Is There Nothing to Be Done? from the media Each One of Us Is the One Being
A man talks about his experience that if there is no separate self, it seems there is nothing to be done. Rupert responds that if one deeply believed that there was nothing to do, then why would that one write books or hold meetings? To whom would their teaching be addressed? Rupert suggests that this is an ego defence.
- Duration: 16 minutes and 58 seconds
- Recorded on: Aug 25, 2023
- Event: Ten Day Retreat at Castello di Titignano – August 2023
A man shares his experience of sensing his mind being lost when he's ‘fixed’ on an object. Rupert suggests that awareness is always aware of itself. However, when we get lost in an object of experience, awareness’s awareness of itself gets lost. This tendency to get lost could be turned into a Tantric practice, wherein you give yourself totally to the object.
A man references a conversation Rupert had with Deepak Chopra about love and consciousness. Rupert suggests that love is just another name for consciousness. When we think about reality, we think of it as consciousness. When we feel reality, we think of it as love.
A man asks about the community created by everyone being together and wonders, 'Do we have to save the world?' Rupert suggests that it is all just consciousness playing itself out, and yet all the attempts we make to relieve suffering is the activity of consciousness. Why do we want to bring suffering to an end? Because peace is the nature of being, its natural condition.
A man asks about Rupert’s vision for the community. Rupert suggests that he never once wanted to be a teacher. He likes friendship. But travelling the world, since the invitations have been coming, has brought him happiness. He has cooperated with the growth, but he hasn’t pushed it.
A woman asks about how to handle conflict, on a practical level, when people come together to share the teaching. Rupert suggests that when any group of people forms with the intention of working together toward a shared goal, the most important thing is that everyone’s heart has to be in the right place. There will inevitably be differences in the mind, but with a shared purpose, the differences at the level of mind can be resolved.
A man asks about memory, as he quickly forgets what he hears in meditation. Rupert suggests that all we have to make an effort to remember is that which we don't understand. If we've understood something, it’s ours. We don’t need to go to the past to know it.
A man asks about how to inculcate the dissolution of boundaries. Rupert suggests that he consider making the first thing he experiences about anything is its being, its presence. Feel and know the being that everything is. Perceiving refracts the unity of being. Each of us is the one being that manifests itself as everything.
A woman says she doesn’t want to be the same ‘I’ as all people; for instance, people like Hitler and Stalin. Rupert suggests that they behaved the way they did because they didn’t realise that they shared their being with everyone. If we can’t do it, then we cannot reprimand them for not doing it. Take the image of those that you don’t like and see through their behaviour until you see that you share your being with them. This practice would bring profound healing.
A woman references an earlier meditation in response to something that was said about blasphemy. Rupert says that just the way we are now is infinite being, God’s being; therefore, our being does not need to be perfected. If we start a practice in order to change ourselves, we are saying that we are not God’s being but a personal self. To set ourself up as a being separate from God, is to deny God, which is blasphemous.
A woman asks, if love is an expression of consciousness, then why is monogamy so common, and why does jealousy still come up? Rupert suggests that we only sometimes feel our shared being with everything, and while sexual intimacy can be one powerful way to express our sense of shared being, we still largely have the feeling that nothing outside of a monogamous relationship could ever truly express this.
Rupert suggests that in a relationship there are legitimate needs and demands whose purpose is to serve the integrity of the relationship. Also, all relationships need a container.
A man talks about his experience that if there is no separate self, it seems there is nothing to be done. Rupert responds that if one deeply believed that there was nothing to do, then why would that one write books or hold meetings? To whom would their teaching be addressed? Rupert suggests that this is an ego defence.
Rupert talks about the three sages of the twentieth century who brought the Direct Path to the world. He also talks about the Shankaracharya of Northern India ‘opening the vaults’ of the teaching. Rupert then references his own foundation, followed by Kyra sharing more about it.
The I Am Always I illustrated video is played.
A man shares his experience of sensing his mind being lost when he's ‘fixed’ on an object. Rupert suggests that awareness is always aware of itself. However, when we get lost in an object of experience, awareness’s awareness of itself gets lost. This tendency to get lost could be turned into a Tantric practice, wherein you give yourself totally to the object.
A man references a conversation Rupert had with Deepak Chopra about love and consciousness. Rupert suggests that love is just another name for consciousness. When we think about reality, we think of it as consciousness. When we feel reality, we think of it as love.
A man asks about the community created by everyone being together and wonders, 'Do we have to save the world?' Rupert suggests that it is all just consciousness playing itself out, and yet all the attempts we make to relieve suffering is the activity of consciousness. Why do we want to bring suffering to an end? Because peace is the nature of being, its natural condition.
A man asks about Rupert’s vision for the community. Rupert suggests that he never once wanted to be a teacher. He likes friendship. But travelling the world, since the invitations have been coming, has brought him happiness. He has cooperated with the growth, but he hasn’t pushed it.
A woman asks about how to handle conflict, on a practical level, when people come together to share the teaching. Rupert suggests that when any group of people forms with the intention of working together toward a shared goal, the most important thing is that everyone’s heart has to be in the right place. There will inevitably be differences in the mind, but with a shared purpose, the differences at the level of mind can be resolved.
A man asks about memory, as he quickly forgets what he hears in meditation. Rupert suggests that all we have to make an effort to remember is that which we don't understand. If we've understood something, it’s ours. We don’t need to go to the past to know it.
A man asks about how to inculcate the dissolution of boundaries. Rupert suggests that he consider making the first thing he experiences about anything is its being, its presence. Feel and know the being that everything is. Perceiving refracts the unity of being. Each of us is the one being that manifests itself as everything.
A woman says she doesn’t want to be the same ‘I’ as all people; for instance, people like Hitler and Stalin. Rupert suggests that they behaved the way they did because they didn’t realise that they shared their being with everyone. If we can’t do it, then we cannot reprimand them for not doing it. Take the image of those that you don’t like and see through their behaviour until you see that you share your being with them. This practice would bring profound healing.
A woman references an earlier meditation in response to something that was said about blasphemy. Rupert says that just the way we are now is infinite being, God’s being; therefore, our being does not need to be perfected. If we start a practice in order to change ourselves, we are saying that we are not God’s being but a personal self. To set ourself up as a being separate from God, is to deny God, which is blasphemous.
A woman asks, if love is an expression of consciousness, then why is monogamy so common, and why does jealousy still come up? Rupert suggests that we only sometimes feel our shared being with everything, and while sexual intimacy can be one powerful way to express our sense of shared being, we still largely have the feeling that nothing outside of a monogamous relationship could ever truly express this.
Rupert suggests that in a relationship there are legitimate needs and demands whose purpose is to serve the integrity of the relationship. Also, all relationships need a container.
A man talks about his experience that if there is no separate self, it seems there is nothing to be done. Rupert responds that if one deeply believed that there was nothing to do, then why would that one write books or hold meetings? To whom would their teaching be addressed? Rupert suggests that this is an ego defence.
Rupert talks about the three sages of the twentieth century who brought the Direct Path to the world. He also talks about the Shankaracharya of Northern India ‘opening the vaults’ of the teaching. Rupert then references his own foundation, followed by Kyra sharing more about it.
The I Am Always I illustrated video is played.