Seekers overly-stress the notion that they must somehow "look within." But awareness is both within and without. It is everywhere at once, immaculate and beginningless.
*****
Awakening to your natural state is no "transformation of consciousness." Consciousness pretty much remains as it is, existing in its various states. If anything, it appears to function a bit better because you are clearer about who and what you actually are.
*****
If everyone on the planet were to become "enlightened" tomorrow, conflict would continue--though wars would eventually cease. For people would be getting a supreme kick out of each another's company, because they would be seeing unadorned presence squarely in one another's eyes.
*****
The "integration of the mind, spirit, and body" happens the moment you recognize that you are the awareness in which those things arise. It isn't any kind of "spiritual unfoldment," and it isn't anything requiring years of meditative endeavors or training. Alas, such suppositions are pure caprice.
*****
This understanding is not a temporary "experiencing" of God. Rather, it is an actual knowing that God's presence and magnificence has always been in full evidence.
*****
You don't require a vow or an oath to lead you to God or to Truth, which are the same thing. You are what you are. Thus the vow or oath would be something that's in addition to your natural state of being. It's just a piling-on of ideas and verbiage, which have nothing whatsoever to do with what you are at this very moment.
*****
Forget human and conscious evolutionary movements, and your need to join them and edify the world. Focus on what you are right here and now. Besides, how can you possibly help someone else if you don't have a clue about your very own Reality?
*****
Why are you striving to be "at one" with your breath? That isn't going to help you when it comes to discovering your natural state. And just who, precisely, is this entity who is doing the striving?
*****
Attempting to get rid of the ego is a spiritual and meditative trap. Why? There are a trio of reasons: 1) The ego is not a concrete, ever-present entity; 2) you are trying to use an imaged person to destroy an imaged thing; and 3) you are approaching the problem from a conceptual or idealistic level, rather than from Reality. Clueless teachers have fostered the myth that the ego (which is nothing but a temporary thought or feeling) can and does need to be annihilated.
-------
News & Info
A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, and pointers can be ordered through Amazon (starting Oct. 5th), your local bookstore (of whom we are big supporters), or directly from the publisher, Lulu Press.
-------
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Q&A:I Feel It in My Heart
Question: I just finished the audio book Perfect Brilliant Stillness, by David Carse and read by Terrance Stamp. I thoroughly enjoyed this work because Carse was so brutally honest about there not being a separate individual at all and that what we are is just presence, awareness.
Rodney: Yes, I purchased that title years back. It's definitely a keeper, and I still have it somewhere on my bookshelf. I haven't heard the audio version. However, Terence Stamp appears to have been the perfect reader; for his temperament seems fully in sync with Carse's.
Question: He certainly provides no new information, but I found his whole story an adventure, and I liked how he just went back to carpentry and sort of just disappeared.
Rodney: There is really no new information when it comes to nonduality. What is original, though, is the perspective of the person who comes to this understanding. He or she then speaks and writes about it (if the person is inclined to do so) in his own way, which will no doubt resonate with certain seekers.
Question: Yeah, I guess what I'm saying is that it is a very genuine story. It rekindles a hope (there is that nasty "future" again) that I will see this non-existent me that is so obviously right in front of me, and will then wonder how I ever missed it.
Rodney: Oh, but you do exist! You are Self itself. Even thoughts and emotions are certainly there. But what is not present is a sustained, individual you that is different from and outside of awareness. That fictitious entity is maintained largely through memory and our re-occurring body-sense.
Q: I have to tell you, Rodney, I feel like all of this is like some sort of "Tractor Beam" slowly pulling at me, and I can't seem to break free. I feel it in my heart, and it brings me to tears sometimes. I have read so many nondual books and looked at so many nondual DVDs. I have been at this for a couple of years now, maybe three. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I just pack all the books and DVDs up and throw them in a closet and say, "That's it, I've had enough, I can't do this anymore!"
