Radiance of Being: A Blog on Nonduality

So What Is It That You Feel?

2012-02-03T02:56:00.001-08:00

Breakfast on the long, sectional table from Ikea: Cinnamon muffins (from Zagara's Marketplace), organic blueberries, double-pulp orange juice, Three Beans coffee for me, and piping black tea for her (the pot neatly in its cozy).

We periodically stare out at delicate flurries of snow through the nine, multi-pane windows of her dining room. She lives here now, in this dark brick, two-story 1916 Colonial Revival house. A trio of kitties that remembered me within 10 seconds (after having not seen me for over a year) brush gracefully against my legs, marking me again and again. I reach down stroking them as they do.

"So what is it that you feel?" she asked. This is the first direct question that she has ever asked me about this understanding since my coming to it in the spring of 2007. "Is it like contentment?"

"No. Contentment is a feeling that is easily altered. What is felt here is a deep presence of peace and spaciousness that never changes, even with the arising of strong emotions. It is always the same because it is my natural state. It's yours, as well. And that's all that nonduality is teaching or pointing to.

She sips her tea and gazes out the window. "I should have asked you that a long time ago," she finally says.

"Thanks, but no 'shoulds' are needed. Your curiosity is simply at the level that it is. It may deepen, and it may not. You can't push someone to have an interest in self-knowledge. Nor should you." Benign silence.

We bundle up and get into the car for sight-seeing. We drive through some of the most beautiful enclaves of Cleveland--Shaker Heights, University Circle, Little Italy, and her own Cleveland Heights. The houses are mammoth, ranging in styles from Federal and Tudor to Georgian and elaborate Queen Anne. They were mostly built in the early 20th-century, when the rich made their living spaces large.

We then make delicious forays to Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Heinen's, and On the Rise Artisan Breads, where we get a loaf of oven-fresh Country Sourdough for "Cousin Amy," where we are going for dinner that afternoon.

Amy and her family of doctors: Her husband is a psychiatrist, and their two sons are, respectively, an internist and an orthopedic surgeon. And each has children who love to descend upon this rambling, two-story lake house. A freezing drizzle quickens as we pull into the drive. The amber-lit windows are adorned with warmth, movement, and people wanting to meet me.

But as I get out the car, I am thoroughly paused by the stormy and seemingly endless expanse of Lake Erie. "Make my apologies," I say and run to the long, deeply angled steps leading down to the beach. "Rodney!" she yells. But I'm gone, holding tightly on to the wooded railings. Still, I slip three times on the icy steps, but manage to right myself during the slow, perilous descent.

The beach is tiny and cluttered. Wave-flattened stones, tree limbs, boat garbage, and coyote tracks predominate. Four black, partially-submerged, metal groins stave off the house's eventual tumble into the bone-chilling waters. The air reeks of oil, rot, and fish. And far out, the grey, gelid churning of the lake melds with a turbulent sky. I turn and gaze upward to the house. And there they are--women at the window, staring down, protectively.

"So what is it that you feel?" she asked. Utter vastness and gratitude.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

The paperback version of Fully Present is now on AMAZON! It can also be purchased at Barnes & Noble, and is available through bookstores nationwide.

~~~~~

For the Kindle edition of Fully Present, go here: AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

For Tami Brady's review of Fully Present in TCM Reviews, go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

--Philip Goldberg, author of the best-selling American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation--How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Philip's Web site can be found at www.philipgoldberg.com.

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

EVENTS: I will be giving a weekend talk on nonduality at OneCircle in Silver Spring, Maryland on February 10-12, 2012. For the flyer, go HERE. I will also be signing books, as well as answering questions. Feel free to contact OneCircle for more information.

######

Rodney is also the author of A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State, a powerful and elegant collection of essays, discussions, interviews, and powerful pointers. It can be ordered directly from the publisher at Lulu Press.

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

"I like your approach in A Vastness All Around. The stories, thoughts and vignettes of your life seem wonderful ways to make people stop and pay attention to where they actually are right now, rather than in some imagined past or future. They show that you don't have to be some specially qualified person, preferably with a title and a name in Sanskrit, to pursue the spiritual quest. Your message comes across particularly well in such pieces as 'Sheerness of Being.'"

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Assumed, But Not Actual

2012-01-29T02:10:00.001-08:00

The soft, wobbly ride on the "Rapid." It lurches from the bowels of the airport to the apocalyptic grim of downtown Cleveland. I gaze through the windows. Curiosity and sadness arise within me, and not a scintilla of aversion. Dark riders loll in the dusky seats. The only whiteness holds my hand.

Later, the talk at the aromatic Coffee House at University Circle. A handful of bright, hardy souls braving the frigid evening. I begin to speak. Words pour forth from a source I know all too well--and yet, not at all. For there is nothing but Presence, and no one to know it.

Afterwards, always the second-guessing: Was I specific enough in pointing out how pauses are wellsprings for creativity too? Were my examples accessible? Should I have reiterated how creativity arises in us similarly, but expresses itself differently in every person? And yet, it comes from the same source: Awareness itself.

Books are signed in my quick, indecipherable scrawl. I glance at my name. Who is this person that toiled at these svelte tomes? One can only point to a fleeting approximation, a beingness where individuality is assumed, but is not actual.

Long, tight hugs from those in attendance. Then the weighted silence during the quick stroll to the car. She glances at me, this former love, attempting to make sense of a "someone" that was never actually there in the first place. Her gloved hand touches my arm.

But we say nothing, as the sleet quickens. We gaze at the huge, neoclassic Cleveland Art Museum, with its white Georgian Marble. It's all a part of her storied life now--this sprawling, erudite, collegiate community. Her hand on my arm does not move. It says only one thing: Come back to me.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

NEW: The paperback version of Fully Present is now on AMAZON! It can also be purchased at Barnes & Noble, and is available through bookstores nationwide.

