Q&A: An Obvious Unfolding

Question: Hello, Rodney. I've been subscribing to your blog for a year or so now, and I really enjoy your expression.

Rodney: Thank you!

Q: I would like to share with you what has been an obvious unfolding over these last few months and to ask if you have any pointers for me.

Rodney: Sure.

Q: For a while there has been a strong sense of things being different but of not really knowing what, and therefore, I am not quite able to put it into words.

Rodney: Yes, I'm quite familiar with what you are saying. But go ahead, let's hear your perspective on it.

Q: Slowly, over the last few weeks, it has dawned on me that all that arises here is not really being taken personally, for the most part....This [Name] personality comes up, with all the familiar thought patterns, reactions, tendencies, etc, but there's really no weight to them. They are just clouds passing over. There's nothing personal about any of it.

Rodney: That all sounds good. It appears as if you are beginning to see how the maneuverings of your body and mind are actually operating. And now, because you aren't giving your thoughts and personality patterns any significant import, you are feeling this new and perplexing calmness. In fact, it is so much of an oddity that, as you noted, you aren't quite able to "put it into words."

Q: Exactly. I'm noticing that it doesn't matter whether joy or anger or fear or sadness or whatever emotion arises. There is no resistance to it, nor is there a wanting it to stay or leave. It's as if the purity of the emotion is experienced for its own sake, because there's no "me" story attached to it.

Rodney: Again, that's commendable. It seems as if you are truly getting your nondual bearings. And even your details concerning it are clear and resonant. But--

Q: I intuitively knew that that "but" was coming.

Rodney: Which, once more, points to your own deepening understanding of the matter. All that's needed here is a more precise orientation on this. In your case, I would suggest that you continue to move your focus away from your experiences and feelings, including your ones of calmness and joy. For neither of those is your abiding state. Presence is. Often, seekers equate calmness or elation with awakening. But the central aspects of awareness are peace and spaciousness. It isn't your thoughts, feelings, ideas, bodily sensations, or the fact that you are conscious. So what is left? What is it that remains? What is it that is none of those things and that does not move? What is it, right now, that is immediately present and that you have never apprehended before?

Q: I don't know...But there is definitely a pause occurring, a kind of--

Rodney: Natural cessation.

Q: Yeah, that it's.

Rodney: Now see that within the pause there is an actual presence of awareness that is, at once, beginningless and undeniable. It may appear subtle, at first. But once recognized, there is nowhere where it is not. Its reach is limitless, and you are It.

Q: Then just stay focused on awareness, rather than on the experiences, correct?

Rodney: Just see or understand that you are presence, first and foremost. There is no extra entity having to remain "focused" on anything. Then you will quickly discern that this peace and clarity doesn't come and go. They remain because they are authentic aspects of your Beingness. You continue to experience emotions (thank goodness!), but they are seen for what they are: Fleeting arisings in your natural state.

Q: Points taken. Much love to you, Rodney.

Rodney: And to you, as well.

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News & Info

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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Pointers

Earnestness means full-speed ahead to a destination at which you have already arrived.

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You are completely wasting your time if you are attempting to end or to dissolve the ego. That is simply one thought or concept trying to negate another. And the harder and longer you try, the more frustrating it will become. Is that any way to live your life, especially a so-called spiritual one?

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The issue with recognizing presence is not so much its subtlety (though that is certainly a factor), but its immediacy. Even before you begin to sit in meditation or pick up a spiritual book or read the next word in this very sentence, your natural state is brilliantly present.

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True awakening doesn't cause "disorientation." Indeed, you are suddenly centered in ways that you could not imagine. And it's little wonder, given that you are then centeredness, i.e., awareness proper. You were that even before your awakening, of course; but now you know it to be actual.

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There is no need for you to "reexamine certain patterns of thinking" or create some sort of "energetic unfolding." Those are conceptual activities that never go beyond their self-perpetuating little loops.