Rodney: And that's okay, too. Nondual books and DVDs (at least those that are replete with clear pointing) aren't really to blame. All too often seekers read and watch them strictly from a conceptual or even mythical standpoint. So there will indeed be frustration because they will never see that to which the writers or teachers are pointing, which is their own true self. The machinations of thought and memory have to briefly stop or be paused. But this has to happen naturally. It can't be done through meditation or concentration. Then there is a simple seeing of what has always been radiantly present.
Q: And you know what else frustrates me? All those turbulent years in Christianity, being conditioned to pray to God for help whenever I felt helpless or desperate. Supposedly, this was a God who listened to us because he loved us. Now it turns out that this God is within us, and not in Heaven some where. Those were just years wasted.
Rodney: And now it's over. Count your blessings that you have seen the Light, so to speak--that you now have this innate feeling of who and what God really must be.
Q: But it is soooooo frustrating that something that is so simple and right in front of me is so elusive. And you can't talk about this to people, OMG, they think you are nuts when you suggest that all this is an illusion, an "apparent" body/mind/life.
Rodney: See the other perspective, though, which--I can assure you--is the correct one. And that is that it is such an incredible thing that presence is "so simple and right in front of me." That sterling fact, in itself, is enough to make one want to shout Emaho! (that Tibetan/Dzogchen exclamation meaning Yes! Marvelous! Far out! Amazing!). While your understanding may not yet be clear, you intuit that it is one of the easiest things in the world to come to. Be thankful for this fact, that presence isn't something that you have to attain or work toward. It is what you are at this very moment. Allow yourself to be paused by the following: What is it, right now, that is not a thought, an emotion, or a body sensation? What is it, right now, that is subtle, beginningless, and most definitely present? Ponder this, keep it in your heart, and you will see for yourself that you have always been the answer.
Q: Thanks for listening, my friend. Sorry this went on so long. I know you must get boat loads of email. I really appreciate your blog for its clarity and truth. Please keep it up.
Rodney: You're most welcome.
-----------
Here is an interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm
---------
Rodney: Yes, I purchased that title years back. It's definitely a keeper, and I still have it somewhere on my bookshelf. I haven't heard the audio version. However, Terence Stamp appears to have been the perfect reader; for his temperament seems fully in sync with Carse's.
Question: He certainly provides no new information, but I found his whole story an adventure, and I liked how he just went back to carpentry and sort of just disappeared.
Rodney: There is really no new information when it comes to nonduality. What is original, though, is the perspective of the person who comes to this understanding. He or she then speaks and writes about it (if the person is inclined to do so) in his own way, which will no doubt resonate with certain seekers.
Question: Yeah, I guess what I'm saying is that it is a very genuine story. It rekindles a hope (there is that nasty "future" again) that I will see this non-existent me that is so obviously right in front of me, and will then wonder how I ever missed it.
Rodney: Oh, but you do exist! You are Self itself. Even thoughts and emotions are certainly there. But what is not present is a sustained, individual you that is different from and outside of awareness. That fictitious entity is maintained largely through memory and our re-occurring body-sense.
Q: I have to tell you, Rodney, I feel like all of this is like some sort of "Tractor Beam" slowly pulling at me, and I can't seem to break free. I feel it in my heart, and it brings me to tears sometimes. I have read so many nondual books and looked at so many nondual DVDs. I have been at this for a couple of years now, maybe three. Sometimes I get so frustrated that I just pack all the books and DVDs up and throw them in a closet and say, "That's it, I've had enough, I can't do this anymore!"
Rodney: And that's okay, too. Nondual books and DVDs (at least those that are replete with clear pointing) aren't really to blame. All too often seekers read and watch them strictly from a conceptual or even mythical standpoint. So there will indeed be frustration because they will never see that to which the writers or teachers are pointing, which is their own true self. The machinations of thought and memory have to briefly stop or be paused. But this has to happen naturally. It can't be done through meditation or concentration. Then there is a simple seeing of what has always been radiantly present.
Q: And you know what else frustrates me? All those turbulent years in Christianity, being conditioned to pray to God for help whenever I felt helpless or desperate. Supposedly, this was a God who listened to us because he loved us. Now it turns out that this God is within us, and not in Heaven some where. Those were just years wasted.