~~~~~

For the Kindle edition of Fully Present, go here: AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

Tami Brady of TCM Reviews has reviewed Fully Present. Go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Pointers

2012-01-21T02:07:00.001-08:00

See what it is that is not moving.

*****

The body, mind, emotions, personality, and consciousness--none of these things is you. So what is that remains? What is it that is in full view?

*****

Presence is not a void. Indeed, it is the only real thing that there is.

*****

You have to see yourself by yourself. No teacher can give it to you or structure some method or process with which this understanding will occur. Your immediate and unending spaciousness is the answer.

*****

There is nothing to be done and no one to do it. You can't GI-Joe your way to this so-called enlightenment.

*****

Stop trying to be free, and simply see that you are Freedom itself. How can awareness, which you already are, be in any way acquired or contained? More foolish still is to think that presence can somehow be "entered" or "maintained"!

*****

Who is dissolving what? There are too many characters in this play. The stage is all there is. See the beauty, silence, and unchanging vastness of it. Nothing has to be rehearsed, fine-tuned, or performed. You are what you are at this very moment. You always have been and you always will be awareness itself.

******

See or feel what the pointer is pointing to. The words are nudging you (directionally, not sequentially) towards a peace and silence that has been glaringly overlooked. You are that silence! You are that peace! And even those descriptions are concepts on top of the indescribable This-ness of presence.

*****

The "ego" can't be dissolved. So forget about that approach all together. For you are attempting to stop something that naturally occurs and then disappears. It's a practicality that helps you to function in life. Simply bring your attention to the spaciousness in which the "I-sense" comes and goes, and you will be on the right track.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

