Returning to the Sky of Awareness from the media Being Hopelessly Open
A man describes an experience of feeling tightly bound wires around his mouth and a dense knot of sensation in his head. Rupert invites him to explore his sensations and any present memories. He encourages seeing a sensation as just one experience among many, like a cloud in the sky of awareness. It will pass, just like everything else. He advises returning to the presence of the sky of awareness, where all sensations and perceptions appear.
- Duration: 11 minutes and 1 second
- Recorded on: May 15, 2024
- Event: Webinar – Wednesday, 15 May
Take one small step backwards or inwards from the content of experience to your self – the fact of simply being. Be sensitive to any impulse to receive, be given, understand, know, or acquire something. Our being doesn’t need to practise, understand, seek or resist anything. It can gain or lose nothing from experience. Therefore, it is always at peace, inherently fulfilled. In time, we discover that our being not only lies behind but shines equally brightly amidst all experience. Be sensitive to any expectation you’ll receive something from this meditation. I have nothing to give you. I cannot give you your self; you are already your self. I don’t consider myself a teacher; I have nothing to teach. I’m more like an artist singing a song of being that may resonate with some people. Always magnify or draw your attention to being, which is independent of, yet the very reality of our experience.
A man who has been practising Rupert’s yoga meditations for years expresses gratitude for them but struggles to maintain the quality of felt understanding in his daily life. He asks if it is necessary. Rupert replies that it’s like watching an intense movie scene and forgetting it’s just a film. He suggests maintaining awareness of one’s being during daily challenges, treating it as a continuous yoga meditation.
A woman describes an experience of intense anxiety that disrupted her ability to meditate. Rupert suggests her difficulty in meditating is akin to finding a movie scene too exciting for her to notice the screen. He advises viewing meditation not as a separate activity but as being the screen amidst the movie, especially during intense experiences like anxiety. He suggests smiling and embracing the anxiety, being in love with it, hopelessly open.
A man describes an experience of feeling tightly bound wires around his mouth and a dense knot of sensation in his head. Rupert invites him to explore his sensations and any present memories. He encourages seeing a sensation as just one experience among many, like a cloud in the sky of awareness. It will pass, just like everything else. He advises returning to the presence of the sky of awareness, where all sensations and perceptions appear.
A woman, whose daughter took her own life, asks if ignorance of our true nature is our only sin. Rupert clarifies that by ‘ignorance is our original sin’, he meant the overlooking of our true nature. All we can do for others is to do our best to live this understanding ourselves and share it with others through our words and, more importantly, through our deeds.
A conversation about love and compassion: Rupert says that simply being, or being aware, has two aspects: interior and exterior. On the inside, our true nature is felt as peace and causeless joy, and on the outside, as shared being, which is love, being one with everyone. Compassion or kindness is an expression of that shared being in action. Compassion is love in action.
A woman asks about consciousness forgetting itself in order to manifest—who, then, is in charge of will? Rupert clarifies that consciousness only seems to forget itself. Being infinite, it cannot experience finite objects because it would have to stand apart from them, akin to us not being able to see our own eyes. To perceive a world, consciousness must appear to divide itself into subject and object. The knowing element is infinite consciousness, perceiving the world through the body but not generated by it. Decisions are being made, but there is no individual entity making them.
A conversation about the concept of energy in the consciousness-only model. A man asks if love is the energy that underlies all reality. Rupert suggests that love is the one reality; it is one of the names for reality. Energy is the first form of the one reality, the first vibration, the first form of consciousness, which appears to us as the universe. The energy of consciousness is perceived through our five sense faculties. Energy is an activity of consciousness.
A woman experiences financial lack in her life, and while she doesn’t feel lack when she connects with being, it returns after a while. She asks how she can apply the sense of fulfilment she experiences in her being to her work life. Rupert says it is very good that she can feel this sufficiency, the richness of being. Then she can go out into the world and do whatever she needs to do to live comfortably and provide for her family. This will require practical thought and decision-making, but it should come from a sense of fullness and abundance, not from lack or scarcity.
A man asks how to perceive his true nature. Rupert asks the man if he can say from his experience that he is, and to what experience does he refer that enables him to answer. He explains that what one refers to when saying ‘I am’ is our essential true nature, the pure fact of being before the arising of experience. ‘I am’ is like a portal to that to which the words refer; we can use it as a stepping stone from experience to our true nature.
A conversation about meditation and everyday life. Rupert explains that in formal meditation, we can use the thought ‘I am’ to return to our being. The ‘I am’ that we sink into in meditation is the same ‘I am’ that shines in our everyday experience. Normally, we allow experience to eclipse our being. He suggests making mini-pauses in-between activities to come back to being.
A man who experienced a job loss during the pandemic asks how to approach the resistance he feels in his life. Rupert suggests understanding and feeling that awareness is inherently free from resistance, instead of trying to make it free from resistance. He advises acting on the aspects of one’s life that need attention while feeling one’s true nature in the background. He encourages the man to feel that his deepest nature is wholeness, fulfilment, sufficiency, and peace, and to take care of his life from this understanding.