Rodney: And now it's over. Count your blessings that you have seen the Light, so to speak--that you now have this innate feeling of who and what God really must be.
Q: But it is soooooo frustrating that something that is so simple and right in front of me is so elusive. And you can't talk about this to people, OMG, they think you are nuts when you suggest that all this is an illusion, an "apparent" body/mind/life.
Rodney: See the other perspective, though, which--I can assure you--is the correct one. And that is that it is such an incredible thing that presence is "so simple and right in front of me." That sterling fact, in itself, is enough to make one want to shout Emaho! (that Tibetan/Dzogchen exclamation meaning Yes! Marvelous! Far out! Amazing!). While your understanding may not yet be clear, you intuit that it is one of the easiest things in the world to come to. Be thankful for this fact, that presence isn't something that you have to attain or work toward. It is what you are at this very moment. Allow yourself to be paused by the following: What is it, right now, that is not a thought, an emotion, or a body sensation? What is it, right now, that is subtle, beginningless, and most definitely present? Ponder this, keep it in your heart, and you will see for yourself that you have always been the answer.
Q: Thanks for listening, my friend. Sorry this went on so long. I know you must get boat loads of email. I really appreciate your blog for its clarity and truth. Please keep it up.
Rodney: You're most welcome.
-----------
Here is an interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm
---------
Monday, September 6, 2010
Pointers
The purpose of nonduality is to point to your sky-like nature.
*****
Awareness is the ever-present witness to your varying states of consciousness (waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, etc). It is not only what you are, it is the Reality that pervades the universe. There is nothing that it isn't, nowhere where it is not.
*****
Shankara said that "the treasure I have found cannot be described in words." Amen to that.
*****
When it comes to this understanding, there is no "spiritual union" of any kind. In fact, any idea related to your "joining" anything automatically cancels the possibility of your discovering your true Self.
*****
You cannot "Be Here Now" because you are here now.
*****
True salvation, freedom, fulfillment, liberation, moksha, and enlightenment are nothing but the perceiving of your natural and ever-present state, which is, at once, consummate and simple, subtle and profound. It is a mere glance away, and not even that, really. For one of the central difficulties with presence is articulating the ease with which it can be recognized.
*****
Nonduality isn't about morality, character-building, or perfect equanimity. Compassion and peace are natural results of this seeing and understanding. Though one's personality stays largely the same, there is now this quiescent ground of being from which life is fully witnessed.
*****
Gathering knowledge will not lead you to Knowledge. Just see that your thoughts, emotions, and sensations (which are nothing but the mind) arise in a presence of extraordinary spaciousness that you have simply overlooked.
*****
Truly, you lack for nothing. Your own radiance is resplendently shining. You neither have to "come to grips" with anything, nor "let anything go." Those actions are as nonproductive as any practice in which you might indulge, no matter how intense, sustained, or rarefied that practice may be. Futile too is leaving everything up to grace. For who, precisely, would be doing that? And what is it that you think that Grace has not already bestowed upon you?
-----------
Here is an interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm
---------
*****
Awareness is the ever-present witness to your varying states of consciousness (waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep, etc). It is not only what you are, it is the Reality that pervades the universe. There is nothing that it isn't, nowhere where it is not.
*****
Shankara said that "the treasure I have found cannot be described in words." Amen to that.
*****
When it comes to this understanding, there is no "spiritual union" of any kind. In fact, any idea related to your "joining" anything automatically cancels the possibility of your discovering your true Self.
*****
You cannot "Be Here Now" because you are here now.
*****
True salvation, freedom, fulfillment, liberation, moksha, and enlightenment are nothing but the perceiving of your natural and ever-present state, which is, at once, consummate and simple, subtle and profound. It is a mere glance away, and not even that, really. For one of the central difficulties with presence is articulating the ease with which it can be recognized.