NEW: The paperback version of Fully Present is now on AMAZON!

~~~~~

For the Kindle edition of Fully Present, go here: AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

Tami Brady of TCM Reviews has reviewed Fully Present. Go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Q&A: Earnestly Seeking

2012-01-14T02:27:00.001-08:00

Questioner: Hey, Rodney. I just saw on CNN that the Republican candidates are heading your way for the South Carolina primaries. So I thought I would drop you a line and see how you're holding up.

Rodney: Primaries? What primaries? It's news to me. I'm joking, of course. But as you might guess, I don't follow politics. I'm not advocating that sentiment for anyone. It's just me. I'm no example for anybody.

Q: I also wanting to let you know how much I'm really enjoying A Vastness All Around and Fully Present. Both have been very helpful on several issues.

Rodney: I'm happy to hear that. Thank you--and thank you for the purchases, as well!

Q: In your diary, for example, you cleared away the doubts and fears that came up when reading--many years ago--Krishnamurti's Notebook. You show that this understanding can be something natural, and that the family does not have to suffer from dramatic changes.

Rodney: And neither did J. Krishnamurti, I imagine. Still, I found his writing vague and dualistic. But he appears to have been a lovely and immensely compassionate person. And I, like many former seekers, have several of his books in my library.

Q: I'm in my late 50's, and deeply saddened over the fact that after years of earnest looking and direct pointing from credible teachers, there is no final understanding here. And I know that it may happen soon, or it may not.

Rodney: Yes, but just to be clear: Awareness has happened! Awareness is all there is. In fact, it is so in evidence that you are overlooking it. And I'm not pointing you out here. This "by-passing" of presence is going in all spiritual sectors, with seekers the world over. That timeless and marvelously concise nondual gem "You are That" points us to an immediacy to which you have never given your attention. And when you do come to your clear seeing, you will certainly perceive that there never was a who, but always a what--awareness itself.

Q: Yes, I see what you're saying. And I'm certainly not asking you what can be done because that would be a practice or a path, which would be a separate "me" operating at some level.

Rodney: Right--there can be no path or process to what you already are.

Q: I'm not even interested in a career and material things. I just want to know the truth of who I am.

Rodney: Food, clothing, and shelter are paramount. Once you have the essentials, then it's a personal decision as to the quality and quantity of those things. Your forging ahead is commendable. Just keep in mind that there is no "ahead" and no place to go. Presence is ever-present. And you are That. You never move from being what you are right at this moment. Any pause or pointer can "take" you there--that is, point you to something that is supremely present. And time is not a factor in that recognition. So what is it, right now, that you need no time to see?

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

The Kindle version of Fully Present is now available on AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

RECENTLY IN: Tami Brady of TCM Reviews has reviewed Fully Present. Go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

EVENTS: I will be speaking to the Create-A-Ways Meetup Group in Cleveland, Ohio on January 25th at 7:00pm. We'll be meeting upstairs at The Coffee House in University Circle. I will be discussing creativity and nonduality. I will also be signing books. Anyone in the area is welcome to join us.

######

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Pointers

2012-01-07T01:57:00.001-08:00

You are awareness itself. You can't possibly be anything but That.

*****

The body, mind, personality, and consciousness are all appearances in presence. You aren't any of those arisings. You are That that knows that they are momentarily there. Bring your attention to the spaciousness around the thought or emotion.

*****

You are the sumptuous and un-altering background to your apparent and ever-changing life. Your very own peaceable kingdom resides immediately within you. And that stillness is without end. For the space inside of a jar is the same space outside of the jar. The jar is largely inconsequential. The space is not.

*****

Even an ongoing "acceptance of all things" can be the "me" in muffled operation. There are no positions to be taken by any apparent "I" when it comes to self-knowing.

*****

Earnestness, graciousness, and purposefulness are qualities that I see, time and again, in seekers who have any measure of success in nonduality. I don't exactly know why that is, but it's a commendable circumstance.

*****

Right now, what you are is prior to any doubts, questions, and imaginings you might have about nonduality.

*****

Don't turn self-knowing into a process. If you do, it will certainly be a never-ending one. Why? Because then your focus and attention is on the methodology, rather than on what is fully and radiantly present. No process can "take" you to awareness. You are awareness! Thus, the use of any method to "reach" your natural state is simply idiotic.

*****

There is no separate self. You are awareness proper. If you reflect upon this, quietly allowing the accuracy of that statement to come to you again and again (naturally and spontaneously) throughout the day, you just may come to see the actual and living Truth to which the statement is pointing.

*****

Just because some people assert that they have no more questions, doesn't mean that they have come to a true understanding of who and what they are. This applies to seeker and teacher alike. There has to be a complete seeing of how life is apparently appearing and dividing itself into subjects and objects, forms and no-forms.

*****

We talk a lot about understanding in nonduality. But actually, self-knowing is totally beyond any conceptual, psychological, or spiritual apprehension. And it is certainly beyond any names or labeling we might attach to it. Understanding, by most credible teachers, simply means a recognition of the presence of awareness within you. And by knowing that it is fully evident, you immediately perceive that there is nowhere where It is not. And that there is nothing that It is not. There never was, and there never will be.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now out. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

The Kindle version of Fully Present is now available on AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

JUST IN: Tami Brady of TCM Reviews has reviewed Fully Present. Go HERE.

****

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

######

EVENTS: I will be speaking to the Create-A-Ways Meetup Group in Cleveland, Ohio on January 25th at 6:30pm. We'll be meeting upstairs at The Coffee House in University Circle. I will be discussing creativity and nonduality. I will also be signing books. Anyone in the area is welcome to join us.

######

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Q&A: Plodding Along

2011-12-31T03:06:00.001-08:00

Questioner: I'm continuing to plod along, Rodney. That's about as much as I can say, right now.

Rodney: I understand. Plodding along is okay.

Q: I'm going to just take my time with this.

Rodney: Taking your time is fine, as long as you keep in mind that time isn't a factor in nonduality. It's all about seeing or understanding what is fully present, not about "getting" or "attaining" anything.

Q: Reading your blog helps keep me going. But sometimes, I really feel discouraged.

Rodney: Again, I understand. What comes up--in terms of your thoughts, feelings, and uncertainties--is what comes up. Just know that those sentiments make absolutely no impact on what you are at this moment. Presence cannot be touched. You aren't your doubts or hesitations. You are the clarity and spaciousness that knows that the doubts are temporarily there. You (largely by force of habit) are bringing your attention to your uncertainties rather than to this simple presence of awareness that is before, around, and beyond those uncertainties.

Q: Yes, I know you're right. I'm just not seeing it.

Rodney: It isn't evident to you yet. But you see (and this is something that you might want to ponder or reflect upon, if you're drawn to do so), the central reason you aren't recognizing it is because it is so directly in front of you that you are looking right passed it, so to speak--for there is no place where it is not. Awareness is your natural state. Any thoughts, images, concepts, and doubts are merely temporary arisings in that awareness. Even your body is a passing appearance in your perpetual spaciousness!

Q: I get these little moments when I feel like that's how it actually is. But I can't get those times to remain stable.

Rodney: If you're talking about peaceful moments, they are merely experiences. They are, by their very nature, fleeting. But if you're talking about pauses, you are genuinely "open," at that point, to who and what you fundamentally are.

Q: How can I be sure of the difference?

Rodney: If it's an experience, you are likely to be thinking or feeling that this moment is nice, pleasurable, etc. With a pause, however, there are no thoughts whatsoever--just a subtle but very real presence of awareness, that you immediately know or intuit is everlasting.

Q: Okay, that helps me to see the difference between them.

Rodney: Just take note of what it is that remains as all of your thoughts, emotions, and unsureness come and go. Something remains, something doesn't change. Allow yourself to be alert for a subtle absoluteness that is within you right now. For you aren't a theory or a belief or a spiritual concept. You're awareness itself. You are that that never changes. Take note of what it is that remains absolutely the same at any time, whether you're bringing your attention to it or not. That is your essence, your treasure-trove. Have a look for yourself. For there is nothing that is more immediately before you than That.

Q: Thanks, Rodney. I'll let all this marinade a little, and maybe get back to you in a couple of weeks.

Rodney: Sounds good.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, has just been published. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

The Kindle version of Fully Present is now available on AMAZON.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

More praise for the new book:

"Fully Present is an elegant addition to the growing literature on nonduality as it is being uncovered, lived and understood in the modern West."

****

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site is www.wayofstory.com

