UK, which is currently covered in beautiful snow.
Rodney: Oh, please send some this way! Or at least a few digital pictures. We haven't had snow in the Midlands of South Carolina for what seems like nearly a decade.
Q: Today, as I read your first couple of pointers, tears came at the words, "Nonconceptual Reality is totally beyond the mind (i.e., it can neither be found in the mind nor by the mind"). Thus, no amount of concentrated effort or theorizing can "get" you there." There was an emotional letting go as I realised that I have believed that concentrated effort would, somehow, get me to That, even though I've read so many times that this realisation has nothing to do with the mind.
Rodney: Allow the tears to come. They are, after all, a kind of pause, in themselves. Further, such apperceptions can sometimes trigger an emotional response. Every personality is different. Some people have a rush of feelings upon seeing a baby's innocent, outstretched arms to them; or when peering into an abandoned kitten's fright-ened blue eyes; or upon hearing a particularly strand of music (an angelic concerto by Georg Philipp Telemann is playing on the radio as I type these words); or when standing in front of a stunning work of art. At such moments, fully allow whatever pause is there to deepen (which happens immediately; there is no deepening "process"). See that there is a nonconceptual, space-like awareness just beneath and behind the tears and the joy.
Q: I think I see what you mean--to let the understanding come of itself, and not make it into something on my 'to do' list, along with other staples such as 'improving my relationship' and 'sorting out my health'.
Rodney: Precisely. The seeing is the understand-ing. There is no "you" to see, and neither is there a "you" that understands. There is simply felt-awareness without end. And as the ancients succinctly put it, "You are That." But this is even better framed--though not quite as poetically--in the statement, "That thou art." For this points to the fact that, from the very beginning, there is only Presence. You may label it God, Brahman, awareness, spaciousness, the Absolute, cognitizing emptiness, etc. Use whatever term with which you are comfortable.
Q: I know that there was this profound uprising of compassion that came from reading your pointer. But right now, it feels as if I am in some nether-world. I find it hard to put into words. And yet.... there is still the feeling that I haven't realised it yet, that there is still somewhere to go and something to get.
Rodney: Yes, but of course, there isn't. You are what you are: Awareness itself. Through our body/minds, awareness--in its natural state--feels like eternal sheerness, utter serenity and clarity, or unblemished beingness. Again, take your pick. The description is not the thing anyway--just a pointer to that which you already are. So there is absolutely nothing to attain, nothing to work at, and nothing to journey to. Not for a second do you ever move this treasured peace and benevo-lence. How could you? You are the spaciousness! You are That! Everything that comes after it--e.g., thoughts, feelings, ideas, doubts, sensations, images, etc--are merely appearances in that Boundlessness. Huang Po put it nicely when he said that awareness is "that which you see before you--begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error."
Q: Thanks for the detailed reply. I really appreciate it. Yes, I've had that sense of being "paused" a number of times over the last year or so, and I know that for me that pausing usually comes with either crying, or less frequently, laughter. It's awesome to me how we can read the same words or pointers repeatedly, taking them in intellectually, and then one day read the same thing and suddenly have that wave of recognition or realisation beyond the mind.
Rodney: Absolutely. I couldn't have phrased it better myself.
Q: And I rather like the idea of being paused, as that is just how it feels. And what you've said about always being this, that there is no striving necessary, resonates very strongly within me. In some subtle way, over the last few months, I've noticed that whilst there has still been a sense of suffering, at times, I'm just taking it all a bit less personally, buying into ideas and stories about how and why things are just a little bit less. It reminds me of a residential with Tony Parsons that I went to last year, when it became clear that I was not going to get anything, that there was nothing to do and nowhere to go, no striving necessary, and it felt like the most loving thing ever.
Rodney: You are seeing things very clearly, as well as articulating your insights with considerable grace. Continue to explore the various points above (if you so choose), while allowing your heart--your marvelously intuitive heart--to lead the way.
Q: Right now, my heart is telling me to start with my sense of existence, which you wrote about in one of your early postings. That I know, and it's so clearly always here. So I'll just follow my nose from there and see what happens.
Rodney: That all sounds good.