*****
Nonduality isn't about morality, character-building, or perfect equanimity. Compassion and peace are natural results of this seeing and understanding. Though one's personality stays largely the same, there is now this quiescent ground of being from which life is fully witnessed.
*****
Gathering knowledge will not lead you to Knowledge. Just see that your thoughts, emotions, and sensations (which are nothing but the mind) arise in a presence of extraordinary spaciousness that you have simply overlooked.
*****
Truly, you lack for nothing. Your own radiance is resplendently shining. You neither have to "come to grips" with anything, nor "let anything go." Those actions are as nonproductive as any practice in which you might indulge, no matter how intense, sustained, or rarefied that practice may be. Futile too is leaving everything up to grace. For who, precisely, would be doing that? And what is it that you think that Grace has not already bestowed upon you?
-----------
Here is an interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm
---------
Monday, August 30, 2010
Q&A: I'm On It
Questioner: Hey, man. It's been a while since I've written. Sorry about that. I've been concentrating on work, wife, and kids.
Rodney: It sounds like you've got three full-time jobs there. Don't be concerned about writing to me. Just focus on getting your rest and sleep!
Q: I hear ya! Still, I just wanted to give you a shout-out and let you know how much your writing continues to mean to me. Sometimes, I may not be getting what you're saying. But I'm still captivated, you know? I've even found myself glued to the computer screen, and not knowing why.
Rodney: The "not-knowing" is perfectly fine. The important thing is the pause (or at least the slowing down of thought and conceptualization), and your recognition of it. Most people overlook that the "full stop" (as Bob Adamson nicely terms it) has momentarily happened, which is unfortunate, to say the least. For the pause is both the gateway to presence and is presence itself. I even hesitate to use the term "gateway" because awareness isn't something that you move into. And neither is it some rapturous state, which is just an experience and not awareness proper, which is your fundamental reality.
Q: But how to I stay at that full stop?
Rodney: Once presence is recognized, you don't have to do a thing to "remain" there or to maintain the seeing. The seeing and and understanding fully stops you to who and what you actually are. Presence is then beautifully apparent and unmoving. Thoughts, feelings, silliness, anger, and joy will still come up; but they will come up and disappear within a pristine expanse that is nothing less than Existence itself. So that is very little identification with any thoughts and emotions. They are like waves in the ocean, rising and falling, coming and going. But what is it that remains? What is it about the waves that does not change?
Q: I don't have a clue.
Rodney: It's the fact that all waves are water. It's all one sea.
Q: Oh man, how did I miss that?
Rodney: Don't stress about it. You'll likely be saying the same thing about awareness one of these days.
Q: That's the plan! (Laughing)
Rodney: And be careful about queries relating to "how" when it comes to nonduality. If such questions naturally come up (as it did here), we can certainly address them. But know that when you are centered on the "how" as it relates to this understanding, you are focused on a "future" event, rather than on what is right here, at this very moment. So if you're going to remain with anything, remain with the fact that you are seeking something that is directly in front of you. And even that is a bit of a stretch; for you are It. You are awareness itself, which--within the body/mind--expresses itself is a peace and presence that defies all acclamation.
Q: I've been trying to read The Lamp of Non-Dual Knowledge and Cream of Liberation, because Ramana Maharshi recommended them. What do you think about those books?
Rodney: Well, I have those titles on my own bookshelf, and they aren't easy reading. They are over five-hundred years old and dense with advaitic and metaphysical references. And much of what is recommended in them isn't necessary at all (and some of it is even flat-out wrong). So if I were to recommend anything, it would be for you to explore more contemporary writers and teachers with whom you resonate. Then when your understanding is clear and beyond doubt, you can go back to those books (if you feel any inclination to do so) and read them anew. Then you will have a better sense of what the authors were saying or attempting to say. You will also be able to readily perceive statements that badly translated, romantically rendered, or simply incorrect.
Q: I know that this is probably a stupid question, but do you still remember how it felt like before you awakened?
Rodney: Vaguely. I really have to struggle for that remembrance to come up. Then, after while, the sense of isolation, malaise, and anxiousness are briefly recollected.