~~~~~

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Pointers

2011-12-24T03:18:00.001-08:00

You're looking away from what you are seeking. You're looking at everything but It.

*****

You are certainly present, for you're reading these words at this very moment. But what is it that is present? Take a calm and quiet moment to ponder what, precisely, is being overlooked. And with the answer, you go from being merely present to Presence itself.

*****

All pointers here are pointing to something that is immediate, actual, and without beginning or end. I have zero interest in theories and conjecture. For before any concept or idea can pop into your head, you are awareness already. Just confirm it for yourself.

*****

The world is not the problem, and neither are you. This understanding is simply about your recognizing the fact that what you are seeking is precisely what you are right now!

*****

There is a hushness to presence, as well as a hallowed palpability. It is there, and it isn't. Once you see that it is "this," you also see how it is "that." Then you understand how it is neither. Turn in any direction, and it is there. And so are You.

*****

Nonduality requires neither decades of devotion nor a disciplining of the mind. Awareness is your very nature. You are more It than you are your body and your breathing. See what it is that you keep coming back to throughout the day and evening--those precious periods between every transient thought, sentiment, and belief.

*****

There is a presence of awareness directly within and before you, as you are reading these words. It never moves from being right there, right now.

*****

The mind can help you enormously with your seeking. It will take from one experience and concept to another, and it will do this until the end of your days. It can't, however, recognize and understand your abiding nature--for the mind comes and goes within that nature, in that eternal peace and spaciousness that just happens to be your ever-present state.

*****

You say, "From now on, I'm not going to care about what the mind does." But who is the perceived individual that is going to be doing that? Notice that a position is being taken here, and that that can only happen when there is a doer, a "someone" who is going to set things right. The mind is going to do what it is going to do. Thoughts and emotions are going to continue to rise. They aren't you. They can't possibly be you! You are That which recognizes them. Bring your attention back to your timeless essence, and see the bare, beautiful truth of who and what you are.

-----

News & Info

JUST IN: The Kindle version of Fully Present is now available on AMAZON.

~~~~~

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, has just been published. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

Praise for the new book:

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site can be found at www.wayofstory.com

~~~~~

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Q&A: Vantage Point

2011-12-17T02:16:00.001-08:00

Question: Hey, Rodney. Congratulations on the new book!

Rodney: Thank you.

Q: I've already ordered a copy, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Rodney: Thanks again!

Q: How do I recognize something that is "prior to consciousness," as Nisargadatta called awareness? It seems really difficult--make that impossible--from my vantage point.