Q: The snow here is really beautiful, Rodney. I hope, by some miracle, it comes your way. The whole country is covered. I'm told, in fact, that it's the snowiest and coldest weather since 1981. Here, it hasn't been bad enough to cause disruption, although most of the roads and pavements are very icy. I've been at the local park with my dog this afternoon - the snow covered trees and grass, glinting in the low afternoon sunlight, crunching underfoot and people on sledges. It's wonderful!
Rodney: Well, just so you know: In your concluding sentence, you employ my most favorite word in the English language. Thus, you have described it perfectly. So, thank you!
Rodney: Thanks for your lovely words. And I'm delighted, of course, that the blog resonates with you.
Q: I live in The Midlands too, but it is in Nottingham, UK, which is currently covered in beautiful snow.
Rodney: Oh, please send some this way! Or at least a few digital pictures. We haven't had snow in the Midlands of South Carolina for what seems like nearly a decade.
Q: Today, as I read your first couple of pointers, tears came at the words, "Nonconceptual Reality is totally beyond the mind (i.e., it can neither be found in the mind nor by the mind"). Thus, no amount of concentrated effort or theorizing can "get" you there." There was an emotional letting go as I realised that I have believed that concentrated effort would, somehow, get me to That, even though I've read so many times that this realisation has nothing to do with the mind.
Rodney: Allow the tears to come. They are, after all, a kind of pause, in themselves. Further, such apperceptions can sometimes trigger an emotional response. Every personality is different. Some people have a rush of feelings upon seeing a baby's innocent, outstretched arms to them; or when peering into an abandoned kitten's fright-ened blue eyes; or upon hearing a particularly strand of music (an angelic concerto by Georg Philipp Telemann is playing on the radio as I type these words); or when standing in front of a stunning work of art. At such moments, fully allow whatever pause is there to deepen (which happens immediately; there is no deepening "process"). See that there is a nonconceptual, space-like awareness just beneath and behind the tears and the joy.
Q: I think I see what you mean--to let the understanding come of itself, and not make it into something on my 'to do' list, along with other staples such as 'improving my relationship' and 'sorting out my health'.
Rodney: Precisely. The seeing is the understand-ing. There is no "you" to see, and neither is there a "you" that understands. There is simply felt-awareness without end. And as the ancients succinctly put it, "You are That." But this is even better framed--though not quite as poetically--in the statement, "That thou art." For this points to the fact that, from the very beginning, there is only Presence. You may label it God, Brahman, awareness, spaciousness, the Absolute, cognitizing emptiness, etc. Use whatever term with which you are comfortable.
Q: I know that there was this profound uprising of compassion that came from reading your pointer. But right now, it feels as if I am in some nether-world. I find it hard to put into words. And yet.... there is still the feeling that I haven't realised it yet, that there is still somewhere to go and something to get.
Rodney: Yes, but of course, there isn't. You are what you are: Awareness itself. Through our body/minds, awareness--in its natural state--feels like eternal sheerness, utter serenity and clarity, or unblemished beingness. Again, take your pick. The description is not the thing anyway--just a pointer to that which you already are. So there is absolutely nothing to attain, nothing to work at, and nothing to journey to. Not for a second do you ever move this treasured peace and benevo-lence. How could you? You are the spaciousness! You are That! Everything that comes after it--e.g., thoughts, feelings, ideas, doubts, sensations, images, etc--are merely appearances in that Boundlessness. Huang Po put it nicely when he said that awareness is "that which you see before you--begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error."
Q: Thanks for the detailed reply. I really appreciate it. Yes, I've had that sense of being "paused" a number of times over the last year or so, and I know that for me that pausing usually comes with either crying, or less frequently, laughter. It's awesome to me how we can read the same words or pointers repeatedly, taking them in intellectually, and then one day read the same thing and suddenly have that wave of recognition or realisation beyond the mind.
Rodney: Absolutely. I couldn't have phrased it better myself.