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Awakening ends the process of seeking. If you're still meditating and going to your teacher for counsel, you have not recognized anything.

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There is no separation between you and awareness. Ponder this, naturally and earnestly. Truly let it sink in. Again, there is absolutely no separation between you and awareness. If there is any grand or root precept to nonduality, that's the one. You are this knowing, unblinking spaciousness that is within and before your so-called body and mind. Indeed, there is no way out, really. So why not stop all the struggling and take a non-moment to recognize this unabashed refulgence that you have continually been overlooking?

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News & Info

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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DVD Review

Closer Than Close: A Portrait of Seeking and Finding Our True Self (Poetry in Motion Films/80 minutes/$12.95 plus shipping) is an often moving and diverting work. Director Shawn Nevins captures two sets of seekers: A young one and a middle-aged one. No person, in either group, comes to any final understanding, though their earnestness is apparent.

The young group includes Heidi (a project leader for a Fortune 500 firm), Jeff (an After-School teacher), Scott (a Robotics Software engineer), and Nevins himself. Their questions and discussions--which occasionally go in the wrong direction--are, at least, honestly given.

The middle-age group is comprised of Mike Conners, an "Effortless Meditation" teacher from Cincinnati, Ohio; Art Ticknor, who recently wrote Solid Ground of Being: A Personal Story of the Impersonal; and Bart Marshall, who lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and is the author of The Perennial Way, which contains six new translations of such spiritual classics as the Dhammapada, Heart Sutra, and Astavakra Gita.

Most of the seekers have had potent insights, and a few have actually stopped actively searching. Marshall, for instance, "became unfooled" and saw the falseness of many of his ideas and activities.

And Ticknor credits Richard Rose and his works for helping him to realize that "the answer is within," and not in practices. Indeed, Ticknor makes the point that, "It's seemingly silly to say that all you have to do is be what you are. Obviously, we always are what we are. But there is something in the way of recognizing that." Actually, there isn't. It is just a matter of seeing that not only is there nothing in the way, but that awareness is immediately before us. And we are That.

For information on ordering Closer Than Close (which is a fine title, by the way) go to: www.poetryinmotionfilms.com

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News & Info

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available for purchase. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

Vastness is now available for the Amazon Kindle! Order Here.

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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Pointers

Consciousness is local. Awareness is non-local.

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The "new awakening" is the old awakening. Or rather, there is nothing new or old about it. It is timeless and beyond all categorizations. Why some writers and gurus attempt to make this understanding into something contemporary is puzzling.

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There is no expansion of awareness when it is recognized. That is one of those ridiculous notions put forward by teachers who have no clarity about themselves or nonduality. When true understanding occurs, awareness is seen as expansiveness itself. It is a sheerness that is completely without bounds. Even to talk of expansion and expansiveness when it comes to presence is to short change it in an almost laughable way.

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Keep a dream journal if you enjoy your dreams. But such a journal won't help you to discern your natural state.

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More often than not, meditation doesn't "quiet the mind." Rather, it tends to make thoughts more apparent. Why? Because all of your attention is on stopping the thoughts. And when that happens, you are prone to be more aware when any thought appears. Even when you say that you are simply "witnessing" the thought or just letting thoughts "come and go," there is this imagined person there attempting to do either thing. So you still haven't gotten any closer to who and what you truly are. You can easily go a lifetime in this nonsensical loop, and--of course--most meditators do.

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Can love and devotion really be practiced? Or are they simply a spontaneous and unbridled outpouring from the heart? This is one of those spiritual questions for which the answer can be readily intuited, even if it cannot yet be clearly seen.

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Self-inquiry is beyond "being spiritual." It is a clear and earnest pondering or investigation into your present and actual nature. There is no journey to be made and no practices to be done--just a peace and spaciousness to be recognized. Right now, as you're reading these words, you are seeing from, through, and at the solution for which you are seeking. This is your miracle, your glory, your effluence of sacredness: You are the answer. Don't move from this, because THIS is what you are.