Rodney: Well, first of all, get rid of the idea of there needing to be a "vantage point" from which to discover presence. The vantage point is part of the problem, because it can take the form of any number of things--your mind, your personality, your gender, your nationality, your physicality, etc.

Q: Those things are just the ego, I take it?

Rodney: Right. We are simply taking ourselves to be this or that throughout the day and evenings. And that this occurs so often points to the fact your ego is a temporary appearance. It isn't this defined "thing" that you can obliterate or chip away at, as some teachers suggest you can do. It is merely self-identification with whatever you are feeling, thinking, or imagining at the moment.

Q: It's just coming and going.

Rodney: Coming and going.

Q: Okay.

Rodney: Consciousness also is coming and going, with its varying states. So at this point, you have to ask yourself, "Can something that is occasional and conceptual actually recognize awareness?"

Q: Okay, I see it now. No, it won't work that way.

Rodney: Exactly. So what perceives awareness? Awareness recognizes itself, which it can do through the body/mind structure. You can think of this recognition and understanding as an ultimate form of sentience, with the following trio of statements becoming progressively more clarifying for the seeker: "I exist, I am aware that I exist, and I am Awareness." In pure presence, no objects are there. Deep sleep is close to such awareness, but not fully so. Still, you feel profound rest and contentment when you wake in the early morning hours.

Q: That's good. I'm getting a real sense of what you're saying.

Rodney: And again, it is merely a matter of seeing and understanding something that has already taken place. Presence isn't going to "happen" to you at some future time or at some supposedly sacred location along the Ganges or high atop some Mayan ruin.

Q: I couldn't afford to go anyway!

Rodney: I mean, it might happen while you're there. I'm just saying that it isn't necessary. Your time would be far better spent talking--directly or by phone--to someone whose understanding is unimpeachable. You see, before you take a single step to go to any of those supposedly spiritual places, you are already shining in your own resplendence--a resplendence in which your thoughts, emotions, and varying states of consciousness are appearing. What is it, right now, that is aware that all of those things are coming and going, coming and going? If you look carefully, you will see that it is a beginningless peace and spaciousness for which all words pale, and that has never not been present.

Q: Rodney, I really appreciate this--your taking the time and all. I'll touch base with you again in a week or so, if that's okay?

Rodney: No problem. Take care.

-----

News & Info

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

Praise for the new book:

"Rodney Stevens opens his daily life and thoughts to us in these immensely natural and pleasant ramblings of one who is fully engaged in life, love, nonduality, and cinnamon muffins."

--Catherine Ann Jones, award-winning screenwriter, spiritual workshop leader, and author of The Way of the Story: The Craft and Soul of Writing. Her Web site can be found at www.wayofstory.com

~~~~~

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

--Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England)

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Pointers

2011-12-10T01:50:00.001-08:00

You are awareness already. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

*****

Who is it that is doubting that self-knowledge can't be had? If you examine the issue carefully, you will see (and with considerable ease) that the doubt is just an arising thought. Thus, your uncertainty can't be you because you can't be something that comes and goes. So what remains? Ever-present awareness, which has merely being ignored.

*****

Conditioning isn't a constant. It is a thought, feeling, or action arising in the spaciousness that you presently are. Freedom is your nature, your inherent condition. You're giving emphasis to the thoughts and emotions because you think or imagine that they are the only things that are there. But that simply isn't the case.

*****

Your mind can never find awareness. Can a shadow reach the sun?

*****

See how hypothetical you are making everything--how needless questions arise out of your intellectualizing (not to mention mythologizing!) your search for self-knowledge. When this is seen, there is a very natural pause that points to presence itself.

*****

In order to know that your thoughts and sentiments are temporarily there, there must be a fundamental knower that is always there. This knower isn't your body or your mind or your consciousness. It is pure awareness. And yes, you are the Knower. Allow yourself to see the immense beauty and fullness of this. You will marvel at how you could have missed it for so long.

*****

Awareness is independent of your thoughts, concepts, and spiritual lineage. It's there whether you believe in it or not. It's all a matter of seeing and understanding presence As-It-Is. Anything less than that is experiential, fleeting, and conceptual. You are what you are at this very second. But you take yourself to be your job, body, personality, gender, nationality, or bank account. And none of that is true.

*****

The answer to all of your spiritual and philosophical questions is directly within and before you. All that is needed is for you to recognize how clearly your own Clarity is already present. No spiritual or geographical journeys are required for that. Radiance is what you are at this very moment. So go ahead, have a quick and timeless look at your ever-present nature. It is lustrous and unfeigned, and it will never desert you.

-----

News & Info

Rodney's new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now available. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher right HERE.

