A Discussion on the Question 'Are You Aware'? from the media From Activity of the Mind to Silence of the Heart
A man asks about the question, ‘Are you aware?’, which frustrates him. Rupert suggests that if we have our own question that takes us to our being, then use our own shortcuts. We don’t have to take a rational process that we are aware, it is our experience. The question takes us directly to the experience of being aware.
- Duration: 11 minutes and 33 seconds
- Recorded on: Mar 3, 2022
- Event: Webinar – Thursday 3rd March 4:00pm, UK
Back from the content of experience sometimes, we experience the peace of our true nature sometimes. If we step back from the content of experience regularly, we know our self as the presence of awareness and experience its innate peace regularly. If we are established in and as the presence of awareness all the time, we feel its peace all the time. Thoughts and emotions continue, but there will always be this deep peace behind experience. If our entire life is surrendered to God's being, we feel taken care of all the time. The peace that passeth understanding is the constant backdrop of experience irrespective of what happens in the foreground. We take one small step from the foreground of experience to the presence of awareness in the background. One small step from the activity of the mind to the silence of the heart.
God knows nothing of birth and death. Using the example of a disaster, like a tornado, a man asks what has actually happened from the standpoint of the consciousness-only model. If the nature of awareness or consciousness is peace and love Itself, how do we explain this manifestation? Rupert suggests that from the absolute point of view the tornado is the activity of consciousness – there is nothing inherently ‘bad’, it’s not a mistake of nature. At a relative level, it is experienced as a disaster. From the point of view of infinite consciousness there is no creation or destruction. Imagine you are the screen on which a movie is playing – does the screen become anything other than itself or does it ever experience the loss of any part of itself?
A woman describes an experience of awakening, after which she experienced a roller coaster of emotions. Rupert responds that if a great awakening has taken place, then what is going on in the foreground of experience – thoughts and feelings – doesn't really matter. Feelings may be stirred up but no longer dominate the foreground of our experience.
A man asks about the question, ‘Are you aware?’, which frustrates him. Rupert suggests that if we have our own question that takes us to our being, then use our own shortcuts. We don’t have to take a rational process that we are aware, it is our experience. The question takes us directly to the experience of being aware.
A question is asked about why mental illness would arise after the recognition of one's true nature. Rupert responds that there are many reasons for mental illness, such as genetics or deep-seated trauma, which may arise sometime later.
A man asks, ‘How do I know that I know?’ Rupert suggests that when you say, ‘I know my thoughts’, your thoughts are one thing and that which knows them is something else. All experience takes place in subject—object relationship, apart from that one experience in which there is no separate subject or object of the experience. That is the awareness of being. How do I know that I know? You must answer that question in your own experience. You have to go to the experience of knowing or being aware, of being aware of being aware, I know that I know.
A father, who is an educator, asks why do we need to go through all this conditioning from childhood on. Rupert uses the analogy of a compressed rubber ball to explain the difference between wide-open infinite consciousness and the finite mind, which is contracted and seems to veil the openness of consciousness.
A woman asks, in the light of possible world destruction, what would consciousness experience without finite minds. Rupert suggests that consciousness is, by nature, self-aware. It knows itself just by being itself, but that knowledge is not in subject—object relationship. Just like the sun illuminates itself just by being itself, consciousness illuminates itself by itself. It doesn't need to assume the form of a finite mind to know itself. It does need to take the form of the finite mind to know a world. So, if there were no finite mind, consciousness would not have the means to perceive the world. In the absence of a finite mind, in the absence of the activity of mind, there is no veiling of consciousness.
A man asks a question about reactivating the mind when zoned out during meditation in order to pay attention to what is going on. Rupert suggests mimicking the falling asleep process, without falling asleep.
A woman asks about feeling an unfulfilled potential because of a chronic condition of the body. Rupert suggests that the ultimate fulfilment in life is to recognise the nature of the being that we essentially are. If we feel that our body has prevented us from not being able to achieve in the world, we don’t let that prevent us from exploring the nature of our own being, because the recognition of the nature of our being is the greatest achievement, the greatest fulfilment, we could ever find.
A woman asks about her experience of lucid dreaming. Rupert suggests she take lucid dreaming as a model and apply it to the waking state. When we are having a dream, from the perspective of the character that we seem to be in our dream, that character believes that she is in a waking state. Understand and feel that you are infinite consciousness having a dream, which is localising itself as the character.