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News & Info

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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Q&A: With Ease and Earnestness

Questioner: Hey Rodney. I was just reading your blog, and it really drew me in. In fact, I could not stop reading it!

Rodney: Thank you, but I hope you finally took some time off.

Q: I'm writing you. That's the time off!

Rodney: Well, have a nourishing glass of water or some green tea with that break, will you?

Q: Soon, I promise. I have a couple of questions for you first, if it's all right?

Rodney: Sure.

Q: Advaita means nondual or "not two." This oneness is the fundamental quality of everything. Everything is a part of and made of one nondual consciousness. Often the question arises, "If it is all one thing, why don't I experience it that way?" This is confusing oneness for the appearance of sameness. Things can appear different without being separate.

Rodney: Let us first be careful about our terms--though ultimately, they mean little at all. Consciousness--the sense that you are present--emanates from awareness. So it cannot possibly be considered nondual, in the sense that it is your fundamental nature. Consciousness is more of an aspect of awareness, just like any other manifestation in life.

Q: It's there, but it's not there.

Rodney: Oh, no. It's there! It's your state of awakeness. But it's a temporary arising within presence, which does not change.

Q: Oh, okay. I think I see what you mean.

Rodney: As for why you're not experiencing Self--well, you can't help but experience it. For it is what you are. You are merely overlooking that "oneness," which is immediately within and before you. Indeed, its very nearness appears to complicate one's perceiving it. But there is no real complication, of course--only an apparent one. For we simply aren't use to looking at something so close up. We only know thoughts and emotions and sensations. But what is it that is there before any of those things are there?

Q: I love that question. It really "stills" me. But then the mind starts up again.

Rodney: Don't worry about the mind. You are now taking note of a pause that you had not quite noticed before. You are delving into the issue of the space or spaciousness in which those things arise. You are angled towards the answer now, and the answer is you, awareness proper.

Q: So I can be complicating my seeing by trying too hard.

Rodney: Exactly. But your enthusiasm, which I sense as natural, is to be commended.

Q: That's good, because I'm going to take a deep breath and dive right back in.

Rodney: You don't come to this understanding through any straining or inordinate efforts. All of that is completely unnecessary. Just continue to explore this issue with ease and earnestness, and you will have the answer for yourself. And it will be a living and a vital answer, one of true peace and understanding.

Q: Thanks for the "living" and "vital" chat, Rodney. And thank you for your blog too!

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News & Info

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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Pointers

The mind translates; awareness witnesses.


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You are not a paradigm. Your essence is transcendence and is completely beyond all philosophical constructs and theorizing.


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I love what Bodhiharma said about the nature of reality: "Vast emptiness, nothing holy, nothing sacred." And yet that spaciousness is the very epitome of sacredness.


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Despite some popular teachings to the contrary, awareness doesn't rise, nor does it occur because conditions are favorable for it. Awareness is what you are; thus we were given the classic nondual exhortation, "You are That." See what it is that you are presently overlooking. That is what nonduality is all about. It couldn't be simpler than that.


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You are spaciousness, not the thoughts, feelings, or bodily sensations that come up within it. If you take a careful look at this fact, you will be free.


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Having transcended pleasure and pain doesn't mean that one doesn't experience pleasure and pain. Such a person still enjoys pleasure and seeks quick relief from pain. But now, there is no defined person doing this. It is the clear and natural actions of a particular body/mind entity, whose fundamental nature is awareness itself.


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Even when picking up some of the old advaitic texts, my near-constant response, upon reading them, is "No, no, no," rather than "Yes, yes, yes!"


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When you say that you can't be free of your body and your thoughts, you are already free of your body and your thoughts. For if you have the ability to perceive something, that means that your innermost nature is above and beyond that which it is perceiving.