Q: Yep, that's me! Every one of them.
Rodney: They are only the apparent you. And that's one of the central tenets of this blog: That what you take to be yourself is not that at all. You are that in which all of your body and mind arise. And really, this natural state is beyond spaciousness. That's just a pointer to Beingness itself. Our sense of spaciousness is contained within presence, which is beyond description. Yet, it is so plainly and radiantly evident that you will wonder--upon its discovery--how it ever could have been missed.
Q: Well, I'm on it, That's all I can say. I just can't let go of this.
Rodney: It sounds like earnestness to me.
Q: Happy to hear it. At least that's a start!
Rodney: More of an ending, without a doubt.
Q: Thanks, man. That really touches me....It's good I'm not the crying type, right?
Rodney: You and me, both.
-----------
Here is an interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm
---------
Rodney: It sounds like you've got three full-time jobs there. Don't be concerned about writing to me. Just focus on getting your rest and sleep!
Q: I hear ya! Still, I just wanted to give you a shout-out and let you know how much your writing continues to mean to me. Sometimes, I may not be getting what you're saying. But I'm still captivated, you know? I've even found myself glued to the computer screen, and not knowing why.
Rodney: The "not-knowing" is perfectly fine. The important thing is the pause (or at least the slowing down of thought and conceptualization), and your recognition of it. Most people overlook that the "full stop" (as Bob Adamson nicely terms it) has momentarily happened, which is unfortunate, to say the least. For the pause is both the gateway to presence and is presence itself. I even hesitate to use the term "gateway" because awareness isn't something that you move into. And neither is it some rapturous state, which is just an experience and not awareness proper, which is your fundamental reality.
Q: But how to I stay at that full stop?
Rodney: Once presence is recognized, you don't have to do a thing to "remain" there or to maintain the seeing. The seeing and and understanding fully stops you to who and what you actually are. Presence is then beautifully apparent and unmoving. Thoughts, feelings, silliness, anger, and joy will still come up; but they will come up and disappear within a pristine expanse that is nothing less than Existence itself. So that is very little identification with any thoughts and emotions. They are like waves in the ocean, rising and falling, coming and going. But what is it that remains? What is it about the waves that does not change?
Q: I don't have a clue.
Rodney: It's the fact that all waves are water. It's all one sea.
Q: Oh man, how did I miss that?
Rodney: Don't stress about it. You'll likely be saying the same thing about awareness one of these days.
Q: That's the plan! (Laughing)
Rodney: And be careful about queries relating to "how" when it comes to nonduality. If such questions naturally come up (as it did here), we can certainly address them. But know that when you are centered on the "how" as it relates to this understanding, you are focused on a "future" event, rather than on what is right here, at this very moment. So if you're going to remain with anything, remain with the fact that you are seeking something that is directly in front of you. And even that is a bit of a stretch; for you are It. You are awareness itself, which--within the body/mind--expresses itself is a peace and presence that defies all acclamation.
Q: I've been trying to read The Lamp of Non-Dual Knowledge and Cream of Liberation, because Ramana Maharshi recommended them. What do you think about those books?
Rodney: Well, I have those titles on my own bookshelf, and they aren't easy reading. They are over five-hundred years old and dense with advaitic and metaphysical references. And much of what is recommended in them isn't necessary at all (and some of it is even flat-out wrong). So if I were to recommend anything, it would be for you to explore more contemporary writers and teachers with whom you resonate. Then when your understanding is clear and beyond doubt, you can go back to those books (if you feel any inclination to do so) and read them anew. Then you will have a better sense of what the authors were saying or attempting to say. You will also be able to readily perceive statements that badly translated, romantically rendered, or simply incorrect.
Q: I know that this is probably a stupid question, but do you still remember how it felt like before you awakened?
Rodney: Vaguely. I really have to struggle for that remembrance to come up. Then, after while, the sense of isolation, malaise, and anxiousness are briefly recollected.
Q: Yep, that's me! Every one of them.