Q: And I rather like the idea of being paused, as that is just how it feels. And what you've said about always being this, that there is no striving necessary, resonates very strongly within me. In some subtle way, over the last few months, I've noticed that whilst there has still been a sense of suffering, at times, I'm just taking it all a bit less personally, buying into ideas and stories about how and why things are just a little bit less. It reminds me of a residential with Tony Parsons that I went to last year, when it became clear that I was not going to get anything, that there was nothing to do and nowhere to go, no striving necessary, and it felt like the most loving thing ever.
Rodney: You are seeing things very clearly, as well as articulating your insights with considerable grace. Continue to explore the various points above (if you so choose), while allowing your heart--your marvelously intuitive heart--to lead the way.
Q: Right now, my heart is telling me to start with my sense of existence, which you wrote about in one of your early postings. That I know, and it's so clearly always here. So I'll just follow my nose from there and see what happens.
Rodney: That all sounds good.
Q: The snow here is really beautiful, Rodney. I hope, by some miracle, it comes your way. The whole country is covered. I'm told, in fact, that it's the snowiest and coldest weather since 1981. Here, it hasn't been bad enough to cause disruption, although most of the roads and pavements are very icy. I've been at the local park with my dog this afternoon - the snow covered trees and grass, glinting in the low afternoon sunlight, crunching underfoot and people on sledges. It's wonderful!
Rodney: Well, just so you know: In your concluding sentence, you employ my most favorite word in the English language. Thus, you have described it perfectly. So, thank you!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Pointers & Review
Every object is a pointer to the Absolute--even our egos.
*****
Liberation isn't the end of bondage. It is the seeing or understanding that you have always been Freedom itself--bare, utter, and complete.
*****
The Absolute can never be described or communicated to anybody. All one can do is point.
*****
You can't annihilate the ego (which is just an appearance anyway) or attain some egoless state. Those are spiritual fictions. Simply direct your attention to your ever-present presence of awareness until it is clear and undeniable. Then thoughts and feelings are naturally balanced.
*****
A religious or spiritual experience connotes that, at some time or the other, you were happy. Upon the recognition of your natural state, you discover that you are Happiness proper.
*****
You can't find peace in thoughts and concepts because peace is a total pause in theorizing and conceptualization. Peace shows its prominence (or rather, its prominence is made clear) when your mind or thinking is completely and effortlessly still.
*****
Boris and Clair Jansch's Who's Driving the Dream-bus? (Baci Films/99 mins) is a beautiful and illu-minating work. It details Boris's spiritual seeking through a rapt series of interviews with eight teachers and writers: Gangaji, Tony Parsons, Genpo Roshi, Timothy Freke, Guy Smith, Toni Packer, Amit Goswami, and Jeff Foster. Given the number of people questioned, viewers are likely to find themselves resonating with at least one of the teachers here. Most of them make astute and obviously lived-declarations and pointers (though I would take issue with a handful of the statements made). The filmmakers are attentive documen-tarians: The lighting is crisp and nuanced; the sound quality is excellent; and the scenes are invitingly sequenced and gorgeously composed. Indeed, some of the shots are so winningly framed that they qualify as cinematographic pointers in themselves. I'm particularly thinking of the quiet, opening shot of some urban quay (the Thames?) and the setting sun over an ocean and beach (this, ironically, is in the chapter titled "Enlightenment/Self-Realisation"). It's little wonder that the film was one of the Official Selections at the Science & Non-Duality Film Festival and the winner of the "Premier Award" at the Insight Film Festival. Along with the above material, there is a Director's interview in the first Disc. In Disc 2, each of the teachers talk about specific topics, which range from their backgrounds and how they came to their understanding to God, Death, and Seeking. So it is well-worth getting the 2-Disc edition, which has nearly two-hours of additional footage. The Single-Disc version sells for $27.00, plus shipping and handling. The 2-Disc edition costs $34.00, plus shipping and handling. The filmmakers' colorful Web site can be found at: http://www.whosdrivingthedreambus.com
*****
Liberation isn't the end of bondage. It is the seeing or understanding that you have always been Freedom itself--bare, utter, and complete.
*****
The Absolute can never be described or communicated to anybody. All one can do is point.
*****
You can't annihilate the ego (which is just an appearance anyway) or attain some egoless state. Those are spiritual fictions. Simply direct your attention to your ever-present presence of awareness until it is clear and undeniable. Then thoughts and feelings are naturally balanced.