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Your spirit doesn't need awakening. It's not even "spirit." It truly is the sound of one hand clapping. And what is that sound? Right now, at this very moment, what is that sound?


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What you are seeking can't be sought. It is there and fully present before any attempts are made toward it. Allow your mind to be paused by this exquisite fact. Direct and poignant pointing can't help but stop your mental churning. You just don't take note of such timeless moments when they occur; nor do you see the fullness of them. And such moments take place many, many times during the day. So be alert for them, in a relaxed and easy manner. And perhaps you will come to see yourself in all of your sheerness and majesty.

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News & Info

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

And for the book's Press Release, click Here.

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Q&A: No Message

Question: I'm delighted about your book, Rodney. I purchased a trio of copies--one for myself, and two others for holiday gifts to friends.

Rodney: Well, I believe three copies of a nondual title qualifies it as a bonafide bestseller. So thank you!

Q: I continue to read, ponder, and allow myself to be paused. That particular approach is so beautiful, really. It never feels like seeking; hence, there is no exasperation. It's rather like a day-to-day examination of the things and ideas that I previously thought "weighty" (I loved the way you used that word in your previous posting).

Rodney: Good points, all. But be wary of the "examination of things." That could continue without end. A thought is a thought is a thought. End of story. There is really nothing left to examine. Just see that you are giving undue significance to your thoughts and feelings. Yes, they are vital and practical, but they aren't who and what we are. We know that an idea and an emotion is there because there is a knowingness in which the thought or feeling arises. That knowingness is awareness.

Q: Yes, awareness is the examiner.

Rodney: Presence doesn't dissect or scrutinize. It perfectly beholds whatever is present. Whatever comes up after the initial witnessing is the so-called mind, with its varying assessments of the original thought, concept, or sentiment.

Q: And to see that this is happening is enough for a full understanding, correct?

Rodney: Yes, but it has to be a seeing that halts all mentation. It is the sudden and complete recognition of the permeation of awareness, which is the essence of your beingness. And it has always been present, of course--just overlooked. Our attention goes to a multitude of things throughout the day, and that is perfectly fine when we notice a car coming before we attempt to cross the road. But one could argue that it is not so good when we are, say, focused on our thoughts and breathing in an attempt to control them so that we can reach some so-called spiritual and fleeting state.

Q: But I will know it when I see, I suppose--this awareness.

Rodney: Generally, yes. You will know it when you see it. But if there is any question, just look at, say, your cup of tea or coffee on the table in front of you, or at some object in the distance. Then note if the spaciousness is still there. If it is, it is the real deal. If it is not, you will know that it was simply a passing experience. But don't get depressed! Be happy that you were able to quickly and accurately sort things out.

Q: My dear Rodney, do know you why I treasure your blog? It's because of such clear and "radiant" specifics as the aforesaid. No haziness or advaitic verbiage at all, and no making a mystery of things. I'm sure you understand what I'm attempting to convey.

Rodney: Completely.

Q: And the very same applies to your A Vastness All Around, of course. I experience the same "halting" as I did when I read Tony Parson's Invitation to Awaken. But with your book, the stillness seems to sit there for some time longer. I'm explaining this very, very badly. But again, I know you can sense my intent.

Rodney: Everyone responds differently to nondual books. I'm happy, of course, that Vastness moves you in the way that it does. Remain with the stillness that you are feeling, allowing yourself to fully see that the tranquility remains on its own, that there is no you having to do anything at all.

Q: I most certainly will...And I would like to write you again, if that's okay, as I continue to "sort things out." But for now, thank you so much for your message, Rodney.

Rodney: You're most welcome. But there is no message, really. It's just a responding from the source, a welling up from this particular body/mind entity. My perspective is the only originality here. For what I am pointing to is the very same thing to which all the other sages (from Buddha and Nisargadatta to Sailor Bob Adamson) have pointed, and that is Freedom itself.

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News & Info

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is now available. Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews and powerful pointers can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

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