Rodney: They are only the apparent you. And that's one of the central tenets of this blog: That what you take to be yourself is not that at all. You are that in which all of your body and mind arise. And really, this natural state is beyond spaciousness. That's just a pointer to Beingness itself. Our sense of spaciousness is contained within presence, which is beyond description. Yet, it is so plainly and radiantly evident that you will wonder--upon its discovery--how it ever could have been missed.
Q: Well, I'm on it, That's all I can say. I just can't let go of this.
Rodney: It sounds like earnestness to me.
Q: Happy to hear it. At least that's a start!
Rodney: More of an ending, without a doubt.
Q: Thanks, man. That really touches me....It's good I'm not the crying type, right?
Rodney: You and me, both.
-----------
Here is an interview that I recently did for the new online publication, Nonduality Magazine: http://www.nondualitymagazine.org/nonduality_magazine_volume_1.contents.htm
---------
Monday, August 23, 2010
Pointers
Stay with the spaciousness.
*****
Nondual inquiry creates its own devotion. You don't need to struggle to foster it or to maintain it. Your own deep desire to know your fundamental Self creates your earnestness.
*****
There is no truth to be found in the concept of awareness.
*****
Nondual inquiry creates its own devotion. You don't need to struggle to foster it or to maintain it. Your own deep desire to know your fundamental Self creates your earnestness.
*****
There is no truth to be found in the concept of awareness.
*****
Sitting around, comparing spiritual experiences (no matter how mystical or transcendent) gets you no where. For no understanding of your basic self comes from such discussions. How could it, given that you remain on the level of experiences rather than penetrating to the source of them?
*****
Truth requires no oaths, ceremonies, commitments, or spiritual names.
*****
You think (and are told) that you need to "become one" with your true self. But you don't. You are already That--which expresses itself as sereneness, spaciousness, and self-shining sheerness. The recognition of this Freedom is the understanding of it. And the understanding of it is the recognition of it. One connotes the other.
*****
The so-called "pain-body" is just another thought. It appears and then disappears. Why give it significance? The only significant thing about it is the presence from which it originates.
*****
When you talk about blissful states, you aren't talking about awareness proper. You are speaking about experiences, nothing more and nothing less. And experiences are on the same level as thought. Both are things of the body/mind. So no matter how grand the thought or experience, you haven't discerned the principle in which concepts and experiences appear and then disappear.
-----------
A recent interview I did for the new online publication Nonduality Magazine can be found at the following link:
Sitting around, comparing spiritual experiences (no matter how mystical or transcendent) gets you no where. For no understanding of your basic self comes from such discussions. How could it, given that you remain on the level of experiences rather than penetrating to the source of them?
*****
Truth requires no oaths, ceremonies, commitments, or spiritual names.
*****
You think (and are told) that you need to "become one" with your true self. But you don't. You are already That--which expresses itself as sereneness, spaciousness, and self-shining sheerness. The recognition of this Freedom is the understanding of it. And the understanding of it is the recognition of it. One connotes the other.
*****
The so-called "pain-body" is just another thought. It appears and then disappears. Why give it significance? The only significant thing about it is the presence from which it originates.
*****
When you talk about blissful states, you aren't talking about awareness proper. You are speaking about experiences, nothing more and nothing less. And experiences are on the same level as thought. Both are things of the body/mind. So no matter how grand the thought or experience, you haven't discerned the principle in which concepts and experiences appear and then disappear.
-----------
A recent interview I did for the new online publication Nonduality Magazine can be found at the following link:
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Pointers
Who is it that says that awareness isn't fully present?
*****
Your natural state does have a blissful quality to it. But that is only one of its many magnificent aspects. The others include peace and spaciousness. These are not experiences. They are the features or qualities of awareness that do no change.
*****
The thought "I'll never get this" is just an idea arising in what you already are--self-shining presence. You are That, right at this very moment. There is nothing that you have to attain or to work toward. Notions of having to do either of those only turn your attention away from what is right here, right now.
*****
Say to yourself: "I am...." But stay with the pause that has no name.