*****
A religious or spiritual experience connotes that, at some time or the other, you were happy. Upon the recognition of your natural state, you discover that you are Happiness proper.
*****
You can't find peace in thoughts and concepts because peace is a total pause in theorizing and conceptualization. Peace shows its prominence (or rather, its prominence is made clear) when your mind or thinking is completely and effortlessly still.
*****
Boris and Clair Jansch's Who's Driving the Dream-bus? (Baci Films/99 mins) is a beautiful and illu-minating work. It details Boris's spiritual seeking through a rapt series of interviews with eight teachers and writers: Gangaji, Tony Parsons, Genpo Roshi, Timothy Freke, Guy Smith, Toni Packer, Amit Goswami, and Jeff Foster. Given the number of people questioned, viewers are likely to find themselves resonating with at least one of the teachers here. Most of them make astute and obviously lived-declarations and pointers (though I would take issue with a handful of the statements made). The filmmakers are attentive documen-tarians: The lighting is crisp and nuanced; the sound quality is excellent; and the scenes are invitingly sequenced and gorgeously composed. Indeed, some of the shots are so winningly framed that they qualify as cinematographic pointers in themselves. I'm particularly thinking of the quiet, opening shot of some urban quay (the Thames?) and the setting sun over an ocean and beach (this, ironically, is in the chapter titled "Enlightenment/Self-Realisation"). It's little wonder that the film was one of the Official Selections at the Science & Non-Duality Film Festival and the winner of the "Premier Award" at the Insight Film Festival. Along with the above material, there is a Director's interview in the first Disc. In Disc 2, each of the teachers talk about specific topics, which range from their backgrounds and how they came to their understanding to God, Death, and Seeking. So it is well-worth getting the 2-Disc edition, which has nearly two-hours of additional footage. The Single-Disc version sells for $27.00, plus shipping and handling. The 2-Disc edition costs $34.00, plus shipping and handling. The filmmakers' colorful Web site can be found at: http://www.whosdrivingthedreambus.com
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Q&A: There Is No Spoon
Question: Hi, Rodney. I love your latest batch of pointers. I can instinctively feel the "rightness" of the following one -- "What is it that is present, but is not your body, your thoughts, your sensations, or even your state of consciousness? Reflect upon this with ease and gentleness. Come back to it at some later time, if necessary, when your seeing may be clearer."
Rodney: The part about "coming back" to a pointer at some later time is a worthwhile consi-deration. I know someone who happened to have been reading a sentence or two from the blog that deeply moved him. He didn't come to a sudden understanding of at that point. That came later, when he was reflecting upon the pointer while washing a spoon in the kitchen. "The washing slowed," he wrote, "not because I was trying to do it, but because I was, like, seeing/ feeling this spaciousness around the spoon! And that this spaciousness was the genuine me!"
Q: What a beautiful story!
Rodney: Yes, very quiet, very ordinary. Yet, monumental in the sense that this former-seeker ended up discovering the deep peace and radi-ance of his ever-present Reality. He just hap-pened to go to the kitchen sink for a moment, half-reflecting on what he had previously perused and been moved by. The pause was significant enough that the gentleman was able to apperceive awareness in all of its richness and glory.
Q: And ultimately, there is no spoon, of course! (Laughing).
Rodney: Excellent! Right, as The Matrix correctly (on this issue) points out: There is no spoon. There is awareness manifesting as a spoon. But it's all presence.
Q: I'm continuing to focus on that. For a while there, I was confusing the by-product of awakening --the bliss and fireworks that came and went--with awakening itself. Nothing could be further from the truth. The bliss and fireworks were obviously experiences that were happening inside of Big I. But this was ultimately confusing because there was the thinking that the experiences were happening to Little I. Ridiculous. Nothing happens to Little I. Little I is a happening itself. Little I is another rising and falling event within the stillness of This That Sees.