~~~~~

And go HERE for the press release for Fully Present.

~~~~~

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

"Loved [A Vastness All Around], Rodney. Enjoyed it as much as John Wheeler's first book, Awakening to the Natural State. My favourite quote of yours was "you are no more your personal history than you are your toothbrush." I like the fact that you included little tidbits of your life and surrounds. It felt more like reading a book on travel or history than some of the other textbook style books on nonduality. I think for anyone serious about a direct approach, your book and John Wheeler's are the two to have." -- Ian

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

New Book Announcement!

2011-12-03T15:11:00.001-08:00

This week's blog is to announce my new work, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality.

Below (and much to my chagrin) is the press release. At least it's the abbreviated version! If you're drawn to get the book--and I certainly hope that you will be--it can be easily purchased through any of the Lulu Press links.

Read the book with ease and earnestness. Allow it to show you your own true Self. And if there is some smiles, tears, laughter, and "what the--" along the way, well, that's just icing on the nondual cake.

The Amazon Kindle/ebook versions of Fully Present should be available soon. I'll let you know the moment that they are.

SPECIAL OFFER! Expires December 14, 2011:

Get 25% off of Fully Present by using the following Coupon Code: BUYMYBOOKS305

There is a $50 savings limit, and the coupon can only be used on Lulu. And speaking of which, you can go directly to the book and site right HERE.

If you have any questions, feel free to write. Otherwise, happy reading--and pausing!

---------------

Vibrant New Spiritual Diary Points to Our Universal Oneness

Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality is a bold and insightful year-long chronicle by one of the most captivating spiritual teachers of our day.

Nearly every entry directs us to who and what we truly are--boundless peace and freedom.

The theme of this work is absolute nonduality, which is an ancient and nondenominational teaching that points to our oneness with all existence. Its truths--which require neither meditation nor concentration to discover--can be found in the highest levels of levels of Zen, Buddhism, Christianity, and the Tao.

From the Preface by Colleen Loehr, M.D. ~

"Rodney's words emerge from the vast field of aware presence that is our true nature; they resound with the power of direct recognition and carry a kind of charge that can electrify attention to pay heed to the presence that is here in this very instant.

"Fully Present is a diary of daily experiences interspersed with reflections on nonduality. Unlike some books on truth which can seem abstract or dry, this is a richly sensual book with many flavors of experience painted in flowing, vibrant prose. Rodney demonstrates that recognizing the truth of one's being as formless awareness in no way diminishes the experience of form--quite the contrary--experiences are even more vivid and deeply felt."

Rodney lives in Columbia, South Carolina. His new book, Fully Present: Daily Reflections on Nonduality, is now available. It is $18.95 for the paperback (excluding postage). You can order it directly from the publisher at: http://www.lulu.com.

Rodney is the author of A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State. It is also available from Lulu Press, as well as on the Amazon Kindle. http://www.amazon.com

---------

Excerpt from Fully Present:

Tuesday, October 19

I'm sitting quietly in Barnes & Noble, feeling the benevolent fullness of presence. Being surrounded by all these books and magazines conjures up numerous childhood memories. For not only were there lots of books in my family home, but I practically lived in the libraries in the various schools and colleges that I attended, as well as at the public libraries that were close to me.

Nearly all children are made better by reading to them, speaking graciously to them (and in full sentences), having books and computers within easy reach and sight, nourishing their interests and proclivities, praising their successes, and giving encouragement and insights into their failures. And, of course, the parent or guardian may broach the topic of them being more than mere bodies and minds, but awareness itself. Such a talk may or may not work, of course. It depends on the temperaments of the children and the clarity of the parents' words.

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Abbreviated Posting

2011-11-24T04:16:00.001-08:00

See that there is something that is never missing.

~~~~~

You are not a thing. Anything that appears and disappears can't possibly be who or what you are. You are that which is fully present, but is not an object. Your body, mind, thoughts, feelings, and sensations are all temporal. They are there for a duration (whether it be a second or a century), and then they are gone. Right now, what is it that is perfectly present and that does not come and go? You have simply bypassed its radiant immediacy. Bring your attention back to what you always are and have always been--utter translucence without beginning or end.

~~~~~

Reality is what is already present. It can't be missed because you are already That--your ordinary/extraordinary, everyday awareness. Presence can only be overlooked, not avoided. You are what you are at this very moment. No time or practice is needed for you to be awareness! See the utter foolishness of time-laden methods, which are as much comical as they are sad. Nothing is needed for this understanding except the recognition of what has never not been present. And that recognition comes suddenly, and it comes once. Game over.