*****
You are already in full possession of your natural state. You just need to confirm this for yourself. Your own direct seeing and understanding leave you with absolutely no questions about the validity of your inherent reality. And when that recognition occurs, you may shout, smile, tear-up, shake your head, or sit in silence. Every body/personality is different.
*****
No practice can quiet the mind.
*****
What is it that is subtly present that is not a thought, a sensation, an emotion, or an object? What is it that is none of these? Do Not Move From This. See it to the end, which, ironically, is your beginning. It is all Oneness, which, in actuality, has no beginning or end.
*****
"Accessing" your natural state requires no sustained effort or practice. Please don't believe anyone who tells you this.
*****
You give the ego credibility when you attempt to engage it in any manner, particularly if that engagement involves controlling, watching, or annihilating. What is present before the ego is present? What is there before any thought, feeling, or conceptualization arises?
-----------
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.
---------
*****
Your natural state does have a blissful quality to it. But that is only one of its many magnificent aspects. The others include peace and spaciousness. These are not experiences. They are the features or qualities of awareness that do no change.
*****
The thought "I'll never get this" is just an idea arising in what you already are--self-shining presence. You are That, right at this very moment. There is nothing that you have to attain or to work toward. Notions of having to do either of those only turn your attention away from what is right here, right now.
*****
Say to yourself: "I am...." But stay with the pause that has no name.
*****
You are already in full possession of your natural state. You just need to confirm this for yourself. Your own direct seeing and understanding leave you with absolutely no questions about the validity of your inherent reality. And when that recognition occurs, you may shout, smile, tear-up, shake your head, or sit in silence. Every body/personality is different.
*****
No practice can quiet the mind.
*****
What is it that is subtly present that is not a thought, a sensation, an emotion, or an object? What is it that is none of these? Do Not Move From This. See it to the end, which, ironically, is your beginning. It is all Oneness, which, in actuality, has no beginning or end.
*****
"Accessing" your natural state requires no sustained effort or practice. Please don't believe anyone who tells you this.
*****
You give the ego credibility when you attempt to engage it in any manner, particularly if that engagement involves controlling, watching, or annihilating. What is present before the ego is present? What is there before any thought, feeling, or conceptualization arises?
-----------
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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Monday, August 9, 2010
Q&A: Shifting Your Attention
Question: Hello Rodney! I'm a coed at the University of Florida, and I've been listening to and thoroughly enjoying the Urban Guru Cafe podcast that you did last year.
Rodney: Happy to hear you're enjoying it. I've never been to Florida, but I've always wanted to visit South Beach--even in the summer, with all of SoBe's heat and humidity.
Q: Come on down! I'll give you a personal tour. Maybe we can even have a Satsang on the sand. :)
Rodney: Only if we have a very shady umbrella and numerous bottles of cold, green tea.
Q: Not to worry. I'll take care of all the details...While we're on the subject, are you planning any talks near Florida, or anywhere actually? I would really make it a point of trying to attend. For the way you explain nonduality and its related matters are so interesting and clear.
Rodney: There is the possibility of some talks being set up here in Columbia (SC), perhaps sometime in the Fall. It's really in its infancy stages, and is largely dependent upon local interest and the generous efforts of a fine West Columbia-based nonduality group. But I will announce it on my blog when and if the talks begin.
Q: Great!...In the meantime, I have a question. When I close my eyes, there is a definite spaciousness. But, after a moment, I get caught up in thoughts and feelings again. What is it that gets caught up, if I am ever present awareness?
Rodney: Ultimately, there is no one who gets "caught up" in such things. What happens is that while you are sitting with your eyes closed (neither the sitting nor the eyes being closed is a prerequisite for realizing your natural state, by the way), a thought comes up in presence and is recognized by presence. If your attention remains on the thought, you'll probably get another thought saying something to the effect of "Why can't I still my mind?" or "Why am I such a bad meditator?" And by then, of course, there are a slew of other similar questions and assessments popping up. But the thoughts are inconsequential. They are a part of the body/mind experience. Be thankful that they are there! In order to perceive that even your body/mind is an appearance, shift your attention away from the thoughts to that presence of awareness from which they arise. And this shift requires no strain or undue effort. It is a relaxed and simple understanding of something that has always been available to you.