Rodney: Correct. The "Little I" can't possibly grasp or recognize the Ultimate I. For the very moment you attempt to utilize a self-image (whether it be a thought, a feeling, a personality, or an assumed body or person), you are implicitly declaring that you are not already what you are seeking. And that, most definitely, is not the case. Truly, you lack for nothing. At this very second, you are awareness proper. See that there is this some-thing that remains absolutely still, no matter what thoughts, emotions, or perceptions may arise.
Q: Well, I'm continuing to do very little to try to wake up.
Rodney: Even a little is too much. There can be no half-measures here.
Q: You mean, essentially I'm helpless.
Rodney: That which you perceive as "you" is helpless, yes. For your sense of separation is only that: An apparency that doesn't bare up to close inspection.
Q: I'm starting to fell ragged. I think I'm going to just take a little break all this.
Rodney: Sounds good!
Q: But I already know that after a couple of days, the non-search (or whatever you may call it) will all begin again. It never lasts for very long. The compulsion (what else can you call it?) will be on me again shortly, but I intend to appreciate the rest.
Rodney: That which you call a "compulsion" is just a your deep faith that you are already awareness itself. So, the less stressful you make all of this, the better. Otherwise, you are likely to continue to do what you are doing: Overlooking the obvious. But don't feel put-upon. For this is the heart of the issue for nearly all seekers. Yet, coming to this understanding need not be time-consuming or burdensome. The seeing is akin to being told by some knowing and compassionate soul that there is a smiling face within this picture of apparently disconnected dots. So, you naturally relax--even smile--to yourself, as you earnestly look for what you know is already before you.
Q: Yes, I see what you mean. But right now, it seems like there is this mind that insists upon pinning down God or It or Reality, if you will. It wants to place It--meaning attach some central focal point onto Spaciousness--either behind the body-mind, or in front of it. Everything, of course, is in relation to the human unit, which the mind views as the Hub of All Things. But God, Spaciousness, or whatever word one wishes to use entirely encompasses and permeates the body-mind--and everything else.
Rodney: What arises in the mind is neither here nor there, particularly any thought or concept saying that it (the mind) is the "Hub of it all." Move from this conceptual focusing to seeing what the concepts are pointing to. It is easy to get lost--and ragged!--in nondual conceptualization. So go ahead: Take some time away from all this. Then return to it, if you so choose, with ease and gentleness. Don't work at it. For it works on you--or rather, the assumed "you"!
Q: So the awareness is there, but it's not there.
Rodney: No, no. Not only is it thoroughly present, but it is precisely what you are. The "it's not there" is merely a thought coming up. So let your focus be on the immediate and luxuriant nature of awareness, and not on some idea that is appearing in awareness.
Q: Yes, conceptually, I see the great Truth of it. But it just stops there...I am worn out, I really am. I'm not deeply despondent, but I am absolutely worn out. About all I can stand doing in the spiritual vein right now is writing you, reading your blog, and maybe reading a little of Rumi.
Rodney: Better Rumi than your attempting to force something.
Q: Exactly! It's like I've been forever trying to open a can of beans with my fingernails!
Rodney: Again, nonduality works on you. Not you on it. The seeing comes from the direction of presence, not from this apparent individual that you take yourself be. If you remain mindful of that, you should be fine. For as we mentioned earlier, there is no spoon--or "you." Both are appearances in awareness. And you are That.
Q: Bravo!...Thank you, my friend. Everything is a bit fresher.
Rodney: The part about "coming back" to a pointer at some later time is a worthwhile consi-deration. I know someone who happened to have been reading a sentence or two from the blog that deeply moved him. He didn't come to a sudden understanding of at that point. That came later, when he was reflecting upon the pointer while washing a spoon in the kitchen. "The washing slowed," he wrote, "not because I was trying to do it, but because I was, like, seeing/ feeling this spaciousness around the spoon! And that this spaciousness was the genuine me!"
Q: What a beautiful story!
Rodney: Yes, very quiet, very ordinary. Yet, monumental in the sense that this former-seeker ended up discovering the deep peace and radi-ance of his ever-present Reality. He just hap-pened to go to the kitchen sink for a moment, half-reflecting on what he had previously perused and been moved by. The pause was significant enough that the gentleman was able to apperceive awareness in all of its richness and glory.