~~~~~

"I like your approach in A Vastness All Around. The stories, thoughts and vignettes of your life seem wonderful ways to make people stop and pay attention to where they actually are now, rather than in some imagined past or future. They show that you don't have to be some specially qualified person, preferably with a title and a name in Sanskrit, to pursue the spiritual quest. Your message comes across particularly well in such pieces as "Sheerness of Being."

-- Valerie J. Roebuck, Ph.D., Honorary Research Fellow, University of Manchester (England).

~~~~~

For the book's Press Release, click Here.

~~~~~

I am now doing phone consultations via Skype! Each conversation will take about an hour, and a $25 donation will be greatly appreciated.

I am also scheduling teaching events at this time. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy (at) fastmail (dot) fm

~~~~~

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

Pointers

2011-11-19T01:22:00.001-08:00

What is it that is fully present but is not an object?

*****

You can't come to this understanding intellectually. No amount of philosophical debating or conceptual parsing will help you to recognize your natural state. That recognition can happen only when the conceptualizing has naturally and temporarily stopped. Concepts and reasoning can point to presence, but not "take" you to it.

*****

Before you can articulate any doubt or reservation, you are presence already. Before you utter a single word of denial, you are what you are and have always been--awareness itself. So how can that doubt or skepticism have any significance?

*****

You think you are your body and your mind. So you act, respond, and live at that level. Hence, suffering permeates your life. But you are above all of that! Your essence is pure awareness! It manifests itself in your physicality as unending peace and boundlessness. It's there right now for the seeing. Bring your attention to that with which you have always been endowed.

*****

You are neither consciousness nor the contents of consciousness. All of those things come and go. Anything that begins or ends cannot possibly be you. What is it that remains after any of those things are gone?

*****

When you finally recognize presence, remain with it. Don't move. This is not to solidify or maintain anything. You are merely seeing and understanding what exactly has always been your inherent state.

*****

If you enjoy meditating, meditate. If you enjoy sitting, sit. If you enjoy concentrating, concentrate. Everyone is where he or she assumes themselves to be. You just need to be clear on the fact that if you truly want self-realization, those roads won't take you there.

*****

Everyone comes to this understanding in a unique way. The Truth is the same, but the actual recognition of your natural state is different. Just go with how you feel. If you are drawn to a particular teacher, go with that teacher. If you feel some sort of contact with that person would help you, then arrange to have it happen. As always, let your heart be the guide.

*****

I have no mission or "life-purpose." My spiel (whether writing or speaking) is simply to clarify who and what you are. I have zero interest in reincarnation, the birth of the universe, dream interpretation, spiritual experiences, and psychic phenomena. There are plenty of teachers and people with whom you can discuss all of that. The only thing that comes up through this body/mind with any drive or earnestness is the illumination of your natural and ever-present state, which is merely being overlooked.

-----

News & Info

Here is Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

"I love A Vastness All Around! I just can't say enough good things about it! It keeps stopping me in my mental tracks, and it always does it in this really deep and beautiful way. I could go on and on, of course. But I know you understand exactly what I am pointing to! :)" -- Terrence Smith

~~~~~

I am now scheduling teaching events. If you would like to arrange something in your area, you may email me at: writerguy@fastmail.fm

I am also doing one-to-one phone consultations for anyone who is vitally interested in self-knowledge. Each conversation will take an hour or so, and donations of around $25 will be greatly appreciated.

~~~~~

Non-duality America published an excerpt from A Vastness All Around.

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

Here's a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

"Loved the book, Rodney. Enjoyed it as much as John Wheeler's first book, Awakening to the Natural State. My favourite quote of yours was "you are no more your personal history than you are your toothbrush." I like the fact that you included little tidbits of your life and surrounds. It felt more like reading a book on travel or history than some of the other textbook style books on nonduality. I think for anyone serious about a direct approach, your book and John Wheeler's are the two to have." -- Ian