Why look for validation outside ourself? Rupert suggests that the spiritual teacher should be our last big disappointment, and to discover what you're looking for within. Nothing outside yourself can make you happy. Eventually the teacher/student relationship should become one of friendship.
Back from the content of experience sometimes, we experience the peace of our true nature sometimes. If we step back from the content of experience regularly, we know our self as the presence of awareness and experience its innate peace regularly. If we are established in and as the presence of awareness all the time, we feel its peace all the time. Thoughts and emotions continue, but there will always be this deep peace behind experience. If our entire life is surrendered to God's being, we feel taken care of all the time. The peace that passeth understanding is the constant backdrop of experience irrespective of what happens in the foreground. We take one small step from the foreground of experience to the presence of awareness in the background. One small step from the activity of the mind to the silence of the heart.
God knows nothing of birth and death. Using the example of a disaster, like a tornado, a man asks what has actually happened from the standpoint of the consciousness-only model. If the nature of awareness or consciousness is peace and love Itself, how do we explain this manifestation? Rupert suggests that from the absolute point of view the tornado is the activity of consciousness – there is nothing inherently ‘bad’, it’s not a mistake of nature. At a relative level, it is experienced as a disaster. From the point of view of infinite consciousness there is no creation or destruction. Imagine you are the screen on which a movie is playing – does the screen become anything other than itself or does it ever experience the loss of any part of itself?
A woman describes an experience of awakening, after which she experienced a roller coaster of emotions. Rupert responds that if a great awakening has taken place, then what is going on in the foreground of experience – thoughts and feelings – doesn't really matter. Feelings may be stirred up but no longer dominate the foreground of our experience.
A man asks about the question, ‘Are you aware?’, which frustrates him. Rupert suggests that if we have our own question that takes us to our being, then use our own shortcuts. We don’t have to take a rational process that we are aware, it is our experience. The question takes us directly to the experience of being aware.
A question is asked about why mental illness would arise after the recognition of one's true nature. Rupert responds that there are many reasons for mental illness, such as genetics or deep-seated trauma, which may arise sometime later.
A man asks, ‘How do I know that I know?’ Rupert suggests that when you say, ‘I know my thoughts’, your thoughts are one thing and that which knows them is something else. All experience takes place in subject—object relationship, apart from that one experience in which there is no separate subject or object of the experience. That is the awareness of being. How do I know that I know? You must answer that question in your own experience. You have to go to the experience of knowing or being aware, of being aware of being aware, I know that I know.
A father, who is an educator, asks why do we need to go through all this conditioning from childhood on. Rupert uses the analogy of a compressed rubber ball to explain the difference between wide-open infinite consciousness and the finite mind, which is contracted and seems to veil the openness of consciousness.
A woman asks, in the light of possible world destruction, what would consciousness experience without finite minds. Rupert suggests that consciousness is, by nature, self-aware. It knows itself just by being itself, but that knowledge is not in subject—object relationship. Just like the sun illuminates itself just by being itself, consciousness illuminates itself by itself. It doesn't need to assume the form of a finite mind to know itself. It does need to take the form of the finite mind to know a world. So, if there were no finite mind, consciousness would not have the means to perceive the world. In the absence of a finite mind, in the absence of the activity of mind, there is no veiling of consciousness.
A man asks a question about reactivating the mind when zoned out during meditation in order to pay attention to what is going on. Rupert suggests mimicking the falling asleep process, without falling asleep.
A woman asks about feeling an unfulfilled potential because of a chronic condition of the body. Rupert suggests that the ultimate fulfilment in life is to recognise the nature of the being that we essentially are. If we feel that our body has prevented us from not being able to achieve in the world, we don’t let that prevent us from exploring the nature of our own being, because the recognition of the nature of our being is the greatest achievement, the greatest fulfilment, we could ever find.
A woman asks about her experience of lucid dreaming. Rupert suggests she take lucid dreaming as a model and apply it to the waking state. When we are having a dream, from the perspective of the character that we seem to be in our dream, that character believes that she is in a waking state. Understand and feel that you are infinite consciousness having a dream, which is localising itself as the character.
Why look for validation outside ourself? Rupert suggests that the spiritual teacher should be our last big disappointment, and to discover what you're looking for within. Nothing outside yourself can make you happy. Eventually the teacher/student relationship should become one of friendship.