Q: Okay, I think I see what you mean now. It's like all of this spiritual stuff--yoga and meditation etc.--are things "on top" of what we already are.
Rodney: Precisely. Though if you enjoy yoga, meditation, and sitting, by all means enjoy them. (For I certainly still enjoy yoga!) Just know that they are not a route or a way to discover your true Self.
Q: It's really great to know that it can be that easy.
Rodney: It is that easy. Just reflect upon all of this when you feel an inclination to do so. See that no matter what thoughts, emotions, or questions are there, that there is an unchanging presence of awareness in which all of those things are appearing. You will then discern, in no uncertain terms,that this pristine sheerness is who and what you actually are. Again, you are the spaciousness. That point is central to your seeing this for yourself. And this apperception and understanding is one of the simplest things in the world to come by. It is just a matter of seeing what you have been overlooking.
Q: Thanks so much, Rodney! I'm getting the cooler out for our bottles of green tea as I type, which is no easy task, mind you. But, hey, anything for our SoBe Satsang!
Rodney: Happy to hear you're enjoying it. I've never been to Florida, but I've always wanted to visit South Beach--even in the summer, with all of SoBe's heat and humidity.
Q: Come on down! I'll give you a personal tour. Maybe we can even have a Satsang on the sand. :)
Rodney: Only if we have a very shady umbrella and numerous bottles of cold, green tea.
Q: Not to worry. I'll take care of all the details...While we're on the subject, are you planning any talks near Florida, or anywhere actually? I would really make it a point of trying to attend. For the way you explain nonduality and its related matters are so interesting and clear.
Rodney: There is the possibility of some talks being set up here in Columbia (SC), perhaps sometime in the Fall. It's really in its infancy stages, and is largely dependent upon local interest and the generous efforts of a fine West Columbia-based nonduality group. But I will announce it on my blog when and if the talks begin.
Q: Great!...In the meantime, I have a question. When I close my eyes, there is a definite spaciousness. But, after a moment, I get caught up in thoughts and feelings again. What is it that gets caught up, if I am ever present awareness?
Rodney: Ultimately, there is no one who gets "caught up" in such things. What happens is that while you are sitting with your eyes closed (neither the sitting nor the eyes being closed is a prerequisite for realizing your natural state, by the way), a thought comes up in presence and is recognized by presence. If your attention remains on the thought, you'll probably get another thought saying something to the effect of "Why can't I still my mind?" or "Why am I such a bad meditator?" And by then, of course, there are a slew of other similar questions and assessments popping up. But the thoughts are inconsequential. They are a part of the body/mind experience. Be thankful that they are there! In order to perceive that even your body/mind is an appearance, shift your attention away from the thoughts to that presence of awareness from which they arise. And this shift requires no strain or undue effort. It is a relaxed and simple understanding of something that has always been available to you.
Q: Okay, I think I see what you mean now. It's like all of this spiritual stuff--yoga and meditation etc.--are things "on top" of what we already are.
Rodney: Precisely. Though if you enjoy yoga, meditation, and sitting, by all means enjoy them. (For I certainly still enjoy yoga!) Just know that they are not a route or a way to discover your true Self.
Q: It's really great to know that it can be that easy.
Rodney: It is that easy. Just reflect upon all of this when you feel an inclination to do so. See that no matter what thoughts, emotions, or questions are there, that there is an unchanging presence of awareness in which all of those things are appearing. You will then discern, in no uncertain terms,that this pristine sheerness is who and what you actually are. Again, you are the spaciousness. That point is central to your seeing this for yourself. And this apperception and understanding is one of the simplest things in the world to come by. It is just a matter of seeing what you have been overlooking.
Q: Thanks so much, Rodney! I'm getting the cooler out for our bottles of green tea as I type, which is no easy task, mind you. But, hey, anything for our SoBe Satsang!
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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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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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