~~~~~

A Vastness All Around: Awakening to Your Natural State is Rodney's first collection of essays, discussions, interviews, and powerful pointers. It 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.

~~~~~

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

Q&A: In This Very Moment

2011-11-12T02:57:00.001-08:00

Question: I thoroughly enjoy your blog, Rodney. Every Sunday, there is a new posting. I really like that. You're dependable!

Rodney: Well, thanks. I may start taking a week off, here and there. But don't worry, I'll let you know ahead of time!

Q: Please do! I call your blog my "sweet dependency."

Rodney: No dependency is good, except coffee maybe! And that's only for me. You are what you are right here and now. That's the central point that you need to be clear on. And you can ponder that anytime, whether there is a new blog posting or not. And really, this understanding isn't so much a matter of pondering as it is seeing--a seeing of what the words are pointing to.

Q: Yes, I'm continuing to plow ahead on all this. It's like I can't help it!

Rodney: Your having little choice is the matter is what I term as your "heart leading the way." But in all actuality, there is no "way." And there certainly isn't any "plowing ahead" in nonduality. It's all about recognizing what is continually present, which is pristine peace and spaciousness. Thus, there is nothing that you have to attain or strive for. See the simple logic of this. And just "who" would be doing the striving anyway? Your thoughts and concepts can't; neither can your body. So that leaves only Presence, which is ever-there for the seeing.

Q: That's really powerful...I like how you keep coming around to the point (in your blog) that there is nothing but awareness.

Rodney: Yes, that point is key.

Q: Exactly. And I need the reminder. When it comes to nonduality, I'm not necessarily the brightest girl on the block--despite my two academic degrees!

Rodney: Trust me, you're astute enough to see your Self for yourself. If I can come to this understanding, practically anyone can.

Q: Yes, but you were in Mensa!

Rodney: It's a nonissue. Nisargadatta was said to have been practically illiterate. Yet, he was one of the greatest sages of all time. Come back to what you are. And it truly is a what not a who. The who is an assemblage of appearances, and all experiences change. And those appearances include thoughts, feelings, sensations, ideas, and most certainly your body, which are altering in multiple ways all the time. So what does that leave?

Q: Consciousness.

Rodney: Not consciousness, but awareness. Consciousness is another appearance in awareness. And doesn't consciousness change? Indeed, it even has states! You are awake one moment, and dreaming the next. You're closer to what you actually are in deep sleep. But because there is only a minimum level of consciousness present at that time, you only know that, upon waking, you slept deeply and well. Your body feels fully rested and refreshed. So try not to complicate the issue. This understanding is so simple and straightforward. And how could it not be, given that we are talking about something--awareness--that is your natural state of being? You are seeing, utilizing, and existing as That in this very moment. Have a careful look, and you're bound to see that you've been searching for something that you've actually never been without.

-----

News & Info

Here is Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

Here's a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

Pointers

2011-11-05T03:00:00.001-07:00

What you are looking for is what you are right now.

*****

The simplicity of this understanding is mind boggling. It only appears elusive because it's your immediate, everyday awareness that holds the answer. You're missing nothing, except a clear-seeing of what is directly in front of you.

*****

The Final Truth is a spiritual concept that points to a peace and spaciousness that is beyond all concepts--particularly spiritual ones. No teaching or language can contain, capture, or fully describe this Truth. It is a living, limitless reality without form or attributes. And you are never not That.

*****

There is simply thinking, feeling, and doing through multitudes of bodies and minds--which, basically, are nothing but Presence. What you take to be "you" is nothing permanent, nothing substantial. It's strictly utilitarian. Thoughts and emotions can also be pleasurable (or not). That's not the issue. The crux of the question is whether or not they are ultimately what you are. And they are not.

*****

Awareness is just a word that points to what you are at this very moment. You are not your body, your ideas, or your sentiments. There has to be something that knows that all of those things are present. What...is...that...something?

*****

Allow these pointers to pause you. See that a pause is actually taking place at this very moment. Now see that within that pause there is a presence that is both measureless and everlasting. The pause has always been present! And the pause will always be present! You are the Pause!

*****

You don't have to "transcend consciousness." That has already taken place--for you are awareness itself, which is what consciousness arises in. So now you see how ludicrous any method or practice is when used to "attain" enlightenment. All you need to do is apprehend what has already happened! And no practice can do that. None.

*****

Awakening is a seeing or an understanding. It is not a spiritual event--although you may choose to impose that belief on it. It won't hurt or lessen Presence in anyway whatsoever. Just be open to not being too insistent about things. When a person is insistent, there is nearly always "someone" doing the insisting.

*****

Take note of the transitory nature of life during the day and evening. Everything is coming and going, coming and going. Nothing remains completely the same. The only things that appear to remain the same are, primarily, your body and your memory of events. But your body is constantly changing and memory is just another thought--and no two thoughts are identical. A clear seeing of this helps to resolve any suffering

in life.

-----

News & Info

RECENTLY IN: Rodney on YouTube talking about "The Fundamental Thing."

~~~~~

Tami Brady reviewed Vastness on her TCM Reviews page.

~~~~~

"A Vastness All Around is, hands down, one of the best books out there on nonduality. Thank you for all of your writing." --Alex Taylor

~~~~~

Here's a review of the Kindle Edition of Vastness on Amazon.

~~~~~

Nonduality Magazine has published a discussion with Rodney about his work and book. The extensive and wide-ranging interview was done by John LeKay, the magazine's editor.

~~~~~

~~~~~

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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

~~~~~

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