A woman asks about the concept of God used during Rupert’s previous online weekend event, ‘The Divine Presence Within’. She expresses concern about discussing it with agnostic or atheist friends. Rupert acknowledges his use of religious language, understanding it may be challenging for some. He emphasises that non-dual understanding is independent of belief, encouraging exploration without any belief in God.
Take one small step backwards or inwards from the content of experience to your self – the fact of simply being. Be sensitive to any impulse to receive, be given, understand, know, or acquire something. Our being doesn’t need to practise, understand, seek or resist anything. It can gain or lose nothing from experience. Therefore, it is always at peace, inherently fulfilled. In time, we discover that our being not only lies behind but shines equally brightly amidst all experience. Be sensitive to any expectation you’ll receive something from this meditation. I have nothing to give you. I cannot give you your self; you are already your self. I don’t consider myself a teacher; I have nothing to teach. I’m more like an artist singing a song of being that may resonate with some people. Always magnify or draw your attention to being, which is independent of, yet the very reality of our experience.
A man who has been practising Rupert’s yoga meditations for years expresses gratitude for them but struggles to maintain the quality of felt understanding in his daily life. He asks if it is necessary. Rupert replies that it’s like watching an intense movie scene and forgetting it’s just a film. He suggests maintaining awareness of one’s being during daily challenges, treating it as a continuous yoga meditation.
A woman describes an experience of intense anxiety that disrupted her ability to meditate. Rupert suggests her difficulty in meditating is akin to finding a movie scene too exciting for her to notice the screen. He advises viewing meditation not as a separate activity but as being the screen amidst the movie, especially during intense experiences like anxiety. He suggests smiling and embracing the anxiety, being in love with it, hopelessly open.
A man describes an experience of feeling tightly bound wires around his mouth and a dense knot of sensation in his head. Rupert invites him to explore his sensations and any present memories. He encourages seeing a sensation as just one experience among many, like a cloud in the sky of awareness. It will pass, just like everything else. He advises returning to the presence of the sky of awareness, where all sensations and perceptions appear.
A woman, whose daughter took her own life, asks if ignorance of our true nature is our only sin. Rupert clarifies that by ‘ignorance is our original sin’, he meant the overlooking of our true nature. All we can do for others is to do our best to live this understanding ourselves and share it with others through our words and, more importantly, through our deeds.
A conversation about love and compassion: Rupert says that simply being, or being aware, has two aspects: interior and exterior. On the inside, our true nature is felt as peace and causeless joy, and on the outside, as shared being, which is love, being one with everyone. Compassion or kindness is an expression of that shared being in action. Compassion is love in action.
A woman asks about consciousness forgetting itself in order to manifest—who, then, is in charge of will? Rupert clarifies that consciousness only seems to forget itself. Being infinite, it cannot experience finite objects because it would have to stand apart from them, akin to us not being able to see our own eyes. To perceive a world, consciousness must appear to divide itself into subject and object. The knowing element is infinite consciousness, perceiving the world through the body but not generated by it. Decisions are being made, but there is no individual entity making them.
A conversation about the concept of energy in the consciousness-only model. A man asks if love is the energy that underlies all reality. Rupert suggests that love is the one reality; it is one of the names for reality. Energy is the first form of the one reality, the first vibration, the first form of consciousness, which appears to us as the universe. The energy of consciousness is perceived through our five sense faculties. Energy is an activity of consciousness.
A woman experiences financial lack in her life, and while she doesn’t feel lack when she connects with being, it returns after a while. She asks how she can apply the sense of fulfilment she experiences in her being to her work life. Rupert says it is very good that she can feel this sufficiency, the richness of being. Then she can go out into the world and do whatever she needs to do to live comfortably and provide for her family. This will require practical thought and decision-making, but it should come from a sense of fullness and abundance, not from lack or scarcity.
A man asks how to perceive his true nature. Rupert asks the man if he can say from his experience that he is, and to what experience does he refer that enables him to answer. He explains that what one refers to when saying ‘I am’ is our essential true nature, the pure fact of being before the arising of experience. ‘I am’ is like a portal to that to which the words refer; we can use it as a stepping stone from experience to our true nature.
A conversation about meditation and everyday life. Rupert explains that in formal meditation, we can use the thought ‘I am’ to return to our being. The ‘I am’ that we sink into in meditation is the same ‘I am’ that shines in our everyday experience. Normally, we allow experience to eclipse our being. He suggests making mini-pauses in-between activities to come back to being.
A man who experienced a job loss during the pandemic asks how to approach the resistance he feels in his life. Rupert suggests understanding and feeling that awareness is inherently free from resistance, instead of trying to make it free from resistance. He advises acting on the aspects of one’s life that need attention while feeling one’s true nature in the background. He encourages the man to feel that his deepest nature is wholeness, fulfilment, sufficiency, and peace, and to take care of his life from this understanding.
A woman asks about the concept of God used during Rupert’s previous online weekend event, ‘The Divine Presence Within’. She expresses concern about discussing it with agnostic or atheist friends. Rupert acknowledges his use of religious language, understanding it may be challenging for some. He emphasises that non-dual understanding is independent of belief, encouraging exploration without any belief in God.