Q: And ultimately, there is no spoon, of course! (Laughing).
Rodney: Excellent! Right, as The Matrix correctly (on this issue) points out: There is no spoon. There is awareness manifesting as a spoon. But it's all presence.
Q: I'm continuing to focus on that. For a while there, I was confusing the by-product of awakening --the bliss and fireworks that came and went--with awakening itself. Nothing could be further from the truth. The bliss and fireworks were obviously experiences that were happening inside of Big I. But this was ultimately confusing because there was the thinking that the experiences were happening to Little I. Ridiculous. Nothing happens to Little I. Little I is a happening itself. Little I is another rising and falling event within the stillness of This That Sees.
Rodney: Correct. The "Little I" can't possibly grasp or recognize the Ultimate I. For the very moment you attempt to utilize a self-image (whether it be a thought, a feeling, a personality, or an assumed body or person), you are implicitly declaring that you are not already what you are seeking. And that, most definitely, is not the case. Truly, you lack for nothing. At this very second, you are awareness proper. See that there is this some-thing that remains absolutely still, no matter what thoughts, emotions, or perceptions may arise.
Q: Well, I'm continuing to do very little to try to wake up.
Rodney: Even a little is too much. There can be no half-measures here.
Q: You mean, essentially I'm helpless.
Rodney: That which you perceive as "you" is helpless, yes. For your sense of separation is only that: An apparency that doesn't bare up to close inspection.
Q: I'm starting to fell ragged. I think I'm going to just take a little break all this.
Rodney: Sounds good!
Q: But I already know that after a couple of days, the non-search (or whatever you may call it) will all begin again. It never lasts for very long. The compulsion (what else can you call it?) will be on me again shortly, but I intend to appreciate the rest.
Rodney: That which you call a "compulsion" is just a your deep faith that you are already awareness itself. So, the less stressful you make all of this, the better. Otherwise, you are likely to continue to do what you are doing: Overlooking the obvious. But don't feel put-upon. For this is the heart of the issue for nearly all seekers. Yet, coming to this understanding need not be time-consuming or burdensome. The seeing is akin to being told by some knowing and compassionate soul that there is a smiling face within this picture of apparently disconnected dots. So, you naturally relax--even smile--to yourself, as you earnestly look for what you know is already before you.
Q: Yes, I see what you mean. But right now, it seems like there is this mind that insists upon pinning down God or It or Reality, if you will. It wants to place It--meaning attach some central focal point onto Spaciousness--either behind the body-mind, or in front of it. Everything, of course, is in relation to the human unit, which the mind views as the Hub of All Things. But God, Spaciousness, or whatever word one wishes to use entirely encompasses and permeates the body-mind--and everything else.
Rodney: What arises in the mind is neither here nor there, particularly any thought or concept saying that it (the mind) is the "Hub of it all." Move from this conceptual focusing to seeing what the concepts are pointing to. It is easy to get lost--and ragged!--in nondual conceptualization. So go ahead: Take some time away from all this. Then return to it, if you so choose, with ease and gentleness. Don't work at it. For it works on you--or rather, the assumed "you"!
Q: So the awareness is there, but it's not there.
Rodney: No, no. Not only is it thoroughly present, but it is precisely what you are. The "it's not there" is merely a thought coming up. So let your focus be on the immediate and luxuriant nature of awareness, and not on some idea that is appearing in awareness.
Q: Yes, conceptually, I see the great Truth of it. But it just stops there...I am worn out, I really am. I'm not deeply despondent, but I am absolutely worn out. About all I can stand doing in the spiritual vein right now is writing you, reading your blog, and maybe reading a little of Rumi.
Rodney: Better Rumi than your attempting to force something.
Q: Exactly! It's like I've been forever trying to open a can of beans with my fingernails!
Rodney: Again, nonduality works on you. Not you on it. The seeing comes from the direction of presence, not from this apparent individual that you take yourself be. If you remain mindful of that, you should be fine. For as we mentioned earlier, there is no spoon--or "you." Both are appearances in awareness. And you are That.
Q: Bravo!...Thank you, my friend. Everything is a bit fresher.
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